The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation considers it "incorrect" to discuss in the press the submission of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation regarding the transfer of the "Baldin Collection" to Germany until a final decision is made. According to RIA Novosti, this is stated in a press release issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

The Russian embassy in Baghdad "continues to function as usual," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told Interfax. Meanwhile, an informed source in the Foreign Ministry told ITAR-TASS that within 48 hours it would be decided whether the embassy would be mothballed, or only 15 people out of 25 would remain there. According to the source, all Russians who wanted to leave Iraq had already left the country .

Leonid Sedov, leading specialist of VTsIOM: If we compare the reaction in Europe to the possible start of a military operation in Iraq, the thousands of rallies against this war with the mood in Russia, then we can talk about the complete apathy of our public. When we ask a question about the war in Iraq, 90% of those polled are against the bombing, the same number are against the ground operation. But no one takes to the streets.

Europe's largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries was found in the Historical Archives of the city of Girona in Catalonia. About a thousand sheets of manuscripts were hidden in the bindings of old books stored in the archive.

The question of the timing of Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's trip to New York "will be decided on the basis of the date of the UN Security Council meeting, at which the report of UNMOVIC head Hans Blix will be heard." This was reported to RIA Novosti by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko.

Saddam Hussein and his sons are not going to obey the US President's ultimatum and leave Iraq, said Kalmyk President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who met with Saddam's eldest son Uday in Baghdad. This is reported by Interfax. "Neither Saddam Hussein nor his sons will leave Iraq, and they are ready to defend their country," Ilyumzhinov said. Ilyumzhinov also said that the situation in Baghdad is still calm: neither soldiers nor military equipment are visible on the streets of the city.

The first C-130 military transport aircraft with UN weapons inspectors took off from Iraq, Reuters reports. The plane took off at 10.25 local time and is heading to Cyprus, where the UN base is located. It is flying 56 inspectors and their assistants, Hiro Ueki, head of the arms inspectors' mission in Iraq, told reporters. Eyewitnesses saw about 80 people boarding buses heading for the plane at Saddam International Airport. In total, 150 UN employees have already been evacuated from Iraq.

Russia sees no reason to return to the topic of the situation in Chechnya at the 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. This, as reported by RIA Novosti, was stated by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Fedotov.

An opponent of the war in Iraq poured red paint over Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. According to Ananova.com, the incident occurred shortly before the start of a press conference at which Rasmussen was going to announce his support for the US military operation in Iraq.

Filming NTV The State Duma has undergone consideration of the issue of ratification of the Russian-American agreement on reducing strategic offensive weapons (SNP), RIA Novosti reports. According to the chairman of the Duma defense committee Andrei Nikolaev, such a decision was made at a meeting of the State Duma Council on Tuesday. According to him, this is due to the aggravation of the situation around Iraq.

On Monday, the Pharmacological Committee of the Netherlands officially approved the decision to use marijuana as a drug. According to the AP, a law allowing the use of marijuana as a remedy was adopted by the country's parliament in 2001. However, until now, doctors could not write a prescription for the purchase of marijuana.

George Bush. Photo by ar US President George Bush presented the ultimatum Baghdad. Speaking in the White House on the night of Monday on Tuesday (Moscow time), Bush said that he gave Saddam and his sons 48 hours to leave all the leading posts in Iraq and leave the country. Otherwise, the United States intends to begin military operations, reports AP. The start of the start of the US ultimatum will be counted from 20 hours of EST Monday. Bush speech was broadcast on national television.

A concert held in London, during which the most prominent British pop stars expressed their negative attitude towards the war, was called "One big 'No'". Celebrity performances such as Coldplay's Chris Martin, Paul Weller, Ronan Keating and Faithless drew a full house, while video messages from Yoko Ono and Elton John added to the crowd's enthusiasm. Chris Martin has already spoken out against Bush's policies in a very strong manner less than a month ago during the Brit Awards ceremony.

Saddam Hussein. Photo by ar Iraq rejected the ultimatum, nominated on Monday evening, US President George Bush. Baghdad said that the use of force to overthrow Saddam Hussein would be a big mistake, reports AP. Saddam himself is not going to leave the country. He warned the United States that American troops would meet a worthy rebuff in Iraq. Iraq defenders are ready to die for their country, President Hussein said.

Some Iraqi units will not fight the Americans, senior sources in Washington told Reuters. In this regard, the actions of American specialists in psychological pressure on the enemy, who dropped numerous leaflets with instructions for action on Iraq and organized radio broadcasts to the border areas, played a role. According to some reports, several tens of thousands of Iraqi servicemen are ready to desert - up to 15 percent of all the country's armed forces.