SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #697 (64), Tuesday, August 21, 2001
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TITLE: Speaker Vetoes Use of Palace
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Legislative Assembly Speaker Sergei Ta rasov refused to allow the use of the Ma riinsky Palace this weekend for events commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Aug. 1991 coup attempt that ultimately marked the end of the Soviet Union. Instead, about 100 local residents gathered on St. Isaac's Square on Sunday to mark the occasion with speeches and street theater.
 During the three-day attempted coup in 1991, anti-coup forces - including Mayor Anatoly Sobchak and members of the Leningrad City Council - used the Mariinsky Palace as the nexus of resistance activities. 
 "Unfortunately, it is impossible to provide space for the meeting of the August 1991 movement members at the Mariinsky Palace, since there is repair work taking place during the [Legislative Assembly's] vacation," Tarasov wrote in a letter to commemoration organizers dated Aug. 13.
 The August 1991 movement members were outraged by the decision.
 "If we don't observe such dates in our history, why the hell do we need to have a history at all?," said Tamara Tronova, a movement organizer, in an interview on Monday.
 Tronova said that the group had requested the use of a palace hall for a meeting to commemorate resistance to the coup. "There would have been only about 100 people, so space would not have been a problem," she said.
 Tarasov also refused to allow Lyudmila Narusova, Sobchak's widow, to receive a gold medal awarded to her husband by the Alexander Menshikov Fund for his role in "saving the city from unrest and bloodshed during the 1991 coup attempt."
 Narusova said she regretted that the award ceremony did not take place in the building where Sobchak worked throughout the three days of the coup.
 "Some people today are trying to discredit the values that were won," Narusova told Interfax on Monday.
 Alexander Shtam, editor of the magazine Posev, noted that St. Petersburg was not the only city where local authorities seemed bent on toning down coup commemorations and preventing former coup resisters from celebrating in the official buildings that they once defended. He said similiar situations had been reported in Chelyabinsk, Kras noyarsk, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Petrozavodsk and Barnaul. 
 He also noted that Union of Right Forces political party in Moscow had been refused permission to hold a rock concert on Red Square because "the loud sound of rock music would damage the walls of St. Basil's Cathedral."
 "There is a clear message here that [officials] want to get rid of this date in Russian history and to present those who participated in these events as some kind of relic," Shtam said in an interview Monday.
 "[The coup] was a rare case when people took the initiative, and most of those authorities who were in power then and have stayed there since do not want to see such initiative again," he said.
 The St. Petersburg branch of the National Union, an organization that unites dissident movements throughout the former Soviet Union, issued a statement saying: "The authorities have been sawing off the branch on which they are sitting, and this undermines the state system, because its legitimacy derives from the support of the people."
 Tarasov could not be reached for comment Monday, but Legislative Assembly press-center employees, who asked not to be identified, said that there is no repair work going on in the Mariinsky Palace, except for the main hall, which has been closed since last year.
 "Various meetings are taking place [during the summer recess] here," a press-center representative said. "The other day, there was a meeting of the [Legislative Assembly] Budget Committee in the Blue Hall."
 Alexander Belayev, who was the chairman of the City Council in 1991, said that the Mariinsky defenders should not be particularly disappointed by Tarasov's stand.
 "This is an official building, but not a public one," he said Monday. "This is not that important, and I think that today is not the time to make a big deal out of it."
 Dmitry Greis, a City Council deputy in 1991, said that organizers had had "a very pleasant talk" with Tarasov, after which they decided to hold the commemoration on the square in front of the palace.
 "There would have been no reason to celebrate it in the palace, since the main hall is undergoing serious renovation. On the street it was much better," Greis said on Monday.
 About 100 people came out to St. Isaac's Square on Sunday to mark the anniversary, just a tiny fraction of the throngs who stood on that spot exactly 10 years ago.
 The brief commemoration was organized by the St. Petersburg branch of the Democratic Russia party, and featured an unusual piece of street theater.
 A dance based on the ballet Swan Lake was performed as guards in ominous black uniforms looked on, in a production arranged by avante-guard artist Kirill Miller.
 "[The music] sounds somewhat like a requiem that is then transformed into something in a gypsy style," Miller said, according to the newspaper Kommersant.
 Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake was shown on state television channels throughout the first days of the coup in 1991.
 The performance ended abruptly when actors playing guards arrested a man who screamed out, "Let's get rid of the dictatorship!" The event concluded with the raising of the Russian tri-color flag to the sound of the Soviet National Anthem, which was adopted as the Russian national anthemn by the State Duma in December 2000.
 &quot;We wanted to create an impression of what life would be like here if the coup organizers had succeeded. There would be some classical music and no freedom,&quot; said Ruslan Linkov, head of the local branch for the Democratic Russia party in an interview Monday. <strong>WHERE ARE THEY NOW? </strong>
<i>Twelve men were prosecuted as a result of the attempt to overthrow Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. All of them were arrested in 1991 and served time, on average one to two years, before being released on various grounds, often health-related. They were all amnestied in 1994 except Valentin Varennikov, who rejected the amnesty and was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 1994.
 </i>
 <strong>MEMBERS OF THE STATE COMMITTEE FOR THE EMERGENCY SITUATION, or GKChP</strong>
 <strong>Oleg Baklanov,</strong> <i>Head of the Military-Industrial Complex (b. 1932)
 </i>. Degree in engineering.
 . 1963-76: Worked his way up from engineer to director of a military plant.
 . 1976-88: Worked his way up from deputy minister to first deputy minister to minister of machine-building.
 . 1988: Appointed secretary of the Party's Central Committee.
 . 1989: Elected deputy of the Congress of People's Deputies.
 . Current occupation unknown.
 
 <strong>Vladimir Kryuchkov, </strong><i>Chairman of the KGB (b. 1924)
 </i>. Born in Tsaritsyn (later Stalingrad, now Volgograd). Worked at a defense plant during WWII. Rose through the ranks of the local Komsomol. 
 . 1946-51: Worked at municipal and regional prosecutors' offices. 
 . mid-1950s-1959: Worked at the Foreign Ministry, including the Soviet Embassy in Hungary. Participated in suppressing the Hungarian uprising in 1956. The embassy was then headed by Yury Andropov, who later became KGB chief and briefly served as Soviet leader after the death of Leonid Brezhnev. Moved to work in the Communist Party Central Committee as soon as Andropov was transferred there. Served in the Politburo.
 . 1967: Went to serve in the KGB.
 . 1974-88: Headed the Foreign Intelligence Service. Became known as a fighter against alcoholism and corruption. Became deputy head of the KGB in 1978 and its chief in 1988. 
 . Now a pensioner. Works as a consultant with various organizations, among them, reportedly, AFK Sistema, the powerful corporation close to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov.
 
 <strong>Valentin Pavlov, </strong><i>Prime Minister (b. 1937)
 </i>. 1959-68: Worked in the Finance Ministry, first as an economist, and in 1966-68 in the department of heavy industry. 
 . 1968: Became deputy head of the ministry's budget department. 
 . 1979: Transferred to Gosplan, the state economic planning body. Moved up career ladder to become a member of Gosplan's collegium. Received PhD in economics in 1981. 
 . 1986: Appointed deputy finance minister. 
 . 1989: Appointed finance minister. Pavlov introduced some mechanisms of a market economy, including setting up a network of commercial investment banks, co-ops and stock exchanges. 
 . 1991: Appointed prime minister in January. Pavlov's name is forever linked to his three-day mandatory exchange of 100-ruble and 50-ruble bills in early 1991. The measure was intended to confiscate cash. 
 . After the coup, Pavlov remained vice president of the Free Economic Society and a member of the Presidium of the International Academy of Management. Became head of the Doveriye, or Trust, consultancy firm, briefly managed Rublyovsky bank and was president of Chasprombank. Served as a financial consultant for Promstroibank, as head of the Delovoi Mir, or Business World, concern and as vice president for business development of the New Jersey-based software developer Business Management Systems. 
 . Is now director of the Institute of Research and Support for the Development of Regions and Businesses with the International Union of Economists. 
 <strong>
 Boris Pugo, </strong><i>Interior Minister (1937 - 1991)
 </i>. Born in Latvia. Headed the local KGB and the local Communist Party. 
 . 1990: Appointed interior minister. No fan of Gorbachev's efforts to adopt a market economy, Pugo blamed these liberal economic policies for the Soviet Union's growing problems. 
 . Officially, he committed suicide on Aug. 21 in his apartment with a shot to the head, but some contemporaries have cast doubt on the official version, claiming that Pugo's pistol was found neatly placed on a chest of drawers near his bed.
 
 <strong>Vasily Starodubtsev, </strong><i>Head of the U.S.S.R. Peasants Union (b. 1931)
 </i>. Born in Lipetsk region. Studied agriculture. After WWII worked at a collective farm; later as a miner. 
 . 1964: Became head of a collective farm. 
 . 1986-91: Headed the All-Union Council of Collective Farms.
 . 1987: Became head of an agricultural-industrial union. 
 . 1990: Became head of the Union of Russian Agrarians and the U.S.S.R. Peasants Union. 
 . 1994: After being released from jail, returned to the Tula region to head the same collective farm and agricultural-industrial union. 
 . 1997: Elected Tula's governor with 62 percent of the vote. Elected chair of the new Agricultural-Industrial Union spun off from the Union of Russian Agrarians. 
 . 2001: Elected for a second term as governor in April (72 percent).
 . Is now the Communist Party's No. 3 man. Member of the Federation Council's commission on agricultural policies. Has authored a book called &quot;Do We Need Collective Farms?&quot;
 
 <strong>Alexander Tizyakov, </strong><i>President of the Association of State-Owned Enterprises (b. 1926)
 </i>. 1956-1991: Rose from low-level engineer to general director at the Kalinin Machine-Building Plant in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), one of the Soviet Union's biggest military-industrial plants.
 . July 1991: signed the &quot;Word to the People,&quot; an open letter from a group of conservative writers, generals and politicians that was later considered the main precursor of the coup.
 . After his arrest in 1991, suffered a heart attack while in pre-trial detention.
 . 1999: ran for the State Duma on the ticket of the Movement in Support of the Army, which failed to get the minimum number of votes needed to make it into the Duma.
 
 <strong>Gennady Yanayev, </strong><i>Vice President of the Soviet Union (b. 1937)
 </i>. Born in Nizhny Novgorod (then Gorky) region. Studied agriculture and law. PhD in history with a thesis on how Soviet pioneers and Komsomol members must propagate the Soviet way of life during trips abroad. 
 . 1968: Appointed chairman of the Committee of Youth Organizations of the U.S.S.R. 
 . 1986: Appointed deputy chairman of the Presidium of the Union of Soviet Associations of Friendly and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Became secretary for international affairs and later deputy chairman of the All-Union Federation of Trade Unions. 
 . 1990: Became member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in charge of foreign affairs and member of Politburo. That December, nominated by Gorbachev as vice president of the Soviet Union; confirmed by parliament on second vote. He told the parliament, &quot;I am a convinced Communist to the depths of my soul. You can't make me budge from that.&quot;
 . Spent one day - August 19, 1991 - as acting president of the Soviet Union. 
 . Now is retired with a monthly pension of 1,500 rubles ($51).
 <strong>
 Dmitry Yazov, </strong><i>Defense Minister (b. 1923)
 </i>. Born in the Omsk region. Served in the army during WW II. Wounded twice. Served in Cuba during the missile crisis. 
 . 1974-76: Head of personnel at the Defense Ministry. 
 . 1976-84: Served as deputy head and head of military districts from the Far East to Central Asia. 
 . 1987: Appointed defense minister after his predecessor was sacked for letting German pilot Mattias Rust land his single-engine plane on Red Square unchecked by Soviet military. 
 . Retired after being amnestied. Reportedly was not paid a pension for 1 1/2 years after his arrest. 
 . Now serves as an advisor at the Defense Ministry.

TITLE: The Healing Power of Dolphins
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Little Vasya laughs joyfully as a dolphin named Dasha presses her smooth, wet, curious nose against his body, bobbing in the blue water of a local swimming pool. His parents look on and smile. 
 Vasya suffers from cerebral palsy. He neither walks nor speaks. Swimming with dolphins is one of the few focused activities he engages in, according to his parents, Alexei and Lilya Trunin. The Trunins are both pediatricians, hoping that these marine mammals will be able to reach their son in a way that no humans can.
 &quot;We don't believe in miracles,&quot; Alexei Trunin said. &quot;It is just one more step in the entire group of procedures that we provide for our child.&quot;
 The doctors who encourage this therapy believe that dolphins have extraordinary abilities to help treat children with autism, Down's Syndrome and other neurological and movement disorders. They claim that such children have shown exceptional progress with the animals.
 Dolphin therapy is widely used around the world and dedicated treatment centers exist in the United States, Israel and in Sevastopol, Ukraine.
 On June 3, St. Petersburg became the first city in Russia to open a combined entertainment and theraputic &quot;dolphinarium,&quot; which offers both treatment sessions and aquatic shows.
 Officials at the dolphinarium, located at the Naval College swimming pool on Bolshaya Smolenskaya Ul., admit that swimming with dolphins is not a miracle cure.
 &quot;We don't even call our courses 'dolphin therapy,'&quot; said Yevgenia Skvort so va, a veterinarian who works with the dolphins.
 Skvortsova said that the word &quot;therapy&quot; implies healing. &quot;But there is no scientific proof for that yet. Therefore we call our program a rehabilitation program. We will spend years observing our patients before making scientific conclusions on the extent of their improvement after interacting with the dolphins,&quot; she said.
 However, some patients and their families are more enthusiastic about the results. Alexei Trunin, who was initially skeptical, said that he had seen two marked improvements in Vasya after seven sessions with the dolphins. He sleeps better and his general demeanor is more calm.
 Danila Mironenkov, 6, is another of Dasha's patients. Danila suffers from autism, a state of mind characterized by an active self-isolation from the outside world. 
 &quot;Danila doesn't talk and has no interest in communicating with other children,&quot; said his mother, Marina Zhel tya ko va, who brought her son to the dolphinarium from Vologda.
 Zheltyakova said that after the initial sessions with the dolphins, Danila began actively repeating sounds and syllables. He often laughs and has become noticeably less willful.
 &quot;During the first two sessions, we couldn't do anything to get [Danila] into the water,&quot; said Galina Man zho so va, the center's psychologist. &quot;He was afraid. He kicked them with his feet and cried. Now he enjoys playing with them, although he still holds on tight to his mother.&quot;
 The St. Petersburg dolphinarium has two theraputic dolphins, Da sha and Asya, who also perform as part of a seven-dolphin team that puts on shows at the institute. They were captured in the Black Sea near the town of Utish. 
 The pair are consummate professionals. Every half hour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., another client is brought to them and they spend the session fetching plastic rings and carrying the patient through the water on their backs.
 The trainers note that Asya is naturally the more industrious of the pair, while Dasha is more curious. Because of her inquisitiveness, it is harder to keep Dasha focused and on schedule, trainer Valery Kagayevsky said.
 &quot;Dasha is different,&quot; said Kaga yev sky. &quot;Sometimes she will refuse to follow the schedule, but prefers to invent something new instead Dasha likes to think, whereas Asya likes routine.&quot;
 The center treats 15 patients a day with a variety of problems from poor vision or hearing to Down's Syndrome and autism. The center already has a waiting list of 500 patients from across the country and abroad seeking treatment.
 Medical professionals speculate the dolphins are able to use their sonar ability to help people with neurological disorders to relax and open up to new experiences, according to a report on CNN. 
 Many also believe that interaction with dolphins can have a therapeutic effect on other illnesses like depression and learning disablities.
 The center has already acquired four new dolphins that are being trained to replace Dasha and Asya, who will eventually return to their performance work. 
 Dasha, though, doesn't seem ready to retire. Her head sticks out of the water by the edge of the pool. Her face wears a beguiling smile and her voice produces an endless stream of high-pitched whistles and cackling. It is obvious that she wants to communicate.

