SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #722 (89), Friday, November 16, 2001
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TITLE: Feel-Good Summit Draws to a Close
AUTHOR: By Sandra Sobieraj
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: CRAWFORD, Texas - President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush failed to reach agreement to open the way for a U.S. national missile defense as they ended three days of summitry Thursday with warm praise for each other. 
 "We have a difference of opinion," Bush said when asked about the controversy by a student at Crawford High School. 
 Still, "Our disagreements will not divide us as nations," Bush said. 
 Bush had hoped to win an agreement from Putin to abandon or modify the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which prohibits national missile defenses. Still, there had been little expectation that the meetings in Washington and on Bush's ranch would produce a breakthrough. 
 Russia had opposed any effort to dismantle the treaty, which it views as a centerpiece for global strategic stability. Bush has characterized the pact as a relic of the Cold War. 
 "We shall continue our discussions," Putin said. 
 He said he and Bush share the common goal of achieving security in the world and protecting against future threats. 
 "What we differ in is the ways and means we perceive that are suitable for reaching the same objective," Putin said. 
 The two leaders said they had agreed to continue to stand side-by-side in the war against terrorism. 
 "Russia has been a strong partner in the fight against terrorism," Bush said, noting that the first telephone call he had received from a foreign leader after the Sept. 11 attacks was from Putin. 
 He said that in three days of summitry, he and Putin had pledged to reduce nuclear weapons, discussed cooperation in the war on terrorism and in stopping the spread of weapons, and "ways our economies can grow together." 
 Bush cited "a new relationship ... that will make our lives better." 
 Putin called Bush "a person who does what he says." 
 Bush, calling Putin at one point by his first name, Vladimir, said that the more he got to know the Russian leader, "the more I get to see his heart and soul, the more I know we can work together in a positive way." 
 He joked that he had invited Putin to come back in August, the season of dusty and searing heat here. Bush recounted Putin's wiseacre reply: "Fine, and maybe you'd like to go to Siberia in the winter." 
 Bush called Russia a partner and a friend, telling the Crawford students: "When I was in high school, Russia was an enemy. Now high school students can know Russia is a friend, that we're working together to break the old ties, to establish a new spirit of cooperation and trust so that we can work together to make the world more peaceful." 
 During the question-and-answer session with the students, Bush was asked about the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan now that the militant Taliban regime is on the run. 
 Bush said he and Putin discussed at some length the need to establish an ethnically broad-based post-Taliban government in the country. 
 "The Taliban is the most repressive, backward group of people we have seen on the face of the earth in a long time," particularly in their treatment of women, Bush said. 
 Asked by a young woman if women's rights in Afghanistan would improve with the fall of the Taliban, Bush noted that both he and Putin have teenage daughters and share a "keen desire to free the women of Afghanistan." 
 Putin, in turn, agreed: "Basically women in Afghanistan are not treated as people." 
 He called for special programs - primarily proper schooling - to benefit Afghan women.
 Putin is the first foreign leader to visit the U.S. president's 650-hectare Prairie Chapel Ranch, and Bush said, "I want to show him some of my favorite spots.''
 Bush's hospitality involved plying Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, with mesquite-smoked beef tenderloin, southern fried catfish, grilled sourdough bread and pecan pie, all washed down by a Texas hill country wine and consumed to the country-and-western music of an Austin band.
 On Thursday, Bush made it clear the two leaders were able to develop a closer relationship.
 Putin arrived on Wednesday well briefed and almost properly attired. By the time his helicopter touched down at the new helipad 500 meters or so from the Bushes' house, he was wearing black slacks, a black short-sleeve golf shirt and a wide belt. But at a moment when he desperately needed cowboy boots - it's muddy on the ranch, especially Wed nesday - he was left with loafers, the surest giveaway in Crawford of a city slicker.
 It wasn't Putin's first stop in Texas. He spent the morning with another Bush - George H.W., the president's father - at Rice University, where he addressed a concert hall filled with students, business leaders and members of the Texas political gentry. Putin strode into the room accompanied by former President Bush and his former secretary of state, James Baker.
 Putin recalled that when he first met Baker, he himself was a "modest city bureaucrat and Mr. Baker was a big boss." He briefly made the case that Russia needed a bigger voice in NATO - membership and a vote would be nice, he seemed to suggest. But he sensed, correctly, that the invited crowd wanted to talk business, not politics.
 So he quickly turned to comparisons between Russia and Texas, focusing, naturally, on oil. "I'd like to say that in the Russian market, your risks are much lower than a few years ago,'' he said.
 Back at the ranch, the talk was all about a dinner carefully planned for weeks by Laura Bush. Secretary of State Colin Powell flew in with Commerce Secretary Donald Evans.
 There were the local celebrities - Ben Crenshaw, the golfer, and Van Cliburn, the pianist. 
 Putin was accompanied by Security Council head Vladimir Rushailo, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, first deputy of the presidential administration. 
 They ate, the White House said, in a breezeway that connects the main house to the guest quarters. There were toasts, and Bush brought out a birthday cake for National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who turned 47 Wednesday. She and several other guests danced to Texas country tunes.

TITLE: Agreement Rundown From Putin's U.S. Trip
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: Summary of agreements reached during Tuesday's meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin: 
 <strong>
 Nonproliferation
 </strong>. Bush proposed reducing U.S. nuclear arsenal to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads. Putin said he would &quot;try to respond in kind,&quot; but offered no hard numbers. 
 <strong>
 NATO
 </strong>. Pledged to work with NATO to find a role for Russia among European allies. 
 <strong>
 Afghanistan 
 </strong>. Supported efforts to establish a stable government that adheres to &quot;accepted international principles&quot; of human rights, particularly for women and girls. 
 . Agreed to work toward coalition rule in Afghanistan, including all ethnic groups, men and women - but not the Taliban. &quot;We agree that the Taliban as a movement should have no place in future bodies of state power in Afghanistan.&quot; 
 <strong>Economics
 </strong>. Called for Russia to be included in the World Trade Organization once it negotiates a &quot;protocol package,&quot; with commitments on market- access terms and reforms of its trade regime. 
 . Agreed that U.S. and Russian WTO teams would meet early next year for negotiations. 
 . Pledged to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. 
 . Directed the Russian-American Business Dialogue to identify regulatory obstacles to trade and investment and provide recommendations by early next year. 
 . Encouraged creation of a joint &quot;banking dialogue&quot; to explore ways to improve access to credit, mortgaging processes, regulatory regimes and financial disclosure by banks and businesses. 
 <strong>Bioterrorism
 </strong>. Reaffirmed support for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. 
 . Agreed that the departments of State, Defense, Agriculture, Energy and Health and Human Services should work with Russia on programs to curb proliferation of biological material from Russia, dismantle biological weapons infrastructure and perform collaborative research on biodefense and public health. 
 <strong>Middle East
 </strong>. Called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to quickly implement the Tenet work plan and the Mitchell report, &quot;refrain from actions that are harmful to the other side&quot; and resume political dialogue. 
 . Pledged to work together on resuming negotiations with Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, with an eye toward a comprehensive settlement. 
 
 <strong>Narcotics Trafficking
 </strong>. Agreed to intensify cooperation on fighting drug trafficking - including through Russia - so that it can't be used as a means of financing international terrorism.

TITLE: Firm To Renovate Three Major Landmarks
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The local oil company Faeton announced Wednesday that it will provide 550,000 rubles ($18,300) to repair three important city monuments, including the Bronze Horseman on Ploshchad De kab ristov. The funds will also be used to repair the monument to poet Alexander Pushkin on Ploshchad Iskusstv and the two sphinxes on the Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya.
 &quot;We have selected these monuments because they are among the city's symbols and are dear to every St. Petersburger,&quot; said Faeton head Vla di mir Khilchenko. &quot;We are doing this because we want to be able to recall something to be proud of in our lives, something other than just routine business.&quot;
 All three monuments were included in a special program developed by the St. Petersburg Sculpture Museum that was intended to stimulate and inspire potential sponsors. According to the museum's director, Vladimir Ti mofeyev, the program includes 57 monuments, of which 12 are already being repaired. The total cost of the program is about 500 million rubles ($17 million).
 According to Pavel Koshelev, deputy head of the City Culture Committee, Faeton will not receive any benefits because of its sponsorship.
 &quot;During the restoration process, there will be signs near the monuments saying that it is being repaired with money from the company. That's it,&quot; Koshelev said.
 Despite Faeton's initiative, local firms have been slow to respond to administration appeals for help in repairing dilapidated monuments in the run-up to the tercentennial celebration in 2003.
 Anatoly Buzuluksky, deputy head of the St. Petersburg 300 Foundation, which is overseeing fundraising for the jubilee, said that Moscow companies have so far been far more eager to help out than local firms have been. 
 &quot;The first general sponsor of the anniversary [Xerox-CIS] is a Moscow company. Negotiations are now underway with Gazprom, which is considering becoming a sponsor,&quot; Buzuluksky said. &quot;Several other Moscow companies are now negotiating various sponsorship opportunities,&quot; he added.
 According to Buzuluksky, local companies usually listen to city appeals, ask for time to think over the proposals and then cease contact.
 Timofeyev said that several monuments are in particularly dire need of repair. He named the monument to poet Mikhail Lermontov on Lermontovsky Prospect, the monument to General Alexander Suvorov on Suvorovskaya Ploshchad and the one to composer Mikhail Glinka on Teatralnaya Ploshchad.
 He also said that the memorial monument at Marsovoye Polye has been sadly neglected, and even the local Communist Party has been unwilling to contribute to its restoration. However, Governor Vladimir Yakovlev recently allocated funds for the monument from the city budget for the project.
 Although the monuments selected by Faeton are not those most in need of repair, Timofeyev was pleased with the company's contribution.
 &quot;Although both the Bronze Horseman and the monument to Pushkin have been fairly recently restored, they already need further repairs because of the humid local climate,&quot; he said.
 Asked whether companies providing financial support for the restoration of any local monuments could be allowed to use the images of the landmarks in their promotional campaigns, Timofeyev said that the legal grounds for such deals was unclear.
 &quot;So far, this question has never even arisen,&quot; Timofeyev said.

