Main news of July 15

WORLD

* A passenger plane crashed on Wednesday in northwest Iran killing all 168 people on board, Iranian state media reported

* A U.S. guided-missile destroyer participated in a combined training exercise with Georgian warships near the Black Sea port of Batumi on Wednesday, the Coast Guard press service said

* A search has begun for the black boxes from a passenger plane that crashed in northern Iran on Wednesday, killing all 168 people on board, the country's ISNA news agency reported

* The World Wildlife Fund for Nature has opened the first center for studying and protecting the endangered Amur tiger in northwest China, Xinhua said

* Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was elected as chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at its 15th summit

* The fatal crash of an airliner in Iran on Wednesday is believed to have been caused by a fire in one of the engines, Armenian state television reported

* A chief military observer with the United Nations mission in Abkhazia has left the former Georgian republic, a source in the mission said

* Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has called on supporters within the country to rise up against the authorities to help force his reinstatement

RUSSIA

* The body of leading human rights activist Natalya Estemirova has been discovered in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, Russian investigators said

* A recent mission involving launches of ballistic missiles from under ice proved the combat readiness of the naval component of Russia's nuclear triad, a high-ranking Navy source said

BUSINESS

* Serbia would accept an offer to join the Nabucco gas project, but the South Stream project with Russia remains its priority, the head of Serbian state gas company Srbijagas said

* The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a $500 million long-term loan to Russian Railways (RZD), the top European lender said