TITLE: Communist Party Breaks Silence
AUTHOR: By Oksana Yablokova

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Prominent Communists, after largely keeping their peace during the 16 months since President Vladimir Putin took office, have broken their silence with a hard-hitting open letter warning about the march of capitalism and crime across the country and appealing for the secret police to stop &quot;destructive&quot; reforms.
 The letter, signed by 43 people including Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Anatoly Lukyanov and cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya, was published last Tuesday in the Sovyetskaya Rossia newspaper and on Monday in the Zavtra weekly. Lukyanov has been named by Boris Yeltsin as the ideologist behind the bungled 1991 coup.
 The so-called &quot;Appeal of 43&quot; is addressed to &quot;the people&quot; and the &quot;constructive and healthy forces&quot; on Putin's team, which is dominated by former secret service officers.
 It criticizes &quot;the second wave of reforms&quot; started under Putin and predicts that &quot;Russia will not stand for even half&quot; of the liberal undertakings, which include the liberal measures on land, housing, health and education, in addition to a new Labor Code and the liberalization of state-controlled monopolies like Unified Energy Systems and railways. 
 &quot;The secret police who have grown in power with Putin as president have come to rule the country and brought the state goodwill and unselfishness,&quot; the appeal said. &quot;[But they] are suffocating from rotten personnel from the Yeltsin era who are poisoning state institutions. 
 &quot;[The secret police] will become invaluable allies of the patriots in a 'personnel revolution' to cure the sick state.&quot;
 The appeal was also signed by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Zhores Alfyorov, several Soviet-era writers and poets, former Defense Minister Igor Rodionov and Alexander Prokhanov, editor of Zavtra. 
 Prokhanov said Monday that the appeal was drafted because Russia has found itself in a catastrophic situation similar to that in 1991, which the letter refers to as &quot;tragic.&quot;
 Prokhanov was among 43 hard-liners who signed a similar appeal shortly after the August 1991 events.
 &quot;In our 1991 appeal we turned out to be tragically right,&quot; Prokhanov said.
 The new version should reach patriotic law enforcement officials and presidential representatives in the seven federal districts, coming from the military and KGB, where Putin comes from as well, Prokhanov said.
 Yury Korgunyuk, political analyst with the INDEM think tank, said he believed the letter was an attempt by the Communists to re-emerge as a major political force after being obedient to Putin for months in return for the key Duma posts, including the speaker's chair.
 &quot;The Kremlin used the Communists last year when two-thirds of the votes were required to pass a series of constitutional changes required to strengthen the grip of the regions,&quot; he said. &quot;But the Kremlin does not need them any more as is relying on other factions instead.&quot;
 &quot;The fact that it [the appeal] came around in time for the anniversary makes it even more meaningless,&quot; Korgunyuk also said.

TITLE: Hollywood Nites Ousts SpartaK
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: After a bitter fight to maintain SpartaK - one of St. Petersburg's most illustrious revival movie houses and alternative-music venues - the club's management has given in and turned its space over to the Hollywood Nites nightclub for management.
 SpartaK is the name of the movie theater and the alternative-rock venues housed in a former Lutheran church at 8 Kirochnaya Ul., which also contains the Gardunkel nightclub. Before SpartaK closed in late June, it was considered one of the most lively spots on the city rock scene. 
 The movie theater earned cult status among city youth for showing Russian and foreign art classics by directors such as Andrei Tvarkovsky, Federico Fellini, Wim Wenders and others. 
 SpartaK's former arts manager, Olga Yakubkhanova, gave up the club in June, but expressed disappointment over the move.
 &quot;The development of popular informal music and underground rock is what I was looking for,&quot; said Yakub kha no va in an interview with The St. Petersburg Times.
 SpartaK played an important role in introducing numerous local bands such as Leningrad, Metal Corrosion and NOM that later went on to greater fame.
 &quot;I'm not happy about the closure of the club,&quot; said a regular who asked to be identified by the name Cowboy. &quot;It was the [city's] biggest underground concert hall with its own atmosphere.&quot; 
 With the Hollywood Nites takeover, SpartaK's era of experimentation seems fated to end.
 Alexander Gabitov, general director of Hollywood Nites, said that he plans to turn SpartaK into a youth dance club for people aged 16 to 25. The SpartaK building, which is a historical monument, will not become Hollywood Nites' property. Instead, the company will be given the right to manage events there through a company called Erato.
 He also said that the entrance charge would be from 100 to 120 rubles, which is inexpensive compared to Hollywood Nites, but about twice as expensive as SpartaK's standard 40-ruble to 60-ruble cover charge.
 &quot;When we open, the SpartaK cinema center will host a youth club, which the city now lacks,&quot; Gabitov said. The club will open in December.
 The movie theater will continue largely unchanged as an art house and revival theater.
 Gabitov said he personally has nothing against underground culture but said, &quot;Unfortunately, such places often have connections with drugs.&quot; He said the new club will do everything possible keep drugs off the premises.
 Hollywood Nites, which is renown for its glitzy atmosphere and pop dance music, has itself been hit by scandal in the last 18 months.
 In April 2000, Yury Shevchenko, a Legislative Assembly deputy and shareholder in Hollywood Nites and the Golden Dolls strip club, was arrested for allegedly shady dealings on the club circuit where he and his brother, Vyacheslav, were prominent players. 
 A report in Kommersant at the time said that Nord - a company owned by the Shevchenko brothers - had arranged and was promoting a concert by techno-punk band Prodigy. 
 Fans who didn't read the fine print on the posters were not clued in to the fact that the group was really a Prodigy tribute band. The magazine Teleman ran a story on the allegedly fraudulent promotion by Nord. 
 According to a report in Kommersant, the Shevchenko brothers claimed that they lost $50,000 because of the Teleman article. The magazine was then persuaded to hand over $10,000 and 50 percent of its stock as compensation.
 Teleman then filed an extortion complaint with the police, who arrested Shevchenko. He has been released on bail and his trial is pending. His brother Vyacheslav has also been charged, but police have not yet found him.

TITLE: Arson Suspected in Ryazan Synagogue Fire
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: A fire has destroyed the only synagogue in Ryazan, about 150 kilometers south of Moscow, in what a Jewish organization has said was an arson attack.
 The synagogue was ruined in a fire that began early Thursday. The local fire service determined that the blaze was deliberately set, said a statement from the Federation of Jewish Communities, or FJC, one of two main Jewish groups that exist in Russia.
 It was &quot;a reprehensible act of anti-Semitism,&quot; said the statement from the group, which was funding renovations at the synagogue in hopes of having it ready in mid-September, in time for Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish new year.
 Leonid Reznikov, the local Jewish-community leader, said firefighters put the blaze out quickly and that nobody was hurt. He said builders have already started repairing the synagogue, which dates from 1903.
 The attack comes amid concerns that anti-Semitism is rising in Russia. The law enshrines Judaism as one of the country's three &quot;traditional&quot; religions, along with Orthodox Christianity and Islam, but there have been repeated cases of bombings and vandalism at synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, as well as personal attacks on Jews in recent years.
 Last September, the Jewish Day School in Ryazan was attacked by about 15 chain-wielding youths, who broke windows and furniture and assaulted teachers. Local authorities failed to denounce the incident, allowing the perpetrators to go unpunished, the FJC said.
 &quot;The government must condemn those who are committing these acts of violence and intolerance,&quot; said Berl Lazar, whom the FJC considers to be Russia's chief rabbi.
 In a separate incident in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, a fire gutted a Jewish school for 550 children - believed to be the largest in Eastern Europe. The local fire service said that the July 13 blaze was set by an arsonist in a barracks adjoining the school building.
 The local authorities have refused to provide any financing for the school's repairs and they have banned the local Jewish community from restoring the building on their own, Pinkas Goldschmidt, the chief rabbi of Moscow, said on Friday.
 Mikhail Skoblionok, the head of the local Jewish community, said Kazan city authorities have found that the school needs a major overhaul and have banned the community from using it. 
 Independent experts, meanwhile, have said the building only needs quick repairs. &quot;The real reason behind the authorities' action is that they don't want a Jewish school in a predominantly Tatar region,&quot; Skoblionok explained.
 When the local community tried to fix the school's roof to prevent further rain damage, two dozen assailants led by officials from the city construction department broke into the premises, breaking everything that had been fixed, Skoblionok said.
 He and Goldschmidt are affiliated with the Russian Jewish Congress, which considers Adolf Shayevich to be Russia's chief rabbi. Shayevich has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit the school in Kazan during his trip to Russia, planned for early September.
 
 <i>- AP, Reuters </i>

TITLE: A Getaway That's Close at Hand
TEXT: Spanning six islands in the approaches to Helsinki, Sveaborg Fortress is a great weekend getaway. Built by the Swedes after the devastating wars with Peter the Great that resulted in Russia gaining the territory on which St. Petersburg now stands, Sveaborg was only completed in 1783. Its 8-kilometer bastion once boasted 1,300 cannon. The fortress hasn't had much luck, however. The Russians took it and all of Finland in 1808, and it was heavily shelled by a combined French-British fleet in the northernmost engagement of the Crimean War in 1855. Since 1973, the fortress has been a park, easily accessible by ferry from Helsinki harbor and extremely popular with locals and foreigners alike.
 Photos by </i><strong>Sergey Grachev. </strong>

TITLE: Environmentalists Caution Against Chelyabinsk Plan
AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Chelyabinsk Governor Pyotr Sumin has warned the prime minister that radioactivity in some of his region's waterways is reaching dangerous levels and has proposed a solution: building a nuclear power station that would use the polluted water as a cooling agent.
 Environmentalists warned that such a project could spell disaster for the region in the southern Urals that is still fighting to contain the fallout of a nuclear blast in 1957.
 The letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, obtained by environment watchdog Ecodefense! and confirmed by Sumin's office, proposes building the nuclear power station near the Mayak plutonium plant, which spouts polluted water into the Techa River.
 For more than 40 years, Mayak has been dumping water polluted with radionuclides into the Techa River, which has been artificially turned into a cascade of pools divided by dams.
 The June 7 letter signed by Sumin, a copy of which was obtained by The St. Petersburg Times, said that in three to four years the pools will overflow and contaminate the Iset, Tobol and Ob rivers. The pools now contain 400 million cubic meters of waste, according to the letter.
 Using water from one of the pools for cooling at the proposed South Urals Nuclear Power Station would make use of the otherwise contaminated water, Su min wrote.
 Deputy Chelyabinsk Governor Gennady Podtyosov said that the situation will become even more critical once Russia begins importing spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing and storage, as outlined in recently passed legislation.
 &quot;Russia is expecting to import nuclear waste, part of which will be processed at Mayak,&quot; Podtyosov said by telephone from the city of Chelyabinsk. &quot;Now the plant dumps 10 million cubic meters of polluted water a year. This amount will increase when nuclear waste from abroad arrives.&quot;
 Podtyosov said building new storage pools, which would require the resettlement of villages and pollute dozens more square kilometers of land, would cost considerably more that the construction of the nuclear power station.
 Podtyosov said he discussed the issue with the Nuclear Power Ministry two months ago and was told that no funds could be earmarked for a power station until 2010.
 After the governor's appeal, Kasya nov ordered the ministry to start fresh talks with Chelyabinsk officials about the plant, which would cost about $1.5 billion to build, he said.
 Nuclear power experts said feeding contaminated water though the nuclear power plant is safe.
 &quot;Technically, the idea of evaporating polluted water is a possible solution to the problem,&quot; said Alexander Pikayev, a nuclear power expert with the Moscow Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. &quot;The technology of Russian nuclear power plants can handle it.&quot;
 But the idea of placing a new nuclear enterprise just 65 kilometers from Chelyabinsk is sparking protests from environmentalists.
 Natalya Mironova, an environmentalist from Chelyabinsk, said that according to documentation she has seen about the proposed station as a member of an Economy Ministry commission, the station does not have an alternative source of water.
 &quot;Imagine what would happen if a pool is exhausted or the old dams burst and all the water floods out,&quot; Mironova said. &quot;Without the inflow of cool water we'll have a new Chernobyl at the nuclear station.&quot;
 Moreover, Mironova said she believes it is dangerous to place two nuclear enterprises close to each other. The nuclear power station - the construction of which was started in 1983 and then suspended in late 1992 - is located only 3 kilometers from the Mayak plant.
 &quot;If one facility goes off, it will cause a catastrophe at the other,&quot; Mironova said. &quot;The negative outcome of any error will be drastically multiplied.&quot;
 &quot;The motives of the regional administration are clear: The project means hefty transfers from the federal budget,&quot; said Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace. &quot;But don't you see something dubious in averting one nuclear threat by creating another?&quot;

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Police Snag Thief
 

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - James Pivovarov, a 76-year-old American citizen, was caught by a guard at the Russian State Historical Archives in St. Petersburg on Aug. 9 as he was allegedly trying to remove documents dated to the beginning at the 20th century, Interfax reported.
 According to Komsomolskaya Prav da, Pivovarov confessed to Admiralteisky District police interrogators that he wanted to bring the documents home from the library so that he could study them at his leisure.
 Prosecution investigators have opened a criminal case on the charges of "attempting to steal historic documents of special value."
 
 
Britain Jails Four
 

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of Russians convicted of twice kidnapping a Russian businessman in London, on one occasion chaining him to a toilet and beating him, have been jailed by a British court.
 Vladislan Agafonov, 30, Alex Spo din, 32, and Artur Sarkisin, 32, were each sentenced to 10 years in jail last week for kidnapping the businessman from his home in Essex, east of London, in August 1998 and again in January 2001, police said. Another defendant, Alexander Ivanov, 31, was given seven years.
 The kidnappers believed the victim owed their associates money from a business deal and demanded up to $1 million, police said.
 Police said the victim had been chained to a toilet bowl and beaten with a wooden mallet. He was rescued by armed police who had been tipped off, they added.
 In August 1998, he had been taken hostage in similar circumstances, but released five days later when he promised to pay the gang money, police said.
 
 
Pilots Suspended
 

MOSCOW (AP) - About 80 pilots and other flight crew have been suspended, and more than 20 aircraft have been banned from further service after official checks of aviation safety standards in Krasnoyarsk, officials said.
 The checks revealed that many pilots had failed to undergo mandatory semiannual retraining, said Viktor Osipov, the region's top civil-aviation official.
 Osipov told Itar-Tass that some crews also had undergone fictitious training while they were in fact performing regular flights required by airlines trying to save money on the training programs.
 More than 20 aircraft in the region have been deemed no longer air-worthy and must be written off, Osipov said.
 
 
Georgia Sentences 13
 

TBILISI, Georgia (Reuters) - Georgia's Supreme Court convicted 13 people Friday, including a former finance minister, for a 1998 grenade attack on President Eduard Shevardnadze's motorcade that killed two bodyguards.
 Guram Absandze, finance minister under Shevardnadze's predecessor, nationalist President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, received a 17-year sentence as one of the organizers of the assassination attempt.
 One man was sentenced to 20 years and another 19. Three defendants were sentenced to time already served in detention, and the others were given sentences ranging from three to 14 years.
 
 
Probe Extended
 

OTTAWA, Canada (AP) - Russian police have extended their investigation of a diplomat involved in a fatal car accident in Ottawa in January.
 On Thursday, a Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesperson said Russia informed Ottawa that the investigation into Andrei Knyazev would conclude Nov. 15.
 Catherine MacLean, an Ottawa lawyer was killed, and her friend Catherine Dore seriously injured, when a car driven by Knyazev hit them as they walked MacLean's dog on a sidewalk.
 
 
Alcohol Deaths Up
 

MOSCOW (AP) - Nearly 17,000 people in Russia died of alcohol poisoning in the first five months of this year, an increase of about 30 percent from the same period the previous year, Interfax reported.
 The report cited figures given by First Deputy Health Minister Gennady Onishchenko. According to the report, the number of alcohol-poisoning deaths in January to May was 16,853, about 4,000 more than in the same period of 2000.
 
 
Texas Smuggling
 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Russians, a University of Texas research assistant and his wife, were charged Friday with luring young women from Uzbekistan with promises of lucrative modeling jobs, then forcing them to work seven days a week in strip clubs and pocketing all their earnings.
 The U.S. Justice Department said 40-year-old Sardar Gasanov and his wife, Nadira Gasanov, 37, were arrested at their home in El Paso and indicted on charges of conspiracy, money laundering and alien smuggling for profit.
 The couple allegedly obtained visas for the women by claiming they were scientists traveling to do research at the University of Texas. If convicted, the couple faces up to 36 years in prison. 