TITLE: Customs Snarls Up City's Port
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A recent instruction by the Northwest Customs District requiring item-by-item searches of containers and trucks importing selected goods into Russia has seriously affected the work of the St. Petersburg Port.
 The regulation, which created lines of trucks of up to 15 kilometers on the Finnish border last weekend, has now left the port's container storage facility overloaded, meaning that the facility may soon stop accepting new arrivals, officials said this week.
 &quot;The capacity of the storage lot is 8,500 containers, and we have 9,715 standing there at the moment. So instead of two levels there are three in some places, which makes it more difficult to process the cargo and slows down all the work,&quot; said Alexander Svetlichny, director for St. Petersburg Port container terminal, on Wednesday.
 &quot;Before the new regulation was introduced, officials were doing item-by-item searches on only about 55 percent of all cargo. Now it is more like 80 percent. ... There's a real danger that the facility will be closed if things continue this way,&quot; he said.
 The Oct. 24 instruction from the Northwest Customs District orders agents to perform item-by-item searches of vehicles and containers carrying any of a list of specified goods, including items such as coffee, appliances, furniture and tires. The order affects all 13 customs points in the northwest district.
 The order resulted from a federal Customs Committee inspection of the district, which found that many goods were being imported under false manifests in order to avoid paying higher customs duties.
 According to officials at the port, the waiting time for containers to pass through customs has increased from 5 to 12 days. However, local importers have become used to such delays.
 &quot;These are recurring problems for the port,&quot; said Tatiana Ogorodnikova, a manager for Baltic Transportation Systems, a local cargo company, in an interview on Wednesday. &quot;There are always delays at the port linked to processing automobiles, cargo and so on.&quot;
 Yevgeny Vensko, spokesperson for the Northwest Customs District, said that officials are looking for a way to resolve the problem but could not say exactly what would be done.
 Vensko added that the situation of trucks arriving in Russia through the Finnish-border checkpoints at Tor fya nov ka and Brusnichnoye had improved in the last few days. The waiting time at the border had been reduced from 72 to 24 hours this week at Torfyanovka and to 48 hours at Brusnichnoye. 
 &quot;The number of trucks passing through customs has increased from 500 to 900 a day,&quot; Vensko said.
 &quot;There is no line anymore on the Finnish side near Torfyanovka, and everything will be fine as soon as inspectors from Moscow leave the checkpoints,&quot; said a member of the International Association of Cargo Importers who asked not to be identified. He said the Moscow inspectors were supposed to leave on Thursday.
 &quot;Customs will work the same way it did before the inspectors showed up there,&quot; the source said.
 Svetlichny fears that the tie-ups could damage plans to develop the port. This year, the port handled 340,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo, up 80 percent over last year. At the same time, the storage facility was enlarged from 184,000 to 230,000 square meters.
 By 2010, the container-storage capacity could be increased to 1.6 million TEUs, according to officials.
 &quot;Many foreign companies have asked us ... to handle more cargo, but we've been putting them off because we have no space. This new [customs] policy won't help,&quot; Svetlichny said.

TITLE: Arms Buy-Back Program Nets Significant Results
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: More than 50 weapons have been taken off city streets in the first 11 days of a police buy-back program, officials reported this week.
 Operation <i>Oruzhiye </i>(Weapons) began on Nov. 1 and follows up on a series of similar operations organized by police since April. Residents are encouraged to rid themselves of weapons through cash payments by police.
 &quot;St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast residents have at least 73,000 registered firearms, and only God knows how many unregistered ones,&quot; said Gennady Kocherkin, head of the police Licensing Department, which is in charge of the operation, in an interview last week.
 As of Nov. 11, citizens had turned in 44 smooth-bore weapons, three hunting rifles, four other guns, about 8,000 rounds of ammunition, nearly 5 kilograms of explosives, 41 mines, three hand grenades and three electronic detonators, the police press service reported.
 The city has allocated 100,000 rubles ($3,300) for the current operation, with police offering payments of around 800 to 1,000 rubles ($27 to $33) depending on the type of weapon. Citizens are encouraged to sell unregistered weapons as well with no questions asked.
 &quot;It is not just the money that people care about. Many are glad to have the opportunity to eliminate the risk that any guns - but especially old ones - may present. Or, if the guns are not registered, this gives them the chance to avoid criminal responsibility for [them],&quot; Kocherkin said.
 Kocherkin said that most of the weapons recovered were found by local residents on nearby World War II battlefields. Others, especially hunting rifles, were inherited from relatives. 
 Viktor Utentsov, a police press spokes person, said that there have been some cases in which people found guns in the street.
 &quot;In such cases, it's preferable if citizens turn in such weapons immediately to the police,&quot; he said.
 Utentsov said that if people wish to turn in hand grenades or other explosives, it is better to summon the police rather than bringing them in themselves. Other items can be brought to any police department.
 At a press conference on Oct. 31, Deputy Police Chief Alexander Serov said that none of the weapons recovered so far during Operation Oruzhiye have been traced to any serious crimes.
 In total, since the buy-back program began in April, 130 weapons 30,000 rounds of ammunition, 30 kilograms of explosives and 47 detonators have been recovered.
 Kocherkin emphasized that citizens can turn in weapons to the police at any time, even after the current program ends.

TITLE: Amended City Budget Passes Second Vote
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: With over 100 amendments added, the 2002 city budget was passed by the Legislative Assembly in its second reading Wednesday. The amendments added over 3 billion rubles (about $100 million) to projected revenues, which now stand at 57 billion rubles ($1.9 billion).
 According to Viktor Krotov, head of the City Hall Finance Committee, the additional revenues were added after officials recalculated projected local income taxes and taxes on goods and services, anticipating that they would add an additional 2.4 billion rubles (about $80 million) to city coffers.
 However, lawmakers did not accept all of City Hall's proposed amendments. Most importantly, deputies rejected a 30-million ruble ($1 million) subsidy to finance Channel 5, the local television channel controlled by the governor's administration.
 &quot;I don't understand why we should finance some commercial media sources,&quot; said Leonid Romankov, head of the Legislative Assembly Culture and Education Committee in an interview on Thursday.
 Channel 5 television is joint-stock company, with a 68-percent stake held by City Hall and 23 percent by the Le nin grad Oblast Administration. The rest of the shares are held by private companies, including 4 percent owned by Soyuz and 3 percent held by Lenesteitproekt. Balt Uneximbank owns 2 percent.
 &quot;We already have a system of grants, so this money should go there and then be given to those [media outlets] that win the competition, offering the cheapest and most professional way of producing television programming,&quot; Romankov said.
 However, the administration was able to push forward most of its amendments, including one to finance a media campaign to promote next year's census. City Hall persuaded deputies to allocate 10 million rubles ($333,000) to pay for newspaper advertisements and television and radio broadcasts informing citizens about the census.
 &quot;I'd be willing to stand on city squares a few times a week and inform people myself for that kind of money,&quot; quipped Mikhail Amosov, leader of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly.
 According to Krotov, 12 million rubles ($400,000) was added to purchase new apartments for residents whose buildings are deemed to be uninhabitable. Fifty million rubles ($1.7 million) will be used to renovate city railroad stations, and 300 million ($10 million) was allocated to the Oktyabrskaya Railway for the purchase of new suburban trains.
 The third and final reading of the budget is scheduled to take place on Nov. 19.

TITLE: Bush Reflects on Relationship With Putin
AUTHOR: By Megan Twohey
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin hints that Russia wants to join NATO, and U.S. President George W. Bush thinks, &quot;Why not?&quot; Putin tells Bush about losing then finding a cross his mother gave him, and Bush takes at as sign that Putin believes in a &quot;higher power.&quot;
 These are among the stories about the presidents' first meeting last summer that Bush shares with American writer Peggy Noonan in her new book on former President Ronald Reagan, which was released Monday.
 In the chapter on Bush in &quot;When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan,&quot; Bush relays some of the topics that he and Putin discussed when they sat down face-to-face for the first time on June 16, the day Bush made the now famous comment about getting a sense of Putin's soul.
 Bush says that in addition to faith and NATO, the two leaders discussed security threats posed by Islamic fundamentalism, the opportunity to make history by forging a close relationship and the problems that hardliners in both countries pose to such a relationship - topics that have since grown in importance and are among those that dominated this week's summit.
 &quot;It was a big moment,&quot; Bush says of the meeting.
 &quot;I found a man who realizes his future lies with the West, not the East, that we share common security concerns, primarily Islamic fundamentalism. ... On the other hand, he doesn't want to be diminished by America.&quot;
 Interviewed later in June by Noonan, Bush says he felt Putin was &quot;battling with a kind of anti-American bureaucracy.&quot; 
 Bush adds: &quot;He probably thinks I'm dealing with a bunch of hard-liners here about him too. And the best way for me to welcome him to the West and to encourage him to make the right choices... is to break down any barriers that he may have.&quot;
 When discussing Russia's relationship to NATO, Putin &quot;almost hinted that he wanted to be in NATO,&quot; Bush says. He tells Noonan that he didn't push Putin on the topic, but later thought, &quot;Why not?&quot;
 He also says it requires more thought.
 Bush asked Putin about previous comments he had made about a cross, which was given to him by his mother, that he had had specially blessed in Jerusalem.
 Noonan quotes Bush: &quot;I said to him, 'You know, I found that story very interesting. You see, President Putin, I think you judge a person on something other than just politics. I think it's important for me and for you to look for the depth of a person's soul and character. I was touched by the fact your mother gave you the cross.'&quot;
 Bush says that Putin in turn told him a story about coming close to losing the cross in a house that burned down.
 &quot;Putin said to me, 'The thing I was most worried about was I lost my cross that my mother had given me. And a worker came.' He wanted to tell the worker, 'Go find the cross.'&quot;
 Putin told Bush that when the worker walked up to him, put out his hand and opened it to reveal the cross, &quot;It was as if something meant for me to have the cross.&quot;
 &quot;Basically it seemed he was saying there was a higher power,&quot; Bush recalls. &quot;I said, 'Mr. Putin, President Putin, that's what it's all about - that's the story of the cross.'&quot;
 Bush pushed Putin on the need to trust one another.
 &quot;I said, 'President Putin, you and I have a chance to make history. ... This meeting could be the beginning of making some fabulous history. We're young. ... Why aren't we thinking about how to fashion something different, so when [historians] think about the Bush-Putin meeting and the Bush-Putin relationship they think about positive things?'&quot;
 Putin arrived with his wife, Lyudmila, at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Wednesday afternoon for an overnight stay.
 &quot;I can't wait for him to get to see Texas,&quot; Bush told reporters as he landed in nearby Waco with first lady Laura Bush on Tuesday, a day ahead of Putin.
 Crawford, a town of 631 people outside Waco in central Texas, rolled out a homey welcome for the two leaders on Wednesday, with signs made by local schoolchildren decorating fence lines along the road into town.
 &quot;Texas says 'howdy' Russian Pres. Putin,&quot; said one banner.
 Bush planned to treat Putin to Western-style entertainment, Texas cooking and a tour on all-terrain vehicles of his beloved 650-hectare Prairie Chapel ranch. He also was planning to follow up on their Tuesday talks in Washington on a new strategic relationship.
 &quot;The best diplomacy starts with getting to know each other,&quot; Bush said.
 The atmosphere for the ranch visit was casual in a reflection of Bush's belief that informal chats pave the way for greater cooperation and trust down the road, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said.
 On Wednesday night Bush treated Putin to a dinner of mesquite-smoked beef tenderloin, southern-fried catfish, sourdough bread, pecan pie and a local Texas brand of vanilla ice cream, Blue Bell, with a Western swing band as entertainment.
 Asked if he would show Putin some Texas dance steps, Bush said in Waco on Tuesday, &quot;You know from following me as governor I can cut a pretty mean rug.&quot;

