The Israeli military shot and killed a cameraman for an AP television news program in Nablus, AP reported, citing eyewitnesses to the incident. According to them, during the raid of the Israeli army in Nablus, Palestinian teenagers began to throw stones at the soldiers. Then the Israelis were fired upon by snipers. The soldiers started firing back. During the shootout, a 43-year-old Palestinian operator was killed. He died from a head wound. He left behind a wife and five children.

Jordanian customs officers found 42 paintings believed to be stolen from the National Museum of Iraq, AP reported. The paintings were seized earlier in the week at the al-Karameh customs post. They were taken with him from Iraq to Jordan by a certain journalist. The paintings were sent to the General Customs Office in Amman. A preliminary examination showed that the canvases could have been stolen from the Iraq Museum.

Another 37 children and two adults were sent to Volgograd hospitals with suspected gas poisoning after an accident at the Lukoil-Volgogradneftepererabotka oil refinery. According to ITAR-TASS with reference to the statement of the head of the city department of civil defense and emergency situations, Yuri Ratnikov, all those who applied for medical help have symptoms of gas poisoning. According to doctors, the condition of the hospitalized schoolchildren is of moderate and mild severity.

Azerbaijan will send 150 troops to Iraq, RIA Novosti reports. According to the head of the country's Defense Ministry, Safar Abiyev, Azerbaijani servicemen will guard sacred places for Muslims in Iraq. Abiyev also said that the United States sent a corresponding appeal to the Azerbaijani side. According to Abiyev, Azerbaijan will do its best to deploy soldiers in the cities of Mosul, Karbala and Kirkuk.

A complete rejection of conscription for military service will damage the country's security, says Marshal Dmitry Yazov. According to Interfax, he told reporters on Friday after the meeting of veteran military leaders with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. "One small contract army will not ensure the security of our country," former Defense Minister Marshal Dmitry Yazov stressed, answering the question of whether it is realistic to completely abandon the draft in the future.

The premiere of Alexander Sokurov's film "Russian Ark" took place in the capital's cinema center, RIA Novosti reports. This picture was taken with one camera and one shot and lasts for several hours. Filming took place in the Hermitage. The director conceived this picture as a reflection on the history of Russia, which, despite all the upheavals, managed to preserve its culture and preserve works of art.

On Saturday, the first congress of the Russian Party of Life opened in Moscow, Interfax reports. Instead of several co-chairmen who have led the party since its inception last year, one chairman was elected at today's congress. They became the speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov. The vote was secret, Mironov's candidacy was unanimously supported by all the congress delegates.

One of the leaders of the Iraqi chemical weapons program, Emad Husain Abdullah al-Ani, surrendered to US troops, AP reports. This scientist developed the VX nerve gas, one of the most formidable types of chemical weapons. In addition, according to US sources, al-Ani was linked to a chemical plant in Sudan, where al-Qaeda financed the production of VX components.

In the city of Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan, unknown persons beat up the editor of the local independent newspaper "Rabat" Maxim Erokhin, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Kazakh TV channel "Khabar". Maxim Erokhin was hospitalized with a concussion. According to the victim, he was attacked at the entrance of his house around midnight. Erokhin returned home. According to him, neither the motives of the attack nor the identity of the attackers are known to him.

Vladimir Putin appointed Alexander Burutin as an adviser to the President of Russia by his decree. As Interfax reports with reference to the press service of the head of state, Burutin will oversee the issues of the military-industrial complex and the state defense order. According to Ekho Moskvy, Burutin will also deal with the reform of the Armed Forces. This was reported to the radio station by a source in the General Staff.

Residents of the Tula region held an unusual protest on Saturday, TVS reports. They put their telephones in a specially rented coffin and, to the sounds of a funeral march, carried it to the office of the Tulatelecom company, where they were going to bury it. Since the police did not let them go there, they put the devices right at the feet of the policemen. The reason for this action was the introduction of time-based charges for local calls.

The American aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt entered the Slovenian port of Kopar on Saturday, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Beta news agency. According to the agency, the Slovenian Ministry of Defense gave permission for the ship to enter the Kopar Bay. The Foreign Ministry emphasizes that the aircraft carrier will simply replenish food and water supplies. The aircraft carrier arrived from the Mediterranean after participating in a military operation against Iraq.

An explosion occurred at the Dubendi oil transshipment terminal in the suburbs of Baku, RIA Novosti reports. One worker was killed and another was injured. According to official reports, the cause of the explosion was repair and welding work, which at that moment was being carried out at the terminal. An investigation into the circumstances of the accident began. According to preliminary versions, the terminal exploded due to a violation of safety regulations.

A BMW car was blown up in the Moscow region on Saturday, Interfax reports. The explosion occurred at about 12 noon in the city of Korolev, Moscow Region. The driver of the car died. According to the agency's source in the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Moscow Region, the investigation believes that the murder was ordered. Police officers and prosecutors are on the scene.

In the Pervomaisky district of Rostov-on-Don, a strong gust of wind knocked down an old tree, the trunk of which brought down a power transmission line support. As a result, one woman died on the spot, another was hospitalized with serious injuries. Injuries of varying severity were received by two more Rostovites, on whom a billboard and a tree trunk collapsed, reports Regions.ru.