LOCAL NEWS

HOME REPAIR SHOPPERS IN GAS BOMB ATTACKS

A gas attack that made dozens of people ill at a home repair store this week looks likely to put a dent in the retailer’s holiday sales but is not prompting fears of a repeat a among shoppers or investors.

Unknown assailants planted capsules of mercaptan, a pungent but relatively harmless chemical, in Maxidom’s four stores in St.

AFRICAN STUDENT KILLED NEAR METRO STATION

A St. Petersburg university student from Cameroon became the fourth victim of murder on Saturday in what many see as an ongoing wave of hate crimes that has rocked the city in the past three months.

Local Skiers Vie For Spot At Olympics

Russian skier Darya Serova took first prize in the mogul rounds held within the Freestyle Russian Cup stages in Krasnoye Ozero in Korobitsino near St. Petersburg last week and with it the chance to represent her country at the Olympic Games.

“The only dream I have is to win the Olympic gold,” Serova said, with less than two months left until the Winter Games begin Turin, Italy.

NATIONAL NEWS

Ex-Gamblers Recall Trials and Tribulations of Addiction

MOSCOW — Alexander received his paycheck five days ago, and several people started chuckling when he revealed how he’d been spending his money.

“I’ve just been hanging out and buying a bunch of stuff I don’t want,” said Alexander, slumped forward in his chair and pointedly avoiding eye contact.

But the snickering in the cramped room died down as Alexander, a graying man in his 40s, continued.

LOCAL BUSINESS

SKI RESORT OPEN AFTER STATE FEUD

The Orlinaya Gora ski resort, a popular destination for student skiers and snowboarders, will finally open its slopes to the public Friday, the resort’s managing company TAKT said Tuesday.

TAKT general director Ilya Voronin, whose company developed Orlinaya Gora on the land of the State Lesgaft Sport Academy in 1999, said that a conflict with the academy was the reason that they were unable to open the resort at the start of the winter season.

INSURERS TOLD TO STOP ‘GIFTS’

The licenses of nine of the country’s largest insurance companies were threatened with being revoked on December 20, as federal insurance watchdog Rosstrakhnadzor tried to stop them offering clients discounts and gifts.

VODKA OUTPUT DOUBLED

Local alcohol producer Liviz has opened a new plant in St. Petersburg, doubling its production volume, the company said Monday in a press release.

“The volume of production can be compared to that produced at our base production facilities,” said Konstantin Vinogradov, press secretary at Liviz.

IT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS ADJUST TO LOCAL REALITY

With the development of high-speed business over the last 15 years, IT business solutions are gaining in popularity, and not only with the country’s most advanced domestic and foreign companies.

Storm Clouds Gathering Over Baltic

Baltic Sea countries are losing out to their Asian competitors because of underdeveloped cooperation, it was revealed at the 7th annual Baltic Development Forum, which took place last month in Stockholm.

According to European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso,

“While things look relatively sunny in some corners of the Baltic Sea area, storm clouds continue to gather elsewhere.

OPINION

A YEAR FOR DEMOCRACY, ON PURPOSE OR NOT

The parliamentary elections in Chechnya orchestrated by the Kremlin on Nov. 27 were another step in President Vladimir Putin’s strategy to gain international legitimacy for his handling of Chechnya. While this may constitute a short-term victory, the elections do nothing to improve the deadlock in Chechnya and the rapidly deteriorating situation in the North Caucasus as a whole.

TRAFFIC JAMS AS THE CITY’S GROWTH INDUSTRY

Çàñòðÿòü â ïðîáêå: to get stuck in a traffic jam.

If you have been driving around town — no, let me rephrase that: If you have been trying to drive around town this December, but instead have been whiling away the hours in traffic jams, it’s not your imagination.

CULTURE

WHAT HAPPENED?

In 2005, shadows fell on what was once St. Petersburg bright contemporary music scene.

Apparently scared by the Orange Revolution in Ukraine a year ago, in which contemporary musicians helped rock the vote, the Kremlin flirted with Russian rock musicians, who, despite once being a defiant and independent bunch, were surprisingly happy to please the bosses, if the price was right — be it a concert for the Kremlin-backed youth group Nashi or a stadium show in Chechnya to demonstrate that everything is peaceful and calm in the rebellious republic.

THEY SAID IT IN THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

From musical influences to political opinions, the contemporary musicians who visited St. Petersburg in 2005 (and some who didn’t) spoke out. These are some of the more memorable quotes of the year.

FEATURES

NEW YEAR WELCOMES NEW ‘NUTCRACKER’ FESTIVAL

This year, beside the traditional winter performances of “The Nutcracker” that annually take place in many of the city’s theaters, the first International Christmas Festival named after the famous ballet will be held in St. Petersburg to honor the 165th anniversary of the birth of composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

CHOCOLATE AND CARS ARE THE SEASON’S TOP GIFTS

MOSCOW — Businesses have been getting in the Christmas spirit ever since Charles Dickens — or rather the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future — transformed Ebeneezer Scrooge overnight into a funky, modern CEO who treated his workers to a big slap-up meal and entertainment.

WORLD

UN Aims To Pacify East Congo

KINSHASA — UN and Congolese forces have killed about 80 rebels in a week of joint operations and vowed to sustain the drive to bring peace to the violent east before next year’s elections, the UN said on Monday.

A UN military spokesman said UN peacekeepers and Congolese government troops were pursuing Ugandan rebel fighters through the jungle after driving them from five camps south of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu district.

SPORT

BURE NAMES ICE HOCKEY OLYMPIANS

MOSCOW — Russia have combined youth with NHL experience in a hockey squad aiming for their first Olympic gold medal for 14 years at February’s Winter Games.

“We have chosen only the best of the best,” Russia’s general manager Pavel Bure told a news conference after he announced the 23-man squad on Friday.

INJURED SAFIN UNLIKELY TO DEFEND AUSTRALIAN OPEN

SYDNEY — Marat Safin is increasingly unlikely to defend his Australian Open title because of a knee injury, tournament director Paul McNamee said on Tuesday.