Main News of May 26

A roundup of what has happened over the past 24 hours

WORLD

*An opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) said on Saturday it would not adhere to the peace plan, brokered by the UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, unless the UN Security Council ensures safety for civilians, Al Jazeera reported

*The U.S. and German geologists claim they had discovered the exact date when Christ was crucified, the International Geology Review reported

*A gunman has killed one woman and injured other eight in a shooting rampage in Finland, the Finnish news portal hbl.fi reported on Saturday referring to police

RUSSIA

*Russian Consul General in Japan, Vladimir Pushkov, died on Saturday in the town of Agano in Niigata prefecture after falling down a cliff while playing volleyball, Russian embassy to Japan reported

*Twelve Russians, the crew members of a An-30 turboprop that crash landed on May 23 at an airport in the east of Prague, and Russian Defense Ministry inspectors returned to Russia on Saturday, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry said

*Members of Russia's ruling United Russia party on Saturday elected Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as its leader at a party congress

*Russian President Vladimir Putin has named the new members of the national Security Council, the Kremlin said on Saturday

SPORTS

*Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Roman Shirokov was named the most valuable player of the 2011-12 Russian league at the Russian Football Union’s annual ceremony in Moscow on Saturday

*KHL team Metallurg Magnitogorsk has made a surprise signing, securing ex-New York Rangers wing Mats Zuccarello on a two-year deal, Metallurg said Saturday

*The head of the Russian FA is setting the national team the goal of winning Euro 2012, he told RIA Novosti on Saturday

*Andrei Arshavin is arguably the biggest football star to emerge from Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union but he is no hit with the ladies, at least according to beauty queen Alina Chus, who dubbed him “gruesome” in an interview with RIA Novosti on Saturday

*Red Bull’s Mark Webber will start first on the grid for the first time in over a year at Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, even though Michael Schumacher was fastest in Saturday’s qualifying