Main News of January 28

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced his resignation in what he said was a bid to quell the deepening political crisis created by protests in the former Soviet nation

* Ukraine’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to overturn draconian anti-protest laws it approved only days earlier amid much international criticism

RUSSIA

* Moscow wants to establish a free-trade zone between the European Union and the Russian-led economic union of former Soviet states, Russian President Vladimir Putin said

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country will stick to its commitments to lend debt-strapped Ukraine $15 billion and reduce natural gas prices even if Ukraine’s new Cabinet of ministers is filled with opposition politicians

* Bangladesh ordered 24 Russian Yak-130 light fighter jets worth $800 million in the final quarter of last year, a Russian newspaper reported

* Russia’s Roscosmos space agency is to seek government approval to build the world’s largest rocket, its head said

* The Russian segment of the International Space Station could live on as a separate facility after the project’s conclusion, the head of the company that oversees the country’s participation said

* Russia’s flamboyant children’s rights ombudsman faced fresh accusations of plagiarism after a study found that a third of his doctoral dissertation amounted to “incorrect borrowings”

BUSINESS

* The Russian ruble and other emerging market currencies are weakening because of the growing strength of the dollar and the euro, the head of Russia’s central bank said

* A large Russian bank now under state control has agreed to pay a $9.5 million fine to US regulators for violating financial sanctions on Iran, the US Treasury said