Main News of February 2

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a new government

* A UN Security Council resolution is necessary to end the 22-month-long civil conflict in Syria, the UN and Arab League special representative for Syria said

* Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to reopen a border crossing point after several weeks of closure amid civil unrest in northern Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyzstan Border Guard Service said

* One person was killed and 32 injured in protests that broke out late on Friday outside the presidential palace in Cairo, the deputy head of Egypt's ambulance service said

RUSSIA

* Russia hopes the United States will take no more steps that would affect bilateral relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden in Munich

* Moscow still hopes the Syrian opposition will start negotiations with the national government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after a meeting with opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich

* The ongoing occupation of Georgian territory by Russia is an impediment to full-fledged diplomatic ties between the two countries, as well as a threat to national and European security, Georgian Foreign Minister Maya Pandzhikidze said