Main News of August 29

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Wednesday called on the Syrian opposition to prepare to take over power in the country

* Ukraine’s High Court upheld on Wednesday the conviction of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office

* Ecuador's top court has rejected an extradition request for a former Belarusian investigative police officer, the Belarusian news portal Platforma reported

RUSSIA

* France will not use a $1.2 billion contract to build Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy to put pressure on Moscow over the Syrian issue, the country’s foreign minister said

* Pirates have seized a Greek-owned oil tanker with 24 Russian crew members on board off the coast of Togo, Russia Today reported

* Eleven militants and three special forces personnel were killed near the Georgian-Russian border, the Georgian Interior Ministry said

BUSINESS

* Russian gas giant Gazprom has completed the welding of the last joint on the second leg of the Nord Stream pipeline intended to deliver Russian natural gas to Europe bypassing existing transit countries, the company said