Main News of October 27

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The US National Security Agency (NSA) has spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone for over 10 years, a report in a German magazine claimed.

* An opponent of outgoing president Mikheil Saakashvili claimed victory in Georgian presidential elections Sunday just hours after voting stations closed in the former Soviet nation on Russia’s southern border.

* A number of news websites carrying coverage critical of Uzbekistan’s government became available for viewing Sunday after years of being blocked in the authoritarian Central Asian nation.

* Russian military inspectors will begin monitoring flights over the United States starting Sunday under the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said.

RUSSIA

*Thousands of protestors rallied in the Russian capital on Sunday to call on the Kremlin to release people they consider to be political prisoners.

* An ongoing effort to improve the soured Russian-Belarusian relations came under threat this week after reports that Belarus secret police tried to arrest a Russian citizen in downtown Moscow.

* Three people were killed Saturday during a shootout in the town of Nazran in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, a spokesman for the regional Interior Ministry department said.

* An exhibit showcasing a secret passion for fine arts of the man behind some of the toughest characters in Hollywood was to open at a prestigious museum in Russia’s St. Petersburg on Sunday.

* Saint Petersburg is likely to make a bid to host the Summer Olympics, a senior Russian official said Sunday.

* A court in Russia’s Yaroslavl Region approved this weekend the arrest of a local mayor accused of bribery in the second such case in the province this year.