RUSSIA
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he is against any ideological censorship, but considers the protection of children from harmful information a key task for the government.
* NATO’s plans to retain military bases in Afghanistan after its combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014 are “controversial,” Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said.
* Three members of art collective Pussy Riot convicted over a “punk prayer” at a church should have been given a suspended sentence, not a real jail term, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.
* Self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky denied allegations voiced on a Kremlin-run television channel that he had financed anti-Putin punks Pussy Riot.
* Russia’s space agency Roscosmos is planning to develop a system to remove hazardous debris from orbit, the agency’s Deputy Chief Sergei Savelyev said.
* A new report analyzing education systems worldwide put Russia at the top of the list of the world’s most educated countries.
* Two Russian Tu-95MS Bear-H strategic bombers have successfully completed a routine patrol mission over the Barents, North and Norwegian seas, the Defense Ministry said.
* A Moscow magistrate court suspended the driver’s license of an Orthodox priest, who had caused a road accident and refused to submit to a breathalyzer test.
WORLD
* The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, officials said.
* British Prime Minister David Cameron made an official apology for the police errors and subsequent cover-ups over the 1989 Hillsborough disaster that killed 96 supporters and injured hundreds more.
* More than 300 people died in devastating fires that swept through factories in Pakistan’s two largest towns, local media reported.
* A Japanese cargo freighter undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) successfully ending its resupply mission, a spokesman for Russian Mission Control said.
BUSINESS
* Russia will harvest no more than 75 million tons of grain in the current agricultural year, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said in the State Duma.
* Russia expects the European Union to prioritize mutual interests while investigating the suspected violations of anti-monopoly rules by the gas giant Gazprom, a deputy foreign minister said.
* Apple Inc. introduced the newest addition to its popular iPhone family, featuring a larger display and support of higher-speed LTE networks.
SPORTS
* Russia international Alexander Kokorin will be out of action for the next ten days after suffering a thigh injury during the World Cup qualifier against Israel.