Main news of March 13

RUSSIA

* A man who had been holding several people hostage in a bank in southwest Siberia on Friday was shot dead in a police operation, and no hostages are injured, the Kemerovo Region administration said

* Five people were killed on Friday when a truck crashed into a car to the south of Moscow, emergency services said

* An armed man took five people hostage on Friday afternoon at a bank in the city of Leninsk-Kuznetsky in southwest Siberia, a spokesman for the local administration said

* Many of the Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter planes grounded after last December's crash have shown signs of metal corrosion, a military official said

* Russia has officially submitted bids to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, the head of the Russian Football Union (RFU) said

* Mikhail Khodorkovsky has asked a court to impound the assets of the defunct oil company Yukos, the jailed tycoon's lawyer said

* Russia's WBA Heavyweight World Champion Nikolai Valuev has begun practicing for a bout with champion in recess Ruslan Chagaev of Uzbekistan, Valuev's manager said

* North Korea's announced launch of a long-range rocket may complicate the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and hamper the six-party talks on the country's controversial nuclear program, a senior Russian senator said

* Russia's Maria Sharapova returned to competitive tennis after months out with a shoulder injury to lose in doubles at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, U.S.

WORLD

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that pressure from Western powers trying to keep Iran in economic isolation have in fact spurred the country to become a space and nuclear power

* Russia's NATO envoy accused the Western alliance on Friday of trying to take on a global role, competing with the United Nations

* The president of Turkmenistan told his government on Friday that the country must strengthen ties with Russia, which he called a strategic partner

* At least 40 shops and several cars were damaged in Friday's riots in the Athens, local police said

* Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 countries gather in Britain on Friday for a two-day meeting to prepare for a summit of G20 leaders next month

* At least one person has died and at least 17 were injured on Friday in a blaze that broke out in a popular shopping center in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, according to local media reports

* Japan is ready to intercept a North Korean rocket if it appears to threaten the country's security, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said

* China will continue to talk with representatives of the Dalai Lama, if the Tibetan spiritual leader puts an end to what China sees as separatist activity, Premier Wen Jiabao said

* Two buses and over 50 cars carrying a total of 83 people were caught late Thursday in a heavy snowfall in eastern Kazakhstan, local emergencies services said