LOCAL NEWS

VETERANS SEEKING EQUAL RECOGNITION

During World War II, Arctic convoys transported material from the West to the U.S.S.R. to aid its fight against Nazi Germany. In recognition of their service, Soviet sailors who served in the Soviet Navy and merchant marine in these convoys received the Arctic Defense Medal.

TWO RUSSIANS KILL FIVE IN ESTONIA

Two Russian citizens, both allegedly graduates of St. Petersburg's Nakhimov Military College, went on a killing spree across Estonia last week, Estonian police reported on Monday.

NATIONAL NEWS

Smolny: Cherkesov Backs Latest Charge

On April 25, Viktor Krotov became the third St. Petersburg vice governor to have charges brought against him by the Northwest Region Prosecutor's Office in the last year, and City Hall officials have responded with a cry of "enough is enough."

The prosecutor's office charged Krotov with misappropriation of budget funds in connection with $40 million it says were earmarked for the Road Fund in 2000, but instead went, under Krotov's supervision, to projects associated with preparations for the 2000 World Ice Hockey Championships, which were held here.

LOCAL BUSINESS

Fakes Costing Drug Companies $250M

MOSCOW - More than one in every 10 pharmaceutical products sold in Russia is counterfeit, costing legitimate manufacturers at least $250 million per year in lost sales, industry officials said at a meeting in Moscow at the end of April.

Urging President Vladimir Putin to take quick action, they warned that counterfeits accounted for 12 percent of the market for prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and other pharmaceutical products and that the share could leap to 25 percent within two years.

OPINION

ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS IMPRISONED BY POLITICS

DURING my visit to a refugee camp in the jungles at the Thai-Burma border last year, a Burmese refugee leader related to me an important lesson he learned from the Palestinians: "You can't let life become comfortable for your people," he said, "or they'll give up the struggle.

ANTI-EXTREMISM BILL IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

LAST week, President Vladmir Putin introduced a draft law in the State Duma intended to combat extremism. The draft would subject those found guilty of forming a group with the purpose of committing crimes against people based on the victims' social, religious or racial background to imprisonment for up to four years or to a fine of about $1,000 - 100 minimum wages.

CULTURE

BREAKING A FIVE-YEAR SILENCE

Kolibri, one of the city's most popular bands, will make a rare live appearance this week to showcase its new album. The formerly all-female art-pop trio, whose name means "Hummingbirds," is augmented live by a guitarist, plus a number of pre-recorded backing tracks.

The new CD, "Lyubov I Yeyo Konyechnosti" ("Love and Its Extremities"), is an eclectic, yet beautiful, collection of electronic vignettes which soars above most current Russian pop music.

A CHOREOGRAPHER ENJOYING HIS JOB

A new production of the ballet "La Bayadere," restored to Marius Petipa's original 1900 choreography, will open this year's "Stars of the White Nights festival" at the Mariinsky Theater.

CHERNOV'S CHOICE

When a performance is poor, blame the newspapers.

The editors of Fuzz, the local rock rag that promoted last month's Fuzz Awards concert, did not like the review of the show that appeared in the daily newspaper Kommersant and decided to try to guarantee good coverage - by asking its author "never to write about events we promote in the future.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO BOOM

Discussions around our office of who will review which restaurant are always interesting. Whenever a new restaurant opens, one of our writers will generally speak up to get to be the one to review it.

DISCOVERING GONCHAROVA

The name Natalya Goncharova resonates deeply in Russian cultural history. Alexander Pushkin, Russia's best-loved poet, died after a duel with French diplomat Baron d'Anthes to defend the honor of his wife, Natalya Goncharova. Early in the twentieth century, another Natalya Goncharova - a painter - burst onto the scene.

Although distantly related to Push kin's wife - her great-grandfather was the first Natalya's brother - the second Na talya paid little attention to history, instead distinguishing herself by her constant search for new art-forms and innovative approaches to her work, and gaining for herself the epithet "The Amazon of the Avant-Garde.

BREAKING NEW GROUND

Since the end of the 1970s, St. Petersburg has traditionally thought of itself as a city that nourishes underground movements, which are fertile soil for various art-innovations and popular intellectual games in contemporary artistic discourse.

WORLD

WORLD WATCH

Nigerian Plane Crash

KANO, Nigeria (AP) - Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said Sunday that at least 106 people died when an airliner went down shortly after takeoff, slamming into buildings and mosques in a working-class neighborhood of the northern city of Kano.

The Nigerian EAS airline jet that crashed Saturday was carrying 76 people, and dozens are believed to have been killed on the ground.

It had taken off for Nigeria's commercial capital of Lagos, 696 kilometers south of Kano, authorities said. It crashed at 1:30 p.m. local time.

At least two people on board survived, aviation authorities said Saturday - one a male passenger who rose from his seat amid the wreckage and staggered away.

ZENIT CONTINUES WIN STREAK

A stunning strike from fullback Valery Tsvetkov and a breakaway from striker Alexander Kerzhakov saw Zenit past last-place Sokol Saratov on Saturday and propelled it into fourth place in the Russian Premier Division.