TITLE: How Two Presidents Became Friends
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: A timeline tracking the evolution of comments by presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin about one another: 
 . Feb. 15, 2000, candidate Bush on acting President Putin: &quot;This current [Clinton] administration has been sending all kinds of signals confirming Mr. Putin. We don't know enough about him.&quot; 
 . March 27, 2000, candidate Bush reacting to Putin's election as president: &quot;I am troubled that Mr. Putin gained his popularity as a result of the war in Chechnya. Moscow will discover that it cannot build a stable and unified nation on the ruins of human rights.&quot; 
 . June 15, 2001, Bush preparing for his first meeting with Putin: &quot;First and foremost is to develop a trust between us. He doesn't know me and I don't know him very well.&quot; 
 . June 16, 2001, Bush after his first meeting with Putin: &quot;I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country. ... I wouldn't have invited him to my ranch if I didn't trust him.&quot; 
 . June 19, 2001, Putin on his first meeting with Bush in Slovenia, in which he tried to speak some English: &quot;He was extremely nice about it. He pretended to understand what I was talking about.&quot; 
 . June 20, 2001, Bush on Putin: &quot;I found him to be a forward-thinking person, and someone with whom our nation should and will work to bring security to that part of the world.&quot; 
 . July 18, 2001, Putin on Bush, preparing for their second meeting in Italy: &quot;He is a rather warm person, pleasant to talk to, and ... maybe I shouldn't say this, but he seemed to me a little sentimental.&quot; 
 . July 22, 2001, Putin on Bush, after their meeting in Italy: &quot;His mental reasoning is very deep, very profound.&quot; 
 . July 22, 2001, Bush on Putin, after their meeting in Italy: &quot;We're young leaders who are interested in forging a more peaceful world. ... I was struck by how easy it is to talk to President Putin, how easy it is to speak from my heart, without, you know, fear of complicating any relationship.&quot; 
 . Oct. 21, 2001, Putin on Bush, after their third meeting in Shanghai: &quot;President Bush said a lot of warm words about me in public, and I'm grateful to him for that. And I feel this attitude outside formal events, and I hope that he has the same feeling when he talks to me.&quot; 
 . Oct. 21, 2001, Bush on Putin being the first foreign leader to call him after the Sept. 11 attacks: &quot;I in particular will remember this act of friendship in a time of need. ... Putin was the first person to call. That's what a friend does, call in a time of need. And he called.&quot; 
 . Nov. 5, 2001, Putin on Bush: &quot;I believe it's not accidental that he became the president of the United States. He sees better and deeper and understands the problems more accurately. ... We can do business with this man.&quot;

TITLE: Summit Produces a Project To Support Russian Media
AUTHOR: By Valeria Korchagina
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - On the sidelines of their summit in the United States, Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush have agreed to set up the Russian-American Media Entrepreneurship Dialogue to build Russia's media industry.
 &quot;The dialogue is intended to promote efforts to build a competitive media sector in Russia, able to deliver a full range of media services based on the latest technology and the highest journalistic standards,&quot; the White House said in a statement on Tuesday.
 &quot;By engaging private media-industry professionals in bilateral discussions, the United States and Russia seek to explore ways to improve the conditions necessary for media to flourish as a business in Russia,&quot; the statement read.
 The agreement comes just months after the U.S. State Department strongly objected to the takeover of the private NTV television by state-controlled Gazprom and less then a year after a failed attempt by U.S. media tycoon Ted Turner to acquire a stake in NTV.
 Details about the dialogue's powers and activities were unclear Wednesday. The White House statement suggested, however, that the task force will aim to expand contacts between experts and executives in the United States and Russia and develop ways to create a better business environment for mass media in Russia.
 The U.S. and Russian governments will seriously consider the dialogue's recommendations, the White House said.
 The Newspaper Association of America and the National Association of Broadcasters is to lead the task force, while Internews and its local office, Internews Russia, is to provide logistical support. Internews is a nonprofit organization that trains provincial television journalists.
 The task force could help the process of reshaping the Russian media landscape, which is largely controlled by the government and a handful of politically connected businessmen.
 &quot;If everyone here, like major professional organizations and associations of journalists and advertisers, is able to come up with coordinated opinions and efforts, it should be a powerful enough force to influence the government or the parliament,&quot; Internews Russia director Mananan Aslamazyan said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
 Aslamazyan noted that the practical mechanisms for the dialogue to work still need to be hammered out. 
 Internews, which operates on international grants, won the TEFI - Russia's main television award - this year in its annual competition for the best regional television news coverage.
 The forming of the Russian-American Media Entrepreneurship Dialogue comes after Bush and Putin set up the Russian-American Business Dialogue to support foreign investment in Russia at their first meeting in Slovenia last summer. On Tuesday, the two leaders also discussed creating the Russian-American Banking Dialogue to assist in Russian banking reform. They agreed that the dialogue will have its first meeting this winter.

TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Hit in Broad Daylight
 
<style text>. ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Five gunmen stormed into a popular downtown restaurant in broad daylight Thursday and murdered a prominent local businessperson, Interfax reported.
 
<style text>Kirill Sadchikov, general director of the Verilis insurance company, died instantly and another victim - 48-year-old Oleg Pelin, who worked in the economic-analysis department of Zenit bank - was hospitalized in serious condition, according to the news agency.
 The gunmen struck at about 3 p.m. as Sadchikov was having lunch at the Segun restaurant on Ulitsa Vosstaniya. 
 Interfax, quoting police sources, said that investigators were focusing on Sachikov's business affairs as a motive for the murder. The sources also said that Sadchikov had been arrested several years ago for illegal possession of a firearm, according to Interfax.
 Segun is one of President Vladimir Putin's favorite local restaurants, and he often dines there when he visits the city. He once hosted a dinner for former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiri Mori at Segun, Interfax reported.
 
 
Mirilashvili Admitted
 
<style text>. ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Prominent local businessperson Mikhail Mirilashvili, currently being held on two counts of murder, was hospitalized Thursday with a heart condition, Interfax reported.
 
<style text>Mirilashvili, who has been jailed since January, declared a hunger strike on Nov. 8 to protest the handling of his case. His lawyer, Sergei Medvedev, told Interfax Thursday that the hunger strike might have led to Mirilashvili's current condition. 
 Mirilashvili suffers from a serious heart condition, Medvedev said, according to Interfax.
 Mirilashvili is the chairperson of the board of directors of the Petromir holding company and the Conti casino group.
 
 
Pskov To Celebrate
 
<style text>. ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Wednesday signed off on a program for celebrating the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of Pskov, which will take place in 2003, Interfax reported.
 
<style text>According to officials in Pskov, about 100 million rubles ($3.3 million) will be spent in preparation for the event, of which 59.37 million rubles ($1.9 million) will come from the federal budget, Interfax reported.
 Among other things, the money will be used to repair the Pskov Kremlin, the Mirozhsky Monastery and other local landmarks. Funding will also be allocated to renovate several local hospitals, according to Interfax.
 
 
3,000 Attend Rally
 
<style text>. ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - About 3,000 local residents participated Wednesday in a national protest called by labor unions, Interfax reported.
 
<style text>The rally was held to protest changes to the Labor Code and plans to increase payments for communal services. Garri Lysyuk, chairperson of the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast Federation of Labor Unions, addressed the rally in front of the Mariinsky Palace, saying: "We are decisively opposed to efforts to infringe upon the socio-economic rights and interests of workers." 
 About 100 other protesters gathered outside Smolny on Wednesday as well, according to Interfax.
 Similar rallies were held in cities across the country, including the northwest cities of Pskov, Vologda, Ark han gelsk and Murmansk, Interfax reported.
 
 
Bureaucratic Obstacles
 
<style text>. ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - State Duma Deputy Lyudmila Narusova stated Wednesday that local authorities "do not have the right to block compensation applications from being filed by former Nazi slaves and concentration-camp victims," according to Interfax.
 
<style text>Narusova, who heads the commission overseeing payments to Nazi victims in Russia and most of the former Soviet Union, said that cases of obstruction by local officials had been registered in St. Petersburg, Rostov-na-Donu, Voronezh and other cities. 
 "The bureaucratic apparatus ... is trying to demand original documentary evidence that people were actually held in camps and ghettos, which is simply not acceptable," Narusova said, according to the news agency.
 She also called upon citizens not to send original documents with applications through the mail and confirmed that only German experts working with archival materials have the right to evaluate applications for compensation. 



TITLE: Chamber Flexes New Muscles
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin blasted Mikhail Kasyanov in a gruff speech to parliament Wednesday, accusing the prime minister of ignoring reams of evidence of massive budget fraud and threatening to go over his head with an appeal to the president if he didn't act.
 In a report that lasted nearly an hour, Stepashin, a former prime minister, told senators in the Federation Council that he had uncovered 23.2 billion rubles' ($776 million) worth of misappropriations in the first 10 months of the year alone and that Kasyanov and the government were &quot;dodging&quot; their duty to act on these abuses.
 &quot;I have formulated specific suggestions in a letter to Mikhail Kasyanov and will be waiting for a reply,&quot; Interfax quoted Stepashin as saying. &quot;If there isn't any, then I will have to discuss it with the head of state,&quot; he said.
 The Audit Chamber is parliament's budgetary watchdog. It has no power to prosecute and can only issue findings and make recommendations. Stepashin, who is also a former general and interior minister, is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, who convinced him to take up his current post in April last year instead of running for governor of St. Petersburg.
 In a trend that political observers see as confirmation of his resurgent political stature, Stepashin has become increasingly aggressive over the last month and he made it clear Wednesday that he is doing so with the full support of Putin.
 &quot;[I am] actively working with the head of state,&quot; Stepashin was quoted as saying.
 He said that when he was prime minister he &quot;had a great relationship with the chairperson of the Audit Chamber&quot; and urged Kasyanov to &quot;finally take notice&quot; of him.
 He said the government has the power to &quot;act on the chamber's suggestions and correct&quot; abuses without &quot;driving people to court.&quot;
 The announcement last month that the Prosecutor General's Office had launched an investigation, based on an Audit Chamber report, of large-scale embezzlement within the powerful Railways Ministry, was long overdue, Stepashin said, reminding senators that problems in the ministry were first reported three years ago.
 &quot;Prosecutor General [Vladimir] Us ti nov ... began doing what the government should have been doing [a long time ago],&quot; Stepashin said.
 He said he had written Kasyanov about the chamber's findings six months ago, but he never received an answer, so he informed Putin about it.
 &quot;The indifferent attitude by the government on this problem confuses me,&quot; he said.
 Some political observers said the recent flurry of investigations launched by the Prosecutor General's Office, based on Audit Chamber reports, is part of a concerted effort to rid the government of remaining Yeltsin-era &quot;Family&quot; members like Kasyanov and Railways Minister Nikolai Aksyonenko, a charge Stepashin called &quot;absolutely groundless&quot; on Wednesday.
 Aksyonenko went on vacation shortly after the investigation into his ministry was announced and by law can't be removed before he returns to work, which his spokesperson has said will be Dec. 7. Also currently under increased scrutiny is Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, State Fisheries Committee chief Yevgeny Nazdratenko, the State Customs Committee and the Emergency Situations Ministry.
 Stepashin said the chamber is also continuing its &quot;very serious&quot; scrutiny of the Kremlin property department, the State Road Fund, the Natural Resources Ministry and regional budgets.
 And in an effort to expand its reach, the chamber is working more closely with law-enforcement bodies and plans to sign a cooperation agreement with the new Financial Monitoring Committee, said Stepashin.
 Stepashin also said that in the future the chamber would focus more on state debts and called for a ban on privatizing strategically important companies before the Audit Chamber could inspect them.
 Valery Goreglyad, a senator from Sakhalin, said in a telephone interview that the upper house was &quot;quiet&quot; during Stepashin's speech, which went on &quot;for quite a serious period of time,&quot; and was well received.
 &quot;Since the [cabinet] continues ignoring Audit Chamber findings, council members showed understanding,&quot; said Goreglyad.
 The Audit Chamber's legal power, according to the Constitution, hasn't changed, but its political power has grown, Goreglyad said.
 Others agreed.
 Yury Korgunyuk, a political analyst at the Indem think tank, said Stepashin is still offended at being fired as prime minister in 1999 and that Putin appointed him Audit Chamber chief for a special purpose - removing the Yelt sin-era holdovers.
 &quot;Putin had certain obligations to Yelt sin, but those have already been fulfilled,&quot; said Heritage Foundation political analyst Yevgeny Volk. &quot;Now, when it's time to report on the anti-corruption campaign, Putin is seizing the moment to take a stab at precisely those members of the Yeltsin team - and Kasya nov is a member,&quot; Volk said.
 &quot;But Stepashin as an individual plays a significant role as well. The political career of Stepashin is clearly not finished yet,&quot; Volk said. &quot;While he is at the Audit Chamber he is strengthening his position.&quot;
 &quot;Stepashin will knock himself out to achieve his full potential,&quot; Korgunyuk said.

