Main News of November 18

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed optimism about striking a deal on Iran’s contentious nuclear program during a phone conversation Monday with his Iranian counterpart, the Kremlin said

* Japan placed its air force on alert after two Russian bombers flew near its airspace, a local news agency reported Monday, citing Japan’s Defense Ministry

RUSSIA

* A Russian court ruled Monday to grant bail to three people out of the Greenpeace group that was detained in September for mounting a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic Sea

* Syrian officials met with senior Russian diplomats in Moscow on Monday to discuss prospects for long-delayed peace talks on the civil war raging inside the Middle Eastern nation

* Russia and Ukraine have reached a compromise deal allowing Kiev to alter its payment schedule for Russian natural gas imports, Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said

* Russian officials said Monday that they have located flight recorders from a Boeing 737 that crashed in the city of Kazan over the weekend, killing all 50 people on board

* A Russian helicopter maker has delivered four more Mi-171E multipurpose helicopters to China under a 2012 contract

DEFENSE

* The Indian army on Monday successfully tested an advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which destroyed a fortified target with high-precision, India’s The Hindu newspaper reported

CRIME

* The death toll in last month’s suicide bombing in the southern Russian city of Volgograd has risen to seven, the region’s health authorities said