Main news of May 25

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* At least 13 Russian tourists died in a bus crash in the southwestern Turkish region of Antalya, a Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's spokeswoman said.

* An ammunition plant being built by Russia in Venezuela will have the capacity to produce over 50 million rounds for Kalashnikov assault rifles per year, a Russian defense industry official said

* Moldovan Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will discuss Transdnestrian conflict settlement and bilateral cooperation during Leanca's official visit to Moscow on May 27

* Tehran is surprised by Russia's endorsement of new UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, but still wants a S-300 missile deal with Moscow to go ahead

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on his South Korean counterpart to show restraint and not allow the situation on the Korean peninsula to escalate

* U.S. President Barack Obama received a group of teenage Russian athletes in the White House and played basketball with them, a spokesman for the National Security Council said

* New sanctions against Iran will force Teheran to reconsider the uranium swap deal, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said at a press-conference with RIA Novosti

* India and Iran are discussing building a gas pipeline between the two countries along the bed of the Arabian Sea to bypass Pakistan, a board director of the company developing the project said

* A U.S. couple accused of beating their adopted 7-year-old Russian son to death may face the death penalty, Izvestia daily said

RUSSIA

* Russia's new Cyrillic alphabet Internet domain (.рф) has launched so far 476 sites, Yulia Ovchinnikova of Russia's Coordination Center for the National Internet Domain said

* The Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has sent to the State Corporation Olympstroy its remarks and proposals concerning a draft document introducing the "green" standard for the Olympic construction in Sochi, the WWF-Russia said in a statement

* The official results of a probe into the latest failure of Russia's ill-fated Bulava ballistic missile are ready and have been sent to the government for review

* The president of the Russian North Caucasus volatile republic of Chechnya has demanded that law enforcement agencies count the number of militants hiding in mountains

BUSINESS

* Russia is counting on support from the U.S. political and business community in joining the World Trade Organization, President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russian energy giant Gazprom denied media reports that it was holding talks with AC Milan on the purchase of a 25-30% stake in the Italian football club

* Belarus could place Eurobonds worth up to $400 million, although the placement is unlikely in the next few weeks due to the unfavorable situation on sovereign bond markets

SPORTS

* U.S. President Barack Obama received a group of teenage Russian athletes in the White House and played basketball with them, a spokesman for the National Security Council said

* Ukraine's WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko continues to insist on fighting with David Haye of Britain just like his younger brother Wladimir, saying he would knock the Brit out in four rounds, the BoxingScene.com website said