A brief look at the stories making headlines in the Russian-language press

Unbelievable. That was the word on everyone's lips Tuesday after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a champion of Jewish settlement in areas Palestinians want for a state, described Israel's hold on land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as ""occupation.""

Two U.S. soldiers and two unidentified attackers were killed and nine other U.S. troops injured in a firefight early Tuesday in the troubled town of Fallujah, a hotbed of support for Saddam Hussein's fallen Baath Party, the U.S. military said.

An Iranian opposition group said Monday that it had evidence of two previously undisclosed uranium enrichment facilities west of Tehran -- information that, if proven, might add to the U.S. administration's argument that Iran is violating its commitment not to produce nuclear weapons.

It's getting a little crowded at the top of the world. In the last week, climbers rushing to scale Mount Everest before the 50th anniversary of the first ascent on Thursday have set a rash of records, including oldest (70), youngest (15), fastest (12 hours, 45 minutes), again fastest (10 hours, 56 minutes) and most frequent (13 times).

As the euro soared to all-time highs against the dollar Tuesday, putting the squeeze on European exporters, the European Central Bank appeared to be preparing to come to the rescue and cut euro-zone interest rates, perhaps as soon as next week.

A gargantuan fund saving Norway's oil wealth has topped $100 billion for the first time, giving enough cash to buy every Norwegian a new car or 6,000 pizzas, central bank figures showed Tuesday.

Companies that reduced their U.S. tax bill by incorporating overseas did $1 billion worth of business with the federal government last year, a computer analysis of federal contracts shows.