LOCAL NEWS

AUDIT CHAMBER UNDER THREAT, SAYS BURENIN

The result of the elections on Dec. 8 appear to have shifted the balance of power slightly in the Legislative Assembly, and the head of the City Audit Chamber, Dmitry Burenin, says that the change could ultimately cost him his job.

Historically, the assembly has been divided along lines of deputies supporting and those opposing measures favored by Governor Vladimir Yakovlev.

IS CITY DUMA REALLY 'THE BEST IN RUSSIA'?

With the new year bringing a new Legislative Assembly, assembly Speaker Sergei Tarasov held a press conference on Thursday to highlight its work over the last four years, and his assessment was sparkling: "We have become the best legislative assembly in Russia"

Tarasov based his judgment largely on a combination of figures: 213 sessions of the assembly held, and 470 laws passed, with more than 50 percent of the draft legislation submitted by lawmakers in the chamber.

NATIONAL NEWS

SPEND NEW YEAR'S EVE WITH A CLASSIC

While Frank Capra's 1946 classic "It's a Wonderful Life" is the must-watch Christmas film in the United States, Russia has its own favorite holiday movie: the bittersweet comedy "Ironiya Sudby, ili S Lyogkim Parom!" ("The Irony of Fate, or Have a Good Banya!").

CITY'S CULTURE SET TO SHINE FOR ANNIVERSARY

St. Petersburg's reputation as Russia's cultural capital seems certain to be enhanced during the celebrations for the city's 300th birthday in the new year.

Lighting the Way for the Season

From turning the city's television tower into what is hoped the people at the Guiness Book of World Records will agree is the world's biggest artificial seasonal tree to making St. Petersburg the home of Russia's official Ded Moroz for Dec. 31, city officials are pulling out all the stops to brighten things up in anticipation of the 300th-anniversary celebrations that lie ahead in the new year.

LOCAL BUSINESS

CITY BUSINESS FINDS LIFE BETTER

With the year already pretty much in the bank, so to speak, officials at the St. Petersburg city and Leningrad Oblast administrations are painting a picture of an economic scene that has made great progress, and businesspeople and analysts, while a little more conservative in their pronouncements, are also being positive.

FOR BOTH BULLS AND BEARS, 2002 WAS YEAR TO TOAST

MOSCOW - To hear the bulls tell it, 2002 was a winner, but the bears say it was a toss-up at best.

Both have a point, economists say, and either way it's OK to pop the champagne, as long as the toasts are worded carefully.

OPINION

LUKOIL IS THROWN TO THE DOGS

LAST week, Iraq announced that it would welcome any Russian oil company other than LUKoil into the consortium hired to develop its West Qurna field. Iraq broke its $3.7 billion contract with Russia's largest crude producer in mid-December. The announcement was just the latest in LUKoil's long list of mishaps in Iraq.

COMPUTERS AND INTERNET HAVE A HIGH-SPEED YEAR

A PROMISING New Year for technology beckons. But before we bid adieu to this one, let's take a few moments to revisit some of the highlights in computing and the Internet for 2002.

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FAVORITE PLAYERS

HARVEY Pitt, Dennis Kozlowski, Bernard Ebbers, Jack Grubman. Their crashing falls from grace helped make 2002 a year for U.S. business scandals that may never be topped. In fact, had a novelist like Anthony Trollope, the 19th-century chronicler of English society at its best and worst, invented these characters, his readers would have rejected them as caricatures.

WORLD SCENE NOTHING NEW FOR MARKETS

NEW YORK - U.S. investors, already weighing possible war with Iraq, enter the last week of 2002 with fresh concerns about North Korea's nuclear ambitions, a sign of the global instability that has stifled a year-end stock rally.

PUTIN'S WESTERN KUDOS NOT COUNTING AT HOME

A YEAR ago, at the end 2001, Russia and its president were extremely popular in the West. Vladimir Putin unequivocally supported the United States after 9/11: Moscow promptly joined the anti-terror coalition and provided bases, weapons and, in some instances, direct military support to the forces of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

'THE DOG THAT DIDN'T BARK' BETRAYS RUSSIA'S LACK OF HOPE

THE last part of 2002 witnessed two major political events in Europe that have been widely portrayed there as historic milestones, but have generated remarkably low levels of attention and reaction in Russia.

Global Eye

Death Merchants

Each day, one turns to the latest news from the bowels of the Bush Regime with Dorothy Parker's immortal words sounding in the mind like a tocsin: "What fresh hell is this?"

Last week, the news was particularly shameful - and the "hell," though fresh indeed, was in no way metaphorical.

WORLD

Chilling Out in Switzerland's Thermal Baths

Snow melts on my face as I luxuriate in warm, gentle bubbles. I take a deep breath, and plunge even deeper into the water. The silhouette of the Gemmistock mountains is fading, and night is falling on Leukerbad. It's by far the most relaxing sunset I've had in ages.

Leukerbad, once home to an ancient Roman bathhouse and a traditional destination for Christians in search of healing, boasts 60 hot springs.