Main news of August 6

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

 

WORLD

 

* The U.S. Defense Department demanded that whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks return all U.S. secret documents on the war in Afghanistan and erase the classified data already posted on the Internet.

 

* Bronislaw Komorowski took the oath of office to become Poland's new president.

 

* Azerbaijan will buy Turna unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for training and target practice from Turkey, the Baku based ARA news agency reported.

 

* Israel released late on Thursday three Turkish ships that were seized as they attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in late May.

 

RUSSIA

 

* The Russian Defense Ministry is going to set up a joint assembly line with the Italian automaker Iveco to produce LMV M65 tactical vehicles in Russia, the Kommersant daily said.

 

* Some 500 servicemen are working to extinguish wildfires near the city of Sarov, where a nuclear research center is located, a spokesman for Russia's Railway Troops said.

 

* Russia's Finance Ministry has published its budget policy outline for 2011-2013, the Kommersant business daily reported

 

* At least 52 people died in wildfires raging throughout Russia, the health and social development ministry said

 

* A revised police law will be posted on the Internet for public discussion on August 7, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

 

* Russia has provided a total of 28 billion rubles ($950 mln) to facilitate South Ossetia's economic development, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said

 

* Two football matches due to be played in Moscow were called off due to the worsening smog

 

* Fire-fighters in the central Russian city of Voronezh put out the last of the blazes that killed 5 people and left over 500 homeless, an emergency official said