Main news of July 1

WORLD

* President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russia wants to develop strong ties with Belarus

* The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its A/H1N1 report on Wednesday to confirm 77,201 officially registered cases and 332 deaths in 120 countries and territories worldwide

* The Palestinian Authority has information indicating Hamas is planning to kill some of its officials, the Palestinian president said

* A former British charity fundraiser, who was selected for the "best job in the world," took up his duties on Wednesday on a tropical island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef where he will work as a caretaker

* Deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya announced at a UN session that he would return to his country despite the threat of arrest

RUSSIA

* The latest round of Geneva discussions on the situation in the Caucasus was productive, and the next round will take place on September 17, a Russian deputy foreign minister said

* At least people including three children were killed on Wednesday when a tanker truck and a car crashed head-on in the Perm Territory in the southwest Urals, an emergencies service spokesman said

* The renowned Russian folk singer Lyudmila Zykina died of heart failure in Moscow on Wednesday at the age of 80, her spokesperson said

* Casinos in Moscow and across Russia succumbed to overwhelming odds and closed down in accordance with the government's Wednesday deadline

BUSINESS

* Russia has proposed to Turkey that it join the South Stream natural gas pipeline project, a first deputy premier said after talks with Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz

SPORT

* Russia has risen from ninth to sixth place in the latest FIFA rankings, published on the website of international football's governing body