TITLE: Ukraine, Russia Plug In Again
AUTHOR: By Kirill Koriukin

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - After months of stalemate, Russia and Ukraine on Monday plugged back together their power grids in a move that will open the door to energy exports to Europe.
 The switch was flipped at 4 p.m., shortly after Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed a power agreement with Ukrainian Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh.
 &quot;This opens possibilities for the transit supply of electricity from both Russia and Ukraine to Moldova and other countries,&quot; Kasyanov said on Mayak radio.
 The power grids had been cut off for three years due to a $130 million Ukrainian debt for electricity. The two countries in December 2000 initialed a deal to reconnect, after Ukraine cut its debt down to $40 million over 1999 and 2000.
 Under Monday's agreement, the grids will remain commercially separate but their synchronization will allow Russia and Ukraine to increase cross-border sales. The deal calls for joint energy exports to the neighboring republic of Moldova on par basis.
 A spokes person at Russian power operator Unified Energy Systems said the main point of the agreement was to &quot;utilize the export potential.&quot;
 Russian officials did not provide any figures on how energy flows to Ukraine would increase.
 &quot;This is positive news for Russia,&quot; said Dmitry Vinogradov, an analyst with Brunswick UBS Warburg. &quot;This means an expansion of export markets and creates new ground for future UES exports.&quot; 
 Another major potential consumer to which Russia would be able to import energy is Poland, he said.
 Taking the news with a grain of salt, Vinogradov added that some concerns remain over Ukraine's ability to pay in full for energy given its poor track record of paying for Russian gas supplies. 
 Still, he said, the agreement is a political breakthrough. 
 Russia and Ukraine operated parallel electricity grids for years despite the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. But Russia opted out of the joint operation in 1998, citing uneven frequency and frequent power outages in Ukraine. These problems have long prevented Russia from following through with its plans to export energy to Western Europe. 
 In addition to electricity talks, Kasyanov and Kinakh discussed Ukraine's gas debt Monday. Russia feels that Ukraine, which in the past was simply unable to pay for Russian gas, is now in a position to pay the overdue debt. Two deals on the debt were signed in December. 
 A third agreement is being hammered out that will address using the payment of Russian gas-transfer tariffs as a guarantee of Ukrainian payment for Russian gas, Kasyanov said. 
 He said the accord should be drawn up by the start of September.
 Kinakh stressed that Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russia's ambassador to Ukraine, had played a key role in resolving the gas and electricity disputes.
 &quot;This work has acquired a pragmatic, systematic character,&quot; he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

TITLE: Meeting Will Pit Inflation Against More Tariff Hikes
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A cabinet meeting Tuesday may decide to allow natural monopolies to raise their tariffs by as much as 32 percent, according to a newspaper report.
 The meeting, which is scheduled to discuss topics including the federal budget and tariff policy for 2002, is likely to get heated as the government struggles to defend its 2002 inflation target of 13 percent.
 According to a report in the daily newspaper Vedomosti, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry intends to propose a plan at the meeting under which natural monopolies would be allowed to raise their tariffs according to quotas. 
 National power grid Unified Energy System (UES) would be able to raise its charges by 32 percent, while gas giant Gazprom would be allowed to raise its tariffs by 20 percent and the Railways Ministry 8 percent.
 Under the plan, Gazprom and the Railways Ministry would raise their tariffs in one step in January and March, respectively, while UES would raise its tariffs in two steps, on Jan. 1 and June 1.
 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who is to chair the meeting, is among the many government officials who maintain that increases in natural monopolies' tariffs are to blame for high inflation this year.
 Since the beginning of this year, UES' tariffs have increased by 18 percent, Gazprom's have grown by 20 percent and the Railways Ministry has increased its charges by 38.6 percent.
 Despite these increases, the natural- monopolies' prices remain well below world levels. In 1999, when the government was restraining tariffs, manufacturing production prices grew 67 percent while electricity and gas prices rose by just 14 percent.
 &quot;The growth of tariffs for natural monopolies is objectively needed and it would balance such a big difference,&quot; said Yevgeny Gavrilenko, head of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a non-profit foundation.
 The Economic Development and Trade Ministry has calculated that the proposed hikes would account for an inflation increase of 3.5 percent next year, leaving 9.5 percent for monetary inflationary factors.
 &quot;The main source of growing inflation is not tariffs, but high currency inflow. While the foreign-currency inflow is high and the Central Bank is printing rubles in order to fill up currency reserves, even a very tough tariff regulation will not significantly stop the inflation,&quot; said Evsei Gurvich, head of the Economic Expert Group, an independent body that provides consultancy services to government ministries.
 &quot;The only way to resolve the problem is to create a stabilization fund and to transfer there a significant part of extra revenues from export,&quot; Gurvich said.

TITLE: Gazprom Subsidiary To Set Up More Lines To Connect Oblast
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Zapsibgazprom (ZSGP), a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, has announced the signing of a document of intent with the administration of the Leningrad Oblast to expand its natural-gas delivery infrastructure in the region.
 According to an agreement on cooperation signed by Vladimir Nikiforov, the general director of ZSGP, and Governor of Leningrad Oblast Valery Serdyukov earlier this month, ZSGP will build a 342- kilometer system of pipes to supply gas to six of the 29 regions of the Leningrad Oblast, including the Vyborg, Gatchina, Priozersk and Luga regions.
 The deal also calls for ZSGP to modernize a number of stations providing heating. The stations will be converted from the burning of coal and oil to gas.
 According to Nikiforov, only 40 percent of the heating stations in the Leningrad Oblast use natural gas, and only 30 percent of the homes in the region receive heat produced by these stations. By comparison, the latter figure reaches 80 or 90 percent in Stavropol and Krasnodar.
 &quot;There is a large number of oblast communities that didn't receive gas during the Soviet era,&quot; Nikiforov said at a press conference to announce the deal. &quot;Besides working on supplying gas we'll also work on providing heat and electricity through our own stations.&quot;
 Nikiforov refused to comment on the cost of the project, saying an exact figure will be determined once the specifics of the project are approved, but the agreement calls for a price tag in the neighborhood of 900 million rubles (about $30.7 million).
 According to RosBusinessConsulting information agency, at the beginning of the year Gazprom announced plans to spend 170 million rubles (about $5.8 million) on the construction of its own gas pipelines in the Leningrad Oblast.
 The new deal follows pipe-construction projects ZSGP completed in the Leningrad Oblast last year, such as building lines to Lodoinoye Polye and the town of Lesogorsky.
 ZSGP not only transports gas, but is itself a large producer with 24 subsidiaries that operate in the Tyumen, Perm, Omsk, Oryol and Saratov regions.

TITLE: Russian Technology Up Front at Air Show
AUTHOR: By Lyuba Pronina

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow Region - The Moscow Air Show wrapped up Sunday with well over half a billion dollars in pledges for aircraft, engines and other parts, a feat that analysts said should give the Russian aviation sector a welcome boost.
 A record 525 companies and some 800,000 visitors attended the weeklong show in Zhukovsky, about 30 kilometers southeast of Moscow, organizers said.
 The biennial exhibition, which President Vladimir Putin opened Tuesday, showcased about 130 mostly Russian-made aircraft and other hardware in a clear attempt to squash any doubt that Russian aviation remains a force to be reckoned with in the international marketplace.
 Yury Koptev, head of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, stressed before the air show that its success should not be measured by the number of contracts, but by the number of contacts made.
 Either way, organizers and some participants are walking away pleased.
 Among the highlights:
 . The Ilyushin Finance leasing company signed a protocol agreement to deliver four Il-96-400 cargo planes to Aeroflot in two years and four planes to Atlant-Soyuz. The two deals are worth about $320 million.
 . The Volga-Dnepr heavy cargo airline signed a tentative agreement with the Perm Motors engine producer for five PS-90A engines to fit one of its Il-76 cargo planes. The list price for an engine is $2.5 million.
 . Kamov, designer of civil and military helicopters, secured from Gazprom options for 50 KA-226 helicopters, which would be used to monitor gas pipelines. The helicopter carries a list price of $1.5 million.
 . Egyptian Sirocco Aerospace International, a Cairo-based leasing company, announced it would order seven Tu-204-120 passenger jets to add to its existing stable of four. The planes, which have a price tag of $32 million each, are to be powered with Rolls Royce engines and delivered this year and next.
 . The Irkutsk-built Be-200, an amphibious transport jet that can be used for emergencies and firefighting, won certification from CIS civil-aviation authorities. Aviation experts estimate that worldwide demand for the $15 million Be-200 will run into the hundreds. The Emergency Situations Ministry is looking to purchase seven of the planes by 2005.
 . French engine maker Snecma signed a memorandum of understanding with NPO Saturn, a Russian engine manufacturer, to develop engines for a new regional jet that will be built by Sukhoi and Ilyushin in cooperation with Boeing Co. of the United States. Aeroflot announced last Monday, the day before the show opened, that it had clinched a tentative deal to buy up to 30 of the aircraft. Feasibility studies are being carried out on the aircraft, which will seat 50 to 95 passengers, and deliveries are to start in 2006.
 . Main arms exporter agency Ros oboron export proudly showed off a South African Air Force Mirage F1 plane modernized by Russian producers. The plane is fitted with a Russian RD-33 engine and air-to-air P-73 missiles.
 Alexander Sarkisov, general director of the Klimov design bureau, which produced the engines, said this was the first foreign-built fighter to be powered by a Russian engine.
 Rosoboronexport also announced that it had revenues of $2.8 billion in the first seven months of the year, about 87 percent of its annual target.
 Meanwhile, many companies echoed Koptev in saying that cutting deals was not the top priority. Gregor Kursell, spokesperson for Airbus maker EADS, said that no agreements were signed during the show, even though his company had the largest exhibit of all foreign firms.
 &quot;Concrete negotiations with Russian companies will start in September after the summer break,&quot; Kursell said. At Zhukovsky, EADS just wanted to show &quot;that Russia is important for us,&quot; he said.
 Last month, EADS unveiled a $2 billion partnership agreement with Rosaviakosmos, under which Russian aerospace producers will participate in EADS projects such as the building of the A-380 jumbo jet.
 For their part, Russian civil-aircraft makers, which sold only four jets last year, rolled out older Tu-134 and Tu-154 workhorse passenger jets next to newer Il-96 and Tu-204 planes on the tarmac.
 Some buyers, however, expressed caution about snapping up the new planes. Andrei Martirosov, head of the Tyumenaviatrans airline, said he would only consider the Tu-204 when mass production starts.
 &quot;You may end up buying an obscure aircraft,&quot; he said.
 Most domestic airlines were not at the air show to buy aircraft anyway, because few have the cash. They are waiting for the government to announce the winner of a tender for a jet-leasing company, which would make the purchase of new aircraft affordable. The government is expected to pick a company this week.
 Military heavyweights at the show warned in advance that no contracts would be signed. &quot;Sukhoi does not have a practice of signing contracts at air shows,&quot; said Mikhail Pogosyan, head of AVPK Sukhoi.
 Nikolai Nikitin, head of MiG Russian Aircraft-Building Corp., would only say that the company carried out talks with EADS. MiG is ironing out a modernization program of the MiG-29 for Europe under the auspices of MiG Aircraft Product Support GmbH and pushing EADS for assistance in certifying the 100-seater Tu-334.
 Paul Duffy, an independent aviation analyst based in Moscow, said that the show gave the air industry a push forward.
 &quot;The show was more successful [than in 1999], and the fact that there were more companies like Boeing, EADS and Embraer gave it an international flavor,&quot; he said.

TITLE: Modest Bid Grabs Stake In NkAZ
AUTHOR: By Torrey Clark

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - An affiliate company of Russian Aluminum, or RusAl, won a tender on Friday for the federal government's 14 percent stake in the Novokuznetsk Aluminum Plant, or NkAZ, whose bankruptcy last year lies at the root of a $3 billion racketeering suit against RusAl.
 RusAl would not confirm its connection to the purchase, but news agencies cited sources in the company and officials from the Federal Property Fund, the official seller, as saying the sale was made to one of its affiliates.
 The stake in NkAZ, Russia's No. 5 smelter, went for a mere $6.02 million - just $20,000 more than the minimum bid - and had just two bidders, news agencies reported. The fund tried to sell the stake last year but found no buyers.
 &quot;The price seems very low for what could be the country's third-largest aluminum smelter,&quot; said Mikhail Seleznyov, metals analyst at United Financial Group. NkAZ produced 280,000 tons of aluminum last year.
 Seleznyov said the acquisition moves RusAl, the country's top aluminum producer and No. 2 in the world, one step closer to formalizing its control of the plant. &quot;NkAZ was already under RusAl's control. It has just become more legally formulated,&quot; he said.
 It is not the first time NkAZ shares have been sold on the cheap. According to the racketeering suit, amended in New York earlier this month, the bankruptcy proceedings against NkAZ were &quot;rigged&quot; by Mikhail Chernoi, a founder of the scandal-ridden metals company Transworld Group, RusAl chief Oleg Deripaska, Unified Energy Systems head Anatoly Chubais and others. The plant was then placed under external management with ties to Deripaska's Siberian Aluminum, a forerunner of RusAl.
 Mikhail Zhivilo, head of MIKOM, a plaintiff in the racketeering case, sold MIKOM's 66 percent stake in NkAZ at a distressed price last September to Gri gory Luchansky, who acted on behalf of Chernoi and Deripaska.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Norilsk Fire
 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Metals producer Norilsk Nickel said Monday that an accident at its key nickel smelter had led to a temporary shutdown of the plant's four furnaces.
 The company said in a statement that the accident had occurred early Sunday and that it planned to restore three furnaces to working order by late Tuesday.
 Norilsk's press service declined to say how the plant's output would be affected.
 "It is difficult to estimate the damage, the most important thing now is to restart the equipment rapidly," said Mining and Metals Co. Norilsk Nickel spokesperson, Mikhail Yanchevsky.
 Norilsk said melted nickel from one of the plant's furnaces had damaged its water cooling system and had cut the electricity supplies to the smelter.
 It said a worker at the plant had suffered minor bruises when she was evacuated from the plant after the accident.
 
 
Called Off Again
 

MOSCOW (SPT) - Mosenergo chief Alexander Remezov on Friday canceled for the second time an Aug. 31 extraordinary shareholders meeting at which the Moscow utility's largest shareholder, Unified Energy Systems, plans to replace him.
 Remezov said he had the right to cancel the meeting because a Belgorod region court upheld a complaint by a minority shareholder, Vasily Kamardin, contesting the meeting's legitimacy, Inferfax reported.
 The move came just one day after Remezov lifted his original ban on the meeting, which was based on a vague lawsuit by another minority shareholder in Kemerovo that was eventually overturned by a Moscow court.
 "I hope that Remezov will be brave enough to leave his post without an assault," said UES board member Andrei Trapeznikov.
 
 
CPC Oil Hits Black Sea
 

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Crude oil from Kazakhstan's Tengiz field, delivered through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's new pipeline, has finally reached the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, a Kazakh oil official said Friday.
 But a new date for the delayed official opening ceremony of the $2.55 billion multinational project is still up in the air.
 "CPC oil has already reached the consortium's terminal near Novorossiisk," Kainar Kazhumov, CPC project manager at Kazakhstan's national oil company, Kazakhoil, said by telephone from the Kazakh capital of Astana. "There were certain technical issues to deal with, but finally the crude is there."
 Kazhumov declined to say when the opening ceremony, to be attended by the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, might take place.
 
 
Evans To Visit
 

MOSCOW (SPT) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans will visit Russia with an unspecified number of businesspeople Oct. 14 to 16, Itar-Tass reported Friday.
 The news agency quoted the Commerce Department as saying that the delegation would include business leaders representing small, medium and big companies from key industries such as air and space, farming, automobile, power production, machine building and services.
 The U.S. administration is shifting the emphasis of economic relations from the bilateral commission for economic and technological cooperation to direct business-to-government contacts. 



