Main news of July 14

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* South Sudan, which declared its independence from Khartoum on July 9, became a full fledged member of the United Nations

* The Arab League will ask the United Nations to grant full membership to a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the Wafa news agency reported

* The number of U.S. adoption agencies operating in Russia will be slashed dramatically, under new guidelines agreed between the two countries, Russia's children rights ombudsman said

RUSSIA

*Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said irresponsibility, greed and gross violation of safety rules led to a disastrous boat accident that has claimed 113 lives

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law a number of amendments to the law on advertising stipulating that abortion ads must carry warnings about their side effects, including loss of fertility

* Russia opened its inland waterways to foreign-flagged ships, following amendments to the Russian Inland Water Transport Code signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

* The overpricing of military equipment has been caused by the excessive number of subcontractors in the Russian defense industry, Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Mokretsov said

BUSINESS

* Moody's international rating agency has placed the United States' AAA sovereign rating on review for possible downgrade due to the increasing possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised, leading to a default on Treasury debt obligations, the agency said

* Self-regulation organizations must replace state regulation of small business, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said