News of the Day, 18:00 Moscow time

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow was ready to cooperate with NATO over Afghanistan

* The Russian Navy rejected media reports that the Baltic Fleet's Neustrashimy missile frigate is in an unsatisfactory technical condition, a Navy spokesman said

* Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev continued his Cabinet reshuffle, removing the first deputy prime minister and two ministers, a presidential spokesman said

* Muscovites paid tribute to lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were both gunned down in Moscow this week

* A man was detained in connection with the deaths of two children and an adult during a knife attack at a daycare center in the northwest Belgian town of Dendermonde, police said

* Chinese leader Hu Jintau sent a letter to his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, inviting him to visit China, the Xinhua news agency reported

* Ukraine and Russia will hold a further round of talks on demarcating maritime boundaries between the two countries in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in Moscow in June, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

* Gazprom plans to sell $9.5 billion worth of gas to Ukraine in 2009, a senior official at the Russian gas monopoly said