TITLE: Gorbachev's Reforms Were Too Little, Too Late
AUTHOR: By Igor Semenenko

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: &quot;How can the economy advance if it creates preferential conditions for backward enterprises and penalizes the foremost ones?&quot; - Mikhail Gorbachev, Nov. 9, 1987
 
 From a purely economic perspective, it is hard to believe so few people saw the collapse of the Soviet Union coming.
 There were clear signs that changes more radical than perestroika were afoot. One of the clearest of these was the increasing desperation with which Mikhail Gorbachev pursued Western financial credits from the moment he came to power in 1986 - economics has always been a confidence game, and when confidence is shattered, markets and even countries crumble.
 Yet almost no one saw it coming. In fact, almost as remarkable as the relatively bloodless disintegration of the mighty Soviet empire itself is that, a decade later, there is still no consensus on what, if anything, Gorbachev could have done to avoid it.
 As far back as the 1970s, many researchers pointed to a growing weakness in the Soviet economy.
 By 1991, it became clear that the Soviet Union was not only experiencing an economic crisis, but a demographic one as well. That year, Georgetown University professor Murray Feshbach and Alfred Friendly, published a book called &quot;Ecocide in the U.S.S.R.: Health and Nature Under Siege,&quot; which drew attention to the dangerous combination of increasing ecological destruction, deteriorating medical services, and the growing number of early deaths in the Soviet Union.
 The book found that while the number of 18-year-old males in the six Muslim republics was growing, it was shrinking in Russia. Based on this and other demographic problems, Feshbach was one of the first to predict that the Soviet economy, which had an insatiable demand for labor, would eventually come to a grinding halt.
 &quot;While I then expected it would take a few more years, not just one, the principle in this case was the same,&quot; Feshbach said in a recent interview.
 In a similar manner, a growing number of researchers were forecasting a looming budget deficit, indicating a further weakening of an economy already reeling from Gorbachev's crackdown on alcohol consumption and a global slump in oil prices in the second half of the 1980s. And there were also plenty of other problems. &quot;They were missing movement toward the new technology,&quot; said Marshall Goldman, associate director of the Russian Research Center at Harvard University and author of &quot;What Went Wrong With Perestroika.&quot;
 Seeing these problems accumulate in the 1980s, most economists predicted an economic slowdown, which they often described as &quot;muddling through.&quot;
 But even the most farsighted researchers were unable to collate all the various findings and correctly predict the collapse of the whole system.
 
 <strong>OPENING SHOTS
 </strong>The first major critic of the Soviet economy was Grigory Khanin, an economist from the Institute of Management Systems in the Ministry of Instrument-Making. Khanin lost his job at Novosibirsk University for teaching heretical views on the Soviet economy.
 In the early 1970s, Khanin began to comb through and revise statistical data published by the Soviet State Statistics Agency since 1928. &quot;When I first made a presentation of my studies in Zvenigorod [outside of Moscow] in 1976, one could have heard a fly buzz in the room,&quot; Khanin said by phone from Novosibirsk.
 Armed with revised statistics, Khanin not only identified falling growth rates, but went as far as to predict in the early 1980s that national income would contract 20 percent by 1990.
 Shortly before Khanin went public with his views, a Soviet &eacute;migr&eacute; in London, Anatoly Fedoseev, published two books - 'Trap&quot; and &quot;On the New Russia: Man and Socialism&quot; - in which he predicted a crippling economic crisis.
 But Fedoseev kept a very low profile and practically disappeared from Soviet debate by the mid-1980s.
 
 <strong>INSIDE GOSPLAN
 </strong>Perhaps the biggest irony about the collapse of the Soviet economy was that the state's own economists saw it coming. &quot;One of the ideas was to approve a five-year <i>sanitarnaya pyatiletka </i>[sanitary five-year plan],&quot; said Gennady Zoteyev, former deputy head of the national accounts department with Gosplan, the state planning agency. &quot;It was clear that the system had lost its equilibrium, so some economists suggested a pause to rectify the imbalances.&quot;
 The Soviet leaders, however, forced Gosplan to paint rosy pictures of growth and were unwilling to face reality. In the late 1970s, Gosplan chief Nikolai Baibakov unsuccessfully tried to convince Leonid Brezhnev and other party bosses of the real state of the economy.
 &quot;Brezhnev's reaction, after the Politburo heard the report, was that Bai ba kov was exaggerating and that, unlike the Po lit buro, Gosplan was not working properly,&quot; said Zoteyev. &quot;Take your manu script away so that I never have to see it again,&quot; Brezhnev said, according to Zo teyev, who participated in drafting the report.
 Gosplan lived through a short period of optimism from the time Yury Andropov came to power in November 1982 until his death from a kidney disease in February 1984. His efforts to resurrect the economy by means of stricter discipline were later dubbed by many of his contemporaries as &quot;the last-ditch attempt to revive Stalinism.&quot;
 
 <strong>ANDROPOV'S KIDNEYS
 </strong>&quot;Were it not for Andropov, the system would have disintegrated faster,&quot; said Khanin. &quot;It was Andropov who, tightening the screws, ruined my forecast [of a 20 percent decline].&quot;
 &quot;If Andropov had had better kidneys, the Soviet Union would still be around,&quot; said Vladimir Kontorovich, an associate professor of economics at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Kontorovich, who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1970s.
 But even after Andropov's death, the coming financial implosion was not immediately evident. Gosplan economists thought the system would keep chugging along until 2000, the last year for which they made forecasts. Beyond that deadline was uncertainty.
 Gosplan's forecast, however, did not take into account the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, who grabbed the reins at the end of 1985.
 Around the time of Gorbachev's ascension, Khanin thought there were only two options: either to relaunch the authoritarian model or to kick-start market reforms along the lines of the Hungarian or Chinese models. &quot;Neo-Stalinism was the most likely outcome, and I anticipated its onset,&quot; said Khanin. &quot;And from the short-term economic perspective, it would have provided the best results.&quot;
 &quot;No one in Gosplan thought about market reforms,&quot; said Zoteyev. &quot;People's minds were focused on ways to improve the existing system.&quot;
 But after witnessing Gorbachev's first moves, Gosplan economists lost hope.
 &quot;It was clear that no combination of command and market economies was possible,&quot; Zoteyev said. &quot;The convergence theory was an illusion.&quot;
 The only way to limit the appetites of the Soviet leadership was to cap plans to increase capital expenditures, which grew at a pace of 40 percent throughout the 1960s, but dropped to about 10 percent in the middle of the 1980s. &quot;Everybody - from Defense Minister [Dmit ry] Ustinov to Gorbachev, then secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee - was lobbying for an increase in spending,&quot; said Zoteyev.
 Gorbachev had been trying to increase spending, especially for agriculture, since he first arrived in Moscow in 1978, but was foiled because the five-year plan ending in 1985 had already been approved by the time he had the power to do so. When it came to approving the five-year plan for 1985 to 1990, however, Gorbachev was already secretary general, so Gosplan was not able to ignore his requests.
 In the mid-1980s, Gosplan was working on the Communist Party's economic program up to the year 2000, carefully fabricating upcoming Soviet achievements. &quot;At the core of it was a growth in labor productivity of 150 percent,&quot; said Zoteyev. Such growth would have brought the Soviet Union to the same level as the United States, which, according to Gosplan, had a labor force 2 1/2 times more productive.
 &quot;Other forecasts were equally scientific,&quot; said Zoteyev. &quot;It became clear that with Gorbachev in the driving seat, the collapse was growing inevitable.&quot;
 In 1988, Zoteyev quit his prestigious Gosplan post, opting for an academic career in one of the state-owned research institutes in Moscow. He is now deputy head of the department of growth rates and sector development with the Economic Development and Trade Ministry.
 
 <strong>&quot;GORBYMANIA&quot;
 </strong>Meanwhile, in the West, &quot;Gorbymania&quot; was taking its toll. At that time, saying that Gorbachev's agenda was a pie in the sky was an anathema. &quot;The common view was that Gorbachev was a modern-day Bukharin,&quot; said Martin Malia, a professor of history with the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. &quot;It was almost a religion.&quot;
 Nikolai Bukharin was the architect of the Soviet Union's New Economic Policy, which allowed for the development of private businesses in agriculture, services and food processing, and which was implemented successfully by the Communists in the 1920s. It was succeeded by Stalin's collectivization - the massive reorganization of farms - and purges.
 &quot;My view was always that the system could not be reformed. It could only be abandoned,&quot; said Malia.
 But neither Malia nor any of his colleagues was able see the future.
 &quot;The demise of the Soviet Union was something neither of us even dared to think about,&quot; said Zoteyev.
 
 <strong>THE CIA'S RECORD
 </strong>Few institutions earned as much criticism for bad predictions regarding Soviet economic problems as the CIA, despite having the world's largest budget for research on the Soviet Union.
 Partly to improve its image, the CIA later declassified thousands of documents pertaining to its research on the Soviet Union. Many of these documents show that CIA analysts were aware of the growing economic problems earlier than previously thought. &quot;In my judgment, overall, the CIA performed admirably in meeting the challenges of assessing Soviet strengths and weaknesses,&quot; wrote former CIA director Robert Gates in the CIA's book &quot;Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991,&quot; which was published in March.
 Many analysts remain unconvinced of the accuracy of the CIA's analyses, despite its attempt at historical revisionism. &quot;[The CIA] is now going through their papers, seeking evidence that they guessed correctly,&quot; said Goldman.
 A few analysts, on the other hand, still applaud the CIA's work. &quot;In the 1970s, CIA economists were predicting slower rates of growth than most academics,&quot; said Kontorovich. &quot;But their critics said the CIA intentionally distorted the picture, trying to make their adversary look weaker than it actually was.&quot;
 
 <strong>THE CHINESE WAY
 </strong>So why did market reforms fail under Gorbachev, who attempted a step-by-step approach based on the Chinese model? &quot;The Soviets tried the Chinese approach in 1987-88, opening special economic zones, joint ventures, cooperatives, but the results were miserable,&quot; said Goldman. &quot;The problem is, unlike agricultural China, the Soviet Union was a highly industrialized economy with large distortions,&quot; he said.
 China could afford to make adjustments to its economic system one step at a time, postponing restructuring of large industrial enterprises for up to 20 years. &quot;But the Soviet Union had to tackle that problem immediately,&quot; said Goldman.
 Ten years after the demise of the Soviet Union, many of the free-market developments that have occurred in Russia seem to be natural ones. But before the collapse of the Soviet Union, not even the most radical thinkers were proposing anything like what has evolved. Economists were advocating reforms that were not dramatic enough and didn't address the key issues.
 Even Abel Aganbegyan, a man often called the architect of perestroika, managed to avoid using the phrase &quot;private property&quot; in the 250 pages of his 1988 manuscript, &quot;The Economic Challenge of Perestroika.&quot; So did Nikolai Shmelyov and Vladimir Popov, who in 1989 wrote &quot;The Turning Point,&quot; an account of the last years of the Soviet economy.
 But while Russia may have a more world-friendly economy than it did a decade ago, it is only about half the size. And the country has lived through three banking crises, two defaults, two devaluations and a period of hyperinflation.
 The post-Soviet economic reform effort, built on Gorbachev's failures, has not produced miracles. &quot;The irony is that Gorbachev is still highly respected in the West,&quot; said Goldman. &quot;He appears to be a man who brought about a revolution without bloodshed.&quot;

TITLE: Japanese Chipmaker's Losses Spur Work-Force Reduction
AUTHOR: By Yuri Kageyama

PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: TOKYO - Determined to put a stop to its losses amid a worldwide electronics slump, Japanese manufacturer Fujitsu is slashing 9 percent of its global work force as part of its turnaround strategy.
 Fujitsu will cut 16,400 jobs from its global work force of 180,000, President Naoyuki Akikusa said Monday. About 11,400 of the job cuts will be at its overseas operations.
 Fujitsu did not give a specific breakdown by country, but said that about 5,000 jobs in the electronic devices and other sectors will be cut in Asia outside Japan, and nearly 3,000 telecommunications jobs will be reduced in North America.
 It was not clear where the remaining 3,400 overseas job cuts would come from.
 In Japan, Fujitsu will eliminate 5,000 jobs, half of them by retirement. The other half will come by eliminating the jobs held by workers sent in from affiliated companies. All the cuts will be carried out by March 2002.
 &quot;The needs of the market are changing very rapidly,&quot; Akikusa told reporters. &quot;We need to adopt a global perspective.&quot;
 Fujitsu will make its plant in Gresham, Oregon, which employs 860 workers, a 50-50 joint venture with U.S. chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, officials said. Fujitsu has several plants in the United States, but the company would not disclose the exact figure.
 The big challenge for Fujitsu is to turn profits even during a global slowdown and to break away from its dependence on U.S. demand, the officials said.
 Fujitsu, based in Tokyo, lost $460 million in the first quarter that ended in June and forecasts losses for this fiscal year. It has already booked a onetime charge of $2.5 billion for restructuring costs for fiscal 2001.
 Like its Japanese rivals, Fujitsu has been hit by the global downturn in the demand for chips and other electronics products.
 NEC Corp. is slashing 4,000 jobs - about half of them workers from subcontractors. The total includes 1,800 regular NEC employees, or 1.2 percent of the company's global work force.

TITLE: The Protesters Missed the Point
AUTHOR: By Michael Mandelbaum

TEXT: THE fervor with which demonstrators protest ed last month's summit meeting in Genoa, Italy, of the Group of Eight - an annual gathering that brings together the leaders of the world's wealthiest countries - suggests that the growing economic gap between the world's rich and poor will be a major international issue of the 21st century.
 But a new book makes clear that the protesters' efforts to do something to alleviate global poverty were sadly misdirected. The great obstacle to the only sure way out of poverty is not the stinginess of the governments of the rich countries whose leaders gathered at Genoa. Rather, it is the incompetence and corruption of the governments of the countries in which most of the world's poorest people actually live.
 &quot;The Elusive Quest for Growth&quot; surveys the results of 50 years of efforts to promote economic growth in South Asia, the Midle East, Africa and Latin America. Its author, William Easterly, is an economist with the World Bank. His study found that the initiatives launched by the world's rich to help its poor in the second half of the 20th century achieved very little.
 Fifty years ago, it was thought that investment in machinery held the master key to economic growth. Poor countries received assistance from the West in acquiring the requisite machines. But this failed to lift them out of poverty. The poor countries received loans as well and, when they could not repay them, the loans were forgiven - a practice that many of the demonstrators at Genoa loudly advocated.
 But debt forgiveness did not lift poor countries out of poverty, either. Often the countries whose loans were forgiven simply borrowed more money and ultimately found themselves once again hopelessly mired in debt. Of course, the capital that the rich supplied to the poor is necessary for economic growth. But in many poor countries it was stolen by corrupt officials. Or it was channeled into projects that, while unproductive in economic terms, lined the pockets of families, friends and political allies. And the money that was stolen or misappropriated was money that was not used to build roads and schools, to establish honest civil services, police forces and courts systems, or to set up working public-health systems - all of which are vital if a society is to thrive.
 What the world's poorest countries have in common is the absence of the infrastructure that is one of the major requirements for prosperity. The other reason for their continuing poverty, according to Easterly, is that the basis of all economic behavior is incentives - &quot;people do what they get paid to do; what they don't get paid to do, they don't do&quot; - and in poor countries the incentives do not favor productive behavior.
 For example, corrupt and incompetent governments often run budget deficits because they spend more money than they collect in taxes. This creates the incentive to print money to pay for the spending. Inflation, a common affliction of poor countries, in turn creates a disincentive to put money in banks, where it loses its value. And this means that banks cannot play the role of fostering growth by directing capital to productive uses.
 In any country, rich or poor, it is the government that is in the best position to set incentives, just as it is the government that must supply the roads, schools, hospitals, police and courts on which a productive society rests. As long as the world's poorest countries are governed by people who distort economic incentives, these countries will remain poor no matter how much money they receive from the world's rich.
 So, if the Genoa protesters are serious about helping the world's poorest people, they will plan their next demonstration not for Canada, where the 2002 summit of the Group of Eight will be held, but rather for the cities that host the meetings of the Organization of African Unity or the Arab League. Those cities are not nearly so comfortable as Genoa, nor do the meetings of those organizations attract anything like the press coverage that the G-8 summits command. But such meetings do offer the opportunity to direct well-deserved protests at the political leaders who actually bear the chief responsibility for global poverty.
 
