SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1221 (87), Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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TITLE: West Snubs S. Ossetian Referendum
AUTHOR: By Maria Danilova
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: TSKHINVALI, Georgia — Voters in South Ossetia overwhelmingly approved a referendum calling for independence from Georgia. The tiny province has allied itself with Russia, but Europe and the United States back Georgia's refusal to recognize the breakaway movement.Sunday's vote is sure to increase tensions in the volatile Caucasus region, where a 1991-92 war over the South Ossetian question killed more than 1,000 people, displaced tens of thousands, and resulted in the province's de facto independence.
But the vote will not change South Ossetia's status because Georgia does not recognize it as legitimate. A similar referendum in 1992 was not recognized by any country, and the United States and Western European countries said they would not recognize this one either.
"The results will not be recognized by the international community," said Terry Davis, head of Europe's main human rights body, the Council of Europe, calling the independence referendum "unnecessary, unhelpful and unfair."
Election officials citing preliminary results said 99 percent of voters approved independence for the province on Russia's border.
South Ossetian separatists want to eventually join neighboring Russia, which is accused by Western-leaning Georgia of seeking to annex the province, along with another breakaway region, Abkhazia.
Russia has denied the accusations and suggested that the fate of the UN-administered Kosovo province, where many seek independence from Serbia, could serve as a precedent for South Ossetia.
Residents of the regional center of Tskhinvali began celebrations after voting ended Sunday, even before official results were announced.
Jubilant young men drove around waving the province's flag and fireworks went off as a crowd massed in front of a stage for performances of folk dancing by men in traditional white and black costumes and women in red and purple dresses.
Ossetians, who see themselves as a nation unto themselves, make up the majority of the province's population. Their language is linked to Persian, and they are descended from tribes that lived in Central Asia, then drifted to the Caucasus.
Russia has close contacts with the South Ossetian government — although it stops short of formally recognizing it — and grants Russian passports to the region's residents. The Russian ruble is used in day-to-day transactions and the Russian flag flies alongside the regional banner.
Some 55,000 people were eligible to cast ballots for Sunday's referendum, which asked voters whether they supported independence and international recognition.
The head of the region's electoral commission, Bella Pliyeva, said that nearly 95 percent of voters had cast ballots — well over the 50 percent plus one vote required to make the vote legitimate.
She said that 96 percent voted for the region's president, Eduard Kokoity, in parallel elections for South Ossetia's leadership. He had run against three challengers.
Georgian villages in the region were also holding an alternative plebiscite and election for the regional leader. About 14,000 ethnic Georgians live in South Ossetia, and many others fled during the war. There was no immediate word on results of those votes.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who came to power after a 2003 popular uprising and has cultivated strong ties with the United States, has vowed to bring South Ossetia and Abkhazia to heel.

TITLE: Sentences Handed Out At Hate Trial
AUTHOR: By Ali Nassor
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: In a controversial jury trial of 17 teenagers that included 14 suspects in the murder of a Vietnamese student who were acquitted last month, the St. Petersburg City Court on Monday sentenced three defendants to a total of 9 years in jail for hate crimes and other crimes not related to the homicide.Sentencing in the trial came on the day anti-fascist activists commemorated the first anniversary of the downtown murder of St. Petersburg student Timur Kacharava in what was widely seen as a hate crime.
Two of the accused were sentenced to 3 years and 2 1/2 years in jail respectively for violent hate assaults on a Palestinian and a Chinese student. The court also dismissed hate charges in attacks on a Ghanaian student and on an Azeri national, sentencing the assailant on the former charge to 3 1/2 years in prison for general "hooliganism" and fining the culprit in the attack on an Azeri man a total of 20,000 rubles ($740) for a similar offense.
The only woman on trial was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for robbing a cellphone from a younger girl, but was released following an amnesty. Two others, who were fined about 19,000 rubles ($700) for "minor offenses," were also amnestied because of the length of time that has elapsed since the crimes were committed.
The court also ordered further investigations into the October 2004 murder of 20-year-old Vietnamese St. Petersburg Polytechnical University student Vu An-Tuan, citing lack of evidence to connect the suspects with the incident.
"It's a common practice in Russia for the courts to dismiss cases, pending further investigations. It's also a polite way for the state to admit defeat in cases it initiates like that of Nikitin (an environmentalist charged with espionage) but sometimes it's a pretext used to stop legal proceedings for the cases detrimental to its interests," said Yury Vdovin, co-chairman of the St Petersburg Citizens' Watch human rights watchdog.
Late last month, an official representative of the Vietnamese Foreign Office, Le Zung, took the Russian government and St. Petersburg's law enforcement establishment to task, demanding "an immediate solution to An-Tuan's murder, and that investigations be resumed and sped up," following reports that the suspects of the murder were controversially acquitted.
However, Vdovin does not believe that An-Tuan's murder will be solved despite the call for further investigations, citing the "prosecution's incompetence and non-commitment," saying, "they take things for granted; and they don't dig deep enough into the facts."
But Aliou Tunkara, president of the St. Petersburg African Union organization believes that an ulterior political agenda always prevails over hate crime verdicts in Russia.
"I wonder how one could expect a 'Russian, xenophobic prosecution and jury' to send more than a dozen 'teenage patriots' to jail for killing or attacking a simple 'Vietnamese, a Palestinian or a Negro' amid the national ethnic-based outcry," he said, adding "they are very much aware that putting a young man in jail for 10 years is tantamount to killing his future and everything else, including his chance of having children."
Meanwhile, as the court was passing the sentence on Monday, local anti-fascist activists were commemorating one year since the murder of Kacharava, a St. Petersburg State University student, who was fatally stabbed in downtown St. Petersburg by a group of what witnesses described as "skinheads."
Hundreds of activists staged a protest march that ended with a public rally at the spot where Kacharava was murdered outside the Bukvoyed bookstore on Ligovsky Prospekt.

TITLE: Dodgy Firms Help Men Escape Army
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Sergei Yeklichayev saw what seemed like a useful advertisement on St. Petersburg's metro. Leaflets advertising draft-dodging services can easily be found in local subway stations or glued to apartment buildings.The firm's services sounded suspicious, but Yeklichayev felt cornered. His younger brother had deserted from his military service after several months of brutal hazing, and was on the run.
All Russian men aged between 18 and 27, with limited exemptions, must serve two years in the Russian army. Escaping military service is a serious crime, but thousands seek ways to avoid the draft each year. Harsh conditions in the army in general and the threat of being deployed to Chechnya are among the reasons.
Yeklichayev lifted the receiver and dialed the number of a St. Petersburg company offering "help to escape from the army, get an early discharge," and similar services.
A secretary who answered the phone was calm and welcoming. She said that the person who dealt with such cases was a retired army officer, who was both well-connected and very experienced.
The secretary was open about the cost of the firm's services. An initial interview when young men explain their problem costs 500 rubles ($18.50), but seeking to dodge the draft can cost at least 2000 euros ($2,560).
Hundreds of people see these leaflets every day, including law enforcement officers, but the ads remain posted. And while in St. Petersburg conscription can be avoided for 2000 euros, the price can be as much as 5000 euros ($6,400) in Moscow.
The secretary of the company described it as a registered law firm, Yeklichayev said.
"The staff never once said I needed to pay bribes. They call it 'solving problems'," he said. "Just like a registered real estate company would charge you a hefty fee to validate a murky privatization deal."
Sometimes such companies reach out to potential clients on their own initiative.
This month a bewildered woman came to the office of the St. Petersburg human rights group Soldiers' Mothers to complain about one such "outreach" effort. Her son is in his final year at high school.
"A clerk from a draft-dodging firm called the family at home, and put it bluntly that they could help the young man avoid army service," recounts Ella Polyakova, chairman of Soldiers' Mothers. "For an instant the mother was lost for words, but when she was able to continue the conversation and asked the caller where they got her home number, the clerk laughed at the question. A district military commission had provided the firm with a list of potential 'clients,' he told the mother."
Mothers have complained that officers at military commissions laugh when the mothers ask about their sons' rights. Officers refuse to provide them with a list of illnesses that would exempt the young conscripts from having to serve. During officially arranged medical examinations doctors ignore severe illnesses, including stomach ulcers and circulatory problems, according to Soldiers' Mothers.
By contrast, doctors provided by draft-dodging companies are smooth operators.
"Basically, what happens is that a lawyer in these draft-dodging firms handles the negotiations with the military authorities," explained Polyakova. "One such 'lawyer' took his young client to a doctor friend who gave the guy an injection in the eye and then made the guy look as though he had concussion, while still at the clinic. But then this lawyer's 'contact' at the military commission left the job and this theatrical display was wasted."
Some of the mothers who come to Soldiers' Mothers say they would have been happy to pay a bribe but they do not have the money. As one of the poorer visitors put it: "It costs a fortune, but it brings peace of mind."
"Everyone knows that corruption schemes work very well. They have passed the test of time," said Lyubov Yezheleva, a member of Soldiers' Mothers. "But if people choose to pay bribes, they not only support these schemes, they worsen the situation for the poor people who can't afford to pay in principle. If the majority pays, it becomes the norm."
When funds are scarce, relatives have to be inventive and adventurous.
Maria Sysoyeva, a pensioner in her 70s, with a monthly budget of about 10,000 rubles to spare, is a case in point. To prevent her only grandson being deployed to Chechnya she killed her only piglet and set off to present it as a gift to the officers of the Leningrad Military District. Sysoyeva's trip was a success, and her grandson Alexander was dispatched to a base near St. Petersburg.
"I wish I could save him from the hell of military service altogether, but I don't have the cash," Sysoyeva said. "At least they sent him to a safer place."
St. Petersburg lawyer Yelena Filonova said the police work hand in glove with military commissions, and it is not uncommon for young men to be detained on the street for no good reason.
"The police can then plant drugs on them or put bullets in their pockets, and then offer them a choice between the army and prison, so I would even suggest sewing up your pockets," the lawyer said. "When arrested, they are not allowed to call home and their families may not know for months what happened to these guys, and of course have no chance to protest."
Reports of brutal hazing continue to come from every region of the country.
Leningrad Military District conscript Maxim Gugayev weighed under 40 kilograms, had concussion, bruised internal organs and feet burnt with acid, when he found himself at a hospital following months spent in slavery at a farm in Krasnoye Selo in 2005.
Colonel Alexander Pogudin, who arranged Gugayev's forced confinement at the farm, owned by retired army officer Nikolai Usevich, was fined 50,000 rubles ($1,850) in a subsequent court case.
While at the military hospital, Gugayev had — apparently driven by fear — told investigators he was beaten by unknown assailants but when he returned to his native Yaroslavl he wrote an appeal to the St. Petersburg Military Prosecutor's Office revealing the truth.
"The prosecutors used the difference between his testimonies at the hospital and the story he told later to help the colonel," Polyakova said. "This case is a clear illustration of the damage brought by lack of information about human rights, and lack of faith in justice."
Military service has a bad reputation, with recruits complaining not just of brutality, but of under-nourishment and corporal punishment. Soldiers' Mothers said each year hundreds of conscripts desert, and some take their own lives or are shot trying to evade arrest. In 2005, the Defense Ministry recorded the deaths of 16 conscripts through hazing incidents and 276 suicides.
With so many families looking for an escape route from military service for their children, draft-dodging deals are in big demand.
According to Georgy Satarov, director of the INDEM Foundation, a Moscow-based anti-corruption watchdog, the cost of bribing your way out of military service or paying for procedures which achieve the same result has sky-rocketed. It now costs around 20 times more than in 2001.
Igor Puzanov, chief commander of the Leningrad Military District, admitted the existence of hazing in the region but refused to provide statistics.
"Even one case of hazing is a tragedy, so I don't see any point in discussing numbers," Puzanov said.
Army chiefs admit that most recruits are poorly prepared for service. According to Puzanov, only about 10 percent of recruits have the appropriate levels of physical fitness and moral qualities.
"The army is not a prison: it is not tailored to transform freaks and sadists into normal people," Puzanov said. "Everybody who joins the army gets a gun, irrespective of their moral standards. It is presumed that the recruits won't misuse the weapons."
In an effort to cut down on brutality, some army commanders have suggested improving the primary education system.
"One has to ask why the country's schools produce monsters who arrive in the army as complete sadists," Puzanov said.
Occasionally, legal means of proving exemption from the draft have been successful.
Oksana Kasyanchik and her brother Pavel, both natives of the town of Bryansk in central Russia, spent almost two years in legal battles and won a case against their regional military commission, which had wanted to draft Pavel despite his heart condition.
Sergei Yeklichayev has decided not to bribe the way to his brother's liberty and got in touch with Soldiers' Mothers instead. The human rights group is now helping the brothers to prepare for a trial, and the success of the Kasyanchik family fills them with hope.
"We chose a more difficult but honest way to fight," Sergei said. "To us, the most important thing is to have a clear conscience."

TITLE: Green Activists Board Ship in Protest
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Three activists from the international environmental organization Greenpeace on Monday chained themselves to a cargo ship carrying more than 5,000 tons of genetically modified soya en route from Amsterdam to St. Petersburg.Greenpeace has been campaigning in the past several years for a complete ban on production of GM soya.
The three activists, who got on board of "Rusich-1" on Sunday to take samples of soya — tests have already revealed the soya is GM — were detained by the police.
Greenpeace's boat "Arctic Sunrise" caught up with "Rusich-1" on Sunday in the Baltic Sea, about 200 miles away from St. Petersburg
Exported to Europe from the U.S., Brazil and Argentina as animal feed, the GM soya is grown on deforested Amazon rainforest area, Greenpeace says.
"Russia does not produce genetically modified soya, so whatever GM soya there is in the country, is all imported," said Natalya Olefirenko, head of Greenpeace's Gene Program in Russia. "There is little control over the import of GM products and we see a lack of necessary expertise. The only solution — until reliable independent research is done to establish the risks and damages of GM soya — is to suspend all imports of these products to Russia."
Russian legislation does not require any products made with GM ingredients to be marked with an appropriate label.
According to Greenpeace, 77 percent of the imported GM soya arrives to Russia by sea via the Amsterdam-St. Petersburg route.
St. Petersburg's strategic location as a sea port has recently made the city an object of harsh criticism by environmentalists who cite the transport of cargo including radioactive nuclear waste through the city as a danger to public health.

TITLE: NGO Allowed to Resume Work
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: MOSCOW— Human Rights Watch has been told it can resume work in Russia after it was forced to suspend its activities for almost three weeks. Amnesty International is still waiting for formal clearance to restart.Both rights groups were forced to stop work under Russian legislation requiring foreign non-governmental organizations to re-register by Oct. 18, raising international concern that the country was trying to limit their activities.
"We submitted our papers in September. They were sent back for some corrections. The corrections were, in my view, quite minor," Alison Gill, director of the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch, said by telephone Monday,
Gill added that the office received formal notification it could operate again on Nov. 7.
Amnesty International's position is less clear. Amnesty spokeswoman Lydia Aroyo said by phone from London today she thinks the group is registered, but can't be sure.
"That's our understanding, although we haven't yet got the document as such," she said. Amnesty is waiting for the go-ahead from its lawyer before resuming work, Aroyo said.

TITLE: UN Report: Russia Falls Further Behind Europe
AUTHOR: By Carl Schreck
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — Despite an increase in per capita income, Russia has fallen further behind developed countries like Norway, Japan and the United States in terms of income, life expectancy and other factors, according to a UN report released last week.The United Nations Development Program's annual human development index ranks Russia 65th out of 177 countries, sandwiched between No. 64 Libya and No. 66 Macedonia. Last year, Russia was ranked 62nd.
The figures do not necessarily suggest quality of life is worsening in Russia. As Kaarina Immonen, UNDP's representative in Russia, explained, the drop in the rankings has more to do with improvements in other countries.
Per capita income in Russia now stands at $9,902, up from $9,500 last year. But life expectancy dipped incrementally: Last year, Russians could expect to die, on average, at 65.3 years of age.
This year, with an average life expectancy of 65.2 years, they have one-tenth of a year, or 36.5 days, less time on the planet, well behind Macedonia, at 73.9 years, and Libya, with 73.8 years.
"Russia has certainly made improvements with its GDP per capita, but life expectancy is stagnating or declining," Immonen said. "Any policies directed at improving life expectancy would be extremely helpful."
When it comes to access to health care and education, Russia also lags far behind "high human development" countries in the West and elsewhere.
President Vladimir Putin noted in his state-of-the-nation address in May that the country's population was falling by about 700,000 yearly. He proposed a series of government programs, including cash incentives for women to have more children, to boost the birth rate.
For the sixth consecutive year, Norway, with a per capita GDP of $38,454 and an average life span of nearly 80 years, was ranked the world's best country live in. Iceland came in at No. 2, followed by Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Japan and the United States.
Famine-stricken Niger came in at rock bottom. Average life expectancy in the West African country is 44.6 years; per capita GDP is $779.
Russia was just two places shy of being categorized a "high human development" country, remaining in the index's middle tier of "medium human development."
No. 63-ranked Mauritius, an island nation off Africa's southeastern coast in the Indian Ocean, came in last place in the "high human development" category.
Income and life expectancy do not always correspond, the report makes clear. While the average Sri Lankan can expect to live 74.3 years, average GDP in the island nation is $4,390, less than half that of Russia.
Greatly boosting Russia's ranking was its nearly 100 percent literacy ranking among adults.
In a poll conducted last month by the independent Levada Center, 44 percent of the 1,600 respondents said Russia was not moving in the right direction, while 38 percent said they liked the direction the country was headed in.
In another poll conducted last month by the state-run firm VTsIOM, 81 percent of Russians said that given the option to be born in any country they would pick Russia.

TITLE: TNK-BP Pays Off $1.44Bln Bill
AUTHOR: By Miriam Elder
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — TNK-BP has paid $1.44 billion in back taxes amid an attack that analysts say is designed to ensure that a state-run company will soon gain a stake in the Russian-British oil major.The tax claim is the largest levied against a Russian company apart from the multibillion-dollar claims that led to the downfall of Yukos. TNK-BP said Friday that it had expected the charge and settled the claim for 2002 and 2003 from a $1.46 billion reserve created for the tax case.
"This will have no impact on the company's financial results for this year, or on the company's operations," said Alexander Shadrin, a TNK-BP spokesman.
TNK-BP negotiated down the initial tax claim of $1.85 billion, but analysts said the final settlement was larger than they expected. "The market was expecting a lower amount. Settlements have traditionally been substantially lower than the claims, so it is a surprise," a source familiar with the matter said. "It is tied in with the ongoing attack against the company."
TNK-BP appears to be the latest target in the Kremlin's campaign against oil and gas projects with foreign participation, as it seeks to ensure the state has a significant share in the sector that President Vladimir Putin has called the country's "holiest of holies."

TITLE: Policeman Denies Guilt In Politkovskaya Murder Case
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW— A police officer sought by authorities in connection with the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative reporter who uncovered abuses against civilians in Chechnya, has denied allegations of his involvement in the murder.Alexander Prilepin told state-owned Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview published Saturday that he and his colleagues had been angered by Politkovskaya's reports, which he called unfounded, but added that he had never thought about taking revenge.
Politkovskaya, who exposed killings, torture and other abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was gunned down in her apartment building in Moscow on Oct. 7. The gunmen have not been found and the murder set off a chorus of protest from foreign governments and international organizations.
News reports said investigators traveled to the Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous district to check the allegations that Prilepin and another police officer wanted for alleged crimes in Chechnya could have been involved in Politkovskaya's murder.
Following a series of Politkovskaya's articles exposing police atrocities in Chechnya, one of the officers whom she accused of abuses, Sergei Lapin, was implicated in e-mail threats against the journalist. In 2001, Politkovskaya fled to Vienna after receiving warnings that Lapin was intent on revenge.
Lapin was detained in 2002 and later sentenced to 11 years in prison by a court in Chechnya.
Prilepin, speaking to Rossiyskaya Gazeta from an undisclosed location, insisted that neither he nor colleagues of his who are also being sought by authorities had anything to do with Politkovskaya's murder.
"I wouldn't conceal that most of my comrades, who had been in Chechnya and lost their friends and colleagues there, had been angered by the media providing ideological support for the rebels and casting us as butchers," Prilepin said in a reference to Politkovskaya's articles.
"But no one has ever had any plans to take revenge on journalists. Moreover, it's completely unclear why we should remember the old grievances now and decide to take revenge after so many years."
Prilepin said he had been hiding from the authorities not because he was guilty, but because he feared a biased trial in Chechnya at the hands of local, Kremlin-backed authorities.
Last week also saw a former security service officer claim that he might have been poisoned by a man who had sought to meet him, saying he had documents related to the death of the journalist.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former Federal Security Service officer who has been granted asylum in Britain, was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday as saying the documents contained the name of an individual who might have been related to the killing of Politkovskaya.
Litvinenko said he met the man and took the documents from him at a London restaurant on Nov. 1. Several hours later, Litvinenko felt sick and was hospitalized with symptoms suggestive of poisoning. The former officer said he would hand over the documents to police and to Novaya Gazeta when he recovered.
(AP, SPT)

TITLE: Forget-Me-Not Numbers Go For High Prices
AUTHOR: By Yulia Belous
PUBLISHER: Vedomosti
TEXT: MOSCOW — What price beauty?Cellular telecommunications companies have begun charging more for "beautiful" or easy-to-remember phone numbers — and experts say money is no object, because a catchy number can help a company attract loyal customers.
Long distance operator Rostelecom recently auctioned off some of its catchiest numbers beginning with 8-800-100. Numbers starting with 8-800 are mainly used for toll-free calls, for which the receiver pays. Banks, retail chains and communications companies were among the bidders at the auction, with asking prices starting at $5,000 per number. Rostelecom managed to sell 12 of the 18 numbers offered, with the most expensive lot going for $17,500.
It was not the first such auction. In November 2005, Uralsvyazinform put the following number up for sale: 222-2222. Bank24.ru placed the winning bid of nearly $7,500. A spokesman for Bank24.ru said the company had no regrets about the purchase.
"Clients remember the number easily," he said. "In only half a year, we have transferred all of our calls to this number."
But the trailblazer for phone number auctions in Russia was the Moscow branch of MegaFon. In February 2005, the company auctioned off catchy numbers with starting prices of $60 for direct numbers (seven digits that take local area codes) and $50 for federal numbers (10 digits including a three-digit prefix). The most expensive turned out to be 585-8585, which sold for $2,525. Interestingly, in China in 2004 a similar number — 135-85-85-85-85 — was sold via an Internet auction for $1.1 million. In Chinese, the last eight numbers sound like a quadruple repetition of a phrase wishing someone wealth.
Catchy numbers can be purchased in other ways as well, not only at auctions. Mobile operators have been selling them for some time. VimpelCom spokeswoman Yevgenia Demina said "gold" direct numbers, with a digit combination of xxx-y-xxx or abc-xxxx, cost $590. "Silver" numbers, with an abc-xy-xy combination, cost $236, while "bronze" combinations of axy-bc-xy sell for $118.
Federal numbers are not divided into such categories, but for $36 one may buy the most appealing number from a special list.
MegaFon subscribers pay $636 for gold numbers and $55 for select federal numbers, said Roman Prokolov, assistant to the company's Moscow general director. He said silver direct and federal numbers cost $318 and $28, respectively, and select numbers from a list go for $28 or $11.
With MTS, preferred combinations cost $50 for direct and $20 for federal numbers, or $20 and $10 respectively for choice numbers from a list.
However, the selection of such choice numbers among the big three phone companies is limited. According to rules that came into effect in January, only fixed-line operators have a right to them.
Rostelecom numbers beginning with 8-800 normally go for $500, with an additional $1,000 to $6,000 added for especially good numbers. According to Prokolov of MegaFon, almost one-third of new subscribers ask about obtaining such numbers. However, only about 2 percent of subscribers are willing to pay a higher price for a beautiful number, said Demina of VimpelCom.
The Moscow City Telephone Network, or MGTS, began offering a choice of preferred numbers in June 2005. The catchiest numbers are divided into six categories, said media relations director Yekaterina Khaustova. Apartment owners, she said, primarily buy numbers for $18 from a select list, or for $55 with two identical last digits. Business owners prefer numbers costing $375 or more. The most expensive range in price from $5,200 up to $52,400 for a number with seven identical digits — and all of those are already taken. For example, a flag-sewing factory owns the number 444-4444, a retailer of sheepskin coats claimed 555-5555, and the Moscow Mayor's Office holds 777-7777. The numbers 333-3333 and 999-9999 are the property of taxi companies Taxi-Pilot and Euroline.
"The competition in the taxi business is great," said Yevgeny Yermakov, general director of Euroline. "An easily remembered number gives us a weighty advantage."
Owners of catchy numbers are most often businesspeople with many contacts or companies providing services, said Ochir Mandzhikov, media relations manager for the Divizion dealership. Also, young people often buy elite numbers for prestige, he added.
The sale of preferred numbers does not account for a significant percentage of phone operators' incomes, said Prokolov, but remains a decoration on top of the basic services they offer. MegaFon, for example, contributed the proceeds of an auction to charity. And in this way phone operators gain loyal subscribers, said a leading analyst for iKS-Consulting, Margarita Zobnina.
A representative for Rostelecom said the goal of its auction was not financial gain, but to bring attention to its calling code 8-800-100. Previously, Rostelecom sold a different number combination for toll-free calls, 8-800-200.

TITLE: Changes in Rates For Calls Causes Confusion
AUTHOR: By Nathan Toohey
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — The Calling Party Pays protocol that took effect at the beginning of July has, in theory, led to free incoming calls for the nation's mobile-phone users.However, customers who have a so-called direct number — a seven-digit number with a local area code — have discovered that the new system is not as straightforward as it might at first seem.
After a brief honeymoon period in which all subscribers enjoyed free incoming calls, some have been outraged to receive notification that incoming call charges would be reintroduced on their direct numbers.
Direct numbers are more expensive for mobile operators to provide. Because these numbers belong to the fixed-line operators, the mobile operators must rent them for use by their customer.
When a call is placed to one of these direct numbers it is, in effect, rerouted to a federal number owned by the mobile operator.
The new law sets a tariff of 1.50 rubles (5 cents) to be paid by the party calling a federal number from a fixed line, and the mobile operators receive a portion of this fee. Calls to a direct number, however, are not registered as a call to a mobile number and are free, thus leaving no revenue with which the mobile operator can be compensated.
Not surprisingly, mobile operators are seeking to compensate for lost income with new fees that vary depending on the provider and the tariff plan.
MTS has introduced new charges for its direct-number plans. With the exception of its unlimited plans, MTS has begun charging users for receiving calls made to their direct numbers. The fees are being referred to as a "redirecting charge" and are equal to the charge that was levied for receiving calls from fixed lines prior to the introduction of the new law.
With the introduction of this new billing system, MTS has also provided all holders of direct numbers with an additional federal area code. Direct-number holders are not charged for calls made to this additional federal number.
This means that in order to avoid these extra charges, MTS direct-number subscribers should ensure that callers dial their new federal number instead of their old direct number.
In September, VimpelCom, which operates the Beeline brand, cut its losses by increasing the monthly fee for its direct number plans by $5, except the Elitny, Super GSM, Super and Svobodny Stil packages.
At press time, MegaFon had yet to announce any new fees for the use of its direct numbers.

TITLE: Red Letter Day
AUTHOR: By Natasha Randall
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Poetry has always been charged with the distinctions of sex. Russian poems can be all the more polarized with their overt linguistic gendering of people and things. And one of the most perfectly nuanced Russian manifestations of the poetic gender dance is the extended correspondence between Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetaeva. "Corresponding with you," Pasternak wrote to Tsvetaeva in 1923, "is no easier than corresponding with myself." In "The Same Solitude," a deep investigation of their letters (including some that were only recently brought to light), Catherine Ciepiela, a professor of Russian at Amherst College, illuminates the crux of their bond: the crossroads of gender and writing.Pasternak and Tsvetaeva lived two separate but undeniably torturous lives as Russian poets in the first half of the 20th century. Tsvetaeva first discovered Pasternak's poetry when she read his collection "My Sister Life" in 1922. By then, she had emigrated from Russia to Berlin, and would make Prague and then Paris her home for many years. Hence, their relationship remained almost exclusively in the postal realm — the poets were only casually acquainted before Tsvetaeva's emigration, and met again in person after the fervency of their letter-writing had subsided. By the time Tsvetaeva returned to the Soviet Union in 1939, Pasternak had been living under rigid Soviet literary influences, and she had been branded a "foreigner" — both their situations were damned with privations. Pasternak watched his fellow poets being horribly persecuted one by one but managed to avoid arrest himself, and Tsvetaeva eventually took her own life in 1941.
Though they led separate lives throughout their correspondence, their bond was intense and romantic. Their letters show a complete and wondrous dialogue between poetic voices as manifested through expressions of love and kinship — Ariadna Efron, Tsvetaeva's daughter, remarked that they had "a language understood by two, encoded for everyone else!" Ciepiela writes that "the poets relied on the familiar script of the heterosexual romance in shaping their relationship" but goes on to prove that their exchange addressed these questions: "Is the poet masculine or feminine, active or passive? Who speaks when the poet speaks?" "The Same Solitude" looks to the feminine as the pivotal point of their connection.
Tsvetaeva and Pasternak developed their poetic voices from strikingly similar origins — origins which drew them both toward the Symbolist tradition. Both had musical mothers (pianists on both sides). Both households were imbued with a sort of Victorian moral idealism — one that put music, emotion and femininity, to some extent, in tension with ethics. "For both poets," Ciepiela writes, "the mother's music was a language of strong emotion and an ideal for their own writing."
The strictures of this upbringing were, however, immediately called into question as literary modernism dawned in Russia. Turn-of-the-century Russia was an erotically charged artistic moment where, under the influence of Symbolist poets such as Alexander Blok and Valery Bryusov, Pasternak and Tsvetaeva conceived of "the moment of lyric inspiration as the poet's erotic encounter with the muse." Ciepiela insists that the erotic quality of their poetry "helps account for the special intensity with which they responded to each other's writing." At the same time as eroticism was infusing literature, conventional gender roles were being undermined for a poetics that would suit the fragmentary nature of the modern subject.
According to the scholar Claire Kahane, whom Ciepiela cites, the gender oscillations of modernism were historically tied to the cultural phenomenon of hysteria, a malady primarily associated with women: "What is repudiated in both sexes is femininity, specifically defined as passive desire. ... [Both] female and male hysterics were — are — involved in conflictual feminine identities that they both desire and abhor." Ciepiela transfers this line of thought into her argument: "Tsvetaeva and Pasternak celebrate passive desire in their writing and understand their lyric creativity in the same terms — as an eroticized act of submission. As male and female poets, however, they are differently situated with respect to femininity."
Tsvetaeva's use of gender has long been discussed, particularly as her feminine stance shifted so markedly over the course of her life's work. Some say that she asserts a gender-neutral position; others have interpreted her stance as male-identified. Ciepiela prefers to "acknowledge the tensions attending Tsvetaeva's views of gender, sex, and the body" and refuses to sacrifice the nuances of her work for a generalization.
The central focus of "The Same Solitude," however, is Pasternak's posturing toward and within the feminine. Ciepiela portrays Pasternak as believing that literary creation occurs in the union of the sexes, the agent and the receptor, the factual and the hysterical — but that the lyric element is the feminine. It was Pasternak's enactment of the feminine, through his overt and covert confessions of an obsession with femininity, that drew Tsvetaeva toward him. She was attracted to his emotionality, his hysteria, acknowledged by him in a letter to her on July 11, 1926, about his work "The Childhood of Luvers."
For over a decade spanning the 1920s and 1930s, Pasternak and Tsvetaeva were each others' most important readers. Gradually, as Ciepiela explains, Pasternak began disciplining hysteria, and corralling his channels to the feminine under the influence of the political climate in the Soviet Union. And for Tsvetaeva, this was a betrayal, which she understood as Pasternak dissipating his forces into insipid lyricism. Tsvetaeva herself had come to see her role as a mother as undermining her poetic powers, and she wrote to Pasternak in 1936 saying: "Why are you announcing that you will write differently? That's your business — with your womb. Whose business is it? ('I've given birth to all dark-haired kids but now I've decided to have a redhead.' Or is that something already being practiced there?)"
When Pasternak suggested in 1926 that they shared "the same solitude, the same journeys and searching, and the same favorite turns in the labyrinth of literature and history, and the same role," he was thinking of the isolation they felt in their situations (Soviet Moscow for Pasternak; an emigre community hostile to Tsvetaeva in Paris). But Tsvetaeva saw solitude as a larger condition of the poet, as an isolation from the rest of humankind. "The Same Solitude" charts the courses of Pasternak and Tsvetaeva toward these isolations, their ultimate contexts as poets, and as correspondents, who both somehow disengaged from the feminine — the original source of their inspiration.

TITLE: Log Cottage Leader Builds Russian Base
AUTHOR: By Yekaterina Dranitsyna
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: One of the world's leading producers of log-built cottages, Finnish company Ikihirsi, has announced record sales in Russia this year after it began tailoring its product to the local market.The company experienced little success when distributing log cottages in Russia under the Ikihirsi trademark — last year sales in Russia accounted for only $2.3 million — 3.5 percent of the company's turnover.
This year PetroStil became Ikihirsi's distributor and launched a new trademark and slogan for the product — "Rovaniemi. Truly Lapland log houses."
Rebranding resulted in a 200 percent increase in sales. From January till September this year PetroStil sales of Rovaniemi cottages totaled $10 million. The company sold cottages amounting to an area of 7,500 square meters.
"Though Ikihirsi is one of the world's leading producers of log houses, Russian customers are not familiar with the trademark," said Maria Kholod, brand manager of Rovaniemi.
The Ikihirsi plant is based in Rovaniemi — the capital of Lapland. That's why PetroStil decided to use the image of Santa Claus and a Christmas tree in the logo, Kholod said.
"The idea to use the Santa Claus image, which is well-known to Russians, proved very successful. Besides the increase in sales, other companies have started using this idea for the promotion of their products," she said.
Ikihirsi also had to change the traditional design to meet the preferences of Russian customers.
"In Finland people prefer small houses and simple architecture, while Russians want a house with an interesting design, spacious enough for several generations of the family, as well as numerous relatives and guests," said Timo Kahkonen, marketing director at Ikihirsi Oy.
The company focused on advertising in the specialized press, participating in exhibitions and individual servicing, Kahkonen said. "Special promotional events and joint projects realized with other companies oriented towards a similar target audience also proved very successful," he added.
Mikhail Fuksman, sales director at PetroStil, said that from January to October this year sales in Russia accounted for 20 percent of all Ikihirsi turnover.
"This result exceeded our expectations. It has already become our biggest selling market in Europe," Fuksman said.
The company also benefited from the growing demand for cottages in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast.
Recently a number of real estate agencies have switched to cottage construction. From 2005, Peterburgskaya Nedvizhimost offers cottage construction services in the city suburbs and Leningrad Oblast, distributing the cottages of various producers.
Last year Peterburgskaya Nedvizhimost signed a $17 million investment agreement with Finnish log cottage producer Honkatalot to realize four construction projects.
In October this year the Central Real Estate Agency announced an investment of around $40 million into an estate of 150 cottages in Tosno, Leningrad Oblast.
According to Vladimir Golovan, commercial director of Central Real Estate Agency, there is a wide range of cottages available for sale in Leningrad Oblast varying between $150,000 and $1 million. Exclusive cottages could cost up to $4 million.
"Demand for cottages increased by 50 percent to 100 percent over the last year. The number of cottage settlements nearly doubled," Golovan said.
Last year 38 cottage settlements were put on sale, this year — about 70.
"The increase in the cost of real estate in St. Petersburg has stimulated price growth in the suburbs. Prices increased by 20 percent to 50 percent on average," Golovan said. "Demand for cottages will keep growing. Many investors see high potential in this business, and have started constructing cottages in the Leningrad Oblast. The wide selection of estates will prevent prices from growing too quickly," he said.
Golovan indicated that nearly all projects currently being realized include mid-price cottages, while three years ago no "economy-class" cottage was being constructed, with the price for a cottage with land starting from $300,000. At the moment the most popular cottages are priced between $150,000 and $300,000.

TITLE: Mitvol Trashes Sakhalin Ecology Plan
AUTHOR: By Dmitry Zhdannikov
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW — The government may sue the Shell-led Sakhalin-2 group in international courts to claim billions of dollars in damages or even scrap the $22 billion production sharing deal, an official said Friday.Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for the Inspection of Natural Resources Use, said his agency had received a plan from Sakhalin-2 on how the company intended to rectify ecological damage but considered it "not serious."
"We are talking to lawyers and determining our position to file for damages according to international law. The place would be Stockholm and it would be the law of New York," Mitvol said.
The Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project has come under increasing pressure from state officials since last year, when it doubled cost estimates for the world's No. 1 liquefied natural gas, or LNG, scheme.
Shell declined to comment on Mitvol's remarks and the fate of the production sharing agreement, which was signed in the mid-1990s, when the country was desperate to attract foreign money at a time of low oil prices.
The Kremlin is now seeking to limit foreign involvement in the strategic energy sector and has also threatened ventures involving BP and ExxonMobil with legal and administrative measures.
On Friday, TNK-BP said it had paid $1.44 billion in back taxes.
The doubling of costs has infuriated Gazprom, which was planning to take one-quarter of the project, and analysts say the pressure is designed to force Shell to cede a stake cheaply, or face further delays.
Sakhalin-2 is due to supply clients in Asia and the United States from mid-2008, and Shell has said that any significant delay would damage Russia's reputation and cost the country and the company up to $10 billion in lost profits.
The agency accuses Sakhalin-2 of polluting the bay near the LNG plant and cutting too many trees while building an 800-kilometer pipeline along the length of the Pacific island.
The Sakhalin Energy group, minority owned by Japan's Mitsui and Mitsubishi, said earlier that it had rectified most of the violations.
On Friday, the Sakhalin Energy group said it had that week filed an environmental action plan covering issues from river crossings to management of excavated soil. The group said it would revise the plan as soon as it got the official results of site inspections.
Mitvol said he did not like the new action plan.
"It is not serious. It is a joke collection. We had expected to see technical solutions and they are dealing with small local problems such as cones collection," Mitvol said.
Mitvol said the longer Sakhalin-2 delayed "serious action," the more it had to lose.
"We will insist on a detailed technical action plan from them. Otherwise around next summer we could file for production sharing agreement cancellation under the law of New York," he said.
Mitvol said his agency was planning to demand that Sakhalin-2 compensate for ecological damage and lost profits under any scenario.
"Sakhalin Energy was quite helpful when they said lost profits could amount to $10 billion," Mitvol said.
He said a number of Sakhalin-2 sub-contractors had already started paying for damages and had so far paid $300,000.
"It is just the beginning," he said.

