WORLD
RUSSIA
* A criminal case was opened against Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov's deputy Alexander Ryabinin on suspicion of extortion, the Russian Investigative Committee said
* Russia's drug control chief, Viktor Ivanov, will announce new proposals for eliminating the narcotics threat from Afghanistan at the Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels, a law enforcement source said
* Russians will be able to take part in writing a new law on police reform, the Russian Interior Minister said
* The lower house of the Russian parliament passed a bill to ban holding suspects of economic crimes in pretrial detention
EX-SOVIET STATES
* Ukraine may receive a $6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2010, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister on Economic Issues Sergei Tigipko said
* Peacekeepers from Russia, Moldova and Transdnestr will practice interoperability during joint exercises on March 24-25, the head of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Transdnestr said
* Ukraine's new Prime Minister Mykola Azarov will try to persuade his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to review Russian gas prices for Ukraine during a meeting in Moscow on Thursday