 <i>Michael Mandelbaum is a professor of U.S. foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He submitted this piece to Newsday. </i>

TITLE: When Backing Bad Guys Is Good Economic Sense
TEXT: RUSSIA is undoubtedly becoming more civilized. Just look at the aluminum companies. The first aluminum war was fought with pistols and machine guns. The second with the help of bribed courts. Now the third war has an international flavor - Its main weapon is a New York court. The plaintiffs are the losers of the previous war and the defendants are the winners.
 The list of plaintiffs, which includes the companies of the Zhivilo brothers, who lost the Novokuznetsk Aluminum Plant, has been swelled by the companies of Dzhalol Khai da rov, who lost the Kachkanar vanadium-processing plant.
 Russian Aluminum head Oleg Deripaska and former metals magnate Mik ha il Chernoi, together with the head of the Urals Metals and Mining Company, Iskander Makhmudov, and the alleged leader of the Izmailovsky criminal gang, Anton Malevsky, stand accused of money laundering and plotting to use whatever means possible to take over Russia's metals companies.
 The case - in which Anatoly Bykov is named as a &quot;victim&quot; and Malevsky is accused of causing harm - ought really to be sorted out by Yaponchik or some other gangster, certainly not by a New York court.
 Deripaska's opponents conduct their business Russian-style, and if they happen to grab their opponent by the balls under the negotiating table, then they certainly won't be giving any liberal-sounding interviews afterward.
 Deripaska is a different matter. He talks about &quot;honest rules of the game,&quot; and his Siberian Aluminum tells Western investors how important it is to be a transparent company. (Interesting. How can a company have transparent cash flows if, according to Zhivilo, that company pays Malevsky?)
 Deripaska has erected a huge and costly PR wall on which his opponents have plastered cheap posters reading &quot;suspected of participation in organized crime.&quot; Now the PR campaign has become a grandiose political headache.
 In such circumstances, the Kremlin has two possible routes. The first is to use the arguments of the losers to reinvestigate the privatizations.
 The second is to support the interests of Russian business, even if this means supporting the interests of criminals. The British government wasn't afraid to send troops to India in defense of what would today be considered the criminal interests of the East India company.
 Britain ruled the waves because it fought for its industrialists, and not against them.
 
 <i>Yulia Latynina is a journalist with ORT. </i>

TITLE: Readers Express Sympathy for Kursk Families
TEXT: <strong>Editor,</strong>
 In my local news, it mentioned that it has been already a year since 118 sailors tragically perished aboard the submarine Kursk on Aug. 12, 2000.
 I am an ordinary French-Canadian citizen living in Montreal and feel very sad for the families of these sailors who are still grieving. The world's news headlines are still reporting about this devastating accident. Indeed, everyone the world over can feel only genuine heartfelt sympathy toward the families and friends of these brave sailors who needlessly died.
 I write, feeling it is important, so the Russian people are informed that outside Russia ordinary people like me want to pass along to them our sadness and sympathy.
 <i>Gaetan Lefebvre
 Montreal, Canada
 </i>
 <strong>Editor,</strong>I am a student at the St. Petersburg State Medical Academy. I am Indian, but love Russia just like India. I am ready to give any help to the Kursk families.
 It is very sad to read about such events. The government should take care of such families and should provide for the education and future of these children. 
 This tragedy must never be forgotten. I extend my deepest condolences to all the families involved. I am a doctor, studying in St. Petersburg. If any help is needed, I will be there. Although I am Indian, Russia has given me everything, beyond my wildest expectations.
 <i>Vishal Arya
 St. Petersburg
 </i>
 <strong>Editor,</strong>The story of the Kursk is still hard to read. My heart and prayers go out to the Baigarin family. The loss of a good father makes the tragedy even more heartbreaking. Our hearts are broken for the Kursk families, even here in New York. 
 <strong>Joe Mohen 
 New York
 
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 I am currently a nurse at Brooke Army Medical Center. As a soldier I know that I must be prepared to die if necessary if no other option exists for me to carry out the orders and the mission given to me. Yet as an officer, I know those whom I am expected to lead would expect me to do everything within my ability to safeguard the lives of my troops and avoid unnecessary dangers. 
 The fact that the Russian government and Navy leadership kept mum and dragged their feet for so long before even acknowledging the dire straits of the Kursk crew demonstrates the worst trait any leader can exemplify: indifference to the fate of those he leads. 
 When leaders worry more about saving face than taking care of their subordinates, it is a prescription for failure and demoralization at every level. The American military paid a huge price for its indifference to the needless and avoidable suffering of troops in the field during my country's ill-starred war in Vietnam. Right about now, in the light of the Kursk disaster and the denial and foot-dragging done by the Russian leadership, I wouldn't want to be a Russian Navy recruiter. 
 <i>First Lieutenant Brad O'Brien 
 Fort Sam Houston, Texas
 </i>
 <strong>How About the CIA?
 </strong>In response to &quot;Readers Say 'No' to Glorification of KGB,&quot; a series of letters on Aug. 14.
 </i>
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 Making a television show that paints the KGB in a positive light may not be a good idea. But I would bet that many of your readers who lodged complaints don't see any problem with Hollywood-produced movies and shows that portray the CIA as heroes, like all the Tom Clancy movies with the Jack Ryan character. Are they good guys just because they didn't act against their own people as the KGB did, instead focusing their efforts on slaughtering as many politically active leftists as they could get their hands on all over Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia? Where can you draw the cutoff that X number of politically motivated murders is acceptable, but Y number is simply too high?
 Every one of those letters protesting the pro-KGB show is from the United States, indicative of the Cold War ignorance, propaganda and stereotypes that continue to form the basis of the attitudes of Americans toward communism. Just two weeks ago, the government accidentally released a book detailing how involved the CIA was in compiling lists of suspected members of the Communist Party of Indonesia in the mid-1960s, enabling the right-wing death squads to kill anywhere between 500,000 to 1 million &quot;revolutionaries&quot; more efficiently.
 The CIA has never hidden the numerous schemes it came up with in its attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro and invade a sovereign country with a mercenary force without congressional approval, completely ignoring the will of the Cuban people, all because Cold War propaganda ran so deep in American society that we could be convinced that an island with fewer than 10 million people and an economy dependent on sugarcane was a threat to us.
 How can these people rationalize condemning the KGB without in the same breath - and with equal conviction - condemning the CIA?
 <i>Stephen Pack
 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 
 </i><strong>What Spirit?</strong>
 In response to &quot;We Must Never Forget Spirit of August 1991,&quot; a comment on Aug. 17.
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 Spirit - what spirit? In August '91 the country was collectively and cynically had by a clique of thugs and thieves-to-be (Yeltsin and co.) against the ruling clique of thugs and thieves (Kryuchkov and co.) in their fight over power and Russia's wealth.
 It is interesting to note that both cliques admit they were &quot;talking&quot; to each other about the &quot;project&quot; (Kryuchkov) or &quot;situation&quot; (Yeltsin) several weeks (even months) before the events. Both tried to use Gorbachev's weakness, lack of direction (or understanding), hypocrisy and illusion of self-grandeur for their own gain.
 Both knew exactly what was planned for the Aug. 19 and afterward as both attended the same meetings.
 Ironically, (as they were anything but democrats) Yeltsin and co. were better placed to use and abuse people's trust and ideals, which they very successfully did in August '91 (and October '93 and June '96). They never were in the same camp as Gorbachev and used his weakened position to squeeze power from him by the only means available at the time - breaking up the Soviet Union in the interests of a small group of privileged few, ignoring the wishes of 70 percent or more of the population - cynically lying to the people that this will solve all our problems, fill our shops, create jobs and ensure that each of us will have a villa on a nice lake. Thus they stole a country from its people.
 They proclaimed that they would build &quot;capitalism with a human face,&quot; but they created an inhuman regime that allowed the old to die from hunger in unheated apartments, and the young to be sold as slaves (at the beginning of the 21st century!) or slaughtered in Chechnya.
 They proclaimed that what they were doing was in the interests of the people, and 10 years later 50 million fewer Russians can read their self-righteous praises - the rest are dead, dying or gone.
 They promised to fill the shops and create jobs, but they did not pay wages. For months on end millions were thrown out of work and a large number of the best brains have left this country, which rewards muscles, not brains. They promised democracy and created kleptocracy. They proclaimed free elections and denied access to national television to candidates other than Yeltsin.
 The list is too long for a newspaper column.
 So what spirit of '91 are we talking about here? The spirit of &quot;steal all that you can?&quot; The spirit of &quot;cheat your neighbor?&quot; The spirit of &quot;kill your competitor?&quot; Or the spirit of the naive belief in the good old Uncle Sam who will protect us against ourselves and feed us for all time to come simply because we happen to have several thousand rusty nukes? Or the spirit of people whose life, ideals, homes, pensions, savings, past and future disappeared in three days?
 The place of each event in history is judged by its result and not how people felt during that event. The result of '91 is horrible by anybody's standards, and I cannot see any reason why Aug. 19 should be celebrated as anything other than the day we lost ourselves.
 The &quot;spirit&quot; that prevailed on the barricades in '91 was nothing other than a naive exaltation supported by the &quot;free press.&quot; The vague hope that things could only get better was wrong. Events developed in the only way they could and the disaster of the last 10 years is the direct result of those dog days in August '91. Do not mistake yourselves ladies and gentlemen.
 <i>Andrei Liakhov
 London, England
 </i>
 <strong>Hard Times
 </strong>In response to &quot;Compromise Labor Code Over First Hurdle,&quot; July 6.
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 I read this story when I was in St. Petersburg recently. This was my first visit to Russia and I am still trying to come to terms with what I saw there.
 Of course, impressions formed from such short contact can be quite misleading, but I was surprised at the apparent difference in economic conditions between Russia and other former communist countries, such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The conditions under which people live in rural Russia seem to be those of extreme hardship, which contrasts strongly with the apparent affluence of their Polish counterparts. Nor is it only rural Russians who appear to bear these hardships. On July 24, as our bus was approaching Moscow, the city was hit by a severe storm. There, on the outskirts, less than 30 kilometers from the center, trees and power poles had fallen and crushed many already ancient and fragile dwellings. In almost all cases the only people who could be seen surveying the damage were old women whose faces showed a hopeless resignation that one more disaster had to be endured without support.
 The most disturbing thing I found in the article was that the subsistence level was considered to be 1,400 rubles ($45) per month. I can't imagine how anybody can be expected to survive on this amount, but I realize that many are getting even less. It seems to me the situation is made worse by the fact that part of the wages can be paid in goods that the employee will then have to find a way of disposing of. As always, those that will suffer most from the rapid changes in your country are the ones who are least able to protect themselves, namely the old and the disadvantaged.
 I can only hope that your leaders will find a way to increase productivity and wealth while at the same time trying to lessen the shock felt by many people at the disruption to their lives.
 On a different note, in recent years I have read a number of articles that discuss the difficulty of protecting from damage the art works stored at the Hermitage. These articles have always pointed out that not enough money is available to create the conditions necessary to care for these treasures.
 When on tour, I mentioned this to our guide but she assured me this is not true and that ample money is supplied for this purpose. It would be very interesting to know what the situation really is.
 <i>Keith Ryan
 Sydney, Australia
 </i>
 <strong>Wait a Sec</strong>
 In response to &quot;A Waste of Time,&quot; a letter to the editor by Richard Manning, Aug. 14.
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 One question. If I was a Russian and was the victim of pick-pocketing in, say, New York City, would you expect the New York police to have Russian-speaking officers for my convenience or to be given a ride to the ballet from the police station?
 <strong>Kristina Kuprina
 Sunnyvale, California
 <strong>Sham Activism
 </strong>In response to &quot;Gay Activism Lives,&quot; a letter to the editor, and &quot;The Long and Bumpy Road to a Civil Society,&quot; a comment, both published Aug. 7.
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 </i>It's always thrilling to be conscious of the existence of the 10 percent of gay people all around. But unfortunately, it's more like thinking of the stars while sitting in jail with no windows around. 
 Once I sent an e-mail to the Krilija office with many sympathetic words and several questions about the organization's functioning. In response, I received only a form letter with a historical reference. This is very interesting, sure, but not that helpful. 
 The thing is that modern Russia doesn't have any gay tradition at all. No Oscar Wilde. Sergei Diaghilev isn't being quoted. Sergei Eisenstein was much too Soviet. 
 And with no basis, it's hard to expect there to be any subculture. Once we have hundreds of cheap gay bars, where a small-town boy can just feel decompressed, there'll be something of gay culture. But first we must obtain cultural authorities like Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Elton John or Steven Fry, who are openly gay and who would support the gay movement openly and consistently. And the leaders of gay organizations would give any psychological aid needed and would lead a constant and open struggle for the rights of gay people. 
 In England, gay culture was formed long before the abrogation of the law against homosexuality, for people need cultural support above all. Only then can we speak of activism and civil society. The extent to which a society is civil is measured by tolerance and openness, not just in politics but in love and sex as well. We are now at the zero point, even if Article 121 no longer exists.
 <i>Ilia Gossoudarev
 St. Petersburg
 </i>
 <strong>Limited Viewpoints
 </strong>In response to &quot;Journalism Has Earned Its Bad Reputation,&quot; a column by Vladimir Kovalev, July 31.
 <strong>Editor,</strong>
 It is with great interest that I read your comment about the journalistic transition underway in what is to me still the old Soviet Union. I do not mean to insult you or The St. Petersburg Times in any way. It may just be that it is a matter of time before I will fully be able to understand the political change that has happened, and it just does not seem possible that the Bear is gone. 
 Soviet journalism is Pravda. So goes the mindset. I have to admit, the concept of actually paying a reporter to get out your point of view, well, that is what capitalism is all about, isn't it? Think about it. What is the difference between that and what the editors and reporters in American newspapers do? There really is no difference. They are paid a salary by the company that owns the paper, and they write their &quot;objective&quot; stories with whatever slant that will sell the most papers and keep them in a job. Whether it is motivated by politics, religion or locality, it is the same &quot;objective&quot; reporting. 
 So often in American papers, the subscribers will only get a very limited point of view on an issue. If they do receive more than one view on an issue, it is not balanced. The principle of writing a report in such a way that the reader would never know the reporter's bias is dead. I have never found a single paper that will truly report just the facts and all of the facts. This would be too boring. And boring does not sell.
 <i>Allan Edmunds
 Phoenix, Arizona </i>

TITLE: What Lost Opportunities?
AUTHOR: By Dmitry Furman

TEXT: THE 10th anniversary of Russia without the Soviet Union and without the all-powerful Communist Party makes a great pretext for reflection on the past decade's missed opportunities.
 When we speak about &quot;missed opportunities&quot; we usually mean the good options that have been missed. But at any given moment of a country's history - just as in the life of an individual - there is a whole range of options, only one of which becomes reality. Usually, it is not the best one, or the worst.
 The range of Russia's options during the past 10 to 15 years has been relatively narrow. In 1985, when perestroika began, Russia was a mature organism whose national psychology, memory of its past and old habits had already been formed. Nonetheless, it had certain choices.
 To compare our history since Mikhail Gorbachev with a gamble: We won the whole pot in the beginning. Soviet power was doomed. But the collapse of Soviet power could have taken various forms. When Gorbachev emerged at the top and for six years proceeded to dismantle the system, it was a huge stroke of luck. An extremely improbable option. 
 Six years of Gorbachev's reforms prepared the people for the fall of the totalitarian regime. I believe that the fact that we still have many achievements of democracy is largely due to those years of preparation.
 Could Gorbachev have stayed in power? He could have, but only at the expense of a radical slowing down or even complete freeze of the democratic process. I think that would have been a better option than the one that was realized, because slow progress - or even a halt in progress - is better than a rapid leap leading to a backlash. 
 Revolutionary achievement of freedom by an unprepared country necessarily leads to a loss of this freedom. Tyrannies brought to life in such a way are usually worse than the old regimes. The semi-constitutional monarchy of 1905 to 1907 was not a democracy, but it was immeasurably better than the tyranny that took hold after a short outburst of freedom in 1917. Six years of Gorbachev's rule were the preparation, without which the downfall of Soviet power could have become a real catastrophe.
 There was one option, however, that definitely never existed. Gorbachev could not have led an absolutely unprepared country to real democracy, which presumes an opposition capable of gaining power and the rotation of various political forces in the government. At best, he could have created a &quot;semi-democratic&quot; regime with a renamed Communist Party as the only ruling party, with weak right-wing and left-wing oppositions that would have gradually carried out market reforms and dismantled the Soviet Union. 
 In this case, we could have avoided much bloodshed and disillusionment. The privatization process would have been slower, but less of a robbery. The impoverishment of the population would have been lessened. By now, we would have been somewhat closer to a democratic norm. 
 The collapse of communist power in our situation - with a total absence of civil society, developed parties and democratic traditions, and with the people used to obeying the authorities blindly - would have inevitably led to presidential authoritarianism. 
 Of course, somebody &quot;more decent&quot; than Boris Yeltsin could have popped up, and we could have avoided the bloody coup of 1993. Some form of conflict between president and parliament was inevitable. It was conceived in the unclear separation of legislative and executive powers inherited by the new Russian state from the Soviet constitution. It could still be worse than it was. 
 But under any scenario, we would have shifted to an authoritarian presidency. When the power is seized by a group of people who are restrained by neither party discipline nor democratic procedures, the privatization process could not have turned into anything but plundering of state property.
 Perhaps I lack imagination, but I don't see any major options for a different development. And I don't think that the absolutely worst option has become a reality.
 Of course, some of the relatively favorable options have been missed as well. Not so long ago, we could almost have elected - for the first time in Russia's history - a person not appointed from above as head of state. When Yeltsin wavered in choosing a successor, the elite began to organize itself and nominated its own candidate: Yevgeny Primakov. If the circumstances had been slightly different - say Primakov was a different kind of man or Yeltsin had postponed his choice even further -we would have had two candidates from the &quot;party of power&quot; and something very close to democratic elections.
 Apart from this unlikely option, any Yeltsin appointee would have become president. Our party system and political watersheds are such that any opposition candidate, right or left, is a greater evil for the majority of the population. Such is the political culture and psychology of the majority, formed during the course of our whole history. Our majority always prefers the certainty of powers-that-be to the uncertainty of freedom.
 What would be different if we had another president today? Not much. Vladimir Putin, I think, is not the best option, but not the worst one either. Of course, he has introduced some changes in &quot;style&quot; - both good and bad changes - into politics. But his main task has been to put the system &quot;in order.&quot; To make it manageable and fight the forces that were born of the revolution: separatism and the oligarchs. All the while, he gradually distances himself from the revolutionary past and establishes himself as &quot;normal.&quot; 
 Obviously, the present regime of a chosen, rather than freely elected president, will not last forever. It is one of many transitional, &quot;semi-democratic&quot; steps that emerge in countries that are psychologically and culturally unprepared for democracy. Ultimately, a crisis is inevitable. It will bring new options and form a bridge to genuine democracy with choices. But it won't happen soon. 
 
