Novaya Gazeta columnist Anna Politkovskaya said today that she personally did not see in Chechnya near the village of Khatuni “arrested people whom the Russian military keeps in pits instead of prisons,” but local residents told her about such pits and she is “convinced that these words √ true." “I saw pits in which there was no one, only some ropes were hanging.

A Florida State football player died after practice. Devon Darling, a linebacker for Florida State, fell and died after one of his morning practice drills. The cause of death was not immediately established. Eighteen-year-old Darling was entering his second season. This is not the first death in the history of this university. On September 13, 1986, offensive tackle Pablo Lopez was shot and killed in an on-campus showdown five days after his wedding.

Meeting with representatives of Italian business circles in Rome on February 27, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said that the Russian government is offering creditors an exchange of external debt for investment and intends to develop a discussion of this idea with creditors.

Pakistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs has prepared for publication a "Code of Conduct" for members of Muslim extremist groups committed to the idea of ​​jihad - "holy war against infidels." In the near future, the leaders of all such groups will be invited to the ministry to sign the document, ITAR-TASS reports with reference to the Indian agency PTI.

According to the latest reports from Voronezh, American graduate student John Tobbin, who is accused by Russian authorities of drug possession and is suspected of having ties to the CIA, is in the central Voronezh detention center.

For this amount, the German Bayern wants to buy the Spartak Moscow defender. Foreign news agencies report this with reference to the football player himself. After the Champions League matches between these two teams, Munich club president Franz Beckenbauer and head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld praised the Macedonian defender. Mitrevski also confirmed that Bayern are interested in acquiring Spartak leader Yegor Titov.

The population of Russia in 2002 will pay 100% of the cost of telephone services. This was stated by the Minister for Antimonopoly Policy and Entrepreneurship Support Ilya Yuzhanov. At the same time, the minister did not even give approximate figures by what percentage or how many times tariffs for telephone services will increase. In addition, MAP intends to equalize payment tariffs for using telephones between commercial organizations and budgetary organizations during 2001.

Today, February 27, the American automobile company General Motors Corp. officially announced the creation of a joint production with AvtoVAZ JSC, AP reports. The announcement was made during the 71st International Motor Show in Geneva. The joint venture project will invest $332 million. The main shareholders of the joint venture will be GM - 41.5%, AvtoVAZ - 41.5% and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) - 17%.

Iraq is ready to settle all controversial issues with Kuwait. Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Saadoun Hamadi said that Baghdad is ready to obliterate the past. Hamadi believes that the US Secretary of State's visit to the Middle East is aimed at preventing the Arabs from rallying around Iraq. During the years of economic blockade, Iraqis have acquired two new national qualities: enterprise and hatred of the West.

This time in Kuwait it was decided to celebrate two dates at once - the 10th anniversary of the victory over Iraq and the 40th anniversary of independence from Great Britain. Previously, the country's leadership refused to hold festive events, explaining this with respect for the memory of the dead and missing. According to some sources, more than half a thousand Kuwaitis captured during the war are still imprisoned in Baghdad prisons.

Mikhail Kasyanov discussed Russian debts with his Italian colleague. "Russia will pay 600 million dollars to the Paris club in the next two days," the Russian Prime Minister said. Kasyanov claims that on March 1, Russia will begin to repay the debt in full. Debts and investments is the main topic of negotiations in the Italian capital.

About 4.5 million people visited the Portuguese town of Fatima last year, which is considered the world's largest place of pilgrimage for believers after the Vatican, reports Ekho Moskvy with reference to Interfax. As Portuguese priests note, this is almost a million more people than in 1999. And this year the influx of believers to Portugal should increase due to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Middle East.

In Kaliningrad, 10 million US dollars allocated for investment projects disappeared. Most of the funds were used to purchase equipment for the Kaliningrad Poultry Industry factory, and after some time the regional administration carried out bankruptcy proceedings for this enterprise. A major scandal is breaking out in the Kaliningrad region.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell today announced that the US government has "developed a plan under which sanctions against Iraq will be changed" and as a result "this will help, on the one hand, improve the lives of Iraqi citizens, and on the other, prevent Saddam Hussein from creating new weapon". “We will propose to the world community, the UN, to amend the sanctions, and the Iraqis will be able to receive all the necessary goods without any restrictions.

New evidence that there was once life on Mars. Western scientists made a sensational discovery. A photograph of a meteorite from the Red Planet shows a fragment of an Earth bacterium. Scientists from Germany, Spain and the United States reported that a meteorite from Mars discovered in Antarctica in 1984 contained traces of bacteria. According to experts, during a thorough study of these microorganisms, magnetic crystals reminiscent of those on Earth were discovered.