TITLE: Leaders Mask Gas Discord Between Russia and Belarus
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW —President Vladimir Putin met his Belarussian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, on Friday for what seemed likely to be tough talks on Russian oil deliveries and control of gas pipelines.The two leaders, meeting in the glare of media cameras in an ornate room in the Kremlin, seemed anxious to mask any discord, greeting each other with a hearty handshake and warm words.
"Our relations are developing quite successfully," Putin said, adding he would like to discuss prospects for economic and political integration.
But in a statement before the meeting, the Kremlin said it was "concerned" by the fact that oil deliveries to Belarus substantially exceeded its internal oil needs. The Kremlin said it would like to discuss ways of "correcting" a situation where Belarus uses Russian oil, imported on favorable terms, for profitable oil products' exports to third countries.
This "practice ... leads to gigantic losses for the Russian budget," the statement said.
In a brief statement after the meeting, the Kremlin said that bilateral economic relations should be built "on mutually beneficial terms based on market principles."
A Kremlin official in sharper comments earlier Friday said that Russia would regard "any attempt to politicize [the gas talks] as a form of pressure." The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

(Reuters, AP)

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Chevron SnubnMOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko rejected proposals from a Chevron Corp.-led group for expanding an oil pipeline that connects Kazakhstan to Russia's Black Sea coast, Kommersant reported, citing a copy of a letter Khristenko sent to the group.
Russia wants the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to raise its fees so it can repay $5.3 billion of debt by 2012, rather than by 2014 as now planned, the Moscow-based newspaper said. Chevron's Moscow office is aware of the letter, though the company hasn't officially received it, Kommersant said.
Russia may seek to bankrupt CPC to establish more control over the pipeline, the only oil link in the country that isn't controlled by state-run Transneft, Kommersant said.Gas Price May DoublenMOSCOW (Bloomberg) — Russia, the world's largest natural-gas producer, may double gas prices next year to help avoid a shortage of the fuel as consumption outpaces production, Vedomosti newspaper said, citing an Energy Ministry report.
The report, prepared by the Industry and Energy Ministry for President Vladimir Putin, says domestic production plus purchases from former Soviet states will fall 4.2 billion cubic meters short of the 729.9 billion Russia will need next year to meet internal demand and export commitments, Vedomosti said.
The gap will widen to 46.6 billion cubic meters by 2015 if state-run Gazprom and independent gas producers don't invest as much as $600 billion in field development and infrastructure, Vedomosti said.

TITLE: Winging its Way Toward the Rough
AUTHOR: By Nikita Savoyarov
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: St. Petersburg's travel industry witnessed an important change last month, with the merging of the Russian airlines "Pulkovo" and "Rossiya," under the latter's brand and moving the management of the new company to Moscow.I was among the first to witness the new company in operation when I flew to Karlovy Vary, via Prague, on October 30.
The boarding card might still have been emblazoned with the old "Pulkovo" logo, but on passing through the last safety control it was possible to see a new "Rossiya" sign already being installed by an airport employee.
However, of particular interest on this trip was the contrast between St. Petersburg's international terminal, Pulkovo II, and Prague's Ruzyne airport.
According to its program of tourism development, by 2010 St. Petersburg is aiming to attract five million foreign tourists a year and be ranked the fifth most popular European destination.
Prague is currently the city's closest competitor, reporting an annual total of 3.7 million tourists. Its international airport (one of the main ways tourists arrive to the city) welcomed around 11 million passengers in 2005 and is going to increase this figure by 10 percent this year. The share of low-cost carriers in 2005 exceeded 17 percent or 1.87 million passengers.
Of course Pulkovo gets nowhere near these figures, which remain difficult to get hold of, and there are several basic reasons for this.
Prague's Airport is a modern complex with highly developed infrastructure befitting the country's capital — Pulkovo II is not. The latter was modernized in 2003 but not according to the size or nature of the city, and thus to potential demand. And from the beginning of this year the airport has been under the management of a separate company from the airline. This managing company lacks the experience necessary to organize the information infrastructure demanded by travelers.
In Ruzyne passengers have a very well organized information service just after arrival and before departure in the form of different neon signs, screens, consoles and help desks as well as many other things that can provide different information related to visiting the city.
Admittedly, there are also a couple of information windows at Pulkovo II, but they are all in a wall behind the passengers in the arrivals hall. The passenger see only a car park ahead and no information about public transport.
This total lack of information creates an unfriendly environment for individual tourists who, thanks to low-cost carriers, are more and more inclined to visit European cities. St. Petersburg is trying its best to put off tourists from returning.
The current EU Project, "Tourism Development in North-West Russia," could help to solve this problem through the creation of the Northwest's own tourism marketing agency, presented recently in St. Petersburg at a special seminar. Needless to say, no one from the city's tourism authorities, airlines or airport was present.
There is one other very effective tool for the promotion of St. Petersburg as an international tourist destination. It is the World Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers (FIJET) whose 48th World Congress took place in Karlovy Vary (October 31 November 5) with around 270 journalists from 30 countries. There is a competition now among the member states and their cities in order to host the FIJET Congress this year or next. St. Petersburg could also apply via the National Union a FIJET member. This measure is comparable to the G8 Summit, but much cheaper and more effective because of its original focus on tourism. It is also a great chance for the newly born airline "Rossiya" to make its brand more recognizable in the world travel market.

TITLE: U.S. College Students Take Wing
AUTHOR: By Paul Basken
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: U.S. college students are studying abroad in record numbers, including a 53 percent increase in those going to India and 35 percent more going to China, the Institute of International Education said in an annual report.The report found both an 8 percent increase in U.S. students going abroad in 2004-05, with higher growth outside traditional European destinations, and an 8 percent increase in new foreign students enrolled last year at U.S. universities.
The findings reflect both eased U.S. travel restrictions and a greater sense among U.S. students of the value of international expertise, according to the institute, a New York-based education and training organization.
"American students are realizing that to be a professional in the 21st century, it's going to be an advantage if you have language skills, if you have cross-cultural skills, in the countries that are the hot economies in the world,'' said Peggy Blumenthal, the group's executive vice president.
More than 200,000 U.S. students studied abroad in the 2004-2005 school year, the most ever, said the federally funded institute, which conducts annual surveys involving more than 3,000 colleges.
In a separate survey, the institute counted 564,766 foreign students enrolled in the 2005-2006 year at U.S. universities, the seventh straight year with the figure exceeding a half million.The number of new foreign students increased 8 percent to 142,923, helped by U.S. government efforts to reduce visa delays and make clear to foreigners that they remain welcome after the September 2001 attacks, the report said."Those perceptions have lingered long after the situation had actually improved on the visa lines,'' Blumenthal said. "So one step was streamlining the visa review process, and the second was making sure that the word was out.''
The increases are critical to U.S. economic competitiveness, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said before departing last week on a nine-day trip to Asia to encourage more travel by U.S. and foreign students.
U.S. companies need foreign expertise, especially in the sciences, and they need U.S. workers who can operate in different cultures and languages, Spellings said.
"Those issues are becoming more and more important every day, both in terms of our civic societies and in terms of economic development,'' said Spellings, who is visiting China, Japan and South Korea accompanied by a dozen heads of U.S. universities, including Johns Hopkins, Ohio State and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.Almost half of U.S. college students abroad still go to Western Europe, the institute said. The numbers, though, are "increasing rapidly'' elsewhere, including India, up 53 percent to 1,767; Argentina, up 53 percent to 2,013; China, up 35 percent to 6,389; Brazil, up 28 percent to 1,994; and Chile, up 12 percent to 2,393, it said. Western countries now receiving fewer U.S. students include "perennial favorite'' Britain, down 0.5 percent to 32,075; and Australia, which after several years of increases fell 5 percent to 10,813, the report said. Cuba, Russia and the Netherlands fell out of the top 20 list, it said.

TITLE: Unpredictable Designer Exerts Emotion for the Motherland
AUTHOR: By Yelena Andreyeva
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Tatyana Parfenova is one of Russia's leading fashion designers. Her collections have never gone unnoticed, always personifying her refined taste and the inexhaustible creative resources at her disposal.On October 20, her new collection "The beauty" was presented at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and a week later at Russian Fashion Week in Moscow.
In "The beauty" Parfenova combines elements from the neo-Russian style with traditional Italian and French colors, with embroidery and modern, high-tech fabrics — it was a collection described by many journalists as an example of "traditional Russian chic."
Parfenova said that although everyone is always keen to discuss the style of each new collection, "unfortunately only a few people really get the message."
Born in Poltava, Ukraine, Parfenova moved to Leningrad when she was eight. As a child, she never dreamed of any professional career. "I just wanted to walk, pick flowers, swim in the river," she said.
However, she revealed that she was always a very diligent student who would succeed even with the things she did not really enjoy.
"I am very thankful to my parents, who developed my work ethic. In order to do everything well, I try to enjoy what I am doing. And it always works out," she said. "Even if it is not interesting for me at all, I can guarantee that it will all be done very well, if not perfectly."
In 1977, she graduated from the Leningrad school of painting (named after Valentin Serov) and soon got married, and gave birth to a son, which made it difficult to start work.
"Although I wanted to work, I had no real way of changing my lifestyle and was not really sure what I could do for a living," she said.
Having successfully worked part time as a graphic designer, Parfenova decided to try her hand at a fashion atelier.
"At first, I had no idea about being a fashion designer. I planned to get a job as a graphic designer at a luxury fashion house but they were more in need of a consulting designer to make sketches and help clients choose an image for themselves," she said.
Her first client was an elderly woman who said that she was ordering a coat to last her to the end of her life.
Parfenova knew that it was common for people of that age to wear one coat for maybe ten or twenty years and immediately realized the importance of her mission.
Little by little, Parfenova became keen on her new work. "It was at that fashion atelier that I started to enjoy fashion design. Having always loved to wear good clothes, I gradually moved from the fashion consumers to fashion producers," she said.
In 1990, Parfenova graduated from the Moscow Institute of Technology and three years later started up her own fashion house, opening a store on Nevsky Prospekt in the spring of 1995.
"It took me twenty years to start my own fashion house. I followed the ups and downs affecting the country as a whole, but never suffered from rackets and was always respected by my colleagues," she said.
Russian and foreign celebrities have always been among Parfenova's clients. One of them is Ludmila Narusova, the wife of Anatoly Sobchak, ex-mayor of St. Petersburg.
"It was an exciting and romantic time in the 1990s. Once, for example, we created Narusova's clothes for an official meeting with Prince Charles who supported the building of the city's first hospice — it was very important to produce a good impression. Then I was commissioned to make a collection of costumes for a prominent ballet dancer, Maya Plisetskaya, and she really loved it," Parfenova said.
Parfenova has achieved great success abroad: Regularly presenting her "pret-a-porter" collections in Paris from 1996 to 1999; receiving numerous international as well as Russian fashion awards; and making clothes for theater productions and films.
Needless to say, such success has attracted many business proposals. But although she is often told that with the "right" approach she could establish some kind of fashion empire, this, she said, is not what she really needs.
"It is always hard to understand your real vocation and the meaning of your life. Having succeeded abroad, I decided to focus on working for Russian people. I have two boutiques in St. Petersburg and Moscow. There is no need to go abroad if you can be useful in your motherland."
As a creative person, Parfenova has always been a pioneer among other designers. Her style is indefinite and unpredictable. She was the first designer to present her collections at the State Hermitage (six times) as well as at the Russian Museum and St. Petersburg's main synagogue.
"I can't explain how I come up with the themes for a new collection. It is the outcome of enormous emotional exertion," Parfenova said.
"I am probably an endangered species but I am very sensitive. I expend lots of inner energy on the work for a new collection. I can't create anything without emotions. I always see some images, dreams from which I get inspiration. I think it's easier to work as a telephone operator or receptionist and do something automatically than to be a fashion designer, but my life is full of nonrandom coincidences and that makes me happy."

