Main news of June 8

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Ukraine is willing to swap assets with Russia to allow the two countries to cooperate in oil and gas production, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Istanbul

* Russian reclusive math genius Grigory Perelman did not appear in Paris to collect his $1 million prize for solving a problem that has puzzled scientists for over a century

* The South Korean Defense Ministry has given materials on the sinking of the Cheonan warship to Russian experts for further investigations, the Russian Defense Ministry said

* The second non-crew member, who was in the cockpit of the Polish presidential plane when it crashed in western Russia in April, has been identified, The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) said

* Russia and France signed an agreement on cooperation in the atomic energy industry

* China has protested to North Korea after three of its nationals were shot dead by a border guard, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said

* Russian investigators confirmed that charges had been brought against four servicemen accused of stealing bank cards from a top Polish official who died in the plane crash that killed Polish leader Lech Kaczynski

* Turkey and Russia are planning to increase their bilateral annual trade four-fold to $100 billion in the next five years, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said

* Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on the monitoring of nuclear safety
*Belarus has released a list of trade problems with Russia that it says hinder the signing of a Customs Union agreement, a Russian business daily said
* Russia's Mission Control readjusted the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) raising it by 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles), a Mission Control spokesman said
* Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Turkey to attend the third summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and hold bilateral talks with top officials from Turkey and other countries
RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum from June 17 -19, the Kremlin reported

* Russia's General Staff is planning to merge existing military districts into four strategic commands but leave strategic nuclear forces under central control, Russia's top military commander said
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed the government to draw up proposals on reducing the number of federal officials by 20%
* President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge and Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak opened  a Sporting Glory museum in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi
* The grand-daughter of a well-known businessman in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk is being held by kidnappers who are demanding a $16 million ransom, Russian media said
* A court in St. Petersburg has given a green light for the construction of a 403-meter skyscraper in the heart of the city, despite President Dmitry Medvedev's disapproval, Russian business daily Kommersant said