A team from Finland won the sauna championship held in the Finnish city of Heinola, according to the London Times. Participants of the annual international competition were asked to spend as much time as possible in a steam room heated to 43 degrees Celsius. This year, the temperature offered to the participants is 17 degrees higher than at the last year's championship. The men's champion was 54-year-old Leo Pusa, who managed to endure 12 minutes and 10 seconds in the sauna.

As part of the Bush administration's new anti-terror plan, the Pentagon will enter into agreements with several countries under which the US military will be able to freely conduct anti-terrorism operations in their territories. It is reported by UPI. The Pentagon believes that such missions should be recognized as military operations and therefore should not be limited by civil laws.

The Russian Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Georgian side with a proposal to conduct a joint investigation into the illegal crossing of the Russian-Georgian border by a group of armed militants from Chechnya, RIA Novosti reports. The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the Russian side "also insists on taking the necessary steps for the speedy extradition of the detained citizens of the Russian Federation."

On Sunday, units of the Israel Defense Forces blew up 9 houses of Palestinian militants in the West Bank of the Jordan, AP reported. The IDF said in a statement that these were the homes of "those who committed or planned terrorist acts against Israeli citizens."

A box with wires and a note "Death to Jews and Caucasians" was found on Sunday evening on Kantemirovskaya Street, NTVRU reports. As MK-Novosti was informed on Monday at the police department of the capital, the box was found at 19.20 in the elevator of a residential building. At 19.50, the residents of the entrance were evacuated, the elevator cabin was blocked on the 1st floor, a suspicious object was examined by a cynologist.

The Tagansky Intermunicipal Court of Moscow will start considering a civil lawsuit filed by Vladimir Sorokin and the Ad Marginem publishing house on copyright infringement against the Walking Together movement on the merits on October 1. According to Interfax, this decision was made at the preliminary hearings of the parties on Monday, August 5.

On Monday, the US consulate in Karachi suspended operations due to security concerns, diplomatic sources told CNN. Consulate officials were told to go home and await further instructions. The exact reasons for the closure of the diplomatic mission are not indicated. Earlier, Al-Qaeda representatives announced their intention to carry out a series of terrorist attacks against the interests of the United States and Israel in August 2002.

Israel will not conduct a military action in response to a series of terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinian militants on Sunday, August 4. This was reported to the newspaper Ha'aretz by a source in the Israeli security services. This decision was made at a meeting attended by Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and senior officials of the IDF. Instead of military operations, Israel will focus on a policy of containment towards terrorists.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze promised to achieve a radical change for the better in the situation in the Pankisi Gorge within one to one and a half months, Interfax reports. "There will be a radical change in the resolution of the Pankisi problem, and the local population will be able to live in peace," Shevardnadze said at a press conference in Tbilisi.

The annual Garlic Festival will soon take place in Romania. By this date, one of the Romanian companies timed the release of an unusual variety of ice cream. The new delicacy smells like garlic. According to Ananova, the Romanians will not be limited to this invention. They will tape the Garlic Hymn and hold a Mr. and Mrs. Garlic contest.

On July 27, Russian border guards destroyed in the gorge Kerigo (Itum-Kalinsky district of Chechnya) 22 militants from the gang that broke through from the territory of Georgia. This was reported to Interfax by Viktor Morozov, a spokesman for the North Caucasus Regional Directorate (SKRU) of the Federal Border Service of Russia. According to him, three more militants were taken prisoner. Reconnaissance and search operations in the area continue.

Russian military planes and helicopters did not violate the airspace of Georgia and did not inflict strikes on its territory neither on Saturday nor Sunday. This was reported to Interfax at the headquarters of the United Forces in the North Caucasus. Aviation of the federal forces did not carry out flights of Su-24 and Su-25 aircraft over the past day, the headquarters reported.

British mobile communications giant Vodafone has apologized for the scandalous behavior of athletes who tried to better advertise its services, according to Reuters. Vodafone is a sponsor of the Australian rugby team Australian Wallabies. On the eve of this team's entry into the field, one of the rugby players called the Vodafone office and offered to arrange some kind of scandalous publicity stunt. He declined to elaborate on details. Entrepreneurs gave the go-ahead.

The Ministry of State Security of Georgia has established the identity of seven armed Chechens who entered the territory of the republic on August 3, RIA Novosti reports. Their names are: Khamzat Molidovich Isaev, Ruslan Isaevich Tilsaev, Rizvan Vakhidovich Visitov, Khusein Khamidovich Khadzhiev, Kheyzur Ayyupovich Geisarov, Khusein Mukheidovich Abiyev and Abdukhan Akhmedovich Shamaev.

The press service of the North Caucasus Regional Directorate of the Federal Border Guard Service of the Russian Federation reported on the complete liquidation of the remnants of a bandit formation that penetrated last week from the territory of Georgia into the Itum-Kalinsky district of the Chechen Republic.