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Main News of June 9

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours 09.06.2013, Sputnik International

2013-06-09T19:58+0000

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Main News of June 9

19:58 GMT 09.06.2013

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* North and South Korea have agreed to hold a ministerial meeting in Seoul next week that can help build mutual trust and ease tension on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, referring to a government official

* The Syrian Army has launched a major offensive in Aleppo to retake the rebel-held northern city, the Al-Manar website said

* Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is expected to hold pro-government rallies next weekend in Ankara and Istanbul in a bid to fight back against mass anti-government protests, local media said

* The Syrian opposition will not agree to take part in the proposed peace conference unless its forces get new weapons, a top opposition military commander told New York Times

* Sudan’s oil minister told pipeline operators to halt the transit of South Sudanese oil, a ministry official said

* Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a protest in the capital Ankara

* Hundreds of people took part in the Naked Bike Ride in Mexico City to demand respect for cyclists on roads and to raise awareness that bicycles belong on city streets

* China's former railways minister Liu Zhijun went on trial in Beijing on Sunday, charged with bribery and abuse of power, official news agency Xinhua reported, in the first high-profile corruption case under China’s new President Xi Jinping

* Iran has opened a new space center to monitor and observe space objects and satellites passing through the country’s atmosphere, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported

* Latvia’s entry into the eurozone from next year may have far-reaching negative consequences for the ex-Soviet Baltic republic, Latvian Economists Association head Ivar Brivers said

* Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe who was declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan this week has received Armenia’s highest honor from the president, the Armenian leader’s spokesman said

* Japanese man Masahito Yoshida has walked about 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) around the world with a two-wheeled cart and is preparing soon to complete his journey that has lasted for 4.5 years, local media reported

* Nine prisoners have escaped and two guards have been killed when armed gang members attacked a prison in Mexico's south-western Guerrero state, local authorities said

RUSSIA

* Ballet star Nikolai Tsiskaridze who will have to leave the Bolshoi Theater at the end of the month said on Sunday he is being hounded by the management over a conflict after an acid attack on the artistic director

* Russia’s opposition blogger Alexei Navalny is soon to be formally nominated as candidate for Moscow mayor by the Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party (RPR-PARNAS), Ekho Moskvy radio said

* An officer was injured when two gunmen fired shots at police in Nalchik, the capital of North Caucasus Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, shortly before midnight, a regional interior ministry department said

* Five bodies recovered on the site of Thursday’s Mi-8 helicopter crash in a mountainous region of far-eastern Russia were taken to a morgue in Khabarovsk on Sunday, an emergencies service spokesman said

* Police have found a bomb under a police car in the town of Buinaksk in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the republican Interior Ministry said

* A small plane crashed in the Moscow Region on Sunday, killing two, including a retired Russian Air Force officer, a police source said

SPORT

* Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won the women's doubles title at the French Open on Sunday, beating defending champions Roberta Vince and Sara Errani of Italy in a straight-sets final

* Russia advanced to the semifinals of the rugby sevens Grand Prix Series in Lyon on Sunday with a convincing 19-7 win over Scotland

* The World Touring Car Championship’s first Russian race stopped on lap four Sunday due to a crash, pending a restart

* Yvan Muller edged out Tom Coronel to win the World Touring Car Championship’s inaugural Russian race Sunday and extend his championship lead

* A driver was hospitalized after a high-speed crash at the Moscow Raceway in Russia

* Rafael Nadal on Sunday became the first man in history to capture the same Grand Slam title eight times, cruising to a straight-sets win over fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the French Open final

* Russia are teetering on the brink of a group stage exit from the European under-21 football championships after a second successive defeat, this time a 5-1 drubbing by the Netherlands