WORLD
*The relatives of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in 2006 in London, have called for a substantial probe into his death, BBC reported
*Up to 30,000 Ukrainian nationalists and communists will march in Kiev on Friday in two opposing rallies for and against the recognition of WWII-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army members as fighters for Ukrainian independence, Kiev police said
*London plans to work with the EU, the United States and Saudi Arabia on weighing its response to an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in Washington, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said
*Protesters in southern India have prevented several thousand engineers and workers from continuing construction work on a nuclear plant that is being built with Russia’s help, local police told RIA Novosti
*The Ukrainian security service (SBU) launched a new criminal case against Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday, accusing her of attempting to embezzle $405 million during the 1990s, an SBU official said
*Rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas have agreed to hold a meeting to discuss how a reconciliation deal between them is being implemented, a senior Fatah member said
*Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves canceled a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko for technical reasons, a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official said
*Thirty-eight people died when a bus went off the road and crashed into the Sun Khosi river in eastern Nepal on Thursday, NepalNews.com reported
RUSSIA
*Russia and the European Union should find a compromise on payments for aircraft pollution, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said
*A veteran Russian rock singer has made a hit in the blogosphere with a scathing song mocking Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
*Russia has said it is concerned over new EU sanctions against Iran and Belarus