Main news of October 17

WORLD

* The U.S. Department of State has granted a senior North Korean government official and his delegation permission to attend two international conferences in the United States

* French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced visit

* Around a million people are estimated to have participated in an anti-abortion rally in Madrid

* Brazilian drug dealers shot dead the pilot of a police helicopter in Rio de Janeiro, causing it to crash to the ground and explode

* Film director Roman Polanski, arrested in Switzerland last month on child abuse charges, has been admitted to hospital, the Blick newspaper said

* Three U.S. soldiers have died in two separate incidents in Afghanistan, an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesperson said

* Pakistan forces began an offensive against Taliban militants in the country's South Waziristan area.

* Talks on a post-coup crisis in Honduras have reached deadlock with the de facto Honduran president refusing to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya, the former Honduran foreign minister has said

* At least 32 people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion following a fire at a firework shop in southern India

RUSSIA

* Title holders Rubin went four points clear at the top of the Russian Premier League after a comfortable win over bottom-placed Khimki

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Belgrade on October 20 will help deepen Russian-Serbian ties, Serbia's president has said

* President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed Russia's closer cooperation with an alliance of Latin American and Caribbean countries

* A two-year-old girl missing in south Russia for 20 hours was found safe in a pit