On Thursday, information received a day earlier about the arrest in Romania of another programmer suspected of writing and distributing one of the versions of the MSBlast virus was refuted. Romanian law enforcement, however, has confirmed they have a suspect, although no one has been taken into custody so far. They declined to name the suspect.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosheyar Zebari on Friday called on Russia, France and Germany to send troops to Iraq. In an interview with AFP, he said that the participation of European countries that advocate stabilization in the Middle East in the international forces in Iraq is necessary. Earlier, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov did not rule out the possibility of sending a Russian contingent to Iraq "backward."

Russia is ready to resume electricity supplies to Bulgaria through Ukraine and Moldova. Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists about this after negotiations with his Bulgarian counterpart, RIA Novosti reports. According to him, there are relevant agreements with Moldova and Ukraine. "I am absolutely sure that from an economic point of view Bulgaria will get a significant advantage," he said.

In the Rossoshansky colony of the Voronezh Penitentiary Service, 15 prisoners pierced their lungs with sharp objects in protest against the actions of the leadership, Mignews reports. According to these data, the leadership recently offered to sign a cooperation agreement with thirty convicts of the colony. The prisoners refused, after which they were placed in two cells of fifteen people each.

Israeli army helicopters fired rockets at a house in Gaza on Saturday afternoon, reported the Jerusalem Post . According to witnesses, the spiritual leader of the Hamas organization, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was in this house. However, he left the building shortly before the Israeli attack. Meanwhile, Ha'aretz reports , citing Palestinian sources, including Hamas sources, that Yassin and his assistant were slightly wounded but managed to escape.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has put four people on the international wanted list linked to a possible terrorist threat to the United States, BBC News reports.

To draw the attention of journalists to the competition for the best media coverage of the results of the 2002 All-Russian Population Census, announced in August of this year, is the goal of a press tour of Russian cities organized by the State Statistics Committee.

On the fact of the death of policemen in Dagestan, a criminal case was initiated under Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - "encroachment on the life of police officers." This was announced by the prosecutor of the Soviet district of the city Alimurad Myatov. According to RIA Novosti, the control service of the Dagestan Center for Disaster Medicine named the names of the police officers who were shot on Saturday by bandits in the republic's capital.

In Veliky Novgorod on Friday burned the car of a major businessman, according to RIA Novosti. About half past one, the operational services of the city received information that a 1999 Niva car was on fire in the courtyard of house # 6 on Chudintseva Street. Before the firefighters arrived, the locals were extinguishing the car. The interior of the Niva burned out, in which fire service workers found a heavy metal object and an open canister with a flammable liquid.

In Simferopol's Salgirka park, a memorial stone to the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people was desecrated and broken, MIGnews reports. According to the deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Remzi Ilyasov, the attackers made offensive Russian-language inscriptions on the monument and the inscription Skinhead. In addition, the monument depicts a swastika and a target.

The resignation of Mahmoud Abbas from the post of head of the Palestinian government will seriously complicate efforts aimed at overcoming the crisis in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. According to RIA Novosti, this is stated in the statement of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko. "Moscow has received with concern the news that the head of the Palestinian government, Mahmoud Abbas, has filed a formal resignation," the document says.

From the site www.osko.ru Today Moscow begins to celebrate its 856th "Birthday". City Day began with a ceremony of laying wreaths to the grave of an unknown soldier in the Alexander Garden. The celebrations of the first day were opened by the theatrical performance of "Moscow - the city of the future" on Tverskaya Street. After that, the programs "Parade of Festivals" and "Songs of our city" will also be held there.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a telephone conversation with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Javier Solana, called on the European Union to put the Palestinian extremist group Hamas, as well as all its subdivisions, on the official list of terrorist organizations. According to Ha'aretz, in addition, Sharon called for stopping the flow of money coming to Hamas from Europe.

In Moscow on Saturday began the 9th Congress of the Communist Party, which is attended by about 300 delegates.

President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma signed a number of decrees by which he dismissed civil servants from the positions of State Secretaries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and their deputies, MIGnews reports.