TITLE: Bankruptcy Service Readying for New Year
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: In first quarter of 2002, the regional department of the Federal Bankruptcy Service (FSFO) will initiate bankruptcy procedings against about 400 companies that owe money in unpaid taxes to the federal and city budgets, Alexander Utevsky, regional FSFO head, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
 The move will be in conjunction with an ultimatum delivered by the federal government to all such firms, giving them until Dec. 1 to submit plans to the Tax Ministry for repaying their tax debts.
 Utevsky says, however, that this will not mean shutting down all 400 debtor companies. Because of the nature of Russian bankruptcy legislation, companies go through a process that is designed to keep them afloat, including a close monitoring of the company's activities by the FSFO and the imposition of external management, before actual bankruptcy proceedings are commenced.
 &quot;There are a number of these companies that are able to pay their debts even if they are reporting no profits now,&quot; Utevsky said. &quot;It's just a question of managing the company.&quot;
 According to figures from the local branch of the Federal Tax Ministry, there are 30,000 registered companies that have not paid taxes during at least one of the years since 1998, with a total tax debt of 7 billion rubles (about $238 million). the Tax Ministry program was set up to try to get those companies still functioning to come forward and pay their debts, by offering to reduce and even completely wipe out the penalties they owe. The original deadline was set for Sept. 2000 but was extended twice, with the move to Dec. 1 being announced in May.
 At the press conference Utevsky said that the FSFO expects 300 companies to take advantage of the opportunity to restructure these debts before the deadline expires, but that the number could be higher.
 &quot;When we meet general directors and chief accountants of various companies, we unfortunately discover that many of them just don't know that this opportunity exists, despite all of the announcements we've made over this period,&quot; he said.
 Another reason that the number of firms that have submitted repayment plans to the Tax Ministry is so low is that, according to Utevsky, about 70,000 companies registered in St. Petersburg, representing about 70 percent of all back-taxes owed, don't even exist, having de facto bankrupted themselves already and disappeared.
 He said that the Bankruptcy Service simply doesn't have the resources to declare bankrupt all of the companies that exist in name only, but that it is presently negotiating a mechanism with the Tax Ministry that would allow the dissolution of these companies without the cumbersome process of bankruptcy procedures being necessary.
 &quot;In Moscow, Mayor Yury Luzhkov provided 5 million rubles ($168,000) to try to get rid of some of these firms, and it only took care of 2,000 to 2,500 of them,&quot; Utevsky said. &quot;St. Petersburg simply doesn't have the kind of money it would take to sort this all out.&quot;

TITLE: Oil Majors Split on Output Cuts
AUTHOR: By Anna Raff
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Prime Minister Mikhail Kasya nov on Thursday called a major oil-production cut &quot;impossible,&quot; stoking fears of a price war with OPEC that sent crude markets tumbling along with Russia's domestic currency and stock markets. 
 &quot;We are not going to at any time reduce production on a large scale: It's impossible,&quot; said Kasyanov, who is in Spain on an official visit. 
 December Brent futures were down $1.15 to $17.60 a barrel in late trading, recovering from a $16.80 low, a level unseen since June 1999. Russia's benchmark Urals blend usually trades at about a $1.50 discount to Brent.
 Russia's oil blue chips all posted losses and drove the Russian Trading System's index down 6 percent. LUKoil led the descent, closing 8.6 percent lower at $11.22, followed by Surgutneftegaz, down 8.4 percent to $0.24 and Yukos, which fell 4.5 percent to close at $4.06. 
 On the currency exchange, the ruble fell to a new low of 29.76 to the U.S. dollar as the Central Bank gave it little support to counter pressure sparked by concern over oil prices. 
 As the world waits apprehensively for some sort of resolution between OPEC and major non-cartel exporters, Russia's top oil companies are divided on policy. 
 &quot;If we start talking about a cut of 100,000 or 200,000 barrels per day, this will mean huge losses for Russia,&quot; Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky told a news briefing Thursday. 
 An OPEC meeting in Vienna on Wednesday ended with a decision to cut exports by 1.5 million barrels a day only if other non-OPEC producers - mainly Russia, Norway and Mexico - support the cartel by making cuts on their own.
 While Khodorkovsky advocates a lower price corridor - $16 to $22 per barrel for Brent - LUKoil vice president Leonid Fedun said a jump in prices is more effective than an increase in exports for all countries involved. Fedun said a cut of up to 300,000 barrels a day was technically feasible. LUKoil president Vagit Alekperov in an interview published Thursday in Nezavisimaya Gazeta predicted the price of oil would swing back up to about $27 a barrel.
 &quot;A co-ordinated decision about production cuts need to be made as soon as possible so we can adjust next year's investment programs,&quot; Fedun said.
 The opposing stances taken by Russia's top two oil companies underscore their corporate philosophies as well as their business models. No. 2 Yukos is primed for more growth next year, while LUKoil's production figures are beginning to level off.
 But oil companies aren't the only ones in disagreement on how to avoid a costly price war with OPEC. Government officials on Thursday offered varying opinions that ranged from a hint at reconciliation to an outright &quot;no&quot; to more oil cuts.
 In the days leading to Wednesday's OPEC meeting, Russia offered to cut 30,000 barrels a day of its 7-million barrels-a-day total, but Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was far from satisfied with what analysts called a purely token gesture.
 &quot;Russia's cut is minuscule and disappointing, and we don't take it seriously,&quot; Naimi said in remarks reported by Reuters. &quot;We've made a very, very reasonable request. Russia's position is extremely unreasonable.&quot;
 OPEC has already cut production three times - a total of 3.5 million barrels a day - this year in efforts to keep oil prices high.
 Sensing OPEC's displeasure, Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko backed down from his intransigent statements made in the hours after OPEC reached its decision.
 &quot;We have not excluded and have never broken off the system of consultations with OPEC member states about a stable oil market,&quot; Khristenko told reporters in Baku. On Wednesday, he said OPEC had the right to make &quot;sharp demands&quot; of Russia.
 Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin echoed Khristenko's sentiments, saying that Russia must work with OPEC to find a solution acceptable to both sides although the process is more challenging than the government first assumed.
 &quot;I think we'll be able to work something out in the end,&quot; Kudrin told Interfax.
 The world's second-largest exporter after Saudi Arabia, Russia depends on oil for 40 percent of its budget revenues. The current draft budget sets $18.50 per barrel of Urals blend as the break-even point. If about $5 billion for the reserve fund is wiped off the budget, that break-even point drops to $15 per barrel. And if the price of oil goes below that, Russia will have to look for external financing.
 The time is ripe for Russia to reach a new consensus with the United States and Europe, not only OPEC memberss, Khodorkovsky said. With the Middle East political situation still unstable, Western countries would be willing to keep the price of oil above $16 to ensure a diversity of supplies -including oil from Russia.

TITLE: Smolny Delivers Draft Small-Business Program
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: City Hall released the draft of its small-business support program for 2002-2003 last Thursday and, while the goals of the project have been greeted positively, there are doubts as to whether they are realistic given the amount of funding included.
 The program, which is the follow up to a two-year effort introduced in 2000, includes 21 measures in the legal, financial, information and infrastructure areas for next year and 2003.
 Some of the highlights of the new plan include an advertizing program to highlight success stories in the city's small-business community, the creation of a comprehensive registry of firms in this category and improving information available to these businesses about tenders for city contracts.
 &quot;The main aim of the program isn't to provide help to small-business projects that are already operating successfully,&quot; Roman Pastukhov, the president of St. Petersburg Businesspeoples Union, a non-profit organization that participated in the drafting of the plan, said in telephone interview on Monday. &quot;The aim is to provide a more favorable climate for those companies just starting out.&quot;
 According to the plan, an overview of which is posted on the St. Petersburg Administration's Web site (www.gov.spb.ru), the program is expected to help in the creation of about 4,000 new companies and 20,000 new small-business-sector jobs in the process. According to Smolny's figures, there are presently about 109,000 companies registered in the city that fit this profile. These firms employ about 630,000 workers.
 The cost of the plan to the city budget is projected at 97 million rubles (about $3.3 million). The administration says that the program will quickly pay for itself, as the increase in the number of firms will generate an extra 100 million rubles per year in tax revenues.
 The designing of the project was a collaborative effort, with representatives from the Legislative Assembly and from Smolny working together with business-community representatives and academics.
 Pastukhov, says that one of the goals of the project is to create a more positive image for the sector through the establishment of a number of small-business associations to provide assistance in the training of managers and by providing consulting services.
 While Pastukhov says that there are about 150 business organizations registered in the city, not many of them effectively bolster the small-buiness situation here.
 &quot;I believe that the program will result in the creation of functioning, effective institutions,&quot; he said.
 The program will also provide credit guarantees and funding for small businesses that are starting up. In particular, the funding will be tied to a tender system aimed at businesses starting up in the social sector and companies bidding for contracts in conjunction with the city's 300th anniversary celebrations in 2003.
 Vladimir Patrin, the head of the department for the coordination of entrepreneurship and innovation in Smolny's Industrial-Development and Economics committee authored the basic version of the program. He says that the credit guarantees and funding will be distributed through the Northwest Region Fund for the Support of Private Enterprises. The fund won a tender held by the administration earlier this year.
 &quot;Part of the money earmarked for the program will be moved to that fund,&quot; he said Tuesday. &quot;The fund will be responsible for announcing tenders for contracts in the social sector and for projects related to St. Petersburgs 300-year anniversary and then for providing credit guarantees to the winners.&quot;
 &quot;If the scheme of financing companies through privately run funds works, then we will expand the scope of the program in the future,&quot; Patrin said.
 According to Konstantin Serov, the deputy head of the Legislative Assembly who was also involved in drawing up the draft, the fact that the new version of the plan is just an expansion of the scope of the old one will ease the process of getting the 26 votes it will need to pass in the assembly.
 &quot;By our estimate, 20 deputies are in favor of the program and 10 are against,&quot; he wrote in the report that accompanied the draft law. &quot;We will work with the remaining deputies by holding consultations with them to explain its goals. All of the procedural questions were worked out during the adoption of the first program for 2001-2002, so we hope to pass this one much more quickly.&quot;
 Naum Pechatnikov, the general director of the Center for Business Development and another contributor to the new program, says that it is definitely needed here.
 &quot;Governments often give their support for economic-development projects,&quot; Pechatnikov wrote in the report. &quot;Small businesses today work in conditions that are far from ideal, and the more companies that appear as a result of the program, the healthier the competition in the market will be.&quot;
 Viktor Yevtukhov, a Legislative Assembly deputy from the Unity faction, agrees that the small-business sector needs a support program, but says that the low level of funding contained in Smolny's plan raises serious doubts about its chances of being effective.
 &quot;The people who designed the program initially asked for 100 million rubles for the program for next year,&quot; he said on Tuesday. &quot;But they only got 27 million rubles (about $900,000) for next year, and this money had already been set aside in the 2002 budget.&quot;
 &quot;The goals of the program are very bright and attractive,&quot; he added. &quot;But with so little financing, it makes no sense, and the people who worked on the program won't be to blame for the fact that it won't be effective.&quot;
 Yevtukhov added that entrepreneurs are faced with a number of negative factors in trying to set up businesses, including the lack of a stable and clear tax system and the lack of tax exemptions and sources of business loans at reasonable rates.&quot;
 &quot;To open up a small business, you need from $50,000 to $70,000,&quot; he said. &quot;It's easy to do the math to figure out how many credits this program can provide if its funding only totals $900,000.&quot;

TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Merger Plans Boosted
 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. met its quarterly forecast for the first time in more than a year with results announced on Wed nesday, rais ing confidence that Chief Executive Carly Fi o rina could muster the votes to pull off a merger with Compaq Computer Corp.
 Fourth-quarter net profit fell nearly 90 percent, and Fiorina said she did not count on an economic recovery next year, but HP's printer sales were relatively strong and both consumer and business revenues rose.
 Tough cost cutting led management to meet its own estimates for the first time since August 2000, giving Fiorina new leverage.
 "Despite the actions by some individuals, I think it's way too early to conclude that this merger will not occur," Fiorina said, referring to a rebellion against the merger by Hewlett and Packard family members.
 
 
Another Ford Move
 

DETROIT, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. named a new chief of its Asia-Pacific operations on Thursday, in the latest management shake-up following last month's ouster of former CEO Jacques Nasser.
 Carlos Mazzorin, 60, will assume responsibility for business strategy and operations in the company's Asia-Pacific market, the world's second-largest automaker said in a statement.
 Mazzorin, who also retains his position as head of South American operations and global purchasing, replaces Henry Wallace as chief of its Asia-Pacific division, it said.
 Wallace, 56 and retiring after a 30-year career at Ford, served as chief financial officer under Nasser until last July.
 
 
IMF Lowers Sights
 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The International Monetary Fund, updating its economic forecast to reflect the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, significantly lowered its estimate for growth in the United States next year.
 The IMF said it still expects a rebound in the world's largest economy, but it slashed U.S. growth for the year to just 0.7 percent. That would be the weakest performance since the end of the last recession in 1991.
 IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler said it is crucial for Congress and the Bush administration to agree quickly on an additional stimulus plan.
 ``The ongoing discussion is not something which is confidence-building,'' he told reporters at a briefing on the revised economic forecast.
 A month ago, the IMF was forecasting that the U.S. economy would expand at a 2.2 percent rate in 2002.
 The IMF also dramatically cut its forecast for Japan, the world's second-largest economy, predicting it would contract by 1.3 percent following a drop of 0.9 percent this year.
 With the significant reductions in growth prospects in the world's two biggest economies, the IMF lowered its expectations for global growth to 2.4 percent for this year and next year.
 Many economists believe that global growth figures below 2.5 percent constitute a worldwide recession, given that increased economic output is not sufficient to handle an expanding population. 



TITLE: Hell Knows No Fury Like a Man Devalued
AUTHOR: By Robert McElvaine
TEXT: IT could be the Taliban mantra: &quot;Women may not.&quot; Women may not work, attend school, go out in public unless accompanied by a male relative. If they take off their burqas in public, they may be beaten; if they commit adultery, they may be stoned to death.
 We know women have no rights in Afghanistan. What we struggle to fathom is the impulse beneath the seemingly relentless drive to dehumanize half the country's population - and the fact that this effort is made in the name of religion. The men who rule Afghanistan invoke Islam to justify their actions. I agree that a kind of religion motivates the Taliban, but the religion in question isn't Islam. It's the religion that the Woody Allen character in the director's latest film, &quot;The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,&quot; identifies as his own: insecure masculinity.
 These men are terrified of women.
 The bizarre will of terrorist hijacker Mohamed Atta, including the provision that no women be allowed at his funeral or gravesite, is just one example of their sexually insecure mind-set. In Afghanistan, that mind-set has led to the creation of a ghastly religion-based dystopia. In the United States, of course, we don't treat women with the brutality of the extremist Muslims who wrap their masculine insecurities in the cloak of Muhammad. But we should realize that male envy of and hostility toward women is also deeply imbedded in other religions, including Judaism and Christianity.
 Men throughout history have enjoyed telling women what they may not do. In just the past decade, questions concerning women's &quot;place&quot; have caused bitter controversy in various Christian churches. Consider Pope John Paul II's vehement reaffirmation of the doctrine that women may not be priests, or the Southern Baptist Convention's 1998 proclamation that a wife &quot;is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband.&quot;
 What has led religions to play a major part in the subordination of women for thousands of years are the prehistoric conditions on which they are based, which reach back to the Neolithic Age and the dawn of agriculture - a female invention that dramatically transformed the human condition.
 The story that Christians call &quot;the Fall of Man&quot; is an allegorical representation of the &quot;fall&quot; that men experienced as a result of women's invention of agriculture (symbolized by Eve's eating from the Tree of Knowledge): Once food could be intentionally produced, the traditional male role of hunter was greatly devalued. This story, like many other myths in other cultures, blames women for the loss of the hunter-gatherer way of life, which from a great chronological distance came to look like paradise to men who were obliged to go &quot;forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground&quot; and earn their bread doing the &quot;woman's work&quot; of supplying plant food. And women's punishment was henceforth to be totally subordinate to men.
 Hell hath no fury like a man devalued - and it was devalued men who retold the story of women inventing agriculture in the symbolic way it comes to us in Genesis, and then used that myth as a basis for dominating women.
 Devalued men also gave birth to the notions that creative power and God are male. Creation had always appeared to be a female power, as reflected in early references to Mother Earth and to nature as a feminine force. But when men began to place seeds in plowed ground, an irresistible metaphor arose. The apparent analogy of a seed being planted in furrowed soil to a male's &quot;planting&quot; of semen in a female led to the conclusion that men provide the seed of new life and women constitute the soil in which that seed grows.
 This monumental error in understanding (in fact, of course, each parent provides half of the &quot;seed&quot;) has profoundly affected recorded history. What had seemed a principally female power was transformed into an entirely male power. No longer apparent bystanders in reproduction, men now claimed to be the reproducers, while women were reduced to the soil in which men's creations grow: in a word, dirt.
 This belief inevitably led to the conclusion that the supreme Creative Power must also be male. I recently saw this quotation on a sign outside an Assembly of God church: &quot;The Lord is a man of war.&quot; It sounds like something Osama bin Laden would say, but it's from Exodus 15:3. The idea that God is a male, who favors war and male domination of women, comes to the three major monotheistic religions straight from the Bible.
 It starts with the Book of Genesis, in which God performs a Caesarean section on Adam and, in effect, pulls out the first woman. Just how basic this is to the women's subordination is apparent in the fact that in many languages, the word for &quot;woman&quot; means &quot;out of man.&quot; Even though every man and woman who ever lived was born out of woman, women are known by a word that falsely indicates creation happens the other way around.
 The combination of the belief that God is male with the notion that humans are created in God's image also yielded the inference that men are closer than women to godly perfection. The belief that women are deformed or &quot;incomplete&quot; men followed logically, and was given its classic expressions by male thinkers from Aristotle - who, in his &quot;Generation of Animals,&quot; called women borderline &quot;monstrosities&quot; - to Aquinas and Freud. It has led men to seek to prove they're the opposite of women, and war and other forms of violence have been common means of doing so - including the evil we are presently seeing done in the name of God.
 A 1992 statement from an American Catholic bishop strongly suggests the particular male insecurity that is the deepest source of restrictions on women throughout history: &quot;A woman priest,&quot; the bishop said, &quot;is as impossible as for me to have a baby.&quot; Exactly. Women can do all the important things men can do, but women can also do some essential things men cannot: bear children and nourish them from their bodies. Many men suffer, largely subconsciously, from insecurities that might be termed &quot;womb envy&quot; or &quot;breast envy.&quot; To compensate for the things they cannot do, men tell women they may not do other things. Which activities women are excluded from varies from one culture to another, but some form of exclusion seems to exist in all cultures.
 The various proclamations restricting roles open to women issued in recent years by the pope, Southern Baptist clergymen and others obviously aren't nearly as extreme as the Taliban's. But they all emanate from the same well of masculine insecurity. Until we all accept a sensible religious view of men and women as equally created in the image of a God who is both male and female, we will run the risk of the sacrilege of insecure men imposing, in the name of God, the sort of reign of terror to which women in Afghanistan have been subjected under the Taliban.
 
 <i>Robert McElvaine, a history professor at Millsaps College is author of &quot;Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History.&quot; He contributed this comment to The Washington Post. </i>

TITLE: A Man With No Need To Apologize
TEXT: GATHERED together on Friday's &quot;Vox Populi&quot; show, hosted on TV6 by Svetlana Sorokina, some of Russia's best-known journalists - Sergei Dorenko, Pavel Gusev, Viktor Shenderovich and Genrikh Borovik - got down to a bit of soul-searching in front of millions of viewers.
 &quot;Our profession is in ruins. We are stupid, mercenary and the people don't trust us,&quot; the famous journalists said, referring to their colleagues.
 &quot;You are stupid and mercenary and we don't trust you,&quot; the studio audience was happy to confirm.
 I must confess that this motley gathering failed to fill me with revulsion for my profession because on the same day I picked up a copy of a book by Dmitry Furman, a journalist who is neither stupid nor mercenary. The Letny Sad publishing house has released a collection of his articles that were published from 1991 to 2001 in Obshchaya Gazeta and a number of other publications. The title is simply, &quot;Our Ten Years.&quot; First and foremost he deals with the establishment of democracy in our country.
 Furman's basic premise can be pieced together from articles published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta in the autumn of 1991, at the peak of democratic euphoria following the defeat of the putsch.
 &quot;Democracy is not the supremacy of a party of 'democrats,' and all the more so not of our so-called democrats. Democracy is about the fight between political parties within the framework of the law. At the moment, the democrats stand virtually unopposed because the Communist Party has collapsed. However, while the democrats don't need an opposition, democracy itself needs it just as we need oxygen. We need criticism of our particular strain of democracy, in which the ideas of democracy are more and more being replaced by the idea of a great Russia under Yeltsin. ... And the coming authoritarianism will be our punishment ... for our willingness to elect as a deputy any rascal who declares himself a democrat and an anti-communist.&quot;
 These ideas would seem to be pretty basic. However, these apparently self-evident views have been pushed onto the fringes of our, and Western, mainstream discussions of democracy in Russia.
 Now it is possible to assess who was right. The views of the mainstream have led to a series of crimes and misdemeanors by the so-called democrats and the &quot;democratic&quot; press against true democracy. On this long list are: the shelling of a legally elected parliament in 1993, the embarassment of the 1996 presidential elections, the collapse in August 1998 of so-called reform policies in whose name all these sins were committed, the periodical outburst of debate in the West about &quot;who lost Russia&quot; and a situation in which our incumbent president is more appointed than elected.
 The rituals of repentance that our media occasionally go through are also to a considerable degree rooted in these mainstream ideas. By recognizing the bankruptcy of one group of idols, one can find new ones. And once again you're set to trample on elementary democratic rules and procedures.
 So what about the &quot;marginal&quot; Dmitry Furman? In the early 1990s, the writer and dissident Andrei Sinyavsky founded the Cassandra Prize. To date, Furman is its one and only laureate. If you read through his articles of the past 10 years you can see how many of his apparently fantastical predictions have come true. And his predictions for the future also make for interesting reading.
 This is a man who has nothing for which to repent.
 
