Main news of June 19

WORLD

* Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz is $2 billion short of being able to pump natural gas into its underground storage systems to prepare for winter, President Viktor Yushchenko said

* A total of 44,287 cases of human A/H1N1 infection have been registered in 95 countries worldwide, with 180 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report

* A U.S. navy destroyer is getting into position to intercept a flagged North Korean ship suspected of carrying weaponry or nuclear materials in defiance of a UN ban, Fox News said

* Russia and NATO hope to resume military cooperation after high-level talks in Greece later this month, Russia's NATO envoy said

* European Union leaders on Friday urged Iran not to clamp down on peaceful demonstrations against the country's presidential election results

* Spanish authorities are blaming the Basque separatist group ETA for the death of a police officer in a bomb attack in the north of the country, the EFE news agency reported

* A U.S. woman was found guilty of illegally downloading 24 songs from the Internet and ordered to pay a $1.9 million fine, $80,000 for each song, CNN reported

* A Georgian officer who has requested political asylum in Russia denied on Friday claims by Georgia's Interior Ministry that he was dismissed from the coast guard service in May

* Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday rejected the possibility that vote rigging affected the result of the country's presidential election

* Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has again urged President Barack Obama to adopt socialist principles to see the United States through the ongoing economic crisis

* Russia is monitoring North Korea's preparations for a ballistic missile launch, but does not know when one might take place, a deputy chief of the Russian General Staff said

* Japan's parliament has passed a law on counter piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden, expanding the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' powers in the region, the Kyodo news agency reported

* A naval task force from Russia's Pacific Fleet docked in Vietnam on Friday on an official visit, a spokesman for the fleet said

* European Union leaders have unanimously endorsed Jose Manuel Barroso for a second five-year term as president of the 27-nation bloc's executive body, the European Commission

RUSSIA

* Russia's newest frigate, the Yaroslav Mudry, was officially presented to the navy on Friday, a spokesman for the Yantar shipyard said

* The Russian Air Force on Friday halted flights by all Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft following a second crash in three days, a Defense Ministry source said

* An outspoken Russian lawmaker who used offensive language in relation to a senior U.S. diplomat said on Friday he had been provoked by Georgian reporters, but would not withdraw his remarks