The Norwegian Admiral Einar Sorrow, who headed the work of divers from Norway at the site of the death of the Kursk atomic submarine, said that the Russian leaders of the rescue operation showed "amazing incompetence." In an interview with the German magazine, Spiegel said that Russian officials established the strictest secrecy regime and obliged Norwegian rescuers to work under hard supervision by Russian experts who could not imagine what should be done.

The British Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday that 11 British soldiers were taken hostage by one of the opposing armed groups in Sierra Leon. The British were captured during the patrol of the territory 70 kilometers from the capital of this African country - Fritaun. The Civil War in Sierra Leone began in 1991. Her victims were thousands of people. In May, the rebels captured about 500 troops from the UN peacekeeping contingent, who were later liberated.

The Palestinian leadership said that the solution of the issue of the status of Jerusalem should include the transfer of the city and the Christian and Muslim shrines located in it under the full control of the Palestinians. Disagreements regarding the fate of Jerusalem are the main obstacle to the final Israeli-Palestinian peaceful settlement. Israel is ready to convey East Jerusalem only under the limited control of the Palestinians.

US President Bill Clinton starts a trip to Africa countries today. The purpose of his visit to Nigeria is to express support to democratic transformations in this country. It is expected that Clinton will announce the provision of Nigeria financial assistance for the development of education and healthcare. On Monday, the US President will take part in negotiations in Tanzania on the settlement of the conflict in Burundi, where the civil war has been going on for seven years.

Hasin Raduev, North Caucasus: The press center of the United Group of Russian Troops in Chechnya today distributed a message that in the village of Dzhegurts of the Nozha-Yurt district, two local residents were detained who were brought by the documents addressed to the President of Chechnya Aslan Maskhadov.

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists expressed concern in connection with the persecution of independent media in Azerbaijan - on the eve of the elections to the parliament of the republic on November 5. The statement of the Committee based in New York mentions the detention of two Azerbaijani journalists, employees of the Opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat - Rauf Arifogly and Etibar Dzhebrailogli.

On Tuesday, pharmacologists from the University of Ratgers informed the participants in the session of the American Chemical Society to create a new modification of aspirin , which has a polymer structure. To obtain this drug, the acetylsalicylic acid molecule was chemically sewn in long chains, consisting of about a hundred links. Such macromolecules are destroyed only in the small intestine and therefore do not cause irritation of the mucous membrane of the stomach.

At least seven people died as a result of forest fires in the border regions of Greece and Albania. Hundreds of firefighters work in the distress area. According to the Minister of Defense of Greece, Dimitris Apostolakis, the disaster has reached a "catastrophic scale." Their colleagues from Germany, Austria and Hungary arrive at the aid of the Greek firefighters.

The BBC television company buys the most expensive film project Stephen Spielberg in history . We are talking about the Kinodram "Brotherhood of Soldiers" in the eleven episodes. The series will be shown next year on the 1st BBC channel. The plot is the participation of the elite troops of the US Army in the battles of World War II. Most of the actors employed in the series starred in the film "Salvation of Private Ryan", which brought Spielberg the award of the American guild of directors.

In Ingushetia, an investigation of the shelling of the territory of the republic continues with Russian artillery and aviation. According to the Radio Liberty correspondent, representatives of the military prosecutor's office of the North Caucasus District say that the perpetrators will be punished if it is proved that there was no reason to shell the Ingush territory.

In New Zealand, an underground group tried to organize an explosion of an atomic reactor in Sydney during the Olympic Games, which will take place in September. According to the head of the criminal police of New Zealand, Bill Bishop, three Afghan citizens were arrested in Auckland on suspicion of involvement in the conspiracy. According to the newspaper "New Zyland Herald", the arrested are associated with the international terrorist Usama Bin Laden.

Hasin Raduev, North Caucasus: Last Thursday, the Russian military command in Chechnya reported that the armed detachment of Chechens was blocked in the south of Ingushetia, who was trying to get from Georgia to Chechnya, and that air and artillery were struck by it. The same information is received today. The authorities of Ingushetia believe that there was nothing like this. The settlements of Armhi and Targim in the area of the Jerakhsky gorge were indeed subjected to shelling.

In this issue: - Mordovian teachers are forced to trade vodka; - They do not know what to do with children who fled from Chechnya; - Free treatment of drug addicts in Astrakhan suddenly turned out to be paid and very expensive; - Who is to blame for the death of Elena Putilina? - Why is a loaf of bread in Kostomuksha cost 11 rubles?

Experts from the United States, France and Bahrain will today conduct a joint investigation of the causes of the disaster of the Galf Air aircraft. All 143 people who were on board the airliner flying from Cairo to Bahrain were killed in the disaster. Both side aircraft of the aircraft were sent to the United States for examination. Yesterday, representatives of the Galf Air company rejected the assumption that the pilot was the cause of the disaster.

Four people were killed and seventeen were injured in a crush in one of the markets in the Dagestan city of Khasavyurt. According to law enforcement agencies, in the market where about 5 thousand people were located, a rumor was dissolved about the allegedly laid explosive device, and two elderly women and two girls were crushed in the panic. When checking the market, the explosive device was not found.