One person died and five received strong burns as a result of a gas explosion at the Penza factory. This was reported on Sunday RIA "Novosti" by phone in the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Penza Region. Five victims with burns of varying severity are hospitalized, added to the Department of Internal Affairs.

The delegation of the Committee on International Affairs of the Council of the Federation of Russia, headed by the Chairman of the Committee, Mikhail Margelov, will hold meetings with the speaker of the Parliament and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, as well as the mayors of Riga and Daugavpils. This was reported to the BNS agency in the presidium of the Sejm Latvia.

Members of the Iraqi Provisional Council were called by the American military in Tikrite to identify Saddam Hussein, AFP was told on Sunday in the Council. "The forces of the coalition were invited by three members of the Iraqi Provisional Council, in particular, Nassira Charterez and Adanan Pachachi in Tikrit, to help identify the personality of Saddam Hussein," the responsible representative of the Provisional Council on the terms of anonymity told AFP.

The Moscow prosecutor's office opened a criminal case on the fact of mass poisoning during a student wedding, which took place at one of the dining rooms of Moscow State University. According to ITAR-TASS in the prosecutor's office of the capital, on Saturday at 21:00 in the dining room number 8 of the Moscow State University on the Lenin Mountains there was a banquet on the occasion of the marriage of two students, in which up to 60 people took part.

Russia will bring 25 thousand Swiss francs to the treasury of UEFA, for the behavior of fans during matches of club tournaments and the national team. This follows from the headquarters of UEFA released today by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Organization. The Russian Football Union was fined 15 thousand for throwing firecrackers and "extraneous objects" during the match of the national teams of Russia and Wales on November 15.

The trial of Saddam Hussein "may last several years, given the many of his crimes against the Iraqi people." This was stated by the leader of the Iraqi movement of national salvation, General Vafik al-Samarrai. “No one in Iraq will regret the overthrown dictator, he must get what he deserved,” he said in an interview with the Catar television channel Al -Jazeera, which conducts a direct broadcast of folk rallies and manifestations in Baghdad.

“Juventus” approached the first place in the Italian series of A. The defeating with a score - 4: 0 - “Parma”, “Juve” went to third place in the championship, lagging behind Parma and Milan just one point. Meanwhile, Semihim steps are approaching the leaders, which won the sixth victory in a row, led by Alberto Dzackeroni. This time, “Inter” won at Bologna - 2-0, and “Lazio” broke the resistance of “Ancona” - 1: 0.

Arsenal really received offers from the London Chelsea, which continues to attempts to buy for Roman Abramovich his beloved football player - Thierry Henry. However, the Arsenal does not want to sell the Frenchman either in Chelsea nor in Real Madrid or another team. According to the British press, for Henri, Chelsea was ready to pay from 40 to 50 million pounds. However, in Arsenal they flatly refuse to discuss even the possibilities of selling Henri.

The head of the Iraq's interim administration Paul Bremer at a specially convened press conference in Baghdad confirmed the arrest of Saddam Hussein. “We caught him. Tyran is in prison. This is a great day for Iraqi history,” Bremer said. - The arrest of Saddam Hussein enables the country to advance along the path of democracy.

The capture of Saddam Hussein was carried out by the secret “special forces 121”, which includes specially selected representatives of military intelligence, American military special forces, including representatives of the Delta, Marine cats, as well as the CIA special forces.

According to the latest data, 18 people were killed in an explosion at the police station in Iraq, the Katar television channel Al-Jazeera. According to the TV channel, 23 people were injured. The explosion crashed next to the city of Ramadi, the victims were taken to the hospital. On the eve of the Iraqi armed resistance militants destroyed in the town of As-Sabhani to the west of Baghdad an armored vehicle of the coalition forces, reports Al-Jazeera.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov expects that the arrest of Saddam Hussein will contribute to the process of political settlement in Iraq. "We expect that Hussein’s arrest will promote security to strengthen in Iraq and intensify the process of political settlement of the situation in the country with active UN connection," Ivanov said. "As for the fate of Hussein, the Iraqi people should solve it," said the Russian Foreign Minister of Russia.

The victims of the explosion of residential buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, as well as from the attack on Dubrovka, will not contact the State Duma demanding to introduce the death penalty for terrorists. This was announced on Sunday by the lawyer of the victims Igor Trunov on Sunday.

In the battles between the rebels and the security forces in Nepal, at least 70 people died last weekend. According to RIA Novosti , citing local media, the security troops attacked the rebels in the Daileh area, 225 miles from Kathmandu. At least 35 rebels were killed. The clashes began after the rebels attacked the army patrol near the village of Pyakolek. Security forces opened fire and began to pursue the partisans. The losses of soldiers are not reported.

In Ufa, more than ten people declared a hunger strike in protest against the, in their opinion, the results of the elections of the President of Bashkiria on December 7. As a result of the voting of six presidential candidates, the current head of the region Murtaza Rakhimov and entrepreneur Sergey Veremeenko, who went to the second round, scheduled for December 21, gained the most presidential.