Main News of March 7

WORLD

* The United States is preparing to provide direct humanitarian and communications assistance to the Syrian opposition in a move that would be a serious step towards the U.S. plan to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, the Foreign Policy journal reported

* Russia is not considering providing political asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin said

* The United States indicated that it still expects Russia to cooperate on the missile defense issue but that the plan will go ahead anyway.

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend a Quartet meeting of international mediators on the Middle East peace process in New York, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

RUSSIA

* Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) certified on Wednesday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s victory in Sunday’s presidential elections

* Russian Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin said there might have been violations in Sunday’s vote but they did not go beyond hundredths of a percentage point

* Moscow City Hall has authorized up to 50,000 opposition activists to rally on the downtown Novy Arbat Street on Saturday to protest the results of the March 4 presidential elections, leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov said on his Twitter

* Traffic jams in Moscow reached an overall length of 3,000 kilometers on Wednesday evening or about the distance between the Russian capital and Spain’s Barcelona, an analyst with the Yandex.Probki online traffic portal told RIA Novosti

BUSINESS

* The Indian Defense Ministry has barred six companies, including a small Russian defense firm, from bidding for defense contracts for the next 10 years, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper reported citing Indian media

SPORTS

* A Maxi Pereira tap-in and a late Nelson Oliveira strike gave Benfica a 2-0 win over Zenit St. Petersburg, sending the Russians crashing out of the Champions League 4-3 on aggregate

* Azerbaijan and Georgia will submit a joint bid to host the Euro 2020 football championships, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in an address to the Azerbaijani parliament

* The Russian wrestling team has started well at the 2012 European Wrestling Championships, winning gold in two of the first three events

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