SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #1323 (89), Tuesday, November 13, 2007
**************************************************************************
TITLE: Oil Spill Threatens Black Sea
AUTHOR: By Chris Baldwin
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: KAVKAZ PORT, Russia — Russian rescue helicopters and ships searched for five missing seamen on Monday after a storm in the northern mouth of the Black Sea, while oil spilt from a sunken tanker coated birds in a black sludge.
Rescue officials said three people died in the storm that struck the narrow Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea on Sunday, sinking a small oil tanker and at least four freighters and leaving other ships stranded on the shoreline.
Birds seeking shelter on the shore near the center of the storm were covered in a treacly mixture of oil and seaweed — the first evidence of what one Russian official called an “environmental disaster.”
At Novorossiisk, Russia’s No. 2 port for exports of oil and oil products, officials had ordered tankers not to dock because a new storm was on its way. Reloading of oil from damaged tankers was also suspended in the Kerch Strait later on Monday.
The worsening weather was also hampering rescue operations, said Anatoly Yanchuk, a rescue department chief at Russia’s Transport Ministry.
“We will continue efforts to find those five missing, but the chances of finding them are now smaller,” he told reporters in the port of Kavkaz overlooking the strait. “The weather is worsening and the number of rescue vessels has been cut.”
The oil spill came from the Volgoneft-139, a small Russian oil tanker which broke in two during the storm when it was off the Ukrainian port of Kerch.
Officials said it had spilled at least 1,300 tons of fuel oil. In cold weather, the thick, treacly substance may sink to the seabed instead of dispersing, making the clean-up harder.
The tanker was carrying 4,000 tons of fuel oil in total when it was hit by the storm. A spill of over 700 tons is considered large, but the biggest ones run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands.
At the coastal settlement of Ilyich, halfway between Kavkaz and Novorossiisk, about 100 workers were on the beach using shovels and a bulldozer to scrape globules of oil off the sand.
“This oil came in last night, along a 13 km (8 miles) stretch,” said Alexander Mikhalkov, a clean-up crew foreman.
A flock of about 1,000 rails, a species of wetland bird, were huddled on the beach, unable to fly because their feathers were coated with oil. Some were unable to stand.
The spill raised questions about maritime safety in the Kerch Strait, a busy waterway which separates Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and southern Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich said that at the moment the slick was moving away from Ukraine, but measures should be taken to prevent future disasters.
“In the Borsphorous Straits, it’s not possible to use tankers which have no double hulls. How is the Kerch strait different? It isn’t,” he said at a news briefing in Kiev.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said the oil spill revealed the shortcomings of shipping safety in the region.
“In Russia we do not have one hundred percent of our ships maintained in a suitable condition as is the practice in the West,” Alexei Kiselyov, coordinator of Greenpeace Russia’s anti-pollution campaigns, told Reuters.
“In the last few days we have seen a very clear demonstration of that.”
Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia’s environment agency Rosprirodnadzor on Sunday described the oil spill and its consequences as “a very serious environmental disaster.”
TITLE: City Joy as Fans Shout ‘Zenit - Champion!’
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: Since 1984, when FC Zenit Leningrad won its only league title in the old Soviet Union, fans have chanted the mantra “Zenit — Champion!” as an article of faith in the beloved St. Petersburg team.
On Sunday, that faith was rewarded when Zenit St. Petersburg beat Saturn Ramenskoye 1-0 in the last game of the season to seal its first Russian title in nearly a quarter of a century, sparking wild scenes of celebration across the city.
Czech midfielder Radek Sirl scored in the 15th minute after his low shot was deflected by a Saturn defender into his own net to give Zenit its 10th win in the last 11 league matches.
“We have waited 23 years for this and now we can say ‘Zenit are the champions!’” Governor Valentina Matviyenko said Monday, RIA Novosti reported, as the victorious side greeted fans at the club’s Peterovsky Stadium.
“Today is a historic day for St. Petersburg soccer,” Alexei Miller, head of Gazprom — the energy giant that owns Zenit — told RIA Novosti at Pulkovo airport as fans gathered to greet the team on its return from the away match.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “The time has come to write a new chapter in the history of St. Petersburg soccer. The capital of Russian soccer has made a move to St. Petersburg.”
After the final whistle Sunday, thousands of Zenit fans stormed the fences around the pitch and ran on to the field, clashing with riot police. Some fans tore down one of the goals with their bare hands.
According to local media, after the match — played at Saturn’s ground in Ramenskoye near Moscow — police there detained about 50 Zenit supporters.
Nearly 100 supporters were detained in St. Petersburg, but no serious incidents were reported. Most were detained on minor charges of drunkenness and other public order offences, the police said Monday.
Supporters celebrated their side’s triumph in the city’s metro stations, drinking and smashing escalators and chandeliers, RIA Novosti reported.
Matviyenko said before the match that she was “convinced” that Zenit would win the championship, local media reported.
After the match she said the victory could serve to unify St. Petersburg’s citizens around sport.
“The idea of good teamwork makes me hopeful for general changes in the revival of the city,” Matviyenko said.
In the final game of the March-November season, Zenit maintained a two-point advantage over Spartak Moscow, which saw off city rivals Dynamo 2-1 to finish runners-up for the third year in a row.
Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko put Spartak ahead midway through the first half and Brazilian Welliton made it 2-0 shortly after the break.
Dynamo pulled one back in the 72nd minute when Spartak’s Czech defender Radoslav Kovac inadvertently redirected the ball into his own goal.
Last year’s champions CSKA Moscow won 1-0 at Rubin Kazan to claim third place, a point ahead of FK Moscow, who beat Luch Vladivostok 3-1 to end fourth, their best ever finish.
In Ramenskoye, Zenit controlled the tempo for much of the game, then withstood a nervous finish to clinch victory.
Zenit coach Dick Advocaat, widely tipped to take over Australia’s national team, said he would announce his plans in the next few days.
“I’ve already made up my mind where I’m going to coach next but you’ll have to wait a bit,” the Dutchman told reporters. “We deserved to become champions, although it was a nervy match. Our rivals used 200 percent of their potential on the field and, if we had not scored, then we would have lost the championship.”
Becoming Russian champion entitles Zenit to compete in UEFA’s Champions League in 2008, the team’s first outing among Europe’s elite soccer clubs, such as Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
Matviyenko said that Zenit’s first place finish would help inspire the city to invest every effort in building stadiums and improving sports infrastructure.
A new European-standard stadium for Zenit, designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, is already being constructed on the site of the now-demolished Soviet-era Kirov Stadium.
“Construction is going very quickly, and it’s very sad that Kurokawa won’t see its creation. I’m sure the stadium will become a real asset for Russia’s Northern capital,” Matviyenko said at the time of the architect’s death last month.
Zenit hopes to move from its current base at the outmoded Petrovsky Stadium in November next year, when Kurokawa’s stadium — dubbed the “spaceship” — is completed.
This move is vital if Zenit hopes to maintain a profile in the upper echelons of European football.
Zenit’s win is a remarkable turnaround since former coach Vlastimil Petrzela said in 2004 that Moscow clubs “would never let us win the title” because of the dominance of the capital’s five major teams. Only one club from outside the Moscow region had won the title, since the Russian Premier League was established in 1992.
But in November 2005, Gazprom bought a majority share in the St. Petersburg team and declared it would build “a Russian Chelsea.”
Advocaat was appointed Zenit’s coach in June 2006 after stepping down as South Korea manager when his team was eliminated from the 2006 World Cup.
Former St. Petersburg politician turned soccer administrator Vitaly Mutko, who hired Dutchman Guus Hiddink as national team coach, had a hand in bringing Advocaat to Russia.
A former colleague of Russian President Vladimir Putin and close friend of Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, Mutko was Zenit’s president from 1997 to 2003, before being elected Russian soccer chief in 2005. He still has close ties with the club..
“I think Mr. Mutko had something to do with me being here,” Advocaat told Reuters a year ago.
(SPT, Reuters)
TITLE: Few Battles Being Won in War on Corruption
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: As President Vladimir Putin urged the country’s law enforcement agencies to boost their efforts in fighting graft ahead of National Police Day on Sunday, investigators admit they are at a loss over the task and critics call for an overhaul of the system.
“The Russian people expect new achievements from the police in combating economic crimes and corruption,” Putin said in televised remarks on Saturday. “These ‘social ulcers’ of our society not only hamper Russia’s economic development but also do not allow the quality of life in the country to improve.”
Worldwide perceptions of Russian corruption have gone from bad to worse according to the campaign group Transparency International. In its Corruption Perceptions Index — where top place is the least corrupt nation — Russia has gone from 71st place in 2002 to 143rd place in 2007 from 180 countries ranked.
It is routine for people to have to bribe bureaucrats to obtain documents, register property, or secure a place for their child in school.
But the National Anti-corruption Committee, a Moscow-based NGO, says such low-level payments make up less than a fifth of all corruption.
According to the St. Petersburg’s prosecutor’s office, 135 bribery cases were registered in the city between January and September this year. But officials admit that most of the cases deal with low-level bureaucrats accepting sweeteners for minor favors. Meanwhile, Russia’s law enforcement organizations trumpet a few sporadic successes.
Kirill Kabanov, head of the National Anti-corruption Committee, said that officials routinely escape punishment or are given suspended sentences. This year, the former governor of the Nenets Autonomous Region, Alexei Barinov, was convicted of diverting thousands of dollars of state money for his own benefit but walked free from the trial with three-year suspended sentence.
In another case, it emerged that the former vice-governor of Novgorod region, Nikolai Ivankov, was in the habit of charging his holidays in summer resorts to the regional budget. He was handed a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 5,000 rubles ($205). The property of criminals sentenced for corruption is no longer confiscated.
“There is a tacit rule of impunity that protects the officials themselves,” Kabanov said. “A vivid example is ‘The Three ‘ case which emerged as long ago as 2000.”
The case was named for a store that sold furniture allegedly smuggled from the West with help of the Russian security services.
“This scam is reckoned to have cost the state 18 million rubles in lost customs revenues,” Kabanov said. “But so far not a single state official has faced any charges, despite the fact that the corrupt scheme must have involved the interests of several state agencies.”
Prime Minster Viktor Zubkov has pledged to combat corruption.
Fighting graft, he said, is to be a top priority for his cabinet, and for that reason he thinks a new purpose-built body must be created. For him the main issue seems to be whether the new watchdog should be part of the Federal Security Bureau or the government.
Putin has also made statements about fighting bribery and corruption. In 2006, Russia ratified the UN Convention against Corruption and the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. The Russian State Duma is now working on incorporating these measures into Russian legislation.
“Bold statements multiply at high speed but there still is no real sign of a coherent anti-corruption policy,” said Georgy Satarov, head of the Moscow-based anti-corruption think tank, INDEM. “Corruption is rampant in Russia and the problem is exacerbating.”
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, investigations have been opened into nearly 600 corruption cases since July 2006. But independent analysts judge this figure to be merely the tip of the iceberg. INDEM estimates that millions of corruption offences are committed every year and that the sums involved now total a staggering $300 billion, almost equal to Russia’s whole federal budget.
Corruption is thought to be a factor behind voter apathy. Recent polls have shown that more than a third of Russians have no intention of voting in the coming parliamentary elections in December. Between 60 and 80 percent of those polled feel their vote is not going to change anything.
A Gallup survey in 2006 pointed to a clear connection between the level of corruption in a country and the overall optimism and self-confidence of its people.
In those countries judged least corrupt, such as Finland, Switzerland, the U.K. and Singapore, up to 84 percent of people thought they could build a successful career through their own efforts and honest work. In Russia, by contrast, only half of those polled shared that belief.
TITLE: Tourism to Finland Sees Steep New Year Growth
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Finland is expecting 90,000 Russian tourists for the upcoming New Year holiday, Finnish tourism experts said.
St. Petersburg tourism operators have confirmed that almost all tours to Finland beginning Dec. 27 through Jan. 10 are sold out.
Russians were top among foreign tourists who visited Finland in 2007, said Sari Lammesalo, director of Finland’s Tourism Development Center, said.
The flow of tourists from Moscow grew by 32 percent and visitors from St. Petersburg were up by 15 percent, Lammesalo said. She said Russian tourism to Finland grows year-on-year.
Lammesalo said this year their center placed street advertisements in a number of Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod.
Finland is ready to spend several hundred thousand Euros on ads for Finnish winter resorts. Thanks to such efforts during the first six months of 2007 Russian tourists spent 28 percent more nights in Finland compared to last year, Lammesalo said.
“We hope this winter season will be even more successful than the previous one,” she said.
St. Petersburg tourist companies confirmed the hopes of Finnish tourism operators saying they have already sold out almost all tours to Finland for New Year.
“People began to order tours to Finland for New Year in August, and for the moment we almost haven’t got any tours left from Dec. 27 through Jan. 10,” said Irina Ulyanova, leading specialist at one of the city’s top tourism companies, ZAO Neva.
“The flow of tourists to Finland and other Scandinavian countries has obviously increased in recent years,” Ulyanova said.
She said there were a number of reasons for the increase.
Firstly, Russian incomes have risen; secondly many people, especially in St. Petersburg, have visas to Finland; thirdly, its proximity makes such trips cheaper; and finally Finland’s clean natural environment attracts Russians, Ulyanova said.
The most popular Finnish destinations among St. Petersburg residents are Lapenranta and Imatra, both located close to the Russian-Finnish border; Helsinki for shopping and the Sirena aqua park; and Tampere and Turku for family vacations due to a number of good spa resorts, she said.
Alpine skiing resorts at Vuokatti, Tahko, and Himos, as well as the capital of Lapland — Rovaniemmi, known as the home of the Finnish Santa Claus — are also very popular, Ulyanova said.
Ulyanova said the ferry trips from Helsinki to Stokholm are becoming more and more popular. This is because the price for the overnight ferry can be less than staying in a Finnish hotel, and people get to see two countries on a short city break.
Irina Platonova, general director of St. Petersburg tourist company Duet, said her company has also seen a significant growth in the popularity of Finnish resorts in recent years.
Platonova added that the popularity of Finnish resorts is thanks to the effective work of the Finnish consulate in St. Petersburg.
TITLE: ‘Aunty Valya’ Awaiting Orders from the Kremlin
AUTHOR: By Kevin O’Flynn
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Valentina Matviyenko has been called an iron lady, an undemocratic ruler and the woman behind a business boom in the northern capital. But on the streets of St. Petersburg, she is more commonly known as Auntie Valya.
The nickname refers to a much-loved presenter on “Spokoinoi Nochi, Malyshi,” or “Good Night, Kids,” a television program that has sent children off to bed since 1964.
The nickname hints at Matviyenko’s Soviet roots. She entered politics as a Komsomol youth leader in the 1970s and has managed to remain close to the nexus of political power as a diplomat, minister, presidential envoy and now St. Petersburg governor.
“It is a light reminder that we know what she was before,” said Anna Petrova, 34, a translator, who did not vote for Matviyenko.
