Main news of May 26

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours.

 

WORLD

 

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed to continue joint work on a European missile shield, boost anti-terrorism efforts, promote nuclear safety and ease bilateral visa rules during talks on the sidelines of the G8 summit in France's Deauville

* Riot police in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, beat peaceful demonstrators and should be held to account, Human Rights Watch said

* France and Russia should sign a contract on four Mistral class helicopter carriers for Russia before June 21, when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to visit France, President Nicolas Sarkozy said

* The arrest of former Bosnian Serb Army chief Ratko Mladic detained in Serbia for war crimes may help Serbia's accession to the European Union, Serbian President Boris Tadic said at a news conference

* Police released an audio recording of a telephone conversation between Georgian opposition leader Nino Burdzhanadze and her younger son, Anzor Bitsadze, discussing a possible "Egyptian scenario" to overthrow President Mikheil Saakashvili.

 

 

 

RUSSIA

 

* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin denied that his ministry had proposed cutting military personnel as a government spending reduction measure

* The United States announced that it added Russia's most wanted terrorist Doku Umarov to the Rewards for Justice program, offering $5 million for information on his whereabouts

* The Russian Public Chamber said it was drafting a bill to establish a national compensation fund for crime victims

 

BUSINESS

 

* President Dmitry Medvedev and the government agree that the payroll tax, Russia's key corporate tax, should be reduced, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said

* Russia's Central Bank has increased the share of the Canadian dollar in its reserves to one percent and cut its British pound reserves from ten to nine percent, Central Bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev said

* Russia's Economic Development Ministry believes it will not be necessary to extend the grain export ban imposed last summer beyond July 1, Deputy Minister Andrei Slepnyov said