International Book Fair opens in Moscow.

MOSCOW, September 1 (Itar-Tass) - The 23rd Moscow International Book
Fair will open in the territory of the Russian Exhibition Centre on
Wednesday. Visitors to Russia's biggest book show will see more than
200,000 books published in dozens of languages. The Republic of Belarus
will be the fair's honorary guest this year.
An international congress of translators will open at the Pashkov
House in Moscow on September 3 on the sidelines of the 23rd Moscow
International Book Fair. It will draw together 75 translators of Russian
literature from 25 countries.
Three new books will be presented at the fair on Wednesday. "Leo
Tolstoi: Escape from Heaven" by Pavel Basinsky reconstructs the picture of
Tolstoi's departure from his estate at Yasnaya Polyana and his death.
Albert Likhanov will present a 15-volume collection of books for
children and adolescence.
Viktor Lopatnikov, a member of the Federation Council, Russian
parliament's upper chamber, and an expert on the history of Russian
diplomacy, will present a biographical book titled "Chancellor
Rumyantsev>. It is devoted to famous Russian diplomat Rumyantsev.
Dozens of Russian prose writers, poets, actors, politicians and
musicians will present their writings at the fair.
This year, the Moscow International Book Fair is going to extend its
boundaries to the Hermitage Garden in central Moscow. It will host an
open-door multimedia book festival on August 27 and 28. The festival will
work until 10 p.m. for two days. Concerts, performances and theatrical
readings will be held alongside with the sale and presentation of books.
The first Moscow International Book Fair was held in 1977. Until 1995,
it had been held twice a year. Now, it's an annual event.

. Beslan observes 6th anniversary of school siege tragedy.

VLADIKAVKAZ, North Ossetia, September 1 (Itar-Tass) - As children
across Russia are preparing to return to school on Wednesday to start a
new academic year, September the 1st will always be a day of grief and
mourning in the North Ossetian city of Beslan.
On September 1, 2004 a group of terrorists seized city school No. 1
and took 1,200 children, teachers and parents hostage. The terrorists kept
them in a school gym for three days, denying them food and drink. As a
result, 336 hostages, including 186 children, died.
Three-day events are beginning in Beslan on Wednesday to commemorate
the sixth anniversary of the school siege. A memorial ceremony will start
in the courtyard of the semi-ruined school No.1 at 9:00 sharp. A school
bell will ring at 9:15 to remind everybody of the events of six years ago
when terrorists began the seizure of the school building.
At least 5,000 people are expected to visit the schoolyard on
September 1. The North Ossetian leader Taimuraz Mamsurov, Speaker of the
regional Legislative Assembly Larisa Khabitsova, government members and
parliament deputies will also visit the tragedy's site.
On Wednesday evening, children will light up candles in the schoolyard
to commemorate the killed hostages and those who later died of wounds.
On September 2, a Holy Cross will be installed and consecrated in the
territory of the school. A requiem concert will be held outdoors near the
Beslan Palace of Culture on Thursday evening. Well-known artists and
musicians from North Ossetia, including children, will read poems and sing
songs about the Beslan tragedy.
As a rule, the main events will be held on the third day, on September
3. Father Vasily, the head of Orthodox Churches in North Ossetia, will
lead a funeral service in the school gym at 11:30. At 13:05, two bells
will ring and a minute of silence will be observed. The school pupils will
release 336 white balloons into the air in memory of their classmates,
teachers and parents who accompanied their children to school six years
ago and were taken hostage together with their kids.
After that, a minute of silence will be observed in the City of
Angels, a children's memorial cemetery in Beslan. The names of all the
victims will be read out against the ticking of a metronome. In the
evening, slides will be shown in the courtyard of school No.1.
About 20,000 people are expected to take part in commemorative events
on September 3.
Representatives of various Russian regions and foreign countries have
arrived in North Ossetia for the sixth anniversary.
By tradition, members and veterans of the FSB special units have
visited Beslan to honour the memory of their ten fallen comrades.
At present, German experts are carrying out conservation works in the
semi-ruined building of school No. 1. Upon their completion, the school
will become a memorial museum and will be open to all visitors.
A new academic year in Beslan schools starts on September 6.

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