TITLE: Capitalizing On Political Influence
AUTHOR: By Anna Shcherbakova
TEXT: The last jewel in the private crown of the city's previous administration is gone. Pribaltiyskaya, St. Petersburg's largest hotel is to be sold to Norwegian investor Wenaas Holding and will operate under the Park Inn brand. Only six months ago, Wenaas purchased another big hotel — Pulkovskaya, which already belongs to the Park Inn brand.Both deals are good for a market faced with a chronic lack of economy class hotel-rooms. Bringing in foreign owners and operators is probably one of the best ways of solving the problem.
Both deals are completely legal and very profitable for the sellers. The conditions of sale are confidential, but experts estimate Pulkovskaya to have fetched around $30 million and Pribaltiyskaya around $100 million. These kind of huge amounts fall under the auspices of various mysterious offshore firms.
Six years ago both hotels were the property of City Hall like many others. In 2001, the administration of Vladimir Yakovlev, who served as governor until the summer of 2003, transferred the shares of Pribaltiyskaya and Pulkovskaya to two private companies CVR (Tsentr Vodnykh Razvlecheniy, or Water Entertainment Center) and Mirkempi Hotels. The change of ownership, as well as the conditions of sale and principle of selection were never announced officially.
For a blocking interest in Pulkovskaya, Mirkempi invested around $4 million in its reconstruction, while CVR promised to construct an aqua park in exchange for 49 percent of Pribaltiyskaya — and the aqua park opened this summer, after an estimated $32 million investment.
In 2005 both companies each spent about $18 million acquiring the remaining shares from City Hall. The property changed hands soon after.
It is worth remembering the benefits of offshore funds: Isn't it good business to purchase a property for peanuts, develop it, and then sell at premium price? City Hall's stakes in other big hotels like Moscow or Oktyabrskaya were auctioned off and sold for three to five times the starting prices.
Every new generation in power has its friends and relatives, as well as its own pool of investors that are trusted and spoiled with the best hotels or plots of land or other types of property or service and subject to the best conditions.
When the administration is replaced it's difficult for the old favorites just to keep hold of their assets, let alone develop them. For example, the construction companies that got the best plots of land, say, before 2003, were recently ordered to return these assets because they had not made use of them in time.
A bank that held city budget accounts and benefited from this privilege for almost a decade has now become an average, even a small financial institution — it's like Cinderella, where the carriage turns back into a pumpkin at midnight.
Opposite examples are rare. But some investors have successfully exchanged political contacts for cash. And the hotel market is rich in such examples. A shareholder in the Grand Hotel Europe - GHE Holding acquired the city's stake in it for a symbolic $1 million. And a couple of years ago Grand Hotel Europe became a part of the Orient Express chain. The deal was estimated at over $100 million. Now the remainder of political influence has been capitalized upon.

Anna Shcherbakova is St. Petersburg bureau chief of business daily Vedomosti.

TITLE: The President's Turn From the Market
AUTHOR: By Anders Aslund
TEXT: Under President Vladimir Putin there has been a buildup of grievances about Russia's political development, but the economy has appeared to remain safely in the free market zone where his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, left it. Unfortunately, Putin's televised question-and-answer session with the nation on Oct. 25 marked a radical departure from his prior market economic rhetoric. Having lived in the Soviet Union, I experienced deja vu while reading Putin's restoration of old-style Soviet economic language.Just as it was in the old days, the patriarchic state has authority over everything but responsibility for nothing. The economic essence of Putin's three-hour exposition was that he favored ethnic discrimination, trade and price regulation, protectionism, state intervention, industrial policy, subsidies and, most of all, centralized micro-management. Conspicuously absent were ideas like deregulation, the rule of law and private property rights.
Putin's starting point was ethnic discrimination. With reference to the ethnic strife that flared up in the small Karelian town of Kondopoga at the end of August, he fanned the racist flames by siding with Russian farmers who complained that merchants of unspecified ethnicity payed them little for their produce. Putin wants "to assure that the interests of Russia's native population are the priority on the labor market and in the sphere of trade." The question does not just concern immigrants, but also Russian citizens of other ethnic backgrounds. The Kremlin has long allowed aggressive Russian nationalism free reign in the media, but here Putin himself came out as a Russian nationalist.
One major economic concern is the labor shortage generated by low birth and high mortality rates. One resource for dealing with the problem is the large number of people in former Soviet republics willing to immigrate to Russia. Rather than facilitate this Putin is encouraging the same brand of Russian chauvinism that has resulted in the murders of Russian citizens from different ethnic groups.
Putin's answer is more regulation. When a farmer complained about poor market access, he advocated further restrictions on the already over-regulated, old collective-farm markets. They should not be allowed "to sell processed goods such as smoked sausage" or "clothes imported from China." This was probably the first time since the battle against "unearned incomes" in 1986 that a Russian leader raged against the sale of the "wrong products" in the old-style collective-farm markets.
Putin has proved equally fond of price regulation. Last summer, people had to stand in long queues for alcohol for the first time since the fall of communism, and the culprit was none other than the government. The introduction of new excise stamps for alcohol, which the government then failed to deliver, caused severe shortages. Commenting on this Kremlin-instigated calamity, Putin mildly said some officials had "turned out to be unprepared," while he saved his condemnation for "unscrupulous producers" who raised prices because of the shortages. Welcome back to Soviet orthodoxy, the classic Marxist labor theory of value!
In the same vein, Putin referred to the disparity in prices between agricultural and industrial products as the "most serious problem today." Unwittingly or not, he repeated the Bolshevik argument about the so-called "scissors' crisis" for collectivization that brought the happy period of the New Economic Policy in the 1920s to an abrupt end.
The most dramatic turnaround concerned the World Trade Organization. In his annual address on May 10, Putin advocated accession to the WTO, talking about the need for "more rational participation in the international division of labor" to make "full use of the benefits offered by integration into the world economy." This time, he did not even mention the WTO while proposing measures in direct contradiction to the organization's rules. For example, he called for increased subsidies for animal husbandry in agriculture, the stimulation of automobile production by raising customs duties and higher export tariffs for lumber.
Meanwhile, U.S.-Russian negotiations on a protocol for Russia's accession continue. A meeting between Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering on Nov. 18 is being viewed as a last chance to conclude an agreement. But Putin's statements seem to indicate that he has abandoned his long-professed intention of bringing Russia into the WTO.
Rather than favoring the international division of labor, Putin is now advocating industrial policy, import substitution and state subsidies for priority industries. As a boost to the forestry industry he suggested "the import of equipment" and the "development of the relevant branches of machinery manufacturing in Russia." For every industry mentioned Putin refered to a specific national project or program to stimulate that very sector with significant government attention and subsidies. He praised the formation of the state investment fund and the venture fund, despite the clear evidence of already abundant and inefficient state investment.
The only Soviet economic tenet missing was the nationalization of the means of production. In reality, this drive is already well advanced. Poorly run state-dominated enterprises have acquired efficient private companies rather than carry out productive investment in their existing assets, while private corporations are afraid of investing because property rights remain terribly weak. As a consequence of the resulting near-stagnation in oil and gas extraction, industrial production is growing by only 4 percent per year, a figure about which Putin actually voiced concern. But he did not utter a single word to try to reassure private investors.
On the contrary, Putin seemed to declare open season on private enterprise. A retired St. Petersburg actress complained about the condition of her retirement home, which a major company wanted to take over. Putin readily named the corporation in question, Sistema, and called on it to provide $5 million in financing — "small money for this company," he said — to solve the pensioners' housing problem. This little show was designed to demonstrate Putin's concern for the elderly. What it revealed, instead, was his disrespect for the legal system and private property rights.
In his marathon three-hour performance, Putin presented an economic vision very different from earlier statements. His new policy aims at unlimited state intervention, centralized micromanagement, state investment, price regulation, higher custom tariffs, export taxes and import substitution. This well-known model has failed all over the world. Putin is only able to pursue this economically harmful advocacy because of high oil prices and thanks to his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who created a critical mass of private enterprise and a market economy. To judge from his words, Putin has gone back to the Brezhnev tradition, which led to the Soviet economic collapse. But even Leonid Brezhnev would be embarrassed by Putin's open nationalism.
Putin held his national conversation on the third anniversary of the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an important milestone in the transformation of Russia into an authoritarian state. Oct. 25, 2006, might go down as another black day in recent history — the day on which Putin abandoned the market economy. The best we can hope for is that he did not actually mean what he said.

Anders Aslund is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

TITLE: This Collective Will Not Fly
AUTHOR: By Alexander Golts
TEXT: During his recent televised question-and-answer session, President Vladimir Putin was clearly irritated with the pace of work on a February presidential decree to form a national holding company for aircraft construction. "They are sorting out whose assets are worth more and whose less as at some oriental bazaar," Putin said. "We need to finish discussions and move on to constructive decisions."It is hardly surprising that after this outburst the wheels of the state machine began to move faster. A few days later, the government commission to integrate the enterprises called for the creation of the Unified Aircraft-Construction Corporation, which brings together most of Russia's aircraft companies, including Tupolev, Ilyushin, Sukhoi, Irkut, the Sokol factory in Nizhny Novgorod and others. The state will have a 75 percent stake in the holding. To all appearances, Putin sincerely believes the industry can be resurrected through mass collectivization, by herding surviving companies and those that have long been in a coma into a giant aircraft-production communal farm. The last time the government tried something similar, at the end of the 1990s, it couldn't overcome opposition from companies that could not understand why they should send their profits to Moscow in the name of a higher cause.
Now that Putin is behind it, there is no escape. But it remains to be seen if the move will give the aircraft industry much of a boost. Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko recently told the State Duma that the aircraft industry was in a slump and entirely dependent on foreign sales of military aircraft. The bulk of profits come from sales of the Su-30 fighter to China, India and Vietnam (and next year planes will likely be sold to Venezuela). Some profits also come from sales of Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers to the Russian armed forces. But no cooperation is necessary here. The factories are producing planes that were developed in the Soviet era. The companies managed to set up independent production and supply chains for components, but are now being asked to hand over their assets in the name of dubious future production projects.
The problem with the Russian aircraft industry is that it has not created a single new aviation technology in 15 years. Given current development rates in aviation, this means that the country's air industry is simply not competitive. "Virtually no work has been done on new aircraft engines for more than 20 years," said Vladimir Skibin, general director of the Central Institute for Aviation Engine Building. "This stretch of time means the loss of a design culture."
The planned holding company does not include electrical engineering or engine-design institutes. Moreover, the plans only include "horizontal integration," so the current management at both efficient and inefficient companies will remain. This is unlikely to help improve efficiency.
Finally, the new holding company will not help to solve the biggest problem facing the aviation industry: the almost total absence of a commercial component. Khristenko said just 85 civilian aircraft, mostly light planes, were produced from 2003 to 2005. For the industry to survive, analysts say, Russia should be producing at least 500 civilian planes per year. It is clear that the aviation industry will be unable to reach the production levels necessary for profitability in the near future.
It is clear that the aircraft industry can only be revitalized through cooperation with the world's leading aircraft builders. The only new civilian aircraft project to reach the pre-production stage — the Sukhoi Superjet-100 airliner — is made largely of foreign components. The engines are a Russian-French joint effort. The vibration-control system is Swiss. The fuel system, avionics and chassis are French. The air conditioning system comes from Germany. Yet the government is presently doing everything it can to build a "ring-fence" to prevent foreign involvement in strategic branches of industry.
It is blindingly obvious that the creation of this corporation won't solve the aviation industry's problems. Tying inefficient producers together mechanically will only increase the losses for the country. The officials who promise Putin a mythical "fifth-generation fighter" and "short- and medium-range" civilian airliners will take control of the export incomes of a number of companies. Russia will not get any new planes, but London and Nice are likely to be seeing some newly minted Russian millionaires.Alexander Golts is deputy editor of the online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal.

