LOCAL NEWS

PUTIN CASTS DOUBT ON KYOTO TREATY RATIFICATION

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia has not yet made a decision on whether to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and that the government will not do so until it finishes studying the implications that ratification would have for the country.

SKINHEADS HELD OVER MURDER

Police at the weekend detained four skinheads suspected of killing a 6-year-old Tajik girl and seriously injuring a 5-year-old and a 18-month-old in an attack on a gypsy camp south of the city on Sept.

Missing Rubens Painting Turns Up in Moscow

MOSCOW - It started with the most modern of communications, an e-mail with an attachment.

Gerd Bartoschek opened his e-mail account in February and found an Old Master from 400 years ago, a picture of one of the most famous missing paintings in the world - Rubens' "Tarquin and Lucretia."

The message said the painting was in the hands of a Moscow businessman who was ready to sell.

NATIONAL NEWS

DRUG SQUAD RAIDS GRIBOYEDOV NIGHTCLUB

Popular nightspot Griboeydov on Friday survived a police raid - reminiscent of back-to-back raids on local alternative clubs such as Griboyedov, TaMtAm and Tunnel in the mid- and late-1990s.

However, there were no serious beatings or robberies this time, such as those reported on after similar raids on the venue in Feb.

IN BRIEF

Babi Yar Massacre

KIEV (AP) - Officials, Jewish community leaders and survivors of the Nazi massacre of thousands of Jews at Babi Yar paid tribute to the victims Monday in ceremonies near the ravine where the killings took place 62 years ago.

Honoring a General Who is Silenced

MOSCOW - If asked the way to General Anatoly Romanov's ward in the Burdenko Central Military Hospital, almost any of the staff can give directions. The hospital's department No.18 has been home for almost eight years to the former commander of federal troops in Chechnya.

Here in the two-room ward, once the most respected of Russian generals spends his lonely days, sitting in a wheelchair by the window or watching television.

LOCAL BUSINESS

LENENERGO BOARD PAVES WAY FOR UES-INITIATED REFORM

ST. PETERSBURG - The Lenenergo board of directors unanimously approved the reform plan proposed by the company's management Saturday. Contrary to the UES template, Lenenergo's plan retains electricity sales in the company's structure.

Lenenergo spokeswoman Larisa Semenova said that the plan could be sent for discussion to the UES board of directors as early as October.

ST. PETERSBURG SEES INCREASING DEMAND FOR ELITE APARTMENTS

Prices for residential real estate in St. Petersburg more than doubled forecast levels in the first half of 2003 with the elite sector leading the way, market analysts say.

GAZPROM ELUDES REFORM RASH

The government has put reform of the gas industry on hold after the head of Gazprom, the world's biggest gas company, said a shake-up would spell disaster.

Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov pulled Gazprom from the agenda of Friday's Cabinet meeting, reversing an earlier decision to discuss reforms even though Gazprom and the Economic Development and Trade Ministry had not yet agreed on a plan.

IN BRIEF

Jobless to Hit 6 Million

MOSCOW (SPT) - The number of unemployed people in Russia is expected to reach 6 million by the end of 2003, or 8.4 percent of the labor force, Prime-Tass reported the Economic Development and Trade Ministry as announcing on Thursday.

OPINION

RUSSIA'S DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF BANKRUPTCY

The bullets are flying in Russia. Scarcely a day goes by without news of an attempted hit on a businessman. Such contract murders are no longer regarded as news. Like the reports of federal casualties in Chechnya and terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus, the country has become inured to them.

GARDEN PARTIES AND THE CRIMINAL CODE

As you know, the Prosecutor General's Office has accused Group Menatep chairman Platon Lebedev of violating the law during privatization. Members of the business community who either don't want to get dragged into the fray, or who comfort themselves with the thought that nothing similar could happen to them, offer a different explanation: Yukos didn't play by the rules.

AFTER THE HYPE OF THE SUMMIT, IT'S TIME TO ACT

Bush-Putin summits are like vacation getaways taken by couples seeking to re-ignite the spark in their marriage. But a few romantic days on the beach in Acapulco cannot solve deeper problems of spousal infidelity or a troubled family life.

In much the same way, the Russian-U.

PRESIDENT PUTIN'S SINISTER AFGHAN ANECDOTE

WASHINGTON - A reporter this weekend asked why nothing exciting comes from these boring U.S.-Russian summits.

"Where do some questions come from?" objected Vladimir Putin.

Chris Floyd's Global Eye

Feeding Frenzy

Now the mission is accomplished!

George W. Bush's premature projaculation of victory last May notwithstanding, the real objective of the Potomac Empire's invasion of Iraq was finally achieved last weekend, when the sock puppets of the occupying powers put their rubber stamp to an American diktat opening up the entire nation to plunder by foreign bagmen.

WORLD

SWITZERLAND'S ALPINE CANTONS MAKE HOT TOURIST DESTINATION

"Where's the vodka?" the pilot wondered, rubbing his hands with anticipation and letting go the control stick. I felt very stupid. "Next time," I mumbled, and he seemed a little disappointed. We were approaching the Matterhorn, exceeding the usual 4,000 meters allowed for a small plane like ours.

WORLD WATCH

European Moon Shot

EVRY, France (AP) - Europe's first mission to the moon got off to a smooth start with the successful launch of an unmanned Ariane rocket from a base in South America on Saturday.

ROAD WIN PUTS ZENIT CLOSER TO EURO BERTH

Zenit took a huge step toward a place in next year's Champions League qualifiers with a 2-1 road win at Rubin Kazan on Saturday.

A header from Alexander Nikolayev just after halftime and an acrobatic finish from Dmitry Makarov with 20 minutes to go secured the win for Zenit, which became the first visiting team to win at Tsentralny Stadium this season.

SPORTS WATCH

Althea Gibson, 76, Dies

EAST ORANGE, New Jersey (AP) - Althea Gibson, a sports pioneer who broke tennis' color barrier in the 1950s as the first black entrant and champion at Wimbledon and the U.