Main News of January 24

WORLD

* Ukraine’s opposition held fast to its positions overnight, refusing the terms offered by the government during four-hour negotiations aimed at seeking a way out of the deepening political crisis gripping the former Soviet nation

* In a bid to ease growing tensions in the country, Ukraine’s president announced that the country’s parliament would next week consider pardoning detained political activists and reshuffling the government’s top ministers

* Angry mobs stormed and seized provincial governors’ offices in western Ukraine as unrest spread across the country, prompting calls for a state of emergency to be declared

* A policeman died in an explosion near the Russian Culture Center in Cairo, one of four deadly attacks in the Egyptian capital that killed six people and injured scores of others, international media reported, citing security officials

RUSSIA

* An associate of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky left a northern Russian jail following a court’s decision to reduce his sentence to time served, the local penitentiary authority said

* A Russian carrier group that entered the Mediterranean earlier this month has begun a series of naval aviation exercises, a navy spokesman said

* Relatives of six Russian hockey players killed in a 2011 plane crash are seeking 105 million rubles ($3 million) in compensation for moral and financial damages, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said

* The refit of one of Russia’s four heavy nuclear-powered missile cruisers has begun after years of delays, the country’s largest shipbuilder said

BUSINESS

* The Russia ruble hit a historical record low, dropping to 47.32 rubles per euro at tomorrow settlement date on the Moscow stock exchange

* Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte, said he had sold his stake in the immensely popular social-networking website that has often been dubbed “Russia’s Facebook”

* Ukraine owes Russia $2.7 billion for supplies of natural gas last year and payment is due by January 25, Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom said

SPORTS

* Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko seemed to prepare the host nation for failure at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, saying that “any result” would be acceptable