TITLE: Not Missing Rumsfeld — Yet
AUTHOR: By Ira Straus
TEXT: People are so happy U.S. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld is leaving that they are overlooking the dark side of the man nominated to replace him, Robert Gates.Now that U.S. President George W. Bush and Rumsfeld have undermined relations with nearly every other country in the world, Gates may finish it off by wrecking relations with the one country they haven't alienated too badly yet: Russia.
Yes, Gates came from the cautious presidential administration under Bush's father, where he was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Gates was the source of some of the worst mistakes by the administration under Bush the elder. He got his main beat — the Soviet Union, and then Russia — wrong, time after time.
Gates persistently plugged the anti-Gorbachev line: that the glasnost and perestroika reforms were not what they seemed to be; the West should not help them in any way; the Soviet Union was becoming a more streamlined and skillful enemy; and that the whole thing was a plot to divide and deceive the West. Division was the main occupational fear for NATO, while deception was the occupational dread of the CIA. As CIA director, Gates had to be suspicious about being deceived by the Soviets, but he carried it to the point of circular reasoning and paranoia, treating any friendly Soviet initiative as a plot to ensnare the West. So he ended up deceiving himself into thinking that the most important Westernizing revolution in recent times was an anti-Western plot. Like current U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he was an expert on the Soviet Union, which boiled down to an expertise on the past and on how to maintain his old prejudices no matter what happened.
After the Berlin Wall came down, it became hard for U.S. officials to keep plugging the divide-and-deceive line. New ways were found, nevertheless, to express the functional equivalent: that the reform process was not a positive one for the West and that the United States should not engage constructively with it. Everything was changing, but not Gates' take on it.
Gates had plugged the same line under President Ronald Reagan, trying to undermine the administration's supposedly naive support for Gorbachev, and he was publicly and forcefully reprimanded for it by then-Secretary of State George Schultz. It was under the first President Bush that he did the real damage.
From the outset in 1989, Gates called for a turn away from Reagan's approach. Gorbachev, when he first met Gates in May 1989, said: "I understand the White House has a special cell assigned to the task of discrediting Gorbachev. And I've heard that you are in charge, Mr. Gates." As late as January 1991, Gates was still showing barely concealed delight in Gorbachev's temporary turn to a hard line.
The U.S. media at the time criticized Gates' approach, accurately labeling it as "sleeping through history" and "Cold War nostalgia." Since then, amnesia appears to have set in, and it has become standard to praise the first President Bush and his team for their foreign policy expertise and to forget how poorly they used it. Only the elder Bush's Secretary of State, James Baker, the one non-expert, got Russia right, and his sound policy statements received little substantive follow-up. The costs were enormous. The years of revolutionary reform — years when mountains were being moved inside the Soviet Union and could also have been moved in building a new Russia-West relationship — were mostly wasted.
We are still paying for this lost opportunity.
Despite the persistent opposition from Gates and his allies within the first President Bush's team, a constructive relationship began tentatively to be developed with Russia after 1991. It was built more consistently after January 1993, when Bill Clinton moved into the White House and the crowd associated with Gates finally moved out. The new relation was no longer something that could be built wholesale and rapidly, as the Russian lava had already started settling and cooling in mid-1992. After that, mountains could no longer be moved. Progress was made gradually instead, with contradictions persisting in Russian policy just as they had in the first Gorbachev years. It took more than a decade to get the relation to the present halfway house: an ambivalent partnership coupled with a lot of bones of contention that could still turn it sour.
This relationship has suffered several new blows as President Vladimir Putin has veered away from democracy over the last two years. These blows have been limited by the careful, limited and mixed nature of Putin's policy changes and by caution on the part of the current Bush administration. But the relationship is still fragile enough that it could be destroyed quickly if the United States were to abandon caution for full-scale Russia-bashing — a move that has been advocated in a number of quarters.
The United States' other partnerships are less fragile. Relations with Europe run long and deep. They have been harmed by Iraq, but they will be repaired as policy returns to a more sensible direction. Europeans are already optimistic following the U.S. mid-term election results.
But the relationship with Russia is unconsolidated and troubled. Rumsfeld had at least been working with Russia in the NATO-Russia Council, which remains one of the few semi-serious links that have been built between the West and Russia. But this will be all too easy for Gates, as secretary of defense, to undermine.
There were some outside counters to Gates' approach under Bush the elder, including the media and the Democratic Party, who both opposed this line. Today he would meet little opposition in bashing Russia — a pastime that has once again become popular. Ironically, the only counterweight today might be Rice, who appears to have moderated her own stand, if only as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Indulging old feelings toward a Russia that is still a nuclear superpower and owns most of the critical geopolitical territory north of the Islamic world no longer made sense.
The question now is will Gates stick to the approach he advocated with regard to Gorbachev and the Soviet Union. Did he learn anything from these mistakes and does he understand how negative they were for the United States? Will he take a different approach?
During his Senate confirmation hearings, this is a matter on which the Senate should grill him.

Ira Straus is U.S. coordinator of the Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO, a Washington-based nongovernmental organization.

TITLE: A Russia Without Icons
AUTHOR: By Richard Lourie
TEXT: During Soviet times, three symbols served as indicators for me of the regime's stability: If Lenin was still in his tomb, if the red flag still flew over the Kremlin and if the statue of secret police founder Felix Dzerzhinsky still stood in front of KGB headquarters, then all was right with the Soviet world.The red flag did of course come down on Dec. 25, 1991, and by then the Dzerzhinsky monument had been dramatically hauled down from its pedestal and proved hollow. Lenin is still in his mausoleum, but two out of three's not bad.
Great makers and breakers of icons (they whipped their pagan idols after accepting Christianity), the Russians have not created any new icons in the 15 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
An enormous amount happened in the 15 years after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. There was the end of World War I with invasions by the United States and Britain among others; the Civil War; the New Economy Policy, which was a step back to capitalism to repair the ruined economy; the power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky; and finally Stalin's full ascent to power.
The 15 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, though colorful and erratic, have not produced any upheaval like that which followed the Revolution, which is either a sign of maturity or exhaustion. No symbols that express the nature, beliefs and aspirations of the new society have been created, nor have large-scale political figures arisen. Putinism, whatever that is exactly, will not long outlive President Vladimir Putin. Chances are he will step down in 2008 and by that one act of honoring the Constitution he will redeem much of the backsliding caused by his cheesy authoritarianism. That will help enshrine the principle that no man is above what Putin has called "the dictatorship of the law."
Unlike early Soviet Russia, which was isolated, the new Russia is much more integrated, both politically and economically, with the world outside its borders. Russia is an active player in negotiating with Iran and North Korea and supplies Europe with more than one-quarter of its gas (it would be interesting to compare European temperatures and criticism of Russia this winter). This integration, a welcome development, has also constrained Russia in its forging of new symbols by subjecting it to more foreign influence than it can readily assimilate.
We do know what the Putin administration fears by what it punishes and seeks to repress. The imprisonment of Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky shows that the power elite fears the moneyed elite, the billionaire boyars. The heavy-handed regulation of nongovernmental organizations (as much to intimidate as to eliminate), the crude and absurd retaliations against Georgia and the impolitic reaction to Ukraine's Orange Revolution demonstrate that today's Russian leaders are either even more paranoid than has traditionally been the case or have a strong sense that the Russian people could one day take to the streets.
But what banner would they march under — what symbol or slogan?
Nothing seems quite as fake as a fake symbol. Symbols have to touch the soul and come from the soul. Some worry that Russia, always famed for its soul, is becoming too much like all the rest of the modern world with its worship of wealth and celebrity. A country that has lost touch with itself will not be able to generate images, anthems and holidays — all that gives a nation its spirit and identity.
Or maybe these are premature worries. The restrictions of Putin's regime may only be a reaction to Yeltsin's laxness. This clash of opposites should, according to the laws of dialectical materialism, combine in a synthesis that has elements of each but transcends both. And maybe that new Russia will find a new icon to which to lift its eyes.

Richard Lourie is the author of "The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin" and "Sakharov: A Biography."

TITLE: Two Referendums On The Way to Nowhere
AUTHOR: By Matthew Collin
TEXT: As South Ossetians voted Sunday for independence from Georgia in a referendum no country in the world was likely to recognize, the sheer absurdity of the situation in the tiny breakaway republic was brought home again on a short drive from the capital, Tskhinvali, to the scruffy village of Eredvi.At a briefing in Tskhinvali, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity, a dapper man with a bit of the street fighter about him, told us South Ossetia had the same right to independence as Montenegro or Kosovo — despite the fact that it has a population of only 70,000 (some say it's far smaller) and a flatlining economy.
From there we took a taxi to the de facto border — a few concrete barriers and sheds — where we had to negotiate our way past armed soldiers, both South Ossetian and Russian, and switch to another, almost identical, Lada taxi, before doubling back to reach the Georgian army checkpoint. After the soldiers called their commanders, we were allowed to trundle on down into Eredvi, where the alternative election campaign — which South Ossetians called a provocation by the Georgian government to spoil their democratic moment — had its headquarters.
Once there, a chubby giant in camouflage gave us cookies and Borjomi mineral water and told us sweetly that South Ossetia had never existed as a country and that the referendum was a show staged by the Russians to pressure the Georgians into bowing before the Kremlin.
Two opposing referendums, two sets of people with opposing ideas about what this patch of territory should become; two military checkpoints, three sets of armed forces and thousands of angry people — some of them carrying Kalashnikovs — all a six-kilometer drive from each other. This is the militarized normality in which South Ossetians live. Even the greatest minds in international conflict resolution would have trouble coming up with a peaceful solution here that might be accepted by any, let alone all of those involved.
The South Ossetian referendum was, possibly, even more surreal: a referendum on independence that was certain to pass and just as certain not to change anything. More than that, the South Ossetians themselves didn't even want what they were voting for — independence — but to become part of another country: Russia. Even Russia had suggested that this wasn't likely to happen.
So they go through the motions, maintaining their illusions amid the soldiers and checkpoints, subsisting in isolation and economic deprivation. And as the world's gaze moves on and we start to forget what we saw, they will remain here. And they will keep on waiting.Matthew Collin is a journalist in Tbilisi.

TITLE: The Great Communicator
AUTHOR: By Mark H. Teeter
TEXT: On Jan. 18, 1989 — his next-to-last day in office — U.S. President Ronald Reagan finally invited me to dine at the White House. Frankly, I had begun to wonder.There wasn't much I could do to help by then, of course: Eight years of chronic executive undermanagement had led to a presidential routine punctuated by meaningless photo ops, extended afternoon naps and policy advice from the first lady's astrologer. Not surprisingly, corruption and malfeasance in Washington had reached levels unknown since Watergate.
The infamous Iran-Contra scandal — a Rube Goldberg criminal operation run from inside the White House in which the U.S. government assisted state terrorists and drug-dealing thugs in two different hemispheres at once (and got caught doing it) — was but the hallmark national embarrassment in an administration chock full of 'em.
And yet Reagan remained enormously popular with the U.S. public. That he was obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer did not dull this popularity one whit. Clark Clifford, one of Washington's venerable wise men, soberly characterized Reagan as "an amiable dunce" (distinguishing him retrospectively from the current president, who is not amiable). Yet most Americans beheld the man and, well, simply liked him — and liked what he seemed to stand for.
Reagan's ability to make his countrymen react to him this way was reflected in another, more flattering epithet: "The Great Communicator." This greatness was not uniformly appreciated by all Americans, however: I, for example, beheld the man as "The Great Big Gasbag." And an incompetent one to boot.
The invitation to dine, which I still have somewhere and which I swear says both "White House" and "luncheon" on it, was not actually extended to me alone. There were perhaps 80 of us, as I recall, and virtually all of us taught, studied or were Russian.
At a 1988 summit meeting in Iceland, Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had agreed to expand educational exchanges between our two countries to the high school level. I had been teaching Russian language and literature at the Episcopal High School in suburban Alexandria, Virginia, for most of the decade and thus found myself in the right place at the right time: The U.S. side needed high school Russian programs fast to get the exchange up and running. Episcopal's academic reputation and handy proximity combined to make it one of three initial American entries in the U.S.-U.S.S.R. High School Partnership Program.
The first delegation of Soviet students from three Moscow schools flew into Washington, and together with their U.S. counterparts (and the teachers from both groups) were invited to lunch at the White House to mark the beginning of this historic exchange. I put on my best suit, naturally, and envisioned myself asking Nancy Reagan to pass the mayonnaise.
First omen: It wasn't at the White House, but next door. We all filed into a room in the Executive Office Building about the size of half a basketball court and waited, television cameras poised. Reagan was late, predictably, but finally he swept into the room as klieg lights suddenly came on and the whir of cameras began in earnest.
There I sat, surrounded by my own students and their Russian equivalents, set to listen to a B-actor turned politician whom I had never much liked (except in "Bedtime for Bonzo"). Indeed, Reagan and I went way back. I had started college in California only months after his initial election as governor there. Then I had passionately not voted for the man in many elections, taking real pleasure in the deed only once — in 1980, when I got to vote for a Republican I both admired and generally agreed with (John Anderson).
Now I was on hand for the penultimate moment in Reagan's political career ... and entertaining mixed feelings about it. While I was happy that my students and the Russian kids had this truly wonderful opportunity — to participate in the exchange, to meet a president, and so on — another part of me still wanted, best suit or not, to start up a chant of: "One more day! One more day!" A third part of me was seriously wondering what was for lunch.
Eventually, Reagan looked up from the lectern, smiled and began speaking — and as he did, something curious and remarkable began to descend on all of us, Russians and Americans alike: Great Communication.

