Main news of July 27

WORLD

* Russia is concerned about tensions rising in southern Lebanon, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Monday during a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East

* Arab countries see no reason to start normalizing relations with Israel while it continues to build illegal settlements on occupied land, Arab League head Amr Moussa said

* Myanmar's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been awarded the Ambassador of Conscience Award, Amnesty International's highest award, the human rights watchdog announced on its website

* The leader of the schismatic Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate has accused the Russian patriarch of pursuing a "political project" to deprive Ukraine of its sovereignty, the UNIAN news agency reported

* Severe cold weather that has gripped central and southern Argentina for two weeks has already killed about 40 people, the Infobae news website reported

* The number of victims of flooding and rainstorms in southwest China's Sichuan Province has risen to 22, while another seven people are missing, the Xinhua news agency said

* The fatal crash of an Il-62 airliner in Iran last week occurred because the plane was traveling too fast when it touched down, Kazakhstan's Transportation Ministry said

* North Korea on Monday said it was ready for bilateral talks with the U.S. but repeated it would not rejoin the six-party talks over its nuclear program, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported

* Kyrgyzstan's president has won reelection with 76.4% of the vote, the Central Asian country's electoral authority said on Monday, citing final results from Thursday's disputed election

RUSSIA

* Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Church, arrived in Ukraine's capital on Monday for what he called a "pilgrimage" to the birthplace of Russian Orthodoxy

* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin arrived in Venezuela's capital on Monday to discuss plans for a high-level bilateral commission and President Hugo Chavez's visit to Russia

* The number of Russians who have contracted the A/H1N1 virus has risen to 18, Russia's sanitary watchdog said