Russia's upper house of parliament will support Crimea's decision if the Ukrainian region decides in a referendum to join Russia, RIA Novosti cited the head of the Federation Council as saying. "If the people of Crimea take the decision in the referendum to join Russia, we, as the upper house (of parliament), will of course support such a decision," Valentina Matviyenko, head of the Russian Federation Council, was quoted as saying. The Crimean parliament decided to hold a referendum on whether the region should join Russia on March 16. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/96067.aspx