Main news of August 20

A roundup of what happened in the past 24 hours.

WORLD

* Russia vowed to seek the repatriation of Russian businessman Viktor Bout, who is due to go from Thailand to the United States on arms trafficking charges after a Thai court ruled in favor of his extradition

* The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Tehran will continue its uranium enrichment program for domestic nuclear plants

* Belarus will take over the chair of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in December, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russia and Armenia will continue to work to maintain stability in the Caucasus, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Georgia sent a statement to the United Nations accusing Russia of violating ceasefire agreements

RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the government has managed to overcome the wildfire crisis and has valuable lessons to learn from the experience

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev lifted the state of emergency in three of the Russian regions affected by wildfires

* Russia will allocate an additional 2.67 billion rubles ($87 million) in aid to people who suffered from the peat bog and forest fires, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the government to subsidize interest rates on loans to farmers who are struggling to cope with the summer's drought

* The failure of two substations near St. Petersburg blacked out most of Russia's second largest city for more than an hour

* Only 11 percent of Russians support an initiative by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to change the name of Russian law enforcers from the Russian "militsia" to the internationally accepted word "police".

* The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has launched a probe into the misuse of funds allocated by Russia for the restoration of South Ossetia following the August 2008 war with Georgia.

BUSINESS

* Russian energy giant Gazprom launched a new round of negotiations with Naftogaz of Ukraine on forming a joint venture.

* Russia will not import grain this year despite drought wiping out a quarter of its crops, an Agriculture Ministry official said

DEFENSE

* Russia and Armenia signed amendments to a 1995 bilateral treaty extending Russia's use of a military base near Armenia's border with Turkey through 2044

* The Russian K-152 Nerpa nuclear attack submarine, which is currently carrying out workup trials in the Russian Far East, will be transferred to India on a 10-year lease in the fall, a spokesman for the Amur Shipbuilding Plant said

* Paris is continuing negotiations with Moscow on the purchase of a Mistral-class warship and is not concerned about Russia's decision to call a tender for the construction of two helicopter carriers, a spokeswoman for the French presidential administration said