 <i> Dmitry Furman is a research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The complete version of this article appeared in the Rodina history magazine. </i>

TITLE: Our Governors' Greatest Fear Is Free Elections
TEXT: IT has been 10 years since the vanishing of the Soviet Union, and you'd think that the people in power would have changed a bit by now. But they haven't. 
 A surprising number of our governors, for instance, seems to think that it would be much better if the country avoided the unpleasant inconveniences of elections and simply adopted a system under which the president appointed regional leaders. So much for their understanding of democracy.
 &quot;Why should we limit a leader's terms in office if he has good health, experience and a desire to work?&quot; asked Leningrad Oblast Governor Valery Serdyukov last week.
 Sergei Katanandov, chairman of the government of the Republic of Karelia, agreed that the president should appoint governors. &quot;That is absolutely right. The question is whether or not we are ready for this step. Time will tell,&quot; Katanandov said.
 Of course they aren't ready. Not enough time has passed since Vladimir Putin was elected president in March 2000. Not all the governors have succeeded in attracting the president's attention.
 But last week was Katanandov's chance to shine. Putin spent a chunk of his vacation in Karelia, staying for a time at Shuiskaya Chupa, the presidential resort located in the republic. Russian-politics addicts may remember this as the place where former president Boris Yeltsin liked to fish while scuba divers attached lunkers onto the presidential hook.
 No doubt, Putin will remember how many fish he caught in Karelia for the rest of his life, giving Katanandov one more opportunity to be noticed. That's the way Russia works sometimes - fish can be more important than people.
 The ironic thing is that our local governor, Vladimir Yakovlev, comes off looking like a dyed-in-the-wool democrat. Of course, his credentials took a bit of a beating back in 1998 when his supporters in the Legislative Assembly falsified the voting in an attempt to move the elections for Yakovlev's convenience. But today he is on more solid ground. His approval rating is over 60 percent and, as a result, his views on democracy seem pretty reasonable.
 &quot;Elections are one of the foundations of democracy,&quot; said Yakovlev's spokesperson Alexander Afanasiev last week. &quot;[Yakovlev] feels that his position is stronger if he is elected.&quot;
 And what does Putin's local representative, Northwest Region Governor General Viktor Cherkesov, have to say on this matter? After all, he is the one who theoretically should be reminding the governors about the constitution, which doesn't say anything about appointing governors.
 In fact, he might even cite to them passages such as Article 3: &quot;The multinational people of the Russian Federation is the locus of sovereignty and the only source of power in the Russian Federation.&quot;
 But Cherkesov never has liked talking about the constitution very much. Of course, it is hard to be surprised by this, considering that Cherkesov was among those who prosecuted people for fighting for democracy in the Soviet era. 
 Now, I think it is likely the Duma, controlled by the Kremlin, may pass a law allowing the president to play with regional leaders in any way he wants. It has done as much with the Federation Council, whose members are appointed by regional leaders. 
 This is the president's new &quot;vertical of power&quot;: the president looming above a bunch of cowering regional leaders clutching onto their seats, while the people are off to the side somewhere, not getting in the way.

TITLE: Are Passports Really the Best Solution?
TEXT: LAST Friday, we reported on two visiting Swedish diplomats who have filed a complaint against local police, charging that they were manhandled during a late-night document check. The police have said nothing, except that an investigation is underway.
 It is not possible, of course, to comment on the merits of the diplomats' complaint. The circumstances they describe, however, are the stuff of everyday life for foreigners here - an unfortunate and unnecessary situation that will continue to create problems such as those that the Swedes encountered. 
 The diplomats say that they were stopped at random by a patrol officer and asked to present their passports. Having already been warned about the danger of having their documents stolen and the inconvenience involved in getting them replaced, the diplomats were carrying only their driver's licenses. As a result, the police officer had the right to detain them, take them to a police station and verify their identities.
 When The St. Petersburg Times looked into this story, the police confirmed that foreigners living in St. Petersburg are indeed required to carry their passports and registered visas with them at all times. No other form of documentation is acceptable. 
 The police have expressed no sympathy with the fact that passports and visas are in fact frequently lost and stolen and that replacing them is usually the kind of bureaucratic nightmare that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. 
 There is a simple and logical solution to this problem that would meet the needs of the police and make life considerably easier for foreigners. Tourists are not required to carry their passports. In fact, they are required to surrender their passports to their hotels, which are in turn required to provide a document that can be presented to the police in lieu of a passport. 
 If hotels can provide such a service, it seems natural that OVIR, the office that registers foreigners' visas, could do the same for resident foreigners. Such a <i>spravka</i> could be carried around with relative security and, upon presentation of a passport and visa, replaced easily if lost or stolen. 
 Document checks and hostile encounters with the police do nothing to enhance St. Petersburg's image. And the police have much more important things to do than track down the identities of foreigners who decide not to risk carrying their passports with them.
 Foreign consulates in St. Petersburg and the embassies in Moscow should apply to the Russian government to adopt this change quickly. Russia is opening up to the world, and this anachronistic policy has already become a pointless obstacle.

TITLE: Global eye
TEXT: <strong>Hush Hush</strong> When dealing with potentially scandalous stories concerning respected public figures, we at the Global Eye eschew lurid speculation in the Larry King-Fox News-Wall Street Journal manner. There, you will find daily doses of sex-crazed conjecture and feverish fantasy; here, we confine ourselves to the dry recitation of fact.
 Thus when we read that a young woman found dead in a powerful congressman's office was actually killed by a blow to the head - contrary to earlier official statements that said her body bore no marks whatsoever - and that the medical examiner in charge of the case had previously had his license revoked for reporting false information, we do not leap to the nearest cable news outlet to spin wild conspiracy theories about lust and murder. We simply note the results of our research for whatever passing interest they may have for the reader.
 The facts, then. On July 21, 2001, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the body of Lori Klausutis, 28, was found in the office of U.S. Representative Joe Scarborough, 38, for whom Klausutis worked as an aide. Police on the scene said there were no indications of forced entry or physical struggle and &quot;no signs of trauma to the body.&quot; The official medical examiner, Dr. Michael Berkland, then conducted an extensive autopsy - more than 80 hours - before announcing his findings last week.
 Berkland said Klausutis died from a blow to the head, probably caused when she fainted and fell to the floor after an attack of a previously undiagnosed &quot;valvular condition of the heart.&quot; Klausutis, an avid runner and member of the Northwest Florida Track Club, had never evinced heart problems before - but such things happen, Berkland said. He also admitted that authorities had previously lied about her fatal wound in order to forestall media inquiries into the case. &quot;The last thing we wanted was 40 questions about a head injury,&quot; he told the Northwest Florida Daily News.
 Berkland moved to Florida after his medical license was revoked in Missouri following a 1998 case in which he was found to have falsified information in an autopsy report, American Political Journal reported.
 Representative Scarborough was one of the rising stars of the Republican right. So rock-ribbed was his conservatism that he considered hard-right hero Newt Gingrich &quot;too liberal&quot; and tried to oust him as speaker of the House in 1997. Chastened by this abortive attempt, Scarborough focused instead on tax cuts, military spending, Christian values (he co-sponsored the Ten Commandments Defense Act with California Democrat Gary Condit) and, of course, the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, he broadened his media appeal by appearing on Hollywood talk shows like &quot;Politically Incorrect&quot; and playing in a &quot;patriotic rock band&quot; with other Republican congressmen.
 Last year, he amassed a war chest of $750,000 and cruised to re-election in November. He was tapped for powerful committees in the House - armed services, government reform, and judiciary - and took a leading role in implementing the Bush legislative agenda. This spring, reports surfaced that Scarborough, a divorced father of two, was planning to resign because of unnamed &quot;personal problems,&quot; including hints of an involvement with a staff member. He strongly denied these &quot;unfounded rumors&quot; and vowed to remain in office. On June 20, 2001, Scarborough suddenly resigned from Congress, saying he needed to spend more time with his family.
 The death of Lori Klausutis one month later passed unmentioned in the King-Fox-Journal circles of higher mediadom. Not even the official cover-up of the blow to her head has aroused those pundits who prey on every lipstick trace of Chandra Levy and every trouser flutter of Gary Condit - while burying the various depredations of the Bush regime beneath their mounds of gossip.
 We here at the Global Eye believe there is likely no fire at all behind these twin plumes of mysterious smoke in Florida and Washington. But we do think it's remarkable that only one plume is considered worthy of media attention, while the other is left to smolder in merciful darkness.
 Postscript: So what's Joe Scarborough going to do now that he's resigned? USA Today reports he is mulling over a couple of lucrative offers: a plum post in the Bush administration, or a high-profile job in - you guessed it - the media.
 <strong>Liberal Arts</strong> Speaking of the media, it is of course an established scientific truth that the American press - despite being almost wholly owned by corporate conglomerates and operated by ruthless bean-counters devoted solely to shareholder profits - is a swamp of gay-commie-feminist liberalism. It's just a fact, you can't deny it: The sky is blue, the sun rises in the east, and the American media are controlled by godless socialist freaks.
 Take, for example, CNN - or as right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh calls it, with that exquisite Shavian wit for which he is so justly celebrated - the &quot;Communist News Network.&quot; CNN is of course famous for nurturing such flaming socialist liberals as Hitler admirer Pat Buchanan, beetle-browed hatchet man Robert Novak, and the aforementioned monger of twaddling gossip, Larry King.
 In fact, so liberal is CNN that its new chief, Walter Isaacson, went cap in hand to hard-right Republican leaders like Tom DeLay and J.C. Watts last week, begging them to help him &quot;tell their story&quot; on the network, Roll Call magazine reports. That craven gesture left Republican staffers exultant. &quot;He's panicking about losing viewers to Fox,&quot; said one aide, referring to the starboard-leaning propaganda mill owned by Rupert Murdoch. &quot;He said, 'Give us guidance on how to reach conservatives.'&quot; (What? He doesn't know how to look under a rock?)
 Now this week comes word from USA Today that the Bolsheviks at CNN are trying to land a prominent radio personality for their team - a certain Rush Limbaugh. The ever-mendacious bloviator might be hard to get, however: He just signed a record-breaking contract for $285 million to keep disgorging his hate-filled lies and simpering hymns of Bush praise on the air.
 Gee, think how much he would've gotten if the media weren't controlled by liberals.

TITLE: Why Oporto Was Made 2001 Culture Capital
AUTHOR: By Cristiana Pereira

PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: OPORTO, Portugal - The damp and gloomy granite buildings lining the banks of the Douro River seem to embody this northern Portuguese city's noble traditions and conservative attitudes. The dour impression is misleading, however.
 In fact, the place best known around the world for sweet and syrupy port wine is a congenial destination with friendly locals ready to chat and assist a stranger.
 There are many treasures to explore in the often misty, storied streets of this historic mercantile Atlantic port.
 Oporto is a World Heritage site designated by the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. That means that the city of 330,000 people is considered to be one of the world's most precious natural or cultural sites.
 The 15-member European Union has named Oporto, along with Rotterdam, a yearlong Culture Capital in 2001, an accolade that brings with it a slew of cultural events.
 But the city's real gems are more permanent.
 &quot;In other cities, there are a number of special places of interest to see, but here it's the whole city,&quot; says Hieko Burrack, a 28-year-old tourist from Frankfurt, Germany, while tasting a glass of port at one of the riverfront cellars.
 &quot;And the people are really friendly,&quot; he adds.
 Coated in traditional bright yellow paint, trolleys glow like rays of sunlight against the city's dark cobbled streets. The trolleys rumble along rails down the winding road that links the upscale rivermouth area called Foz to the quaint downtown riverside area of Ribeira. 
 Here, tiny houses painted red, yellow and green nestle in the shadow of the huge Luis I iron bridge that Theophile Seyrig built across the Douro in the late 19th century. Seyrig was a former partner of French engineer Gustav Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame in Paris.
 On the water, gulls perch on the masts of the traditional rabelo boats - small vessels with a single sail - that were traditionally used to carry wine barrels from vineyards upstream to the city warehouses that British traders used when they settled here in the 18th century.
 Inside the Ribeira's low-ceilinged restaurants, the more intrepid travelers can sample the specialties of local cuisine - including tripas, a stew of beef entrails and beans.
 The dish, which gave Oporto residents the nickname of &quot;tripeiros,&quot; became a staple during the 15th century, when ships going off to war in North Africa were supplied with the best meat, leaving city dwellers with the leftovers to cook up.
 The history of Oporto can be traced back to the fifth century. It began as a settlement at the mouth of the Douro River known as Portus Cale, or the port of Cale, giving Portugal its name when the country was formed in the 12th century following the ouster of the Moors from North Africa, who had occupied most of the Iberian peninsula.
 Oporto flourished in the 18th century - when most of its best monuments were built - as local wine exports soared after Portugal and England signed the Methuen Treaty. That trade pact, signed in 1703, gave British merchants control over port wine exports to England and in turn brought British products - and culture - to Oporto.
 The &quot;Vinho do Porto,&quot; which is now known worldwide simply as port, gave the city its crucial push as a trade center.
 Oporto has maintained its role as the hub for Portugal's northern industrial region. The fiercely proud locals still look down on the capital, Lisbon, and still repeat an old adage: &quot;Oporto works while Lisbon plays.&quot;
 The centuries of tradition and commercial wealth are tangible in the city's historic center. Highlights include the neoclassical palace where the stock exchange is housed, and the Sao Bento train station with its astounding 20,000 hand-painted tiles decorating the high walls. The 18th-century Clerigos Tower is a sample of pure baroque splendor built by Italian architect Nicolai Nasoni. Equally impressive are the belle-epoque Majestic cafe with its mirrored walls and crystal chandeliers, and the Aliados avenue with its old buildings of elaborate facades, gray domes and Roman clock towers.
 Oporto, despite its long traditions, also has this modern cosmopolitan buzz, which is reflected in its glitzy, glass-fronted shopping malls and office towers.
 The Casa de Serralves, a contemporary art museum in the Foz neighborhood, is one of the strongest references of the city's modern face.
 With its minimalist structure of white walls and flat skylights, designed by Portugal's leading architect, Alvaro Siza Vieira - a former winner of the international Pritzker Prize - it is a house of culture that reads like an ode to light.
 The Music Hall - a 12-meter-tall diamond-shaped concert venue designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas that is the showpiece of the major construction program for Oporto's stint as the 2001 Culture Capital - won't be ready until 2002.
 &quot;It may seem strange, but there wasn't enough time to finish it,&quot; says Teresa Lago, director of the Porto 2001 organizing committee.
 The decision to award Portugal's second-largest city the title of 2001 capital of culture was announced two years ago.
 Organizers took advantage of the government's generous investment in the event - 42.6 billion escudos ($186 million) - to conduct an extensive revamp of the city. After all, Oporto people are constantly grumbling that most public investment goes to the capital city of Lisbon, 290 kilometers to the south.
 But like Koolhaas' music-hall project, most of the urban renovation plans are delayed to some degree or another and have transformed the city - from Francisco Sa Carneiro International Airport to the downtown commercial area - into one enormous construction site.
 Locals have grown tired of cutoff streets and constant traffic jams, and shopkeepers are also disgruntled, claiming that the continuous drilling and building serve to keep potential customers away ahead of the busy holiday season.
 &quot;It's dispiriting,&quot; says Jose Carlos Ribeiro at the Tabacaria Brasil stationery shop.
 Three trucks loaded with mud were parked outside his shop at the Batalha square. Stone slabs were piled up next to mounds of gray sand.
 &quot;I get the impression that [the culture capital] is not in 2001,&quot; Ribeiro says with a mischievous smile. &quot;They must have got it wrong. It's probably 2010 or something.&quot;
 For months to come, a good pair of boots are a must for anyone visiting the city.

