Main News of July 18

A roundup of what has happened over the past 24 hours.

WORLD

* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama discussed Syria in a telephone conversation, a Kremlin spokesman said

* The United States Senate Finance Committee approved a bill combining a repeal of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment and a measure aiming to punish Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky

* The Syrian defense minister was killed in a suicide bombing in Damascus, just hours before a crucial UN vote on the violence-plagued Middle Eastern country, state television said

* A bus with Israeli tourists exploded in Bulgaria, causing an unknown number of casualties, the country’s media reported

RUSSIA

* The adoption of a tough, new Western-backed UN resolution on Syria would amount to "direct support" for opponents of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia's foreign minister said ahead of a Security Council vote

* Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks on the escalating violence in Syria with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just hours before a vital UN vote on the Kremlin's sole remaining ally in the Arab world

* President Vladimir Putin pledged to throw the book at officials who failed to provide timely warnings about the deadly floods in southern Russia earlier this month

* Russia's Federation Council ratified the protocol for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization

* The route of the Russian ship purportedly carrying helicopter gunships to Syria remained unchanged and the vessel is still headed to St. Petersburg, a spokesman for the ship’s owner, Femco, said