Main News of June 28

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The first consignment of three Mil Mi-25 helicopter gunships for Syria has been overhauled and will be delivered to the customer within the contracted time, Russia's Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation said

* Turkey deployed anti-aircraft artillery near its border with Syria, amid heightened tensions over the downing of a Turkish warplane by Syrian forces last week, state media reported

* Uzbekistan is suspending its membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a diplomatic source said

* A ready flow of weapons from China, Sudan and Ukraine has fueled violence by both the South Sudanese Armed Forces and armed opposition groups in South Sudan's Unity State in 2010 and 2011, Amnesty International said

* WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was served with an extradition notice by British police

RUSSIA

* A U.S. bill aiming to freeze assets and bar entry to Russian officials implicated in the death of anti-corruption campaigner and whistle-blower Sergey Magnitsky is interference in the affairs of another state, Russian Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvienko said

* Russia would not lend its support to any plans for outside interference in Syria which may be voiced at the upcoming international conference in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* Russia has the world’s largest number of illegal migrants, accounting for almost seven percent of the country’s working population, according to the 2012 International Migration Outlook issued by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

* The Kremlin does not see any reasonable arguments against selecting members of the presidential Human Rights Council (HRC) after consultations with the public over the internet, a Kremlin source said

BUSINESS

* The Millhouse investment company owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is in talks with Australia's BHP Billiton mining giant to develop the gold-rich Baimskaya area in Russia's Far East, Kommersant business daily reported quoting sources familiar with the matter

* Russian energy giant Gazprom will offer West European consumers 20 billion rubles ($615 million) in price discounts this year, Gazprom Deputy CEO Yelena Vasilyeva said

* The board of directors of Russia’s metals giant Norilsk Nickel recommended the company’s management to consider buying back up to two percent of the company's stock from the market, Norilsk Nickel said in a statement

DEFENSE

* A Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27UB fighter jet crashed in the Petrozavodsk district of Russia's northeast Karelia Republic on Thursday morning, although the pilots ejected safely

* The first domestically-developed strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be put in service with the Russian Armed Forces by the end of 2014, a defense industry source said

* A new long-range missile for Russia’s formidable S-400 air defense system will soon enter service, chief-of-staff of Russia’s Air and Missile Defense Command Maj. Gen. Andrei Demin said

* Russia's second Borey class strategic submarine, the Alexander Nevsky, will be commissioned by the end of 2012, First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov said