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Main news of June 1

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Turkey is ready to take Israel to the International Court of Justice over the seizure of the Freedom Flotilla, a Turkish official said

* NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Israel to release individuals and vessels captured during Monday's interception of a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy

* By repeatedly rejecting the offers of cooperation, Iran has left international mediators no choice but to impose further sanctions the French Foreign Ministry said

* Russia and the international community continued to criticize Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy in neutral waters, which left at least 9 dead on Monday

* The European Union sees improvements in human rights observance in Russia, but is concerned with the situation in several North Caucasus regions, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said

* Belarus is ready to make concessions to push through the creation of a Customs Union with Russia and Kazakhstan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said

*Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered the opening of the Rafah crossing on the border with Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and open access for those who need medical treatment, MENA Egyptian news agency said

*European integration will remain the top priority of Ukraine's foreign policy, but strategic partnership with Russia and the United States is also important, the country's president said

* The United Nations Security Council condemned Israel's seizure of the Turkish-flagged six-ship Freedom Flotilla and called for an investigation into the incident

* The prime ministers of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) will gather for a summit to discuss regional economic development and energy cooperation on June 1-2

RUSSIA

* One of the most celebrated Soviet era poets, denounced by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev as a "bourgeois formalist," died at the age of 77

Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin on Tuesday urged a thorough inquiry into Monday's "savage and inappropriate" crackdown on an opposition rally in Moscow

*The Russian Navy considers intensive combat training and continuing its presence in the world's oceans a priority, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said

*The Russian education system needs large-scale reforms, the head of Russia's largest bank said

* The death toll in a May 26 terrorist blast in south Russia's Stavropol has risen to 8, an emergencies official told RIA Novosti

BUSINESS

* Turkmenistan has launched the construction of a $2 billion pipeline to deliver natural gas from its largest gas field to the coast of the Caspian Sea, a business paper reported

*The Russian economy, which was severely affected by the 2008 global economic and financial crisis, is demonstrating robust recovery and becoming increasingly attractive for international investors, the president of NYSE Euronext said

* The export duty on Russian oil grew by $8.1 to $292.1 per ton effective from June 1 in line with a government resolution

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