Main news of June 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours.

WORLD

* Ukraine's energy minister assured the European Commission that the country has made its quarrels with Russia over gas supplies a thing of the past and they will never return

* Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyzstan's ousted president who has taken refuge in Belarus, denied he had lent $200 million to Minsk to pay off its gas debt to Russia

* Drug dealers and religious extremists could be behind the deadly interethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month, former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said

* Iran has produced 17 kilograms of 20%-enriched uranium and can produce as much as it needs, the country's nuclear chief said

* Belarus has found no legal grounds for the extradition of deposed Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the Belarusian Prosecutor General said

* The gas row between Russia and Belarus continued as state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom extended supply cuts to Minsk but promised no interruption of supplies to EU consumers

RUSSIA

* Russia will airlift about 120 personnel to Sudan Wednesday as part of an international peacekeeping operation there, the Defense Ministry said

* One person was killed and at least 24 injured as ammunition exploded at a military training facility in central Russia, a Defense Ministry spokesman said

* The Russian government has introduced a draft bill expanding the list of national security information, the State Duma's website reported

* The Moscow City Council ordered to demolish 22 illegally-built floors of a luxury residential complex, a council source said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in San Francisco to start a five-day working tour to pay a visit to the United States and take part in G8 and G20 summits in Canada

BUSINESS

* Belarus said it paid off its entire debt to Russian energy giant Gazprom and demanded that Russia settle its $260 million transit debt

SCIENCE

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened an official Twitter account during his visit to the hub of the micro-blog company in California's Silicon Valley

* Russia intends to have 215 athletes on its national team when it hosts the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, the country's sports minister said

DEFENSE

* Hundreds of Californians lined up to see and visit Russia's missile cruiser Varyag, which is docked in San Francisco Bay

NATURAL DISASTERS

* A magnitude 5.0 earthquake shook eastern Canada on Wednesday, just days before world leaders gather in Ontario for G8 and G20 summits, the U.S. Geological Survey reported