Moscow remains for tourists the most expensive city in the world at the cost of accommodation, writes Kommersant . The average price of one hotel room in July-September 2008 reached 259 euros per night, the international system of online booking hotels Hotels.com states. At the same time, accommodation in a two -star metropolitan hotel will often cost a tourist even more expensive than in three -star? 188 against 123 euros.

The period of falling incomes of the population can last in Russia for the next 2-3 years. State measures aimed at combating the crisis are ineffective, experts believe, while the situation in the economy is worsening. Economists believe that Russia will experience a crisis harder than other countries, writes independent newspaper on Tuesday.

Ancient Grigorian chants performed by Benedictine monks from Rome, ancient liturgical Orthodox chants performed by the Russian ensemble "Melos", folk Christmas music of northern Italy, a family Christmas concert with gifts for children, majestic sounds of the organ from the vaults of the Sikistan Capella-all this musical diversity will be represented in the First The International Christmas Festival, which suits January 4-14 in Moscow, the Charity Foundation "The Art of Good" .

The Orthodox Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara in Arkhangelsk provided a place for rehearsals to two youth rock bands. This is reported today by ITAR-TASS with reference to the press service of the Arkhangelsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church . According to the abbot of the temple of Hieromonk Daniil (Plotnikova), the Archangelian rock bands "Fahrenheit" and "Third Guard", consisting of university students, play in the style of "intellectual rock".

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) was recognized by the Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Serb Elena Yankovich, who completed the current season in the first places of the Att and WTA rating, 2008 champions. At the same time, Rafa became the first Spaniard, and Elena - the first Serbka awarded such a title, Gotennis notes.

In Italy, one of the mafiosi who arrested on Tuesday committed suicide during an unprecedented in scale of the police operation. The deceased could not come to terms with the fact that the other mafiosi led a "double game". The body of the 52-year-old Gaetano Lo Prestita, arrested in the Sicilian city of Palermo, was discovered in the cell by prison staff, Reuters reports. Mafiosi hanged himself literally the day after his arrest.

In the Arkhangelsk region, minor recidivists of the toxicomans were arrested, who beat and then stabed an elderly disabled woman. The criminals repeatedly returned to the crime scene. The Arkhangelsk Regional Court will consider the criminal case against two adolescents accused of robbing and killing a 72-year-old woman, Dvina-Inform reports with reference to the press service of the prosecutor's office of the Arkhangelsk region. The arrested adolescents are accused of robbery, murder and theft.

The Russian Winter Festival in London, which has already become a traditional festival in 2009, will be postponed from January to March due to the economic crisis, Yuri Fedotov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the UK, told RIA Novosti . “We have complications with“ Russian winter ”this year. These are the consequences of the economic crisis, a lack of sponsorship,” said a diplomat on Tuesday at a briefing for Russian journalists.

The former head of the legal department of Yukos Vasily Aleksanyan called the court decision on his release secured by 50 million rubles "cynical mockery." "In conditions when a criminal case has never been instituted under three episodes of four, in conditions when the statute of limitations of prosecution of criminal liability of the charges brought to me, in conditions when the number of mentions of my last name can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and even without regard to the essence

The State Duma adopted in the third, final reading the last law from the presidential anti -corruption package . Amendments to the Federal Constitutional Law "On the Government of the Russian Federation" concern the vesting of the parliament with control powers in relation to the government, Interfax reports.

The observed devaluation of most national currencies of the CIS republics in relation to the dollar is closely interconnected with the situation in the global economy and is explained by the influence of negative macroeconomic factors of both internal and external nature, experts surveyed by the BFM.ru portal believe. At the same time, the Ukrainian hryvnia fell the strongest in relation to the dollar.

In Russian maternity hospitals, priests, chapel rooms and chapels began to appear massively. The ministers of the church conduct soul -saving conversations with women in labor and instruct them in Orthodox family values. Even a Muslim maternity hospital was born in Moscow, where children are born according to Sharia standards.

The first Bulgarian coach in the Russian Premier League will be 49-year-old Dimitar Dimitrov. On the eve of the President of Ampara, Valery Chuprakov said that of all the discussed candidates for the post of head coach of the team, left at the end of the season to the Montenegorsky specialist Miodrag Bozhovich, the most priority is Dimitar Dimitrov.

The Berlin Film Festival, which will be held in the German capital from February 5 to 15, announced part of his program. Unlike the other two largest festivals - Cannes and Venetian - Berlinal in recent years prefer to announce a unit program. With such a system, the first -handed films of the directorial case are the first to take place in the software files. There are no Russian paintings, writes Kommersant .

A large traffic accident occurred on Wednesday morning in Omsk. At the intersection of two streets, two passenger Gazelle and three cars collided. The clash occurred today at 4:35 am, Interfax was told in the Siberian Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergencies. As a result of the accident, 14 people were injured, including 13 Gazelle passengers and one driver of the Volga car, it was said. Rescuers with the help of a special tool removed people clamped in cars.