The death toll in the terrorist attacks on London public transport on July 7 has risen to 56 people, BBC News reports. British police released new data on the victims of the explosions on Monday. Police representatives clarified that the increase in the death toll is not related to the death of any of the wounded, but is the result of “more accurate identification of the remains.” So far, British police have been able to identify 40 of the 56 dead.

Bill Clinton is the only living former US president who has not yet sent a detailed funeral plan to the appropriate service, the New York Post reports. By contrast, 92-year-old Gerald Ford, 81-year-old George H. W. Bush and 80-year-old Jimmy Carter have already provided elaborate scripts based on JFK's 1963 funeral ceremony. George Bush Sr. most compactly outlined his recommendations on this matter. It fit on 211 pages. Carter's script was 411 pages long, while Ford's was almost 500.

At the Kisufim checkpoint in the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, about a thousand opponents of the withdrawal of Jewish settlements from Palestinian territories held a protest, Ha'aretz reports. Demonstrators lay down in the middle of the road passing through the checkpoint, thus obstructing the movement of traffic.

A practical guide to the holiest beer halls The private life of Benedict XVI came under the close attention of journalists After the death of the previous Pope John Paul II, many believed that his successor, no matter what he did, would never achieve such popularity.

Estonian Interior Minister Kalle Laanet, as a result of a disciplinary inquiry, decided not to grant the resignation of Police Director General Robert Antropov. Antropov will remain in his post, but will be deprived of an additional salary of 9,500 crowns, Delfi reports . According to Laanet, the completed disciplinary investigation against Antropov showed that the behavior of the general director, who used official vehicles, did not violate the current rules.

The American human rights organization Afghanistan Justice Project has published a report on human rights violations during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the period of Taliban rule and the American occupation of the country, reports the Los Angeles Times . In preparing the report, human rights activists from a group funded by George Soros's Open Society Institute interviewed several thousand people in Afghanistan. These surveys continued for three years, beginning in 2001.

The US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be the most expensive operation since World War II, the San Francisco Chronicle reports . According to economists, these operations have already cost the American budget 314 billion dollars, and will require approximately 450 billion more in the next 10 years. "Osama is unlikely to win, but he is quite capable of bleeding us to death. And he is firmly walking down this road," said former senior CIA official Michael Schroer.

The only survivor of the Mi-8 helicopter crash that occurred on Saturday in Chechnya has died, Interfax reports . According to an anonymous source at the headquarters of the joint group of forces, a seriously wounded Defense Ministry officer died on Monday night in a hospital in Khankala. However, there has been no official confirmation of death yet. The Mi-8, heading from Khankala to Tuskhara, crashed on Saturday morning near the village of Itum-Kale.

At least 14 local fire officials have died while fighting a massive forest fire in the Spanish province of Guadalajara. Several more people in the disaster area are still missing, BBC News reports. The fire was initially detected on Saturday afternoon in a national park in the province and began to spread quickly. By Sunday, the fire had destroyed over 5,000 hectares of forest, bush and pasture. About 400 residents of surrounding villages were forced to leave their homes for a while.

Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze was granted a pension three years after his resignation, Interfax reports . As reported by the Unified Social Insurance Fund, Shevardnadze will receive a pension as a former member of the Georgian parliament in the amount of the salary of current deputies of the highest legislative body - 750 lari ($400).

An ally of the Afghan president, tribal leader Malik Agha Jan, was kidnapped by the Taliban and later executed, the Independent newspaper reported on its website. The leader was kidnapped along with his family - two sons, a brother and two nephews. After keeping Aga Jan's relatives in captivity for some time, the Taliban released them. The leader's body was discovered later. Malik Agha Jan was a tribal leader of the Pashtuns in Zabol province.

Command and staff exercises Vostok-2005 have begun in the Far East, RIA Novosti reports . They are attended by troops of the Far Eastern Military District, the Pacific Fleet, the 11th Air Army, as well as internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a pontoon-bridge railway battalion. The exercise will be commanded by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Yuri Baluevsky.

18.07.2005, 11:25:03 version Print | PDA/PDA Airborne Forces exercises. Still from Rossiya TV channel, archive Russian paratroopers went to learn to save Germany from the elements Comments North Atlanticization of the Black Sea 06/08/2005 NATO's "Active Efforts" are invading the zone of Russia's strategic interests Joint exercises of the Airborne Forces of the two countries have begun in Russia and Germany, RIA Novosti reports .

On the morning of July 18, the euro exchange rate was 1.2074 euros per dollar, having decreased by a cent. The yen strengthened slightly; the dollar was worth 112.025 units of the Japanese currency. American stock exchanges were growing on July 15. Thus, the value of the Dow Jones index increased by 11.94 points (+0.11 percent) and amounted to 10,640.83 points. The Nasdaq rose 3.96 points (+0.18 percent) to 2,156.78. The S&P 500 reached 1227.92 points, setting another growth record.

On Monday morning, eight armed residents of St. Petersburg who seized the village of Lzi were detained in the Novgorod region, RIA Novosti reports . Earlier, the Novgorod Region Internal Affairs Directorate received information that armed people broke into the village of Lzi, located 40 kilometers from the town of Malaya Vishera, and opened fire in the air.