News of the Day, 12:00 Moscow time

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for talks to focus on energy, the global financial crisis, and Russia-EU ties

* Over 1.5 million crimes remained unsolved in Russia in 2008, and investigators should improve their clear-up rate, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* The Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk and Kazan, the capital of the Volga Republic of Tatarstan, are being considered as potential host cities for this year's Russia-EU summit, an aide to the Russian president, Sergei Prikhodko, said

* Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov dismissed media reports that his country had received a set of new proposals from Washington concerning the closure of a U.S. airbase on its territory

* Russia's Progress M-01M cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station and will become a temporary space lab before being "buried" in the Pacific Ocean, Mission Control said.

* The South Korean companies Kores and LG plan to participate in coal and iron ore mining projects in the Russian republic of Yakutia, a spokesman for the northeastern Siberian republic said

* Inflation in Kazakhstan could reach 11% in 2009, the head of the country's national bank said

* Monthly car sales in China hit 790,000 vehicles in January, making the country the world's largest automobile market, the China Daily said, citing analysts

* Russia's two main stock exchanges, MICEX and the RTS, opened with their key indexes going up