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Weather Wreaks Havoc in City

By Svetlana Osadchuk STAFF WRITER

Torrential rains, heavy winds and lightning wreaked havoc throughout the city and the region over the weekend, knocking down trees, interrupting travel plans and even destroying a monument to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin.

Dozens of travelers missed their flights from Sheremetyevo Airport after lightning struck an electrical station and caused delays on the Aeroexpress commuter line from Savyolovsky Station to the airport, Interfax reported Friday.

The delays began at around 8 p.m. Thursday night, meaning a typically 35-minute trip turned into a 90-minute ride to Sheremetyevo, Aeroexpress spokesman Anton Galatenko said, RIA-Novosti reported. The problem was fixed at around 10:30 p.m., and the company said it would accept complaints submitted by affected passengers, Interfax reported Friday.

Aeroexpress said Friday that it would compensate passengers for their expenses, News.ru reported.

The weather disrupted several other commuter trains between Savyolovsky and the Moscow region.

Passengers waiting to fly into Moscow on Thursday evening were also left stranded or delayed in other cities because of the Moscow weather.

In St. Petersburg, passengers flying on the 8 p.m. Aeroflot flight to Sheremetyevo were told at the check-in desk that the plane was stuck on the tarmac in Moscow because of «technical problems.» Some were eventually booked onto a later flight with the Rossia airline, and many said they would miss connecting flights.

Wind and heavy rain toppled 117 trees, and nine cars were damaged throughout the city, as of Friday, Inter-fax reported.

Meanwhile, a wind-felled tree destroyed a monument to Lenin as a schoolboy, RIA-Novosti reported. The brass statue, located at Ogorodnaya Sloboda Pereulok, near the Chistiye Prudy metro station in central Moscow, was knocked from its 1.5-meter-tall pedestal by the tree Thursday night and split into three separate pieces, the report said.

Ten villages in the Moscow region and another 18 in the Tver region were still without power at noon Sunday.

Stormy weather is typical for July, but this year it has been particularly intense, said Dmitry Kiktyov, deputy head of the Hydrometeorological Center.

Typical rainfall in July amounts to around 94 millimeters, but this month already 128 millimeters have fallen, Kiktyov said. Average temperatures for this month are also about 3.5 degrees Celsius above the norm, he said. There has been a spike in drownings this month, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Sergei Lapin said Fri-day.

Nine people, most of them drunk, have drowned in Moscow waters this month while trying to cool off in the heat wave that saw temperatures hovering around 30 C last week, Lapin said.

A total of 65 people had drowned across Russia over the span of 24 hours, the ministry reported on its web site Fri-day afternoon.

Thunderstorms are forecast for Monday and Tuesday in Moscow, with daytime temperatures expected to reach 24 Con Monday and 28 C on Tuesday. Staff writer Max Delany contributed to this report. 1

Thousands Enraptured by Solar Eclipse

The peak of the eclipse occurred in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third-largest city.

There, forecasts of cloudy skies proved wrong, and tens of thousands of people who had flocked to the center of town were able to observe the rare total eclipse of the sun – which lasted two minutes, 23 seconds – in its full beauty.

All gazed in wonder as an eerie silence descended on the city and gushes of unusually strong wind tore through the crowd of sky-watchers. Birds stopped chirping, and the temperature suddenly dropped.

Lucas Heinrich, a physics student from Berlin who traveled to Novosibirsk with classmates, described the eclipse as «unbelievable.»

«It became cold and dark, and suddenly it was light again. I am very happy – it was worth the trip,» Heinrich said. NTV television reported that more than 10,000 foreign tourists arrived in Novosibirsk, the largest city in the eclipse’s path, to watch.

The eclipse began in Arctic Canada and passed through Greenland, western Siberia and Mongolia before ending in China, where some saw it as a dark omen ahead of the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing this week.

In Novosibirsk, the airport announced that it turned on nighttime landing lights during the total and partial darkness, which lasted more than two hours.

At the city zoo, polar bears and white tigers suddenly lay down to sleep.

A snow leopard grew restless and ran around its cage until the sun reappeared.

Cloudy weather in other parts of Western Siberia prevented many people from enjoying the spectacle.

Viewers were repeatedly warned to prevent eye injuries by wearing protective glasses, which sold throughout Novosibirsk for 50 rubles ($2).

