Main News of May 10

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* At least 40 people were killed and 170 were injured in two explosions that rocked a highway near the capital, Damascus on Thursday, Al Arabiya reported

* Teams of Indonesian army troops and emergencies personnel are inching up the nearly vertical face of Mount Sakal toward the site where a Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed on Wednesday with 45 people on board

* North Korea held at least three public executions of people charged with cannibalism in recent years, Yonhap news agency reported

* Belarus will privatize up to 25 percent of some of its enterprises, but only if the wrokforce, local and national government agree in each case, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday, web portal gazeta.ru reported

* The United States has successfully tested a new ballistic missile defense interceptor, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said

* Forensic experts who examined ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko following her claims she was beaten by prison guards found bruises on her body but could not determine their origin

* Evangelos Venizelos, the leader of the center-left Greek political party Pasok, has received a mandate from the president to form a coalition government following Sunday’s parliamentary elections, Greek television reported

* The Sudanese army has regained control of Gereida, which was captured by rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army on Tuesday, according to government spokesman Ahmed al-Tayebas

RUSSIA

* Vladimir Putin has issued a host of decrees outlining the spending plans of his third term as president, Vedomosti daily reported

* The Russian Justice Ministry has formally restored registration of the liberal Republican Party of Russia, allowing it to participate in elections, the ministry said in a statement

* Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will represent Russia at the G8 summit in the U.S. on May 18-19, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said

* The Russian and Abkhazian security services claim to have uncovered a terror plot targeting the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) reported

* Legal sales of e-books in Russia increased almost 2.3 times in 2011, marking a third year of explosive growth, though remaining modest in absolute terms, the Federal Press and Mass Media Agency said

* Russia will not change its position on Syria despite pressure from outside, Russian acting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Russian businessman Boris Ivanishvili is selling Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank, which is on the list of Russia’s 200 largest banks, to private investors for $352 million, the businessman’s representative told Prime news agency