Opponents say Matviyenko, with the Kremlin’s approval, has secured power in St. Petersburg as ruthlessly as President Vladimir Putin has across the country. Now some people speculate that she is a prime candidate to succeed Putin next year.
Matviyenko has repeatedly denied presidential aspirations, but in a political system as transparent as the Neva River, that means little. Putin would just have to give the order.
“I’ve answered that question more than once,” Matviyenko said in an interview in Smolny, the heart of political power in St. Petersburg. “I am completely satisfied with what I do now. I have no plans to take part in the election.”
She added: “Personally, I think I know who will be president. I think I am not mistaken [but] ... I don’t have the right to say it out loud. We don’t have long to wait. Let’s be patient and wait until March 2008.”
Political analysts believe Matviyenko has no chance of running in her own right but could run as a stopgap candidate while Putin waits on the sidelines for a possible return to the Kremlin in 2012. The Constitution bars a third consecutive term.
“She is not ambitious and is 100 percent oriented toward Vladimir Putin,” said Andrei Ryabov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.
One of the few women in the upper ranks of the country’s politics, Matviyenko, 58, encapsulates a visual style that mixes Soviet bombast and Las Vegas lacquer. The style, whose other notable follower is State Duma Deputy Speaker Lyubov Sliska, combines femininity and power dressing to produce the impression of a formidable Soviet bureaucrat.
Soviet Path to Power
In the tough world of politics, Matviyenko is a rarity as she is a survivor.
Born in 1949 in Shepetivka, in western Ukraine, Matviyenko won a place at the Leningrad Institute of Chemistry and Pharmaceutics, and became a Komsomol leader upon graduating in 1972. She worked her way up the ranks to head a Komsomol branch in the Leningrad region before moving over to the Communist Party, where she rose to the position of first secretary of the region before assuming the same position in Leningrad itself.
Andrei Konstantinov, who first met Matviyenko as a boy in the Komsomol, described her as “very energetic” — both then and now.
“She differed from the other bureaucrats, who were slow. She ran and ran around. ... She goes forward like a train,” said Konstantinov, an author and journalist who heads the Agency for Journalistic Investigations in St. Petersburg.
Konstantinov said he backed what Matviyenko has done in St. Petersburg overall but admitted that she tended to refuse to bend in discussions.
Matviyenko followed the traditional path of a Communist bureaucrat. After serving in Leningrad for the first half of the 1980s, she was elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet, where she headed the committee on women, family and children affairs.
While a deputy, Matviyenko enrolled in the Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy and in 1991 was appointed ambassador to Malta. She spent most of the next seven years as an ambassador, first to Malta and then to Greece.
Then-Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, her former boss at the Foreign Ministry, called Matviyenko back to Moscow in 1998 to oversee social issues as a deputy prime minister. She served under four prime ministers — Primakov, Sergei Stepashin, Putin and Mikhail Kasyanov.
In March 2003, she resigned to become presidential envoy to the Northwest Federal District. She was elected governor a scant six months later.
Rigid Reputation
In St. Petersburg, Matviyenko has a reputation as a politician who does not tolerate dissent. Opposition politicians have a long list of grievances since she came to power in an election that they say was undemocratic. The vote was called after Governor Vladimir Yakovlev abruptly resigned to take a Putin appointment.
“She has one principle: ‘My orders should not be discussed.’ She cannot stand any opposition,” said Boris Vishnevsky, a senior Yabloko member and longtime opponent of Matviyenko who has known her since the 1970s.
“She does not pay any attention to the opinions of others.” Vishnevsky said. “Anyone who criticizes her is either an enemy or, in the best case, a provocateur.”
Her sins, as cited by Vishnevsky, sound familiar to anyone who has followed national politics under Putin. She is accused of using administrative resources as presidential envoy to win the 2003 election and then neutering the opposition, stripping the city legislature of its powers, and controlling local television. Her only child, Sergei, was named vice president of St. Petersburg Bank shortly after she was appointed envoy. The bank is used by the city government. Sergei Matviyenko now also holds the title of vice president of state bank VTB.
Matviyenko, whom Putin appointed for another term as governor in December, has turned local television into an analog of the state national channels, which pander to those in power, Vishnevsky said. Large protests have been banned or shipped to the city outskirts. When they do take place, they are squashed, he said.
Matviyenko’s supporters were just as energetic in their praise for her time in St. Petersburg. “It has been a colossal jump forward,” said Vatanyar Yagya, a United Russia city deputy who proposed her reappointment as governor.
She has attracted major international companies, including General Motors, Suzuki, Nissan and Mitsubishi, and tripled the city budget, he said.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I could criticize her for,” he said.
Her relationship with Putin appears to have played a big role in her successes. Analysts said it was Putin’s support that has enabled her to bring companies to the city.
Although Matviyenko’s name doesn’t even come up in national surveys of the country’s most popular leaders, she has won admiration in St. Petersburg. When reports surfaced in September that she would be offered a Cabinet post, 70 percent of residents opposed any move, according to a survey by sociologist Roman Mogilevsky, Interfax reported. Mogilevsky works closely with St. Petersburg City Hall, the report said.
A Skillful Talker
Matviyenko deals with journalists skillfully, spicing her conversation with statistics and, like many politicians, occasionally answering the questions she chooses rather than the ones she is asked.
When asked about threats to historical buildings, she said money for restoration had increased by 600 percent under her watch and promised to protect the city center. “Tourism is for us like oil is for Tyumen, so we have to keep the historical legacy for tourists,” she said. She brushed off complaints about a controversial proposed 300-meter tower funded by the city and Gazprom.
Matviyenko seemed pleased when asked about being called an iron lady, a la Margaret Thatcher. Her comment on a Federal Security Service claim earlier this year to have foiled an assassination plot against her was also worthy of the former British prime minister. “Believe me, not a single muscle moved when I heard about it,” she said. “I didn’t change my style, my schedule one bit.”
Matviyenko had a brush with death in 1999 when a van she was riding in overturned after colliding with a small truck that had turned into its path. A deputy Penza governor and another person in the van died. Matviyenko suffered a torn knee ligament and a minor head injury.
Like many possible Kremlin-backed candidates, Matviyenko is not shy about showing her loyalty to Putin.
“I think he is needed for at least one more term, but I have respect for his position that he doesn’t want to change the Constitution,” she said.
She sidestepped another question on whether she would like to become president. “I really love this city and I’m ready to devote my life to the city,” she said. “For me, it is very important that the aim that I have set, to turn St. Petersburg into a city with a European standard of life, is realized.”
Matviyenko, however, can move with the political winds. Just as Putin once said he would not ditch gubernatorial elections, Matviyenko once said she would not be part of United Russia’s party list in elections. She now tops the St. Petersburg list for State Duma elections in December.
Seven years ago, Matviyenko planned to run for St. Petersburg governor in a campaign backed by the Kremlin. But with Putin in his first term and gubernatorial elections still in place, Matviyenko’s chances of winning looked unlikely. Her popularity rating was less than 20 percent. Shortly after vowing to push ahead with the bid, she said Putin had asked her to withdraw, and she did.
Her loyalty to Putin, said Vishnevsky, of Yabloko, comes from her Soviet days. She is from that school of thought where “your bosses’ decisions are never discussed. She obeys,” he said.
If Putin asks her for another favor, she is unlikely to refuse.
TITLE: United Russia Support Falters
AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — With less than a month to go before State Duma elections, United Russia’s popularity appears to be withering as higher food prices sink in and the novelty of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to lead the party in the vote wears off.
A Kremlin-ordered opinion poll released Friday indicated that support for the party has dropped 6 percentage points over the past two weeks, said the pollster, state-run VTsIOM.
Another major polling agency, the independent Public Opinion Foundation, said United Russia’s popularity had peaked at around 44 percent and remained unchanged for the past month.
The two pollsters are the only ones measuring the national popularity of political parties every week. Both registered a significant boost in United Russia’s popularity after Putin announced on Oct. 1 that he would lead the party’s list of candidates for Duma elections.
United Russia, however, is not likely to lose its enormous lead going into the vote on Dec. 2. The ratings of its rivals remained flat or fell in the surveys.
The percentage of voters backing United Russia jumped from 47 percent in August and September to 56 percent by mid-October, according to VTsIOM. But support dropped by 6 percentage points to 50 percent in the latest poll, conducted Nov. 3 and 4. The polls all had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Leonid Byzov, who conducted the polls for VTsIOM, was reluctant to say whether the drop might indicate the start of a trend.
“We need to wait for next week’s results to see if this is a trend and not a glitch in our polling techniques,” Byzov said.
If United Russia’s popularity is eroding, Byzov said, it is due to an inflation-fueled growth in food prices. United Russia likes to portray itself as a major force behind everything good that happens in the country.
He said the polls were ordered and paid for by the presidential administration.
TITLE: OSCE Vote Observers Say Russia Has Not Issued Visas
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW — Europe’s main democracy watchdog said on Monday its observers cannot begin work monitoring Russia’s Dec. 2 parliamentary election because Moscow has not issued them entry visas.
Russia has already come under criticism from Western governments for slashing the number of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) it will allow to monitor the vote.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is leading the dominant United Russia party into the election. The Kremlin says the vote will be fair but critics say officials will manipulate the election to ensure a huge endorsement for the Russian leader.
“We have not, so far, received any visas for those that require them,” said Urdur Gunnarsdottir, spokeswoman for the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which runs the election monitoring mission.
She said visa applications were submitted by Nov. 5 for an advance party of 20 observers who need to be in place to monitor the campaign and prepare for polling day. The main body of 50 observers will arrive a few days before the vote.
“Every day that passes now reduces our ability to observe the campaign,” she told Reuters.
“It makes it very difficult for us to do the pre-election observation and makes it more difficult for us to prepare for the arrival of the additional 50 observers.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry denied there was a problem with the visas.
“All participants in observation missions who have received invitations will be issued with visas. It is just a matter of time,” a source in the ministry told Reuters.
Many Western governments view OSCE observers’ assessments on elections in ex-Soviet states as the definitive verdict on whether they meet democratic standards. The observers were critical of Russia’s last parliamentary vote in 2003.
TITLE: Purported Spy Arrested in Britain
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW — A former British soldier identified in media reports as a spy for Russia has been arrested under Britain’s Official Secrets Act and charged with possessing explosives, police said Saturday.
Risk analyst Peter Stephen Hill, 23, a former Territorial Army trooper in the Royal Armored Corps, was taken into custody in Leeds on Wednesday. He was to appear in court Monday.
Police declined to confirm a report on the front page of The Sunday Telegraph that said Hill also was arrested on suspicion of spying for the Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR. The Yorkshire Post broke the story Saturday, saying Hill was suspected of attempting to pass sensitive military information to Russia. Neither newspaper cited a source for the allegations.
The Kremlin and Russian intelligence officials had no immediate comment about the reports Sunday.
The Sunday Telegraph said Hill was arrested following a police sting operation in which an undercover official posed as a “Kremlin agent.”
AP, SPT
TITLE: City Gets Its First Orthodox Clothing Store
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A priest’s wife has opened the first store to sell the clothes for Russian Orthodox women in St. Petersburg.
The store, called Twelve Holidays after the number of main Orthodox celebrations such as Easter or Christmas, has become the part of OOO Aksamit, a bigger store selling various church accessories.
“The idea of opening such a store came when we heard that priests had been asking church stores when they’d begin selling the clothes for their wives,” Nadezhda Belkova-Bertash, who is the general director of the new store and herself the wife of a priest, told The St. Petersburg Times.
“It may seem that it’s easy for religious women to find appropriate clothes but in reality they have to visit many stores in order to find them,” she said.
The new store will sell long skirts, modest but elegant blouses and scarves, but no pants, Belkova-Bertash said. The modest blouses come in different styles and colors — from pink to black — but there’s no bright colors or open styles, Belkova-Bertash said.
Prices for skirts range from 700 rubles ($28) to 1,500 rubles ($61). The skirts are made from different fabrics but for the fall/winter season wool is popular. The collection of the store will expand soon and offer new styles, Belkova-Bertash said.
Belkova-Bertash’s husband, a priest at a St. Petersburg church, said he didn’t mind her starting up in the fashion trade and it is not the first time she’s entered business.
In the 1990s she tried selling cosmetics but stopped because she didn’t feel she was “doing something good for society,” Belkova-Bertash said to Delovoi Peterburg.
“Many things have changed since that time. My husband has become a priest, and I look at business from a different point of view,” she said.
Meanwhile, the St. Petersburg store has become the second of its kind in the country since the first Twelve Holidays store opened in Moscow a couple of months ago. Anna Konovalova, 34, the manager of Twelve Holidays, and who is an Orthodox believer, said the opening of the store was a good idea.
“St. Petersburg is a big city, and I’m sure this store will have its clients, especially those people who are very strong believers, and don’t wear pants but prefer long skirts,” Konovalova said.
Konovalova also said that she already has acquired one long skirt and a scarf for her visits to church.
TITLE: Federal Forces Accused Of Killing Boy
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: CHEMULGA, Ingushetia — Federal security forces shot and killed a 6-year-old boy while conducting a sweep for suspected rebels in Ingushetia, the victim’s family said.
The region’s chief prosecutor, Yury Turygin, said in a statement that the boy was killed in a skirmish between security forces and militants hiding in the house, but he did not say which side had fired the fatal shot. The family insisted no gunmen were in the house.
Ramzan Amriyev said in an interview that a special commando unit surrounded his house in the village of Chemulga early Friday, knocked down the door and put him, his wife and their four children face down on the floor.
The troops then opened fire over their heads on other rooms in the house, Amriyev said. When the shooting ended, they found their 6-year-old son, Rakhim, dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
The security forces said the boy was killed by a bullet that ricocheted, but his relatives insisted it was a deliberate murder. After the shooting, police kept the half-dressed Amriyevs and their neighbors in the cold for about half an hour. “They took us out barefooted without giving us time to dress and put on our shoes,” Amriyev’s wife, Luiza, said.
Police then rammed the Amriyev’s house with their armored personnel carrier, destroying the building. Police said they suspected that a militant was hiding in the house. Turygin, the prosecutor, said Amriyev, the owner of the house, was suspected of rebel links and a search for him was under way.
TITLE: In Brief
TEXT: Drugs Kill 80,000
MOSCOW (Reuters) Drug addiction kills 80,000 Russians each year, a senior Federal Drug Control Service official said Friday.
About 70,000 Russians die annually from diseases linked to drug addiction, and another 10,000 are killed by overdoses, said Alexander Yanevsky, head of the agency’s department overseeing prevention of drug use, RIA-Novosti reported.
“Russia is geographically located in a drug belt,” Yanevsky said at a press conference on preventing drug use among young people.
“There is heroin in the south, synthetic drugs coming in from the West and rising internal production of drugs,” he said.
Russian Jets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Six U.S. senators on Friday urged the Pentagon to increase its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jets, saying they were concerned by the development of rival aircraft by Russia, India and China.
The senators said they were worried about Russian work on a radar-evading next-generation fighter jet known as the Sukhoi T-50, citing media reports that it was being developed to directly confront the F-22.
