WORLD
* Several Arab League member countries have proposed suspending Syria’s membership in the organization over violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protests by the country’s government, the Egyptian Al Ahram newspaper said
* Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi claimed in a conversation with president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov that he was ready to proceed in talks with NATO and rebels, but ruled out the possibility of his resignation
* Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) has been found in lettuce imported from Bavaria, Der Spiegel reported
* Export-Import Bank of China agreed to provide over $1 billion in loans to finance joint projects in Belarus, which is in the midst of a financial crisis
* A close confidante of the family of Kyrgyzstan’s former president was arrested in Moscow and discussions have begun on his extradition from Russia to face fraud charges, Kyrgyz investigators said
RUSSIA
* A judge in southwest Moscow ruled that human rights activist Oleg Orlov was not guilty in a slander case involving Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov
* A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov, who lost his job as speaker of the upper house of parliament last month, has been elected leader of the party faction in the lower house, a party source said
* A third Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane with a total of 39 Russian and CIS evacuees on board left Yemen for Russia, the ministry reported
*The imam of a village mosque in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan was shot dead, the Dagestani Interior Ministry said
BUSINESS
* The International Monetary Fund expects Russia’s gross domestic product to expand by less than 4 percent in the medium term, IMF Russia mission head Juha Kahkonen said
* German auto giant Volkswagen and Russian vehicle maker GAZ Group are to invest 200 million euros in assembly of cars at GAZ’s production plants, GAZ Group President Bo Andersson said
*The Russian subsidiary of Europe’s largest bank HSBC, which intends to get rid of its retail operations in the country, will sell its local retail business worth $10.7 million to Citi bank, HSBC said in a statement
* The governments of Russia and France signed a protocol of intent on the purchase of Mistral class helicopter carriers, but not a final contract, a source close to the talks said