Quake measuring 5,2 strikes Kuriles` uninhabited island.

VLADIVOSTOK, November 7 (Itar-Tass) -- A 5.2-magnitude quake struck
uninhabited Urup Island of the Kuriles on Sunday morning.
According to the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, the quake took place at a depth of 160 kilometres under the
seabed. The epicentre was 210 kilometres northwest of the city of Kurilsk
(Iturup Island), 535 kilometres east of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and 575
kilometres southeast of Poronaisk.
Sakhalin seismologists said there were no negative consequences from
the quake for residential sites on Sakhalin and the Kuriles and there was
no tsunami threat.

.APEC countries delegates meet in Yokohama.
(updates)

YOKOHAMA, November 7 (Itar-Tass) -- The concluding meeting of senior
officials -- delegates from each of the APEC economies -- opened in the
Japanese Pacific port city on Sunday.
The head of the Russian delegation is special foreign ministry envoy
Valery Sorokin.
Delegates in this format already met this year for three times -- in
Hiroshima, Sapporo and Sendai. The senior officials forming the main
working structure meet in Yokohama this time to specify agenda points and
draft documents for the November 10-11 meeting of foreign and economic
ministers and the 18th APEC summit that will take place in Yokohama at the
end of the week.
During the preparations for the summit, more than 10 meetings of heads
of ministries were held in Japanese cities to discuss issues of
partnership in the areas of trade, economy, finances and food security.
The two-day discussions of the senior officials are aimed at deepening
regional integration and working out a draft APEC strategy for economic
development.
"We, as well as other forum participants, have supported the document
to be adopted by the APEC for the first time," Sorokin said.
A number of its provisions coincide in its direction with the Russian
policy for modernisation, he noted.
According to the Russian delegation head, the draft APEC growth
strategy reflects the Russian proposals for regional security.
The delegations are expected to agree on plans to create a common
regional free trade zone.
Common understanding of the importance to actively promote the process
was achieved during the previous discussion, Sorokin said.
The senior officials on November 8 are also expected to approve the
preliminary assessment of the work done by the APEC to achieve the Bogor
Goals set for the period till 2010 and 2020. The priority guidelines in
the organisation activities, which were adopted in 1994, envisaged
creation of a system of free trade and investment activities in the region.
The prepared drafts and conclusions will be taken into consideration
for final summit decisions.
The APEC groups 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, including the
Russian Federation, China, the United States, South Korea and Japan. On
the whole they account for more than half of the global GNP and 44 percent
of the world trade. Russia participates in the forum since 1997 and for
the first time will host an APEC summit in Vladivostok on Russky Island in
2012.
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