In New York, a smoking ban in most bars, restaurants and a number of other public places came into force today. Establishments violating the ban will face fines of up to $400, the AP reports. If the ban is violated several times, the owner of the establishment will lose the license. According to the new law, smoking is allowed only on the terraces of cafes and bars with halls equipped with a special hood.

Photo from the site www.drudgereport.com The combat card is regularly updated Four powerful explosions thundered on Sunday evening in the center of Baghdad, CNN reports. The next raid on the Iraqi capital began. According to unconfirmed reports, there are victims. Iraqi air defense systems are firing in the sky in the sky above the city. The central part of Baghdad was subjected to bombardment, where markets and residential buildings are located.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WEEKLY REVIEW IN THIS ISSUE: News of the week IRAQ * Danger of ethnic violence in Kirkuk Persian Gulf: Unexploded cluster bombs pose a danger Protecting POWs in Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan: A Potential Humanitarian Catastrophe UN: Special Session on Iraq Hitting a TV center could be illegal Turkey: Avoid Past Mistakes in Northern Iraq * CIS * Uzbekistan: New Strategy of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Ukraine: Unofficial Political Censorship * IN THE WORLD *

In Chechnya, at the crash site of a Mi-24 helicopter, the body of Lieutenant Colonel Vitaly Vladimirovich Boyko, deputy commander of the helicopter regiment for educational work, was identified, Interfax-AVN was told at the headquarters of the Joint Group in the North Caucasus. The search for the second crew member has not yet yielded results. Three search and rescue teams, a military prosecutor, and a medical examiner are working at the crash site.

During the protest, Kazan communists collected more than 50,000 signatures from city residents against the war in Iraq. According to Regions.ru, about 200 participants of the rally demonstrated posters, including "The United States is an evil empire", "Today Iraq - who will be tomorrow?", "Immediately stop the war in Iraq", "Remember Putin - Russia is not a satellite of the United States", "Axis of global evil - USA-NATO-Israel".

58 people were injured in a terrorist attack in a cafe in the city of Netanya, reports AP. Three of the wounded are in critical condition. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a London café after security prevented him from entering. According to experts, he was wearing an explosive device weighing about 2 kg, stuffed with nails. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Moscow, an attack was made on the Senegalese legionnaire of the Moscow football club "Dynamo" Mendy Pascal. As Interfax was informed in the Central Internal Affairs Directorate on Sunday night, at about 21.00 Pascal was returning from the Dynamo stadium after training. In Petrovsky Park in the area of ​​Petrovsky-Razumovskaya Alley, several people attacked him and took away a bag with football equipment, after which they disappeared.

Iraqi authorities said on Sunday that more than 4,000 Arab suicide bombers had arrived in the country, Reuters reported. The Arabs, according to the Iraqis, will carry out terrorist attacks against the military coalition. According to a representative of the Iraqi military, the suicide bombers came to Iraq "from all, without exception, Arab countries."

Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Novgorod region neutralized In Novgorod, at the entrance to a cafe, a military grenade from the Great Patriotic War was found. As the Ministry of Emergency Situations told RIA Novosti, information about the discovery of an F-1 grenade with a fuse was received on Sunday at 10.55. A combat grenade was found near house # 102 on Bolshaya St.

Nine people, including two children, were killed Sunday in an explosion at a yeast factory in the southern Turkish city of Adana. Another 11 people, including several children, were injured and sent to hospitals. According to Reuters, citing a local news agency, the explosion occurred in a boiler factory. Children were hurt when debris fell into the street where they were playing. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.

In Moscow, a robbery was committed at one of the currency exchange offices. As RIA "Novosti" was informed in the capital's police department, the crime was committed on Saturday evening at number 12 on Zhivopisnaya street. 10 minutes before closing, an unknown man came to the exchange office of a commercial bank and asked to exchange a large amount of money for him. The manager had to leave the service hall to the safe for money.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdelaziz said the kingdom is ready to open its border to transport humanitarian supplies to Iraq. It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the interview of the prince to the Al-Khayat newspaper. The minister also denied reports that the suicide bomber who blew up a car carrying an Australian journalist and 4 Kurds in northern Iraq was a Saudi citizen.

Five cases of "Chinese pneumonia" have been found in New York, according to AFP. All five patients are under medical supervision, but only one person has been hospitalized, according to local health authorities. In the United States, "Chinese pneumonia" has already 59 people sick. Until none of them died. The world has already recorded 56 cases of death from the disease. According to the World Health Organization, about 1,500 people are infected.

According to reports from the deployment of US troops in Iraq, the ground operation to take Baghdad may be delayed for several weeks. Now the soldiers, according to a Reuters correspondent from the scene, are strengthening their positions: they are digging trenches, laying mines around the camps and masking military equipment. "Looks like they're going to stay in that position for at least two weeks," the agency's correspondent said.

Akhmed Zakaev, in an interview with Grany.ru, denied reports that Aslan Maskhadov supports the war in Iraq, as well as reports that the Chechens are ready to provide assistance to the anti-Iraqi coalition, including military assistance. "I think that the coalition does not need any help from us. Chechen fighters have a place where they must defend their position in order to achieve justice.