WORLD
* France may suspend its commitments under the Schengen agreement on border-free travel in the EU due to an influx of refugees from Tunisia and Libya, French media said
* Russia will not permit the first U.S. commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) unless its safety is fully tested, a high-ranking Russian space official said
* UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stressed the need to comply with UN mandates in international operations involving the use of military force
* The U.S. Administration is working intensively to increase transparency on tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe and secure an agreement with Russia on the reduction of such weapons, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller has said
* U.S. President Barack Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drones against troops loyal to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said
RUSSIA
* UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he welcomed the firing of a Russian migration service official over his racial remarks.
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for a bill on how to consider corruption complaints but warned against going to extremes and paralyzing the work of other officials
* Legislators in Russia’s lower house of parliament have prepared a draft law that they hope will reduce the more than 1 million abortions performed in the country each year, a senior lawmaker said
* Russia’s Progress M-09M cargo spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station (ISS) to be buried in the Pacific after conducting a five-day scientific mission, a Mission Control spokesman said
BUSINESS
* Russia will not permit the first U.S. commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) unless its safety is fully tested, a high-ranking Russian space official said
* Russian national development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) will open a 39 billion ruble ($1.4 billion) credit line for a joint venture between Ford and local car maker Sollers, VEB head Vladimir Dmitriyev said
* Russian mid-sized oil firm Bashneft’s fourth quarter 2010 net profit soared 106 percent compared to the previous quarter to $570 million to IFRS, the company said