 <i>Alexei Pankin is the editor of Sreda, a magazine for media professionals (www.internews.ru/sreda). </i>

TITLE: Danger From the Right Fringe
AUTHOR: By Boris Kagarlitsky
TEXT: THE recent pogrom organized by neo-fascists in Tsaritsyno had at least one positive consequence: Politicians and the media started to discuss the far-right threat. The Russian establishment has talked about Russian fascism quite frequently in the past but has always reduced the problem to anti-Semitism.
 In particular, media interest was roused by the anti-Semitic inclinations of the Communist Party leadership. As a result, a lot has been said and written about fascism, but all in a rather superficial manner.
 In fact, the extreme right in Russia today is first and foremost anti-Caucasian rather than anti-Semitic. This is not to say that one should deduce that those running rascist organizations have suddenly been overcome with sympathy for Jewish people. They have simply changed their priorities.
 <i>Chornye</i>, many of whom are Muslims<i>, </i>are now Enemy No. 1. And to give them their due, Russian skinheads are perfectly in step with their Western counterparts: In Germany, the pogroms of recent years have also been targeted against Muslims rather than Jews.
 In Western publications, information appeared that Moscow skinheads had originally planned to head for Tverskaya Ulitsa and beat up the anti-globalists, but when it turned out that there were no anti-globalists to beat up they changed their plans and headed for Tsaritsyno. This version, however, does not seem entirely convincing, as the pogrom in Tsaritsyno was well organized and must have been planned well in advance.
 There is a certain symbolism in what happened. The police were out in force on Tverskaya to protect expensive shopwindows from leftwing radicals, who did not exist in reality. At the same time, on the other side of the city, rightwing extremists were smashing people up unimpeded.
 Both city and federal authorities had to vindicate themselves. It was not simply a matter of the powerlessness of the law enforcement agencies, but also that the authorities' own propaganda had prepared the ground for the pogroms. The police for some years now have been doing all they can to terrorize &quot;persons of Caucasian nationality&quot; on the streets - blatantly trying to demonstrate to us all that they are second-class people and undesirable elements in Moscow and other Russian cities.
 The image of the Muslim terrorist and the Caucasian bandit has been systematically cultivated and fostered by the mass media. We may remember that the president himself made an appeal not to stand upon ceremony with his very public promise to &quot;wipe them out in the outhouse.&quot; Where is the presumption of innocence? Where are the equal rights for all citizens?
 After the Tsaritsyno pogrom, the authorities became somewhat more guarded in expressing themselves. Also, the public was deluged by statements about how racism and nationalism represent a threat for Russia, facilitating the country's disintegration. This is, of course, true. However, the question that enters my mind is: If it were not a threat to state unity, would it then be all right to be a racist or an anti-Semite?
 Fascism has not only ideological but also social roots. Those involved in the pogroms were mainly from poor suburbs. They are young people from low-income families with dismal prospects. These are people whom the widely publicized economic growth of the past couple of years has passed by.
 These people are embittered and acutely feel their low social position, but unlike trade-union activists or leftwing organizations, they do not feel any strong group affiliation and have a very unclear understanding of their own interests.
 While the better-educated leftwing radicals channel their anger against the system as a whole, these youths need a specific and visible embodiment of evil. Traders of foreign extraction turn out to be the ideal target.
 The next stage is that far right groups start to carry out specific orders, attacking left-wing organizations, trade union activists, liberal journalists etc. Right-wing nationalists are essentially conservative. The status quo suits them down to the ground. Discontent is mainly caused by the hair color, nose-shape etc. of one's neighbor.
 If the battle against right-wing extremism is to be undertaken seriously, then strengthening police forces is not the answer. Resolving social problems is.
 There are only two tried-and-tested means of battling extremism: good employment opportunities and good-quality education, both accessible to all.
 
 <i>Boris Kagarlitsky is a Moscow-based sociologist. </i>

TITLE: A Summit That Is Not All About Concessions
TEXT: IN the days and weeks leading up to President Vladimir Putin's summit with President George W. Bush, the focus was on the future of the ABM Treaty and on what essentially would be a START III, an agreement to cut strategic nuclear arsenals. Officials shuttled back and forth between Washington and Moscow, hinting after each meeting that the two sides were getting closer.
 Putin came out over the weekend and told American journalists that he was &quot;very optimistic&quot; a compromise could be found on the ABM Treaty, which forbids the U.S. to develop a national missile-defense shield.
 And U.S. officials indicated that Bush was prepared to agree to a Russian proposal to slash the number of warheads held by both countries by as much as two-thirds.
 At the same time, Bush's national security advisor, Condoleeza Rice, cautioned that no specific deal could be expected from the three-day visit: &quot;Not every meeting has to be accompanied, like the old summits were with the Soviet Union, by arms-control agreements.&quot; Rice went on to say that the Russian-U.S. relationship &quot;is larger than the security relationship. And so economic relations are important, political relations are important. This is a very different relationship now.&quot;
 Rice is right. The relationship is larger than the security relationship. And while Russia has long pushed Washington for a drastic reduction in strategic arms, Putin now wants more.
 After the Sept. 11 attacks, Putin made a series of gestures to the United States. In standing firmly behind the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign, he opened the way for the deployment of U.S. troops in central Asia. He promised to close Russia's listening post in Cuba and naval base in Vietnam, two symbols of its past influence in the world.
 We could argue that these steps were not concessions to the United States, but pragmatic moves that furthered Russia's own interests. (Notice that Putin did not bow to the West at all over Iraq or Iran.)
 But that is not how Putin's actions have been seen by Russia's military and political elite, who fear that, once again, Russia is giving without getting anything in return. In order to overcome the discontent, Putin needs to come back from the United States with some tangible results.
 What Putin wants is U.S. support for redefining Russia's relationship with NATO and for putting Russia on track to join the World Trade Organization.
 Effective support on both issues is well within Washington's power, and here, too, we could argue that we're not talking about concessions to a former foe. Integrating Russia into the West economically and politically would do more for U.S. security than any deal on NMD.
 
 <i>This comment originally appeared as an editorial in The Moscow Times on Nov. 13. </i>

TITLE: one steamy new club
AUTHOR: By Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Par.spb, a new techno club, opened Saturday with performances by New York's Julee Cruise of the &quot;Twin Peaks&quot; fame and London's Dr. Bob James, attracting a crowd of more than 600 - with another 100 or more unable to get in. 
 Almost every regular at the city's trendy openings could be spotted at the event: all the usual designers, artists, musicians, expats and hip businesspeople. 
 Certainly the crowd that will be patronizing the new club will be a little different, but the management says it will still be oriented toward an adult clientelle
 &quot;We want to work for an adult public, ideally,&quot; said art director Oleg Bogdanov, formerly of the vinyl-only record shop and promotion agency Baza. &quot;[We are aiming] for people who are accomplished, who have had time to visit different places around the world, who have been to dance clubs in Europe, whether they are students or people who work. We want to set ourselves apart from underground clubs for teenagers, although our club will be underground in character.&quot;
 As for the music, Par.spb will be mostly relying on DJs, although concerts similar to that at the opening, featuring mainly Western guest stars will take place about once a month, Bogdanov claims. But live bands will rarely play per se, and crossover projects combining DJs and live music will be the norm.
 Officially, Par.spb is a club extension of the International Cultural Center, which also plans to use the premises for art exhibitions, seminars, conferences, occasional theater performances and film screenings.
 &quot;We called ourselves the International Cultural Center deliberately to show that it would be a multi-functional venue,&quot; says Bogdanov. &quot;To promote club parties is interesting and profitable, but we want to do other things as well.&quot;
 The club and center were founded and are owned by the trio of Bogdanov; Roman Veprintsev, co-founder of the now-defunct Ten Club; and Mikhail Golubev, who combines his duties as the director of the Northwest Construction Corporation with spinning vinyl at local clubs as DJ Strong.
 The entrance fee for the opening was 500 rubles, which is pretty steep for St. Petersburg clubbers, but Bogdanov says the cost will drop to between 100 and 150 rubles ($3 to $5). Prices for drinks - rather moderate with beer going for from 35 to 60 rubles - won't change much.
 The club has two dance floors. The larger one is also used for concerts, while the smaller can be reserved for conferences and seminars. It also has two separate bars.
 Par.spb's lavish interior is the club debut of Alexandra Melentyeva, who has specialized in apartment interiors. In designing the club, she made some details look deliberately unfinished, a trick that demands closer inspection in order to be understood. 
 Bogdanov admits that Saturday's opening was a bit premature, timed to coincide with Cruise's and James' Russian tours. So there are a few things left to be finished before the club's next event, which will feature guest DJs from Berlin's WMF club on Nov. 24. That event was originally intended to be the opening.
 The part of the building that the club and center share with the Tarkan Caucasian-food caf&eacute; was once a hospital's laundry, which is the source of the club's name, since <i>par </i>means &quot;steam&quot; in Russian.
 The reaction of those at the opening was generally positive.
 &quot;I like it a lot. It was a very strong event with one of the best-loved artists,&quot; said Yevgeny Fyodorov of the alternative-rock band Tequilajazzz. &quot;It looks like this is going to be a very good place, not least for the feature film that we are shooting now, which is supposed to have a club scene. I'll be lobbying [to shoot the scene in] this club.&quot;
 Mikhail Sindalovsky of Griboyedov, a club that is oriented toward roughly the same public and musical tastes, said he liked &quot;the interiors and the club in general&quot;. 
 &quot;But I can't comment on its programs because it was only an opening.&quot;
 Though Griboyedov's two weekly parties, &quot;Sunday Lounge&quot; and &quot;Ground Level,&quot; plan to move to Par.spb, Sindalovsky said he was not jealous.
 &quot;I've always wanted to have more clubs in the city. If there are more clubs, then more people will go to them,&quot; he said.
 Par.spb's lofty ambitions may lead some to recall the miserable fate of the PORT club. Opened with much pomp in Nov. 1997, PORT claimed to &quot;connect St. Petersburg with the rest of the world&quot; through music, film and arts, but degenerated into an average pop club with Russian pop singers and primitive German techno within a few months. Now it draws mainly misguided school kids from the suburbs.
 &quot;We remember this experience,&quot; says Bogdanov. &quot;PORT's problem was that its owners didn't know what they wanted, while we've invested our own money and don't depend on anyone from the outside.&quot;
 