Mark H. Teeter teaches Russian-American relations and English in Moscow.

TITLE: Palestinians To Pick New Premier
AUTHOR: By Nidal al-Mughrabi
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: GAZA — Rival Palestinian factions were close to agreeing on Monday on a new prime minister to replace Ismail Haniyeh, but the candidate required the endorsement of President Mahmoud Abbas to be made final, officials said.Negotiators from the Islamist group Hamas and its more moderate rival Fatah said separately they were near agreement that Mohammad Shbair, the former head of the Islamic University in Gaza, should replace Haniyeh.
Shbair was the frontrunner for the nomination, but his candidacy has to be endorsed by Abbas, who heads Fatah, and it was not clear that Hamas was ready to see Shbair named until all the other members of a planned unity government were determined.
Palestinians hope a new prime minister and a unity cabinet will ease Western sanctions imposed after Hamas came to power in March. Hamas is committed to Israel's destruction.
"We can say that Fatah did not give any objections. Mohammad Shbair is a Hamas candidate, and Fatah has no objection. Therefore, he has a big chance," said Rudwan al-Akhras, a spokesman for Fatah's parliamentary bloc.
He added, however, that Abbas, who was due to travel to Jordan for a two-day visit starting on Monday, was required to formally announce the name.
A senior Palestinian official close to Abbas said the president and Hamas had agreed on Shbair's candidacy three days ago, but that Abbas would only formally endorse it later in the week, once he returned from Jordan.
"Then consultations will begin on forming the new government," the official said.
Even though Hamas has proposed Shbair, a U.S.-educated scientist and an Islamist who is described as close to Hamas but not formally a member of the group, it was not willing to say he was the definitive candidate.
"It is not yet suitable to announce the name of the prime minister," a Hamas spokesman told Reuters.

TITLE: England Rugby Coach Stays On Despite Losses
AUTHOR: By John Mehaffey
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — Andy Robinson gained a stay of execution on Monday when he was confirmed as England rugby union coach for the remaining two November internationals despite a seventh successive defeat at the weekend.Argentina upset the world champions 25-18 at Twickenham on Saturday after the hosts had lost by a record score to New Zealand on the previous Sunday.
In a statement on the Rugby Football Union web site, elite rugby director Rob Andrew said Robinson would remain in charge for the two-test series against South Africa.
"Andy remains in charge...and we will conduct further reviews in the week following the first and second tests against South Africa to assess England's performances and results," Andrew said.
"Andy is determined to turn England around to winning ways and his and the squad's focus is on beating South Africa this Saturday."
Andrew's statement was issued after what he called "an open and frank" two-hour meeting on Monday between leading RFU officials and Robinson.
The meeting followed a deluge of criticism in the media and from the public after another dismal performance from the national team who will be defending the World Cup in France in 10 months time.
England must beat the Springboks at Twickenham next Saturday if they are to avoid the worst run in the history of the nation that gave the game to the world.
Their sole consolation on Monday was that an under-strength Springbok side lost 32-15 in Dublin on the same afternoon. Robinson has presided over 12 defeats in 20 tests while England have finished fourth in the last two Six Nations championships.
As a result of Saturday's defeat, Argentina are now sixth on the International Rugby Board world rankings, one ahead of the world champions whose seventh position is a new low.

TITLE: Malawi Court to Rule On Madonna Adoption
AUTHOR: By Raphael Tenthani
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LILONGWE, Malawi — Malawi's High Court said Monday it will rule in one week's time whether a coalition of Malawian human rights and child advocacy groups should help decide whether pop star Madonna is fit to adopt a motherless Malawian toddler.Justice Andrew Nyirenda adjourned the case after hearing arguments from a 67-member coalition that includes the state-run Malawi Human Rights Commission and maintains that the adoption proceedings have been irregular. His ruling was likely to have far-reaching consequences in a country where, largely due to AIDS, an estimated 2 million children have lost one or both parents and hundreds are adopted by foreigners every year.
Madonna has said she met all the country's requirements. And David Banda's father, who put the toddler in an orphanage shortly after his wife died of childbirth complications, has said the human rights group's lawsuit threatens his son's future. But child advocacy groups have said the lack of clarity in Malawi when it comes to foreign adoptions could be exploited by child traffickers or pedophiles.
A High Court judge granted the Grammy Award-winning singer and her British filmmaker husband, Guy Ritchie, interim custody of David on Oct. 12, pending a decision on permanent adoption after an 18-to-24 month assessment period. Malawi regulations stipulate that the assessment period be spent in Malawi, but Madonna was soon allowed to take the boy to her London home.
"Basically what we are asking the court is that we want to be joined as a party to the assessment because we have a lot of legal issues we want to raise," Justin Dzonzi, chairman of the coalition known as the Human Rights Consultative Committee, told journalists after a 1 1/2-hour closed hearing Monday.
The judge said he would rule Nov. 20 on whether to admit the coalition as a party in the adoption proceedings.
Dzonzi has said his coalition was not trying to block the adoption, but wanted to be a party to the process to make sure Malawian laws were respected. His committee has petitioned the court to make sure no Malawian laws were broken and to allow the committee to help assess Madonna's fitness as a mother.
Dzonzi said Monday that Malawi's current adoption laws are archaic and routinely flouted to allow foreigners to adopt.
"Over 1,000 Malawian children are being adopted illegally every year and yet the law says international adoption is not permissible," said Dzonzi, who is a lawyer. "There is no system to monitor how these adopted children are being treated, wherever they are. We want to use the Madonna case to make sure that the rights of children in Malawi are effectively protected."
The adoption has sparked debate inside and outside Malawi. Titus Mvalo, a lawyer the human rights coalition had hired to challenge the adoption proceedings, withdrew, apparently fearing he would be seen as trying to keep Madonna from adopting David — even though coalition members have repeatedly said that is not their intention.
"I decided to withdraw because I thought that there was a high possibility of being misunderstood by society," he told reporters Monday, saying he thought it would be good for David to be adopted by Madonna.
On the eve of the hearing, the boy's father, Yohane Banda, reiterated his appeal for the human rights activists "to back off and leave my son alone."
"As David's father I consented. I see no reason why I should change my mind now," said the 32-year-old peasant who ekes a living from a modest onion and tomato garden.
Madonna's Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula told journalists as far as Madonna was concerned, all Malawian adoption laws were followed.

TITLE: Champion Horse Desert Orchid Dies
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — Desert Orchid, one of horse racing's greatest steeplechasers, has died at the age of 27, the Racing Post reported on Monday.The gray known as Dessie clocked up 34 race wins in his career, including a 1989 victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and four in the King George VI Chase between 1986 and 1990.
"I've never known a horse so brave. He hated every step of the way in the ground and dug as deep as he could possibly go," Jockey Simon Sherwood said after one of the horse's victories.
Dessie, considered a two-miler, raced over three miles for the first time in 1989 in muddy conditions that did not suit him but won by one and a half lengths.

TITLE: U.S. Says Castro is at Death's Door
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WASHINGTON — The U.S. government believes Fidel Castro's health is deteriorating and that the Cuban dictator is unlikely to live through 2007.That dire view was reinforced last week when Cuba's foreign minister backed away from his prediction that the ailing Castro would return to power by early December. "It's a subject on which I don't want to speculate," Felipe Perez Roque told The Associated Press in Havana.
U.S. government officials say there is still some mystery about Castro's diagnosis, his treatment and how he is responding. But these officials believe the 80-year-old leader has cancer of the stomach, colon or pancreas.
He was seen weakened and thinner in official state photos released late last month, and it is considered unlikely that he will return to power or survive through the end of next year, said the U.S. government and defense officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the politically sensitive topic.
With chemotherapy, Castro may live up to 18 months, said the defense official. Without it, expected survival would drop to three months to eight months.

TITLE: Blake Beats Nadal in Shanghai
AUTHOR: By Nick Mulvenney
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: SHANGHAI — James Blake showed he was not in Shanghai just to make up the numbers when he produced a quality performance to upset world number two Rafael Nadal 6-4 7-6 in his opening match at the Masters Cup on Monday.The 26-year-old American, playing his first Masters Cup match, came back from a break down in the first set and recovered from a 4-0 deficit in the second to triumph 7-0 in a one-sided tiebreak.
Nadal, also making his debut in the event after missing last year's season-ender through injury, started both sets well but seemed rattled when Blake would not just lie down after being broken.
World number eight Blake matched the muscular Spaniard's forehand power and showed evidence of the work he has been doing on his backhand as they indulged the crowd with some thunderous rallies in the opening match of the Gold Group.
Both players had to save break points early in the first set but the French Open champion was the first to convert one, taking a 4-3 lead when his opponent went long.
There was nothing wrong with the New Yorker's range, however, when he fired a backhand winner to break back in the next game and he held serve with ease before breaking again to win the set when Nadal netted.
Nadal raced to a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set, but Blake fought back to win in straight sets.

TITLE: Seoul Won't Join U.S. Plan To Inspect North Korean Ships
AUTHOR: By Jack Kim
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: SEOUL —South Korea will not join a U.S. plan to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying arms cargo out of fear of raising tensions with its neighbor, officials said on Monday.South Korea officials have said interdicting North Korean ships could lead to military clashes between the two countries that are technically still at war.
Seoul has reviewed whether to expand its participation in the so-called Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) since Pyongyang's Oct. 9 nuclear test.
"We are not formally joining PSI in terms of form or process," foreign ministry official Park In-kook told reporters.
"We support the goal and principles of the plan, but because of the special circumstances we are in, we are here declaring that we are not formally joining."
Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003, the PSI aims to guard against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including through military interdiction.
The PSI is a voluntary program not based on any international treaty. Instead, it draws on political decisions and domestic laws of participating countries.
Park was speaking about measures South Korea was taking to implement a UN Security Council resolution adopted after the North's nuclear test, which included stepped-up inspections of cargo moving to the North by land and sea.
The Security Council banned trade of goods and transfer of funds to the North that could aid the North's arms program.
Washington has been pressing Seoul and other governments to take a tough stand towards Pyongyang. However, South Korea, which fears instability in its heavily armed neighbor to the North, has remained committed to engaging Pyongyang.
"The (South Korean) government considers peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula and reconciliation with the North higher priorities than resolving the nuclear standoff," the prestigious International Crisis Group said in a report on Monday .
South Korea has said it would not pull the plug on two projects by South Korean companies in North Korea.

TITLE: Russia Wins Hockey Cup
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: HELSINKI — Russia won the Karjala Cup after beating the Czech Republic 3-2 in a penalty shootout Sunday, snapping Finland's streak of eight straight titles in the Euro Hockey Tour event.Petr Shastlivy, who scored the game-winning goal against the Finns, forced overtime when he tied the score at 2-2 with 1:56 left of regulation.
Petr Caslava gave the Czechs a 1-0 lead early in the first period. Alexander Tiaritonov tied it with a power-play goal 27 seconds into the third period. Caslava then set up Ivan Huml midway through the session.
Russia also won its first two games by one-goal margins.
On Saturday, Igor Volkov had two goals and one assist as Russia beat Sweden, the reigning Olympic Champion 5-4.
Volkov scored his first goal at 19:30 in the second period, just 1 minute, 34 seconds after Steen's goal had given Sweden a 2-0 lead.
His second tied it early in the last period, only for Sweden to retake the lead. But two late goals from Petr Shastliviy and one from Ivan Nepriaiev took the game out of Sweden's reach.
Russia won the Euro Hockey Tour last season, edging Sweden 2-1 in the final.
The tour consists of four tournaments in the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden.

TITLE: 4 U.K. Soldiers Killed in Basra
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — The U.K. Ministry of Defence has launched a probe into how four British soldiers were killed and three seriously wounded in an attack on a patrol boat in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.Their boat was attacked on Sunday as it patrolled the Shatt al Arab waterway when it was caught in an explosion caused by an improvised bomb.
Where the device was located and how it was detonated is likely to be at the core of the inquiry.
The Ministry on Monday released the units, but not the names, of those killed. Two were Royal Marines from 45 Commando and one soldier apiece from the Royal Signals and the Intelligence Corps.
Improvised explosive devices are frequently used in roadside attacks in Iraq but it is rare for them to target boats.
Britain has some 7,000 troops in southern Iraq, which has generally been calmer than the center and north of the country, and 125 British armed forces personnel have died since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
More than 2,800 American troops have been killed in Iraq since the war began.
The latest violence in Iraq comes as U.S. President George W. Bush ponders a shift in tactics in Iraq after his Republican party's defeat in last week's mid-term elections.
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair — whose popularity has also collapsed because of the war — are seeking new ways to stop attacks by insurgents and gradually draw down their troops.
Bush was due to speak on Monday to a bipartisan U.S. panel that is seeking alternative strategies for Iraq and Blair will give evidence to the same panel, co-chaired by former U.S. secretary of state James Baker, via videolink on Tuesday.
The latest deaths came on the day thousands of British veterans and military personnel around the world remembered the nation's war dead at dozens of Remembrance Sunday services.
"This terrible incident reinforces in our minds the sacrifice made by the brave men and women of our armed forces," said Defence Secretary Des Browne in a statement.

