Main news of July 26

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The new EU sanctions against Iran will not damage Tehran but will complicate the situation surrounding the country's nuclear program, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

* Comments made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Russia's policy towards the Islamic Republic are unacceptable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* EU foreign ministers extended the EU monitoring mission (EUMM) in Georgia by one year

* The majority of Georgians disapprove of Georgia's policy towards Russia, according to an opinion poll led by the U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI)

* More than 90,000 people gathered in Santa Clara, central Cuba, to mark the anniversary of the start of the revolution in 1953

* New sanctions against Iran targeting its foreign trade, financial services, and energy and gas sectors will come into force on July 27 after the EU adopts them, a diplomatic source close to the Council of the EU said

RUSSIA

* An absolute temperature record of 37.2 degrees Celsius (98.9 degrees Fahrenheit) was registered in Moscow on Monday, a spokesman for the local meteorological bureau reported

* Russian cell phone retailer Euroset has launched a service whereby motorists across Moscow and the Moscow region can pay off their road fines through the company's stores, Euroset's press service said

BUSINESS

* BP boss Tony Hayward may be put forward for a non-executive the board of directors of the company's Russian venture, TNK-BP, after stepping down from the top job, Sky News said

* The founder of the Maxi Group steelmaker has appealed to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to intervene in a conflict with the company’s current owner - leading steel producer Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), documents obtained by RIA Novosti suggest

* Russia’s GAZ Group, maker of the Volga sedan and Gazelle minivan, has sent its core production personnel in Nizhny Novgorod on two-week paid leave over abnormally hot weather, the company said

* Bulgaria agreed to repay its 4.88 million euro debt for the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline construction, Transneft Vice President Mikhail Barkov, who participated in recent negotiations in Sofia, said

* British oil giant BP may sell some or all of its 50 percent stake in the Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP to raise funds after April’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, The Times said

* Russia's Finance Ministry has proposed the government sell its stakes in the 10 largest state companies and banks to raise 883.5 billion rubles ($29.5 billion) in 2011-2013, a ministry source said