 <i>The Par.spb Club and the International Club Center are located at 5B Alexandrovsky Park, M: Gorkovskaya, 233-3374, 238-0970, www.icc.sp.ru. The club will be open on a regular basis beginning Nov. 24. Check Gigs for events. </i>

TITLE: spotlight on the newest classics
AUTHOR: by Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Contemporary classical music is a rare thing in the repertoires of Russian orchestras in general, but finding experimental contemporary classical music in St. Petersburg is an almost hopeless task. Except for the week of Nov. 18 through Nov. 25, when the Sound Ways annual new-music festival returns to town.
 This event, established in 1989 and growing each year since, puts the spotlight on experimental contemporary classic music. This year, festival concerts will be held at the St. Petersburg State Cappella, the St. Peter and Paul Church on Nevsky Prospect and the House of Composers on Bolshaya Mor skaya Ulitsa. 
 As usual, this year's festival - the thirteenth - will not only showcase a selection of the most recent works by composer from around the world, but will also be introducing local audiences to avant-garde works that have already received acclaim abroad but which remain obscure here. Arnold Schonberg's 1912 &quot;Pierrot Lunaire&quot; (for speaker and chamber orchestra) received its Russian premiere at the festival in 1998.
 Schonberg's music will again be featured this year, a tribute to the composer on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death. The Zurich Conservatory Chamber Orchestra will perform his Chamber Symphony No. 1 at the St. Petersburg State Cappella on Nov. 20.
 There will be a considerable Swiss presence at this year's festival, which coincides with the Days of Switzerland in St. Petersburg and is being supported the Swiss Consulate. Several Swiss musicians -Magda Schwerzman (flute), Matthias Muller (clarinet) and Marianne Heberli (violin) - will be giving master classes for Russian students. Swiss composer Rudolf Kelternborn, who will have several works getting their local debuts at the festival this year, will also give a master class in composition. And, finally, the Swiss Kontra Trio - Madeleine Bischof (contrabass-flute), Thomas Mejer (contrabass-saxophone) and Mark Unternaher (contrabass-tuba) - will perform at the St. Petersburg House of Composers on Nov. 24. According festival organizers, the trio offers a striking contrast of timbres.
 As usual, Sound Ways will be chock full of Russian and world premieres. The majority of pieces featured are by foreign composers, but the festival's artistic director, composer Alexander Radvilovich, defends this approach. 
 &quot;Russia is a part of the world, and even though the festival takes place here, we should try to embrace as much of the world's music as possible,&quot; Radvilovich said.
 This year's event will see the Russian premieres of, among others, music by the Po lish composer Krzistof Meyer, the Gre ek composer Janis Xenakis, the Japa nese composer Toru Takemitsu and the American composer Morton Feldman.
 The presentation of Feldman's deeply spiritual &quot;Rothko Chapel,&quot; which will be performed at the festival's opening on Nov. 18, will be dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
 Lovers of Russian music will also have much to look forward to. One of the most widely acclaimed contemporary composers in the world, Russian-born Sofia Gubaidulina who has lived in Germany since 1992, will be highlighted during a concert at the House of Composers on Nov. 24. 
 Radilovich, using the prerogatives of the festival's artistic director, has included three of his own works into the program. Of special note is the festival's closing concert, which will juxtapose works by four local composers - Yelena Antonenko, Alexander Ra dvi lo vich, Svetlana Lavrova and Sofia Levkovskaya - all of which are dedicated to and inspired by Giuseppe Verdi, the 100th anniversary of whose death was this January.
 <i>For details, call 319-4038 or 312-2563. Links: http://www.theatre.spb.ru/Sound. </i>

TITLE: chernov's choice
TEXT: <strong>Tricky </strong>remains true to his stage name. First, he was rumored to be coming to Russia. Then he wasn't. Now this week's rumor mill says that he will indeed come and play in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. Tricky's local show is scheduled for Dec. 19, the venue is Oktyabrsky Concert Hall.
 The heavily tattooed Tricky was once a member of the Wild Bunch, a Bristol-based rap troupe that eventually evolved into Massive Attack. Now the trip-hop artist seems to be the most-quoted name among a very diverse range of Russian musicians from Akvarium's Boris Grebenshchikov to Multfilmy's Yegor Timofeyev. Tricky is currently on tour promoting his latest album, &quot;BlowBack.&quot;
 The venue for <strong>Sabri Brothers </strong>has been confirmed as the Beloselskikh-Belozerskikh Palace - a place a bit off the usual concert beat that has hosted such unlikely musicians as Marc Almond and Michael Nyman over the past eight years. Pakistan's leading outfit - which plays Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis - is highly esteemed by music critics and audiences around the world. 
 &quot; ... For all the refinement of the poetry, this is overtly ecstatic music meant to lift listeners into trancelike states,&quot; wrote The New York Times' John Rockwell. &quot;The scale is modal, with pulsing cross rhythms, from tabla-like drums, rippling arpeggiations from the harmoniums and responsory chanting and clapping by the chorus, all of it exuberantly, infectiously, precise. ... The Sabris are an experience with a capital E.&quot;
 <i>Sabri Brothers will play 7 p.m., Nov. 18. The Beloselskikh-Belozerskikh Palace is located at 41 Nevsky Pr. Tickets cost 190 and 280 rubles and are available from Titanic, Saigon and Kailas stores as well as at the palace itself. For more information, call the Sound Lab at 325-9040.
 </i><strong>Akvarium </strong>will play its first-ever alternative-club concert in St. Petersburg next week, and the venue will be the notoriously decrepit Poligon, a distantly located haven for heavy-metal and punk acts.
 &quot;As far as I understand, it was the offer from Poligon, which responded to our request to any of St. Petersburg clubs to let us play,&quot; said Akvarium's Boris Grebenshchikov by telephone Wednesday. &quot;No one but Poligon reacted.&quot;
 &quot;Honestly, I longed to play at a St. Petersburg club for a long time, but all my requests were met with a lack of understanding, which is difficult for me to explain,&quot; he said. 
 &quot;But I'd be glad if I could play in St. Petersburg more than in Moscow.&quot;
 Don't be confused by posters saying that Grebenshchikov will take part in the Legends of Rock concert at the Yubileiny Sport Palace the very same night.
 &quot;We'll play at Poligon for 90 minutes, and at [&quot;Legends of Rock&quot; promoter Sergei] Danilov's request, I will drop by and play three songs,&quot; said Grebenshchikov. &quot;He needed the commercial potential of my name.&quot;
 Meanwhile, Poligon's Web site says the club has run out of 150-ruble tickets, although a number of 180-ruble tickets are still available.
 <i>Akvarium at Poligon, Nov. 23. Tickets can be bought from the club or reserved through Poligon's official Web site at http://polygon.cool.ru
 - by Sergey Chernov </i>

TITLE: lasso yourself some great views
AUTHOR: by Robert Coalson
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: I usually don't much believe in fate or providence, but how else does one explain the fact that I would randomly find myself taking shelter from the sleet in a Russian-Texan restaurant at practically very same time that President Vladimir Putin was tucking into some bar-b-que at U.S. President George W. Bush's Texas ranch? But this is indeed exactly what happened when I wandered into the strangely named By the Spas on Kanal Griboyedova, a new place that has taken over the spot formerly occupied by the Rodeo Bar.
 English-speakers can be forgiven for thinking that there must be a spa (or, actually, several spas) near this restaurant, but the name really refers to the Cathedral of the Savior <i>(Spas)</i> on the Spilled Blood, which looms magnificently just across the quiet waters of the canal from this charming restaurant. If the food and interiors were not enough, the fact that almost every table has an incredible view of this fascinating building would already be enough to justify going there. Arguably, this restaurant offers the best views in town.
 Fortunately, though, things just keep going from there. The managers here were not content with their great views and applied themselves diligently to creating a place where guests feel welcome and comfortable before they even get their coats off. By the Spas is a huge place, but its low, bare-brick vaulting and strategically placed decorations break it into what amounts to a series of cozy corners.
 And then there is the food. I don't have room to go into the details of the extensive 16-page menu, which is more or less evenly divided between Russian classics (often with creative and original twists) and dishes inspired by the American Wild West. Although patrons looking for authentic Tex-Mex or anything of that sort will be disappointed here, those who come without expectations will discover that the &quot;American&quot; dishes are delicious, if not authentic.
 By the Spas also features a full page of vegetarian dishes, a thoughtful accommodation of which too few local establishments can boast. We didn't actually order anything from this page, but the eggplant stuffed with fried mushrooms and onion (169 rubles, or $5.63) and the peppers stuffed with an eggplant and herb ragout (149 rubles, or $5) definitely caught our attention.
 What we did start off with was the Karelian Cup fish soup for 159 rubles ($5.30), which was so thick and creamy that it hardly seemed to qualify as soup. However, generously decked out with big chunks of several types of fish, it was truly enjoyable and filling, although my dining companion found it a touch salty for her taste. In fact, a bowl of this soup, some bread and a beer would make a perfectly fine lunch.
 I also checked out the Potted Mushrooms (119 rubles, or $4), which was a huge portion of what is normally called julienne, with a lovely cream-and-white-wine sauce. By the time we'd finished our starters, we were already ready to be rolled out to pasture.
 But we forged on. We split a Cock of the Woods salad (149 rubles, or $5) which was made from the usual salad vegetables but mixed with potato chips for texture and topped off by three hard-boiled quail's eggs.
 For mains, my dining companion opted for the Orloff veal fillet from the Russian side of the menu for 329 rubles ($11), and I took the Indian Gaucho Supper for 259 rubles ($8.63) from the Wild West side. Both dishes were generously portioned and attractively presented. The Gaucho was even served flamb&eacute; with a tequila-based lighter fluid.
 The Orloff veal was tender, having been marinated in a mix of white wine and cognac, and came dressed in a morel-mushroom sauce with a side of grilled vegetables. The Gaucho was a mixed-meat shashlik accompanied by two forgettable sauces, one white and one red but I forget which was which.
 Although we were there in the early evening, By the Spas offers live music, mostly jazz and blues, nightly after 8 p.m. They also have a 20-percent discount on everything before 5 p.m. on weekdays. And the fabulous view is free, day and night.
 
