The Iraq Ministry of the Interior created a commission for the investigation of crimes related to the seizure of foreign hostages. According to the Iraqi newspaper "AZ-Zaman", this was announced on April 17 in Baghdad, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Iraq Samir al-Sumaidai. As As-Sumeydai said, the Ministry has already prepared a plan for the new commission, according to which the experience of former Iraqi security forces under Saddam Hussein will also be taken into account.

On Sunday night in the United States, the playoffs of the National Basketball Association started. In the four matches that opened the series with the release, there were no surprises, as the teams with a higher "sowing" won. However, the result of the game between Houston and Lakers deserves attention. But about everything in order, and it is worth starting with a series between Indiana and Boston.

In Bashkiria, as a result of a traffic accident, Deputy Head of the Republican Ministry of Emergencies Safa Nasrov died. This was announced by RIA "Novosti" by telephone operational attendant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bashkiria. "The accident occurred the day before in the Kugarchinsky district on the Yumaguzino -Daut highway at about 14:00," the duty officer said.

The American Andy Roddick entered the final of the tournament in Houston, which he has been seeking for the fourth time in a row. In the semifinals of these competitions, Roddick won the Peruvian Luis Horn 6: 3, 6: 4. Recall that the American from 2001 until the past won the titles in this tournament. Thus, in the event of a victory this time, Roddik has a chance to win this tournament for the third time after last year’s defeat from Andre Agassi.

Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Igor Ivanov held negotiations on Sunday in Qatar with the First Deputy Minister, Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Ben Ben Jaber Al Tanya.

Roman Abramovich headed the list of the richest people of Great Britain, compiled by The Sunday Times . According to the British edition on Sunday, a 37-year-old Russian, the owner of the Chelsea football club, houses in the London district of Belgrivia and estates in the county of the West Sussex, fell into such a prestigious list for the first time.

Real Madrid once again proved that in Spain only this club is worthy of the title this year. Late the night before, the Madrid team won the Madrid Derby against their neighbors Atlético Madrid 2:1. At the same time, during the meeting, Real remained with ten men, but brought the match to victory. Santiago Solari and Ivan Helguera scored goals for Real Madrid. Now, five matches before the end of the championship, Real has taken the lead with 70 points.

The radical Iraqi Shiite leader of Muktada al-Sadr declares in the city of Nezhef a two-day truce. According to him, in the city and the surroundings, all military operations will be discontinued at the time when the death of the death of the Prophet Muhammad will be celebrated. Thus, the fire will be stopped on Monday and Tuesday, reports Reuters. Meanwhile, supporters of the Muktada of As-Sadra are ready to take part in the liberation of the Palestinian territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the appointment of Arkady Dvorkovich as the head of the expert department of the President of Russia. This was announced by the press secretary of President Alexei Gromov. Dvorkovich was born in 1972 in Moscow. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University named after Lomonosov, then - the Russian Economic School and the American University of Duke.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, former and current US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush are included in the list of 100 most influential people on the planet compiled by the editors of Time magazine. Putin is named in the journal "The New Leader of the Developing World" together with a number of leaders of other countries.

The Pope John Paul II called on today to free all the hostages in Iraq and called the murder of the leader of the Hamas leader Abdel Aziza Ar-Atisi, ITAR-TASS reports. Speaking to the believers gathered on St. Peter's Square, the pontiff after traditional Sunday prayer said that he was “deeply saddened” by messages from Iraq. The Pope called on the kidnappers to return the hostages to their family and friends.

Russians consider NATO an aggressive military bloc (58%), and the defensive military union call it 17%. Moreover, according to the Public Opinion, the share of the latter in two years has significantly decreased (from 24% to 17%), while the share of supporters of the opposite point of view is growing steadily (from 54% to 58%).

Despite the fact that Newcastle remained ten times ten minutes after the start of the match with Aston Villa, the Alan Shirer team was able to take 0: 0 in this meeting, and, as a result, one point in the standings. After this tour, Newkasl shares the fourth place with Liverpool, which gives the team the right to hope for the Champions League next season.

On Saturday, during the battle with the bandits in one of the houses in the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya (district center of the Sunzhensky district of Ingushetia), two employees of the Ingush police and one FSB officer were killed, a source in the Sunzhensky police department told Interfax. After the battle in the building, which was captured by storm, four charred corpses were discovered.

The Moscow Torpedo came out in the first place following the results of seven rounds of the Russian football championship. On Sunday, the wards of Sergei Petrenko defeated the Samara "Wings of the Soviets" with a score of 5: 2. Note that this is the second defeat of the “wings” this season. After the victory over Shinnik, Torpedo was joined by Zenit, who won his home match with a score of 1: 0. Thus, after seven matches of Torpedo and Zenit, they have 15 points.