Bolshoi to open for rehearsals next summer.

MOSCOW, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre will re-open
for rehearsals next summer after renovation.
"We are to complete the bulk of the works by summer. So, the Bolshoi
troupe will be able to move there and start rehearsals," said Mikhail
Sidorov from the Summa Capital investment group and a spokesperson for the
general contractor that carries out the reconstruction.
As of summer, renovation works will continue only in a new
underground part of the theatre's building that will house a hall for
concerts and rehearsals. It has been built according to the same
principles as concert halls on cruise ships. It can assume any shape.
"For example, if additional space needs to be created, part of the
floor can go up to expand the area of the foyer that will be located at
minus II level," Sidorov went on to say.
"The new state of the art hall will host concerts that were previously
held in the Bolshoi Theatre's Beethoven hall. The new underground premises
have doubled the theatre's total area by 40,000 square meters," Sidorov
emphasized.
After six years of renovation works, the Bolshoi will finally open
its doors to visitors in November 2011.

. South Korea to retaliate in case of new provocations from Pyongyang.

TOKYO, December 8 (Itar-Tass) - The South Korean armed forces will
immediately deliver pinpoint strikes at North Korean military bases in
case of new provocations from Pyongyang.

. Russian, European historians to gather in St. Petersburg.

ST.PETERSBURG, December 8 (Itar-Tass) -Russian and European historians
will discuss manifestations of nationalism and xenophobia in European
countries and America in modern history and most recent time.
The scientific forum will open in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. It is
timed to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials. Its
organizer is the department of modern history of the historical faculty of
the St. Petersburg State University and the Association of International
Cooperation.
"The conference will hear more than 60 reports and scientific analyses
of the results of decisions passed at the Nuremberg trials, which
condemned Nazism in Europe more than sixty years ago," Professor Vladimir
Baryshnikov from the department of modern history, who is one of the
organizers of the scientific conference, told Itar-Tass.
Baryshkinov said the participants would discuss an entire spectrum of
issues related to historical assessment of manifestations of nationalism
and xenophobia in Europe and America from the 16th to the 21st century.
Discussions will continue at sectional meetings on the following
subjects: "Inter-ethnic and Inter-confessional Components in Political
Struggle and Military Conflicts in the History of Europe and America," "
The Image of 'Stranger' in the History of Europe and America: Religious,
Cultural, Political and Social Aspects," "National Identity and National
Myths in the Conscience of Peoples of Europe and America: History and
Modernity," "Political Correctness, Its Interpretation and Understanding
in Various Countries."
The conference will be attended by historians, philosophers,
psychologists, international researchers, ethnographers and experts on
culture from scientific, academic and research centres of St. Petersburg,
Moscow, Novgorod, Volgograd, Samara, Togliatti, Irkutsk, Kemerovo,
Taganrog and Makhachkala.
Historians from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Belarus will also deliver
their reports.

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