Main News of March 17

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The Crimean parliament declared the region’s independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of Russia after a referendum Sunday showed overwhelming support for Moscow

* The US and EU imposed sanctions on senior Russian officials following a referendum in Ukraine's autonomous republic of Crimea on Sunday in which voters overwhelmingly supported secession and reunification with Russia

* Ukraine’s Parliament voted to partially mobilize the country’s military reserves amid a tense standoff with Russia following a popular vote in Crimea to secede and join Russia on Sunday, the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency reported

RUSSIA

* Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to recognize Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea as an independent state, the Kremlin press service said

* Leaders of all four factions in the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, jointly submitted a draft statement on Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea

* Russia will allow Ukrainian military inspectors to carry out an emergency monitoring flight over Russian territory in line with the 2011 Vienna Document on confidence and security-building measures, the Defense Ministry said

* Russian President Vladimir Putin received the country's victorious Paralympians in Sochi, thanking them for their contribution to the host nation's record-breaking success