Main news of July 13

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Top Iranian officials angrily dismissed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's remarks that Tehran was on the verge of acquiring military nuclear capability, the Fars News Agency reported

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss bilateral trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties, as well as international affairs, a Russian presidential aide said

* An Israeli Navy cutter has blocked the route of the Al-Amal vessel carrying humanitarian aid from Libya to Gaza, a statement from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) said

* The economic and finance ministers of all 27 European Union countries approved Estonia's accession to the Eurozone from January 1, 2011, an EU press services spokesman said

* The ten Russian spies freed in a swap deal with the U.S. are not subject to the witness protection program and do not need to change their names, a high-level source in the Russian intelligence services said

* Recent interethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan was a new form of terrorism, the deputy head of the Kyrgyz interim government said

* Scientist Igor Sutyagin, who was one of four Russians exchanged on Friday as part of a Russia-U.S. spy swap deal, will receive a British visa on July 14, Sutyagin's lawyer told RIA Novosti

* Pyongyang has delayed indefinitely talks with the U.S military to discuss South Korea's Cheonan warship sinking blamed on the North, Yonhap said

RUSSIA

* British authorities have revoked citizenship from a Russian involved in the recent spy scandal between Russia and the United States, Sky News television channel reported

* The Russian Air Force will receive more than 60 fifth-generation fighters from 2015-16, the force commander said

* Russia's Air Force chief said he refused to rule out the expansion of an air base in Kyrgyzstan

* The organizers of the controversial Forbidden Art-2006 exhibition in Moscow have appealed the court verdict which found them guilty of inciting national and religious hatred, a defense lawyer said

* Russia's Defense Ministry will buy a new generation S-500 missile defense system by 2020, Air Force Commander Colonel General Alexander Zelin said

* Ten Russian spies freed in a swap deal with the U.S. will take lie detector tests as part of an evaluation of their performances, the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily said, citing an intelligence service source

* Co-owner of leading Russian internet investor Digital Sky Technologies Ltd. (DST), Alisher Usmanov, has finalized the purchase of messenger service ICQ in a deal that could become a headache for the U.S. security services, vesti.ru web-portal said

BUSINESS

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he hopes that Russia will complete negotiations on its accession to the World Trade Organization by yearend

* Belarus and Venezuela have launched a joint venture to organize the delivery of Venezuelan oil to Belarus, a source from the Belarusian Oil Company said

* Co-owner of leading Russian internet investor Digital Sky Technologies Ltd. (DST), Alisher Usmanov, has finalized the purchase of messenger service ICQ in a deal that could become a headache for the U.S. security services, vesti.ru web-portal said

* The China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) has concluded a delivery contract with Venezuela on twenty-five multi-purpose Y-12 light aircraft and two helicopters, the China Daily said