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Main News of March 25

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A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours 25.03.2013, Sputnik International

2013-03-25T20:00+0000

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Main News of March 25

20:00 GMT 25.03.2013

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* French military may evacuate Russian nationals if necessary from the Central African Republic (CAR) after rebel forces seized the republic’s capital of Bangui on Sunday, Russia’s Kommersant daily reported

* Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in central Paris on Sunday protesting against a draft law that allows same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, BBC reported

* The finance ministers of the 17-nation eurozone agreed in the early hours of Monday on a 10 billion euros bailout deal for Cyprus to prevent the country’s banking system from collapsing and bankruptcy

* A fishing vessel carrying 95 people, who intended to find asylum in Australia, capsized some 14 nautical miles (26 km) to the northwest of Christmas Island, ABC website reported

* The Cypriot authorities’ plans to force losses on local account holders to unlock a much-needed bailout from international lenders breach international accords and will be challenged in court, the head of the Association of Russian Businessmen in Cyprus said

* The Moscow offices of Amnesty International were searched on Monday in the latest episode of what government critics say is a sustained pressure campaign against rights organizations

* Lawmakers in Georgia approved changes to the Constitution on Monday that will reduce President Mikheil Saakashvili’s authority and tip the balance of power to the prime minister

* Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates has set his sights and his vast wealth on a new way to improve the world, offering up to $1 million to anyone who can invent a better condom

* Ukraine deployed an army of workers and vehicles on Monday to clear snow and assist thousands of people trapped after being stunned by some of the worst weather in living memory

* Customs officers in Belarus said on Monday that they intercepted a major haul of heroin heading into neighboring Lithuania over the weekend

* The United Nations said that it is withdrawing staff from Syria over security conditions after mortar shells fell near a hotel housing its employees

* The United States has been assisting Turkey and Arab nations boost their arms deliveries to Syrian rebels in recent months as the armed opposition attempts to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, The New York Times reported

RUSSIA

* Russia will consider restructuring its multibillion euro loan to Cyprus, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Monday, possibly giving the nation more breathing room hours after it secured a eurozone bailout

* Russian military inspectors will make surveillance flights over the territories of Croatia and Slovenia countries under the international Open Skies Treaty beginning on Monday, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said

* A senior Russian official said Monday that Moscow will unveil its own list of alleged US rights violators should Washington proceed with moves to penalize a range of Russian officials

* Russian prosecutors said Monday they are looking into the alleged expulsion of a female student from a Siberian university over her hijab

* Russia wants its own experts to join the team that will investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons during fighting between rebels and government forces in Syria, Russia’s senior diplomat said

* Military prosecutors are investigating the suspected embezzlement of over 30 million rubles (about $1 million) at the Space Defense Forces (SDF), the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office said

* Moscow police have detained a college teacher who had a large amount of radioactive substances in his home, the Interior Ministry said

* Russian prosecutors will continue legal efforts to bring back to Russia assets criminally acquired by Boris Berezovsky and legalized abroad, Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev said

* Russian lawmakers were urged on Monday to smarten up their act and avoid wearing jeans and T-shirts while working parliament

* The first in-flight tests of the domestically designed PD-14 engine for Russia’s MS-21 passenger planes are scheduled for 2014, the United Engine-Building Corporation (UEC) said

* Russia wants to resume regular consultations with the United States on a range of security issues, including missile defense, a top military official said

* Russia registered more than 69,000 new cases of HIV last year, the country’s top public health official said on Monday, signalling that there has been no letdown in the rising spread of the virus

* Shares in Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel and steel maker Evraz plunged to a four-month low in Monday afternoon trading in Moscow and London on rumors that tycoon Roman Abramovich had been detained in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

* Cold weather in Russia has delayed the annual northward migration of birds, the Russian Bird Conservation Union said

* A police chief in the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan has been suspended over alleged involvement in the killing of a local lawmaker, the Interior Ministry said

* Authorities in Russia are investigating the suspected embezzlement of more than 8 million rubles ($260,000) at a state-owned defense firm, the Federal Security Service said