LOCAL NEWS

PREMIER MOVES TO CALM MARKETS

MOSCOW - Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Thursday moved to assuage investor fears that past privatizations may not be final, but his grip on the government appeared to weaken and the stock market continued to plummet as the tense legal assault on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's empire entered week three.

SMOLNY CALLS FOUL ON COURT

The City Charter court Ruled on Tuesday to shut down the City Hall Administrative Committee, based on the argument that it is not provided for in the City Charter, which acts as St.

The Short Path From Newsroom to Boiler Room

MOSCOW - A month ago, Vladimir Kara-Murza was one of the faces of the country's only national private television station, TVS. Now, he is happy to work in a boiler room.

The third time didn't prove to be the charm for the journalist, who, before TVS, was forced to leave NTV and TV6. So, shortly after the Press Ministry pulled the plug on TVS on June 22, he decided it was time for a career change rather than a career turn.

NATIONAL NEWS

GOVERNMENT PR CHIEF QUITS

MOSCOW - Government deputy chief of staff Alexei Volin, who was in charge of public relations for Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's Cabinet, said Thursday that he has submitted his resignation.

Volin was the Russian media's primary source of information in the government.

IN BRIEF

Missile Hits Village

MOSCOW (AP) - A missile fired by a warplane during training exercises exploded in a northwestern village on Tuesday, injuring one civilian slightly, Interfax reported.

LOCAL BUSINESS

Models Bare All For Megafon Marketing

MOSCOW - By dangling its mobile phones from the necks of Penthouse models, some advertising experts say that Megafon - the No. 3 mobile telephone operator in the country - is following an honorable tradition that was born in the studio of Russia's most famous film director.

He may not have known it, but by hand-painting crimson communist flags into his black-and-white classic "Battleship Potemkin," Sergei Eisenstein was tapping the power of a hitherto undiscovered advertising technology.

OPINION

NUCLEAR-ASSISTANCE HAND A TRICKY ONE TO PLAY

Of late, mounting international concern over Iran's nuclear efforts has once again made Russia the center of attention. More than a decade after its inception, the strategic dialogue between Moscow and Tehran has blossomed into a major partnership.

Militarily, Russia has become Iran's main international ally, principally responsible for its rapid rearmament and regional re-emergence.

SPS MAY BE COUNTING TOO MUCH ON AN IDEA

There is a popular Russian saying about expectations: "Tsyplyat po oseny schitayut". It translates roughly as "don't count your chickens until the fall," meaning that a large number of those hatched in the spring won't make it through to the end of the year.

CULTURE

SWEDE ICON TO PLAY FESTIVAL

Swedish singer Jay-Jay Johanson, an unlikely combination of a retro crooner and a cutting-edge electronic artist, is arguably the most anticipated participant in the Stereoleto festival.

Phenomenally popular in Russia, Johanson is famous for his melodical, whispering hits, such as "On the Radio," which is rather traditional in structure but almost exclusively uses electronic instruments - a tendency most fully manifested on his most recent album, the 2002 "Antenna.

FINNISH BAND RIDES LO-FI WAVE

Aavikko, the lo-fi electronic surf trio from Finland, featuring a live drummer, with the rest of the sounds, including the twanging guitars, coming from two synthesizer players, has been visiting Russia since 2000.

CHERNOV'S CHOICE

Tequilajazzz, one of the city's leading alternative acts, will play its annual summer concert at Moloko this Friday. The original date was changed, as the band wanted to take a glimpse at Bjork who will perform at the Ice Palace on Saturday.

BISTRO STRONG ON TURKISH DELIGHTS

Having a quick but substantial and inexpensive lunch is often something of a problem in St. Petersburg. Very few of the places advertising themselves as bistros really live up to that description and manage to serve decent food in a flash.

MODERN DANCE GRACES CLASSIC STAGE

Is there a recipe for a successful ballet? There might be, if you blend rationality and instinct in the right proportions, according to renowned American-born choreographer John Neumeier, whose internationally acclaimed Hamburg Ballet made a guest performance at the Mariinsky Theater last week.

THE WORD'S WORTH

Vostok-delo tonkoye: the East is a shifty business; used jokingly or half-jokingly to describe the complexities of Eastern cultures for a Westerner.

MAKING UP FOR A FORT FAILURE

It's time again for St. Petersburg's annual island rave - so put together your wackiest clubbing outfit and prepare for FortDance.

The massive open-air rave, held for the fourth year in a row on Saturday, July 26 on the island of Kronshtadt in the Gulf of Finland, differs from the other summertime raves that take place on the island in that it is organized by exclusive Moscow club Zeppelin.

COUNTING THE TRAGIC COST OF THE CAMPS

NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE

In the introduction to this book, Anne Applebaum, a columnist for The Washington Post, ponders why the Soviet and Nazi regimes are treated so differently in the popular imagination.

'2 Fast, 2 Furious,' Running on Empty

My hand trembles slightly as I type these words, but the truth is that while watching "2 Fast 2 Furious," the follow-up to the pleasurably cheap-thrills sleeper of two years ago, "The Fast and the Furious," I realized just how much I miss Vin Diesel.

The colossus whose Hemi-engine voice roared through the "The Fast and the Furious" like a 1969 Charger and whose absence hangs over its sequel like stale exhaust, the aptly named Diesel was the first film's Neanderthal Hamlet, a tire-iron giant gently soiled by axle grease and filial anguish.

WORLD

WORLD WATCH

Crossing Danger

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) - Liberian rebels advanced to a road junction used as a springboard for previous attacks on the capital, heightening fears of a third assault on the city in two months, military sources said on Thursday.

SPORT WATCH

Crossing Town

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees began gearing up for another run at the post-season by acquiring right-handed pitcher Armando Benitez from the New York Mets Wednesday.