Main news of February 1

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko attacked her presidential election rival Viktor Yanukovych over his refusal to take part in a televised debate

* At least 41 people have been killed and 106 injured by a female suicide bomber in Baghdad, Aljazeera news agency, citing the Iraqi interior ministry, said

* Beijing will never make concessions on independence for Tibet, a senior Chinese official said on Monday at a meeting with envoys of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama

RUSSIA

* A police officer has died of his injuries after an explosion at a nursery in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, police said

* Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected on Monday Japan's protest over an incident in which Russian border guards opened fire on two Japanese fishing vessels off the disputed South Kuril islands

* The Russian Orthodox Church marked one year since Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was enthroned

* Russia on Monday rejected claims by former U.S. Treasury secretary Hank Paulson that it had attempted to destabilize the U.S.'s largest mortgage finance institutions

* A ship carrying 650 tons of uranium waste arrived in Russia's second largest city, St. Petersburg, Greenpeace said

* Russian and U.S. diplomats are meeting for another round of talks in Geneva, with experts on both sides optimistic about Moscow and Washington finally reaching the homestretch for a new strategic bilateral arms deal

BUSINESS

* A total of $20 billion will be invested in the development of Junin 6, a major oilfield in Venezuela's Orinoco oil belt, a Russian deputy prime minister said

* A consortium led by Russia's largest independent crude producer LUKoil will invest some $30 billion in the development of the West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq, LUKoil CEO Vagit Alekperov said

* Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, the owner and chairman of Renova investment group, said on Monday he was surprised by a fine imposed by the Swiss authorities and intended to appeal the decision

CULTURE

* Russia's prominent conductor and virtuoso pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy and famous pianist Evgeny Kissin won the U.S. Grammy awards in the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance category, grammy.com reported