In Moscow, half the sun was blocked, but cloud cover prevented Muscovites from viewing the partial eclipse. In St. Petersburg, people shouted «Look! Look!» and pointed above as the sun’s outer corona appeared in the sky.

«You just feel part of nature. … This is so rare,» said Lev, a software specialist in St. Petersburg. Many used special sunglasses, computer disks and even beer bottles to watch it.

In the remote Siberian settlement of Berezovaya Katun, near Russia’s border with China, a large crowd of tourists, including some from France and Mongolia, clapped and cheered as organizers released thousands of balloons into the darkened sky.

«It is quite eerie for any thinking person to watch how everything turns into darkness in broad daylight,» the Kremlin’s top medical adviser, Gennady Onishchenko, told Vesti-24 channel. People have been recording solar eclipses for perhaps 4,000 years, and they typically inspire a combination of dread, fascination and awe.

According to NASA, the next total eclipse will occur July 22, 2009, starting in India and moving across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and over the Pacific Ocean. (AP, Reuters) 2

Palace Made Hiring Mistake

LONDON – Buckingham Palace said an administrative mistake led to a Russian trainee butler working illegally in the royal household.

Buckingham Palace failed to apply for the correct work permit when it hired Igor Golovanov, 32, in 2006, a spokesman for Queen Elizabeth’s official residence said. Golovanov was fired when the mistake was discovered.

The spokesman said Thursday that Golovanov will be recommended for reemployment if he can obtain the correct permit and it is determined that he represents no security threat.

Golovanov has lived in Britain since 2000 and has a residency permit. (AP) 3

French Villa Link to Prokhorov Denied

COMBINED REPORTS

An official at Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group denied Sunday that the billionaire was close to buying the legendary Villa Leopolda on the French Riviera.

French newspaper Nice-Matin reported Saturday that Prokhorov would soon pay 496 million euros ($729 million) for the villa, which is owned by the widow of banker Edmond Safra. The newspaper did not say where it got the information.

Villa Leopolda is located in Ville-franche-sur-Mer, a French Mediterranean seaside resort between Nice and Monte Carlo, and is named after Belgian King Leopold II, who built the house at the start of the 20th century.

Onexim deputy CEO Sergei Chernitsyn said Sunday that the Nice-Matin report was not true. «The rumors may be connected with the activities of the Onexim division dealing with luxury real estate.» Chernitsyn said by telephone.

He added, «Mr. Prokhorov will not make any business in France until the Courchevel incident is settled and the French authorities give him an official apology.»

Prokhorov, whom Forbes ranks the sixth-richest man in Russia with an estimated fortune of $19.5 billion, last year announced that he was splitting from longtime business partner Vladimir Potanin after he and 25 other people were taken in for questioning at his hotel in the French ski resort of Courchevel over a suspected prostitution ring.

Prokhorov was released without charge after a few days. He has denied any wrongdoing and has demanded that the French authorities close the case.

Villa Leopolda was at one time owned by Fiat magnate Giovanni Agnelli, Agence France Presse reported.

Safra is said to have hosted U.S. President Ronald Reagan and crooner Frank Sinatra at the villa, the BBC reported. (Bloomberg, MT) 4

Stampede Kills 145 In India

COMBINED REPORTS

CHANDIGARH, India – At least 123 people, mostly women and children, were crushed to death in a stampede at a temple in northern India on Sunday, police said.

Iron railings around the Hindu temple in the state of Himachal Pradesh broke, causing panic, with people trampling over falling women and children, they said.

«As of now we have 123 people dead, including more than 40 children,» Daljit Singh Manilas, a police officer said.

«The injured have been taken to two places, and the toll could be more as we are awaiting news from other hospitals,» Manhas added. He said at least 45 women were among the dead.

Children were among the first to fall to the ground and were trampled by pilgrims running to safety as their parents tried to save them, police officers said.

Thousands of worshippers had gathered at the temple in Bilaspur district to pray to a Hindu goddess during an annual festival.

More than 3,000 people were trying to get into the temple at the same time when part of the iron railing broke, officials said. Most of the worshippers were from the neighboring state of Punjab, they said. Television pictures showed people being carried on stretchers to a hospital, many writhing in pain. Stampedes at temples are not uncommon in India where thousands of people gather to pray during festivals. 5

Bulgaria Gives Fuel to Russia

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON – Bulgaria has sent its remaining highly enriched uranium to Russia for safeguarding from terrorist or other potential misuse.

