Main news of July 19

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russian Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky will pay an official visit to Turkey on July 20-23 to discuss cooperation between the navies of the two countries, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said

* Problems in copyright and intellectual property rights protection hampers Russia's WTO accession, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is heading for a two-day working visit to Finland next week, will discuss with Finnish President Tarja Halonen the development of bilateral relations, European security and visa issues, a Kremlin source said

* The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are considering the possible lifting of a 10-year-long ban on visiting the West bank of the Jordan River for Israeli Jews, an Israeli paper said

* A Russian diplomat's appointment as the UN's top man in the fight against drugs and crime has been opposed by influential NGOs over Moscow's record on human rights, a paper said

RUSSIA

* The Russian Defense Ministry has significantly increased allocations for the 2011-2020 state arms procurement program, a senior military official said

* Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.2% in the first six months of 2010, while June GDP rose 4.9%, Russian Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina said

* The Russian Defense Ministry will buy the first 10 fifth-generation fighters between 2013 and 2015 and then another 60 after 2016, a senior military official said

* Unemployment in Russia amounted to 5.2 million people or 6.8 percent of the workforce in June 2010, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said

* The Russian Defense Ministry may purchase some 20 An-124 Ruslan (Condor) heavy-lift transport aircraft according to the 2011-2020 state arms procurement program, a senior official said

* Drought in Central European Russia may spur inflation, but no earlier than in September-November, Deputy Economic Minister Andrei Klepach said

* Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg has issued a U.K. High Court writ against Christie's auction house over a painting that experts now claim is a fake, a leading business daily said

* The parliament of Bashkortostan named Rustem Khamitov as new president of the southwestern Russian republic

* Russia starts on Monday a regular rotation of its peacekeeping contingent in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr

BUSINESS

* Russia plans to occupy at least 15% of the world's space services under the national aerospace industry's development strategy for 2015, Russia's top space official said

* Russia's state-owned defense corporation Oboronprom and India's Vectra Group have signed a $30 million contract on the supply of four Ka-32 Helix helicopters, the Russian company's CEO Andrei Reus said

* Russia's Gazprom Neft plans to hold a series of tenders for oil servicing companies for the development of the Badra oilfield in eastern Iraq, the head of Gazprom Neft Middle East Projects said

* Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot signed a contract with Airbus for the delivery of 11 A330-300 long-haul airliners at the Farnborough air show in England

* Russia will start the production of the Antonov design bureau's An-158 passenger jet in 2011, the head of Ukrainian Motor Sich engine manufacturer said

* The initial public offering of Russia's Ilyushin Finance leasing company may take place in 2011 on both Russian and Hong Kong markets and is planned to raise $250 million, Alexei Fyodorov, head of United Aircraft Corporation, one of Ilyushin Finance's core shareholders, said

* Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and Indonesia's regional carrier Kartika Airlines inked a $951 contract for the delivery of 30 Sukhoi Superjet 100s