WORLD
* United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire and a “political” solution to the situation in Libya
* NATO should increase military pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi despite the concerns of the BRICS nations, French officials say
* A new government was formed in Syria as the country’s leadership attempts to ease pressure from protesters for reform, the Sana news agency reported
* The upper house of the Kazakh parliament ratified an agreement opening new transit routes for U.S. planes carrying military personnel and equipment to Afghanistan
RUSSIA
* The Russian delegation at the BRICS countries summit has dubbed the group’s acronym BRYUKI (slacks) by joining together the first letters in Russian of Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China and India, President Dmitry Medvedev said
* The Russian government adopted draft federal program that would help Russia reduce the number of aircraft accidents and meet global flight safety standards
* Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is recuperating after a spine operation in Germany, the Gorbachev Foundation said
BUSINESS
* Euroset Holding N.V., the parent company of Russia’s largest mobile phone retailer Euroset, postponed its initial public offering (IPO), scheduled to price this week, due to “volatile market conditions”
* A standoff between BP and Russian shareholders of its local venture TNK-BP threatens the future of a $16 billion deal between BP and Rosneft which is supposed to help BP recover after its Gulf of Mexico disaster
* Russia’s partners in the BRICS grouping of large emerging nations called for Moscow to be granted membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as soon as possible
SPORT
* Spartak Moscow, Russia’s last representatives in this season’s European competitions, were crushed 5-2 by Porto at Luzhniki Stadium, crashing out of the Europa League quarterfinals 10-3 on aggregate