Main news of March 8

RUSSIA

* Russia moved to the quarterfinals of the men's Davis Cup after beating Romania

* Russia's Alexander Legkov won the 15km freestyle race at the cross-country World Ski Cup competition in Lahti, Finland

WORLD

* The United States will cut the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by about 12,000 by September, British TV channel Sky News said, referring to the U.S. military

* North Koreans were electing lawmakers to the country's parliament in an election that could provide a clue to who will be the country's next leader, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported

* The Israeli police announced it had crushed an international criminal network involved in recruiting thousands of women from former Soviet republics for prostitution abroad

* Iranian police killed six drug traffickers and seized five tons of opium in a special operation in the country's east, the Iranian media reported

* A roadside bomb killed one and wounded two more soldiers from the NATO-led force in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said

* One child was killed and another wounded as NATO-led coalition forces opened mortar fire, battling Taliban militants in the Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said