The UN is preparing an appeal to donor countries asking for an additional $2.1 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to Iraq. Of this amount, $1.2 billion will be spent on food purchases, Reuters reports. The appeal test will officially go to press on March 28. The idea of ​​large-scale humanitarian supplies to Iraq is supported by Russia and France.

German specialists have invented special glasses for those who are afraid of dentists. Having put them on, the patient will feel like he is sitting not in a dentist's chair, but in a movie theater. Special “dental” glasses have a built-in screen and headphones. Having put such glasses on his nose, the patient stops seeing the terrible instruments that the doctor is wielding in his mouth, and does not hear the heartbreaking sound of the drill.

The volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank as of March 21 amounted to $54.5 billion. Thus, this figure decreased over the week by $200 million. The last time a decrease in the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia was noted on December 27, 2002, that is, for almost three months back. Then gold and foreign exchange reserves also decreased by $0.2 billion.

At least 20 American and 20 British soldiers have died in Iraq since the start of the war. 14 Americans are still missing. Of these, seven were shown on Iraqi television. Two soldiers were missing among the British. This data is provided by the American command, reports the AP. Iraqi troops, according to the Pentagon, lost about 500 soldiers, over 3.5 thousand Iraqi military were captured. Now the main battles are taking place in the area of ​​the city of Najaf in southern Iraq.

In the capital of China, it is prohibited to issue car license plates ending in four - because this number is considered extremely unlucky. The Beijing authorities took this measure in response to numerous requests from car enthusiasts, for whom getting a number with a four at the end is like death. The fact is that in Mandarin Chinese, a number ending in the word “four” is consonant with the word “dead”, so such numbers are considered to bring bad luck.

The high-precision weapons of the US-British coalition again misfired seriously. As a result of the artillery and mortar strike, about 40 people were wounded, five of them are in serious condition. Six vehicles were destroyed. The attacked troops returned fire. Losses on the other side are being clarified. Earlier it was reported that American troops came under missile fire from their own aircraft. However, the fact of the airstrike has not yet been confirmed.

Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Abbas Khalaf said at a press conference today that more than 500 British and American troops were killed during military operations near the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala. The ambassador also noted that since the beginning of the fighting in Iraq, more than 700 military personnel of the Anglo-American coalition have been killed, not counting the wounded and prisoners.

A new department has appeared in the administration of one Belgian city - the Department of Tenderness. The main goal of this unusual institution is to do everything possible to make people treat each other kinder. According to the mayor of the Belgian city of Kriebeck, Antoine Dener, he has long been concerned about the unfortunate fact that good-hearted relations between people have become something out of the ordinary.

US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte left the Security Council meeting room during the speech of the representative of Iraq. Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri has been sharply critical of US military action in his country. He called on the Security Council to stop the war and accused the United States of massacres of civilians, CNN reports. Meanwhile, despite UN calls, the war in Iraq will continue.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking today at a joint press conference with US President George W. Bush at Camp David, said that the Iraqis executed British soldiers who were captured. “Now we see the true face of Saddam’s regime: his thugs are preparing to destroy their own people, they are showing captured prisoners, and now they are demonstrating the execution of British soldiers,” said T. Blair.

Iraq executed prisoners of war captured in battles with coalition forces. According to the AP, this statement was made by US Marine General and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace. The general believes that several soldiers captured by the Iraqi military during the battle for the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq last Sunday were apparently executed. Iraqi television later showed the bodies of five killed American soldiers.

The commander of US ground forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General David McKiernen, sent a request to the Pentagon to send airborne units consisting of 700 troops to Iraq to strengthen the supply line in southern Iraq, which is regularly attacked by Iraqi paramilitary Fedayeen units, reports CBS News. In the near future, the 2nd Regiment of Airmobile Troops from the Fort Polk base in Louisiana and the 3rd Regiment of Airmobile Troops from the base Fort Carson (Colorado) will be sent there.

Starting today, the US Treasury Department is introducing new $20 bills into circulation. Following them, the 50- and 100-dollar bills will change their color, which are planned to be updated within 18 months. The appearance of the new banknotes will be presented at today's official presentation. For now, all that is known is that these banknotes will be multi-colored. Their color will vary depending on the denomination of the bill.

Heavy fighting continues around the southern Iraqi city of Basra. British troops blocked the distribution channels of Iraqi radio and television signals. According to the BBC, Basra is almost completely cut off from the outside world. According to the British press service of the Allied Command, there are units of the Iraqi regular army and militia units in the city. The resistance is led by units of the Fedayeen paramilitary units.

The United States will not allow the UN to control post-war Iraq, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a subcommittee of the House of Representatives of the American Congress, ABC News reports. "We and our allies would not take on the burden of overthrowing the Hussein regime if we were not confident that we could subsequently control the situation in Iraq.