TITLE: Madrid Hosts 'Best Ever' WTA Championships
AUTHOR: By Simon Baskett
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MADRID — The Spanish capital Madrid won the right to retain the WTA Championships after what was widely regarded as one of the most successful and entertaining women's tournaments in recent years.Only once before in the event's 34-year history had the WTA Championships been held outside the United States when it was taken to Munich in 2001. That experiment ended in failure in the face of popular apathy and a walkover final.
This time the Madrid tournament was hailed as an outstanding success by WTA officials, sponsors and players past and present.
"This has been the best Championships of all time," said tennis great Billie Jean King, a sentiment echoed by WTA Chief Executive Larry Scott.
"It's been a fantastic week that has exceeded all expectations," said Scott.
"We have been incredibly impressed with the support and excitement from the business community, fans, media and city for the Tour Championships, and could not think of a better home to again showcase our crown jewel event."
With Spain no longer producing players of the quality of former number one Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario or ex-Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, there were some question marks over the likely public response, especially given the city had hosted a men's Masters Series event just three weeks before.
But the appetite of the Madrid public was clearly not sated and over 54,000 spectators turned up during the course of the six-day tournament. Attendance figures were no doubt helped by the fact that all top eight players were able to participate in the event, although eventual winner Justine Henin-Hardenne, holder Amelie Mauresmo and two-times champion Kim Clijsters had all been doubtful because of injury just weeks before.
The glamour element that has become increasingly important in the projection of the women's tour was accentuated by the presence of the in-form 19-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova and the organizers's decision to use male models as ball boys.
The possibility of a fairytale end to Martina Hingis's comeback season also heightened interest, while extra spice was added by the fact that three players — Mauresmo, Sharapova and Henin-Hardenne — went into the tournament chasing the year-end number one spot.
But most importantly of all the quality of tennis on show was of the highest order. There were no dead rubber round robin matches and the identity of the semi-finalists was in doubt until the Friday.
Spanish great Manuel Santana said the titanic struggle between Clijsters and Mauresmo in the semi-finals was the best women's match he had ever seen.
U.S. Open champion Sharapova was in imperious form in the round robin phase, but eventually fell to the guile and determination of Henin-Hardenne.
Mauresmo won the hearts of the Spanish fans by recovering from an opening day defeat to Nadia Petrova and then fighting her way back from a set down to beat Hingis and Henin-Hardenne to qualify for the last four.
The final between Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Mauresmo and French Open winner Henin-Hardenne in which both players exhibited some top-class tennis was a fitting end to the season.

TITLE: Klitschko Knocks Out Brock in Seventh Round
AUTHOR: By Barry Wilner
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NEW YORK — Wladimir Klitschko seemed intent on defending his title with one hand, the left. He jabbed and jabbed and occasionally hooked Calvin Brock. Then the IBF champion was cut by an inadvertent head butt, and the blood trickling down the left side of his face told him it was time to throw the right. When that hand entered the fight, it was time for Brock to leave it.Klitschko stunned Brock with a sharp left, then finished him off with a thunderous right late in the seventh round Saturday night.
"I should have tried that earlier, but it took me time to get my distance and rhythm," Klitschko said. "He was a good defensive fighter."
Klitschko kept the right in reserve as he piled up points with his jab. But he found the range with the right midway in the bout, and Brock had no chance when Klitschko opened up the challenger's defense with another quick left. The big right immediately followed and Brock fell face-down to the canvas.
He got up at eight, but was wobbly and referee Wayne Kelly stopped it at 2:10.
"I knew it was over there," Klitschko said. "It was easy to hit him with the right hand there."
Klitschko, in his first defense of the crown he won from Chris Byrd in April, was cut over the left eye in the sixth. Wary of the cut getting worse, he unloaded several massive punches through the sixth and seventh rounds.
Did he feel any urgency because of the cut?
"Yes," the champion said. "But I was leading at that time."
The native of Kazakhstan, who represents Ukraine, improved to 47-3 with his 42nd knockout. Brock, a 2000 U.S. Olympian, lost for the first time in 30 bouts.
"I saw the punch coming, but I couldn't react fast enough," Brock said. "He had a better jab than I thought he did. He was very strong."
Klitschko's brother, Vitali, now retired, once held the WBC crown and was considered the better of the two fighters. But Wladimir showed Saturday why he generally is looked upon as the best of the four heavyweight champions.
Klitschko climbed the ropes in each corner after the win and saluted the fans, then got serious about his future.
"I want to fight any titleholder, anyone who has a belt," he said.

TITLE: Presidential Double-Act Brightens New Orleans
AUTHOR: By Mary Foster
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NEW ORLEANS — They're separated by more than 20 years, they come from opposing political parties, and one evicted the other from the White House. But Bill Clinton and George Bush act like a team, a pair of touring comedians with a well-honed act.The two former presidents even have their entrance down pat, striding in with arms aloft, music pounding, lights flashing, the crowd standing and going wild.
The pair addressed more than 25,000 people attending the National Association of Realtors convention on Saturday, drawing at least six standing ovations and almost continuous applause.
Bush and Clinton thanked the real estate agents for holding their convention in New Orleans. It's the biggest convention to come to the city since Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29, 2005, and the pair has raised $130 million to aid New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in recovering from the storm.
Retirement has been good, Bush said, although he misses some of the perks of the presidency. One problem with retirement, Bush said, is that memories do not fail on certain topics.
"After 14 years no one forgets if you throw up on the Japanese premier," he said.
However, he said, years of being badgered by the news media have left him with a simple philosophy: "Now if I don't like your questions, the heck with it, then I'm not going to answer them."
Clinton played second banana after Bush's round of jokes.
"You've just witnessed George Bush's revenge for the 1992 campaign," Clinton said of the year he defeated Bush for the presidency. "I'm condemned for the rest of my life to be his straight man."
Bush can get away with some things more easily, said Clinton, whose presidency was marked by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, noting that if he were to repeat one off-color joke that Bush told, "the New York papers would kill me."
What's more, the 60-year-old Clinton told the crowd, Bush, at 82, is in better shape.
"Make no mistake about it," said Clinton, who has undergone quadruple bypass surgery. "George Bush will speak at my funeral."
As for the recent election, both said they had to deal with congresses controlled for most or all of their presidencies by the other party. They said some of the best legislation during that time were made through compromises.
Clinton said he did not think his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, had decided yet whether she would run for the presidency.
"If she were to be elected I think she would do a good job," Clinton said.
"Yeah," Bush interjected, "but I'm having a little difficulty picturing this fellow walking behind her like Prince Philip behind the queen."n Gerald Ford, who turned 93 in July, became the longest-living U.S. president on Sunday, edging past Ronald Reagan, who died two years ago.Ford, who was born on July 14, 1913, in Omaha, Nebraska, has been alive for 93 years and 121 days, one day more than Reagan, who died in June 2004.
Ford, a former Michigan congressman and vice president, became U.S. president on August 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal.
The only president who was never elected, Ford remained in office until Jimmy Carter replaced him in January 1977 after losing the November 1976 election. Ford and former first lady Betty Ford, 88, live in Rancho Mirage in the desert of Southern California.
"The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends," Ford said in a statement in the local Desert Sun newspaper.
Ford has battled a series of illnesses this year. He has been hospitalised four times for tests, angioplasty surgery, and treatments for shortness of breath and pneumonia.
(Reuters)

TITLE: Protester Dies in Bangladesh Unrest
AUTHOR: By Anis Ahmed
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: DHAKA — Police fired rubber bullets and used batons to disperse thousands of protesters across Bangladeshi cities on Monday, and at least one person was killed and 50 wounded as a political crisis showed no sign of abating.The latest casualties were in the capital Dhaka and enraged protesters set at least four vehicles ablaze and damaged several others, witnesses said.
Protest leaders said that a man was killed after a police car drove through a crowd that had defied a ban on demonstrations in the capital.
"It was a peaceful gathering. But the police started firing in the air, and before we realised, the police car came straight towards us," said a protest leader adding that authorities appeared to be letting the situation deteriorate so the army could be called in.
The protesters, mainly members of a 14-party alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, are demanding the removal of the chief election commissioner and his deputies before the general election in January.
The alliance says the election officials are partial towards the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khaleda Zia, who ended her five-year term as prime minister last month.
On Monday, the interim administration headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed offered to hold talks with the leaders of the main political parties to end the indefinite transport blockade of the country that began on Sunday.
"We have decided to talk with major political parties soon in a bid to arrive at a solution to the current political situation," said Mahbubul Alam, the government's adviser in charge of the information ministry.
Iajuddin has made no public comment on the demand to remove the chief election commissioner M.A. Aziz, although Aziz himself has said he will not resign.
The caretaker government has said it would deploy the army, if needed, to keep order.
Supporters of Hasina massed on the outskirts of Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities despite a police ban on rallies.
At least 20 others were wounded in battles with police at Narayanganj town, 20 kilometers from Dhaka.

TITLE: Sexism Scourge Hits Soccer
AUTHOR: By Trevor Huggins
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — Battle lines have been drawn in a war of the sexes in English football after a disgruntled coach described the use of women match officials as "tokenism for politically-correct idiots."Luton Town manager Mike Newell apologized on Monday for comments he made about lineswoman Amy Rayner after his side were denied a penalty in their 3-2 defeat by Queens Park Rangers at the weekend.
"She should not be here," Newell had been quoted as saying in the British media.
"I know that sounds sexist but I am sexist.
"It is bad enough with the incapable referees and linesmen we have but if you start bringing in women, you have a big problem.
"This is Championship (second division) football. This is not park football. It is tokenism for the politically-correct idiots."
However, interviewed by Sky Sports News before training on Monday, a contrite Newell said: "I want to publicly apologize to Amy Rayner and anybody else that I've offended.
"The comments that were made after the game were ill-timed and out of order."
Though he said: "I very rarely say things I don't mean," the Luton manager stressed he had been wrong to let his frustration get the better of him "in the heat of the moment."
Newell's earlier comments have raised the hackles of women involved in the English game.
Heather Rabbatts, who is executive chairman of second division Millwall, told BBC radio on Monday: "It was a slightly staggering comment to be made.
"It's ludicrous to suggest that women are somehow genetically incapable of being good referees.
"As with many other areas in which women have gradually over the years clawed their way into being treated equally they've done it by huge amounts of hard work and often having to be, as we all know, probably twice as good as men."
Calling for action, Rabbatts added: "We have to tackle sexism in football just as we tackle racism in football."
Rachel Yankey, an England women's international told the BBC: "Amy is a role model."
She added: "If the decision was wrong he might attack the assistant referee but he should not say she should not be in the game simply because she is a woman.
The comments could spell trouble with the Football Association, who are fully behind Rayner.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick said on the ruling body's web site that "officials like Amy Rayner get to where they are on merit, dedication and ability.
"They get the vast majority of their decisions right. Of course they make the odd mistake but so too do players and managers."
An FA spokesman said on Monday that Newell's comments were "under consideration."
Newell is also in hot water with his club for his post-match comments, which included a tirade at chairman Bill Tomlins.

TITLE: Judge Rules Burritos Are Not Sandwiches
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WORCESTER, Massachusetts — Is a burrito a sandwich?The Panera Bread Company bakery-and-cafe chain says yes. But a judge said no, ruling against Panera in its bid to prevent a Mexican restaurant from moving into the same shopping mall.
Panera has a clause in its lease that prevents the White City Shopping Center in Shrewsbury from renting to another sandwich shop. Panera tried to invoke that clause to stop the opening of Qdoba Mexican Grill.
But Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke cited Webster's Dictionary as well as testimony from a chef and a former high-ranking federal agriculture official in ruling that Qdoba's burritos and other offerings are not sandwiches.
The difference, the judge ruled, comes down to two slices of bread versus one tortilla.
"A sandwich is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans," Locke wrote in a decision released last week.
In court papers, Panera, a St. Louis-based chain of more than 900 cafes, argued for a broad definition of a sandwich, saying that a flour tortilla is bread and that a food product with bread and a filling is a sandwich.
Qdoba, owned by San Diego-based Jack in the Box Incorporated, called food experts to testify on its behalf.
Among them was Cambridge chef Chris Schlesinger, who said in an affidavit: "I know of no chef or culinary historian who would call a burrito a sandwich. Indeed, the notion would be absurd to any credible chef or culinary historian."