WORLD
* A U.S. court has found Russian cargo pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko guilty of drug trafficking
* Belarusian law enforcement officers detained a Russian human rights activist, Ivan Kondratenko, in Minsk, according to a statement issued by the Committee for International Control over the human rights situation in Belarus
* At least 14 people are reported dead and 20 injured after a bomb ripped through a cafe in the main Jamaa el-Fna square in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, global media reported
* The United States is not yet ready to recognize Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC) but believes it is “worthy of support”
RUSSIA
* Two Russian far-right activists were convicted for the 2009 murders of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold a news conference on May 18, the presidential press service said
* Murdered Chechen rights activist Natalia Estemirova did nothing for the Chechen people, the republic’s strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov said
* Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered Deputy Energy Minister Sergei Kudryashov to prepare proposals by the end of the day for raising export duties on oil products, in a bid to avert shortages of gasoline in Russia
* Russia will suspend exports of gasoline in May in order to meet domestic demand, after almost a week of dire shortages in some regions, Deputy Energy Minister Sergei Kudryashov said
BUSINESS
* Russia’s largest internet search engine Yandex officially announced plans to hold an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq, the company said in a statement
* Russia’s largest internet search engine Yandex posted a 61.7% increase in its first quarter 2011 net profit to 820 million rubles ($29.8 million) in comparison with the same period in 2010, Yandex said in a statement
* Russia’s number two bank VTB will pursue the new owners of assets acquired with loans granted by Bank of Moscow which have not been paid back, or which are held as collateral against previously granted loans, Bank of Moscow said in a statement
* Russian energy giant Gazprom posted a 24% increase in its 2010 net profit to 968.557 billion rubles ($34.95 bln) to IFRS, Gazprom said
* France’s Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon look set to be on the final shortlist for a $10 billion tender for 126 fighter aircraft for the Indian air force, after Sweden’s SAAB was dropped, the Times of India said
* Russian precious metals miner Polymetal posted a 170 percent year-on-year jump in its 2010 US GAAP net profit to $249.8 million, Polymetal said