WORLD
* U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in February despite China"s warnings, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced during a press briefing
* From two to six people were killed and up to 20 wounded in a car bombing in downtown Kandahar on Thursday, according to reports at the administrative center of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan
* A contract on the delivery of advanced S-300 air defense systems to Iran has been stagnated by technical reasons, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is facing a presidential runoff on Sunday against frontrunner Viktor Yanukovych, threatened on Thursday to replay the "orange revolution" over presidential election amendments
* Iran has no plans to develop nuclear weapons because the country is strong enough to protect its interests without them, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said