Main news of May 16

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*A New York court remanded International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in custody on charges of sexual assault, global media said

* Israel blamed Syria and Lebanon for clashes on its borders in a complaint filed to the United Nations, the Israeli prime minister's spokesman said

* NASA's Endeavour shuttle blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center for its last ever flight

* The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor is seeking the arrest of embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son and his intelligence chief, global media said

RUSSIA

* The Russian Foreign Ministry shrugged off Japanese discontent over a Russian state visit to the disputed Kuril Islands

* A driver for Russian Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, who last week threatened to shoot a motorist in the head on the Moscow Ring Road, has been fired for his misconduct

* Moscow is concerned by the United States' refusal to provide legally binding guarantees that its European missile defense system will not be directed against Russia

* Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov said he was ready to become the leader of the pro-Kremlin Right Cause party

BUSINESS

* Russia's top gold miner Polyus Gold will close a long delayed reverse takeover by Kazakhstan's KazakhGold in July, said Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of Onexim group, one of Polyus Gold's beneficiaries

*VimpelCom, one of Russia's top three mobile phone operators, has voted to appoint its current Chairman Jo Lunder as its new CEO, VimpelCom said in a statement

SPORTS

* Finland defeated Sweden 6-1 in the gold medal game at the ice hockey world tournament in Slovakia on Sunday to claim its second world title