Two American troops and three local residents were wounded today near the town of Balad in the center of Iraq. The representative of the US command said that the American military column was shelling from grenade launchers. Another motorcade was attacked near the city of El Falluja - several minutes exploded on the highway when American military vehicles drove past. The details of what happened are still unknown.

Over the past day, at least three employees of Russian power structures were killed in Chechnya, 7 were injured. Attacks on the military and police officers were committed in Grozny and in the Urus-Martan district of Chechnya. In the village of Makhkets, two employees of the Nurenergo company were stolen. They were brutally beaten and taken away in an unknown direction.

From August 20 to 24, the next festival of Russian culture will be held in Cannes. In the small hall of the Palace of Festivals, the violinist Viktor Tretyakov will perform, and in the Great Hall - the Russian folk choir named after Pyatnitsky and the Boris Eifman ballet theater. Here the first concert of the Altist and conductor Yuri Bashmet with the State Symphony Orchestra "New Russia" will take place.

The leader of the extremist group "Jema Islami" and a prominent member of the leadership of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization Riduan Bin Isomuddin, better known as Hambali, was detained in Thailand. The arrest of Hambali was the result of a joint operation of the special services of Thailand and the USA. The detainee was transferred to the American authorities. US President George Bush called Hambali one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world.

In Spain, 4 people died and seven were injured as a result of an explosion at the petrochemical plant. One person went missing. After the explosion, a fire began, which is now stated, taken under control and is not dangerous for the inhabitants of the neighboring city. The explosion, according to preliminary data, was caused by an error or a malfunction at the factory.

In the capital of Liberia, tens of thousands of starving townspeople broke through the bridges that separated the city from the territory of the seaport, where there are food warehouses. The rebels, who held the port for a month, left him yesterday. The peacekeeping troops were going to unlock the bridges today, but the inhabitants of Monrovia managed to earlier, literally spreading checkpoints.

In the capital of Chechnya, the head of the city department of the Pension Fund Magomed-emin Akhmadov was wounded. According to law enforcement agencies, Akhmadov’s car was blown up by a landmine near a complex of government buildings. In the Nozha-Yurt district of Chechnya, in the vicinity of the village of Torty-Khutor, a collision occurred between the Russian unit and a group of Chechen Mujahideen.

The causes of the accident in the power supply system of the USA and Canada - the largest in the history of North America - are still unknown, but American officials have already excluded the possibility of sabotage. Almost the entire north-east of the United States and the southern part of Canada remained without electricity since yesterday. The largest American cities are de -energized - New York, Detroit, Boston and Cleveland, in Canada - Toronto and Ottawa.

The program is conducted by Vladimir Baburin. The correspondent of Radio Freedom Lyubov Chizhov, who is talking with lawyer Boris Kuznetsov, take part. Vladimir Baburin: The Presnensky court of Moscow on Thursday postponed for September the consideration of the claim of relatives of the dead sailors of the Kursk atomic submarine against the Russian Ministry of Defense demanding to continue the investigation of the death of the nuclear power plant.

According to the American weekly Newswick, in the USA there is a sharp increase in children's prostitution. Moreover, more and more often children from medium and high-consumed families are involved in this. With details-Jan Runov from New York. Yan Runov: Over the past year, as noted in the statistics of law enforcement agencies, a significant increase in prostitution among minors in various cities of the United States has been seen.

Australia - following the United States and Great Britain - made a warning to her citizens to refrain from traveling to Saudi Arabia from fears of terrorist attacks. British airline "British Eyruyez" temporarily canceled flights to Riyadh.

Bosnian Serb Mitar Rasievich, accused of massacres during civil wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, surrendered to the authorities in Belgrade. He was delivered to the Hague, where on Monday he would appear before the international tribunal. In 1992-94, Rasich was the head of the prison in the south of Bosnia. He is accused of bullying the prisoners, torture and murders. Rasevich charges on seven articles, including crimes against humanity.

In Tatarstan, traffic inspectorate employees detained a column of 14 stolen Russian -made cars. On bodies and engines of cars, all rooms were interrupted. At the wheel there were citizens of Tajikistan. The cars were stolen in Moscow and were wanted.

Andrei Sharry: The Man of the Day Radio Liberty August 15 - Bernard Broesan - mayor of the city of Cannes, which is preparing to accept the festival of Russian art in the twentieth of August. Born in Nice in 1938. At 8, he moved to Cannes with his family. He played for the children's team of the city in football. At the end of the gymnasium, he entered the Higher School of Economics, after which he went to serve on the fleet.

Bulgaria announced her readiness to place land, naval and air bases of NATO on its territory. As General Mihov Mikhov, military adviser to President of Bulgaria Georgy Parvanov, said yesterday, the placement of bases will become possible shortly after the country's joining the North Atlantic Union, which is scheduled for next year. According to the Bulgarian authorities, military bases will bring both political and economic benefits to the country.