Syrian in Romania arrested over hostages in Iraq In Bucharest, a businessman of Syrian origin, Umar Haitham, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Iraq. On Wednesday night, after interrogation at the prosecutor's office, he was taken to a psychiatric clinic, where experts checked his health, and then the preliminary arrest was confirmed by the prosecutor's office.

A trip to Moscow could cost Tom Delay his career Republican Majority Leader in the US Congress Tom Delay will be the subject of a parliamentary investigation. His trips to Moscow in 1997, the UK in 2000 and South Korea in 2001 are now suspected to have been lavishly paid for by interested organizations. It is possible that Delay even received a separate fee for lobbying the interests of the host party in Congress.

Saddam's longtime enemy became President of Iraq Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq overthrown by the Americans, yesterday could personally observe how the new president of this Persian Gulf country was chosen. True, Saddam watched this from his prison cell and on TV. A television was placed there specifically for this purpose at the request of the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights Bakhtiar Amin.

Gennady Onishchenko requires his subordinates to carefully monitor children's products The Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare intends to seriously take control of baby food and toys.

RUSAL President Oleg Deripaska met yesterday in Podgorica with Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic and discussed the terms of the purchase of a 65.4% stake in the Podgorica aluminum smelter and a 31.9% stake in the bauxite deposit. A representative of the press service of the Prime Minister of Montenegro reported this to RIA Novosti. He claims that “the negotiations were extremely successful”: during the meeting Messrs.

Greek trade unions postpone Workers' Solidarity Day to May 11 Proletarians of all countries cannot unite even on such a historically significant occasion as the celebration of May 1st. This year, among the ranks of conscious comrades gathering under red banners and portraits of the founders of the communist idea to celebrate International Workers' Solidarity Day, representatives of the thousands-strong army of workers and peasants of Greece will not be noticeable.

The board of directors of Gazprom left the government The head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, with the support of the head of the Kremlin administration, Dmitry Medvedev, took control of the company’s board of directors. Until now, it was believed that the government has a majority on the gas monopoly council and can make the necessary decisions through directives to state representatives.

Evgeny Marcelli showed “Three Sisters” at the Golden Mask Before the start of the Golden Mask, when the capital's theatergoers bother experts, trying to figure out what they should watch at the current festival, they, of course, have in mind provincial performances. You can watch Moscow premieres at other times; it’s easy to get information about St. Petersburg’s, but as a rule, no one knows anything about regional performances, that is, there is always a chance to make a discovery for yourself.

Modernization of an old aircraft engine competes with a new one Rybinsk NPO Saturn yesterday for the first time demonstrated a test sample of the modernized D-30KP Burlak engine to representatives of the Russian Air Force. Saturn proposes to install Burlak on cargo and military transport aircraft of the Il-76 family instead of the D-30KP-2 engines (the so-called second series) currently used there.

“Be cooler” on Moscow screens “Look, we have the necessary material, so why are we delaying and not giving it to the screenwriter? Instead of torturing us and ruining the script, let the Dodger do it.” With this phrase from Chilly Palmer - former gangster, later film producer and always the man who explains "how things really are" - ended Elmore Leonard's novel Be Cool, a continuation of the adventures Chilly began early (and ten years ago).

The former prime minister of Kyrgyzstan may get a job in the Penza regional administration The last prime minister of Kyrgyzstan during the presidency of Askar Akayev, Nikolai Tanaev, arrived in Penza on Wednesday at the invitation of the regional governor Vasily Bochkarev. The head of the region does not exclude the possibility of appointing the former Kyrgyz prime minister to the post of adviser to the governor.

The famous American performance artist Spencer Tunick visited Moscow The vernissage of works by the American artist Spencer Tunick (Tunika) was held in the new, well-established gallery of contemporary art RuArts. Tunik’s actions, preserved in photos and videos, have the goal of ridding the world of the captivity of public, social, political, and ideological prejudices. Wherever he is - in Argentina, Australia, Chile, Finland, Spain, Great Britain or the USA, Tunik works in a proven way.

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development, German Gref, despite the split in the board of directors of Gazprom, continued yesterday to lobby for the liberalization of the gas concern's share market - the idea of ​​the monopolist's top managers. “The lifting of restrictions on the participation of foreign capital in Gazprom will definitely happen this year,” he said yesterday.

The cardinals decided not to delay the election of the Pope The Congregation of Cardinals has decided on the day of election of the new head of the Roman Catholic Church. The conclave will meet on Monday, April 18th. This decision was made yesterday by the highest officials of the Vatican, said the official representative of the Holy See, Joaquin Navarro-Valls. Thus, the cardinals decided to hold a conclave on the first day allowed by protocol.

American writer Saul Bellow, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, has died in Massachusetts at the age of 89. His real name is Solomon Bellows. Solomon was born on July 10, 1915 in the Canadian city of Lachine into a family of Jewish immigrants from St. Petersburg. The parents moved to Canada from Russia only two years before the birth of their offspring, so the child was raised in the best traditions of St. Petersburg intellectuals.