MOSCOW (AFP) - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived Tuesday in Damascus with the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Russian foreign ministry said.

BEIRUT (AFP) - The Syrian opposition on Tuesday urged businessmen across the strife-torn country and throughout the Arab world to fund rebel forces seeking the overthrow of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

MALE, Maldives (AFP) - The president of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed announced his resignation Tuesday during a televised press conference after a mutiny by the police and weeks of demonstrations.

PARIS (AFP) - France suffered a record trade deficit of 69.59 billion euros ($91.4 billion) last year, up sharply from the 2010 deficit of 51.52 billion euros, the customs service reported on Tuesday.

MADRID (AFP) - Santander, the biggest eurozone bank by market capitalisation, said Tuesday that it would book an extra 2.3 billion euros ($3.0 billion) in provisions against risky investments this year.