Orthodox Christians in Russia mark Christmas Eve Wed.

MOSCOW, January 6 (Itar-Tass) - Orthodox Christians all over Russia
mark Christmas Eve on Wednesday. Christians conclude a four-week fast
during which they confess their sins and receive communion. Divine
services reminding one of the great event marking the advent of the new
era are to be held closer to midnight.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is to recite Christmas Eve
liturgy in the Novospassky Monastery (the New Monastery of the Saviour).
He will begin a nightly festive service in the Cathedral of Christ the
Saviour at ten p.m. In the evening of January 7, the Primate of the
Russian Orthodox Church *ROC) will officiate Christmas Great Vespers.
Festive services are to be held at night and in the morning in almost
30, 000 churches of the ROC worldwide.

.Turkmenistan, Iran to open 2nd cross-border gas pipeline.

ASHGABAT, January 6 (Itar-Tass) - The presidents of Turkmenistan and
Iran are to open the second interstate cross-border gas pipeline on
Wednesday. The pipeline will make it possible to more than double the
export of Turkmen gas to the neighbouring country -- up to 20,000 million
cubic metres of gas a year, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of
Turkmenistan said Tuesday during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The opening ceremony is to be held at Turkmenistan's
largest gasfield Dovletabad in the country's east.
The stepping up of cooperation with Iran in the field of deliveries of
natural gas, Berdymukhamedov said, accords with the strategy for the
diversification of the export of energy resources, mutual benefit,
economic expediency, and robust competition. The first Turkmen-Iranian
gas pipeline was built in1997. It linked the western gasfield Korpedze
with the Iranian township of Kurt-Kui. Its capacity is 8,000 million cu.
m. of gas.
The 2nd gas pipeline with a capacity of 12,500 million cu. m. of gas
a year is one of steps towards enlarging the markets for the sale of
Turkmen energy resources, the president of the country believes.
The overall length of the gas pipeline Dovletabad--Serachs-Hangeran is
30.5 km, with a pipe diameter being 1,020 mm. For the past 20 years the
Dovletabad gasfield has been ensuring the supply of Turkmen gas to Ukraine
and Russia. In 2008, it delivered about 40,000 million cu.m. of gas to
Russia.
Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry points out in a press release that the
Dovletabad-Serachs-Hangeran project has been implemented in furtherance of
the country's policy of diversifying its gas pipeline transportation
infrastructure, the policy that was proclaimed by Berdymukhamedov as a
priority task in the development of the national fuel-and-energy sector.
A gas pipeline running from Turkmenistan to China was put into
operation quite recently -- in December 2009. It is planned to export up
to 40,000 million cu. m. of gas via the pipeline. At the end of last year
Turkmenistan and Russia substantiated their partnership in the field of
gas by signing an Agreement on the expansion of strategic cooperation in
the fields of energy and machine building. Up to 30,000 million cu.m. of
gas is to be supplied to Russia in 2010.
Turkmenistan firmly adheres to the policy of maintaining the existing
deliveries of energy, giving greater scope to and enlarging the geography
of traditional pipeline routes through getting to new promising markets,
the Turkmen Foreign Ministry press release said. In the process, the
resources and advantages of geographical location are viewed by Ashgabat
as an important condition for the maintenance of the balance of interests
in the EurAsian energy space on the basis of partners' equal access to the
sources of Turkmen hydrocarbon fuel and fuel delivery means.

.Bomb threat prompts evacuation of train passengers.

ORSHA, Belarus, January 6 (Itar-Tass) - The passengers of Train 30
Kaliningrad-Moscow have been evacuated at the Belarussian station of Orsha
because of a bomb explosion threat.
An Itar-Tass correspondent reports from the scene that at 02:20 Moscow
time on Wednesday, the chief of the train, speaking over the public
address system, asked all the passengers take their things and abandon the
train.
It is ten degrees below zero (Celsius) outdoors. However, people from
all the 16 coaches are now in the warm railway terminal building. Hot tea
is being given to them. Passengers with children have been placed in the
Mother and Child lounge.
A spokesman for law enforcement agencies said that as soon as the
personnel of the Ministry for Emergencies inspect all the coaches, the
passengers would be able to return to the train. It may take up to 90
minutes to inspect the train, he said.
An official of the Ministry for Emergencies said an unidentified phone
caller told police that that the train had been mined.
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