Russian Father Frost to visit Strasbourg.

STRASBOURG, December 6 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Father Frost who
lives in Veliky Ustyug, a town in Russia's northern Vologda region, will
arrive in Strasbourg - Europe's Christmas capital - on Sunday. He will be
the main guest at the traditional Strasbourg fair.

"Every year we devote our program to one particular country. This year
our honorary guest is Russia," the Mayor of Strasbourg Roland Ries said.
The Vologda region will be in the spotlight. Goods produced by its
enterprises and souvenirs have been put on view in pavilions in the
village of Russian crafts. A folk group "Gostja" (woman guest) which
revives the traditions of the Vologda region will give a concert for the
people of Strasbourg.
In the children's village Father Frost will meet his French
counterpart - Le Pere Noel.
The same day Vologda and Strasbourg will sign an agreement on
partnership. The two European cities with centuries-old history have
chosen culture, education, tourism, sport and public health as key areas
for cooperation.
The Christmas fair in Strasbourg has been held since 1570. In recent
years the fair has become popular with tourists. That helped the city to
gain the status of Europe's Christmas capital.
Russian participation in the Strasbourg festivities in the status of
honorary guest will become a Christmas prelude to the Year of Russia in
France and the year of France in Russia. The program will include about
400 actions at a national level, including the "Saint Russia" exhibition
in the Louvre Museum, Days of Russia in Paris and the guest tours of the
"La Comedie Francaise" theatre in various Russian regions. Strasbourg
will take an active part in all these events.

.Shoigu believes firefighters did everything they could.

PERM, December 6 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Minister of Emergency
Situations Sergei Shoigu believes that the firefighters did everything
they could to save the visitors at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm. In an
interview with Itar-Tass Shoigu described their actions as highly
professional.
The fire occurred at around one o'clock in the morning local time. The
firefighters didn't receive an alarm signal by phone. A burned man from
the club came to the fire station that turned out to be next door and told
the firefighters about the accident.
The duty officer reacted promptly and assigned the second category of
complexity to the call. Gas and smoke protection squads were formed. They
evacuated everybody whom they came across.
However, the fire was already intensive, there was too much smoke in
the premises. The tragedy was inevitable. The lights went down inside the
club, there was panic and stampede at the entrance. Narrow door apertures
made the evacuation difficult. According to the latest reports, 107 people
died and more than 130 were wounded in the fire.

.Orthodox fair devoted to family traditions opens in Nizhny Nov.

NIZHNIY NOVGOROD, December 6 (Itar-Tass) - The 14th international
Orthodox fair titled "The Nizhny Novgorod Region is the Land of Serafim
Sarovsky" is opening in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday. It will be devoted to
family traditions.
The pre-Christmas fair is supported by the Nizhny Novgorod eparchy.
Most social and cultural events at the fair are targeted at young families
and children. The fair will be open until December 13. The program
includes presentation of family clubs, psychological centers that render
assistance to families, the festival of family traditions, a master-class
for making traditional toys, a contest of Christmas souvenirs among
children in orphanages, concerts by folklore and creative collectives.
A source at the exhibition's organizing committee told Itar-Tass that
about 350 churches and monasteries from Russian regions, Ukraine, Belarus,
Greece and Israel as well as Orthodox publishers and workshops are taking
part in the fair. The participants have brought about 50 relics, including
icons and particles of holy relics, which visitors to the exhibition could
worship.
The Icon of the Murom Saints Prince Pyotr and his wife Fevronya, the
guardians of marriage and family will be the festival's chief relic. The
icon will be placed in a special chapel where services will be held during
the fair.
A scientific conference "Serafim's readings" organized by the Imperial
Orthodox Palestinian Society will be held in Nizhny Novgorod.
A play titled "The Ascent to Noah's Ark> by Orthodox writer and
composer Lyudmila Knyazeva will be staged.

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