India’s participation in the project was “especially disconcerting,” they said, given how well Indian Air Force fighters performed during recent joint military exercises with U.S. forces and “the propensity of the Russian government to sell advanced weapons to our potential adversaries.”
2 Azeris Held
BAKU, Azerbaijan (Reuters) — Azeri authorities have detained two Azeri citizens, Kyamran Asadov and Farid Dzhabbarov, on suspicion of preparing an armed attack near the U.S. Embassy last month, the National Security Ministry said Saturday.
It said Asadov, a former Azeri army officer, had deserted from a military unit with stolen grenades, automatic rifles and other ammunition to prepare the attack.
Security forces earlier detained two groups of Islamist militants, including a purported al-Qaida fighter, in connection with the foiled plot.
Spacewalk Success
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and her Russian crewmate, Yury Malenchenko, spent seven hours outside on Friday getting the international space station’s newest addition ready for its big move.
The two cleared cables from the spot where the Harmony compartment will be relocated this week and unfastened or plugged in nearly 40 power and data connections.
It was a struggle to loosen some of them.
For the Record
Lithuania’s Soviet-built nuclear power station was shut down late last week because of an electrical malfunction but there was no danger of any radiation, officials said. (Reuters)
TITLE: Putin, Swiss President Discuss Visas, Trade
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Friday welcomed growing trade ties with Switzerland during talks in the Kremlin with his Swiss counterpart, which included a request by Switzerland to ease visa regulations.
President Micheline Calmy-Rey came to Moscow a day after a Swiss court ordered the early release from prison of Viktor Kaloyev, a former architect jailed for killing an air traffic controller he blamed for the death of his family in a 2001 plane collision.
Neither Putin nor Calmy-Rey mentioned Kaloyev in the part of their meeting open to reporters, but the Kremlin said in a statement that his early release was a “positive setting” for the talks.
Putin said bilateral trade turnover had more than doubled in the past four years, adding that Swiss investment into Russia had doubled in 2007 alone.
The Kremlin said Russian investments into Switzerland were about $2.5 billion last year, while Swiss investment into Russia was $5.9 billion in the first six months of this year.
Bilateral trade hit $13.4 billion in 2006 and was $9.3 billion in the first eight months of this year, the statement said. Calmy-Rey also praised growing economic ties, adding that Geneva was a major center for Russian oil companies.
Switzerland is where oil trader Gunvor, which is half-owned by close Putin ally Gennady Timchenko, is registered.
Calmy-Rey also said the Russian diaspora in Switzerland was growing, adding, “I believe we’ll be able to discuss the issues of easing the visa regulations between our countries.”
After the talks, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia could sign a visa facilitation and readmission treaty with Switzerland early next year, The Associated Press reported.
TITLE: Unions Prepare Wave of Strikes
AUTHOR: By Ali Nassor and Yekaterina Dranitsyna
PUBLISHER: Staff Writers
TEXT: A wave of strikes is threatening to hit St. Petersburg as trades unions coordinate industrial action at a number of the region’s enterprises, including the railway, the mail, a brewery and a car manufacturer, ahead of elections to the State Duma on Dec. 2.
In one of the most bitter of the disputes, drivers working trains between Moscow and St. Petersburg have threatened strike on Nov. 28 if Oktyabrsky Railways Company, which operates trains on the line, fails to meet their demands.
The trade union representing the drivers has been challenging the employer to improve working conditions, raise wages and institute a role in the company’s decision-making process since June without success, Vitaly Zheltyakov, chief of the Russian Railway Motorist Brigades’ Trade Union which represents train drivers, said.
Sergei Khramov, chairman of Sotsprof, a national association of trade unions, said: “The trade union at Russian Railways announced a strike on Nov. 2, but then the strike was postponed for Nov. 28. We are looking for a real social partnership and for real negotiations. We want to come to an agreement.”
Zheltyakov declined to elaborate on the duration and nature of the strike, citing fears of the employer’s harassment of potential participants.
“They are smart in looking for pretexts to fire anyone who threatens their interests,” said Zheltyakov, who endured two years of court battles for re-instatement after he was fired in 1998 for inciting a one-week strike.
The train drivers are not the only workers threatening to strike in and around St. Petersburg as a wave of industrial action hits the region.
About 50 mail van drivers staged an eight-hour strike, halting delivery services, blocking Pochtamtskaya and Yakuboskaya streets near the Central Post Offices in the center of St Petersburg on Oct. 26 and causing a loss of about 1 million rubles to Russia Post, according to Maxim Rochshim, president of Russia Post’s trade union.
“They were demanding wage raises and reliable security on their vehicles that carry valuable parcels and cash, but three of them got fired instead,” he said.
Though Rochshim fell short of giving the administration a specific deadline to re-instate the fired colleagues, he did not rule out a wider strike by the end of the month if negotiations with the Post failed by Nov. 26.
Meanwhile, workers at Ford Motor Company in Vsevolozhsk, a town in the Leningrad Oblast, have confirmed they will stage an indefinite strike Nov. 20, if the plant’s administration fails to meet their demands before then. The demands include wage boosts, security and the improvement of working conditions.
Alexei Etmatov, Ford’s chief union representative, said the union had informed the company of the strike on Thursday, in concurrence with the Russian Labor Code obliging strikers to inform their employers of their intention 10 days before putting the plan into action.
It will be the fourth strike at the plant in two years.
Next Tuesday’s will be called in defiance of the Leningrad Court’s order, which required the 1,500-strong workers to postpone last Wednesday’s partially-held strike for 20 days to allow time for negotiations.
The plant which produces 300 cars in 24 hours has reportedly incurred a loss of about $5million as a result of the strike, according to Etmatov.
Other companies set to be hit by strikes in coming days include the St. Petersburg Fuel and Energy Complex, Heineken and Nevskiye Porogi, trade unionists told journalists on Friday.
They met with their union counterparts from the railway, the mail, and Ford at the Center for Independent Social Research, in order to work out strategies for a common front, but ended up with vague future plans.
Khramov sees at least two reasons why the strikes and organized meetings of workers emerged at the same time at several enterprises.
“Trade union members have planned to strike out at several oligarchs … at companies that ignore demands of workers,” he said.
Another reason for the strikes is that trade unions wanted to take a stand against the monopoly of Federation of Independent Trade Union (FNP), which is imposed on workers by the authorities, Khramov said.
“We see increasing monopoly of this organization, which is a comfortable and familiar negotiator for the authorities. Several trade unions decided to strike and show that FNP does not really control the situation,” Khramov said.
“I think that the opposite side will realize that it’s better to negotiate. I hope that we will be able to come to an agreement and avoid mass strikes at the railways,” he said.
“But we are ready for them. And it’s untrue that such strikes are illegal. The railways are not a medical institution, for example. It’s not a vitally important industry,” Khramov said.
Workers are also united in bitter reaction to the recent wave of consumer price hikes, which state officials describe as market conspiracy.
“What do you expect from the people whose income is at a standstill, but who have to face ever rising prices?” said Zheltyakov, downplaying suggestions that the strikes were a part of the ongoing election campaign.
“We are not moved by any political party, although we have occasionally enjoyed moral backing from the communist and Just Russia parties,” he said.
In a campaign appearance in St. Petersburg last week, Sergei Mironov, head of the Just Russia party and speaker of the State Duma, said: “I personally support them, and I think employers should immediately demonstrate their commitment to meet the demands of desperate workers.”
Trade union lawyer Rima Sharifullina said: “It’s not about the elections, it’s about the general trend of the employers ignoring civil rights and labor code.”
“Afterall, the ongoing strikes and their symptoms started long before election fever,” Sharifulina said.
TITLE: Strategic Sectors Bill Put Back Until 2008
AUTHOR: By Anatoly Medetsky
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW — The government has delayed legislation that would define the country’s strategic economic sectors and set the rules for foreign investment there until next year, Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said Thursday.
Among reasons for the delay are new proposals from the security services to designate more industries as strategic, made since the Cabinet shake-up in September. The government also decided to package the bill with proposals, yet to be completed, to govern foreign investment into the development of natural reserves.
“We don’t have enough time to do it this year, although the document has a high degree of readiness,” Khristenko told reporters after a Cabinet session.
Martin Shakkum, chairman of the State Duma industry committee that oversees the bill, said the legislature would come back to the issue next Spring. The Duma gave preliminary approval to the legislation in September.
The delay of the bill, which governs foreign investment into strategic industries, could put big deals on ice and make new entrants hold off, investors warned.
“I am surprise ... We expected the second and third reading to happen pretty quickly,” said Andrew Somers, president of the American Chamber of Commerce. “What we are looking for is clarity of the rules of the game and the sooner the clarity, the better.”
The Duma had scheduled to give the bill a crucial second reading Friday but the Duma Council, which draws up the chamber’s agenda, on Tuesday postponed the debate indefinitely.
Since President Vladimir Putin ordered the bill in 2005 in order to clarify investment rules, the government has been trying to reconcile reformist views from some ministers with a more restrictive approach from the Federal Security Service.
The government appeared to have reached a compromise when it submitted the bill in July, but Shakkum said Thursday that the controversy resumed after the Cabinet reshuffle.
Under the bill, a state commission could reject requests from foreign investors to buy control of Russian companies operating in 39 specific industries, which deal with state secrets, military equipment and other sensitive products. The bill would prohibit companies controlled by foreign governments from buying more than a blocking stake in a strategic company.
“There are proposals to extend [the list of strategic industries] and objections to these proposals,” Shakkum said.
Exactly what constitutes control over a company also remains to be hammered out, he said. “We believe a lot of the legal and technical phrases require additional work,” he said. Some of the suggestions come from “special agencies,” he said without elaborating.
Khristenko said the government had to draw up amendments to the subsoil bill, which would govern foreign investment into the lucrative energy sector, before the strategic sectors bill could go forward, Interfax reported.
Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said on Oct. 25 that either ministry or a group of Duma deputies would submit the long-delayed amendments the following week, but there were no reports as of Thursday that the amendments had been submitted.
TITLE: Gazprom, TNK Predicted To Opt for Swap of Assets
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW — Gazprom has reached a preliminary deal on raising the price of gas supplies to Ukraine by $30 per 1,000 cubic meters, deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said Friday in a television interview.
Medvedev said the gas monopoly and Ukrainian officials had reached a preliminary agreement on a price of $160 per 1,000 cubic meters for supplies next year — nearly one-quarter higher than the current price of $130 per 1,000 cubic meters.
“The most important thing is that this price is acceptable for Ukraine,” Medvedev told Russia Today state television. “So we believe that it’s a reasonable price for the next year and we could work in this framework.”
But Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the agreement was not final.
“There is no agreement on price yet; the talks are continuing,” Kupriyanov said.
Last month, Russia urged Ukraine to make good on what it said was a $1.3 billion debt for gas shipments, a demand some Ukrainian officials described as an attempt to exert influence on Ukrainian politics following September’s parliamentary elections.
Medvedev said Friday that the dispute over debt was over. “The debt issue is settled, and we are at an advanced stage of negotiations on the future price mechanism for Ukraine,” he said.
Medvedev said Gazprom was negotiating a gradual rise in gas prices for Ukraine to a world level.
“It won’t be just a one-year agreement but a medium-term solution,” Medvedev said. “It coincides with the trend in Russia. In 2011, we’ll have the market price for the local market also.”
In separate comments Friday, Medvedev said Gazprom had slashed its cost estimate for developing the huge Shtokman field by $3 billion.
Medvedev said in July, after Gazprom signed a deal with France’s Total to jointly develop the Arctic offshore gas field, that the project would require up to $15 billion.
But speaking with students at Moscow State Institute of International Relations two weeks after Norway’s StatoilHydro entered the project, he put the cost at $12 billion.
The latest cost estimate appeared as Gazprom prepared to launch an early planning stage for the project, Medvedev said in the speech.
A Gazprom spokeswoman declined to elaborate Friday on how the company had managed to cut costs.
Medvedev also expressed confidence Thursday that Baltic countries would allow the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which will pump natural gas from Russia to Germany.
“There cannot be any factors that would substantiate a refusal to issue permission,” Medvedev told reporters.
Last week, Nord Stream executives said that Gazprom had to push back the start of construction to mid-2009 in order to have more time to obtain Baltic countries’ permission for the pipeline, amid political and environmental concerns.
n In other plans, Gazprom is delaying its option to buy 20 percent of its oil arm, Gazprom Neft, and control in two Russian gas units from Eni until 2009, Vedomosti reported Friday, citing a company manager.
AP, SPT
TITLE: LSR Gets $772M in Share Float
AUTHOR: By Yekaterina Dranitsyna
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: LSR Group, one of the leading developers and producers of construction materials in St. Petersburg, completed an IPO Friday, raising about $772 million. LSR Group floated about 10.64 million shares - 12.5 percent of the authorized capital stock.
The shares of LSR Group were listed on Russian Trading System (RTS) and Moscow Interbank Stock Exchange, with GDRs (global depositary receipts) being listed on the London Stock Exchange. The shares were sold at $72.5 per share and $14.5 per GDR. Earlier the company estimated the value of its shares at between $70 and $75 and GDR between $14 and $15.
“I think that, considering the current fund market environment, the IPO of LSR Group was more than a success,” Igor Levit, general director of LSR Group, said Monday.
LSR capitalization is about $6.8 billion. After the IPO, shareholders of LSR Group will buy-out about 8.5 million new shares through a closed subscription. As a result, authorized capital stock of the company will increase by $588 million.
“A number of shareholders of the company plan to subscribe to new shares using the funds raised through the IPO. LSR Group plans to use the increased capital for expansion of the portfolio of development projects and for modernization of plants and equipment,” LSR Group said in a statement released Friday.
LSR Group has operated since 1993. Last year, LSR Group reported revenue of 21.11 billion rubles ($858 million). Development provided about 40 percent of the Group's revenue, while production of construction materials and construction services provided about 60 percent. In the first half of 2007, the company earned 16.06 billion rubles ($653 million).
“The company floated less than 15 percent of shares, but they attracted the funds which they expected to raise,” said Tatiana Bobrovskaya, analyst at Brokercreditservice investment company.
According to sources in the company, LSR Group was oversubscribed for its shares. Bobrovskaya suggested that the company float a smaller number of shares and defined a moderate price in order to allow the quotes to increase. However, the quotes slightly decreased after the IPO.
“Those who wanted to buy LSR shares used this opportunity to buy at a lower price,” Bobrovskaya said.
Bobrovskaya was positive about the prospects for LSR Group. “Stable business operations and cash flows will be ensured by the large production diversification of the company. Development is unstable and depends on specific projects. Production of construction materials compensates for those risks,” she said.
By June 30 of this year the assets of LSR Group amounted to 50.9 billion rubles ($2 billion). The company had 7.8 million square meters of land for new developments.
To date, LSR Group has completed 34 development projects, with another 39 projects currently underway in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast.
Funds raised through the IPO will be used on the current development projects, acquisition of new land plots, corporate acquisitions and development of production lines.
LSR Groups plans to construct a cement plant in Leningrad Oblast, which will produce 1.85 million tons a year, a new brick plant with a capacity of 220 million bricks a year and aerated concrete plants in Ukraine and Lithuania.