TITLE: Bringing Some Style to St. Pete
AUTHOR: By Terry Battles

PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: There are worse ways to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon than eating authentic pasta all'Amatriciana. And it's certainly an experience chatting with Italian Caterina Innocente, the sole agent in the Russian Federation and the former Soviet republics of international fashion designers such as Donna Karan, Thierry Mugler, J.P Gaultier, Alberta Ferretti, Canali and Kiton. 
 Dressed in her favorite black Prada fleece sweatshirt and pants, she opens the door with a warm &quot;Benvenuto.&quot; Walking into the kitchen of her apartment near the corner of Nevsky and Fontanka, Ms. Innocente puts on a white apron bearing the words &quot;Le Service est gratuit, n'en abusez pas!&quot; (The service is free, but don't abuse it!) While grating the Parmesan, Ms. Innocente happily says that nothing makes pasta taste better than Vivaldi.
 Like Vivaldi, Ms. Innocente is from Venice and so feels perfectly at home in St. Petersburg. &quot;What I love about this city is having water all around me, it gives me a peaceful feeling. Just turning off from the bustle of Nevsky within a few steps you'll find yourself walking on your own by the canals.&quot; 
 Ms. Innocente arrived in Russia in 1992 after completing a degree in languages at the University of Venice, and immediately began establishing a strong network of retailers for branded luxury goods in Moscow. &quot;Life is a funny thing,&quot; she says. &quot;I was lucky to find myself in the right place at the right time. I saw the opportunity for creating a new market for French and Italian designers, and I completely fell in love with that idea.&quot;
 Her relationship with Russian clients is unique in the fashion business. She will never forget her first clients in Moscow, Igor Krayushkin and Edward Kitzenko, whose boutique Podium was recently described by Italian fashion journalist Maria Grazia Salmaso as &quot;one of the best boutiques in the world today.&quot; 
 In the early struggle to establish the store, the trio fought side by side. On one hand, they had to contend with the local clientele who lacked faith that retailers sold genuine up-to-date collections, while on the other hand suppliers were reluctant to risk their established names in a politically and economically unstable country. 
 Now the showrooms of Paris and Milan are full of Russian buyers who are the source of envy of both Ms. Innocente's American and European colleagues. This, according to Ms. Innocente, is because of the Russians' joyful approach to fashion. They want to experiment and do so by ordering the most extravagant and representative pieces from each designer.
 Ms. Innocente admits that in Russia, just as anywhere else, only a select few can afford this clothing, but in fashionable St. Petersburg nightclubs you would never guess it. She says that every season the result of her work is becoming increasingly evident and asserts that St. Petersburg is definitely a city in love with fashion.
 Ms. Innocente moved to St. Petersburg in July 1997. She sensed that it was the right time for the local fashion stores to move on from selling stock merchandise and start regularly ordering collections. Since then, she has been working with local stores like Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor, Machiavelli, Podium, Babochka and Femme Etoile. &quot;Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor, especially, is such a historical establishment, and it has been a real experience working there.&quot; 
 Unlike most other businesses, the fashion industry has always enjoyed a close relationship with art and culture, which Ms. Innocente is keen to cultivate locally. Recently, she and her friend David Muller-Meerkatz, owner of IT company The Web Production, sponsored a CD of Astor Piazzolla's Argentinean tangos performed by a St. Petersburg orchestra. She points out that talented young St. Petersburg composer Dmitry Zhuchenko did the musical arrangements of Piazzolla's tangos and virtuoso Vlad Pesin performed first violin. This CD will be available at Innocente's new store Alquimia (Alchemy), which she is planning to open next fall.
 The store will offer a mix of sophisticated products such as oil-based perfumes from Capri and cashmere home goods, as well as items that Ms. Innocente will design herself and have produced by local craftsmen. 
 According to Ms. Innocente, Italians cannot live without contemplating beauty, and this is reflected in both her professional and private life. She is a jazz addict, a fiery salsa dancer and a cigar smoker in love with Pushkin's poetry. Her eclectic style strikes you the minute you walk in to her minimalist apartment. This is a woman who always wears black and lives in white.

TITLE: Atlantes and Carytides Hold Up City's Arches
AUTHOR: By Robert Coalson

PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: One of the distinguishing attributes of the so-called St. Petersburg style of architecture is the liberal and often eclectic use of those wonderful sculptures that tirelessly support the city's balconies and archways. 
 The male figures are called <i>atlanty, </i>after Atlas who bore the whole world on his back, and the female ones are <i>kariatidy </i>(caryatids), after the women of the Greek village of Caryae, who, according to legend, must eternally bear the shame of their town's support of the Persians in their assault upon Greece.
 Atlanty and kariatidy have played prominent and often playful roles in every phase of local architecture except the very early, Dutch-influenced style under Peter the Great and the severe architecture of the Soviet period.
 Some of the most notable examples are, of course, the 10, 5-meter granite giants holding up the main entrance to the New Hermitage building on Millionaya Ul. These atlanty are notable for their vast scale, and for the fact that they are carved from granite, which is much more difficult to sculpt than marble. 
 Some excellent local examples of art nouveau's treatment of the motif can be seen 14 Nab. Kryukova Kanala (1914) and 23 Zakharevskaya Ul. (1911 to 1913). The latter pay a witty tribute to Egyptian art.
 The atlanty/kariatidy group shown here is found on the richly decorated former townhouse of Pa vel Demidov at 43 Bolshaya Mor skaya Ul. Demidov, an industrialist and noted patron of the arts, commissioned August Monferrand to build his house in 1836. Monferrand was the city's leading architect in the first half of the 19th century, noted for the Alexander Column, St. Isaac's Cathedral and the statue of Nicho las I in St. Isaac's Square.
 Monferrand daringly mixed elements of Neoclassical, Renaissance and Baroque styles in his design. The huge second-floor balcony made of white marble is supported by four atlanty and two kariatidy. This composition is unusual both because of the mixing of male and female figures and because each figure in the grouping is unique, rather than a copy of the others.
 While the male and female figures in Monferrand's design chastely turn away from one another, the architect of 5 Starorusskaya Ul. also used mixed compositions, but more suggestively posed the males with one arm supporting the building and the other wrapped around the waist of his female companion.

TITLE: Rebel Leader Plans To Honor Peace Deal
AUTHOR: By Elena Becatoros

PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SIPKOVICA, Macedonia - The reclusive leader of Macedonia's ethnic Albanian guerrillas stepped out into the open Sunday, inviting reporters to his mountain hideout to declare that his fighters will hand over their weapons to NATO soldiers and honor a peace deal. 
 Dressed in a camouflage uniform and flanked by rebels armed with assault rifles, Ali Ahmeti, the political leader of the National Liberation Army, said the time had come to work for peace in this troubled Balkan country. 
 &quot;We will give up all our arms, because we will no longer have any need for them,&quot; he said of the rebels, who began fighting for more rights for minority ethnic Albanians in Macedonia six months ago. 
 Ahmeti told reporters crammed into a village school that he has begun contacts with a NATO advance team that began moving into the country this weekend to determine whether a tenuous cease-fire is holding well enough to allow the deployment of the full 3,500-troop mission. Soldiers from Britain, Canada, Greece and the Czech Republic streamed in Sunday, and the entire 400-member advance force was to be in place Monday. 
 Just hours after Ahmeti spoke, however, a firefight broke out between the insurgents and Macedonian forces in the village of Poroj, just outside the country's second-largest city, Tetovo. 
 A senior police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Macedonian forces came under fire first, and he described the situation as &quot;rather serious.&quot; Police said the attack included mortar and gun fire. There was no word on casualties. 
 An ethnic Albanian rebel commander, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that &quot;very intensive&quot; fighting was under way, but he did not offer details. 
 The fresh attack comes at a sensitive time, because NATO plans to decide later this week whether to move ahead with the British-led Operation Essential Harvest. The mission would collect rebel weapons - a key element of a peace deal meant to end the country's crisis. 
 NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, General Joseph Ralston, was to travel to Macedonia on Monday to take part in an assessment of the security situation. 
 Also Sunday, civilians blockaded the main road to the border in the town of Stenkovac for a second day, preventing NATO-led peacekeepers from traveling back and forth to Kosovo. The support base for peacekeepers in Kosovo is located in Macedonia. 
 Amid anticipation of the deployment, the rebels sought their moment of attention. The usually reclusive Ahmeti promised that after the peace deal the rebels would no longer be so mysterious. The insurgents, he said, want to assimilate again into society and live normal lives together with Macedonians. 
 &quot;We have to think about the future, and we have to remember the past as something bitter,&quot; Ahmeti said. &quot;We have to create the conditions to accommodate both Albanians and Macedonians.&quot; 
 Ahmeti deftly deflected questions about his own political future, but he clearly was king in his stronghold in Sipkovica, 40 kilometers outside the capital, Skopje. 
 Children lined up and cheered as he entered his car. Uniformed men guarded his every step in a village patrolled by rebels carrying assault rifles and grenades. 
 Four-wheel-drive vehicles painted in camouflage colors and bearing registration plates with the NLA emblem sped through the village, ferrying rebels to checkpoints on the outskirts. 
 But Ahmeti insists he is willing to give up the territory his group holds for the sake of ensuring that the peace deal works. 
 &quot;This is our territory and their territory,&quot; he said of the Macedonians. 
 NATO repeatedly has stressed that if the full multinational force is deployed, it will not act as a peacekeeping body separating the two factions in Macedonia and will only collect weapons voluntarily handed in by the rebels. The mission is to last only 30 days. 
 Many rebels say they want NATO troops to remain in the country much longer. 
 &quot;I don't think they will leave. They will stay much longer,&quot; said Selman Sefeori, 46, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, but returned to his native Macedonia to fight about five months ago. 
 He admitted he is considering holding on to one of his weapons &quot;just in case,&quot; instead of handing it in to NATO. 
 &quot;Nobody trusts the Macedonians,&quot; he said.

TITLE: Mideast on UN Racism Agenda
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: CAPE TOWN, South Africa - The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issue of slavery will definitely feature on the agenda of an upcoming UN conference on racism, South Africa's foreign minister said Sunday. 
 The United States has threatened to boycott the World Conference Against Racism, which begins Aug. 31 in the South African city of Durban, because of references to the Middle East conflict and African demands for slavery reparations in a proposed convention. 
 South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said it was unrealistic to expect delegates not to discuss these issues. 
 &quot;Any forms of discrimination, particularly as they relate to racism, will be discussed,&quot; she told the national broadcaster. 
 Dlamini-Zuma said a draft conference declaration still equated Zionism with racism - one of the United States' key objections. Zionism is the movement that led to the founding of the modern state of Israel. 
 At a preparatory meeting in Gene va, where the conference documentation was drafted, it had been agreed that attempts would continue to find language acceptable to everyone. 
 While Dlamini-Zuma said she thought it may still be possible to achieve consensus on the Zionism issue, &quot;what is not possible at this stage is not to say anything about the situation in the Middle East.&quot; 
 Instead of quibbling about whether slavery should be included on the conference agenda, countries should be considering how they could collectively close this &quot;ugly chapter of our past,&quot; so future generations did not have to worry about it, Dlamini-Zuma said. 
 The United States opposes demands for compensation from countries that benefitted in the past from slavery and colonialism. 
 Meanwhile, several thousand Palestinian supporters staged a rally in Durban on Sunday, denouncing Israel and calling for its international isolation.
 &quot;Our people are under siege, our people are being bombarded, our people are under occupation,&quot; Salman El-Herfi, the Palestinian ambassador to South Africa, told the gathering.

TITLE: Foreign Diplomats Cling to Last Hope Taliban Will Relent
AUTHOR: By Kathy Gannon

PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: KABUL, Afghanistan - Western diplomats appealed Monday to Afghanistan's ruling militia for a visa extension and permission to visit eight foreign aid workers jailed on charges of preaching Christianity in this Islamic country. 
 The Taliban have already refused to grant visa extensions for the American, German and Australian diplomats, but the three men said they will keep asking until they board a UN aircraft to return to Pakistan on Tuesday morning. 
 &quot;It's a real disappointment,&quot; said David Donahue, consul-general at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan. 
 The eight aid workers - two American women, four Germans and two Australians - were arrested along with 16 Afghan staff members of the aid group Shelter Now International, run by the German-based Christian organization Vision for Asia. 
 The two American women were arrested on Aug. 3, and the others on Aug. 5, when the Taliban raided their offices, confiscating computers and Christian material translated into the local languages. 
 The Taliban say they are broadening their investigations to include several other aid groups, including the World Food Program. Aid workers in Kabul say more arrests could result in a mass exodus from Afghanistan. Under Taliban law, a foreigner can be jailed and expelled for proselytizing. But for an Afghan facing similar charges, the penalty is death. 
 The diplomats say they are very reluctant to leave Afghanistan. 
 For Donahue, who has been in daily contact with the families of American women Dana Curry and Nicole Barnardhollon, it will mean a little less comfort that he will be able to offer the families in the United States. 
 &quot;They would like us here. My proximity to their children is very important to them. For example, when the rockets landed outside the city yesterday, I could tell them 'the rockets landed outside of town and I think your daughters are very close to where I am staying in Kabul and it is a very quiet place,'&quot; said Donahue. 
 Opposition forces fired several rockets Sunday at Kabul during an independence-day parade. The rockets landed in nearby hills. Taliban jets responded Monday by pounding opposition positions north of Kabul, opposition fighters said. No damages or casualties were reported. 
 The Taliban have ruled almost all of this impoverished country since 1996, imposing their strict version of Islamic rule - but they have mostly appeared in public as a ragtag corps of fighters. Sunday's parade was the first time the militia has been able to hold such a large and organized display of power. 
 Tens of thousands of Afghans turned out to celebrate their independence from British colonial rule in 1919. They watched as tanks and trucks carried fighters wearing turbans and wielding heavy machine guns.

TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Gang Gets Death
 

BEIJING (Reuters) - A court in central China has sentenced six members of a notorious criminal gang to death for a string of armed robberies, the Financial News reported on Monday.
 The Intermediate People's Court in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, passed the death sentences on Zhang Shuhai and five others on Saturday, the newspaper said.
 Zhang, 46, was thought to be the kingpin of a gang that took 2.5 million yuan ($300,000) from three banks between 1997 and 2000, killing a security guard during one of the robberies, according to police officials.
 The court also sentenced Zhang's wife, Wang Yu, to 12 years in prison for crimes including illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, the Financial News said.
 
