With the onset of darkness, the Aviation forces of the American-British coalition again exposed the central regions of the Iraqi capital massaged bombing. According to incoming messages, the planes dropped several air bombs to the presidential palace of As-Salyam. At the beginning of this week, this object in the center of Baghdad was already bombarded. Iraqi air defense forces lead a dense barrier plaque, reports ITAR-TASS.

Combat losses Dead and missing journalists Grouping of troops of the USA, Great Britain and Iraq Animated map of the theater of military operations Chronicle of War (by day) 23:00 - a new bombardment of Baghdad . 10 powerful explosions thundered in the city center, reports Reuters. 22:20 - There is a battle between the 3rd mechanized division and the Iraq Guard. American troops are trying to block the approaches to the city in order to prevent Iraqi reinforcements.

At the airport of Vladivostok, on Thursday morning he made an emergency landing of the Tu -154 company Vladivostok Avost, which made a flight along the route Moscow - Abakan -Vladivostok. According to RIA Novosti in the Khabarovsk air traffic control, on the approach to Khabarovsk, the liner began a strong vibration of one of the engines. The crew decided to turn it off and fly on the two remaining engines. Movement on two engines is a regular situation.

The sale of shares of the Formula 1 Debutant, Justin Wilson , is more than successful - managers report a significant excess of demand over the proposal. Jonathan Palmer, the manager of Wilson and the former pilot himself, was the first to express the idea of ​​placing a pilot’s shares on the stock exchange, when 1,2 million pounds were needed to participate in the Minardi championship.

The strike on the leading Iraqi television channel in Baghdad with coalition forces may be a violation of international law. This is stated in the statement of the Human Rights Watch human rights organization.

To the north of Nezhef there is a fierce battle between the units of the 3rd mechanized division of the US Army and the Iraq Republican Guard. This was reported in the report from the scene by the CNN television company. According to her, now American troops are trying to block approaches to the city in order to prevent Iraqi reinforcements. Fierce battles near the unfinished go for two days. US units are trying to block approaches to the city with tanks and BMP.

The number of journalists arrested in 2002 increased sharply, and the number of deaths due to their work of the media decreased. This is evidenced by the annual study of the state of freedom of the press in the world, conducted by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists - CPJ . According to CPJ, published in New York, 19 journalists were killed all over the world directly due to their activities in 2002.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Ramsfeld said the coalition forces advanced far from the south to the depths of Iraqi territory and are 80 km from Baghdad. Speaking on Thursday at the hearing in the Senate of the US Congress, he also said that "in the coming days and weeks, a military operation may become more dangerous," since the allies troops have to encounter the Iraq Republican Guard on the approaches to Baghdad and Tikrit.

The Tobacco company Philip Morris claims that Illinois legislation will make it bankrupt. At the end of last week, the company lost the trial and cannot appeal. Meanwhile, the court ordered to pay more than $ 10 billion for the use of the word "light" on cigarette packs . Of course, Philip Morris immediately announced the intention to protest the decision. However, this was impossible to do.

“With a heavy heart, I follow the news from Iraq and do not forget about other conflicts that sprinkle our land with blood,” said Pope John Pavel II on the eve of the Pope, addressing the pilgrims gathered at the traditional general audience on St. Peter's Square in Rome, regularly passing through the media.

Two men who were captured by Iraqis and whose portraits were shown by the Catar television channel Al-Jazeera are civilians working for the British army. This was reported by AFP with reference to the British Ministry of Defense. “They worked for hire and distributed food to Iraqi prisoner of war,” said the representative of the Ministry of Defense, speaking of two black men shown on Wednesday, Al -Jazeera.

According to the information from the official source of the US defense department, despite the significant superiority achieved by the anti -Irac coalition troops over the past week, the war with Iraq can drag on for months and require a significant increase in the combat power of the Union units, The Washington Post writes today (a complete translation on the website inopressa.ru ).

La Stampa publishes today a report of the correspondent of the first Italian channel from the secret camp of American soldiers in Central Iraq. There is no soul, no toilet, only a few tents and sand on this Fortpost. Soldiers are instructed not to get dirty and drink less, because even water is not enough. Eat from plastic bags and not to wash - this is what the war in the desert means, the newspaper writes.

Air and chemical anxiety is again announced in Kuwait. The entire population and military personnel dressed gas masks. According to the British SkyTV television company, for the first time since the beginning of the war in Iraq in the capital of the emirate El-Kuwait, explosions were heard. At least two powerful explosions thundered, presumably in residential areas in the north of El-Kuwait, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the Abu Dhabi satellite television channel.

The Iraqi opposition claims that the American missile, which exploded on Wednesday in the Baghdad market, was aimed at the closed elite night club, owned by the youngest son of Saddam Hussein - Ode. In an interview with the Arab newspaper Al-Vitikhad, the opposition representative said that the target was most likely located near the market in the north of Baghdad, a closed club, where representatives of the Iraqi ruling elite often rest.