 <i>By the Spas, 2 Konyushennaya Plo shchad (entrance from Kanal Griboyedova side), 314-4973. Open daily 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. Twenty percent discount before 5 p.m. Lunch for two including beer, 1,364 rubles ($45.46). Menu in English and Russian. Credit cards accepted. </i>

TITLE: Kabul Falls, Opposition Gains Continue
AUTHOR: By Kathy Gannon
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: KABUL, Afghanistan - Zeroing in on the only real pocket of Taliban resistance remaining in northern Afgh a ni stan, U.S. warplanes pounded targets Thursday near the town of Kunduz. Other attacks reportedly hit the Taliban's southern stronghold, Kandahar. 
 Also Thursday, eight freed international aid workers arrived safely in Pakistan after three months of captivity by the Taliban, who had accused them of preaching Christianity in strictly Islamic Afg hanistan. &quot;It's like a miracle,&quot; said Georg Taubmann, one of the freed workers. The group - two Americans, two Australians and four Germans, including Taubmann - was airlifted to safety by U.S. military helicopters after being freed from prison amid an anti-Taliban uprising in the southern Afghanistan town of Ghazni. 
 The weeklong rout of Afghanistan's Islamic militia continued to gather momentum, although territorial takeovers were sometimes difficult to verify. 
 The eastern town of Jalalabad was reported to have fallen, but one Shiite Muslim Northern Alliance leader, Saeed Hussein Anwari, said in Kabul on Thursday that the city's status was unclear. 
 Francesc Vendrell, the deputy UN special representative for Afghanistan, said that Jalalabad &quot;is clearly not in Taliban hands, but it's a little confusing to know in whose hands it is.&quot; 
 In the south, American air strikes hammered the area around Kandahar, killing eight civilians and injuring 22, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said. The claim could not be confirmed. 
 On the eastern border, Pashtun tribespeople once loyal to the Taliban were said to be rising up against them, and Taliban fighters were reportedly taking shelter in the mountains. Anwari said the border provinces of Paktika, Paktia and part of Logar were all under the control of anti-Taliban Pashtun forces. 
 Another Northern Alliance commander, Sayaf Baick, said an anti-Taliban offensive was imminent on the front outside Kunduz, the only northern town of significant size remaining under Taliban control. It lies between the alliance-held cities of Mazar-e-Sharif and Taloqan. 
 Baick, speaking to reporters in Taloqan, claimed Taliban fighters were massed in the area, and that the Taliban had killed city officials in Kunduz who wanted to surrender to the alliance. No independent confirmation was possible. 
 With the Taliban having fled Kabul, speculation has grown that Burhanuddin Rabbani, the president from 1992 to 1996 and titular head of the Northern Alliance, will return to the capital. 
 Anwari, the Shiite Muslim Northern Alliance commander, said Rabbani was remaining in the Panjshir Valley, a staging ground for the alliance during its long anti-Taliban campaign in the north, because of the alliance's promise not to take power in the capital. 
 He warned, however, that if the United Nations and the world community failed to act soon to fill the power vacuum, the alliance would have to establish a government.

TITLE: UN Opens Assistance Route Into Afghanistan
AUTHOR: By Olga Stukalova
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: HAIRATON, Afghanistan - The first-aid shipment across the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan border arrived Wed nesday in this Afghan port city, greeted by cheers from the turbaned men lining the banks of the Amu-Darya River.
 The barge marked the reopening of a vital aid corridor into northern Afghanistan, allowing passage of critical food and winter supplies to some of the country's hungriest regions.
 The border had been tightly closed since 1997, when the Taliban took control of northern Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance recaptured Hairaton on Nov. 8, the same day they took the biggest city in northern Afghanistan, Mazar-e-Sharif.
 &quot;The river crossing is the first of what is hoped will become a major humanitarian corridor into northern Afghanistan, where there are an estimated 3 million hungry people,&quot; the United Nations said in a press release.
 &quot;The aid will target the most vulnerable and needy people of northern Afghanistan,&quot; Richard Conroy, the UN chief in Uzbekistan, said in a statement.
 Sailing under a light-blue UN flag, the barge delivered 55 tons of wheat flour, 10,000 winter coats, 2,000 blankets, 1,333 pairs of boots and 10,000 collapsible water containers.
 As it neared the shore after the 17-kilometer journey upstream to Hairaton, dozens of men waiting to unload the supplies lined the river bank, applauding and shouting, &quot;Hurrah!&quot;
 At the dock, a group of children played with a plastic Kalashnikov rifle as several guards armed with the real thing watched supplies being hauled up a wooden ramp.
 &quot;There's nothing to eat here, there's no work,&quot; said Djiangelti, who was helping with the unloading. &quot;It'd be good if there was some meat or flour.&quot;
 Another man who also gave only one name, Khakhberdi, said now that the Taliban have left, &quot;every day is a holiday in the city. It's a very good holiday.&quot;
 UN officials hope to start sending 17,600 tons of aid a month from Uzbekistan to northern Afghanistan, now mostly in the hands of the anti-Taliban opposition.
 The first shipment had been delayed for about a week amid reports of looting and fighting in Mazar-e-Sharif and surrounding areas. The first barge carried just a quarter of the normal planned load of 220 tons. 
 Aid workers said the food will be stored in the port and not be moved into the countryside until the security situation is clearer.
 UNICEF and the World Food Program halted shipments of desperately needed aid to Afghanistan on Wednesday amid reports of looting and lawlessness, an official said.
 The World Food Program has 1,210 tons of food currently being stored at the port of Termez in Uzbekistan and 12,100 tons of supplies in neighboring Kazakstan and Tajikistan, en route to the port.
 Hundreds of people were reported to have been killed and tons of supplies looted in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif since the fundamentalist Taliban abandoned the city last week.

TITLE: Germany And Brazil Qualify for World Cup
AUTHOR: By Stephen Wade
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: SYDNEY, Australia - Four-time champion Brazil and three-time winner Germany qualified for the World Cup on Wednesday night with victories in their final games.
 Brazil clinched its 17th appearance in 17 World Cups by defeating Ve ne zu e la 3-0 on two goals by Luizao and one by Rivaldo.
 Germany beat Ukraine 4-1 to win its home-and-home, total-goals playoff 5-2.
 Meanwhile, Ireland, 2-0 ahead from the first leg, qualified for the 2002 finals on Thursday despite a 1-0 defeat by Iran.
 In the other European playoffs, Slovenia tied Romania 1-1 and clinched its first-ever World Cup spot on a 3-2 aggregate; Turkey earned its first berth since 1954 by beating Austria 5-0 for a 6-0 aggregate; and Belgium qualified for the sixth straight time by defeating the Czech Republic 1-0 for a 2-0 aggregate.
 The final berth in the 32-country field for next year's tournament in Japan and South Korea will be determined by a home-and-home playoff between Uru guay and Australia on Nov. 20 and 25. Uruguay advanced to the playoff with a 1-1 tie against visiting Argentina, just beating out Colombia, which won 4-0 at Paraguay.
 In Dortmund, Germany scored three goals in the first 15 minutes. Michael Ballack - who also scored in the second half - Oliver Neuville and Marko Rehmer gave the hosts the big lead.
 Andriy Shevchenko scored a late goal for Ukraine.
 &quot;We were under great pressure,&quot; Ballack said. &quot;Failing to qualify would have been a huge disappointment for the entire nation.&quot;
 In Sao Luis de Maranhao, Luizao put Brazil ahead when he beat goalkeeper Rafael Dudamel in the 12th minute, Luizao scored off a pass from Edilson in the 18th, and Rivaldo scored in the 35th off a feed from Edilson, who had turned his defender around twice.
 &quot;We know we have to improve a lot,&quot; Brazil captain Emerson said. &quot;But we didn't have time. Now we will.&quot;
 The first four teams in South America qualified, and Argentina (13-1-4) finished first with 43 points, 12 ahead of Ecuador (9-5-4) and 13 ahead of Brazil and Paraguay (both 9-6-3).
 It was the worst qualifying campaign ever for Brazil, which has not lost to Venezuela in their past 15 official games, outscoring them 70-2.
 &quot;It's been 18 games of suffering,&quot; Brazil defender Roberto Carlos said.
 Uruguay and Colombia were both 7-5-6 for 27 points, but Uruguay earned the playoff berth because of a better goal difference: plus six to plus five.
 At Asuncion, Victor Aristizabal scored in the 23rd, 34th and 62nd minutes, and Rafael Castillo connected in the 81st as Colombia fell one goal short of advancing to the playoff.
 In Montevideo, Dario Silva scored for Uruguay in the 18th minute, but Claudio Lopez tied it in the 44th for visiting Argentina.
 Ireland will be playing in its third World Cup after 1990 and 1994.
 Ali Karimi met a bouncing ball about eight meters out and headed just wide of the right-hand post.
 Mick McCarthy's side needed a superb diving save from keeper Shay Given to keep the home side at bay in the 55th minute after Karim Bagheri struck a low shot from outside the area.
 Iran won back some pride by scoring in injury time through Yahya Golmohammadi, but it was too little, too late.
 In Bucharest, Mladen Rudonja scored in the 57th minute for Slovenia, a country of only 2 million people that broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991.
 In Istanbul, Yildiray Basturk, Hakan Sukur and Okan Buruk scored in the first half for Turkey, and Arif Erdem added two later goals.
 In Prague, Marc Wilmots made a late penalty kick for Belgium.
 There were two other games in South America, with Ecuador playing a scoreless tie at last-place Chile (3-12-3) and Bolivia (4-8-6) playing a 1-1 tie at Peru (4-10-4).

TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: 3rd Bagger Busted
 

HOUSTON (Reuters) - One-time National League Most Valuable Player Ken Caminiti was arrested on Wed nes day when police found him in a hotel room with crack cocaine, a police spokesperson said.
 Caminiti, who has a history of drug and alcohol problems, was jailed on charges of possession of a controlled substance and booked into Harris County Jail, said Lieutenant Robert Van Pelt of the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
 Television reports showed Caminiti, 38, handcuffed and trying to hide his face while lying in the back seat of a police car taking him to jail. Two other men were arrested with him.
 Caminiti, a three-time Gold Glove winner at third base and three-time All-Star, began his career with the Houston Astros in 1987, then was traded to the San Diego Padres in 1994.
 
 
Another 200
 

DENVER, Colorado - Future Hall of Famer Patrick Roy became the first goaltender in NHL history to win 200 games with two different teams with Colorado's 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
 Roy, who was stuck on 199 wins for the defending Stanley Cup champions over his last eight starts, made 26 saves to record his 54th career shutout and his second of the season.
 The NHL's all-time wins leader, Roy recorded 289 victories and won two Stanley Cups with the Montreal, posting a 289-175-66 record for the Canadiens from 1984 to 1995.
 The 36-year-old is now 200-110-45 since being acquired by Colorado on December 6, 1995, with two more Stanley Cups with the Avalanche to his credit.
 
 
Home Run Threats
 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Barry Bonds received death threats late in the season that ended with him hitting a record 73 home runs, he said in a radio interview.
 The San Francisco Giants slugger told KNBR radio Wednesday that the FBI informed him of the threats just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
 When the Giants resumed play a week after the attacks, Bonds said he feared for his life on the field and was aware of extra security surrounding him.
 "I just looked around and could see where they were all located, all the security. It was scary at first," Bonds said. "I really didn't start hitting [home runs] at first because I was really nervous. It was like, 'I could get shot out here.' I was thinking, did I tell my mom I love her? Did I tell my dad? All these little scary thoughts were going through my mind."
 
 
Sri Lanka Impresses
 

GALLE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Left-hander Kumar Sangakkara hit his second test century before Sri Lanka reached an impressive 343 for three at the close of a rain-shortened third day in the first test against West Indies on Thursday.
 Sangakkara, 126 not out, struck 15 fours in seven hours at the crease as Sri Lanka continued to pile on the runs at the Galle International Stadium in reply to the West Indies first innings of 448.
 Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene made the most of a slow pitch to share in a record third-wicket stand of 162 either side of lunch.
 The partnership, the highest for either side in tests between the two countries, surpassed the previous mark of 160 achieved by West Indies openers Sherwin Campbell and Stuart Williams at Antigua in 1996 and 97.