Main news of March 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

RUSSIA

* The Russian Supreme Court ruled to shorten the prison terms of the two men convicted of the 1999 terrorist attacks on the Okhotny Ryad shopping mall and Intourist Hotel in Moscow.

* Passengers and employees of two railway stations in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg were evacuated over a bomb threat

* The female suicide bomber who set off a bomb at Park Kultury metro station on March 29 has been identified as a resident of Dagestan, a source of the Russian security service in the North Caucasus Federal District said

* Russian businessmen have a responsibility to help improve the economic and social situation in the country's volatile North Caucasus region, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained suspects in connection with recent bomb attacks and identified their organizers, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov said

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Russia's North Caucasus republic to discuss the security situation in the region following the recent terrorist attacks

* Eleven men from Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia have been charged with involvement in the November 2009 deadly bombing of a high-speed Moscow-St. Petersburg train, Kommersant said

* An eighty-two year old Russian human rights activist was attacked while paying tribute to the people who died in the Moscow metro bombings

* Three days after the deadly twin bombings in the Moscow metro, a total of 88 people remain in the city's hospitals, an emergencies service source said

WORLD

* Ukraine needs economic integration with Russia, if it wants to secure lower prices of Russian natural gas, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said

* Ukraine needs at least $3.7 billion this year to prepare the country for Euro 2012, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said

* Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov held meetings with the Ukrainian leadership in Kiev as both countries seek to improve relations, the Russian embassy in Ukraine said

* The nuclear security summit to be held in Washington in mid-April will focus mainly on the vulnerability of nuclear materials

* Russia and Venezuela signed a deal to jointly develop the Junin 6 oil field in the Latin American state, the Venezuelan Energy Ministry said in a statement

*China has agreed to start "serious" talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program, U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said

* The U.S. has reiterated its concerns over Venezuelan arms purchases from Russia, the U.S. State Department said

BUSINESS

* Russian businessmen have a responsibility to help improve the economic and social situation in the country's volatile North Caucasus region, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said

* Russia's answer to Silicon Valley, being created from scratch near Moscow, should be given tax breaks for at least five years, the Russian billionaire coordinating the project Viktor Vekselberg said 

SPORTS

* Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow fans have agreed to stay silent for the first 10 minutes of their derby clash on Sunday as a mark of respect for the 39 people who died in the twin suicide bombings on the city's metro system

* CSKA Moscow lost 0:1 to Inter Milan in Italy in a Champions League quarter final first-leg