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 Every Tuesday about 500 St. Petersburg residents gather to meditate and think about good things in the hall of the Okhta cinema theater outside the Novocherkasskaya metro station. Sitting or standing still, some dressed in Indian clothing, others dressed in regular Western attire, they focus on their energy impulses. |
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City Hall has rejected a long standing grass-roots democracy initiative by liberal Legislative Assembly factions to raise the number of city districts that are run by an elected head and not an appointed one. |
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The City Audit Chamber found no violations in the activities of the St. Petersburg 300 committee, but failed to find out how much of the city money was spent on the 300th anniversary celebrations, the web site FK-Novosti reported last week. The web site reports on audit activities. Chamber head Dmitry Burenin said experts of the Audit Chamber made "a little discovery" during the check when they figured out that the financial activities performed through the committee were "rather insignificant," the report said. All the advertising of the city's 300 jubilee, publishing of brochures, and the pre-celebration equipping of services was financed through other committees of the city administration, he said. |
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 The children's residential home for handicapped children Internat No.1 is located in the Peterhof district amid fields and inland from the coast. About 300 children live there and are cared for by a similar number of staff. |
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MOSCOW - The Communist Party is in crisis and facing a possible change in leadership or even a break-up after it was routed in the polls and pushed to the political sidelines. Ilya Ponomaryov, the party's chief information officer who was in charge of attracting the young vote, said the Communists have only themselves to blame for their worst showing in 10 years. |
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MOSCOW - In an apparent attempt to squash speculation that he might seek to extend his term through the new parliament, President Vladimir Putin said last week that he has no plans to change the Constitution. |
 MOSCOW - The seven deputies from the Union of Right Forces and Yabloko know they have to fight for influence in a State Duma where they are massively outnumbered. In deciding which alliances are in their interest, they face a tough tradeoff between pragmatism and principles. |
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MOSCOW - The leaders of the nationalist Homeland bloc, also known as Rodina, that gained a surprise 10 percent of State Duma seats said last week they would push for a state program of "social responsibilty" and a redistribution of the wealth currently concentrated in the hands of big business. |
All photos from issue.
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MOSCOW - A band of armed Chechen insurgents killed nine border guards and took four civilians hostage Monday before fleeing in a mountainous corner of Dagestan, leaving the military guessing where they might be headed as night fell. The attack was the biggest incursion by Chechen rebels since they invaded Dagestan in 1999, triggering the second Chechen war. It provides a stark reminder that the situation in Chechnya and neighboring regions remains restive despite efforts by Moscow to portray a return of stability. A heavily armed group of up to 60 insurgents entered the village of Shaury at about 3 a.m. on Monday and camped out at the local clinic. |
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 A St. Petersburg Cyprus Consulate General was officially accredited on Wednesday in preparation for the Jan. 1 introduction of visas for Russians wanting to visit the republic, the Greek part of a divided Mediterranean island. |
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The International Women's Club of St. Petersburg raised about $2,000 at its Christmas Charity Fair at the Radisson SAS Hotel on Sunday, said Jane Hunter-Blair, chairwoman of the charities committee. The proceeds will be distributed in the near future to charities that have applied to the club, she added. Recipients in the past have included organizations that feed, rehabilitate, house and offer specially needed therapy for children and adults who find themselves either born into situations or in living conditions that have families or individuals without homes, starving or abandoned. Hunter-Blair said the fair was not only a fundraiser, but it was also a cultural event with entertainment and children performing. |
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 One of the small but telling consequences of the watershed parliamentary elections was to remove a nagging thorn from President Vladimir Putin's side. That thorn's name is Yuly Rybakov. |
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 KALININGRAD - A military band struck up a tune and an Orthodox bishop chanted a blessing as a train left Kaliningrad in a new direction. For decades neither Moscow nor the West regarded the Russian enclave as little more than the last stop at the end of the line. |
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MOSCOW - The question is no longer if the largest merger in Russian corporate history will be unraveled, but when - and how much Sibneft will have to pay because of it. |
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IKEA Grand Opening ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The IKEA Kudrovo store celebrated its grand opening Friday. More than 20,000 shoppers visited the store on opening day, according to a company press release. Investment in the three-story 31,000 square meter home furnishings store amounted to $40 million. IKEA operates 186 stores in 31 countries of the world, but this is only the third store in Russia, and the first opened outside of Moscow. By 2008 the company plans to open between 15 and 20 shopping centers in Russia, and also a wood processing plant in Tikhvin, Leningrad Oblast. In 2002 IKEA sales in Russia amounted to $200 million. |
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 Peter Langham has somehow managed to achieve the great balance between working hard while maintaining his family life. This is especially impressive given that he has not one but two roles at the British Consulate General, which was established in St. |
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Since its introduction in 1991, Russian tax legislation never exemplified a system that would help authorities create a stable business environment. This year was no different. Amendments introduced by the federal and regional authorities in 2003 will revise familiar tax practice and affect investors' activities to a considerable degree. |
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TOKYO - Energy-hungry Japan urged Russia on Monday to build a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline to the Sea of Japan and abandon a rival plan to deliver oil to China, saying that would help Russia tap resources in remote eastern Siberia and develop ties in the Pacific region. |
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Russian businessmen reacted calmly to the results of the State Duma elections. The majority of those businessmen surveyed by Vedomosti recognize that they will miss the democratic fractions, but hope that a loyal Duma will help the president further economic and social reforms. |
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Bullet PointsSometimes the smallest sliver of glass can reflect the brilliance of the entire moon, full and blazing in the midnight sky. And just so, a simple story in an out-of-the-way journal can illuminate the ethos of an entire age, piercing the murk with a sudden flash of stark and painful truth. |
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Pentathlon Progress ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Britain's Georgina Harland won the modern pentathlon world title Sunday to qualify for next summer's Olympics. Harland, who also won the gold medal at the 2001 world championships, secured her victory in the last of the five events - the 1.8-mile cross-country race. |
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