The company owns production enterprises in Moscow, the Moscow Oblast, Estonia and Latvia, all of which it also plans to expand.
“We combine leading positions, both in development and production of construction materials, which is a unique business model in the Russian market. Our leadership in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast allows us to benefit from the rapid development of this region and enter commercial real estate markets in other regions,” Levit said.
TITLE: Safety Check Could Hold Up Nord Stream
PUBLISHER: Bloomberg
TEXT: MOSCOW — Gazprom’s Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea may face additional delays unless it meets the highest ecological safety standards, the environment ministers of Sweden and Finland said Friday.
“It’s definitely not just a formal process,” Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said. “We will scrutinize what the effects will be.”
Nord Stream, a planned 1,200-kilometer gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany, needs the approval of five Baltic Sea countries before it can be built. The licensing process for a project the size of Nord Stream typically takes as long as three years, Finnish Environment Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen said in a separate interview.
The venture plans to submit environmental impact assessments and permit applications by early next year and start construction 1 1/2 years later.
TITLE: In Brief
TEXT: Power Machines
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Municipal authorities of Juvaskula city (Finland) ordered power equipment worth 30 million euros ($43 million) from Power Machines, the company said Monday in a statement.
The project is being realized by Power Machines in cooperation with Energico OY. Power Machines will produce and install a 200 megawatt steam turbine and a generator for a heat and power plant by 2009.
Hyundai To Build
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Hyundai Motor Company has officially confirmed the construction of a car assembly plant in Russia, Bloomberg news agency reported Monday.
The new plant will produce 100,000 cars a year.
Details concerning the volume of investment in construction and the siting of the plant were not given.
Earlier the company said that it planned to build a plant in Saratov, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod or Moscow Oblast.
Oil Terminal Up 9%
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — St. Petersburg Oil Terminal increased turnover by nine percent in January-October 2007 compared to the same period last year, Interfax reported Friday.
About 9.7 million tons were processed this year, including one million tons in October. Last year the company decreased turnover by two percent.
Slantsy Invests
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Slantsy Plant, one of the largest coal and oil processing enterprises in Europe, will invest 9.5 billion rubles ($386 million) into modernization of its production lines and reconstruction, Interfax reported Friday.
Most of the funds — 8.5 billion rubles — will be invested in new oil processing facilities.
The investment program will be realized over a period of a year and a half.
$200M Loan to Lenta
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — ABN Amro, Commerzbank and RZB Group granted a syndicated loan of 200 million euros ($290.8 million) to the Lenta retail chain, Interfax reported Friday.
The loan will be used to refinance the debts of the company and to invest in regional expansion. Last year Lenta reported turnover of over $1 billion as opposed to $623 million in 2005. This year Lenta will invest $490 million into development.
Currency Exchange
ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — In October, turnover at the St. Petersburg Currency Exchange increased by 26 percent compared to the previous month, Interfax reported Friday.
In October total currency turnover amounted to $61.2 billion. Dollar turnover amounted to $14.87 billion (a 40.5 percent increase on September figures), while euro turnover amounted to 1.2 billion euros (67.4 increase).
TITLE: Chess-Champion-Turned Politician Talks Business
AUTHOR: By Carl Schreck
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: It was 1981, and 18-year-old Garry Kasparov’s attacking style had, for the second time that year, failed to yield a win against former world chess champion and fellow Soviet grandmaster Tigran Petrosian, who was famous for his defensive play. It was, in fact, Petrosian’s elusive style (“I started to feel like a bull chasing a toreador around the ring.”) that had forced Kasparov to blunder and lose.
Distraught, he sought the advice of Boris Spassky, who lost to Petrosian in a 1966 world championship match but came back three years later to take the title from the Armenian. In his new book, “How Life Imitates Chess: Making the Right Moves — From the Board to the Boardroom,” Kasparov recalls his consultation with Spassky: “He counseled me that the key was to apply pressure, but just a little, steadily. ‘Squeeze his balls,’ he told me in an unforgettable turn of phrase. ‘But just squeeze one, not both!’” Abandoning his relentless attacking, Kasparov adopted elements of Petrosian’s style and went on to win their next two encounters.
Self-help books are, as a rule, like New Year’s resolutions: full of optimism but quickly forgotten. The Petrosian story is the most memorable anecdote in Kasparov’s largely unmemorable tome, which reads like one of those celebrity books whose profitability is inversely proportional to its literal thickness and figurative depth. What makes this book worth reading are Kasparov’s tales from his playing days, not his banal and largely self-evident advice that has all the flare of corporate training.
Watching Kasparov play chess live is an unforgettable experience. He is intense and intimidating, and he practically glows with energy. His incomparable success is the result of a perfect storm of talent, fantastic discipline, and an indomitable desire to crush his opponents. But can the recipe that made Kasparov a great chess player help readers achieve their goals in other fields? As in chess, “a CEO must combine analysis and research with creative thinking to lead his company effectively,” Kasparov writes. “A military leader has to apply his knowledge of human nature to predict and counter the strategies of the enemy.”
Business and war are two of Kasparov’s constant themes. Ever the free marketeer, he compares General Electric CEO Jack Welch’s layoff policies to the chess strategy of swapping poorly placed pieces. “Instead of hanging on to units solely for their presumed material value, GE would focus on what it was best at and cut back in the areas where it wasn’t doing well.” Welch earned the nickname “Neutron Jack” for his uncanny ability to, like a neutron bomb, get rid of employees and leave the building standing.
But while Kasparov would certainly have valuable advice on how to play the Vienna Gambit, does one really want to take his business advice? He has, after all, been a bad businessman, as he himself recently admitted.
To be fair, Kasparov readily concedes that his approach to chess won’t guarantee success in other walks of life. But even then his language smacks of management theory flimflam. “Everyone must create his own successful combinations with the ingredients he has,” he writes. “There are guidelines for what works, but each person has to discover what works for him. This doesn’t happen by itself. Through practice and observation, you must take an active role in your own education.”
The grandmaster is on much firmer — and more interesting — ground when he tells of his triumphs and defeats on the chessboard, from the decade-long clash with his Homo Sovieticus counterpart Anatoly Karpov to his stunning loss to IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997, which clearly still eats at him. When he ditches the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” shtick altogether for a fascinating 11-page history of computerized chess, he shines.
Anyone with even a remote interest in chess will enjoy the stories of Kasparov’s playing days, stories that chess fanatics may know already by heart but that pawn-pushing dilettantes are probably unfamiliar with. There’s a beautiful account of a 1993 game Kasparov played against Karpov in Spain while the two titans were tied for first place with four games remaining, a tale Kasparov clearly enjoys telling. “On move twenty-four I promoted a pawn, announcing, ‘Queen,’ and looking over to the referee with the implied request that he deliver me a second queen. But before I received the referee’s response, Karpov played an illegal move! He claimed that since I hadn’t yet actually placed a new queen on the board, he could choose which piece my pawn would be promoted to, and that he chose a bishop, a much weaker piece. The little farce was quickly resolved.” Even the tiresome pep talk Kasparov gives several sentences later (“Creative and competitive energy is a tangible thing, and if we can feel it, so can our opponents.”) can’t spoil the hilarious image of Karpov trying to pull a fast one on his archenemy. The book was written together with Kasparov confidant Mig Greengard, the most entertaining chess journalist writing in the English language, and one suspects Greengard had a hand in including such gems.
In the last chapter of the book (titled, of course, “Endgame”) Kasparov addresses the move he made into politics after retiring from chess in 2005. As with business, one might be skeptical about taking his political advice. Ever since perestroika, Kasparov has flirted with political movements with little success, even when — unlike today — he had access to national print and television media. And while Russia’s fractured opposition has made some progress in recent years — largely thanks to the efforts of Kasparov and writer Eduard Limonov — it is still plagued by infighting.
Though Kasparov is clearly more serious about politics today than when he was dominating the chess world, his epilogue contains nothing new for anyone who follows developments closely. “I don’t want my ten-year-old son to worry about Russian military service in an illegal war such as Chechnya or to fear the repression of a dictatorship,” he writes. But as Kasparov prepares to run for president in a race he clearly has no chance of winning, his sincerity is at least refreshing, especially in political landscape where sincerity is so sparse.
Carl Schreck is news editor of The Moscow Times.
TITLE: Auction Houses Rattled
PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse
TEXT: NEW YORK, United States — The slipping U.S. economy and plunging bourses appeared to infect the market for multi-million dollar paintings as major works, including a Van Gogh, went unsold at auctions here this week.
The two major art auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, both got a shock in New York as they sought to mark new price records for artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Gaugin, and Van Gogh.
The week got off to a promising start Tuesday evening, when Christie’s hit the hammer at 33.6 million dollars for a 1937 Matisse, “L’Odalisque, harmonie bleu,” far above the 20 million dollar upper estimate.
But smiles shriveled when, by Wednesday night, wealthy buyers’ pocketbooks were cinched up.
At Sotheby’s, Paul Gauguin’s “Te Poipoi” (The Morning), sold for 39.2 million dollars, under the pre-sale estimate of 40 to 60 million dollars.
It had at least been expected to beat the record of 40.3 million dollars for a work by the artist set last year with the 1891 painting “Man with an Axe.”
And then Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Fields (Wheat Fields),” painted just two weeks before the artist’s suicide and possibly his last finished work, unexpectedly failed to find a buyer.
And while a record was set for a sculpture by Pablo Picasso and top prices were paid for works by Egon Schiele, a quarter of the works remained unsold and the total bids fell well short of pre-sale estimates.
“I think some of our estimates were ambitious and informed by strong sales earlier in the year, but we expected the Van Gogh to sell,” Sotheby’s chief executive Bill Ruprecht said Friday in a conference call with analysts.
“Three people traveled to New York to buy that picture, but then they didn’t and that rattled the market. I can’t say why they didn’t go for it.”
Sotheby’s was particularly rattled by the lackluster evening: its share price plunged the next day by 38 percent.
The company on friday reported that, mainly due to a 14.6 million dollar loss on guarantees for this week’s auction, it recorded a third quarter loss of 20.9 million dollars. (The guarantees had gone on its books before the quarter’s close on September 30.)
Ruprecht tried to put a good face on the showing, saying that the art market remains strong despite the poor sales.
“Auctions, by their nature, are unpredictable, with upsides and downsides,” Ruprecht said
“I don’t think the financial markets helped us one bit, but we can’t attribute all to the day,” the Sotheby’s chief executive said, referring to the sharp downturn in US stock markets.
Sotheby’s pointed out that the loss was still under the 30.7 million dollar loss for the preceding period. It also registered operating revenues for the period of 85.1 million dollars, up 48 percent due to higher commissions in auctions and private sales.
TITLE: Wall Street Sends Asian Markets Tumbling
AUTHOR: By Chisaki Watanabe
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: TOKYO — Asian markets fell sharply Monday after Wall Street declined at the end of last week on renewed concerns about U.S. mortgage problems. European markets, however, were mixed in early morning trade.
“Basically, the subprime loan issue still drags on, and there is no prospect of what can end the problem,” said Shinichi Ichikawa, chief strategist at Credit Suisse of the falls in Asian markets.
Major banks warned last week of further losses in their debt portfolios, raising investor concerns that the credit market slump is not abating.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 2.5 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 3.9 percent. In South Korea, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, fell 3.4 percent.
Both the Hang Seng and the Kospi fell more than 4 percent during intraday trade, and the Nikkei dipped below 15,000 points for the first time since July 2006.
“As for the U.S. economy, the risk of recession is increasing toward the next year amid the lingering subprime loan problems,” which, combined with higher oil prices, prompted players to sell the dollar, Ichikawa said.
Japanese traders sold exporter issues on the strengthening yen, which is at its highest levels against the dollar in 18 months.
Automaker Honda Motor Co. fell 3.58 percent and rival Toyota Motor Corp. shed 2.76 percent. Sony Corp. dropped 2.61 percent.
A stronger yen makes the exporters’ goods less competitive overseas and cuts into their foreign earnings.
In Hong Kong, the HSBC bank shed 2.8 percent on subprime exposure woes.
Chinese financial shares were also lower after China’s central bank raised the reserve requirement for banks by 50 basis points to 13.5 percent at the weekend in another of its money-tightening measures. Bank of China fell 3.9 percent. China Construction Bank fell 4.4 percent. ICBC fell 5.0 percent.
Meanwhile, European markets have opened mixed in early Monday trade, with Germany’s DAX down 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 down 0.1 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 up 0.7 percent.
In other Asian markets, shares tumbled as well. The Shanghai composite index lost 4.7 percent amid unconfirmed rumors the China Securities Regulatory Commission recently ordered funds to hold off on aggressive buying.
The benchmark indices lost ground in Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.
The dollar was trading at 110.41 yen at 4:50 p.m. Monday, from 110.07 yen late Friday in New York. The euro fell to $1.4646 from $1.4673.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.7 percent to 13,042.7.
TITLE: U.S. Carmakers Seem To Have Turned Corner
AUTHOR: By Mira Oberman
PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse
TEXT: CHICAGO — Despite a worsening economy and debts on their balance sheets, Detroit’s Big Three automakers seem to be turning the corner on a financial crisis so deep that bankruptcy once seemed inevitable, analysts say.
But it has been a painful process.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC have laid off nearly 100,000 workers, shuttered dozens of plants and lost more than 75 billion dollars since 2005.
Ford mortgaged most of its assets and put the majority of its premium brands up for sale to pay for the latest restructuring plan.
Chrysler ended its troubled nine-year marriage with DaimlerBenz by being sold to a private equity group.
GM, facing the high costs of a junk bond rating, sold half its stake in its usually profitable financial arm.
But all three automakers have revamped their product offerings to correct serious quality problems and start building cars people are willing to buy without huge cash incentives.
While both GM and Ford posted significant losses last week positive results from the restructuring are showing up in their books, said Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Barry.
“Ford’s decision to produce fewer, but higher profit vehicles continued to evidence traction,” Barry said.
One big problem remains: the critical US market is slowing down significantly just as the Big Three’s market share has finally stabilized and operating costs are falling sharply.
TITLE: Focus on Gazprom, Not Sovereign Wealth Funds
AUTHOR: By Anders Aslund
TEXT: Until recently, the world of finance appeared to move toward transparent, publicly traded private corporations, but recently an opposite trend has become apparent. Nontransparent forms of investment, such as hedge funds, private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds, are surging.
Meanwhile, the global trend toward privatization has been somewhat impeded. Central banks have accumulated large international currency reserves, and they have prompted the creation of new sovereign wealth funds. A couple of countries, such as Venezuela and Russia, are even experiencing outright re-nationalization.
What do these new developments amount to? Recently, Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf wrote about “a brave new world of state capitalism.” Attention is increasingly turning to the rapidly expanding sovereign wealth funds.
In a new policy brief of the Peterson Institute, senior fellow Ted Truman has sorted out many of the issues involved. Currently, sovereign wealth funds are assessed at $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion, and some forecast that they will grow to $12 trillion by 2015, which is the current level of the U.S. gross domestic product.
During the oil boom in the 1970s, early sovereign wealth funds arose in oil-producing emirates such as Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, which has the largest fund of $600 billion to $700 billion. Norway established a fund for its excess oil income in 1990. As an exception, Singapore has accumulated two large funds not based on oil incomes. China and Russia have recently instituted large sovereign wealth funds. Moscow’s soaring stabilization fund of $148 billion is the fifth-largest sovereign fund.
The origin of these funds is rising international reserves based on large current account surpluses. In OPEC countries, these surpluses are due to extraordinary oil revenues; in China, they are due to undervalued exchange rates; and in Russia, they are due to both circumstances. China’s international reserves of $1.43 trillion are the biggest in the world and amount to about half of its GDP. Russia’s international reserves of $441 billion exceed one-third of its GDP.
To a considerable extent, these large international reserves are a reaction to the Asian and Russian financial crises of 1997 and 1998. The countries that were hit by this crisis realized that they could not rely upon the International Monetary Fund as a fire brigade and that they needed to create their own sufficient reserves. It is commendable that the East Asian and former Soviet states have adopted such conservative fiscal policies.
The ballooning reserves, however, are a result of undervalued exchange rates. By purchasing foreign currencies and issuing rubles, the Central Bank is boosting the money supply and generating inflation. Indeed, the country’s dominant economic concern today is rising inflation. The government would be well-advised to let the ruble exchange rates appreciate to reduce inflation. As a consequence, the excessive reserve accumulation would dwindle.
Nor does it make much sense for Russia to hold sterile reserves amounting to one-third of its GDP. Investing its reserves cautiously in treasury bills, the state generates little return on this huge capital, which is why Western countries do not maintain larger reserves than necessary. The real nightmare is that the reserves will be stolen, which the Finance Ministry obviously worries about.
The natural conclusion in countries with large international reserves is to transfer some reserves to a national wealth fund — either a stabilization fund designed to safeguard against oil price fluctuations, as in Russia, or a fund for pensions or future generations, as in Norway, Singapore and Kuwait. These funds are built up by state savings through budget surpluses.
Russia’s stabilization fund is easy to defend as a cushion for great fluctuations in the prices of oil and gas, which comprise 63 percent of the country’s exports. A pension fund, like the one in Norway, also makes sense, as long as the state takes the main responsibility for pensions.
Funds for future generations, as Russia will introduce in February, are a paternalistic idea, however, because they assume that citizens are so irresponsible that they cannot be entrusted with their own savings. It would make more sense to cut taxes and let citizens save and invest themselves.
The nature of the political regime matters as well. The only democratic country with a large sovereign wealth fund is Norway. Since the Norwegian fund was established in 1990, every incumbent government has lost elections because the opposition has proposed all kinds of expenditures from the abundant fund. It is difficult to democratically defend a public fund that exceeds the evident needs of international reserves. The natural conclusion is that it should not be formed at all.
Rather than discuss the problems of sovereign wealth funds, we should focus on their poor justification. If international reserves exceed a certain level, exchange rates should appreciate, which should impede the accumulation of reserves. A certain stabilization fund for export price fluctuations can be defended, but only within reasonable limits. Funds for future generations may make sense in places such as Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, which have finite natural resources, but they make no sense in large, multifaceted countries like Russia or China.
The current Western concern is that sovereign wealth funds from oil-producing countries and China will buy up large swathes of Western economies. A similar worry arose concerning Arab investments in the late 1970s and with Japanese real estate investments in the late 1980s. But in such cases inexperienced foreign investors tended to lose money, and they had amazingly little impact. Do you remember when Mitsubishi bought half of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan in 1989 at the top end of a real estate boom? They lost big.
In Russia, the fund for future generations is likely to be the most transparent and cautiously managed public money. The tentative policy is to let the fund be professionally managed by several external companies in small and diversified investments. Global stock markets are likely to be happy with the Russian contribution. It is less obvious that Russia’s taxpayers are going to welcome it.
The outside world is most concerned about Gazprom investments — and justifiably so. With a market capitalization of $280 billion, Gazprom is a far greater financial force than what Russia’s fund for future generations will be for a long time. Moreover, Gazprom’s policy is explicitly monopolistic, prohibiting competitors and independent companies from accessing its pipelines. Although Gazprom is publicly traded and files international accounts, it is not very transparent, as is evident from its insistence on using RosUkrEnergo as an intermediary for gas trade with Ukraine. By bringing former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on board, Gazprom has illustrated its interference in European politics.
Western policy should focus on the transparency and deregulation of state-dominated monopolies such as Gazprom and its counterparts in the West, rather than concentrating on the comparatively benign wealth funds. Sovereign wealth funds, however, are more likely to be a burden than a benefit to the nation.
Anders Aslund is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington and author of the new book “Russia’s Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed.”
TITLE: Breaking the $100-a-Barrel Barrier
AUTHOR: By Gideon Rachman
TEXT: People facing alarming birthdays often say things like, “Forty is just a number.” You could say the same about “$100 oil.” But such benchmarks concentrate minds. As the oil price threatens to break through $100 per barrel, politicians all over the world will think hard about the strategic consequences.
So what is likely to happen? The biggest single effect is obvious. Oil producers become richer and more powerful. The biggest oil consumers — the United States, China and the European Union — become increasingly anxious. Beneath that big trend, there are smaller effects that could change the course of some of the most delicate and dangerous problems –— Iraq, Iran, China’s foreign policy and the resurgence of Russia.
The effects of a rising oil price on the economies of the producing countries are dramatic. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries made $650 billion from oil sales in 2006, compared with $110 billion in 1998. Russian oil and gas revenues have quadrupled over the same period.
When bad governments make good money, they become more relaxed at home and more assertive abroad.
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran — two of the least-loved leaders of U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration — will have even more money to chuck around. Venezuelan money already subsidizes everything from housing in Nicaragua to cheaper bus fares for the poor in London. Iran will have more money to fund its nuclear program and to support foreign surrogates such as Hamas in Gaza and Hizbollah in Lebanon.
The Kremlin will find it easier to buy off impoverished pensioners and to take tough positions on a range of international issues, from the future of Kosovo to U.S. plans for missile defense in Europe.
Tyrannical governments sitting on oil fields will be more likely to find protection from powerful oil-consuming countries. China, for example, will be even less likely to support bringing pressure to bear on the governments of Burma and Sudan.
A higher oil price also has a direct impact on the two trickiest foreign policy issues facing the United States: Iraq and Iran. In both cases, the policy implications are ambiguous. If expensive energy further slows the U.S. economy, then spending billions in Iraq every month will seem even more painful. But retreating from a country with huge oil reserves also becomes a less attractive prospect. When the three leading Democratic candidates for the presidency were recently invited to promise that all U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by 2013, they all refused to make any such pledge.
A higher oil price also probably makes it less likely that the United States will bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. New riches might tempt an over-confident Iran to take dangerous risks. But if the United States is already struggling with the economic consequences of $100 oil, then the Bush administration may be loath to risk an attack that could drive oil prices to $150 or more.
More expensive oil also has dramatic implications for China, which will become the world’s largest consumer of energy within three years. The search for oil has already led the Chinese to cut a series of deals with dubious African governments, including Sudan, Chad and Zimbabwe. New oil finds between Uganda and the Republic of Congo will provoke interest in Beijing.
High oil prices will only increase the EU’s anxiety to mold a common policy toward Russia. But that is easier said than done. Some countries such as Germany and the Netherlands seem intent on building as close an energy relationship as possible with Moscow. Others — in particular, Poland and the Baltic states — will continue to argue for EU investment in new gas pipeline routes that bypass Russia and for tougher restrictions on Russian energy investment in Europe.
Oil importers everywhere will redouble their interest in “alternative” energy. The new U.S. love affair with biofuels is likely to intensify. Bush vowed a couple of years ago to end his country’s “addiction to oil.” As with many addicts, the words have proved rather more impressive than the follow-up actions.
But everything from climate change to the politics of the Middle East now points to the need to invest heavily in new sources of energy. If $100 oil finally persuades Western governments to act with real determination, some good may come of it after all.
Gideon Rachman is chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, where this comment appeared.
TITLE: The Basmanny Court of Human Rights
AUTHOR: By Grigory Pasko
TEXT: Not long ago, when he was in Portugal at the EU-Russia summit, President Vladimir Putin announced that he planned to set up an institute in the EU that would monitor human rights in Europe. Putin’s aide on EU affairs, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, reported to journalists that the new organization would focus on monitoring Europe’s track record on freedom of the press, as well as the rights of ethnic minorities and immigrants. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that the institute would be staffed exclusively by Russian citizens.
I asked a friend in Germany whether he would like his rights to be defended by Russian bureaucrats who are cast from the Putin mold. “Heaven forbid!” he replied. He was a bit rash in his answer, of course. The idea of Chekists monitoring the rights of Europeans is a stroke of genius in its own right. First, rights are violated everywhere. (Is it not an abuse of human rights, for example, when a person is forced to choose among dozens of items at breakfast buffets in European hotels?) Second, if there is one thing Chekists know how to do well, it is monitoring people. They have always watched people — everywhere and everyone. Third, even though the stock argument of double standards and “Why don’t you look at yourself first?” is rather cheap and feeble, it still manages to work in favor of the other side. In recent times, Putin has been using precisely this argument to the hilt in meetings with the leaders of Western countries.
The idea’s weak spot, in my opinion, is that the scope of the planned institute is limited to Europe. Why think so locally? It would be better to reach wider and to think world-scale. Especially since there is a new example out there right now — Georgia. In the opinion of Russian politicians of various stripes, Tbilisi is guilty of committing gross human rights violations. Oh, what self-gratifying, righteous indignation we see on the faces of Russia’s leaders when they talk about all the terrible things happening in Tbilisi. In the words of all the Gryzlovs and Mironovs, it seems that the rights of all Georgians are being perpetually violated.
Every day, Russian television revels in reporting the atrocities that the Saakashvili regime commits against its people. You just want to say to them, using Boris Pasternak’s phrase, “Why don’t you take a look at what millennium it is in your own backyard?”
But let’s get back to the human rights institute. Russia should definitely share its rich experience of watching various categories of citizens — including dissidents, journalists and scholars — and this should be done, of course, on a worldwide scale. Where else can you find the broad experience and global reach of Putin’s comrades?
Our experts will be able to teach the art of surveillance, intrigues, dirty tricks and lies to anyone. No problem.
And why are they talking about an institute? After all, the efforts of one, lone scholarly establishment — even if it is the best in the world — are not enough to defend the rights of all of the poor and miserable Europeans who are oppressed by the injustice of society. A more potent defense will no doubt be required as well. This is why I propose to Putin and his comrades that they consider the idea of creating an International Basmanny Court of Human Rights. They could base it in Strasbourg so that it is not too far from the institute in Brussels. They could study the theory in Brussels, then reinforce it in practice in Strasbourg.
And naturally, we will also need to create a whole bunch of international and European nongovernmental organizations to protect people all over the world from the arbitrary rule of bureaucrats, security services, unscrupulous medical personnel and plumbers, bribe-taking police officers and cooks who keep attempting to make greasy food with lots of cholesterol. And all of these NGOs will be run by specialists from Russia — preferably, former members of the KGB and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Of course, this host of NGOs is going to need funding, which is why I propose the creation of the V.V. Putin Global Fund for the Protection of Human Rights and a Worldwide Public Chamber. The Chamber, naturally, should include only people who have been tested for loyalty to United Russia and have a deep, personal love for its one and only leader.
Oh, I nearly forgot about the need to create an International Academy of Law, whose activity will consist mainly of instituting the ideas of First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev about how it isn’t Russian laws that need to be changed, but international ones. Closer to the Russian model, of course. There are plenty of lawyers in Russia today who are ready at the drop of a hat to rewrite the laws and Constitution to fit in a third term for Putin.
The European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols, as is known, guarantee the rights to:
• life, liberty and freedom of the individual;
• a fair trial in civil and criminal cases;
• to vote in elections and to participate as a candidate in elections;
• freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
• freedom of opinion, including freedom of the press;
• private property protections; and
• freedom of assembly and group association.
Only Russia, of course, can claim to be a role model with respect to all of the above. If we speak about ensuring the protection of journalists’ lives, we’re ahead of nearly everyone else in the world: Two dozen journalists have been killed during the years of Putin’s rule alone.
And then there are elections. Where else can you find such free and multiparty elections if not in our country? Just ask the members of United Russia about this one, and they will tell you the whole truth.
As for the protection of private property, is there anyone who could speak of that any better than former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence?
The authorities understand very well the importance of complying with prohibitions. After all, the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits:
• torture and inhuman, degrading treatment;
• the death penalty;
• slavery and forced labor;
• discrimination as a result of exercising one’s rights guaranteed by the convention;
• expelling citizens from their home country or refusing them entry; and
• the collective expulsion of foreigners.
All of these prohibitions are strictly observed in our country. You don’t believe me? Go ask the people locked up in Russian prisons about torture and inhumane, degrading treatment. The number of prisoners, by the way, is already approaching a million — just like in Soviet times.
In addition, ask the dozens of foreign journalists who are prohibited from entering Russia simply because they criticized Putin and the war in Chechnya. And ask the Chechens about the government’s sincere concern for nationalities.
And, after all of this, if somebody still has complaints against the state, let him appeal to the International Basmanny Court of Human Rights. The judges will certainly explain to him the rules of the game in Russia.
Grigory Pasko is a journalist.
TITLE: Putting the Whip in Their Own Hands
AUTHOR: By Richard Lourie
TEXT: Maybe it’s just sheer orneriness, but lately I’ve started feeling a little hopeful about Russia again.
Russia continues to cooperate with the United States on securing missile sites to prevent the theft of nuclear material by terrorists. Recently, work on 25 missile sites was completed two years ahead of schedule. Other nonproliferation projects, including radiation detectors at border crossings, are also ahead of schedule. Beneath all the flap, rhetoric and headlines, the serious work goes on.
Moreover, the idea of a constitution has begun playing more of a role in public discourse. During their uprising in 1825, the aristocratic rebels known as Decembrists had a battle cry of “Constantine and Constitution” — Constantine being the tsar they preferred, while Constitution was taken by the common people to be his wife. In his memoir “My Century,” the Polish poet Aleksander Wat describes being interrogated in Lubyanka during World War II and appealing to the admirably liberal Soviet Constitution. His interrogator opened his desk drawer, pulled out a rubber truncheon and said, “Here’s the Soviet Constitution for you.” But now in 2007, whatever unpredictable move Putin ends up making, he will make it in relation to the Constitution. Though it may be flouted, sidestepped or used as a smoke screen, the concept of a constitution is achieving some force and presence in Russia. And that’s something.
The recent conviction of a few police officers for brutality is dismissed by some as no more than pre-election games, like freezing food prices. Others point out that several of the cases were opened well before the current political season. Callers to an Ekho Moskvy radio show on the subject were divided equally between those who thought the verdicts could influence other police officers’ behavior in the future and those who felt it would not.
If the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky proved anything, it was that the judiciary will, if need be, serve the interests of the Kremlin regardless of the truth and the law. But Russian society today is authoritarian, not totalitarian. Not everything is or can be subjugated, and there is evidence that some people who have adopted the law as a profession actually believe in its precepts. Judges here and there have been displaying signs of independence. A Sakharov of the courts has to be one of the Kremlin’s nightmares.
Traditionally, Russians viewed the law as another whip to keep them in line. But that could change if they got the whip in their own hands. The spontaneous motorists’ movement against police corruption that began in Yekaterinburg illustrates that Russia can change in ways that circumvent politics. There are 28 million cars on the road, which is four times the level of 1991. People are protesting against being pulled over and forced to pay bribes. People now have property and possessions, something to lose and something to fight for. Without knowing it, the drivers’ strategy is similar to the one used by the dissidents in Soviet times: not to try to seize power, but to force the powers that be to obey the laws on the books.
The Constitution also guarantees the right to strike, which is what some workers have been threatening to do lately in the Ford plant near St. Petersburg. And who knows at what moment the right spark and the right leader will appear? One day Lech Walesa is an unknown electrician, the next day he jumps a shipyard fence and lands in history.
There are indications of deepening resentment among the working class. The divide between the new rich and everyone else is too vast and glaring. As writer Viktor Strogalshchikov put it: In Soviet times, a big shot had a better car than a working stiff, but not 20 cars more. There is something fundamentally insulting in the discrepancy.
Grumbling can already be heard. And, if there is one thing Russian rulers have always feared, it’s the people.
Richard Lourie is the author of “A Hatred for Tulips” and “Sakharov: A Biography.”
TITLE: Democracy’s New Face On the Streets of Tbilisi
AUTHOR: By Matthew Collin
TEXT: Everyone in Tbilisi has their own version of what happened on Nov. 7, the day when riot police put down the largest anti-government demonstrations since the Rose Revolution. The following day, media restrictions were in force under the state of emergency imposed by President Mikheil Saakashvili. Reliable information was hard to find, so I took a trip through my fearful and disturbed city to survey the psychological wreckage.
Outside a hill-top church, high above Tbilisi, scores of young people were milling around, some still wearing white headbands, which were the symbol of the opposition protests, and the medical masks they had used to protect themselves from the tear gas fired by the riot squads.
One young protester said he and his friends had fled in panic when the police charged. Priests helped them hide in the basement of the church. He showed me a rubber bullet that he said had hit him. “Our media is silent now, so you foreign journalists must deliver information about what happened out of the country,” he urged.
I moved on to a run-down hospital where some of the hundreds injured in the clashes had been taken. A middle-aged man with a broken collarbone and lung trauma said policemen had lined up to beat and kick him after he went out to look for a relative who had gone missing amid the chaos.
Then came a call to a news conference from one of the opposition leaders. He had cuts on his face and a wound on his head after a thrashing from the cops. He pointed to his damaged head and declared, “This is the face of democracy in Georgia.”
The next day, the government started to release more details of its version of the events of Nov. 7. A compact disc was distributed to the foreign press pack, showing covert footage and tape recordings of opposition leaders chatting with officials from the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi.
People who saw the television images of the unrest must understand the forces behind it, I was told at a midnight press briefing by a couple of senior government officials. Russian spooks had been manipulating parts of the opposition in an attempt to destabilize and overthrow the state, they claimed, insisting that what happened Nov. 7 had been terrible but necessary.
“There were direct calls for people to go to the parliament and use all possible methods to finish off this government, and some of the leaders of these riots were coordinating their activities with secret service operatives at the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi,” one of them said.
“No,” he insisted, “the police did not overreact.”
Matthew Collin is a journalist in Tbilisi.
TITLE: Putin and Bush in Shock
AUTHOR: By Mark H. Teeter
TEXT: Leaders have been exaggerating their societies’ perils and their own virtues since the first cave politician ran for tribal rock gatherer on a Strategic Mammoth Defense platform. Our 21st-century politicos stretch the truth with even less scruple and hesitation than their forebears, as U.S. and Russian officials regularly prove.
Highly placed Americans have told us that the four-year fiasco of “democratizing” Iraq has been a story of continuous progress; that the New Orleans disaster relief head was doing a heckuva job; that memory-challenged Alberto Gonzales was a trustworthy, impartial attorney general; and that U.S. President George W. Bush knows which way is up.
In Moscow, we’ve been assured that an independent judiciary and free press flourish; that People’s Unity Day promotes the people’s unity; that foreign observers are welcome to monitor fairly contested parliamentary elections; and that despite President Vladimir Putin’s vigilance, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wants to annex Siberia.
These things are clearly not true, yet Americans and Russians have been asked to take them (and much more) at face value, as though our ignorance or credulity were simply boundless. Enough, I say. Citizens of both nations should demand a Truth Summit at which their presidents wear portable polygraph machines with 200-watt falsehood indicators wired to sensitive anatomical extremities. Et voila: veracity-based politics!
Putin: Good morning, George. But that’s just my opinion.
Bush: Hi, Vladimir. I’d say I’m happy to see you again, podner, but I’m not.
VP: The feeling’s mutual. Who wants to play summit with a lame duck president from a failed administration? But let’s try to stay upbeat. I’m glad your relentlessly perky wife isn’t joining us.
GB: Uh-huh, and I’m glad your little missus — my daughters call her “Miss Pudgy” — won’t be chowing down with us today. Also, I’m real pleased I haven’t made a bad grammatical mistake yet or mispronounced any simple words.
VP: Wait, are you really as confused and inept as your public appearances make you seem?
GB: Hey, I’m not “confused and inept”— YOW!! OK, I am. But thanks to what Karl Rove calls the Forrest Gump effect, millions of Americans can admire and even vote for a near-dysfunctional official with a folksy southwestern drawl. Go figure.
VP: Mmm, odd indeed. Well, let’s get down to business, George. Your people want us to reconsider our sensible, carefully calibrated Iran policy — OUCH!! ... oh, all right — our dangerous, self-serving Iran policy. And my people think you should abandon the pointless missile system you’re putting in Eastern Europe just because you can.
GB: Whatever. On the Iranians, I think Condi wants me to insist your policy is real risky, starting with that nuclear plant you’re building them at Bushwah.
VP: Ha-ha, it’s Bushehr. Well, there’s your first knee-slapper. Anyway, yes, the Bushehr project is risky, but it does two things I like: It makes us money and makes you angry.
GB: I understand the money-liking. I was a failed businessman before I became a failed president. But why do you like making me angry? Because I looked into your soul that time without asking?
VP: I meant you in the national sense, swami. Anyway, we enjoy making the United States. angry now because we still peevishly resent the way triumphalist Americans treated us after the Cold War — like two-bit losers. You even sent “expert advisers” from Harvard who helped loot the country’s assets.
GB: I have an advanced degree from Harvard. Pretty surprising, huh?
VP: I’d say miraculous. But then, you didn’t have to write a thesis for your advanced degree, as I did — OUCH!! All right, back to the Euro-missiles. Look, you’ll save yourselves big money and embarrassment if you’d just Gonzales this plan forthwith.
GB: Well, our people could go over it again, I guess. But remember, in this administration, I am the decider — OW-OW-OW!! All right, I’ll see if the vice president’ll change his mind.
VP: Good. And on Iran, I’ll consult with key decision makers in the State Du — wait, no, I’ll ponder it myself while shaving — whew, that was close — right after our presidential election — OUCH!! Damn, I mean after I announce the new surrogate-president guy.
GB: Boy, Vladimir, I haven’t enjoyed this Truth Summit very much. My socks are ‘bout fried! Anyways, adios, ex-amigo. Let’s not keep in touch!
VP: It’ll be a pleasure not seeing you again. Say, I wonder how much of the world thinks that about the pair of us ...
Mark H. Teeter teaches English and Russian-American relations in Moscow.
TITLE: Pol Pot’s Foreign Minister Arrested
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The ex-foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge regime and his wife were arrested Monday on charges of crimes against humanity, the latest figures from the 1970s government to await trial before Cambodia’s U.N.-backed genocide tribunal.
Police detained Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, at their residence at dawn. Officers later brought them to tribunal offices, where they were to make an initial appearance before the judges later in the day, said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.
“Today Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith have been arrested in execution of an arrest warrant, delivered by the co-investigating judges, for crimes against humanity and war crimes as regards Ieng Sary and for crimes against humanity concerning Ieng Thirith,” a tribunal statement said.
The radical policies of the communist Khmer Rouge, who held power in 1975-79, are widely blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution. None of the group’s leaders has faced trial yet.
The couple’s children declined to comment Monday, hanging up on phone calls made to them.
According to a July 18 filing by the prosecutors to the tribunal’s judges, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Ieng Sary “promoted, instigated, facilitated, encouraged and/or condoned the perpetration of the crimes” when the Khmer Rouge held power.
It said there was evidence of Ieng Sary’s participation in crimes included planning, directing and coordinating the Khmer Rouge “policies of forcible transfer, forced labor and unlawful killings.”
Ieng Sary, thought to be 77, served as a deputy prime minister as well as foreign minister in the Khmer Rouge regime. He has repeatedly denied responsibility for any crimes.
“I have done nothing wrong,” Ieng Sary told the AP in October in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was visiting for a medical checkup.
“I am a gentle person. I believe in good deeds. I even made good deeds to save several people’s lives [during the regime]. But let them [the tribunal] find what the truth is,” he said without elaborating.
His wife, Ieng Thirith, who is believed to be 75, is accused of participating in “planning, direction, coordination and ordering of widespread purges ... and unlawful killing or murder of staff members from within the Ministry of Social Affairs,” the prosecutors’ filing said.
Deeply entwined in the group’s leadership, she was the sister-in-law of the late Pol Pot, the top leader of the Khmer Rouge who died in 1998. Her sister, Khieu Ponnary, was Pol Pot’s first wife.
Ieng Sary was sentenced to death in absentia in August 1979, eight months after a Vietnam-led resistance movement overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime.
The Khmer Rouge carried on fighting a guerrilla war from the jungle after their ouster, even after signing a peace agreement in 1991. Confined to a dwindling number of strongholds, mostly in border areas, and increasingly reduced to acts of banditry, Ieng Sary became the first member of the inner circle to defect.
In August 1996, he seized control of thousands of Khmer Rouge guerrillas and the gem-rich area they controlled along the Thai border.
A month later, at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the king rewarded Ieng Sary with an amnesty for breaking away from his comrades-in-arms. The amnesty lifted the death sentence against Ieng Sary and granted him immunity from prosecution under a 1994 law outlawing the Khmer Rouge.
The U.N.-backed tribunal was created last year after seven years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia. Critics have warned that the aging suspects could die before ever seeing a courtroom.
Two others already have been taken into custody. Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge ideologist, and Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center, were detained earlier this year on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
TITLE: Creamer in The Pink After Tournament Win
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOBILE, Alabama — The Pink Panther was just a cub the first time she celebrated a victory at Magnolia Grove.
Five years after winning the 2002 Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Junior Classic, Paula Creamer ran away with the Tournament of Champions on Sunday, winning by eight strokes in a wire-to-wire victory on The Crossings course.
“Winning on this golf course has definitely helped me come to this point where I won as a professional,” Creamer said. “That was very cool to be able to have won here as an amateur and to have won here as a professional in a short amount of time.
“It’s very exciting and a lot of the fans, they came out, a lot of the volunteers said we watched you when you were playing as a junior. It means a lot. I was talking to my parents about it, too, just watching how it’s all progressed and here we are now today — won by eight shots against the best players in the world.”
The 21-year-old Californian won in style, complete with pink outfit, hat and ball.
“All of my other tournaments that I won have been with the white ball,” said Creamer, the SBS Open winner in February in Hawaii. “So, this was a little extra added pressure I put on myself with that, but I’m glad I won with my pink ball.”
She closed with her second straight 4-under 68 to finish at 20-under 268, a stroke off the tournament record set last year by Lorena Ochoa.
Creamer nearly had her third straight bogey-free round, but dropped a stroke on the par-4 18th — a hole she birdied the first three days — after driving into a difficult lie in a fairway bunker. The bogey was her first since the ninth hole Thursday, a span of 62 holes — the longest streak on tour this year.
“I wanted to break the record,” Creamer said. “It definitely was a goal of mine. But especially in the middle of the round where I started making some birdies and had something to go for. You know, it is kind of a bummer that I didn’t get it. But at the same time, I will take it. It’s a win.”
Creamer earned $150,000 for her second victory of the year and fourth in three seasons on the LPGA Tour. She joined Ochoa (seven) and Suzann Pettersen (five) as the only multiple winners this year and jumped to third on the money list with $1,364,298.
“I gave myself a lot of chances,” Creamer said. “I stayed really confident with myself, and I believed I could do it. I was a little nervous going in with a six-shot lead, but still, a lot can happen out on the golf course, especially here.”
Birdie Kim (68) was second at 12 under, and Annika Sorenstam (70), Natalie Gulbis (68) and Pat Hurst (72) tied for third at 10 under in the event for tournament winners from 2004-07 and active Hall of Famers. Pettersen (72) joined Jimin Kang (65) and Jin Joo Hong (73) at 8 under, and Ochoa (70) was 7 under.
Kim had her best finish since winning the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open.
“I never try to catch a person, I just try to score myself,” said Kim, who started the day eight shots out of the lead. “I mean all this week I played really easy. I tried to get a good finish this week.”
Sorenstam, winless since September 2006, earned a spot in the season-ending ADT Championship at Trump International.
“I’ve done well there in the past and I really like it,” Sorenstam said. “It’s a big event for us at the end of the year and now when I'm healthy and now when I’m ready to play, I want to play as much as I can, so it means a lot for me to get into that event. It's a different type format but I’m just happy to be playing and competing.”
TITLE: Henin Ends 2007 Season as No. 1
AUTHOR: By Paul Logothetis
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MADRID, Spain — Justine Henin finished her record-breaking season undefeated after Wimbledon.
She won the Sony Ericsson Championships on Sunday, rallying past Maria Sharapova 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the longest three-set final in tournament history.
The top-ranked Belgian won her 10th title in 2007 and earned $1 million at the season-ending event, becoming the first woman to pass $5 million for a year.
“What a way to finish the season,” said Henin, who ran into the crowd to hug her coach and family after winning her 39th career title.
Following a semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon, Henin closed the season with 25 straight wins, the longest streak since Venus Williams won 35 in a row in 2000. The record is 38 by Steffi Graf, whose string began after a loss in the 1989 French Open final.
The 25-year-old Henin is the first player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to record double-digit victories in a season.
“I just enjoy my tennis so much and I just wish I can keep playing like that for more years,” she said.
She won on her fifth match point, breaking Sharapova after the Russian netted a drop shot to end the 3-hour, 24-minute contest. In 2005, Amelie Mauresmo defeated Mary Pierce 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in 3:06 in the previous longest final.
“I played with my heart,” Henin said. “I had to find the resources, mentally and physically, but I think it’s a match everyone will remember.”
Henin saved five of Sharapova’s six break chances in the final set — and 14 of 18 overall — to become the sixth player to defend the WTA’s season-ending championship.
Henin became the first player to win the French Open, U.S. Open and season-ending championships since Graf in 1996. She beat fourth-ranked Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals and improved to 21-1 against top 10 players this year. Henin has earned nearly $5.4 million to surpass Kim Clijsters’ mark for yearly winnings.
Sharapova came into the tournament after a nearly two-month layoff because of a shoulder injury.
“It’s an honor to play against her,” said Sharapova, who won the event in her 2004 debut.
“I hope we can play a few more times. I hope I can get my revenge a few more times.”
Sharapova won the first set after pouncing on Henin’s awkward serve to break in the 12th game on her eighth set point. Henin hit four of her eight double-faults in the game.
“I was feeling frustrated at that time,” Henin said.
Henin closed the second set after converting double-break chance in the 10th game when Sharapova hit her backhand wide. Sharapova, playing from the baseline most of the match, rallied in the final set after Henin broke in the third.
The sixth-ranked Sharapova caught Henin on the run with a two-handed crosscourt pass before Henin pushed it long for a break of serve for 3-3.
Sharapova didn’t win another game.
“It’s been a pretty rough year for me with all of these injuries, one after another,” Sharapova said.
The season-ending tournament moves to Doha, Qatar, through 2010.
TITLE: U.S. Holds ‘Chemical Ali’ Amid Hanging Wrangle
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: BAGHDAD — U.S. forces on Monday rebuffed demands from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for three former high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein’s government and military to be handed over so they could be hanged.
The U.S. military said it would continue to keep the men in its custody until the Iraqi government resolved an internal dispute over the legal and procedural requirements for carrying out the death sentences.
An appeals court in September upheld the sentences against Saddam’s cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, widely known as “Chemical Ali,” former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem, and a former army commander, Hussein Rashid Muhammad.
The three were convicted of genocide for their roles in a campaign against Iraq’s Kurds in 1988 in which tens of thousands of people were killed. Under Iraq’s constitution their sentences should have been carried out within 30 days.
Maliki accused the U.S. embassy on Sunday of thwarting his Shi’ite-led government’s attempts to execute the three and demanded they be handed over as soon as possible so their sentences could be carried out.
“The Coalition Forces are not refusing to relinquish custody. We are waiting for the GOI [government of Iraq] to come to consensus as to what their law requires before preparing a physical transfer,” said Colonel Steve Boylan, spokesman for the U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.
“Changes in Iraqi law subsequent [to] earlier executions have led to disagreement within the GOI as to what the applicable requirements now are,” Boylan said.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, insist that the constitution gives the three-man presidency council final authority for approving the executions. Both men are opposed to the hangings going ahead.
Maliki disagrees and his government tried unsuccessfully to execute the prisoners in September. That attempt was stopped only after Hashemi threatened to resign.
“There continues to be differences in viewpoint within the government... regarding the necessary Iraqi legal and procedural requirements for carrying out death sentences issued by the Iraqi High Tribunal,” Boylan said.
“Coalition Forces will continue to retain physical custody of the defendants until this issue is resolved in accordance with their laws,” he said in an email to Reuters.
Maliki’s government last month formed a seven-member committee, including legal experts and advisers to Talabani and Maliki, to reach consensus on the issue.
While many Iraqis are anxious to see Chemical Ali, once one of the most feared men in Iraq, go to the gallows, there has been a chorus of calls from the Sunni Arab community for Hashem’s life to be spared, with many arguing he was a soldier simply following orders.
TITLE: Leader in Plumber Mix-Up
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — Conservative Party leader David Cameron has told how supermodel Kate Moss asked for his phone number after mistaking him for a plumber.
Cameron said he was introduced to Moss at a charity dinner after floods hit Britain this year.
The opposition leader said he could not think of anything to say and so lamented the downpours that had affected his central England constituency where she has a home.
“So I went on like this, twittering on, and she turned around and said: ‘God, you sound like a really useful guy, can I have your phone number?’
“I went back to my table and said ‘The good news is, I met Kate Moss and she wanted my telephone number’,” Cameron told chat show host Michael Parkinson on ITV television on Friday.
“The bad news is I think she thinks I’m something to do with drainage.”
TITLE: No Special ‘Olympic Pork’ On Menu at Beijing 2008 Games
AUTHOR: By Lindsay Beck
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: BEIJING — China sought on Monday to allay fears about food safety ahead of the Summer Olympics with tours of model meat processing plants and said no “Olympic pork” was being prepared for the Games.
Officials denied that levels of hormones or antibiotics in meat provided during the 2008 Games would be adjusted to avoid false-doping tests and said all food destined for the Olympics was the same as that for the general population.
“We have the same management system for all consumers, including for the Olympic Games,” Li Yuanping, of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told reporters.
Reeling from a rash of health scares that have put the spotlight on unscrupulous food suppliers and corruption in enforcement agencies, China announced in August it would breed pigs using hormone-free food for Olympic athletes.
But earlier this month, organizers denied the existence of special pigs being raised on secluded farms, saying that because the vast majority of pork in Beijing met safety standards there was no need for special products.
At Pengcheng Foods, which provides Beijing about 45 percent of its fresh pork, journalists were treated to the sight of rows of hogs being prepared for the dinner table, their hair singed off with a blow-torch before they were split open, gutted and butchered, their hearts placed on a special assembly line.
Pengcheng general manager Yang Wenke repeated the message from Olympic officials that there was no need to adjust production for the Games.
“I’ve never heard of Olympic pork,” he told reporters. “The problem of food safety is for the whole world to consider. It isn’t something just to do with the Olympics.”
Asked what the difference would be between pork served to athletes and that in the general market, he said: “They are completely the same,” adding that the company processed pork from its own farms, where they were able to control the feed.
But despite the strict supervision, it was not clear that Pengcheng would be among the official providers for the Games.
“That’s not what we are discussing today,” Li Zhanjun, director of the media centre at the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games said, when asked when food suppliers would be chosen.
At Beijing Huadu Broiler Co., where 36 million chickens are processed every year, the message was the same.
“There is nothing special,” said General Manager She Feng, when asked about food destined for Olympic villages.
TITLE: Japan’s Fukudome Mulls U.S. Move
PUBLISHER: Agence France Presse
TEXT: TOKYO — Japanese slugger Kosuke Fukudome announced his free agency Monday, becoming the latest Japanese player to fuel speculation of a move to the U.S. Major Leagues.
“I’ve had a growing desire to hear how other people evaluate my performance. I had no choice but to announce [free agency],” said the outfielder with the Chunichi Dragons, which just won the Japan Series title.
“I want to hear from everyone who might have positive views about my performance,” he said.
The 30-year-old was the Central League’s most valuable player in 2006. He was a member of Japan’s teams at the Atlanta and Athens Olympics, and helped lead Japan to victory in last year’s inaugural World Baseball Classic.
Fukudome is among several Japanese players seen as considering offers to move to the U.S. Major Leagues, where a growing number of Japanese stars have made their mark.
News reports have said several Major League outfits, including the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers, are expected to approach Fukudome, along with Japanese ball clubs offering lucrative deals.
Fukudome has not yet signed a Chunichi offer to keep him at his current pay at the club, where he has played since starting his professional career in 1999.
The Dragons, who on Nov. 1 won the Japan Series for the first time in 53 years, have offered him a one-year contract for 385 million yen (3.5 million dollars) or a four-year, 1.7 billion yen deal.
Pitcher Hiroshi Kuroda announced last week he was leaving the Hiroshima Carp for free agency. He boasts a 103-89 career record in 11 seasons including a Central League best 1.85 ERA in 2006.
Teams reported to be eyeing the right-hander include the Seattle Mariners, home to compatriot and All-Star Most Valuable Player Ichiro Suzuki, along with the Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The priciest Japanese export to the Major Leagues has been pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who last year signed a six-year, 52 million-dollar contract with the Boston Red Sox.
Matsuzaka was not a free agent, meaning the Red Sox paid an additional 51.1 million dollars to his Japanese team, the Seibu Lions, for the right to talk to him.
Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to open a World Series game. He won that game and his club went on to win the World Series.
TITLE: King Tells Chavez: ‘Shut Up’
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SANTIAGO, Chile — President Hugo Chavez lashed back at Spain’s king Sunday for telling him to “shut up” during a summit, suggesting the monarch knew in advance of a 2002 coup that briefly ousted the Venezuelan leader from power.
Chavez claimed that Spain’s ambassador had backed interim president Pedro Carmona and appeared at Venezuela’s presidential palace during the two-day coup in 2002. He demanded to know how deeply King Juan Carlos had been involved.
“Mr. King, did you know about the coup d’etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?” Chavez said before reporters in Santiago. “It’s very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from his majesty.”
Chavez touched off the spat Sunday at the closing session of a summit of Latin American nations, Spain and Portugal. Chavez accused former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of backing the 2002 coup and repeatedly calling him a “fascist” in an address to leaders gathered in the Chilean capital.
Spain’s current prime minister, socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, asked Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders despite political differences.
King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, then leaned toward Chavez and loudly asked, “Por que no te callas?” — or “Why don’t you shut up?”
The leftist Venezuelan leader has often grabbed attention with flamboyant speeches at international gatherings, including calling President Bush the “devil” on the floor of the United Nations last year.
“I hope this will not damage relations,” Chavez said as he left his Santiago hotel room Sunday morning. “But I think it’s imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up.”
“Mr. King, we are not going to shut up,” he said.
TITLE: Opposition Candidate Named, But Splits Weaken Anti-Saakashvili Camp
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: TBILISI — Georgia’s opposition coalition on Monday named a businessman to challenge President Mikhail Saakashvili in a snap election on Jan. 5, but splits in the opposition camp weakened its chances of victory.
The coalition, which forced Saakashvili to call the election after a series of protests in the capital, said it would put forward 43-year-old wine producer Levan Gachechiladze as its candidate.
But a senior figure in the coalition said the Labor Party, one of Georgia’s biggest opposition groups, was no longer in the coalition. It might field its own candidate.
“It won’t be an ordinary election,” Gachechiladze told a news briefing after being named the coalition candidate. “It will be against violence, it will be against injustice and it will be against the institution of the presidency.”
One of the opposition’s main policies is to scrap the post of president and the coalition named French-born Salome Zurabishvili, a former foreign minister, as their candidate for prime minister.
Gachechiladze has every chance of beating Saakashvili, she said at the same news briefing. “He is a very serious challenger to Saakashvili and we are going to win,” she said.
Earlier on Monday, members of the Labor party read a statement on television saying they were considering putting forward a candidate of their own.
“Today’s statement from the Labor party means it has split from the coalition,” Koba Davitashvili, one of the coalition leaders, told Reuters.
The opposition staged a series of protests in the capital this month against Saakashvili, which ended with police using tear gas on protesters and the Georgian leader declaring a state of emergency.
TITLE: Hamilton’s Swiss Move Is Tax Related
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — Formula One runner-up Lewis Hamilton has recognized that tax considerations played a part in his recent decision to move from Britain to Switzerland.
The 22-year-old McLaren driver was criticized after he announced last month that he was leaving Britain to protect his privacy.
However, in an interview with chat show host Michael Parkinson on ITV television on Friday, Hamilton conceded he had also been advised to move for tax reasons.
“Also, that definitely adds to it,” he said.
Hamilton, the first black Formula One driver, can expect his earnings to soar after a sensational debut season in which he won four races.
“He will make a huge amount from sponsorship over a long career, easily in the [David] Beckham class and beyond,” Dominic Curran, director of the Karen Earl sponsorship consultancy, said before last month’s season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
TITLE: Prince Harry’s Romance Ends
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — Prince Harry and his Zimbabwean girlfriend Chelsy Davy have split up, Sunday newspapers reported.
The News of the World and the Mail on Sunday said Davy, 22, had told friends she and the prince were having a trial separation.
“She kept saying she needed to take some time out to re-establish herself. She still loves him but she feels she needs to carve an identity as her own person rather than as Prince Harry’s girlfriend,” the Mail quoted a friend as saying.
“Chelsy just couldn’t put up with his antics anymore,” a friend told the News of the World, which said that Harry’s decision to attend a rugby match instead of her birthday had persuaded Chelsy to break off the relationship.
A spokeswoman for the royal family said it would not comment on the prince’s private life. Harry, 23, is third in line for the throne.
TITLE: Italian Soccer in Chaos as Fan is Shot Dead
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: ROME — Italian authorities detained four people Monday accused of taking part in riots triggered by the accidental killing of a soccer fan by a policeman, the latest episode of soccer-related unrest in the country.
Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey from Rome, died after getting hit in the neck by a bullet while sitting in a car. The shots were fired as police were intervening to stop a scuffle between two groups at a rest stop — Sandri’s Lazio fans and a small group of Juventus fans.
Sandri’s death forced the suspension of three Serie A matches as clashes erupted in Rome, Milan and other cities. Enraged by the shooting, rioters smashed windows, hurled stones at police cars and set trash bins and police vans on fire.
In the Italian capital, violent fans rioted into the night, attacking police barracks near the Stadio Olimpico and raiding the nearby Italian Olympic Committee headquarters. By morning, four people were picked up in Rome, police said. About 40 police officers suffered injuries, the ANSA news agency reported.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said he was “very worried” by Sandri’s “tragic death” and the “grave violence” that followed. Sports officials did not announce any immediate sanctions, but various officials were to meet to discuss the situation.
Italy is no stranger to soccer-related violence. Last season, a policeman was killed in riots following a game between Palermo and Catania in Sicily. Under new anti-violence measures this season, some fans have been barred from traveling to games.
ANSA said an autopsy on Sandri’s body was scheduled to be carried out later Monday in Arezzo, about 125 miles north of Rome, where Sandri was shot.
An earlier police statement said the officer had fired both shots in the air.
News of the death spread as fans gathered at stadiums for Sunday’s games. Inter-Lazio, Atalanta-AC Milan and Roma-Cagliari all were suspended, with the remaining matches being delayed by 10 minutes.
In Bergamo where Atalanta hosted Milan, the match was suspended after 7 minutes when Atalanta fans tried to break through a barrier and storm their way onto the field.
Soccer Federation President Giancarlo Abete refused to speculate what moves may be made.
“Miraculous solutions don’t exist,” Abete said, speaking to RAI state radio.
“There is sadness and bitterness, but soccer remains to me something that can offer joy and renew hope, like we saw in Berlin in July 2006,” he said, referring to Italy’s World Cup victory. “I can’t even contemplate a world of soccer within 10-15 years made up only of people who (watch games) on TV. I don’t even want to think about it.”
TITLE: Shooting Bodes Ill For Italy
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MILAN — Italy thought it was on the way to combating soccer violence until Sunday’s riots were sparked by the killing of a Lazio fan by a police officer.
The soccer-mad nation has a long history of hooligan problems within its borders, partly born out of stark regional differences, fierce local rivalries and far-right political elements within the ‘Ultra’ groups that cause violence.
“These thugs have dishonoured not only sport, football and millions of Italians but also above all the memory of this young man killed in a tragic incident,” Italy’s sports minister Giovanna Melandri told la Repubblica.
Sporadic incidents, including the stabbing of a Genoa fan before a match with AC Milan in 1995, have marred the Italian game for the last few decades.
The killing of a policeman during riots outside a top-flight game in Catania, Sicily in February prompted authorities to suspend the league for a short period and bring in tough new rules at soccer stadiums.
Modern electronic turnstiles were erected at some stadiums and more police were on the scene, while ticketing policy became much stricter.
A national body was also empowered to give risk ratings to individual games and ban away fans from travelling if need be.
The new regulations had a positive effect with officials saying last month that fan injuries caused by violence around stadiums had dropped 80 percent since last season.
The soccer authorities have always maintained though that the difficulty comes in tackling soccer-related violence away from stadiums.
The Lazio fan was shot by a police officer following scuffles with Juventus supporters at a motorway service station in the Tuscan city of Arezzo, with fans on route to games from various locations but nowhere near a stadium.
Police said the shooting was an accident and “a tragic error.”
A police barracks attacked by rioters in Rome was not near a stadium while violent fans damaged the Italian Olympic Committee offices next to Rome’s Olympic Stadium when the game due to be played there had been postponed several hours earlier.
The violence was also aimed at the police with rival fans for once teaming up together.
The policeman at Catania in February was also killed in the street and the youth that caused his death was not an avid football fan and committed violence for the sake of it.
Calls to stop away fans from travelling to any stadium are growing but a suspension of the league for a long period has been labeled “wrong and hazardous.”
TITLE: Bhutto Protest Banned Amid Emergency Rule
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LAHORE — Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will not be allowed to hold a motorcade procession planned for Tuesday from the city of Lahore to protest against emergency rule, a government official said.
Two-time prime minister Bhutto had earlier on Monday urged Pakistanis of all shades to join the motorcade protest against President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule and vowed it would go ahead even if police tried to block her.
As darkness fell, hundreds of extra police moved in around the Lahore home of a party official where Bhutto was staying, setting up more barricades across streets, saying they were for her security.
But party officials and guests were not stopped from coming and going into the house.
Musharraf set off a storm of criticism when he imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3. He suspended the constitution, sacked most judges, locked up lawyers, rounded up thousands of opposition and rights activists and curbed the media.
The crisis in the nuclear-armed country has raised fears about its stability and Musharraf has come under pressure from Western allies and political rivals to set Pakistan back on the path to democracy.
Bhutto plans to lead a 3-4 day, 270 kilometers “long march” from Lahore to the capital Islamabad to demand Musharraf quit as army chief, end emergency rule, reinstate the constitution and free thousands of detained lawyers and opponents — including many from her party.
But a government official said it would not be allowed, setting the scene for confrontation on Tuesday when thousands of supporters are expected to converge on the neighborhood to begin the procession.
“Rallies and protests are banned, they are not allowed,” Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said when asked about the planned protest.
“Whoever breaks the law will be taken to task,” he said.
Police have said Bhutto could be the target of a suicide assassination bid, like the one that killed 139 people at a rally last month welcoming her back from eight years in self-exile.
Earlier, Bhutto said she was aware of the danger but had no choice.
“How can we save our country?” she said during a visit to the tomb of renowned 19th century poet Mohammad Iqbal during an impromptu foray into Lahore in her bullet-proof Landcruiser.
“We appeal to all people, including from other parties and minorities, women and children, to take part in this long march.”
Police stifled a rally in Rawalpindi last week when Bhutto was held under house arrest for most of the day and police thwarted her efforts to drive through barricades outside her Islamabad home.
Musharraf justified the emergency by saying the judiciary was hampering the battle against militants and interfering with governance.
However, diplomats say his main objective was to stop the Supreme Court from ruling invalid his Oct. 6 re-election by legislative assemblies dominated by his supporters.
Musharraf said on Sunday a general election would be held by Jan. 9 but declined to say when the emergency would be lifted and the constitution restored. He also said he would step down as army chief and be sworn in as a civilian president as soon as the Supreme Court, where new judges seen as friendly to the government have been appointed, ruled on challenges to his election.
TITLE: Roddick Scrapes Past Davydenko
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SHANGHAI — Andy Roddick survived a second-set lapse and beat fourth-seeded Nikolai Davydenko 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Monday in round-robin play at the season-ending Masters Cup.
Mixing up his powerful serve and forehand with forays to the net, Roddick fended off four break points in the first game, broke Davydenko once to take the first set and again to go up 4-3 in the second.
After appearing in complete control, the fifth-seeded Roddick then won only two points in the next three games as the Russian broke him twice and leveled the match. Roddick smashed his racket after missing a forehand wide on set point, then managed to pull himself together, running off five straight games to take a 5-1 lead in the third.
Did it help to break the racket, which he gave to fans afterward?
“For as many times as it’s helped me, it’s hurt me that many times also,” Roddick said. “It’s just part of my personality. I’ve always been pretty expressive and emotional on the court.”
After Davydenko held, Roddick finished off the match by holding serve at love, then had to wait to celebrate as Davydenko challenged whether the final shot on the line was good. It was. Roddick won 16 of 18 points on his serve in the set.
World number one Roger Federer suffered a shock 3-6 7-6 7-5 defeat by Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in his opening match at the tournament.
The Swiss, who had never previously been beaten in round-robin play at the season-ending championships, is chasing his fourth Masters Cup title.
Roddick, who will lead the U.S. team against Russia in the Davis Cup final at the end of the month, has been bothered by injuries that kept him out of tournaments in Madrid and Paris, sandwiched around a first-round loss in Lyon.
But he says he is completely healthy now, taking advantage of the time off to build up his leg muscles and work on his volleys, which looked sharper than in the past.
Roddick’s regular coach, Jimmy Connors, isn’t here but Davis Cup coach Patrick McEnroe, in Shanghai to do TV commentary, watched from the stands.
American flags dominated the national banners draped around 15,000-seat Qi Zhong Tennis Stadium, which was only about half-full. Two young Chinese women flashed a sign that said “Ace ace baby,” and Roddick complied with nine for the match at speeds up to 140 mph.
Davydenko said he started nervous, then tired in the third set. With one of the heaviest schedules of any player, he has said he plans to cut back next year because he feels his body is breaking down.
Davydenko’s fairly low profile, despite his ranking, has vanished since the ATP began investigating his loss to Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina at the Poland Open in August. Betfair, an online gambling company, voided all bets on the match after unusually large amounts were wagered on the lowly ranked Argentine throughout the match, even after he lost the first set 6-1. Davydenko retired with an injury in the third set.
Since then, several players - none in the higher rankings - have reported being approached and offered money to fix matches.
Davydenko also was fined $2,000 by the ATP for “lack of best effort” during a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to Marin Cilic at St. Petersburg last month.
He said he wishes he could go back to being out of the media spotlight.
“That was better,” he said.
TITLE: Huge Fire Frightens Londoners
AUTHOR: By Andrew Hough
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON — A huge blaze at a warehouse sent black smoke pouring over east London on Monday but there were no reports of casualties and police ruled out a terrorist attack.
Fifteen fire engines and 75 firefighters rushed to the scene, an industrial estate in the Stratford area, the London fire brigade said.
Witnesses said the fire broke out in an empty warehouse being demolished as part of preparations for the 2012 Olympics.
Two ambulances raced to the scene but the London ambulance service said no casualties had been reported.
News reports and witnesses spoke of an explosion, raising fears of a possible attack.
However, a police spokesman, asked whether police suspected terrorist activity, said: “Not at all. It’s a fire — a very large fire.”
“It was a large bang,” said witness Stuart Russell, a telecommunications worker, who phoned Reuters. “There were massive flames and smoke filling the sky.”
The fire sent flames 40 to 50 feet into the air and thick black smoke could be seen for miles.
Police sealed off the area around the fire and evacuated staff from local businesses.
Printer Paul Izzet, 43, works nearby and was 50 yards from the site when the blaze started.
“After 10 minutes, it was like having your face six inches from a coal fire, it was that hot,” he told Reuters. “It was really beginning to warm up.
Another witness, Peter Singleton, 53, said: “The area was being demolished for the Olympics. At first we thought they were just dismantling the building.
“But then we saw the flames coming out. And then it collapsed on itself.”
In July 2005, suicide bombers killed 52 people on London’s transport system and there have been several unsuccessful attacks since then, keeping Londoners’ nerves on edge.
A spokesman for Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) said the capital’s police force had reported there were no reports of an explosion.
Asked if it was possible to rule out any terrorist connection, a security source said: “We wouldn’t rule anything out at this stage, it’s too early. But for the time being it’s being responded to as a fire.
“Obviously it’s something that we will be keeping an eye on. We’re not going to rule anything out this early in the day.”
TITLE: Six People Shot at Arafat Memorial Service
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas security forces opened fire Monday at a rally by the rival Fatah movement commemorating Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Six people were killed in the bloodiest day of intra-Palestinian fighting since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June.
Some 250,000 Fatah supporters joined Monday’s rally in a major square of Gaza City, carrying pictures of Arafat, yellow Fatah flags and wearing trademark black-and-white Arab headdresses. It was the biggest outpouring of support for Fatah since Hamas’ violent takeover of the territory.
The crowd scattered as masked Hamas security men ran through the city streets, firing weapons. Two hours later, hundreds of Hamas gunmen controlled the protest site and were arresting protesters as they tried to flee.
An eyewitness, identifying himself as Abu Samir, said Hamas security men appeared to fire unprovoked. “I saw brutality. I saw gunmen shoot at people. I saw them catch a boy and beat him with a stick,” he said.
At least 85 people were wounded, medical officials said.
The office of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the Fatah government out of the West Bank, denounced Hamas’ actions as a “heinous crime.”
Hamas officials accused Fatah of provoking the violence. Since taking over Gaza, Hamas has rounded up Fatah supporters, confiscated weapons and barred many large public gatherings.
“Before the rally, Fatah militants were deployed throughout the area,” said Ehab Ghussen, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry. “Fatah is responsible for continued incitement against the Palestinian police, and there was a clear attempt to bring back chaos.”
Hamas said Fatah gunmen took positions on the rooftop of a building near the rally site. No Fatah gunmen were visible on the streets during the clashes, though a handful of Fatah militiamen were earlier turned away from the rally by organizers.
Abbas has been trying to isolate Hamas as he moves to relaunch peace talks with Israel at the U.S.-hosted Mideast conference
Arafat, Fatah’s founder, is still widely loved by Palestinians of all political beliefs and Abbas has been using the third anniversary of his death to rally support on the streets.
In a gesture of support for Abbas, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert disclosed plans Monday to release more than 400 Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture before the peace conference, Israeli lawmakers said.
Olmert told parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel would release more than 400 Palestinian prisoners ahead of the summit, according to lawmakers Yossi Beilin and Yuval Steinitz. Palestinian officials put the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails at 12,000. But government statistics show Israel is holding around 8,700 Palestinians on security charges.
TITLE: Downbeat Lokomotiv Fires Coach
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW — Lokomotiv Moscow sacked coach Anatoly Byshovets on Monday one day after ending the most disappointing season in their recent history.
Despite having one of the biggest budgets in Russian soccer, the railway side finished in seventh place, their worst showing since 1992 when the Russian championship was founded after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
The Russian premier league club named reserve trainer Rinat Bilyaletdinov as their caretaker coach.
Byshovets became the second high-profile coach in Russia’s top flight to lose his job in two days after Leonid Slutsky parted company with FK Moscow despite leading them to fourth place, their best ever finish.
Byshovets, 61, was appointed a year ago with the goal of finishing in the top two that would have guaranteed them a place in the Champions League.
Yuri Syomin, who was named Lokomotiv president last December after a successful 16-year coaching reign at the Moscow club, also left his job on Monday.
TITLE: Down on the Ranch, Bush Marks Veterans Day With Tears, Speech
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WACO, Texas — Marking his fifth Veterans Day since the invasion of Iraq, President Bush honored U.S. troops past and present at a tearful ceremony for four Texans who died there.
The White House had said Bush was going to also use his Veterans Day speech to scold Congress for not sending him a veterans spending bill. But the president finished without any reference to the bill or Congress.
“In their sorrow, these families need to know — and families all across our nation of the fallen — need to know that your loved ones served a cause that is good and just and noble,” Bush said. “And as their commander in chief, I make you this promise: Their sacrifice will not be in vain.”
Bush, who is scheduled to return to the White House on Monday, was in Texas for the holiday, following his two-day meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his ranch in Crawford.
He went to American Legion Post 121, which was honoring four Texas men who were among the more than 3,860 members of the U.S. military who have died in Iraq since 2003.
Post Commander Clayton Hueske admitted being nervous, but said he was proud to have Bush in attendance at the emotional event, which ended with the audience joining a soloist in singing “God Bless America.”
A bugler played taps. Post officials offered comforting words to the fallen troops’ families and presented them with honorary plaques and flags that have flown over the state capitol.
“These men and women saw the future of the terrorists’ intent for our country and they said with clear voices, ‘Not on my watch,’” Bush said of the troops.
“America is blessed to have such brave defenders. They are tomorrow’s veterans and they are bringing pride to our country. Their service is noble and it is necessary,” he said.
“The enemies who attacked us six years ago want to strike our country again, and next time they hope to kill Americans on a scale that will make 9/11 pale by comparison.”
Bush has spent four of the past six Veterans Days at Arlington National Cemetery. This year, Vice President Dick Cheney went to Arlington to pay tribute to Iraq veterans.
In a 10-minute speech, Cheney said soldiers from World War I to “the current fight against terrorism” have served their country valiantly and “kept us free at the land we call home.”
“Free to live as we see fit, free to work, worship, speak our minds, to choose our own leaders,” the vice president said. “May the rest of us never take them for granted.”
Hundreds of people of braved the crisp November weather to witness Cheney’s tribute and they cheered when he offered personal regards from Bush. Cheney placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, pausing to straighten the ribbons on the front.
TITLE: Pope Benedict XVII To Visit U.S. in April ’08
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BALTIMORE, Maryland — Pope Benedict XVI will make his first visit to the United States as pontiff next year, and plans to visit the White House, ground zero and speak at the United Nations, Archbishop Pietro Sambi told the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Monday.
Benedict will travel to Washington and New York from April 15-20, speak at the United Nations on April 18 and visit ground zero on the final day of his trip.
The pope will visit the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York to show “solidarity with those who have died, with their families and with all those who wish an end of violence and in the search of peace,” said Sambi, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S.
The visit will take place on the third anniversary of Benedict’s election to succeed Pope John Paul II, who died in April 2005.
An official welcome reception for Benedict will be held at the White House on April 16, Sambi said. The pontiff will celebrate two public Masses, first at the new National Stadium in Washington on April 17, and again at Yankee Stadium on April 20.
He will also hold meetings with priests, Catholic university presidents, diocesan educators and young people.
“The pope will not travel much, but he will address himself to the people of the United States and the whole Catholic Church,” Sambi said.