Main News of June 4

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*RT, formerly Russia Today, was the most popular foreign TV channel in five key U.S. urban areas in 2011, a survey carried out by Nielsen media research company revealed.

*A group of former Libyan rebels armed with tanks have seized Tripoli's international airport and are demanding the release of one of their leaders, Al Arabiya news agency reported on Monday.

*Despite serious difference on the crisis in Syria, the European Union and Russia agree that United Nations envoy Kofi Annan’s faltering peace plan remains the best chance to bring calm to the troubled Middle East country, EU co-chief Herman Van Rompuy said.

*Indian forces are ready to launch the nation’s first military satellite, the Times of India reported.

 

RUSSIA

*Russian baritone Eduard Khil, whose Trololo song enjoyed a comeback in 2010 after decades of oblivion, died in a St. Petersburg hospital at the age of 77.

*The Russian government will study its protocol to the World Trade Organization on June 7 and the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, may ratify the country's accession into the WTO by July 20, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.

*The Russian Justice Ministry announced the registration of three more political parties under new legislation ushered in earlier this year by then-President Dmitry Medvedev following a wave of protests over alleged vote fraud.

*Legal wiretaps have almost doubled in Russia over the past five years due to lack of external control over the secret services, according to official and publicly available statistics unearthed by a leading Russian security analyst.

 

BUSINESS

*The Russian government is ready to act if the ruble slumps further on the domestic foreign exchange market, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.

*New shareholders may join Gazprom’s mega project to develop the giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea, but only at the expense of the existing project participants Total and Statoil, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said.

 

SPORTS

*Russia's state-run gas company Gazprom could become an official sponsor of the Champions League European football competition as of next season, CEO Alexei Miller said.