Main news of March 31

RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that his country intends to build new dialogue with NATO

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that global financial institutions need to be reformed to meet modern challenges, and that a new international currency system should be developed

* Four key Russian generals have been discharged from the Armed Forces, but will continue working in the Defense Ministry as 'civil servants,' the General Staff said

* A Moscow court rejected on Tuesday jailed ex-tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky's request that state oil company Rosneft be removed from a list of complainants in the second trial against him

* A 105-day experiment to simulate a flight to Mars started on Tuesday at the Institute of Medical and Biological Studies in Moscow

* Gazprom has asked the European Union to delve into the causes of January's gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine that left millions of EU consumers short of gas, a company executive said

* Gazprom has lowered its 2009 gas export forecast from 170 billion to 140 billion cubic meters with an average price of $260 per 1,000 cubic meters, the company's deputy chairman said

* Sulim Yamadayev, the former commander of the Chechen Vostok battalion, has been confirmed dead, a source in the Dubai police headquarters told RIA Novosti

WORLD

* The European Union and Ukraine must work with Russia in modernizing the Ukrainian natural gas pipeline network, the German chancellor said

* The murder of Sulim Yamadayev, the former military commander of Chechnya's Vostok battalion, was organized by a criminal group, the Dubai police chief said

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Tuesday she wants to cooperate with President Viktor Yushchenko, and denied she was in conflict with him

* An international conference devoted to the restoration of Afghanistan's economy and other aspects of peaceful life in the country opened in The Hague

* A U.S. missile frigate arrived in Georgia on Tuesday for an official visit that will include exercises with the Georgian navy and a number of cultural events, the Novosti-Georgia news agency said

* At least seven people have been arrested in Dubai in connection with the murder of Sulim Yamadayev, Russia's Consulate General told RIA Novosti

* At least 12 people were killed and another 39 injured when a bus overturned in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, the MENA news agency reported

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said that she wants to see friendly relations between Kiev and Moscow that take into account the national interests of both countries