WORLD
* The Occupy Wall Street protests in the U.S. express the frustrations of the American public, U.S. President Barack Obama said
* Apple founder and ex-CEO Steve Jobs died at the age of 56, Apple said on its website
* Ukraine is ready to contribute to the creation of the European missile shield if the program is developed in cooperation with Russia, Ukrainian envoy to NATO Igor Dolgov said
* The Syrian Foreign Ministry denied media allegations that President Bashar Assad was threatening Israel with airstrikes should Western powers launch a military campaign against him
* Fugitive Libyan leader Muammar urged Libyans to protest “in millions” against the country’s new authorities and NATO’s military intervention, international media reported, quoting Gaddafi’s audio message broadcast on Syrian television
* The Ukrainian parliament passed a bill that reduces sentences for a number of economic crimes, but rejected amendments that would have allowed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to avoid prison
* Swedish-born poet Tomas Transtromer, 80, has won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy said
* Australian air carrier, Qantas signed a deal with Airbus on buying 110 A320 Airbus planes for $9.5 billion, aircraft manufacturer said
RUSSIA
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ratified agreements concluded last year with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, under which Moscow will set up military bases in the breakaway republics
* Russia intends to continue its policy of full support for Abkhazia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said
* Russia does need economic and political changes but they will be evolutionary, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered his condolences to relatives and fans of Silicon valley guru Steve Jobs, who died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday at the age of 56
* Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky told a British court that he had become one of the most politically-influential oligarchs in Russia in 1990s thanks to his power of persuasion
* Russian authorities are quite optimistic about the country’s economic outlook despite current global market uncertainties. But foreign investors say the volatility negatively affects Russia’s export-oriented economy
* A Russian vessel detained in Yemeni territorial waters in the Red Sea on Tuesday has been released, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said
* Russia will oppose attempts by some Western countries to use the UN Security Council to legitimize one-sided sanctions against ‘undesirable’ regimes, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said
* A senior Russian politician has called for physical castration as punishment for child sex offenders
* Investigators offered former Yukos oil company Executive Vice President Vasily Aleksanyan medical treatment in exchange for testimony against his bosses, ex-Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky said
* The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a rule that prevents athletes who have served out lengthy doping bans from competing in the next Olympics
* Russia’s new Severodvinsk nuclear-powered attack submarine has successfully completed initial sea trials by builder Sevmash, a Russian shipyard said
* The U.S. Intelsat 18 telecommunications satellite was put into orbit, a spokesman for Russian space agency Roscosmos said.