Santa Claus still gets the most mail, according to the Universal Postal Union (UPU). In 2006 Santa received more than six million letters that are answered by postal workers in 20 countries. Written by children and filled with the most fanciful wishes, these missives are often addressed simply "To Santa, North Pole. "

After a power outage plunged the entire town of Shelehov in northern Russia into complete darkness, doctors working on a woman about to give birth have to rely on the light provided by the mobile phones of the hospital staff but nevertheless successfully delivering the baby. According to hospital staff, doctors were just starting to work on 22-year old Rima Pivavora sorting out delivery complications when the town was engulfed in darkness.

Twenty-nine cult members, including three children and an 18 month-old baby, are in grave danger and "any wrong move" by authorities could cost lives, Alexander Dvorkin of the Center of Religious Studies said Friday, adding, "their minds are being manipulated, they are under the strong influence of their leader. " "I've met the man, and he's definitely mentally sick, big time," regional administration spokesman Yevgeny Guseynov told CNN about Father Pyotr Kuznetsov, 43, the alleged cult leader.

U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned down requests to witness her ice-skating talents and warm up frosty U. S. -Russian relations during a visit to a rink in Russia, Friday. In a report Rice said that it had been 10 years since she last put her feet inside ice skates.

A 17. 5-lb (7. 75kg) baby girl was born in a hospital in the Altain region of Siberia. The baby named "Nadia" surprised her family. "They were all simply in shock," said Nadia's Russian mom Tatyana Barabanova, 43, when asked about her family's reaction over Nadia's size.