 
Priest Abduction
 

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (Reuters) - The Catholic Church in El Salvador said on Sunday it is negotiating the release of a priest who was kidnapped after giving a Mass last week.
 San Salvador Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle said the negotiations are being conducted in secret in line with the demands of the kidnappers.
 "We can't provide many details about the circumstances of negotiations," Lacalle told journalists after saying Mass on Sunday.
 The Catholic church has, however, issued a public plea that kidnappers not harm the priest, Rogelio Esquivel, the first priest to be kidnapped in El Salvador since the end of the civil war in January 1992.
 At least 17 priests and four nuns were killed during the civil war. Among them was then-San Salvador Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who was killed in March 1980.
 His killers were never brought to justice. 
 
 
 Hundreds Expelled
 

BEIJING (AP) - Armed police have rousted hundreds of Tibetan nuns, some monks and Buddhist scholars from a nunnery and monastic institute in western China, razing their homes and threatening them with arrest if they return, a monitoring group said Monday. 
 Some of those thrown out of the Serthar Buddhist Institute and Nunnery in Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, were reportedly forced to sign documents denouncing the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader, and promising not to return, according to the Tibet Information Network. 
 The London-based group called the expulsions part of a systematic clearing out of Serthar on orders from provincial authorities and the central government in Beijing. The reason was not immediately clear, though China's government often views centers of Tibetan Buddhism as potential stewpots of opposition to Beijing's 51-year rule over Tibet. 
 
 
Hotel Blaze
 

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The owner of a Philippine hotel that caught fire over the weekend, killing 72 people, said he will surrender Monday to face investigation, officials said. 
 Interior Secretary Joey Lina said William Genato, the owner of the six-story Manor Hotel in the Manila suburb of Quezon City, will likely be charged Monday with several criminal counts in connection with Saturday's blaze. 
 Many of the fire's victims were attending a religious conference sponsored by a U.S.-based evangelical group. 
 Lina said city officials who issued permits to the hotel may also be charged. 
 Firefighters found bodies piled atop each other in bathrooms after the hotel's guests fled smoke that filled the corridors. The hotel's power was cut during the fire and without emergency lights, the victims apparently panicked and suffocated from the smoke. 
 
 
Donald Woods Dies
 

LONDON (Reuters) - Donald Woods, the crusading South African anti-apartheid newspaper editor immortalized in the film "Cry Freedom," died on Sunday in England, his family said.
 Woods, 67, who had been ill with cancer for the past two years, died in a hospital south of London.
 Former South African president Nelson Mandela - the country's first post-apartheid leader - had telephoned Woods at the hospital to wish him well only a few days earlier.
 South African President Thabo Mbeki praised Woods for his courage in fighting apartheid and expressed "sincere regret" at his death.
 "It's a shock and a painful blow for the country to lose a person of Donald Woods' stature," said Smuts Ngon yama, spokesperson for South Africa's ruling African National Congress.
 Woods, editor of South Africa's Daily Dispatch newspaper in East London from 1965 to 1977, himself made headlines when he drew the world's attention to the case of slain Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko.
 Biko, aged 30, was arrested by security police in September 1977 and beaten unconscious before being driven naked and in chains about 1,130 kilometers to the prison where he died.
 After his disclosures, Woods was "banned" by the National Party government - meaning he could not write or speak publicly or associate with more than one person outside his family at a time - and fled to London with his family.
 
 
 Land Mine Kills 10
 

HYDERABAD, India (AP) - Suspected Maoist guerrillas exploded a land mine Monday, killing 10 police officers and wounding two near a south Indian village, police said. 
 The blast occurred near Bondlamatu, 354 kilometers east of Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state. 
 The land mine went off as a police jeep passed through a culvert, police in Hyderabad said. One sub-inspector, eight constables and the driver of the jeep were killed, police said. 
 The police said they suspect the People's War Group, which operates in the area and has been fighting the Indian government for nearly four decades. The rebels, who claim to be defending the rights of the poor, say they want to create a state based on the ideas of Mao and Lenin. 
 
 
Japan Earthquake
 

TOKYO (AP) - A fairly strong earthquake struck off Japan's southernmost island of Okinawa on Monday afternoon but there were no reports of damage or injuries, officials said. 
 The tremor, which had a preliminary magnitude of 5.8, hit at 1:12 p.m. west of Okinawa, 1,600 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said. 
 It was centered about 10 kilometers beneath the seabed, the agency said. There was no danger of tsunami, or waves whipped up by seismic activity, it added. 
 Tomomitsu Hira, spokesman for Okinawa state police, said no reports of damage or injuries were reported. 
 Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries as it sits atop four tectonic plates - slabs of land that move across the Earth's surface. 



TITLE: Williams Gets Best of Capriati
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: TORONTO - Serena Williams served notice that she's back in Grand Slam form with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 victory Sunday over Jennifer Capriati in the Rogers AT&T Cup championship match. 
 The 19-year-old Williams, who had to pull out of last year's final in Montreal against Martina Hingis in the third set with a foot injury, recovered from a rain interruption of almost three hours and a tense tiebreaker loss to win her second WTA title this summer. 
 Williams broke a string of four-straight losses to the top-seeded Capriati, who ousted her from the Wimbledon quarterfinals in their last meeting. 
 Capriati will be the No. 2-ranked player in the world next week in the WTA rankings. Williams has to be considered a favorite to win the 2001 U.S. Open later this month. She won the event in 1999. 
 &quot;I want to win seven singles matches in a row,&quot; Williams said, alluding to what it will take to again win the Open. 
 Williams won $178,000 Sunday. 
 Capriati, who earned $91,000, was impressed with Williams' play. 
 &quot;She came up with a few big ones at important times where I didn't even have a play on it,&quot; Capriati said. 
 Both players argued calls vehemently with referee Anne Ulrich during the tiebreaker. Williams was serving for the match at 7-6 in the tiebreaker, but couldn't close it. 
 But she employed her booming serves to her advantage and showed great mobility in chasing down shots in the third set. Williams served for the match when Capriati gave up a break and a 5-3 lead. 
 When Williams led 3-2 in the third set, Capriati disagreed loudly with Ulrich's call to play a point over. 
 &quot;Really, it makes no difference to talk to them,&quot; Capriati said. &quot;Basically it's a waste of breath. It's just trying to vent out a little bit of the frustration.&quot; 
 While Capriati often seemed impatient throughout the match, Williams was quietly focused. Capriati noted that she usually expects drama of some sort from Williams in the form of injury or illness, but there was none of that Sunday. 
 &quot;Today she didn't slow down at all or, I don't know, act if she was sick,&quot; Capriati said. &quot;That wasn't in the play today. She was constantly the same player out there.&quot;

TITLE: Toms Captures First Major Championship
AUTHOR: By Doug Ferguson

PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: DULUTH, Georgia - David Toms wasn't interested in being macho. His only concern was beating Phil Mickelson to his first major championship. 
 Contending for the first time in a major, Toms took the safe route by laying up on the 490-yard final hole and won the PGA Championship on Sunday with a 12-foot putt that was more memorable than his 243-yard ace the day before. 
 It gave him a major championship. Mickelson still doesn't have one. 
 &quot;I think it's a matter of time before he wins his. I wish it could have worked out better for him,&quot; Toms said. &quot;For me, it's the highlight of my career, no doubt.&quot; 
 Toms could have been bold. He could have hit 5-wood from 210 yards over a lake from a treacherous lie in the rough and win the drama-packed PGA Championship in style. 
 He could have been Jean Van de Velde. 
 Instead, Toms put the pressure on himself and proved worthy of a major championship. 
 &quot;I just felt it was my best way to make 4,&quot; Toms said. &quot;That's what I had to do, and it worked out just fine.&quot; 
 In the process, he saddled Mickelson with another heartbreaking loss in a major, and eight more months facing questions of whether he can win a major. 
 Mickelson did everything required of him. He shot 68 and posted the lowest 72-hole score in major championship history. Chalk this up to bad timing. He ran into an old foe who did him one stroke better and made one fewer mistake. 
 &quot;I certainly, certainly tried hard,&quot; Mickelson said. &quot;I was just never able to get ahead.&quot; 
 Mickelson caught him three times until making one mistake that cost him - a three-putt from 50 feet on No. 16. Toms never gave him another chance. 
 He closed with a 1-under 69 and finished at 265 to break the 72-hole scoring record in majors first set by Greg Norman in the 1993 British Open and matched by Steve Elkington and playoff loser Colin Montgomerie two years later in the PGA. 
 Mickelson still doesn't have a major, but no one can question his heart. 
 He played with courage and skill and made only one mistake on the back nine, but it cost him the major he covets. 
 Earlier this year, Toms overcame a six-stroke deficit against Mickelson to beat him in New Orleans. This finish was head-to-head, far more thrilling, and reminded Mickelson of another major that slipped away. 
 Two years ago in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, Payne Stewart had a one-stroke lead going into the 18th when he decided to lay up with a wedge instead of risking a full shot out of the rough that could have gone anywhere. Stewart made a 15-foot putt for par to win. 
 &quot;I had that same feeling, as though David's putt was just going to go in without a doubt,&quot; Mickelson said.
 Almost as important as the putt was the decision. 
 Toms' ball was sitting up in the first cut of rough, but it was about a foot above his feet. Water surrounded the green in front and to the left. Toms put back the 5-wood and took out a wedge. 
 &quot;I hated to do it,&quot; he said. &quot;The crowd was over there oohing and ahhing and moaning like, 'You wimp,'&quot; he said. &quot;I just had to put it out of my mind and hit two good shots and make a good put. And I did that.&quot; 
 Too bad Van de Velde didn't do that in the British Open at Carnoustie. With a three-shot lead on the 18th tee, he went for it all and came out a playoff loser. 
 Just like Stewart, Toms knew the winning putt was good halfway to the hole. 
 So did Mickelson. 
 &quot;To have a little sand wedge in there is the shot we feel most comfortable with,&quot; Mickelson said. &quot;If we can't get it up eight times out of 10, we're not playing well.&quot; 
 Along with winning $936,000 and the prized Wanamaker Trophy, the sixth victory of Toms' career earned him a spot on his first Ryder Cup team. 
 Mickelson is now 0-for-34 in the majors since he turned professional 10 years ago. It only seems longer because of his success - a PGA Tour victory as an amateur, 19 in all, second among active players to only Tiger Woods. 
 The only thing missing is a major. 
 It was the seventh time Mickelson had gone into the final round of a major within two strokes of the lead. This, along with Pinehurst, were his best chances. 
 Both left a massive gallery breathless over a final round filled with clutch putts and wild swings in momentum. 
 Three times, Mickelson made up a two-stroke deficit. Time and again, he kept in range of Toms by making one critical putt after another, the kind that have cost him in so many other majors. 
 Trailing by two with four holes to play, Mickelson's final push came on the par-3 15th, the hardest hole at Atlanta Athletic Club. 
 At the scene of his ace the day before, Toms dropped this tee shot in a bunker and blasted out to 20 feet. From the first cut of rough, Mickelson used a 60-degree sand wedge to chip his ball toward the hole, and it dropped in the heart. 
 Mickelson didn't flash that gee-whiz smile that usually accompanies his great shots. He was all business, locked in on winning his first major. 
 And just like that, it slipped away. 
 From 50 feet away, Mickelson heard a few fans yell out that the putt was slow. He couldn't block it out of his mind, and knocked 6 feet past the cup. 
 &quot;Stop! Stop!&quot; he cried. 
 Then, Phil finally flinched. 
 He missed the putt on the left side to make bogey, and never got another chance. 
 Steve Lowery had a 68 and finished three strokes behind at 268 - and just two strokes short of making the Ryder Cup team. 
 Toms' victory knocked Tom Leh man out of the top 10 in the standings. Curtis Strange will announce his two captain's picks Monday morning. 
 Mark Calcavecchia had a 65 and tied for fourth with Shingo Katayama, who had more adventures with the water and closed with a 70. 
 Woods, who completed a sweep of the majors by winning the Masters, was himself swept away for the third-straight major. He closed with an even-par 70 and finished at 279, in a tie for 29th. 
 It was fifth-straight tournament that Woods has finished out of the top 10, the first time that has happened in his career. 
 &quot;You can't play well all the time ... especially in this sport,&quot; Woods said. &quot;I really haven't gotten things to go my way. And on top of that, I really haven't played well.&quot; 
 Woods was out of the picture, but the enthusiasm didn't go with him. The gallery threw its support behind Mickelson from the time he stepped up to the first tee. 
 &quot;Today's the day!&quot; they shouted, as if their support alone could carry Mickelson to a major championship he thought he should have won by now. 
 After both players made par on the opening holes, Mickelson picked up two birdies to tie for the lead. All it took was one hole for his work to come undone. 
 Mickelson pulled his drive into the rough down the right, came out short of the green and chipped 15 feet past the hole. He two-putted for bogey. Toms hit the fairway, then stuffed his approach shot into about 18 inches for birdie. 
 Just like that, his lead was back to two shots heading into the back nine, where they picked up an extra partner - pressure. Toms missed two short putts that allowed Mickelson to stay in range. In the end, he made the only putt that mattered.

TITLE: Schumacher Dominates in Hungary for Fourth Overall Title
AUTHOR: By Nesha Starcevic

PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BUDAPEST, Hungary - Michael Schumacher won his fourth Formula One championship and matched Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix race triumphs by driving his Ferrari to victory at the Hungarian GP Sunday. 
 With teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second, Ferrari also won the constructors' title for the second-consecutive year. Schumacher, the defending Formula One champion, started from the pole and never relinquished his lead except for brief intervals after two pit stops. 
 &quot;Complimenti,&quot; Ferrari team director Jean Todt told Schumacher in Italian over the radio as he took the checkered flag. 
 Schumacher lifted both fists into the air over the steering wheel in jubilation. 
 &quot;It's amazing,&quot; he said. &quot;I don't have the words to tell you how wonderful it is to work with you guys. I love you all.&quot; 
 Standing on the podium, Schumacher cried openly as he heard the German and Italian national anthems. 
 The 32-year-old German, winner of seven of 13 races this season, moved into a second-place tie with Prost - who retired in 1993 - on the all-time list with four Formula One championships. Juan Manuel Fangio leads with five. 
 &quot;We had a great weekend. I got the pole, I got the victory, I got the 51st victory to share with Alain and I got my fourth championship. It's a bit too much for me to take,&quot; Schumacher said. 
 &quot;When I started in Formula One, all these great names were so far ahead of me, I never thought at the time of catching up with them. But after a couple of races, I noticed that I could compete with them.&quot; 
 In winning the race for the third time - his other victories were in 1994 and 1998 - Schumacher secured the title with four races left in the season. 
 By collecting 10 points for the win, Schumacher raised his season total to 94 points and took an unbeatable 43-point lead over McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard, who finished third. 
 Ferrari matched the record of 11 drivers' titles held by McLaren. Ferrari leads the series with 11 constructors' championships. 
 Until Schumacher's title last season, no Ferrari driver had won the championship since Jody Scheckter in 1979. Schumacher's other titles came in 1994 and 1995, with Benetton. 
 The numbers confirm Schumacher's supremacy and he demonstrated it over the 77 laps on the tight, twisting, Hungaroring circuit. He made no mistakes in the sweltering heat and cruised home. 
 Coulthard got off to a slow start from the second position and Barrichello slipped past him on the outside before the first corner. 
 After 10 laps, Schumacher was one second ahead of his teammate and two seconds ahead of Coulthard. Five laps later, the gap grew to five and seven seconds, respectively. 
 The margin increased steadily until Schumacher made his first pit stop on Lap 28. He came out in third place, trailing Barrichello by 11 seconds. 
 The Brazilian went in three laps later, leaving Coulthard in the lead temporarily, until his pit stop. Coulthard came out behind Schumacher but ahead of Barrichello. 
 By Lap 33, Schumacher was 14 seconds ahead of Coulthard and 16 seconds ahead of Barrichello. 
 The three leaders all made their second stops for fuel and fresh tires between laps 53 and 55 and Coulthard again ended up behind Barrichello. 
 Schumacher's lead stayed under 10 seconds until the end. He finished 3.3 seconds ahead of Barrichello and 3.9 ahead of Coulthard. 
 Schumacher's younger brother, Ralf, was fourth in a Williams-BMW, Mika Hakkinen was fifth in the second McLaren and Nick Heidfeld was sixth in a Sauber.