Main news of April 25

RUSSIA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin:

- signed changes to a law imposing restrictions on referendums, which critics say are a further Kremlin move to curb democracy in the country

- signed a law which will see the country join the World Health Organization's anti-smoking convention, a Kremlin spokesman said

* The launch of a modified Zenit carrier rocket with an Israeli communications satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan was postponed until Monday, a Russian space agency spokesman said

* The first Sukhoi Superjet 100 medium-haul passenger airliner completed ground tests and was cleared for its maiden flight, the manufacturer's press service said

* Three militant attacks in Nazran, in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, left one person dead and two injured, a police source said

WORLD

* Iran dismissed reports that a U.S. navy vessel fired at an Iranian patrol boat in the Gulf, the Islamic Republic's Press TV channel said citing an Iranian official

* The United States released previously classified photographic evidence that it says proves North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor

* Hamas issued a statement saying it is ready to accept a six-month ceasefire with Israel, first in the Gaza Strip and then extending to the West Bank, but the Israeli government rejected the offer

* Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized Washington after a U.S. aircraft carrier allegedly sailed close to the South American country border without permission

* The European Commission expects to receive a mandate for talks on a new partnership deal with Russia in Luxembourg on April 29, the head of the commission's delegation to Russia said

* Tehran will not restore diplomatic relations with the United States, severed in 1979, until Washington gives up its military operations in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic's foreign minister said

* Russia's foreign minister said Georgia's NATO membership will not solve its problems with its breakaway regions which are in far deeper crisis than relations between Moscow and Tbilisi

* Georgia could use force in the near future over its breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as the May 21 parliamentary elections approach, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official said

* Finland's foreign minister reiterated his country's demands for more environmental checks on a gas pipeline being built between Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea

BUSINESS

* From 2009, Russia will supply eight million metric tons of liquefied natural gas annually to Japan through the Sakhalin II oil and gas project, a Kremlin source said

* Belarus plans to receive 21.5 million metric tons of Russian oil in 2008, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov told parliament