Main News of January 22

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Russia, the United States and the UN are devising a plan for a prisoner swap between the two sides in war-torn Syria, Russia’s foreign minister said

* Authorities in Ukraine deployed an armored personnel carrier and masses of riot police in their latest push to sweep the center of the capital of anti-government protesters

RUSSIA

* President Vladimir Putin said that there are too many banks in Russia, Prime business news agency reported

* The Russian State Duma passed a bill imposing tougher penalties for extremism-related crime

* Russia’s population showed natural growth of 22,650 people last year despite a declining birthrate, the country’s health minister said

* Two miners died and two others were injured when methane exploded in a coalmine in Siberia’s Kuzbass district, a law-enforcement source said

SPORTS

* A senior US congressman lauded the scope of the Russian government’s security measures for next month’s Winter Olympics but said the risk of a possible lone attacker remains a concern

* Olympic committees in Hungary and Slovenia have received terrorist threats against their athletes ahead of Russia’s Sochi Winter Games next month and have heard of similar threats to other countries, Reuters reported