The Boston Globe
The Declaration of Independence
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
July 4, 2005
WHEN IN the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/07/04/the_declaration_of_independence/
For Iraqi family, scars slow to heal
Casualties of war struggling amid poverty, grief
By Thanassis Cambanis, Globe Staff July 4, 2005
BAGHDAD -- Benin Hamid, now a coquettish 4-year-old, swings the stuffed yellow duck that has been her constant companion in a short life punctuated by an invasion and two uprisings that forced her and her family to flee their home in Sadr City.
She has never named the duck, and it is not clear how well she remembers her older brother and her two sisters, who were killed with her aunt, on the catastrophic day in April 2003 when a mortar struck the house.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/07/04/for_iraqi_family_scars_slow_to_heal/
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Happy Birthday
Why the 4th?
Though the Fourth of July is almost iconic to Americans, some claim the date itself is somewhat arbitrary. New Englanders had been fighting Britain since April 1775. The first motion in the Continental Congress for independence was made on June 8. After hard debate, the Congress voted unanimously (12-0), but secretly, for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on July 2. The Congress reworked the text of the Declaration until a little after eleven o'clock, July 4th, when twelve colonies voted for adoption and released an unsigned copy to the printers. (New York abstained from both votes.) Philadelphia celebrated the Declaration with public readings and bonfires on July 8. Not until August 2 would a fair printing be signed by the members of the Congress, but even that was kept secret to protect the members from British reprisal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence
National Archives
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3202
Soles evoke the souls of Americans killed in Iraq
With 1,746 pairs of boots spread across the lawn, "It's hard... not see the people who stood in them."
By Natalie Pompilio / Philadelphia Inquirer
In the undated letter to his family in Texas, Army Chief Warrant Officer Wesley C. Fortenberry wrote that the worst part of being in Iraq was not the heat - which was pretty bad - but the trauma of piloting a helicopter carrying the bodies of Marines from the field.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3203
Arlington Cemetery Undergoes Expansion
By Siobhan McDonough / Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Va. -- An excavator uproots trees. Rakes scrape the ground. A grinder turns limbs into mulch. Deer scramble for cover. For the first time in a decade, expansion is coming to the pre-eminent military burial ground in the United States. It means a major upheaval.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3204
U.S. Confirms Some Afghan Civilian Deaths
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - A U.S. airstrike last week killed 17 Afghan villagers, including women and children, a provincial governor said Monday. The U.S. military confirmed some civilians were killed in the attack on what it called a known terrorist compound.
The bombing occurred in Kunar province last Friday, three days after an elite U.S. military team disappeared in the mountainous area.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3206
Michael Moore announces films for Traverse City festival
By John Flesher / Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Excited movie buffs queued up Friday to buy tickets for the inaugural Traverse City Film Festival — and to meet its founder, the Oscar-winning director Michael Moore.
"It's a great thing you're doing," Mimi Bruder, the first person in line, told Moore, who stood behind the counter as sales got under way. More than 500 tickets were sold within two hours, organizers said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3189
Guard unit monitored peace rally
By Cory Golden / Davis Enterprise
A new California National Guard intelligence unit meant to help local law enforcement deal with terrorist threats tracked a recent protest co-sponsored by the Davis chapter of Code Pink: Women for Peace.
Guard officials have said the unit will not violate long-standing rules barring the military from gathering information on American citizens.
According to e-mail messages obtained by the San Jose Mercury News, however, top National Guard officials were involved in tracking the Mother's Day event, held at the Vietnam War memorial on the state Capitol grounds.
Natalie Wormeli of the Davis group helped plan the rally. This morning, she said felt both angered and saddened to learn that the protest was monitored by the Guard.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3199
Washington Post
Devoted to God, but Not the Pledge
Beliefs Drive Man's Opposition to Oath In Virginia Schools
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 4, 2005; Page B01
Edward R. Myers used to ride motorcycles and fly his own airplane.
But all that seemed too dangerous after he got married and had children. So the Sterling man took up a new pastime: suing the government.
Edward R. Myers, a Mennonite, says members of the tradition oppose saying oaths to any entity but God. "To me, it's heresy," he says of the pledge. (By Rich Lipski -- The Washington Post)
He has pursued deeply held religious convictions in courtrooms in Loudoun County, Alexandria and North Carolina. He is most passionate about his opposition to reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, which Myers believes unconstitutionally mingles God and government and dilutes his religion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/03/AR2005070300895.html
News 24 dot com
'Promises are made but not kept'
04/07/2005 11:04 - (SA)
Sirte - With the media spotlight firmly on the world's poorest peoples as the G8 summit approaches, the African Union (AU) is calling on the world's richest nations to fulfil their promises of aid to the continent.
