LOCAL NEWS

OBLAST'S CANDIDATE LIST IS FINALIZED

The Leningrad Oblast Election Commission on Monday officially registered 10 candidates for the oblast's gubernatorial elections, slated to be held Sept. 21

Five candidates were not registered, after failing to provide the necessary lists of at least 26,000 signatures supporting their candidatures.

FAIR-PLAY PROPOSAL GETS NO SUPPORT

The highest profile candidate for the post of governor of St. Petersburg called over the weekend for all candidates to avoid the use of dirty tricks during the upcoming campaign - and promptly found herself accused of exactly what she said she wanted to avoid.

MEMORIAL, FSB IN STANDOFF OVER TOKSOVO GRAVES

A year ago this month, St. Petersburg human-rights group Memorial discovered mass graves near the Rzhevsky firing range in Toksovo that it believes contain up to 30,000 bodies. But while Memorial continues to allege that the site, about 30 kilometers north of St. Petersburg, was used by the security services to dump bodies of victims of the Stalinist terror of the late 1930s, the FSB refuses to accept responsibility for the graves.

QUOTA SYSTEM IS THE BANE OF RUSSIAN FISHING

[Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series.]

"The fishing trade is inherently crooked, which is why the [traders'] wages should be minuscule, and one trader should be hanged per year to keep the rest of them on their toes.

NATIONAL NEWS

MOSCOW GANGLORD ARRESTED AT VILLA IN SPAIN

MOSCOW - Spanish police have arrested an alleged Russian ganglord who is wanted in Moscow on charges of involvement in an organized-crime group whose members stand accused of killing at least 13 people in the 1990s.

Acting upon the Interior Ministry's request and accompanied by a senior Russian police officer, officers of the Spanish gendarmerie arrested Andrei Pylev, 40, at his luxurious villa in the elite resort of Marbella last Thursday.

LEATHER, METAL AND BEER: BIKERS GATHER FOR FESTIVAL

Thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts from all over Russia gathered at the Kasimovo Aerodrome outside St. Petersburg over the weekend for the annual show organized by Moscow's Night Wolves bike club that came north this year for the city's 300th anniversary.

YELTSIN'S APARTMENT GOES ON THE MARKET

MOSCOW - Collectors of items like a dress worn by Princess Diana or a guitar played by Jimi Hendrix might be interested in the latest gem to hit the market: an apartment where Boris Yeltsin used to live.

No, it's certainly not his Kremlin quarters or even his dacha in Barvikha or the digs in the elite Krylatskoye district where the 72-year-old former president has his official address.

IN BRIEF

Fatal Mushrooms

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - One hundred and fifty one cases of food poisoning from wild mushrooms, including five fatalities, have been registered in Russia this summer, Interfax reported Friday, quoting statistics from the State Health Inspection Committee.

LOCAL BUSINESS

FINNISH LINE WILL COVER LOCAL VISA COSTS

Although the Russian laws that originally led it to cancel service to St. Petersburg are still in place, Finnish cruise operator Silja Line will begin docking again in the city again this week, the firm announced on Monday.

According to Igor Gluchkov, the general director of Inflot World Wide agency, which offers tourism services for passengers on incoming cruise ships, the first arrival of the cruise ship Silja Opera will be this Wednesday.

FETISOV: RUSSIA SHOULD PICK UP AN NHL CLUB

MOSCOW - The chairperson of the country's top sporting authority on Thursday urged Russian millionaires to expand their sporting interests by buying a team from North America's National Hockey League.

OPINION

LOOKING AT THE YUKOS AFFAIR AFTER THE SCANDALS

Attentive readers of Russian newspapers might be forgiven for being confused. Does the World Bank these days advise unraveling the privatization process? Certainly not. But behind entertaining headlines hides an important discussion. Slowly, the debate of the Yukos affair has moved onto a more serious plane.

COMBATANTS OR CRIMINALS IN CHECHNYA WAR?

At the end of last month in Grozny, Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev handed over to Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov overall control of anti-rebel operations in Chechnya.

A Positive Example for the City's Next Governor

With less than two months remaining until St. Petersburg's gubernatorial elections, Northwest Region Presidential Representative Valentina Matviyenko has become the sole focal point in the election coverage, which follws who has announced support for her, who has decided not to run in favor of her, and what government resources she will be able to exploit in her campaign.

WORLD

SPORTS WATCH

World Record

TULA, Russia (Reuters) - Yuliya Pechyonkina broke the women's 400 meters hurdles world record at the Russian championships on Friday.

Pechyonkina clocked 0:52.34 in the final to break the 0:52.61 mark set by American Kim Batten at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.