The Holy Fire from Jerusalem was delivered to Moscow for the first time, RIA Novosti reports. A representative Russian delegation attended the ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

The Taiwan Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the island had its first SARS victim. According to Reuters, a 56-year-old man died from the SARS virus in Taipei city. In this regard, the Taiwanese authorities intend to ban residents of the four countries where the disease is most widespread from entering the country. Tourists from Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore will not get to Taiwan.

On Saturday, the Moscow police are switching to an enhanced mode of service in connection with the upcoming holidays. According to Interfax with reference to the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, the enhanced regime of police work will last until May 12. Over 9,000 law enforcement officers, servicemen of internal troops and people's guards will ensure public order in the city on Easter.

Aiman ​​al-Zavakhri. Photo from the website ld.grani.ru Aiman ​​Al-Zavakhri, one of the most famous members of Al-Qaida, was in the hands of Russian special services within six months, writes Washington Post. He was arrested in Dagestan in 1997. According to the representative of the FSB Sergey Ignatchenko, six months later he was released, unable to accurately establish an identity. Then Al-Zavakhri was not yet connected with al-Qaeda.

Israeli soldiers detained on Saturday an 18-year-old Palestinian who was about to commit a terrorist attack in the village of Itamar in the West Bank. According to Ha'aretz, the Israelis were warned about the young man's plans by his father. He arrived at the checkpoint in Nablus and said that his son was planning to commit a terrorist attack. According to the Palestinian, the young man is mentally unstable and has already tried several times to attack the inhabitants of Itamar.

Festive Easter service is held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. According to RIA Novosti, since the doctors recommended the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, who recently had the flu, to refrain from many hours of service, the service was led by Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuryevsk.

All central Moscow fountains this summer will work from 11 am to 11 pm, and not around the clock, as before. According to ITAR-TASS with reference to the data of the capital's mayor's office, only fountains on Manezhnaya Square, Poklonnaya Gora and Europe Square will work 24 hours a day. The ceremonial launch of the fountains will take place this year on April 30 near the famous "Troika" on Manezhnaya Square.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Orthodox Christians and followers of other Christian denominations in Russia on the Day of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the presidential press service.

Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling is now richer than the Queen of England, according to an annual survey of the British rich. Rowling, 37, has more than quadrupled her fortune over the past two years, according to a study published in the Sunday Times newspaper. Now it is 444 million dollars. The newspaper deduces these figures by calculating how much the writer should have earned from the sales of four Harry Potter books, a pile of souvenirs and screenings of two films.

An Azerbaijani businessman, who was hospitalized the day before with suspected SARS, did not have a confirmed diagnosis. It is reported by Interfax with reference to a source in the republican sanitary-quarantine service. However, the source notes that this is still preliminary data. The patient is still in the hospital, in addition, two Azerbaijani citizens who had contact with him were taken under medical supervision.

In the village of Goity, Urus-Martan district of Chechnya, on the night from Saturday to Sunday, two local residents, Lechi and Ibragim Bitaev, were abducted. According to Interfax with reference to the head of the district, Shirvani Yasaev, late at night unknown armed men came to the Bitaevs' house and took away both brothers under the threat of being shot. Yasaev himself had an adult son kidnapped a year ago, nothing is known about his fate.

On Saturday evening, a fire broke out on the territory of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute. According to RIA "Novosti", warehouses in the house number 12 on Krasnokazarmennaya street are on fire. According to Interfax, a one-story extension to the institute building is on fire, in which there are flammable liquids - diesel fuel, oil and paints. Now about 800 square meters are engulfed in fire. The fire is extinguished by about 30 fire brigades.

In the Primorsky Territory, FSB officers detained journalists from the French television company France-3, RBC reports. The journalists were preparing a lot of material about the ecology of the Primorsky Territory in the vicinity of Chazhma Bay. They were accompanied by Professor of the Institute of Geography of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Preobrazhensky.

The virus that causes SARS (SARS) could be much more deadly than thought, reports Reuters. London-based medical expert Roy Anderson says up to 10 percent of those infected could die from the virus. Anderson's research is based on data from the World Health Organization, but he came up with slightly different results.

The US military on Sunday announced the arrest of another high-ranking Iraqi official - the head of the Iraqi National Directorate of Surveillance, Lieutenant General Hossam Muhammad Amin El-Yasin. According to the AP, El Yassin was number 49 on the list-deck of 55 wanted Iraqi officials. It is not reported how he was detained. In Saddam's government, he was responsible for contacts with UNMOVIC and IAEA inspectors.