Main news of March 1

RUSSIA

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is beginning a state visit to Spain at the invitation of King Juan Carlos I

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev:

- said he hoped to discuss U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield system in Central Europe with U.S. President Barack Obama at a G20 summit in London

- suggested that European financial institutions should create a pool to help Ukraine pay for natural gas supplies, saying that Russia was ready to participate in this process

* Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev who traveled to the southern Italian city of Bari received a symbolic key to Italy's Russian Orthodox Church from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano

* Russia held local legislature and mayoral elections across the country on the single day of voting

* Police seized over 12 kilograms of heroin in the Chelyabinsk Region in the Urals, a police spokesman said

* Russia's Yevgeniya Kanaeva took gold in all the four rhythmic gymnastics individual events at the Grand Prix competition in Moscow

WORLD

* China's first lunar probe ended its 16-month mission with a planned crash into the moon's surface, the official news agency Xinhua reported