More than 6 kilograms of the spent fuel were received Thursday at a Russian nuclear facility, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced. A first shipment of 16.92 kilograms of fresh uranium fuel was sent to Russia in December 2003.

«With this shipment there is no more highly enriched uranium in Bulgaria,» said Brian Wilkes, a spokesman for the U.S. agency, which was established in 2001. «Bulgaria now joins Latvia in clearing out all Soviet-era dangerous nuclear fuel.»

Remaining in Bulgaria, he said, are small quantities of low-enriched uranium, on which most civilian reactors run.

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union sent shipments of enriched uranium to Bulgaria, which was then part of the Soviet bloc. The returned shipment was transported under guard in casks to the Danube River, loaded on a barge and shipped to Ukraine, and then shipped by rail to the secure Russir facility near Chelyabinsk, in the Urals region.

Spent and fresh uranium fuel has also been returned to Russia from Serbia, Romania, Libya, Uzbekistan, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Vietnam. At the same time, all highly enriched uranium spent fuel was returned to the United States by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Philippines, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Thailand. 6

3 Killed in Evraz Coal MiniNG Accident

COMBINED REPORTS

Three miners died Sunday in an accident at a Siberian coal mine owned by Evraz Group, the country’s largest steelmaker by domestic volume, the company and the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

The accident occurred at around 8:45 a.m. local time at Mine No. 12 in Kiselyovsk, in the Kemerovo region, the ministry said. An investigation is under way to establish the cause.

Officials could not say whether production would be affected.

«There was an accident. Three people died,» a ministry spokesman said. «Over 70 people were inside the mine at the time of the accident. All the rest have been moved out to the surface.»

The ministry official said there had been «a breach of the technological process with methane involved,» but he did not confirm an explosion.

«An investigation is being carried out to find out the reasons.»

A spokesman for Evraz confirmed that three miners had died in an accident at the mine.

Evraz acquired full ownership of the mine in March 2005. Mine No. 12 produced 893,000 tons of coal in 2007, including over 667,000 tons of coking coal used in the steel industry, Evraz said of its web site. 7

Immigrants Will Be Offered Option to Buy Work Licenses

By Natalya Krainova

Migration authorities said Wednesday that they plan to offer monthly work licenses to immigrants hired by private individuals in an attempt to reduce illegal immigration and boost government revenues.

Immigrants working in the private sector will have to pay a monthly fee to authorities for the work license, Federal Migration Service chief Konstantin Romodanovsky said at a news conference Wednesday.

«More than a half of those who enter Russia to work are employed in the private sector, constructing country houses, working as nannies, gardeners, guards,» Romodanovsky said.

The monthly fee will be up to 2,000 rubles ($59) in Moscow and up to 1,000 rubles in other regions, Romodanovsky said.

«If 3 million immigrant workers buy a license within a year, the federal budget will get $1 billion,» he said. «This is a fine sum.»

No quotas will be introduced for the licenses.

A relevant bill has been drafted and may be considered by the State Duma this spring.

Nine million foreigners arrived in Russia last year to work, and thousands of them are illegally employed, he said.

The inflow of immigrants has decreased this year, with about 40,000 arriving per day, a drop of 10 percent to 13 percent from 2008, Romodanovsky said.

Among last year’s arrivals, 3.6 million came from Ukraine, 2 million from Uzbekistan, 1.5 million from Kazakhstan, 1 million from Tajikistan and 500,000 from Kyrgyzstan. The immigrants compensated for 71 percent of the decrease in the national population in 2008, compared to 22 percent in 2006 and 4 percent in 2003, the migration chief said. 8

Kidnappers Target Senator’s Girl

Federation Council Senator Andrei Vavilov said Wednesday that unidentified attackers tried to kidnap his 4-year-old daughter in Monaco.

People close to Vavilov connected the incident to an escalating conflict between the senator and a former business partner, State Duma Deputy Ashot Yegiazaryan, Ekho Moskvy reported, with-out elaborating. Yegiazaryan denied any involvement in the kidnapping attempt, calling the speculation «a provocation,» RIA-Novosti reported.