European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 Ifor in the stars and stripes tuesday january 8,199.1 a priest leads prayer sunday night in front of St. Basil s Cathedral in Moscow to Mark the eve of russian Christmas. Christmas comes to Moscow with joyous new celebrations Moscow apr the rarely heard Bells of St. Basilus Cathedral chimed sunday evening and a Christmas tree was lighted for the first time on red Square As russian orthodox believers began celebrating the birth of Christ. Christmas is marked on Jan. 7 by the russian orthodox Church. Monday was an official Holiday this year for the first time in the soviet republics of Russia byelorussian the Ukraine Moldavia and Georgia. A religion has flourished under president Mikhail s. Gorbachev a reforms. Many soviet people including the Young Are no longer afraid to worship openly. More than 3,000 believers jammed Moscow a Selok Rovskiy Cathedral on sunday evening As patriarch Alexi ii wearing ornate Gold vestments and a jewelled Golden Crown celebrated his first Christmas eve service As Leader of the russian orthodox Church. Tie succeeded patriarch Pimen who died in june. A a May the Joy of the Holiday bring us All together in the Faith in our god and Savior a Alexi said in a Christmas eve address broadcast earlier on state run radio. He thanked christians in other countries for the humanitarian Aid that has flowed into the soviet Union to help ease shortages saying a the lord will return a Hundredfold their love and  at the Christmas tree lighting in red Square the mood was less solemn. The soviet Navy band played a Jingle Bells a a ooh come Allye faithful and a the stars and stripes  a the tree decorated with greeting cards from the United states sat in front of an Entrance to the huge gum department store directly across the Square from Lenin a mausoleum. An american minister the Rev. . Canty led the interdenominational ceremony which was part of a three week Celebration called a merry Christmas Moscow Happy new year  a tonight is no Ordinary night in the City of Moscow. This is a very hard earned Legal holy Day and we have much to celebrate this evening a Canty said. A television next to the tree played a Short videotaped message of Christmas greetings from former president Reagan. The crowd of about 1,000 seemed to be drawn to the event More out of curiosity than Faith. The ceremony took on a commercial air at times especially when several . Corporate sponsors were thanked for. Their support. Canty then led a procession toward St. Basilus which was brightly illuminated to reveal a dust ing of new Snow on its multicoloured onion domes after the Kremlin a Spassky Tower struck 6 ., the huge Square fell silent for a moment in the Chilly night air. Then the main Bells of St. Basil s began pealing slowly and softly. Other higher pitched Bells in the Cathe dral turned Rhu Seum chimed in growing to a Crescendo that lasted for about 10 minutes. Pill helping infertile women London apr doctors aiding infertile women say giving them birth control pills improves their chances of becoming pregnant. They believe the treatment could double the Success rate of the in Vitro techniques by which eggs from a woman Are fertilized in a Glass dish with male sperm and then implanted in the womb. A it is ironic to at the Pill which is traditionally used to prevent Fertility is now being used to Aid it a said or. Kamal Ahuja a scientific director at London a Cromwell Hospital. A at the moment it seems bizarre but wonderful a Ahuja said saturday. News of the development was released by Ahuja and Eric Simons an obstetrician in charge of the Hospital s infertility clinic. The technique involves putting the women on birth control pills before they Start a course of Fertility drugs. They said the first of 17 women who took part in a Pilot study gave birth to a boy dec. 22, and nine others a almost 60 percent a Are pregnant. They said the Success rate of Normal in Vitro fertilization programs is Only 20 percent. A. Simons said Many women Are believed to be infertile because they create too much of the Lute ionizing hormone responsible for ovulation which leads to the eggs being damaged and results in Early miscarriages. He said the combined oestrogen and progesterone contraceptive Pill suppresses the Lute ionizing hormone and helps women produce larger numbers of High Quality eggs before the clinic begins preparing the women for treatment. Quot the doctors said they also have found that the patients produce More and better Quality embryos. Infertile women need surgery to remove their eggs if the implantation fails. Ahuja said the High Quality embryos being produced with the new method can be Frozen and used if the woman fails to become pregnant at the first attempt. This sharply reduces the Cost of treatment. Simons said the discovery suggests it is wrong for women to Stop taking the contraceptive Pill for three months before trying to have babies. Mafia feud suspected in shootout that killed 2 Santa Onofrio Italy a gunmen opened fire sunday morning in the main Piazza of an italian town killing two people and wounding 10, police said. Authorities attributed the killings to a feud Between mafia clans. Police arrested one of the suspected gunmen in a nearby town when they stopped the car from which the assailants had attacked the news Agency Ansa reported. A the shooting was believed to be the latest in a series of attacks connected to a feud Between mafia clans dating Back several months. It took place in Santa Onofrio in the Southern Region of Calabria. The two dead men were suspected of. Being affiliated with one of the clans. Both were from St Ianaconi a nearby town where other killings had occurred. /. China arrests 4 in plot to overthrow government Beijing apr four people including two taiwanese who allegedly plotted to overthrow the government have been arrested in southwestern China an official report said sunday. The Legal daily said authorities in Yunnan a a a province recently disclosed the arrest of the four for allegedly trying to organize a group to a overthrow the leadership of the communist party and the socialist  it quoted police As saying Zhao Zhongwang 40, and Yang Tao a woman decided to found the vigilant Lions to save. China association. To obtain financial backing the two fled the country to make Contact with a taiwanese spy organization to which they allegedly turned Over materials on China a political and military affairs it added. Long stretches of Yunnan a Borders with Burma Laos and Vietnam Are unwatched and people living along the Border often make Cross order trips. Singapore judges to Stop wearing wigs in court Singapore apr judges no longer will Wear wigs while presiding in the supreme court and need not be called a my lord or a your  the change in judicial etiquette took effect sunday at the opening of the 1991 Legal year. Traditional White wigs As part of court dress and formal terms of address were a Holdover from British colonial Days. Judges Are to be addressed simply As a your Honor in court chief Justice Yong Pung How said the old terms a Are considered inappropriate in the context of a Sovereign Republic and our egalitarian  full bottomed wigs which reach the shoulders will continue to be worn with judicial Robes on ceremonial occasions Yong said. In Britain judges must still be addressed As a my lord and a your lordship by barristers appearing before them in the High court. Circuit judges Are addressed As a your  in open court the judges and barristers Wear wigs. Fire kills 18 customers at Taipei Sauna parlor Taipei Taiwan apr a fire swept through a Sauna parlor celebrating its first anniversary sunday night killing 18 customers authorities said monday. Seven others including two firefighters suffered Burns and cuts. They were hospitalized and reported to be in stable condition. Police investigators said they did not Rule out the possibility of arson in the three hour Blaze at the Tien lung or sky dragon Sauna which occupied the eighth and ninth floors of a 10-Story building in a Taipei business District. Firefighters said there were about 200 people in the Sauna parlor when the fire started at 8 10  One customer fell to this death from the eighth floor when he slipped while trying to use a rope to escape the Blaze police said. Firefighters said the Blaze started on the eighth floor where there were rooms for customers to Resit and Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition