SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #627 (0), Friday, December 8, 2000
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TITLE: Deputies Take Slice Of Budget Finances
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Legislative Assembly passed the St. Petersburg budget for 2001 this week, having rerouted money from a variety of sources to beef up their personal discretionary funds.


But a loophole in local legislation will allow City Hall to send that money back where it wants it - mostly to finance road construction and Smolny's small-business programs.

The 2001 budget presents a surplus for the first time ever, following three straight balanced budgets starting in 1998. It envisages expenditures of 42.3 billion rubles, or just over $1.5 billion at Thursday's Central Bank rate.

Projected revenue comes to 43.35 billion rubles, with the surplus - $38 million - to be spent paying off the city's debts. Those debts total 16 billion rubles, or $573.5 million.

While the debt-servicing target of the surplus seems clear, it is unlikely that the budget will remain in its current form once Gov. Vladimir Yakovlev has signed it into force.

Each individual lawmaker is to get around 30 million rubles ($1.08 million) for the personal fund, money taken largely from the Road Fund and from the city's programs to develop small businesses and sports.

The budget reworking will be undone, however, if City Hall decides to make use of its right to distribute 5 percent of the budget where it wants without the permission of the lawmakers. And on Wednesday, City Finance Committee chairman Viktor Krotov indicated that he would do just that.

"In the case that these amendments are introduced, City Hall will use its right to [change] budget spending," Kro tov said.

An example of money now going directly to lawmakers are the 250 million rubles originally earmarked by the City Finance Committee for the Ring Road - total estimated cost $1.13 billion. Some deputies say that they will allocate the money to less grandiose road repairs in the districts they represent.

In addition, Andrei Korchagin of the Our City faction, had an amendment passed taking 50 million rubles - or 1 million rubles per deputy - out of a program to support small business, which reduced the program's funding by 70 percent.

But Konstantin Serov, a lawmaker from the Industrial faction and the author of the small-business support program, said that the lawmakers would have to answer to their constituents.

"I'm sure that businessmen will be asking Korchagin a few questions about his initiative when the next Legislative Assembly elections come round," Serov said. "Many local business associations are now going to get a quarter of the money they had expected."

Korchagin has proposed that lawmakers divide their extra money between supporting businesses and purchasing medi cine and providing dental surgery for poor St. Petersburg residents.

"This is an outrage," said Roman Pastukhov, president of the Ki rov sky District Businessmen's Union, in a telephone interview on Wed nesday, pointing out that small business provides 30 percent of St. Petersburg budget revenues.

"Our esteemed lawmakers promised during their [1998] election campaigns to assist small businesses, but in this budget everything is the wrong way around. There are hundreds of business associations in St. Petersburg, but maybe only two or three can startup business - with free information, Internet access and so on."

Korchagin defended both dipping into the Road Fund and his amendment in an interview on Wednesday.

"The money [we have redirected] is an insignificant sum in financing the city's construction projects [as a whole]," he said.

"Two hundred and fifty million rubles is only enough to finance a few more buckets of sand. It will be more useful to transfer this money to repair roads in suburban districts - not only those people who live in the city center have the right to paved sidewalks." 

He was supported by Leonid Romankov, the head of the assembly's culture and education committee, who said that he would allocate 5 million rubles next year for repairs to a road in his district.

And Stanislav Zhitkov, a lawmaker with both the Communist and Unity factions, said that putting small-business money in the hands of the deputies was a better way of ensuring the funds went where they were most needed.

"In the past, nobody knew where that money went and why," he said. "It was just another feeding trough for the city authorities. But we [lawmakers] know the needs of our districts better than City Hall." Zhitkov said that he had allocated 800,000 rubles from his discretionary fund to small businesses this year.

The question of who knows best - Smolny or the Legislative Assembly - was also raised by independent lawmaker Alexander Shchelkanov, who criticized City Hall's program to illuminate downtown buildings and bridges.

"The administration has its priorities wrong when it plans to spend 92.4 million rubles to finance this lighting program, instead of giving it to poor families living in the suburbs," he said.

Analysts had other concerns over the budget.

"Although it has a surplus, the budget hasn't actually solved the problem of paying off city debt, including debts to local monopolies," said Lev Savulkin of the think-tank Leontiev Center in a telephone interview on Thursday.

"City Hall will have to raise the cost of housing services to do this."

While the Legislative Assembly did indeed pass a law on Wednesday raising payments for cleaning stairwells and servicing elevators, Alexander Prok ho renko, the governor's representative in the assembly, said that the money would go straight back into these services and not toward debt repayment. The new law is expected to bring in about 1 billion extra rubles to the city's coffers next year.

Taimuraz Bolloyev, the director of Baltika Brewery - which paid over 2 billion rubles in taxes for the first 10 months of 2000 - said that it was "not our business" to decide how budget revenue should be spent, but criticized the city's taxation laws, which are passed independently of the budget.

"We are not happy about some tax breaks that will be abolished at the beginning of 2001," Bolloyev said by telephone on Thursday. "If we were allowed to spend the money [from the breaks] to develop our brewery, we could contribute even more to the city budget."

TITLE: FACTS ABOUT THE 2001 CITY BUDGET
TEXT: THE St. Petersburg budget is more than 10 times the Murmansk city budget, but is dwarfed by the 179.4 billion rubles Moscow will spend in 2001 - not to mention its projected surplus of 27.7 billion rubles.

The St. Petersburg 2000 budget was 36.87 billion rubles, compared to this year's 42.3 billion rubles.


The City Finance Committee has forecast an inflation rate of 12 percent for 2001. The federal budget also forecasts inflation at a rate of 12 percent.


This year's budget forecast inflation at 40 percent. Overall inflation for 2000 was around 14 percent.


The St. Petersburg budget has also set a rate of 30 rubles to the dollar. The federal budget is forecasting a rate of 32 to the dollar.

The St. Petersburg 2000 budget forecast was 36 to the dollar.

The Central Bank rate on Thursday was 27.93. The ruble began 2000 at just under 27 to the dollar, and began 1999 at 20.7.

According to a Finance Committee report on the 2000 budget, taxes account for 85 percent of budget revenues.

The 1.05 billion rubles the city expects as a surplus for next year is targeted at paying off the city's 16-billion-ruble debt. Other debt repayment measures are included in the budget - 2.5 billion rubles - and a new issue of municipal bonds, or NKOs.

The city also intends to buy back $150 million worth of Eurobonds (4.5 billion rubles) next year.


The city's overall debt includes:

. 3.8 billion rubles on internal debt

. 9.25 billion rubles on external debt, such as interest on Eurobonds, and loans from investors.

. 2.95 billion rubles to pay off loan guarantees, such as those on the Ice Palace.

Some of the major items in the budget include:

. 6.6 billion rubles on education.

. 6.3 billion rubles on housing maintenance.

. 4.6 billion rubles on health.

. 4.4 billion rubles on social policy.

. 1.2 billion rubles on law enforcement.

TITLE: Mothers Warm to Change in Weather as Cold Spell Nears
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Around St. Petersburg, city residents have been staring at the sky and asking, "What's wrong with the weather?" 


With the exception of a two-day cold snap two weeks ago, St. Petersburg has been enveloped in comparative warmth and has been drenched with rain. 

Confused mothers, promising their children snow and a visit from Dyed Moroz, are not sure how to wrap up their children for the weather should it turn colder during the day. 

At the St. Petersburg Meteorological Center, workers are trying to comfort residents with weather worries. Marina Shelepanova, a weather forecaster from the center, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that temperatures are six to eight degrees above the average of one degree for this time of year. 

But, she said, that won't last for long. 

"December 9 will most probably be the last warm day in the first part of the month," said Shelepanova. "By December 10 or 11, we hope to cover you with snow." 

She said that the latest warming trend is the result of an Atlantic warm front pushing from the West.

"Western weather processes often affect Europe and St. Petersburg," Shelepanova said. "In summer they bring us rain and cold snaps, and in winter - rain and warmth." 

Temperatures at the beginning of December were as high as four to five degrees. But the records for this time of year are much higher - and much lower. 

Dec. 5, 1953, holds the record for the warmest December day in the last century with a temperature of 9.1 degrees, Shelepanova said.

And while the Meteorological Center does not know the exact date, the coldest day during the first 10 days of December 1902, holds the record at minus 23.6 degrees. 

Shelepanova warned, however, that after Dec. 9, the return of warm days is possible. "It's hard to predict what will happen for the New Year now," she said. "Let's hope for the best." 

Meanwhile, the warm weather seems to be a drain on the energy monopoly of Lenenergo's resources, which heats apartments according to the date, not the temperature. 

"In such situations we often receive calls from city residents who complain that it's too hot in their apartments," said Lenenergo representative Natalya Nikiforova. 

"However, we can do almost nothing about it because we have to maintain a certain temperature in our equipment to prevent the growth of bacteria."

TITLE: Navy Officer Ridicules Sunken Treasure Reports
AUTHOR: By Robert Eksuzyan
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW - A Russian naval officer dismissed as "utter nonsense" on Thursday suggestions that a Russian warship sunk off the Korean coast in the early 20th century might have been carrying a large shipment of gold.


Sergei Klimovsky, scientific secretary of the Central Naval Museum in St Petersburg, said it was out of the question that the Dmitry Donskoi was carrying gold bars when it went down on May 28, 1905, in the Russian-Japanese War.

Shares in a bankrupt South Korean construction company, Dong Ah, leapt 30 percent in two days after media reports that it had found the ship with its precious cargo aboard.

"We view this report from South Korea as utter nonsense. It is out of the question that it had gold bars in its hold as it was Russia's practice to send gold to the Far East on special rail cars," Klimovsky said by telephone.

"If they found anything, it could be the box for the officers' money supply."

Reports circulating on the Seoul market said the loot could be worth as much as the equivalent of $125 billion, though at current prices that made its payload an improbable 14,000 tons, some 13 percent of all gold ever mined.

Dong Ah, asked to explain the leap in its share price, issued a statement saying it had been conducting a search in conjunction with a Korean institute and pledged to inform the stock exchange of any findings it made. The company went bankrupt last month after failing to pay interest on debts.

Klimovsky said the issue of undersea treasure had first emerged in 1993 when Japanese divers discovered another sunken Russian cruiser in the same area, the Admiral Nakhimov.

"The Japanese divers found nothing then," he said.

The Russian-Japanese War was one of the Russian navy's most humiliating defeats and generated huge popular discontent with Tsar Nicholas II, leading to civil unrest and eventually the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

The Dmitry Donskoi, described by naval historians as disastrously underarmed for a vessel her size, sank in the Korea Strait separating Korea and Japan during the battle of Tsu-Shima after valiantly fending off a series of attacks.

But having sustained serious damage, and with nearly 200 of her 500-strong crew dead or wounded, the vessel was scuttled.

The Admiral Nakhhimov was also among ships lost in the battle. A few Russian vessels limped into friendly ports.

TITLE: Pope Asks Putin to Let Him Go Home
AUTHOR: By Sarah Karush
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: U.S. businessman Edmond Pope appealed to President Vladimir Putin to free him Thursday, a day after a court found him guilty of stealing defense secrets and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Anatoly Pristavkin, head of the presidential commission on pardons, said the advisory body supported the release of the 54-year-old former U.S. Navy intelligence officer.

"The commission will be humane, as usual, and will recommend that the head of state pardon U.S. citizen Edmond Pope," Pristavkin was quoted by Interfax as saying. 

Pristavkin said in televised remarks that the commission would meet Friday and send its recommendation to Putin. 

But the president would have to make a final decision on whether to release Pope, he said.

Pope's supporters had said throughout Pope's trial that they had little hope for an acquittal and were counting on a diplomatic solution instead. 

Pope has seven days after the verdict to appeal. He was considering Thursday whether to make the appeal, according to his lawyer, Pavel Astakhov. 

After the verdict Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to plead for Pope's freedom. U.S. President Bill Clinton has brought the case up with Putin repeatedly. 

But many analysts were skeptical that diplomacy would lead to a speedy release.

Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the U.S.A. and Canada Institute, said the Pope case had put Putin in a tough spot. 

Pardoning Pope, who was in remission for bone cancer when he was arrested in April, could make Putin appear weak, Kremenyuk said. 

But, he added, if Putin fails to free Pope "relations [between the two countries] will dramatically worsen."

Speculation is swirling in local media that Pope may be released as part of an exchange. The newspapers Segodnya and Kommersant suggested Thursday that Pope could be traded for Aldrich Ames, a former CIA employee who was arrested in 1994 for handing over the names of U.S. agents to the Soviet Union in the 1980s. 

Speaking at a presentation honoring Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, who was caught and swapped for captured U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers in the 1960s, retired KGB Colonel Pavel Gromushkin proudly noted that Russia "has not left a single fellow abroad, regardless of the cost." (See story, Page 3.)

Asked about Ames, Gromushkin smiled and suggested that the mole had not been forgotten. 

"My son and I were watching [television] the other day and started to have suspicions about this story with Popov, no, Pope. Maybe they are now carrying out a kind of [publicity] campaign and will then go and exchange him [for Ames]," he said.

Konstantin Preobrazhensky, a former KGB lieutenant colonel, said in a telephone interview that trading Pope for Ames may have been just what the Federal Security Service had in mind when it went after Pope.

If such a trade were successful, it would demonstrate that Russia is capable of looking after its agents, Preobrazhensky said. He added that widespread doubts about the amount of security Russia can provide spies have led to a shortage of agents for the Foreign Intelligence Service.

But Preobrazhensky said the idea of trading Ames for Pope would not work. "It would be very difficult because the Americans don't consider Pope a spy," he said.

Pope was convicted of trying to buy secret blueprints for a high-speed torpedo, but his supporters maintain the plans were not secret since the torpedo has been openly sold abroad in the past.

Ames' work for Moscow, however, is not in doubt and is known to have inflicted significant damage on the U.S. intelligence network in Russia.

"American society would never allow Ames to be released because it is known in the United States that as a result of his work for Moscow many big CIA agents were executed," said retired KGB Colonel Mikhail Lyubimov, a one-time spy in Britain and Denmark.

Both he and Preobrazhensky said U.S. authorities might decide to look for a Russian to arrest and then offer to exchange him for Pope.

"It's no secret that there are spies in the United States, private individuals connected to business, and the Americans could easily think up a provocation for their arrest," Lyubimov was quoted by Interfax as saying.

TITLE: Chernobyl Reactor Down Again, Closure Imminent
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: KIEV, Ukraine - A malfunction forced the only working reactor at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant to be shut down Wednesday, nine days before the plant is to be closed for good. 


The No. 3 reactor was halted by a safety system after some fumes were registered in the reactor's forced circulation department, and workers were cooling the reactor to determine the source, the Chernobyl press service said. 

Radiation levels at the plant were reported to be normal. 

It was the second shutdown in two weeks at Chernobyl. The reactor was halted Nov. 27 after an iced-up power line snapped, causing a short-circuit. 

Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear catastrophe in 1986, when its No. 4 reactor exploded and caught fire, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. Under intense international pressure, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has agreed to close the plant for good on Dec. 15. 

Ukraine, one of world's biggest energy consumers, operates five nuclear power plants with 14 atomic reactors. Nine of the reactors are now working. 

About 20 environmental activists demonstrated outside the Kiev office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to protest the construction of two nuclear reactors at existing atomic power plants. The new reactors are meant to compensate for the energy that will be lost after Chernobyl is closed. The EBRD has helped fund the project.

TITLE: Emigre's Tale Takes Russian Booker Prize
AUTHOR: By Brian Killen
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: MOSCOW - A Russian emigre living in Switzerland returned home to pick up one of his country's most coveted literary prizes at a lavish ceremony on Tuesday with a novel so complex it makes Dostoevsky look like light reading.


The Smirnoff-Booker award for the best novel of the year in Russian, worth $12,500 to the winner, went to Mikhail Shishkin for "The Taking of Izmail" - an original work of intense prose with a highly complicated structure.

At the evening ceremony in a plush Moscow hotel, with vodka flowing freely, there were precious few people who had read the 440-page novel, one of the favorites from a shortlist of six.

Shishkin, 40, told a news conference he was surprised at the jury's decision but he hoped the public recognition would translate into new readers.

"When I was working on this text I thought I had received my prize the moment the text came to me," he said. "Every day I felt I received a prize when it seemed to me that some word was well chosen." 

The unassuming author, a Muscovite who has lived in Zurich for the past five years, said he was realistic about his novel's prospects before it was published last year in the Russian journal Znamya (Banner).

"If it had been rejected, if they had said no normal person could read this, it would be the correct thing to do, so I was already happy when Znamya told me they would publish it."

The Smirnoff-Booker prize, an offshoot of Britain's Booker literary prize, has been awarded for the past nine years, often for obscure works that have failed to stir the public at large.

Russia's most widely read contemporary writer, Boris Akunin, did not even figure on this year's shortlist.

Nikolai Alexandrov, literary critic for the Ekho Moskvy radio station, said "The Taking of Izmail" would be published in Russia soon by Vagrius, but he did not expect big sales.

"It will be very difficult to promote this author to a mass readership, because it is a very difficult novel to read."

Shishkin himself declined to describe the content or the message behind "The Taking of Izmail," saying, "Don't expect me to reply to that."

When pressed to elaborate on the idea behind the novel, he replied, "No."

Apparently wanting his work to speak for itself, he told Reuters later that it was impossible to use "horizontal language" to explain things in a comprehensible way.

"If someone reads my novel and understands something for themselves I will be happy," he said.

Alexandrov described "The Taking of Izmail" as an unusual novel and an attempt to rethink the classical Russian novel, in which there exists a hero or cast of heroes around which the central theme is built.

"Mikhail Shishkin takes a new path," he said, adding that heroes appear and disappear, various story lines develop, building up expectations before changing tack in a free-ranging journey from one character and episode to another.

Explaining the title of the book, which refers to a late 18th-century battle between Turkish and Russian troops, Alexandrov said the novel was also about someone who approached life with a combative passion.

TITLE: VOX POPULI
TEXT: It looks almost certain that the Duma will reintroduce the Soviet-era anthem and tsarist-era coat-of-arms as Russia's state symbols. Galina Stolyarova took to the streets to find out people's reactions to these impending changes. Photos by Sergey Grachev.




Pavel, financial consultant

"President Vla di mir Putin looks set to bring the old anthem back, but I consider that this would be the wrong move as it would burden Russia with a Soviet, totalitarian image. I wish we had something less controversial as an anthem.


Also, the juxtaposition of the tsar's eagle and the melody of the Soviet anthem is farcical. It is a travesty. I cannot think of two more contradictory and incompatible things. To add to the confusion, there will still be recordings of the Soviet anthem with the old text!"



Katya, college student

"I wouldn't mind having the old anthem back, but it's no big deal to me. In theory, I think the president should have asked the people to choose the melody, and that would have come up with a tune to make the whole country happy. But as usually happens in Russia, the leader will decide himself. 




Lyudmila, university tutor 
and accountant

"Bringing the music of the Soviet anthem back cannot do any harm. Glinka's 'Patriotic Song' is wonderful, but it takes you back to last century, which is not what we need. Back in Soviet times, everyone liked Alexandrov's melody, and it still has everything for the perfect anthem. I am used to it, it has positive associations, like our victory in World War II, and I would welcome its return. The only problem is that the words have to be changed or edited to correspond with the new era."




Irena, scientific researcher

"Both Alexandrov's and Glin ka's music reflect particular parts of Russian history, and they are both powerful and appealing. But I believe we have had enough of living with a wordless anthem. It has become painfully obvious that Glinka's 'Patriotic Song' isn't for singing. No poet could manage to come up with an appropriate text.


All in all, I would welcome the return of Alexandrov's music - with new words, naturally. The Soviet anthem was full of life, it made people feel optimistic, which is what Russia is crying out for. But I find this outrageous that politicians are trying to exploit the debate over the anthem to boost their popularity and attract attention. There should not be this much tension and scandal."



Vsevolod, floor layer

"I like Alexandrov's music more than the Glinka tune, but I don't think the anthem question is as important as the media and certain politicians are trying to make out. Why turn it into a problem? I personally don't much care if they return to the old melody or keep the current one, or if they write a new text or leave it wordless. Frankly, I am indifferent."

TITLE: Yeltsin: Old Anthem a Mistake
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: MOSCOW - Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin made his first public criticism of successor Vladimir Putin in an interview published on Thursday, for backing the re-introduction of the Soviet-era national anthem.


Yeltsin selected Putin, a former intelligence officer, as his favored successor in August 1999 and handed power to him when he resigned last New Year's Eve.

Yeltsin scrapped the old anthem soon after the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule. He told the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda he could not stomach the music because he associated it with Communist Party bureaucrats.

He quoted Anatoly Chubais, long a Kremlin adviser and now head of Russia's power utility Unified Energy Systems, in saying it was immaterial that opinion polls showed that many Russians favored the old anthem.

"Chubais was quite right on this score: the president of a country should not blindly follow the mood of the people," he told Komsomolskaya Pravda. "On the contrary, it is up to him to actively influence it."

The anthem introduced by Yeltsin, a patriotic song by 19th century composer Mikhail Glinka, was never adopted by law and no words were written for it. Most Russians are unable to remember the tune and athletes complain they have nothing to sing at matches or medal ceremonies.

Yeltsin dismissed the argument about sports, saying athletes were "young people who look to the future, not the past."

But in interviews since going into retirement, Yeltsin has said he always refrained from "picking up the telephone" to offer Putin advice.

Had Putin himself picked up the phone to call average Russians earlier in the week, he would have found their homes filled with delight - and despair as they reconciled themselves to the possibility that the former Soviet national anthem will become Russia's as well.

Fueled by Putin's call to restore the melody as Russia's national anthem, lawmakers in the State Duma began drawing up legislation to get the hymn by Alexander Alexandrov approved as early as Friday.

"All but two Duma faction leaders supported the proposal to hear the new laws Friday," Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov said Tuesday. 

The opposing parties are the liberal Yabloko and Union of Right Forces.

"We are against the approval of Alexandrov's melody as the national anthem of the Russian Federation," Sergei Ivanenko, the deputy head of the liberal Yabloko faction, told the parliament. "We consider such a decision a step back, a concession to the forces that want to reverse progress in Russia."

In a television address this week, Putin said the return of the stirring 1943 anthem was logical as Russians should not reject everything from their history.

It was unclear Thursday when and how the words for the anthem would be chosen and approved. 

Putin told the parliament Monday he wanted the music from "Unbreakable Union of Freeborn Republics" adopted, as well as the tricolor national flag and other state symbols unofficially used since 1991. The president's proposal was taken as a confirmed fact by most of the Russian media on Tuesday. 

"The anthem will be the old one," declared the Vedomosti daily, adding that Putin probably suggested the music as a way to get the state symbols approved by lawmakers. Kommersant agreed Alexandrov's anthem would sail though the Duma. 

Even Izvestia, which wrote a story criticizing Putin's musical and ideological preferences, treated the proposal as a final decision. 

However, a number of influential individuals came out against the plan. 

"I am categorically against the use of the old anthem music with the new words," Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn said via his secretary. A group of 35 leading cultural figures appealed to Putin against the initiative.

The letter - signed by musicians, writers, dancers and actors like conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, ballet star Maya Plisetskaya and the rock group DDT - warned that the return to the old anthem's tune could lead to a schism in society. A recent Public Opinion Foundation poll found that 49 percent of Russians favor Alexandrov's music as the tune for the national anthem. 

Alexander Yakovlev, chairman of a presidential commission on rehabilitating victims of political repression, also slammed the proposal. "I am not going to either rise or sing to this music," Yakovlev was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, with the media accepting the proposal as a done deal, the debate turned Tuesday to what the new lyrics would be. 

A number of newspapers published texts for consideration, including one by Sergei Mikhalkov, the author of the original Soviet anthem. Mikhalkov, who wrote two versions during the Soviet era, has come up with a new democratic version about the two-headed eagle and God's protection. The Fatherland-All Russia political party also has drawn up new words.

Even the opposition-mined Union of Right Forces has submitted a somewhat sarcastic text praising liberal ideas, property rights and even business-minded people. The lyrics read in part: "We work honestly and pay our taxes! / Glory to you, o private property, / The truest guarantor of human rights! / The life we create will be so glorious / That any emigrant will return to our shores!"


- Reuters, SPT

TITLE: Shoigu Heads Special Team To Deal With Eastern Freeze
AUTHOR: By Denis Dyomkin
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: VLADIVOSTOK, Far East - Mos cow dispatched a 50-strong task force headed by a government minister to Russia's Pacific coast region on Wednesday to find out why 90,000 people have been without heat in their apartments for weeks. 


Prosecutors in the Primorye region were pushing ahead with criminal proceedings against local officials after families have been shivering for weeks in homes with temperatures no higher than five degrees Celsius.

Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu, routinely dispatched by authorities to Russia's many and varied disasters, flew into the region which is eight time zones east of Moscow. 

"The minister will evaluate how critical the situation in Primorye is in order to find an emergency solution to the crisis brought about by the failure to provide winter-time heating," a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry in the region said. 

Itar-Tass news agency later said Shoigu had told authorities in the region bordering China and North Korea that they had until Dec. 15 to resolve the problem. 

Shoigu is the second high-ranking government minister to be dispatched to Primorye over the last two weeks, as outside temperatures have plunged to minus 28 degrees Celsius. 

The ministry spokesperson said that no end to the crisis was in sight and that more trouble could be lurking if heating stations ran out of whatever fuel remained and frozen pipes burst.

In the towns of Artyom, Arsenyev and in the Khasan district there was only enough heating oil to keep the water in the pipes from freezing for a few more days, he said by telephone.

Enraged residents have blocked highways to attract attention and congested the airport in the local capital Vladivostok.

President Vladimir Putin has called the situation an "utter disgrace" and put the blame squarely on local bosses. 

Gov. Yev ge ny Nazdratenko retorted that the crisis was rooted in Moscow's outstanding debts to the region and its failure to curb steep increases in fuel prices.

The Finance Ministry has reluctantly released some funds while local prosecutors, spurred into action by Putin's comments, have opened 11 criminal cases against local officials.

Interfax news agency said prosecutors had formally charged several municipal officials with failing to provide heating to customers. It said investigators were already questioning witnesses and checking financial documents.

If convicted, the officials face up to three years in jail.

A further strain on the region was an assassination attempt on Maya Shchokina, newly appointed head of a regional publishing house. She was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after being attacked as she left her apartment building.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Mad Cow Worries 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has banned live cattle imports from the Netherlands and restricted beef imports from Portugal, Switzerland and Ireland over fears about the spread of mad cow disease.

"We have imposed some restrictions on Portuguese, Swiss and Irish beef, the loading of which can now only be made under supervision of our veterinarians," First Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergei Dankvert told reporters this week.

"About a week ago we banned live cattle imports from the Netherlands, where 10 pedigree bulls were ready to be shipped to Russia." 



Media Excluded

MOSCOW (SPT) - The judge in the trial of six men accused of the 1994 murder of a journalist excluded the media from the courtroom Wednesday for the duration of the trial.

Judge Vladimir Serdyukov banned the media at the request of Oksana Yakimova, the lawyer of one of the defendants. Yakimova argued that many media outlets, particularly Moskovsky Komsomolets, had been biased in their coverage of the trial, Interfax reported.

Kholodov was a reporter at Mos kov sky Komsomolets. Before his death he had been investigating reports of embezzlement and illegal arms trading by Russian army officers in eastern Germany from 1992 to 1994.



SPS Leader Murdered

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Svetlana Semyonova, 39, district coordinator for the Leningrad Oblast Union of Right Forces, or SPS party was murdered on Wednesday near her house in the town of Volosovo.

According to the offices of SPS, Semyonova was hit from behind with a heavy, blunt object and died of trauma to the head. 

Prosecutors are investigating a vareity of motives, but her associates in SPS say the murder was linked to her political activities. 

Semyonova was married and had two sons, aged 12 and 19. 



Metro Dog Attack

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - A stray rotweiller attacked twelve people in the St. Petersburg metro, causing serious injuries, Interfax reported on Thursday. 

According to several victims, the dog, boarded the metro and attacked people at several stations, the report said. It did not indicate if the dog was caught at any point. It is also unclear how the dog boarded the metro in the first place, the report said. 

Two people were seriously injured when they were bitten in the vestibule on one metro station that was not specified in the Interfax report. 

Dogs, by law, are not allowed on St. Petersburg Metro trains.



Diamonds Seized

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Northwest Customs seized $2.5 million worth of contraband diamonds, Interfax reported on Tuesday. The shipment of 93,000 cut diamonds, bound for an Israeli firm, was intercepted by customs officers with the help of anti-economic-crime unit while the contraband was going through checks for gold and deliveries of precious stones, said Interfax.

The senders, two St. Petersburg-based firms - Russkiye Samotsvety and SBA-International - allegedly underdeclared the number and quality of the diamonds, Interfax said.

Police and customs have initiated a criminal investigation, according to the report.

TITLE: Interpol Asked Not To Pursue Gusinsky
AUTHOR: By Joan Gralla
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: NEW YORK -The World Jewish Congress said this week it had asked Interpol not to arrest Russian media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky, charging that the Kremlin was pursuing him on political - not criminal - grounds.


Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for Gusinsky, who heads the Russian chapter of the World Jewish Congress. He left Russia after he was jailed in June on fraud charges.

Meanwhile, Interfax reported that Gusinsky had purchased a professional baseball team in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he has apparently taken sanctuary. 

Elan Steinberg, WJC executive director, charged on Tuesday that Interpol was taken over by Reinhard Heydrich - Heinrich Himmler's chief lieutenant in the Schutzstaffel - and should not allow itself today to be used to track down a Jew who has said he was hounded out of Russia because his media empire criticized the Kremlin.

A spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Interpol office would not comment on whether the worldwide police agency would hunt Gusinsky. Nor would it comment on the agency's history during the Nazi era.

According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, Interpol, founded in Vienna in 1923, was disbanded in 1938 then reconstituted in Paris in 1946. It has 178 member nations who benefit from information provided regarding the whereabouts of international criminals.

Steinberg said that on Nov. 30 the WJC asked Interpol not to pursue Gusinsky. "It would set a precedent for [Interpol] being used in a human rights case for political purposes," he said.

Steinberg charged that Interpol was used during the Nazi era to hunt down Jews and said it was "inconceivable" it "would allow itself to become the instrument of political persecution against a prominent Jewish leader today."

Gusinsky has charged that his prosecution is a heavy-handed attempt to throttle press freedom. NTV, the flagship television station of the media empire he founded, has been a frequent critic of Kremlin policy.

TITLE: Moscow in Spin Over Kursk Crash Remark
AUTHOR: By Ana Uzelac
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and local media have pounced on statements made this week by a Norwegian admiral, calling them proof that the Kursk submarine sank because of a collision with a foreign submarine.


But in his statements to Norwegian television, Admiral Einar Skorgen never said there was evidence of a crash - only evidence that the Russian military had thought that to be the cause of the disaster. And the spin subsequently given to Skorgen's words in Moscow has the Norwegian journalist who interviewed him puzzled.

According to the journalist, Oystein Bogen, Skorgen told him that on Aug. 17 and 18, the Norwegians spotted Russian surveillance planes off their coast. Concerned, Skorgen called Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Vyacheslav Popov to find out why they were there.

"Popov told me: 'There was a collision, and we were searching for a submarine that might have left the area where the collision took place,'" Skorgen said in the interview to Norway's TV2, according to Bogen.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, Sergeyev confirmed that surveillance planes had been searching for a submarine that may have left the scene of a crash. He also suggested that Skorgen's statements gave credence to the military's theory about a collision with a foreign sub.

"This is further proof of the legitimacy of the version of events that today remains strongest," Sergeyev said, referring to the collision theory.

Anchors on the evening news programs of NTV and RTR television also called the news "further proof of the theory that the Kursk was sunk by a foreign submarine."

But Skorgen did not see it as proof at all, and on Wednesday he reiterated his view that there is no truth to the theory.

"I still think that is propaganda for Russian internal use," he said in remarks reported by The Associated Press.

Skorgen told TV2 that Norwegian fighter jets spotted and identified four Ilyushin-38 surveillance planes flying along the coast on Aug. 17 and two more on Aug. 18.

Some Russian politicians and analysts have pointed to an American submarine that was in the area of the disaster. They say the USS Memphis was only a little damaged and was able to reach the Norwegian port of Bergen after the incident.

"The submarine must have been damaged, and that's why it took it five or six days to reach Bergen," said Valery Alexin, a former naval officer who now writes for the military newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozrenie.

"It was floating very slowly and very close to the surface, sticking to the Norwegian shoreline. That's why Sergeyev sent the surveillance planes to follow it, the Il-38 are well equipped and can do this type of surveillance."

Both Norwegian and U.S. military have confirmed that the Memphis docked at Bergen on Aug. 18, but have repeatedly said it was part of a long-planned visit.

But Interfax claimed that Skorgen also said "there was something wrong" with the Memphis when it docked in Bergen.

The Norwegian reporter who interviewed Skorgen fervently denied this. "He never said anything like that," Bogen said.

What he did say, according to Bogen, is that the Russians may have sincerely believed that a collision had caused the disaster.

TITLE: Salvation Army Labeled Security Threat
AUTHOR: By Sarah Karush
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The elderly women doing calisthenics in a community center in central Moscow on Tuesday certainly didn't look like subversives.


But the Moscow City Court has ruled that the organization that brings the lonely pensioners together each afternoon for lunch and activities - the venerable Salvation Army - is plotting the overthrow of the government.

The decision, brought Nov. 28, means the organization may be unable to re-register before a Dec. 31 deadline, forcing it to shut down its Moscow operations, which provide material and moral support to thousands of people.

"This is the only thing that saves us lonely people," said Nina Bodina, 85, after Tuesday's exercise program. "Here we get everything we need - love and human contact."

The center is only one of many Moscow programs run by the Salvation Army, which resumed work in Russia in 1992 after being ousted by Soviet authorities in the 1920s. The organization also assists homeless people who line up for hot meals at the city's train stations, as well as prisoners and the homebound. 

The trouble began in 1997, when parliament passed a law requiring any religious organization that had been operating in Russia less than 15 years to register with local authorities.

The Moscow branch filed its documents under the new law in February 1999. Six months later, it received its first rejection, said Colonel Kenneth Baillie, head of the group's Russian operations.

City officials told the group that because its headquarters are in London, it is not entitled to register and could only open a representative office. But Baillie contends that this is a misreading of the law and that the Supreme Court shot down such logic in a similar case involving the Jesuits.

In September 1999, the Salvation Army filed suit in Moscow's Presnensky court, which in July ruled in the city's favor. The group's appeal to the Moscow City Court was rejected Nov. 28.

"Since we have the word 'Army' in our name, [the court] said we are a militarized organization bent on the violent overthrow of the Russian government," Baillie said.

Baillie said that the group intends to appeal to the Supreme Court, but in order to do so they need to have the latest decision in writing. He said the group's lawyers were told they would receive the verdict within a month - which might not give them enough time to appeal before the current registration expires.

A spokeswoman at the court said a month is "standard practice." 

Baillie said the Salvation Army, which works in 14 cities west of the Urals, had run into no such problems in other regions. He said that as a result of the 1997 law, the group had incurred legal fees of more than $20,000 - money he would have preferred to spend on programs.

Baillie said the Salvation Army was being singled out for harassment.

"There's a general wariness and suspicion of foreigners. That's part of Russian culture and certainly part of the religious culture. But we do know that we have been specifically targeted and it's unclear why," he said.

City officials who deal with religious organizations could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

After eight years of continuous work, the Salvation Army's Moscow ranks are not only made up of foreigners. According to Major Marcia Vanover, who is in charge of Moscow operations, the capital has 203 "senior soldiers," or adult members, 14 Russian officers and 12 expatriate officers.

Back at the senior citizens' center, about a dozen women finished their workout and sat down to sing folk songs and romances to piano accompaniment.

Blissfully ignorant of the Salvation Army's legal troubles, they wore broad smiles as they spoke about the effect the organization's work has had on their lives.

"When I spend time here I feel like this is my family," said Antonina Kuprina, 75. The head of the center, Lyudmila Glushankova, said she had not had the heart to tell them that the center might close.

"If we have to close it, these people will lose everything," she said. "They'll have nothing but their four walls."

TITLE: Investigator Resigns Following ORT Raid
AUTHOR: By Valeria Korchagina
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: MOSCOW - An investigator who led a tax raid on ORT television offices this week was forced to resign Wednesday for using force during the search, Interfax reported.


Senior investigator Georgy Tsabia, who worked in a unit of the Prosecutor General's Office, swooped down on ORT with a group of masked agents wearing bulletproof vests on Tuesday morning. The agents seized unspecified financial documents during the search that lasted late into the evening.

Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov said Wednesday "there was no need to apply force" during the search and demanded Tsabia's resignation, Interfax reported.

It was unclear what force investigators had used, but ORT had complained about strong-arm tactics.

ORT said it had completely cooperated with investigators.

The Press Ministry on Wednesday also denounced the search. 

First Deputy Press Minister Mikhail Seslavinsky said ORT executives and staff had done nothing to provoke investigators. 

"ORT is a strictly peaceful organization that has acted in accordance with the law in all previous requests from the prosecutor's office," Interfax quoted Seslavinsky as saying.

"ORT does not have any security forces and, thus, even hypothetically could not have created the situation that would require the interference of a large number of masked and heavily armed federal agents wearing bullet-proof jackets."

The raid came as the prosecutor's office is looking for evidence that ORT avoided paying customs duties on foreign films that it broadcast between 1995 and 1998. The case against ORT was opened in the summer of 1999.

ORT management strongly denies the charges. 

ORT director Konstantin Ernst said the television station has never attempted to cheat on taxes and lashed out at the raid. 

"We hope this annoying incident will be clarified in the nearest future and the channel will be able to continue its work as usual," Ernst said in a statement.

The government holds a 51 percent stake in ORT, the largest television station in Russia. The remaining 49 percent is controlled by Boris Berezovsky. The tycoon is being investigated by the prosecutor's office in a separate case. 

Ernst said in an interview published by Vremya Novestei on Wednesday that there was probably no link between the raid and the prosecutors' probe into Berezovsky.

Tsabia's resignation will not affect the ORT investigation and investigators Wednesday were examining the documents seized in the search, said a spokeswoman for the Moscow air transport prosecutor's office, the unit handling the ORT probe.

She said prosecutors have already charged several people in the case, Interfax reported.

TITLE: Pulkovo 2 in $60M Overhaul Project
AUTHOR: By Lyuba Pronina
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Eager to be ready for an increase in international flights, St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport is planning a $60 million reconstruction of its international terminal, Pulkovo 2, officials said.


St. Petersburg Gov. Vladimir Yakov lev on Nov. 30 signed a resolution under which the city-owned airport company will design and carry out the reconstruction from its own financial resources, Prime-Tass reported on Monday.

The planning should be finalized by the second quarter of 2001, while the reconstruction itself is set to be completed by the end of 2005.

The plan for a new Pulkovo 2 covers reconstruction of the 44,500-square-meter main terminal, construction of a garage for 258 vehicles and an open-air parking lot.

A tender will be conducted for the construction.

When completed the reconstruction will increase Pulkovo's capacity by 2.2 times, up to 1,800 passengers per hour.

Independent aviation analyst Paul Duffy said in a telephone interview that "if St. Petersburg regards itself as an international city with businessmen and tourists traveling in, it needs a reasonable quality airport."

He said Pulkovo's international terminal is very basic and was able to cope with existing flights, "but if it does want to grow, it will need to expand." 

Earlier this year Pulkovo announced that it will construct a new cargo terminal by 2002.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has promised to loan $8 million of the estimated $12.5 million total cost for the construction. The EBRD credit has a 10-year term. 

GlobeGround, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa, will manage the terminal when it begins operating. 

Pulkovo had once entertained building a $170 million Pulkovo 3 terminal. But this plan was later abandoned.

TITLE: Kasyanov Hurries With LUKoil ADR Sale
AUTHOR: By Alexander Tutushkin and Yelizaveta Osetinskaya
PUBLISHER: Vedomosti
TEXT: MOSCOW - The government is rushing to create a special investment vehicle to sell a stake in oil major LUKoil to get around a State Duma restriction on the sale of stakes in large state enterprises. 


It then intends to float the 6-percent stake in the nation's No. 1 oil firm as Level 3 ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange to raise an estimated $800 million.

Government officials plan to issue the ADRs as soon as the first or second quarter of 2001 and are already calling the sale the most important privatization project of 2001.

ADRs are a device to allow foreign firms to buy tradable certificates on the New York Stock Exchange that cover a set number of shares in foreign firms. 

Level 3 ADRs require GAAP financials for the last three years, which LUKoil has said it will do before the end of Janaury.

Last week, as part of the 2001 budget, the State Duma restricted privatization of large companies. If the budget is approved, the restriction will come into force on Jan. 1.

It is likely that the restriction will be in place at least until next summer, when the government is hoping to submit its privatization program to the State Duma.

The ban has not deterred Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who has signed a directive to prepare the LUKoil shares for sale through a 100-percent state-owned company that will be created with 50 million LUKoil shares in its authorized capital. 

A spokesman in a federal agency responsible for privatization said that this was the government's only chance to get around the Duma's restrictions. 

He said the government will succeed in doing this if the documents for next year's privatization plan are signed before the 2001 budget comes into force. 

"The placement of shares of LUKoil into the authorized capital of a specially created company would signify that a privatization transaction is taking place this year," he said. 

He added it was unimportant when the actual placing of shares on the New York Stock Exchange took place since the shares will already have been transferred from the government to a separate company. 

LUKoil itself does not seem to be very concerned. 

"This is Kasyanov's problem," a spokesperson of LUKoil said.

"Moreover, we are not planning to place our shares in the West now. We are awaiting more favorable market conditions."

Gennady Krasovsky, an oil and gas analyst with Nikoil brokerage, said that a delay of the approval of the privatization program could hold up the sale of the oil company's shares for at least six months.

"Because the government has no plans to privatize Rosneft or Slavneft in 2001, the sale of the LUKoil shares will be crucial," Krasovsky said.

TITLE: Shareholders Await Plans For UES
AUTHOR: By Anna Raff
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Don't expect any surprises when the government unveils its program to restructure the national electricity holding next week, said Anatoly Chubais, head of Unified Energy Systems.


On Dec. 14, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and the administration are set to decide on a strategy to transform the nation's power generation and distribution. It is unclear whether the program will come in the form of a decree or a presidential resolution.

Two measures are to be passed: The first will outline the basic philosophy and guidelines for the reorganization and the second will describe the steps to be taken at the first stage of the three-stage process. 

According to Chubais' plans, the end of 2001 should complete the first stage.

If the first-stage plans are ratified next week, they will set the stage for creating a wholesale infrastructure for the nation's electricity market with an administrator that will be chosen by market participants.

These market players will be about 15 generating companies formed from the generating stations belonging to the nation's 72 energos and UES. 

Chubais barely touched on the plight of minority shareholders, who are worried about how their shares will be treated during the restructuring.

TITLE: Zoo Animals Up for Adoption
AUTHOR: By Dina Vishnya
PUBLISHER: Vedomosti
TEXT: Have you ever wished for your own gangly giraffe or sleek jaguar that you could feed and, perhaps, pet? For 1,000 rubles ($35.76) to 300,000 rubles a year you can.


The Leningrad Zoo has put up all of its animals - from apes and rare cranes to more ordinary frogs and raccoons - for adoption in a bid to improve their living conditions. And a growing number of entrepreneurs and everyday families are signing up.

The Bekar real estate agency acquired a beaver while furniture company Angelina adopted a jaguar. Konti was won over by a brown macaque, a short-tailed Asian monkey, and Dr. Yakov Hakatic of medical clinic No. 122 got a toad.

Sponsors get a certificate of adoption and a portrait of the animal. They can visit the adopted animal for free and, if it is not dangerous, take strolls with it around its cage and be photographed with it. The benefactor can also place a plaque with his name or the name of his company on the cage of the adoptee.

"It's a game for adults," said Ivan Kor neyev, director of the Leningrad Zoo. 

The cost of adopting an animal depends on its appetite and exhibition value. For example, a giraffe costs 150,000 rubles a year to adopt because even though it eats little, it attracts many visitors.

Korneyev said the funds usually go for the welfare of all the animals at the zoo, not just the designated one.

"The sum of the deposit is the equivalent of the cost of the rations for the four-legged creature, bird or reptile," he said. "However, the money provided by the benefactor does not go toward the feeding of one particular animal but ... to the improvement of the treatment of the animals in the zoo."

Over the past two years the zoo has raised about 2.5 million rubles through the adoption program, only half of the 5.1 million rubles it received from St. Petersburg in the past nine months.

Korneyev said the sum was minuscule compared to the funds raised through similar programs at zoos in Europe and the United States.

"In Europe and America, such programs earn about a third of the income of the zoo," he said.

At the Leningrad Zoo, benefactors often offer more than just financial support for their animals. The Best company had heated floors built in the ape room and DIA provided a fresh coat of paint.

Korneyev said would-be adopters are not standing in line outside the zoo, but their numbers are slowly increasing. The most enthusiastic benefactors are usually firms that have the same names as the animals or see the animals as a corporate symbol, he said. 

The Aist (Stork) firm paid a hefty sum to adopt all of the zoo's black and white storks. The Angelina furniture maker took a jaguar, which is also the name of one of its trademarks. The Baltic Association of Lawyers picked a lion, largely because its offices are located in a historic building mentioned in a poem by Alexander Pushkin called "The Bronze Horseman." The text includes the phrase, "Raising their paws, as if they were alive, two lions stand watch."

Korneyev said that about half of the zoo's benefactors use the animals as an advertising tool, while the rest just want to help out.

One patron said that he felt good about being able to make a difference for the animals.

"Only a few years ago, the zoo created an impression of squalor and the animals seemed to be depressed," said the company official, who asked not to be identified. "But now their living conditions have improved and it's gratifying to realize that we are playing a role in this."

TITLE: Central Bank Starts New Accounts for Foreigners
AUTHOR: By Igor Semenenko
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The Central Bank has introduced a new set of accounts for foreign companies and individuals, both making the rules clear and tightening the screws in the foreign exchange market.


"The new regulation strengthens control over transactions with nonresidents," said Mikhail Bukhtin, director with Unikon audit and consulting company.

Instruction number 93-I, published Thursday in the Central Bank newsletter Vestnik Banka Rossii, introduces a new set of accounts to monitor money transfers by foreigners.

"It is a very detailed document, which simplifies a lot of things," said Larisa Me tya sho va, consultant with the Association of Russian Banks.

Foreign companies and individuals will open K-accounts to conduct sales of goods and services, except for capital goods, the convertion of rubles into dollars and the purchase of goods when payments are deferred for up to 90 days.

K-accounts, which take their name from the Russian word for convertible, will replace T-accounts used by corporations and retail clients, ruble corresponding accounts of foreign banks and I-accounts used for investment purposes.

Nonconvertible accounts introduced by the Central Bank will bear a letter N and regulate issuance of loans, the purchase of goods with payment deferred for more than 90 days and the purchase of dollars on local exchange floors.

To do that foreigners will have to place rubles on deposit with local commercial banks for 365 days before they buy dollars and repatriate them abroad.

F-accounts will be used to keep a close watch on money transfers of retail clients, who will be entitled to use them for private purposes only.

The new decree provides answers to many technical questions and closes some of the existing loopholes.

"Basically, it's an upgrade of the old manuscript," said Vladimir Rashevsky, deputy chairman of Moscow Business World Bank. "The Central Bank keeps a lid on the market."

Commercial banks will still have to send reports on clients' operations to the Central Bank four times a year.

Until now, foreigners have been using four types of accounts opened in local banks. T-accounts were used to conduct export and import transactions, and I-accounts were used for investment purposes to buy securities, including the infamous GKOs frozen in 1998. In addition, there were ruble accounts of corresponding banks and retail accounts.

Primarily, the old decree put two types of accounts in place when it was adopted in 1993, but the Central Bank had to amend it 17 times to adjust it to changes in market conditions. 

The new document will enable the monetary authorities to make accurate forecasts of the demand for dollars, according to information given by anonymous Central Bank officials to Prime-Tass. The Central Bank refused to comment Thursday.

TITLE: 'Bot' Developer Opens Local Brain Office
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: Out there in the world of Internet chat rooms in cyberspace, there are conversations taking place that are so real you'd swear they were being conducted between, well, two people. You may be mistaken. 


What the human interlocutor may be typing away to is a so-called intellect dialogue system - a computer program designed to mimic the often mixed up syntax, broken sentences and malapropisms of a real live internet conversation. 

And thanks to the opening of the largest European office of Artificial Life - or A-Life, as staffers call it - in St. Petersburg, just who, or rather what, you're talking to on the other end of that mouse cable will become more and more a matter of guesswork. 

The Boston-based Artificial Life company has offices in Zurich and Frankfurt as well, said Manfred Esser, head of A-Life Rus at the opening of the $1.5 million St. Petersburg office last week. But the staff size at the local office is more than all the other offices combined. 

"In contrast to 40 or 45 people on staff in Zurich, Frankfurt and Boston, we have 200 people in St. Petersburg and in next year we are planning to double that," he said. 

"We would reach nothing without the St. Petersburg staff."

At the moment, conversing with A-Life's chat-room type robot - or "bot" in company parlance - requires a pretty advanced system, more powerful than most people locally have access to.

Sergei Vasiliev, a team leader for the "Bot Me!" group that designs the bots at ALife Rus, explained some of the processing involved in creating the bot at last week's opening. Each bot has something that ALife calls a smart engine, which is responsible for responding to questions asked of a given bot system.

"First, your phrase is sent to the server," Vasiliev said. "A smart engine watches for key words and calculated an answer. In cases when the system doesn't understand the question, it can give a number of neutral answers so it doesn't just repeat 'I don't understand.'" 

Vasiliev said the systems are also designed with a sense of humor, emotions and a basic personality in mind. 

For instance, three A-Life bots that were booted up on the desktop of the same computer reacted with confusion and even a little jealousy that there were competitors present in their systems. 

In another instance, a red-headed bot named Luci laughed at the question: "What are you doing tonight." But as a programmed "virtual assistant" at ALife, she adored shooting the breeze about anything related to the company and will deploy every conversational tactic at her disposal to move the chat in that direction. 

When topics unrelated to A-Life came up, she says things like "There's so much to talk going around. Let's keep it simple." 

Having guided things back to that simplicity, she responds by commenting, "that's so stimulating." 

"The main goal of our work is to make a bot more human-like," Vasiliev said. "But a bot's behavior is set by the designer and his fantasy and it is that volume of knowledge that is put into the data base on the server."

The idea of developing something like an artificial brain began in the early 1950s and at present several companies and universities worldwide devote research dollars to artificial intelligence. 

But not one bot has yet been able to completely fool a human. In 1950, British mathematician Alan Turing predicted in an article entitled "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" that in 50 years' time "an average interrogator will not have more than a 70 percent chance of making a right identification after five minutes of questioning." The interrogation was a game in which a computer imitated a human, which is now called the Turing Test. 

Then, in 1990, Hugh Loebner and The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies at Cambridge University began an annual Turing Test that offered $100,000 and a gold medal to whoever could develop a computer whose responses were indistinguishable from a human's. 

But no one has taken the grand prize yet, so each year, the Center gives $2,000 to the programmer who develops the most lifelike system. Last year, a program called Alice, developed by Dr. Richard Wallace, won. Artificial Life submitted a program that came in third. 

According to Vasiliev the driving force behind bots is the databases that support them. Therefore, the greater exposure they have, the wider their range of knowledge will be. But Vasiliev said that, for this reason, the so called personal assistants, like Luci, would be useful as guides to the entire Web, but because of the specificity of databases, they are really more useful as guides to Web sites. 

Kevin Worewick, a British robot specialist, illustrated this point in a posting at chegonet.obozrenie.ru: "We work with a list of supermarkets, which have wide databases of 50,000 clients, particularly about their shopping [habits]," he wrote. "On the grounds of information collected by a bot, we can foresee what new purchase they will make before they themselves have even decided to make it."

Nika Dubrovskaya, art director of the rbook.ru Internet shop, who also visited the A-Life Rus presentation, said she plans to buy a bot for "virtual assistance" on her site. 

"Our shop has a virtual catalogue of about 80,000 books published in Russia," Dubrovskaya said. "A Bot-assistant would be a real chance to analyze and organize the flow of information."

According to Esser, the St. Petersburg branch of A-Life has had no sales in Russia yet, but from January 2001 the A-Life Rus will develop Web sites for customers - and perhaps a few of those customers will be interested in having a bot on their site. 

Though Esser refused to specify the price of a bot, Dubrovskaya said she was quoted a range of $150,000 to 300,000.

TITLE: PM Says Germany Won't Get Prize Assets
AUTHOR: By Alexander Bekker
PUBLISHER: Vedomosti
TEXT: MOSCOW - The state-owned stakes in natural gas monopoly Gazprom and national power grid Unified Energy Systems will not be used to settle some of Russia's $43 billion Soviet-era debts to the Paris Club of sovereign creditors, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said.


At a meeting in Berlin last week, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroe der broached the proposal of a debt-for-equity swap.

It was assumed that Russia was prepared to sacrifice prize assets Gazprom and Unified Energy Systems to pay off its debts to the club, in which Germany is its biggest lender. However, Kasyanov said Wednesday in an interview that Gazprom's and UES' shares cannot be considered as part of any potential agreement because the monopolies are in the process of restructuring. 

However, a plan did emerge during Schroeder's and Kasyanov's meeting. 

Under it, German companies will be able to establish their own enterprises in Russia, perhaps on the basis of local ones. The Russian government will make contributions to equity in the form of buildings, land and equipment.

The government will then use its own funds to buy equipment from Germany.

These expenditures will be used to offset the debt owed to Germany.

TITLE: POWERPLAY
TEXT: Putin Marches To the Beat of Soviet Anthem 


PRESIDENT Putin gave his approval to the adoption of the former Soviet Union's national anthem - a symbol of that totalitarian state - on the eve of the anniversary of the 1936 Stalinist Constitution. This may be just a coincidence, but everything else about the story is not.


Putin's decision sends a strong signal to Russia's bureaucrats - of which about 80 percent secured their places during the Soviet era and, thus, to whose hearts this hymn is near and dear. This is especially true for the most organized and disciplined part of the bureaucracy - including the people in epaulets who work for the security services, the military, the tax police, and the Interior Ministry.

For these people, reinstating these state symbols has little to do with Communist ideology. It has everything to do with the notion that Russia is once again a powerful, even omnipotent state. This idea, as happened before, will enable the bureaucracy to accumulate major political and economic resources.

The stakes are very high. While in Soviet times, the bureaucracy had to share the nation's oil and gas dollars with the welfare state, now under our semi-market economy it can take everything for itself. For that chance, it is ready to fight hard.

But it is also true that the old hymn is favored by many people, especially the elderly. Putin acknowledged in his television address that by opposing the Soviet symbol one makes the life of "our mothers and fathers useless." In other words, Putin dismissed - at least for his term of office - the whole idea of repentance for the crimes committed willing or unwillingly during the totalitarian regime. The dark truth is that, with few exceptions, all Soviet citizens were - consciously or unconsciously - complicit participants in the 70-year Soviet oppression. Putin is trying to take upon himself the role of a priest who absolves us of these sins. But he is not entitled to do so because he participated in the crime.

Thus Putin's decision can be explained by both rational and emotional arguments. On the rational side, this step shores up his electoral base for the 2004 elections. He also builds support among the people in epaulets that will be needed if he is to carry out the painful military reform he announced last month. On the emotional side, Putin pays tribute to the elderly who carried the burden of World War II and of the hard years that followed.

But the president is refusing to consider the millions who perished in the gulag. Although they are the only ones who could forgive those who survived at their expense, they cannot speak out against the music that led them to their graves. He also did not take into account a generation of children who - as my 12-year-old put it - do not want the image of either Lenin or Stalin to return.

Putin said that the majority of people favor the Soviet hymn. He acknowledged, though, that "we and the people might be mistaken." I am glad that he allows for this possibility. However, it is a troublesome sign that he excludes those who happen to disagree with his decision from "the people."

I am encouraged, though, by the protests that Russian intellectuals have published. Putin's choice may inspire a stronger and more comprehensive democratic opposition to the resurrection of the all-powerful bureaucratic state. At least society has not been silent, even if its voice may not be heard for long.


Yevgenia Albats is an independent journalist based in Moscow.

TITLE: COMMENT
TEXT: Summit To Determine Future of Entire Union 


THE 15 governments of the European Union this week begin a summit meeting that could shape relations for years to come with both the nations of Central and Eastern Europe and with the United States. The summit, in the French city of Nice, is intended to produce a series of major reforms in the operation of the union, which in turn would open the way for the admission of up to 13 new members in the next few years - from Poland and the Baltic states to Cyprus and Turkey. It also is to ratify the creation of a new, exclusively European military force, with a relationship to NATO that has yet to be clearly spelled out. 


This is not one of those summit conferences for which the final communique has been cooked up in advance. On the contrary, EU leaders France and Germany arrive at Nice differing both with each other and with other governments on the reform agenda. Traditionally the European debate has been between countries, such as Britain, that want the union to grow "wider" - by rapidly including new members from the former Soviet bloc - and those, such as France, that want it to be "deeper," with more sacrifices of each nation's sovereignty in favor of common economic and foreign policies and a Brussels-based bureaucracy. This time, though, the union has to get deeper in order to get wider; it cannot admit more states unless it changes cumbersome rules that require consensus among members to make a decision and that give small states disproportionate power. The fixes will require all the governments to yield more power to Brussels. 

Predictably, just about every capital has a different objection. The summit is meant to adopt majority voting as a way of reaching decisions in dozens of policy areas. More crucially, France opposes Germany's demand for greater voting weight in EU councils, based on its larger population. And French officials have hinted resistance to the insistence of Britain - and the United States - that the European defense force share planning with NATO. 

Success may depend on whether French President Jacques Chirac, the host of the summit, will yield on these issues. And success is important. The EU has already delayed the process of integrating the former Warsaw Pact countries for more than a decade after their liberation. 

Further delay would encourage xenophobes and nationalists around the continent and endanger the stability of Central Europe. At the same time, a European defense force that competes rather than cooperates with NATO could turn the cracks in the transatlantic alliance into an open breach. The failure of the EU's leaders to overcome their internal disagreements may result not in a split of their union but in its separation from the partners it most needs. 



This comment originally appeared as an editorial in The Washington Post.

TITLE: What Other Papers Are Saying
AUTHOR: by Ali Nassor
TEXT: The conviction and sentencing of Edmond Pope was given remarkably little coverage in the Russian press this week - but the papers that have reported on the case have offered a variety of views on why, how and what comes next in the spy scandal of the decade.




Swift Justice 


Judge Nina Barkova of Moscow City Court was unusually fast on Wednesday, apparently needing only two hours to write a 22-page verdict jailing U.S. businessman Edmond Pope, whom she believed had been spying for America since 1996. Kommersant quotes Pope's defense counsel Pavel Astakhov as saying it would take an ordinary judge at least two days to write what Barkova managed in two hours.


The paper focuses on the judge's determination to put Pope behind bars for as long as possible, after he was caught receiving so-called secret documents at a Moscow hotel this April concerning outdated torpedo technology.

Barkova was convinced that the United States stood to gain a great deal from acquiring the military technology, and that Russia stood to lose heavily thanks to Pope's research, the paper says.



A Spy for a Spy


Kommersant, however, has comforting words for Pope, as it recalls the spy exchanges of U2 pilot Gary Powers whose aircraft was downed over Soviet territory 40 years ago, but was later exchanged for Rudolf Abel who was serving 30 years in the United States.


Likewise, two other convicted American spies were exchanged for five Soviet dissidents in 1978. And the candidate for a swap on this occasion could be Aldrich Ames, currently serving a life sentence in an American prison.

Nevskoye Vremya backs Kommersant, saying there has never been a single incident in Russian-American espionage history when a convicted spy has served the whole jail term given him, thanks to an informal and bilateral spy-exchange program.



Deadly Legacy


But, says Nevskoye Vremya, Pope is the victim of two historical currents. The first is the mania with secrecy left over from seven decades of communist rule, particularly strong among judges who have not gotten used to the fact that sometimes secret documents find their way into the press.


The second is the feeling among some Russian bureaucrats post-1991, who have taken the concept of free trade too much to heart - and when the trade concerns business firms and research institutes, it's a mistake to forget that the state has strong views on what is and what is not classified information.

Judge Barkova failed to consider the latter point when meting out punishment to Pope, says Vedomosti, which is why she called him a highly dangerous criminal and sided totally with the prosecutors.



World's Poorest


The fact that Pope is the holder of a number of U.S. government awards may have spurred Barkova on - how else to explain her decision that Pope was lying when he said he suffered from a rare form of cancer?


Vedomosti quotes the defense as branding the case the worst-handled in the history of justice - but it, too, advises Pope to keep his cool. If the U.S. Congress gets its way when it asked President Bill Clinton in October to impose sanctions against Russia, refuse to write off Russian debts and block its entry to the World Trade Organization, then Russia can only lose from Pope's detention. And if the U.S. Embassy is not just bluffing when it said immediately after the verdict that it was seriously determined to fight for Pope's return home, then his freedom is around the corner, says the paper.

TITLE: EDITORIAL
TEXT: Pope Verdict Caps a Real Show Trial 


MORE than eight months after his arrest and following a seven-week, closed-door trial, American businessman Edmond Pope has been convicted of espionage and given the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.


Such a result is perhaps the inevitable outcome of a judicial process that was nothing short of a travesty. We do not know whether Pope is guilty or not of violating any laws, but we are certain that his guilt was not established during his trial. Therefore, we cannot help but be outraged at his seemingly arbitrary conviction and punishment.

Pope's trial has been patently unfair. From the beginning, Judge Nina Barkina and the prosecutors seemed to be in league against the defense. The judge summarily denied 15 defense motions, including reasonable requests to include exculpatory evidence and witnesses. She refused to allow Pope to use his own translator at the trial, insisting that he make do with the services of one provided by the FSB.

The court also refused to consider evidence that the supposedly secret materials that Pope sought to purchase had been previously published in textbooks and had been approved for release by the authorities. It refused to subpoena the documents issued by the institute from which Pope acquired the "secrets" authorizing their release.

The charges against Pope were based on secret decrees regulating the control of sensitive information that were never released to the defense. The key witness, Professor Anatoly Babkin, recanted his accusations on the stand and swore that prosecutors had bullied him into testifying against Pope. 

In short, the trial of Pope has been a sham, reminiscent of Stalin-era legal proceedings in which the state stopped at nothing to get the result that it sought. This trial has clearly demonstrated the weakness and unprofessionalism of the courts and further reinforced the notion that the state here is incapable of applying its own laws, to say nothing of administering justice.

Unfortunately, the Pope case is not an isolated exception. Rather, it is a typical example of Russian "justice" that simply managed to get more attention than most cases. Defendants throughout the country sit for months and even years in "pre-trial detention" before ever setting foot into a courtroom. They are often forced to accept incompetent legal counsel and face a virtually insurmountable presumption of guilt on the part of prosecutors and judges. 

When Pope was arrested in April, no one knew whether he was guilty of any crime or not. We still don't. For this reason alone, his conviction should be overturned.

TITLE: Corrupt Elections: What's An NGO To Do About It?
AUTHOR: By Paula R. Newburg
TEXT: THERE are many ways to hijack an election, and Central Asia's wannabe dynasts have learned them all. In recent weeks, Azerbaijan's Heydar Aliyev and Kyrgyzstan's Askar Akayev turned their presidential polls into national charades simply, it would seem, to retain office. By treating elections like war and voters like spoils, both presidents are helping to turn Central Asia into a front line of dictators rather than democrats. 


At first glance, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan live in opposite worlds. Azerbaijan sits at the fulcrum of the resource-rich Caspian Sea. Businessmen in Baku, the capital, spend their days negotiating over future profits that lie below the region's oldest oil fields. Thus far, talking has outpaced earnings. But the lure of prosperity has kept Azerbaijan in the diplomatic games that engage the West's relations with Russia, Iran and Turkey.

For the Kyrgyz, such engagement is a distant dream. Perched on the mountainous Chinese border, it is home to almost nothing that the rest of the world can buy. Anxious not to be ignored, though, its diplomats seek bit parts in the troubled dramas that Islamic militancy and civil strife have delivered to Central Asia. 

Upon independence in 1991, Akayev traded on his country's prospects for what the United States and its allies called market democracy. Kyrgyzstan became a mirror for Western ambitions, a quick fix on the road from a command economy to capitalism, and perhaps from dictatorship to democracy. 

But the mirror was broken by ambition, circumstance, frustration and, malign intent. By the time Akayev began his second term at the end of 1995, he had already apportioned more power to the presidency and more blame to parliament. Since then, he has outmaneuvered all his potential opponents and, sadly, potential allies. February's flawed parliamentary elections were a warm-up for October's presidential polls, which handed Akayev an unprecedented third term after he removed most other serious challengers from the political contest. 

The primary victim in Kyrgyzstan, as in Azerbaijan, is an open society. For Kyrgyzstan, free expression - for individuals and political parties - should provide a way to engage the tiny nation in its own governance as the country seeks a niche in the world economy. This is, and will remain, a difficult job requiring unequivocally independent institutions that represent - not dictate to - Kyrgyz citizens. One man propped atop a shaky electoral system that is increasingly tainted by fraud is inevitably part of the problem, not part of the solution. 

In Azerbaijan, politics have been marked for a decade by harassment, intimidation and the state's propensity to rule with a strong hand. Electoral institutions have been strengthened only to maintain Aliyev's grip on power and minimize the influence of dissent. Last month's election in Azerbaijan, like Kyrgyzstan's, witnessed the kind of technical fraud that comes naturally when a political environment is already corrupted by anti-democratic practices. 

Inevitably, political duplicities pave the way for economic vice. Without free expression, contracts cannot be enforced, courts cannot operate fairly and the power of the purse is limited by the interference of illegitimate takers. The economic reforms on Kyrgyzstan's books are meaningless in practice, not just because its market is small, but also because corruption makes it impossible to rely on the state. Azerbaijan's potentially large market is compromised by the uncertainty that arises when power insulates itself from society's needs. 

This is the instruction that international organizations and multilateral banks teach, over and over again. But Central Asia's persistently anti-democratic habits suggest that these lessons have yet to be taken seriously. Across the region, weak economies are nearing collapse as the rule of strongmen becomes entrenched. Many parts of the former Soviet Union are seized by a revolution of diminishing expectations. In both the Caucasus and the center of Asia, armed militancy has grown as a way to express disagreement when other means are unavailable, or have failed. 

Nonetheless, and despite their discouraging experiences, Azeri and Kyrgyz citizens continue to go to the polls. While their leaders embrace the ways of banana republics, voters still cast their lots with the constructive uncertainties that democracy might one day offer. Political parties and election monitors alike have risked imprisonment to participate in politics. When circumstances allow, they have demonstrated publicly against discriminatory government rulings, threatening state practices and, in Azerbaijan, called for new polls in many districts. 

These voters also listen to what foreign observers say and have every right to respond with dismay. The actions of intergovernmental organizations are often far milder than the deeds they criticize; too often, they opt for engagement at any price. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the region's elections and democracy monitor, has issued report after chastising report proposing reforms in election laws and institutions. But when truculent governments, including Kyrgyzstan's, mock their recommendations, nothing happens. Last month, soon after Azerbaijan's highly flawed elections, the Council of Europe chose to renew conditionally its membership invitation to Baku. 

These gestures are a slap in the face of the voters. Although professional politicians are rarely surprised by stark contrasts between word and deed, it is the rare diplomat who puts his life on the line for the right to express his opinion - the way Kyrgyz and Azerbaijani citizens now do when they go out to vote. Central Asia's governments are trying to trade on the letter of international laws and standards by ignoring their democratic spirit. Elections alone do not make democracy, but they are necessary to validate the political will that makes democracy possible. The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan have hijacked that will - and the world has let them do so. 


Paula R. Newburg is a consultant in countries encountering conflict and economic dislocation who spent the autumn in Central Asia. She contributed this comment to The Los Angeles Times.

TITLE: hoedown on the spilled blood
AUTHOR: by Molly Graves
TEXT: As a native of the only other state that starts with a "T," I considered myself highly qualified to mosey on down and take a gander at the new "Rodeo Bar and Casino," which dubs itself a "Texas Saloon in the center of St. Petersburg" with all the wonders of the "Wild West" - "hot prairies, excellent whisky, aromatic cigars" - conveniently located on Kanal Griboyedova across from the very-Russian onion domes of the Church on the Spilled Blood.


I, for one, am always a bit skeptical of theme restaurants. They generally don't get it all right, and it seems that the ones that try the hardest for accuracy are simply setting themselves up for ridicule. But luckily the folks at Rodeo don't try too hard to stay strictly on Texas territory - and probably are the better for it.

As you walk into Rodeo, you pass through saloon doors (resist that urge to throw them open) to find somewhat cavernous interiors that are actually quite warm and cozy, with alcoved brick ceilings and wooden furniture. There's a bar and casino area, along with a small disco and stage for bands, and a game room with pool tables and darts. I opted for the disco area, where I got to read my menu (available in Russian or English) by blacklight and swirling disco strobes.

Waitresses are attired in plaid shirts tied Daisy Duke style at the waist and jeans, sporting black leather holsters on their hips that - relax! - actually only contain the pad they will write your order on. (Whew!)

I decided to start with a drink. After much deliberation among possible choices such as "Lasso," "Deadly Rodeo," "Firewater," and, um, "Cactus Prick," I decided caffeine was in order and opted for a "Hot Cowboy" (120 rubles) - basically coffee and liqueur topped with cream.

Service was prompt. In virtually no time at all my hostess had rounded up not only my drink, but also a basket of bread and garlic-butter balls.

I started out my main meal with a "Salad styled by shoremen from Fort T" (69 rubles) - a tasty, hearty combination of sausages, potatoes and other vegetables in a cream sauce. This was followed by a sandwich entitled "Blushful Cowboy" (159 rubles), which most definitely had nothing to be ashamed of - smoked salmon and surprisingly fresh vegetables on grilled toast with fries.

I managed to top all this off (barely, as portions were quite impressive) with another somewhat incongruous-but-tasty item: "ice cream specialty San Diego" (99 rubles) - which came complete with pop-up pink paper flamingo and fresh fruit, including (to my pleasant surprise) sliced mango!

Though I saw no disco dancers from my stage-side table, I did catch the live music show which started at 8 p.m. The Rodeo advertises "live country music," but I was instead witness to what might be classified as "all-time smooth jazz favorites."

The Rodeo Bar claims that as their guest "you'll feel like a real cowboy" (nastoyashchiy kovboi). While a far cry from a Texas (or Tennessee) honky tonk, I forgive the Rodeo for all deviations from the Texan-theme, all deviations save one - and here I'm referring to the piped-in, pre-recorded music that was played prior to the live soft jazz. While I am a strong believer in creative license, this time I must draw the line: Phil Collins has never been and will never be a nastoyashchi kovboi in my or anyone else's book, and his voice should have never made it past those saloon doors.



Rodeo Bar, 2 Konyushennaya Pl. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. Dinner for one with alcohol, 446 rubles ($16). Credit cards accepted. Tel. 314-49-73

TITLE: no room to stage-dive inside little manhattan
AUTHOR: by Molly Graves
TEXT: After various management changes and shifts in direction, the club Manhattan still remains a popular hangout. Known as an art club that was originally intended for St. Petersburg's underground art elite, Manhattan (which was named, I presume, in reference more to the "Village" area of the Big Apple island than, say, 5th Avenue) still manages to gather a rather bohemian crowd.


And the atmosphere still says "underground." Exposed pipes on the ceilings are covered over in wire fencing and in places laced with twine and other rather menacing materials - seemingly for no other reason than to provide that much-wanted, scary basement-bar ambiance. Similarly, the bar area houses chunky wooden tables that are covered with the graffiti of former guests, varnished-over carvings which the club seems to prize highly.

The club additionally offers amenities including pool tables, food items such as tasty basics like bliny to go with your beer - all reasonably priced - and now boasts a more recently added Internet cafe. 

One complaint by some Manhattan-goers, however, is that the music in the stage area is too loud, and basically inescapable - and even creeping into the bar area next door to the stage only slightly muffles the sound. So if quiet, low-key conversation is your goal, perhaps this is not the scene for you. On the flipside, however, this might simply be a hint that much of the attention and action is still focused on the stage.

I can vouch that this was definitely the case with the concert this past Saturday, featuring the band 3D - the side project of Sergei Shnurov, the lead singer of the group Leningrad - a show that proved to be well worth the slightly high 100- ruble entry fee.

Since their recent sold-out performance in promotion of their new album "Dachniki" - which filled the 1,500-seat Palace of Youth to capacity with bouncing, screaming, ska-crazed fans, and featured exhibitions of the stage-diving and crowd-surfing skills of Shnurov himself - Shnurov has been doing more local gigs with the smaller four-to-five member crew of 3D, which features some of the other musicians of the group Leningrad, as well as their sound and songs.

3D performed already well-known favorites from the new Leningrad album, and the small group's sound was full-bodied enough to fill Manhattan's stage room - which would potentially not even fit the entire crew of Leningrad itself, and certainly didn't allow for any stage-diving (though there was a bit of stage-falling performed by fans - presumably unintentionally).

TITLE: chernov's choice
AUTHOR: by Sergey Chernov
TEXT: Motorhead's one-off local concert bombed last week, as an estimated 2,000 fans appeared - instead of the expected 10,000 or 12,000. This flop of a show, described as "boring" by one viewer, seems not to have discouraged the Moscow-based promoters, TCI, which bring all kinds of heavier Western rock acts to Russia - from Nazareth to Biohazard.


Here they are again - with the Brazilian heavy metal outfit Soulfly which ends the European leg of their "Primitive" tour in this country. The band was formed by Sepultura frontman Max (Massimiliano) Cavalera after he quit his band in 1996. Cavalera describes his new sound as a fusion of metal and Brazilian sounds, and sees it as a new musical trend that will popularize a genre dubbed "world metal."

The date is still Dec. 10, but the venue has been changed from the Lensoviet Palace of Culture to the recently opened Yubileiny Sports Palace Small Arena.


Urozhai 2000, or Harvest 2000, is the rock festival intended to show us how many brilliant new names the passing year has brought: not that many, actually. Headliners Leningrad - one truly interesting group that emerged a couple of years ago, but who now appear in glossy magazines and swanky nightclubs - are supposed to draw the crowds, as well as re-hashed ska pop band Dva Samaliota, which recently brought back its original frontman, had a hit with the song "Podruga" and, most importantly, has got a one-record deal with what is possibly Russia's biggest record company, Real Records. Club favorites Markscheider Kunst will be appearing as well.

Yubileiny Sports Palace's Small Arena, Dec. 11.

With Vostochny Udar (Eastern Strike) no longer with us, a rave called DJ Parade claims it can draw pierced students for some clean all-night fun. This is the fifth such event, organized by the Track System group and features 48 DJs and live acts. For the full list see www.tracksystem.spb.ru.

Yubileiny Sports Palace, Dec. 9.

The much anticipated opening of new club Pyatnitsa (Friday), which was scheduled on this Friday, has been postponed - due to, ahem, "problems," as the venue spokesman explained by telephone on Thursday. Now it's due for Dec. 15 or 16 (as long as some new problems don't arise).


Like Art Spirit and Faculty, which appeared last month, the club is oriented toward anything "progressive," be it bands or DJs. Pyatnitsa plans to open six days a week, from 10 p.m. to around 6 a.m., longer at weekends. The fee is set as 100 rub., but will probably rise to 150 rub., when the place is well-known and popular. The neighborhood is quite ugly, though, as it is located near Sennaya Ploshchad. Leave the rest to your imagination.


Pyatnitsa Club Opening, 10/12 Moskovsky Pr., Dec. 15 or 16

TITLE: babslei adds punk to russian folk
AUTHOR: by Sergey Chernov
TEXT: Babslei's demo CD cover shows a sandal-clad woman's foot pressing a tom-tom pedal. The design seems to stand for the high-energy folk punk which the six-member all-women band plays, while the leg belongs to drummer Katya Fyodorova who formed Babslei in 1998.


Such bands as Ukraine's Vopli Vidoplyasova and Moldova's Zdob Si Zdub have managed effectively to blend rock and punk with their respective nations' folk music, but as far as Russian folk goes, Babslei seems to be the first successful attempt.

It's difficult to tell when folk ends and punk starts in their music, which may be proof that punk is the folk of today, while their frenetic stage performance invariably gets the crowd dancing.

"When we got together, none of us could really play," says Fyodorova. "That's why we chose punk - it has just two or three chords. We knew folk songs but couldn't perform them as they should be performed - we could only perform them in punk style."

Originally, Babslei, which made its stage debut at Moloko on March 6, 1998 with a repertoire of six songs, was intended as a "joke" - Fyodorova, who used to perform with improvised free-form outfit S.K.A. came up with the idea to play some simple music just for fun.

"S.K.A. are very strong musicians, all twice my age, and it very was demanding for me to play with them," says Fyodorova. "But I am a different person, I want more punk, less complex beats."

Two years and many line-up changes later, Babslei is now one of the most popular local club bands, and also tours other Russian cities and Western Europe. At venues like Moloko, Fish Fabrique and Griboyedov the band usually draws at least a hundred fans at their shows.

The name "Babslei" derives from the sport "bob sleigh" and the Russian word "baba." "One musician we know said when he saw us play: 'It's a kind of babslei.' We took the name from there," says Fyodorova.

Musically, Fyodorova says who she plays with doesn't make much difference. "Drive is the same whether you play with men or women, it's asexual," she says. "But when you play with men there is more time for playing, with women there are many distractions."

Babslei takes part in various feminist-organized events, notably Babantui, an all-female festival of music and arts the band organized in cooperation with the Center of Gender Issues last year, but Fyodorova insists the band does not have much to do with the movement.

"Babantui was our idea, we wanted to do a festival - but it was difficult to find money for it, while foreign women's organizations donate money for women's projects," says Fyodorova.

"But I don't want to accentuate this aspect, although it's clear that there are a lot of lesbians and feminists at our concerts and they support us. I don't object, but I am not feminist myself, and neither are the other members."

What's more, Fyodorova says that women make worse musicians than men. "God knows why. Maybe it's because they write worse books. There are also few female artists. I know some very good female musicians, but there are so few of them."

"It's a philosophical question, I sometimes wonder about it. Probably it's because women are more down-to-earth."

TITLE: News
AUTHOR: by Galina Stolyarova
TEXT: RENOWNED tenor Vladimir Galuzin is making a brief comeback for a single concert at the Mariinsky theater on Dec. 18.


Discovered by maestro Va lery Gergiev and once a soloist of the No vosibirsk Operetta Theater, Galuzin joined the Mariinsky opera company in 1990 and now frequents the world's most acclaimed venues. While Galuzin is rarely seen in Petersburg these days, Gergiev is still keen to cast him in the lead role of "Otello" at the Mariinsky. 

The concert will feature arias from Tchaikovsky's "The Queen Of Spades," Verdi's "Otello" and "Il Trovatore," Puccini's "Tosca," and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci."




The concert starts at 7 p.m. For ticket information, call the Mariinsky at: 114-43-44.




FANATIC Soviet leaders, mobsters, swindlers and other eccentrics played by actor Viktor Sukhorukov will take the stage for his benefit performance at the Akimov Comedy theater on Dec. 18.


One of Russia's most popular movie actors, Sukhorukov has the rare ability to perform comic and tragic roles with equal flair.

He made notable appearances in Alexei Balabanov's "Brat," "Brat-2," "The Castle" and "Of Freaks and Men" to the highest critical acclaim, but he is also a brilliant theatrical actor. The benefit performance is thus a chance for those who have never seen him in the theater to make up for what they have missed, and for the actor's admirers to relish his work once again.




For details call 312-45-55.




DIRECTOR Veniamin Filshtinsky is bringing Czech playwright Karel Chapek's last play, written in 1938, to the stage, saying he discovered much in the work was relevant to the present. "Mother, or the Unrest of the Dead," which premieres at the Priyut Komedianta theater on Dec. 12, 13 and 14, is a humanistic play that rejects abstract concepts of world-outlook, declaring human life the most precious value.


Filshtinsky mixes the younger cast of the "Priyut Komedianta" with local theatrical stars like Larisa Malevannaya and Vladimir Ta tosov, promising an interesting collaboration

TITLE: maly theater transports small irish village to st. petersburg
AUTHOR: by Tom Masters
TEXT: The Maly Theater has chosen to bring Brian Friel to the Russian stage using his most recent and least typical play, Molly Sweeny. Indeed, while Ballybeg (the setting of all of Friel's plays since 1965) is mentioned, Molly Sweeny takes place in Donegal and eschews the political undertone which has long characterized his work.


Molly Sweeny focuses on the relationship between the eponymous heroine, her husband Frank and their doctor. It details the collective experience of the three characters as Molly's blindness is cured by an operation performed by the ambitious doctor, touching not one bit on political issues. Anyone familiar with Friel, often hailed as Ireland's greatest living playwright, will be interested to see this first production of his work in Russia, directed by Lev Dodin.

To call Molly Sweeny a play might be a little misleading, however, as it is in fact comprised of interwoven dramatic monologues in which the characters only interact indirectly, through memory. The stage design is, while minimal, still complex, with revolving wicker chairs, the floor covered in fallen leaves and including the cavernous deep end of an empty swimming pool, also full of leaves, suggesting the autumn of the characters' lives. Whoever is to speak turns around in his or her chair and relates one more part of the narrative as the remaining two remain with their backs to the audience.

The title heroine Molly (Tatyana Shestakova) is a knowing, feisty yet ultimately servile foil to her husband Frank, brought to life by the swaggering Sergei Kuryshev, who excels as a self-educated muzhik, gesticulating actively, never still or contemplative for a second.

Molly explains how she was happy living in blindness, that it was the very essence of her life and thus she could never lament it. Intrinsic to every aspect of her existence, she even goes as far as to say that others should envy her life of adventure in darkness.

However, Frank and Dr. Rice (despite a deep enmity for one another based on class, education and envy) encourage Molly to have the operation, particularly Frank, who is convinced that a blind person cannot live life to the fullest. 

Through her own passivity, Molly - obviously the character with the most insight from the word go - allows herself to be pushed into an operation that she feels no need for. This is the catalyst for several twists in the tale, as the operation is not entirely successful. Molly, given what she sees as the dubious gift of sight, complains that despite the miraculous nature of the world, every color blinds her and she is afraid to even open her eyes. In effect entering another world, the dynamic between Molly and Frank changes - naively something neither had considered a possible outcome of the operation.

Contemplative and philosophical, Molly Sweeny loses much, but not all, in translation, which is inevitable given Friel's rich use of colloquial language. Furthermore, under Dodin's direction, the play also has a tendency to be rather static - many chances for engaging on-stage action were missed, and in a three-character play, this is much needed.

Despite this, all three characters are brilliantly realized and truly live on the stage. Pyotr Semak's Dr. Rice is impressively unpleasant and portrayed convincingly as crippled by his own ambition. Shestakova remains the center of attention largely owing to her quiet, contemplative yet perspicacious character, which works in contrast to the ceaseless struggles of the two proactive male characters.

While the most compelling drama takes place in the first act, the baleful second act of the play reveals Friel's confident marriage of comedy with darker and more profound themes, his strength as an observer able to humanize his characters, albeit with the Irish factor rather vanishing in translation. The unsensational conclusion, replete with symbolism, still manages to be both touching and lyrical.

Both Friel and Dodin can be rightly proud of this strange piece, which points to the absurdity inherent in believing that "loss" of sight (as perceived by those with vision) impedes appreciation of living and effectively suggests that subjective human experience cannot be compared with any success or certainty. Furthermore, the play raises interesting questions about the distinction between reality and imagination and toys with the ultimate importance of vision, suggesting that without insight it is a superfluous human conceit.




Molly Sweeny will play again in January. See future listings for details.

TITLE: Pinochet Lawyers Head Back to Court To Appeal House Arrest
AUTHOR: By Chris Aspin
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: SANTIAGO - Three judges of a Chilean court opened an appeal hearing on Thursday on a bid to block an order to place Augusto Pino chet under house arrest on charges of kidnap and murder during his 1973-1990 rule.


Court sources said the judges of a Santiago appeals court threw out a bid on Wednesday by human rights lawyers to postpone the hearing and gave them and Pinochet's lawyers time frames for allegations in an effort to reach a ruling.

The detention order against Pinochet, 85, has sparked concern within Chile's right-wing groups and the armed forces, which wield enormous power in this South American nation of 15 million people.

President Ricardo Lagos, after meeting with the four commanders in chief of the military to discuss the order to arrest Pinochet, said he would call a meeting of the National Security Council once the courts have ruled on the appeal.

The National Security Council includes the president and the leaders of Congress, the Supreme Court and the armed forces.

Because of a possible final appeal to the Supreme Court, it might not meet for two weeks or more.

Pinochet, who recently recovered from pneumonia and is resting in his rural residence in Bucalemu, some 130 km west of Santiago, had been regarded as largely untouchable in Chile.

That changed last week when a judge, Juan Guzman, ordered Pinochet placed under house arrest for allegedly planning and organizing the deaths and disappearances of 77 leftists and unionists.

Judges at a Santiago appeals court decided on Tuesday that until the appeal was heard - by the same court - the house arrest order against Pinochet would be suspended.

The appeal presented by Pinochet's lawyers on Saturday seeks to block Guzman's order on grounds of irregularities - including not waiting for tests on Pinochet's psychological state. He cannot be tried if he is declared mentally ill.

Guzman, who has investigated the deaths of people believed killed by the military during Pinochet's dictatorship, is probing more than 180 lawsuits against the retired general and has repeatedly said he has adhered to the law in his investigation and not committed any irregularities.

TITLE: Barak Angered by Rumors of Coalition
AUTHOR: By Mark Lavie
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday denied reports that he is negotiating a back room deal with three religious parties that would help him put off early elections, now tentatively set for spring.


Meanwhile, the Islamic militant group Hamas reported on its Web site that the commander of its military wing, Mohammed Deif, has escaped from Palestinian custody. The report could not be confirmed independently.

Deif tops Israel's most-wanted list as the mastermind of a number of suicide bombings that have killed scores of Israelis.

In the West Bank, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Israeli motorists, wounding three, one seriously, the army said. The gunmen were firing from a car near the Jewish settlement of Shavei Shomron.

Earlier Thursday, Palestinian gunmen shot at Israeli cars on a main highway north of Jerusalem, hitting one vehicle, but causing no injuries. Nearly 300 people, the vast majority Palestinians, have been killed since Israeli-Palestinian fighting began Sept. 28.

Under the purported deal with the religious parties, Barak would seek to postpone the mandatory draft of Jewish seminary students, which is to take effect Jan. 1. In exchange, three religious parties would reverse themselves and vote against early elections.

"There is no basis to this," Barak angrily told Israel army radio. "There are no negotiations with the religious parties."

Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that automatic draft exemptions granted to tens of thousands of seminary students are illegal and has instructed parliament to pass appropriate legislation on how to recruit them into the army.

Parliament has repeatedly failed to do so, and the court's deadline for new legislation expires at the end of the year.

Barak said Thursday that either parliament or the government would have to seek another extension from the high court to win more time to try to solve the complex issue. The three religious parties, which oppose the draft of seminary students, have considerable clout, especially at a time of political uncertainty.

On Nov. 28, parliament voted overwhelmingly to disperse itself and hold new elections, two years ahead of schedule. However, two more readings are required, allowing for several more weeks of political maneuvering.

Barak has repeatedly called on the hawkish opposition to join his coalition, citing the emergency situation of Israel's violent conflict with the Palestinians, now in its third month. But Barak has been unwilling to grant opposition leader Ariel Sharon veto powers over a resumption of peace talks, thus scuttling any deal.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Wednesday that a commission of inquiry into the causes of the rioting was "late," and should begin its work as soon as possible.

Israel has said the committee cannot start until the terms of reference are set. The commission, headed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, is due to make its first visit to the area in the coming days.

TITLE: Seoul Wants No Gun Ri Apology
AUTHOR: By Song Jung-a
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: SEOUL - South Korea wants the United States to apologize and give compensation to relatives and survivors of the killings at No Gun Ri village during the early days of the 1950-53 Korean War, Korean officials said on Thursday.


"The South Korean side delivered the victims' position to the U.S. delegation and asked Washington to come up with sincere measures," Kim Byoung-ho, chief policy coordinator at the prime minister's office, told a news conference. South Korean officials led by Kim met on Wednesday with U.S. defense officials led by assistant secretary of the Army, Patrick T. Henry, to try to come up with a statement of mutual understanding on an alleged massacre by American soldiers.

"We have failed to reach an agreement on the investigation results, but we came closer on many issues involving the incident," Kim said.

But he would not elaborate on where the two sides found agreement and where differences remained.

South Korea and U.S. defense officials undertook parallel investigations into the alleged mass killings after The Associated Press reported in September 1999 that hundreds of Korean refugees were gunned down by U.S. soldiers under a railroad bridge on July 26, 1950.

Local reports said the main issues of contention were how many civilians had been killed in the incident, whether financial compensation should be offered to the victims' relatives and whether the U.S. military had ordered the shootings.

South Korean investigators determined 248 people were involved, of which some 170 were murdered.

Relatives of some of the victims estimate 300 were killed by ground troops and 100 others died in an attack by U.S. aircraft.

The Washington Post, citing a Pentagon report to be released soon, reported on Wednesday that members of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment opened fire on unarmed refugees in the midst of a chaotic retreat, fearing North Korean infiltrators were passing through their lines. According to the Pentagon's unpublished report, the U.S. investigators found no conclusive evidence that the soldiers had orders to open fire, and were unable to determine exactly how many civilians died in the incident, the newspaper said.

Kim said the Pentagon had notified Seoul that the Washington Post report did not represent the U.S. government's official position.

South Korean Officials said they planned further discussions with U.S. officials this year to narrow their differences and wrap up investigations before the Clinton Administration ends.

Anti-U.S. feelings have recently increased in South Korea, a strong U.S. ally, because of some crimes committed by American GIs, and environmental problems caused by U.S. troops based in South Korea.

More than 200 civic group members and the massacre survivors held an anti-U.S. rally on Wednesday in front of the War Memorial, where the talks were held, chanting slogans such as "Yankees go home," and blowing whistles.

Officials from South Korea and the U.S. are in week-long negotiations in Seoul to amend the controversial military accord, but have failed to narrow differences on such key issues as criminal jurisdiction and environmental regulations.

U.S.-led United Nations forces fought against Chinese-backed North Korea in the war, which ended in an armed truce that has yet to be replaced by a peace agreement.

TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Cole Bombing Trial

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen has sent to prosecutors the case of the apparent suicide bombing of a U.S. destroyer in Aden and plans to put on trial six suspects next month, government officials said on Thursday.

They said the six suspects included some civil servants who had allegedly provided other suspects with forged documents.

A senior government official said the probe into the Oct. 12 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. sailors, had been referred to the general prosecutor.

He said the trial was expected to start in the second half of January.

The officials would not say if the six were the only suspects to be charged in the case.

Yemen's Interior Minister Hussein Mohammed Arab said last month authorities had arrested the main suspects in the bombing.



Sudan Expels Diplomat

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudan expelled a U.S. diplomat on Thursday, a day after authorities detained him briefly for attending a meeting of opposition leaders accused of subversion, the foreign minister said.

Glenn Warren, a political officer, has 72 hours to leave the country, Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said.

The United States does not base diplomats in Khartoum on a permanent basis because of security reasons. Instead, diplomats serve at the embassy on a rotating basis from other countries. 

Washington considers Sudan a sponsor of international terrorism and imposed sanctions on the country in 1997. Relations deteriorated further in 1998 when U.S. aircraft bombed a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, alleging it was being used for terrorist purposes.



Execution Record

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A paroled murderer convicted of killing a police officer during a Dallas shooting spree 11 years ago was executed by injection Wednesday.

Daniel Joe Hittle, 50, was accused of killing five people on Nov. 15, 1989, including a 4-year-old girl. He was tried only in the slaying of Gerald Walker, 48, a 17-year police veteran who had pulled Hittle over for speeding.

The execution was the second of three scheduled for this week and the 39th this year in Texas, adding to the state's record total.

Michael Radelet, chairman of sociology at the University of Florida and the keeper of a database on U.S. executions, said the total is the most carried out by a state in American history.

The Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center said Texas had equaled the highest in a state since 1862, when 39 American Indians were hanged by the military on a single day in Minnesota. 



Clinton's Drug Policy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Clinton, who tried to avoid the stigma of smoking marijuana by saying he never "inhaled," tells Roll ing Stone magazine that people should not be jailed for using or selling small amounts of the drug.

In an interview with the rock magazine released on Wednesday, Clinton was asked if he thought that "people should go to jail for using or even selling small amounts of marijuana.0"

Clinton, who raised eyebrows in the 1992 presidential primary campaign when he admitted trying the drug but adding he didn't inhale, told the magazine, "I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be."



Violence in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Suspected Islamic guerrillas lobbed a grenade at Indian soldiers at a crowded Kashmir bus station Thursday, failing to hit the troops but killing a civilian and injuring dozens of others, police said.

Indian soldiers, who are observing a cease-fire during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, didn't open fire after the grenade was tossed although they have orders to fire if attacked.

The attack in Kupwara, 88 kilometers northwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, left 23 people hurt, including a policeman, police said.

Nearly 50 people have been killed in suspected guerrilla attacks in Kashmir since the truce began last week. But the overall level of violence has dropped, police said.

Abdul Gani Bhat, a top Kashmiri separatist leader, appealed on Thursday to India and Pakistan to work toward peace and avoid making statements which may heighten tension.



Vatican Defends Visit

ROME (Reuters) - The Vatican defended itself Thursday against increasing criticism over next week's planned meeting between Pope John Paul II and Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haid er, saying the Church was open to everyone.

Haider, still a dominant force in Austria's rightist Freedom Party despite resigning as its leader in May, is due to meet the pope Dec. 16 to present him with a Christmas tree from the Austrian province of Carinthia where he is governor.

The planned meeting between Haider and the 80-year-old pontiff has already sparked widespread outrage, with Israel last month declaring it a "considerable disappointment" and Italian leftists planning demonstrations.



Kosovo Beatings

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - A UN police officer and his interpreter were beaten by Serbs angry at a pre-dawn weapons raid in the northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica on Thursday, a UN spokesman said.

UN spokeswoman Claire Trevena said two men and one woman had been arrested during the raid in connection with a murder, armed robbery and theft and a large number of weapons had been found in the Serb-dominated northern part of the town.

Dmitry Kaportsev, a spokesman for the UN police force in Kosovo, said that as word spread about the weapons raid by special police teams and NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers, people gathered in the streets. They stopped a UN police car and beat the police officer and his female Serb interpreter.

Police were negotiating with Kosovo Serbs suspected of abducting the interpreter, Kaportsev said. People were still in the streets, he added. Another UN official said later the interpreter may have fled.

TITLE: Estrada's Impeachment Trial Begins
AUTHOR: By Dirk Beveridge
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MANILA, Philippines - Prosecutors began the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada on Thursday, calling the political champion of poor Filipinos a "thief" who used kickback money to finance a lavish lifestyle, including mansions for several mistresses.


One of the prosecutors, Rep. Joker Arroyo, produced a check for $3 million with a signature that he said was a mirror copy of the presidential signature on Philippine bank notes. He accused Estrada of having hidden assets in a bank account under a false name.

"We cannot have the country run by a thief like this," he said.

As the prosecutors displayed pictures of the mansions and compared Estrada to extravagant former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, tens of thousands of Filipinos marched and waved signs outside to demand the president's ouster. The protesters said they want Estrada removed even if he is acquitted of the corruption allegations that have pitched this nation into crisis and could severely test its democracy.

Estrada may have enough partisan support to win acquittal. It would take two-thirds of the 22 senators to convict the president on any of the four charges - bribery, corruption, violating the constitution and betraying the public trust. Eight senators are viewed as Estrada allies - enough to acquit.

Estrada says he is innocent. Thousands of his supporters also rallied outside the Senate on Thursday, and police were deployed to maintain order.

Inside the Senate, prosecutors said Estrada, a former movie star, took payoffs from illegal numbers games and skimmed tobacco tax money - allegations made in October by a provincial governor and reputed gambling lord, Luis Singson, who will be the key witness.

Defense attorneys tried to destroy Singson's credibility, calling him a liar who falsified documents.

The senators, who will determine Estrada's guilt or innocence in the unprecedented trial, were shown huge pictures of the mansions the president allegedly bought for mistresses.

One is occupied by former actress Laarni Enriquez, with whom Estrada reportedly has three children. It features a master bedroom that Arroyo said "could well be the dwelling house of 10 to 20 families."

Estrada, who goes by the nickname "Erap," is reported to have had seven children with five women other than his wife. Filipinos are riveted by the juicy political drama that could include testimony from some of Estrada's mistresses.

Defense lawyer Estelito Mendoza, a former justice minister, accused prosecutors of putting undue emphasis on mistresses and mansions.

"The mansions were not mentioned in the charges," Mendoza said. "In that case, they cannot be tried."

Estrada stayed Thursday in the presidential palace, where aides described him as relaxed while watching the televised trial.

The scandal erupted in this Southeast Asian nation after Singson alleged that he gave the president more than $8 million from illegal numbers games and $2.6 million from tobacco taxes. Singson is a reputed lord of the illegal numbers game "jueteng," played throughout the Philippines.

The first witness Thursday was a former national police chief, Gen. Roberto Lastimoso, who said Estrada told him to "coordinate" jueteng issues with Singson. Lastimoso said he interpreted this as an instruction to go easy on illegal gambling.

Estrada may command the support of enough senators to survive the trial: Some appeared to pay scant attention Thursday, with one reading a book and another chatting on a mobile phone.

TITLE: Gore Makes Last Bid To Win U.S. Election
AUTHOR: By Michael Conlon
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Democrat Al Gore's top attorney argued before Florida's Supreme Court Thursday that thousands of excluded Florida votes must be counted to determine the true winner of the U.S. presidential election.


The hearing in the state capital Tallahassee - one month to the day after U.S. voters went to the polls in what has become an epic election battle - could be Gore's last stand in his bid to wrest victory from the certified winner in Florida, Republican George W. Bush.

The Bush campaign's attorney urged the seven justices to uphold a lower court decision which denied Gore a recount which the Democrats believed could turn the election their way.

But a ruling - which may finally provide the answer to who will assume the mantle of the most powerful man in the world - could come as early as late Thursday. Lawyers for both sides came out of the courtroom smiling.

Time is running out for Vice President Gore as the state legislature, which is Republican-controlled, must name its electors on Dec. 12, next Wednesday. It indicated on Wednesday night that it would favor the Texas governor if court proceedings were not resolved by then.

The Gore appeal argues that Leon County Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls was incorrect when he rejected Gore's bid for a manual review of some 14,000 disputed ballots from Democratic strongholds Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties and for Bush's certification to be overturned.

The Gore team sought the recount in the belief the ballots could yield enough votes for him to overtake Bush's lead.

They said in a brief to the court that Sauls erred on three legal points on Monday when he rejected the case.

In court, Gore lead attorney David Boies told the justices, "This is not a situation where you simply have someone coming in and saying 'we lost, we want another chance at it,'" Boies said. "This is a situation where we have identified specific votes ... where you could clearly discern the voters intent ... and they were not counted."

Boies said it was permissible to review some ballots without undertaking a statewide review.

Chief Justice Charles Wells, opening proceedings, launched into detailed questioning on the court's jurisdiction over presidential elections.

Attorney Barry Richard, representing Bush, argued that overall the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction over the case.

Richard, arguing that Sauls reached the correct conclusion in rejecting Gore's legal contest, came under questioning from some of the justices on why there should be no further recounts.

Richard said the trial had shown "an absolute failure on the part of the plaintiffs to establish an abuse of discretion" by local election boards in their handling of the recount issue. Asked about Sauls' refusal to order a review of the disputed ballots, Richard said that there was "no basis to until after the plaintiff had carried burden of proof."

Justice Major Harding asked if anyone in Sauls court held up a ballot and actually looked at it? "Not a particular ballot your honor," Boies said. "We did tender them in evidence and we asked him repeatedly to look at the ballots."

Pressed by Justice Barbara Pariente to explain his view of the standards for a contest, Richard said it was not the position of the judiciary to evaluate so-called undervotes when the local election panels, canvassing boards, had already done so.

The court was interested in knowing whether there would be time for a remedy - in other words for a recount of votes, in particular of the 9,000 undervotes in Miami-Dade County that the Gore camp says have never been manually reviewed.

TITLE: EU Member Nations Convene Amid Protests
AUTHOR: By Robert Wielaard
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: NICE, France - Leaders of the European Union's 15 nations kicked off a crucial summit Thursday in hopes of revamping their organization to make room for young democracies from Eastern Europe.


But the meeting got off to an ugly start: Mayhem and tear gas greeted arriving dignitaries as police wielding riot shields fought to push back hundreds of rock-throwing protesters from the summit site.

The clashes created scenes of chaos in this normally chic French resort city. Tear gas wafted across the Acropolis convention center's entrance, causing French President Jacques Chirac to sneeze and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to step away from photographers so he could blow his nose.

Nearby streets were littered with broken glass and stones and a bank building was briefly set on fire. At least two officers appeared to suffer injuries as the rioters tried to pierce police defenses in a street that leads up to the hall's main entrance.

The protesters had converged here for the planned three-day summit - a meeting that all involved say is pivotal to the EU's future.

During the summit, the EU nations were likely to restate their commitment that other European nations, from Turkey to the Baltics, are welcome to join but must work hard to get in shape for membership.

And any talk of entry dates could be academic unless the EU implements reforms that have escaped agreement in years of debate.

The summit is widely seen as the last chance to overhaul the EU's outdated decision-making rules and mechanisms.

European Commission President Romano Prodi told reporters Wednesday that he was "very confident'' of success.

Pre-summit talks were marked by a tussle between the EU countries, all trying to retain what power they have under the existing system.

Currently, the four largest nations - Germany, Britain, France and Italy - each have 10 votes in EU decisions. Other members range from Spain with eight votes to little Luxembourg with two. Worried that smaller nations such as Malta, Estonia or Hungary will have a disproportionate influence when they join the union, EU governments want to rebalance the voting system, but can't agree how to do it.

Germany's population of 82 million outnumbers Britain, France or Italy by more than 20 million, and Berlin demands a political voice in Europe to match its size and economic clout.

Another major issue is Britain's drive to preserve an individual nation's veto power.

Under the current system, some EU decisions require unanimity - a method that will make things more difficult when the bloc expands to almost 30 members. The EU leaders will debate proposals for more majority voting.

Apart from the reform debate, the leaders will face a raft of issues, from a burgeoning mad cow crisis to a charter of fundamental rights for Europeans.

As the leaders were gathering to begin their discussions, about 1,000 protesters - including radical trade unionists, Basque separatists and anti-global activists - were demanding the EU do more to combat social exclusion and poverty across the 15-nation union.

The protests began about an hour before the summit kickoff, with demonstrators marching noisily through streets near the venue shouting "Europe is not for sale'' and "No, No, No to a federal Europe. Yes, Yes, Yes to a social Europe.''

Demonstrators fought their way to within 100 meters of the center's entrance, where the EU leaders arrived one by one along with leaders of the 13 other nations due to join in the years ahead.

During the melee, a crowd converged on the car of a motorist who had knocked over several protesters. The crowd beat on the car with sticks and pipes, smashing the windows and forcing the driver to flee in reverse. Undeterred, he floored it again, scattering the demonstrators like dominoes.

TITLE: Europe's Big Clubs Keep Champions' Lead
AUTHOR: By Adrian Warner
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: LONDON - Manchester United and AC Milan clinched away victories in the Champions League on Wednesday to leave Europe's richest and most glamorous clubs all well-placed to reach the quarter-finals.


A first-half goal from Paul Scholes, set up by a clever flick from fellow England international Teddy Sheringham, helped twice-winners United to a 2-0 defeat of Sturm Graz in Group A in the last games before the competition's two-month winter break.

But the English champions, named as the world's richest club for the third consecutive year in a survey published earlier in the day, suffered a few second-half scares before Ryan Giggs struck the second in the 89th minute.

United leads the group with six points from two games, two ahead of Valencia, which drew 0-0 at Panathinaikos. The Greek side stayed third with one point, with Graz anchored at the bottom with no points from its two games.

Eight-time winners Real Madrid and three-time champions Bayern Munich, who complete the top three of the world's richest clubs, gained command of groups D and C respectively on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Dane Thomas Helveg struck a fierce drive in injury time at the end of the first half to help five-times winners AC Milan to a 1-0 defeat of Spanish champions Deportivo Coruna in Group B.

Milan moved into a tie for first in the group. The Italian club has four points along with Galatasaray, which beat Paris St. Germain 1-0 at home.

Both clubs have the same goal difference and drew their clash 2-2 in Milan earlier this month.

Former leaders Deportivo slipped to third with three points with Paris St. Germain on bottom with no points after its second defeat.

Substitute Umit Davala scored a 51st-minute penalty to seal the win for Galatasaray after PSG defender Talal El-Karkouri fouled striker Mario Jardel in the penalty area.

It was the French club's first match under new coach Luis Fernandez who took over from the sacked Philippe Bergeroo on Monday.

Sturm came closest to scoring against United in the 72nd minute when Tomislav Kocijan hit the crossbar with a thundering shot from long range with goalkeeper Fabien Barthez well beaten.

United manager Alex Ferguson said: "We're are very pleased. We are in a great position. We are getting better."

Real Madrid took control of Group D on Tuesday with a 4-1 home thrashing of Anderlecht. The holders have six points from two games, with Anderlecht and Leeds United with three and Lazio without a point.

Bayern Munich heads Group C with four points after coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Arsenal. Olym pi que Lyon thumped Spartak Moscow 3-0 to leave both teams with three points, two ahead of Arsenal.

The top two teams in each group qualify for the quarter-finals. 


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Manchester United midfielder David Beckham has been hailed as the best player in the world by former German coach Franz Beckenbauer.


Beckenbauer, the only man to have won a World Cup winners' medal both as a player and a coach, said in an article in the Daily Mail on Thursday that Beckham deserves to win the World Player of the Year title next week.

"Coming from a German, this is going to sound controversial. But my vote for the world's best footballer, if I had one, would go to Beckham," the German legend said.

"It's hard to compare one player against another these days, but David Beckham is simply the most exciting and talented footballer in the world.

"Rivaldo and the wonderful Frenchman Zinedine Zidane would be strong contenders. They both remain excellent players.

"But Beckham has the edge this year, not just for his ability but also because of his consistency. It is impossible to ignore it these days."

Last year, Beckham was runner-up to Brazilian Rivaldo but Beckenbauer believes that the player still has his best seasons in front of him.

"He can continue to get better," said Beckenbauer.

"I really like him. I like the way he passes the ball and the way he shoots. It's fantastic.

"He can play wide or in the middle of the field so that doesn't have to be a debate. It really depends on the tactics and ideas of the manager.

"As long as they have Beckham in the team, England will always have a chance of making progress."

The votes of all national team coaches for the 2000 awards are set to be collated on Monday in Rome.

TITLE: Jamison's 51 Triumphs Over Kobe And Lakers
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: OAKLAND, California - For the second straight game, forward Antawn Jamison scored 51 points, eight of them in overtime, as the Golden State Warriors overcame a career-best 51 points by Kobe Bryant for a 125-122 National Basketball Association victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.


Jamison shot 21 of 29 from the field and became the first Warrior since Rick Barry in 1967 to post consecutive 50-point games. He was a perfect nine for nine in the fourth quarter and overtime as Golden State rallied from an 11-point deficit and stopped a six-game losing streak against the Lakers.

The Warriors took the lead for good at 122-120 Wednesday night when Jamison hit a long jump shot with 64 seconds remaining. Then Bryant, who was 18-of-35 from the field, tried to drive against a double-team and was stripped by Bob Sura.

Larry Hughes took an outlet pass from Sura and after getting fouled, made two free throws for a 124-120 advantage

The Lakers answered right back on a Bryant fallaway jumper and had a chance to tie the game after Jamison threw away a pass. But Horace Grant missed a turnaround jumper and Bryant's follow-up shot bounced off the rim before Jamison pulled down his 13th rebound.

The Lakers lost for just the fourth time in 21 games against the Warriors.

On Sunday, Jamison became the first player in more than three years to lose a 50-point game when the Warriors fell to Seattle. Bryant, who raised his league-leading scoring average to just under 30 points per game, joined him three days later.



Dallas 94, New York 85. In Dallas, Don Nelson won the 938th game of his coaching career, tying his legendary mentor Red Auerbach, as the Mavericks bolted to a 21-point lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 94-85 victory over the New York Knicks.


In 24 seasons with Milwaukee, Golden State, New York and Dallas, Nelson is 938-760. As a player, he spent 11 years with the Boston Celtics, beginning his career as a sixth man on Auerbach's dynastic squads of the 1960s.

"To tie him is indeed a really special evening for me," Nelson said. "It's taken me many more years to get there than it took him. It's a tribute to him that this game means so much to me because he truly was, in my mind, the greatest coach in the NBA, for then and for now and forever."

Nelson, who revealed Tuesday night that he has prostate cancer, can move into fifth place on the all-time list with a win Friday at home against Chicago. Lenny Wilkens, now coaching in Toronto, heads the list.



Miami 95, Denver 78. In Miami, reserves Cedric Ceballos and A.C. Green helped the Miami Heat cruise to a 95-78 victory over the Denver Nuggets.


Green scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Ceballos added 10 points as Miami snapped a four-game home losing streak and won its season-high third straight overall.



Detroit 112, Seattle 99. In Seattle, Jerry Stackhouse poured in 41 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 112-99 victory over the SuperSonics.

TITLE: Hurricanes Storm Into 1st Place
PUBLISHER: Reuters
TEXT: ATLANTA - Sami Kapanen scored twice as the Carolina Hurricanes vaulted to the top of the Southeast Division with a 5-3 National Hockey League victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.


Carolina, which has won all six meetings with Atlanta, is 6-2-0-1 in its last nine games and one point in front of Washington for first place in the Southeast.

"Three goals is what we aim for every game," coach Curt Fraser said. "We are lucky to score any more than that. But we have to keep the other team below that. We gave up a couple of soft goals tonight and that is tough when you're playing a divisional game."

Arturs Irbe made 18 saves Wednesday night for his fifth win in six decisions.

Playing in his 900th game with the Hartford-Carolina franchise, Ron Francis collected his 1,100th career assist on defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh's goal 72 seconds into the second period that tied the game, 1-1.



Toronto 3, Detroit 0. In Detroit, Curtis Joseph stopped 29 shots for his 30th career shutout as the Toronto Maple Leafs posted a 3-0 victory over the Red Wings, who have been blanked in consecutive games for the first time in nearly 10 years.


Manny Legace made 16 saves for the Red Wings, who suffered a 3-0 loss in Tampa Bay on Saturday.



Columbus 5, Anaheim 2. In Columbus, Ohio, the Columbus Blue Jackets scored four power-play goals and snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.


Columbus knocked out Anaheim goaltender Guy Hebert after scoring three goals on its first six shots to open a 3-0 lead.

The Blue Jackets were 4-for-8 on the power play after converting just one of their previous 30 chances in the last nine games. Anaheim, which has won just one of its last 11 road contests, was 0-for-4 on the power play.



New York Rangers 3, Washington 2. In New York, Brian Leetch set up three power-play goals and Mike Richter made 34 saves as the Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.


Theo Fleury also had assists on the three goals for the Rangers. Leetch increased his league-leading point total among defensemen to 36. He has 817 for his career, tying Jean Ratelle for second in team history.



Philadelphia 6, Tampa Bay 3. In Philadelphia, John LeClair recorded his first hat trick in over two years and the Flyers tallied three times in a 76-second span of the third period for a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.




Phoenix 1, Vancouver 1. In Phoenix, Sean Burke made 31 saves to silence the NHL's most explosive team as the Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks skated to a 1-1 draw.


Boston 3, Pittsburgh 2. In Pittsburgh, Bill Guerin scored two goals 2:16 apart in the third period and Peter Skudra made 27 saves to defeat his former team for the second time this season as the Boston Bruins stopped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Penguins.


San Jose 2, Dallas 2. In San Jose, California, Jere Lehtinen deflected in the equalizing goal late in the first period and Ed Belfour made 24 saves against his former team to help the Dallas Stars draw the Sharks 2-2.


In the battle between two of the top teams in the Western Conference, San Jose pushed its unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2) while Dallas moved to 1-1-1 on its five-game road trip.

TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: Dodgers Sign Ashby

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Free agent righthander Andy Ashby landed with his fourth team in less than two years by agreeing to a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday.

The contract is reportedly for three years with a total value of $22.5 million, and includes an option for a fourth year.

The signing comes after the Dodgers apparently rescinded a three-year, $21 million deal on Tuesday. The Los Angeles Times reported that Ashby wavered on the agreement and wanted more money, prompting the team to pull the offer.

But the two sides settled their differences and the Dodgers landed the starting pitcher they have been seeking in the free agency period.

The 33-year-old Ashby was a combined 12-13 with a 4.92 ERA in 31 starts for the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves last season.



Lipinski Won't Defend

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Olympic figure skating champion Tara Lipinski, not fully recovered from hip surgery 10 weeks ago, will not defend her World Professional Championship title this weekend, her agent Gary Swain confirmed Wednesday.

Although the 18-year-old Lipinski skated in a Philadelphia event on Tuesday, the World Pro competition in Washington this weekend, would require two much more technically demanding programs.

In 1998 at 15, Lipinski became the youngest-ever Olympic women's champion at the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

The women's entry list for this weekend's competition includes 1994 Olympic champion Oksana Baiul, 1994 world champion Yuka Sato and perennial world medallist Surya Bonaly.


AP Player of the Year

NEW YORK (AP) - Whenever No. 1 Oklahoma needed him, Josh Heupel came through.

Whether it was his pinpoint passing against Texas, Kansas State and Nebraska, or crucial third-down dashes in a comeback win at Texas A&M, Heupel made the plays when it counted most.

On Thursday, Heupel won the Associated Press' College Player of the Year award in balloting by AP member newspapers, TV and radio stations.

The left-hander from Aberdeen, South Dakota, completed 280 of 433 passes for 3,392 yards and 20 touchdowns in leading the Sooners (12-0) to the Big 12 title and a chance to win the school's first national championship since 1985. They play Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.

Heupel, who spent a season at Snow Junior College in Utah before arriving at OU in 1999, received 30 of the 82 votes in the AP balloting. Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke was second with 17 votes, and TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson was third with nine. Purdue quarterback Drew Brees was fourth with eight votes; Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick was fifth with five.



Reed Inks New Deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Mets signed starting pitcher Rick Reed to a three-year, $21.75 million contract Wednesday.

The contract includes an option for a fourth year that will pay Reed $8 million in 2004 if he pitches 585 innings in the first three years or 400 innings in the last two.

The contract will pay Reed $6.75 million in 2000, $7 million in 2002 and $8 million in 2003.

Reed is the third key free agent retained by the Mets. Relievers John Franco and Turk Wendell signed over the past two weeks.

One of the offseason priorities for the Mets was to hold on to the 35-year-old righthander who was 11-5 with a 4.11 ERA in 30 starts. The Mets were 21-9 in those starts.



Zanardi To Return

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Alex Zanardi, will return to the CART series next year, the Mo Nunn racing team said Wednesday.

The 34-year-old Italian, was Rookie of the Year in 1996 and CART series champion in 1997 and 1998. He drove for the Williams Formula One team in 1999. He sat out this season because Williams bought out the final year and replaced him with the young Briton, Jenson Button.

Zanardi had raced for the Lotus Formula One team before leaving Europe.

The Mo Nunn Racing team will also have 25-year-old Brazilian, Tony Kanaan returning next year, both will drive Honda powered Reynards.

Nunn, formerly owner of the Ensign Formula One team, left Chip Ganassi Racing to start his own team this year.



Pakistan Fights Back

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana surged to unbeaten centuries as Pakistan recovered emphatically from a shaky start against England in the third and final test on Thursday.

After losing their first three wickets for 64 in the morning session, Pakistan reached the close on the first day at 292 for three after Inzamam (123 not out) and Youhana (104 not out) had shared an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 228.

Batting with mounting authority on a placid pitch, Inzamam reached three figures from 196 balls, hitting 15 fours, while Youhana played a measured innings full of handsome strokes to complete his hundred off 207 deliveries, with 13 fours and one six.