WORLD
* US President Barack Obama of the Democratic Party was reelected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a tightly contested and divisive race that saw the candidates and their backers pour an estimated $2.5 billion into the campaigns
* US President Barack Obama would like to visit Russia, Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said
*President Barack Obama’s Democratic party will keep control of the US Senate, the upper house of the US Congress, several US television networks projected Tuesday based on returns in Senate races across the country
* The US states of Colorado and Washington have become the first states to legalize possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, US media reported, after voters there approved the measure
RUSSIA
* Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated US President Barack Obama on his election victory, the Kremlin press service said
* Human rights workers slammed a decision by a west Russia court to reject a former opposition activist’s appeal against an eight-year jail sentence labeled as “harsh” by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
* Russia’s Federal Security Service has identified members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is officially designated a terrorist organization, in the Russian capital, the FSB said
* Anatoly Serdyukov has handed over Russia’s “nuclear briefcase” to Sergei Shoigu, who replaced him as Russia’s defense minister on Tuesday, a high-ranking defense ministry source told RIA Novosti
BUSINESS
* Russian arms and military equipment are attracting interest at the Indo Defence 2012 Expo Forum exhibition that opened in Indonesia, the head of the Russian delegation said
* A fresh investigation into fraud involving at least 240 million rubles ($7.7 million) has been launched into Russian Defense Ministry property management company Oboronservis, investigators said