Main News of March 13

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* Cancelling a contract with Russia state arms exporter Rosoboronexport on the delivery of military helicopters would put the U.S. program of sustaining security in Afghanistan at risk, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said during a briefing

* The United States does not take seriously a desicion by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hold parliamentary elections in the country hit by flagrant violence, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said

* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said parliamentary elections in Syria will take place on May 7, Al Jazeera reported

* Qatar’s calls for a military solution to the Syrian crisis go against the principles of peaceful settlement agreed by Russia and the Arab League, the Russian Foreign Minister said

* A number of countries, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are supporting militant groups in Syria and bear responsibility for the bloodshed in the country, Sana news agency reported citing Minister of Information Adnan Mahmoud

RUSSIA

* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin dismissed concerns voiced by Russian internet users over the creation of a transit hub for NATO’s Afghan cargo in the Russian Volga city of Ulyanovsk

* Russian State Duma lawmakers agreed to create a working group to investigate reports of violations in the December 2011 parliamentary polls, one of its members, Vladimir Pligin, said

* Russia has no plans to resume the sale of S-300 air defense systems to Iran, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said

BUSINESS

* The European Union, the U.S. and Japan have filed a joint complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China's export restrictions on rare earth metals, the European Commission said

SPORTS

* Prince Albert II of Monaco has asked Fyodor Emelianenko to go hunting with him this summer because his wife admires the Russian cage fighter, Emelianenko's promoter Vadim Finkelshtein

* Nadia Petrova is applying for U.S. citizenship, the tennis.com site quoted the Russian star as saying

* Maria Sharapova led three Russians into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, with a straight-sets defeat of Simona Halep