Hamas held a demonstration in Gaza City on Friday in support of Iraq. The anti-American march was attended by 1,500 people, the Jerusalem Post reports. The crowd moved through the city streets, led by the founder of the Hamas organization and its spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen. “We are here to show that the war with Iraq is a war with the Muslim world,” explained Ahmed Yasin.

Rosaviakosmos denied reports that agreements had been reached with NASA on the issue of further maintenance of the International Space Station, RIA Novosti reports . Rosaviakosmos press secretary Sergei Gorbunov confirmed in an interview with the agency on Friday that active consultations are underway in Washington with NASA representatives on maintaining the operation of the ISS.

Moscow sees no reason for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would open the way to the use of force against Iraq. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stated this at a press conference on Friday, Interfax reports . “It is quite possible to solve the problem of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq through political means. There are opportunities for this today,” the Foreign Minister emphasized.

On Friday night, a mass fight broke out in the center of Moscow between construction workers illegally staying in the city, Interfax reports . Seven people were hospitalized, eight were detained. Around midnight, a signal about a mass brawl in the area of ​​building 4 on Sretensky dead-end street was received at the control panel of duty officer “02”. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that a fight had broken out between construction workers.

2,500 Russian citizens submitted applications to the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow with a request to be allowed into Baghdad to participate in an action to support the Iraqi people. Iraqi Ambassador Abbas Khalaf announced this while speaking at a press conference in Moscow, RIA Novosti reports . "Now I'm waiting for Baghdad's response. As soon as the go-ahead is given, I will issue visas to all of them," Khalaf said.

Experts found in the dossier on Iraq presented by the British authorities a large amount of material borrowed from the media. At the same time, the dossier compilers often copied these materials without even correcting spelling and punctuation errors, the Reuters website reports. During his speech at a meeting of the UN Security Council last Wednesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell referred to materials from the British dossier.

Switzerland may host Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if he agrees to voluntary exile. This possibility is being considered by Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, reports Ananova.com. The idea was first proposed by Jean Ziegler of the Human Rights Commission. He said he was ready to “offer refuge to the devil himself if it saves the lives of 500 thousand people.” The administration of the canton of Wallis came out in support of Ziegler.

The State Duma Ethics Commission intends to consider the issue of the behavior of deputy Alexander Fedulov at a plenary meeting on February 7. This was announced by the chairman of the commission, Galina Strelchenko, RIA Novosti reports . According to her, the transcript of the plenary meeting, at which Fedulov made obscene remarks about deputies and even got into a fight with deputy Vasily Shandybin, will be examined by the ethics commission in two weeks.

Search teams searching for the wreckage of the space shuttle Columbia have not yet been able to find the most important fragments for experts' work, the website of The Mercury News newspaper reports. These fragments include pieces of thermal insulation sheathing, the left wing and “black boxes”. Experts still believe that malfunctions of its left wing are related to the reasons for the shuttle's fall.

Air Canada has published a report on major financial losses incurred in the last three months of 2002. Plans were announced Thursday to sell the loss-making regional carrier and some other company-owned units. At the same time, Air Canada is beginning to look for opportunities to reduce wage costs, Reuters reports. The company's shares hit their lowest level on the Toronto Stock Exchange since November 2001. Their value fell to C$3.07 - 12.3 percent below the estimated position.

07.02.2003, 16:31:10 version Print | PDA/PDA The fight is on February 7. Pay attention to how competently Fedulov grabs Shandybin’s tie. He won by number of points. Shot from the TV channel ''Russia'' Dream Team State Duma deputies could take their rightful place at international parliamentary wrestling competitions I remember that in Soviet times the state propaganda machine invented the slogan “Their Morals”, wonderful in its absurdity.

Developing countries are spending record amounts on new weapons purchases. Over the past 10 years, their defense budgets have grown by 18 percent. This is exactly the data provided in the recent US State Department report on global military spending, BBC News reports. Some of the orderings of numbers and general directions shown in the report are described by observers as unpleasant. In particular, the end of the Cold War led to a rapid decline in military spending in Eastern Europe.

On Thursday, a mass poisoning of schoolchildren occurred in Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, Interfax reports . According to information from the regional department for civil defense and emergency situations, 53 students from a physics and mathematics boarding school located on the territory of Academgorodok sought medical help. The children showed symptoms of severe poisoning. 22 schoolchildren were hospitalized. An investigation into the causes of the mass poisoning is underway.

The “Namedni” program will air for the last time on February 9, said in an interview with NEWSru.com . editor-in-chief Nikolai Kartozia “The program team came to the conclusion that it is impossible to work in the current situation, and the Namedni program will no longer be aired. We decided that in this situation we will not be able to guarantee the quality of production to which television viewers are accustomed,” said the chief.

Saddam Hussein is losing his chance to comply with international demands to renounce weapons of mass destruction, and the final minutes of the game to deceive inspectors will not help Iraq avoid war. The US President made this statement on Thursday, reports the website of The Washington Post newspaper.