• Syrian civil war: Rebels claim control of the strategic town of Maarrat al-Nu'man on the main road linking Damascus to Aleppo. (Al Jazeera)
• A Syrian passenger plane is forced by Turkish fighter jets to land in Ankara due to the allegations of carrying weapons. (BBC)

• BAE and EADS announce their merger talks are cancelled over political disagreements. (New York Times)

• A court in Moscow, Russia, frees one of the three Pussy Riot members at an appeal hearing. (RIA Novosti)

• U.S. President Obama nominates general John R. Allen for the SACEUR function. General Joseph Dunford would succeed Allen as ISAF commander in Afghanistan. (CNN)

• Two American scientists, Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka, win the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on discovering the inner workings of G protein-coupled receptors. (Reuters)
• ESO astronomers discover an unexpected spiral structure around carbon star R Sculptoris. (Red Orbit)

• Pope Benedict XVI adds Arabic to weekly Vatican address in front of pilgrims. (BBC)

• The USADA details witness-based doping claims against Lance Armstrong in its long-due report to the UCI. George Hincapie admits doping use over part of his career. (Los Angeles Times)