Main news of March 29

WORLD

* National leaders and diplomats, meeting at a London conference seeking to boost pressure on Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi and discuss Libya’s future, agreed to set up a group to coordinate all international efforts in the troubled north African country

* U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the opening of international talks in London urged western powers to increase pressure on Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi

* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted the resignation of Mohammed Naji al-Otari’s government, national media reported

* A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit northern Japan, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK said citing local meteorologists

RUSSIA

* People who personally knew Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov’s fighters examined the bodies of militants killed in a special operation but did not identify Umarov among them, a high-ranking law enforcement source said

* The development of online social networking and social media is a goal for all Russian ministers and governors, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russia’s NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin reiterated calls made by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for coalition forces involved in a military operation in Libya to operate strictly within the UN mandate

* Russian investigators accused Chechen militant leaders Doku Umarov and Aslan Byutukayev of organizing January’s deadly blast at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport

BUSINESS

* Mechel, Russia’s leading producer of coal for the steelmaking industry, is in talks over the purchase of the Siberia-based Raspadskaya coal company but is only prepared to pay a third of the sum requested by Raspadskaya shareholders, sources familiar with the negotiations said

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