Main News of May 13

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

 

* The United States and European countries have changed their stance on the Syrian civil war to a “more realistic” one, Syrian Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said in an interview aired by the Arabic-language Russia Today channel.

* South Korea and the United States started two-day joint naval exercises off the east coast involving a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, South Korean media reported

* The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office reopened a murder case against jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency reported.

* Four Polish sailors and one Russian kidnapped from a German container ship by pirates off the coast of West Africa on April 26 have been released, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

 

RUSSIA

 

* Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the results of the recent surprise military drills as a good way to keep the armed forces in good shape and vowed to continue similar practices in the future, the Kremlin’s spokesman said.

* President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree waiving visa requirements for foreign athletes, coaches and other staff attending international sports events in Russia, the Kremlin announced.

* The Russian Justice Ministry said it had launched an administrative case against a regional office of Russia's Golos Association, an independent election monitoring NGO, for failing to register as a "foreign agent."

* Russia hopes to agree on a visa-free travel regime with all Latin American countries in the next few years, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

* Two alleged Russian nationalists suspected of involvement in a number of high-profile murders, including the audacious 2009 shooting of a human rights lawyer in downtown Moscow, have been detained in Serbia and Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

* A former police officer who allegedly switched sides and joined North Caucasus militants to become one of their leaders went on trial in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

* Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov condemned the sales of busts of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, one of the 20th century's most brutal dictators, at a kiosk inside the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.

* Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the time was ripe to restore access to YouTube, blocked in the mainly Islamic North Caucasus republic last year for hosting the controversial film Innocence of Muslims.

* A group of warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet is about to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea for the first time in decades, fleet spokesman Roman Martov said.

* Moscow authorities have decided to name a new street planned to be laid out in the southwest of the Russian capital “Battle of Stalingrad Street” to mark a key victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.

* Forensic experts have concluded that an acid attack on the Bolshoi Theater’s ballet artistic director Sergei Filin caused him serious bodily harm, Moscow police said.

 

BUSINESS

 

* Cyprus received the first installment of its multi-billion-dollar international bailout package on Monday with the delivery of 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) said.