Russian parliament sets March 18 as presidential election date

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The upper house of the Russian parliament voted on Friday to set March 18 as the date of next year's presidential election. The decision was approved by the Russian senators unanimously, speaker Valentina Matvienko said after the vote. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)