Main news of March 10

RUSSIA

* A missile battalion equipped with mobile Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) ICBMs was put on combat duty in central Russia, a spokesman for the Russian Missile Forces said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to reform the civil service system in 2009-2013 as part of a drive against corruption, the Kremlin press service said

WORLD

* Libya signed with Russia a contract worth up to an estimated $200 million to buy three missile boats, a Russian military journal reported

* Russia refused to sell its Su-33 carrier-based fighters to China over fears that Beijing could produce cheaper export versions of the aircraft, a Russian daily said

* The European Broadcasting Union officially informed Georgia that its entry for the Eurovision 2009 song contest does not comply with the rules of the competition due to a clear reference to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

* Sixteen sailors are missing, feared dead, after their cargo ship collided with a larger freighter off the coast of Japan, in the Pacific Ocean, local officials said