Main news of March 15

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

*The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will allocate 28 billion euro (about $36.7 billion) to support Greece’s economic program over the next four years, the IMF said

*European Council Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland has condemned Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko's refusal to pardon two men sentenced to death over a subway bombing last year, the organization said in a communiqué

*A Latvian city court on Thursday overturned the national parliament’s ban on a controversial March 16 commemoration of Latvian troops who fought on the German side in World War II

*Turkey is considering the creation of a buffer zone at the Syrian border to support refugees fleeing the conflict-stricken country, Turkish deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told the NTV channel

 

RUSSIA

*Russia’s new state arms procurement program through to 2025 will be developed by 2015, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Maj. Gen. Igor Sheremet said

*A Moscow court sentenced entrepreneur Alexei Kozlov, whose case was championed by protesters at recent opposition rallies, to five years in prison for fraud

*The European Parliament on Thursday issued a resolution calling on Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin to soften his rhetoric against protesters and engage in "sincere dialogue" with them

*More Russians than ever support Iran in its standoff with the United States, though most of the populace is against the country taking sides in international disputes, according to a new poll by state-run VTsIOM