"The fact that we still have underdevelopment in Africa shows a lot still remains to be done, both by Africa and by our partners, and African participation in the G8 summit will be the occasion to get this message across", said Rene N'Guettia Kouassi, the AU's director of economic affairs.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1731518,00.html
US strike: '17 civilians dead'
04/07/2005 10:33 - (SA)
US helicopter crash: 17 missing
Kabul - Seventeen people, including a number of women and children, died when US aircraft bombed a suspected militant hideout in eastern Afghanistan last week, a provincial governor said on Monday.
US forces launched the airstrike on Chichal village in the province of Kunar on Friday during a search for a missing American reconnaissance team.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1731613,00.html
BBC
Live 8 attracts 9.6m UK viewers
Bono and Paul McCartney opened London's Live 8 concert
The Live 8 concerts attracted a peak audience of 9.6 million viewers on BBC One on Saturday evening.
The channel's live coverage of the global concerts won an average audience of 6.6 million.
Rock band Pink Floyd's album sales soared by 1,343% after their comeback appearance at London's Live 8 concert.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4648051.stm
First hydrogen plane tested in US
By Richard Black
BBC environment correspondent
The plane has 50ft (15m) wings (picture courtesy of AeroVironment)
A US company says it has successfully completed test flights of a potentially environment-friendly aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen.
Liquid hydrogen stored on board and oxygen extracted from the air are combined in fuel cells. The electricity generated drives the propellers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4643575.stm
Blair's G8 climate change challenge
New research by Oxford scientists suggests global warming will stir up or "activate" African sand dunes
While researching an item for Newsnight on climate change I've found it's been analogies between the G8 process and Iraq that pop up most often.
One prominent member of Britain's science glitterati even suggested a wild card tactic for Tony Blair, for those final hours of diplomacy at next week's Gleneagles summit: "He should threaten to pull the troops out... it's that serious."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4637615.stm
Emission cuts 'vital' for oceans
Tiny coccolithophorids form vast populations
Marine species are under threat from rising levels of acidity in the oceans, says the UK's Royal Society.
Unless carbon dioxide emissions are cut, there could be irreversible damage to ecosystems, it warns.
It is further evidence of the need to take action at next week's G8 summit, says working group chair, John Raven.
"Failure to do so may mean that there is no place in the oceans of the future for many of the species and ecosystems that we know today," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4633681.stm
Poverty
Africa is a key theme of this year's G8 summit. This is an overview of some of the economic challenges facing the continent.
Most of Sub-Saharan Africa is in the World Bank's lowest income category of less than $765 Gross National Income (GNI) per person per year. Ethiopia and Burundi are the worst off with just $90 GNI per person.
Even middle income countries like Gabon and Botswana have sizeable sections of the population living in poverty.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/africa/05/africa_economy/html/poverty.stm
Gross National Income per capita 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/africa/05/africa_economy/html/poverty.stm
Two missing US troops 'are dead'
The US launched a major hunt for the missing men
Two of the three US special forces soldiers missing in eastern Afghanistan for almost a week have been found dead, US government sources tell the BBC.
The whereabouts of the other team member remains unclear, while a fourth soldier was found alive on Saturday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4650295.stm
'Ex-Saddam guards' in Syria clash
Mount Qassioun is a popular scenic spot overlooking Damascus
A Syrian security officer has died in a shootout with an armed group that includes former bodyguards of Iraq's ex-leader Saddam Hussein, reports say.
The clash erupted early in the morning on Mount Qassioun, which overlooks Damascus, the Sana news agency reports.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4648183.stm
Rwanda in court over Congo claims
Rwanda is accused of smuggling weapons into eastern DR Congo
The International Court of Justice in The Hague has begun hearing allegations of human rights atrocities committed by Rwandan troops in DR Congo.
DR Congo accuses its neighbour of armed aggression, mass slaughter, rape, abduction, looting and assassination.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4648599.stm
Rwanda denies DRC plundering
The Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in coltan
By Stefan Armbruster
BBC News Online business reporter
The Rwandan government has denied UN accusations that it is plundering the natural resources of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A UN report last year detailed how the Rwandan Government and army, the Ugandan army, and Congolese and Zimbabwean Government officials continued to exploit the DRC's resources.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2775029.stm
The Miami Herald
Fireworks become more high-tech to spark crowds
The high-tech fireworks that will dazzle the sky -- and the spectators -- tonight are a far cry from the old hand-fired displays of years past.
BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@herald.com
Fireworks, the legend goes, first appeared in mankind's skies in ancient China, when a cook accidentally mixed sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal.
People found it amusing.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12049656.htm
Older Trainer creates a new image
Monty Trainer, a one-time power broker who owned a chain of restaurants, has worked to overcome his conviction for tax fraud and is trying to recast himself as a philanthropist.
BY NOAKI SCHWARTZ
nschwartz@herald.com
There was a time when Monty Trainer owned a chain of seven restaurants, dazzled city and county officials with his hospitality and wielded so much power from a back table at his Coconut Grove establishment that some renamed Miami City Hall ``Monty's Hall.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12049658.htm
Toll or not, the roads aren't free
On this holiday Monday, as we celebrate our independence from the tyranny of taxation without representation, let us take a few moments to dispel one mistaken notion of freedom.
Some fairly smart people -- including a few elected officials who should know better -- continue to perpetuate the widely held, but incorrect, belief that all roads are ''free'' if you don't pay a toll.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
''It's one of those great fallacies,'' said Miami accountant Daryl Sharpton, who chairs the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. ``There is no such thing as a free road.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12049657.htm
They are schooled. Under duress? These prisoners are stated to not cooperate. So, learning is measured how? By who?
U.S. schools prisoners in Guantánamo
A U.S. military pilot program allows terror suspects at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp to learn basic reading and math skills, but some lawmakers in Congress want to shut the program down.
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
crosenberg@herald.com
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- It's 8:30 on a Tuesday night, President Bush is addressing the nation on Iraq and two Afghan prisoners are sitting side by side at a picnic table here -- learning simple math and how to write in their native Pashto.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12050224.htm
Well, let's get over the election hump and we can ask for the money back later. Good job, Brother Jeb !!
FEMA wants money back
FORT MYERS - (AP) -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked thousands of Floridians whose homes were damaged by last summer's four hurricanes to give back more than $27 million in aid overpayments, a newspaper reported.
FEMA earlier this year began mailing letters to residents in efforts to recoup the overpayments from people who received federal aid after Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne hit Florida last August and September.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12049595.htm
Interfax, working for decision makers
Sergei Yastrzhembsky:
Foreign journalists shouldn't advise us on Kaliningrad
1 July.
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Russian presidential envoy to the European Union, complained on Friday about comments in Polish and Lithuanian media in connection with planned celebrations of the 750th anniversary of Kaliningrad.
"We are concerned about the speculative character of some publications in the mass media by the closest neighbors of the Kaliningrad region and about attempts by the authors of the publications to give us some advice, or even force on Russia, their vision of the format for the celebration of the city's jubilee," Yastrzhembsky told Interfax.
"If things keep going at this rate, soon we'll probably hear from the same sources what Russians should eat and drink, how they should dress and what they should say," he said.
http://www.interfax.com/17/74109/Interview.aspx>
Ukrainian premier determined to "bring order" for stability
June 28. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has explained her position on a number of pressing problems in Ukraine's current domestic and foreign policies.
In the run-up to parliamentary elections to be held in Ukraine next year, Tymoshenko said she believes it is necessary for the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine, and the People's Party led by speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn to set up a tripartite coalition.
“I want the people from the Our Ukraine Party, who are currently shaping the opinion of our president, to understand that I am satisfied with what I have and that I do not have high ambitions,” Tymoshenko said.
http://www.interfax.com/17/73006/Interview.aspx
Petro Poroshenko:
Euro-Atlantic Integration for Ukraine Means Accession to NATO
29 June. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council secretary Petro Poroshenko expressed the Ukrainian leadership's position on several of the most important problems in Ukraine's domestic and foreign policy in an exclusive interview with Interfax.
Poroshenko confirmed that NATO membership is a strategic objective for Ukraine. He said that, back in 2003, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law on national security. "It is written in black and white in the law that Euro-Atlantic integration is the foundation of Ukraine's national security. Euro-Atlantic integration means NATO membership. And that's it," he said.
http://www.interfax.com/17/73403/Interview.aspx
Chechen militants kill head of village administration
GROZNY. July 4 (Interfax) - Several militants killed the a villageadministration chief of Zumsoi in Chechnya on Monday, said the regionalanti-terror headquarters."Several members of illegal armed groups who disguised themselvesby wearing federal military uniforms opened intensive fire at a carcarrying the head of the administration of Zumsoi," a spokesman toldInterfax.[RU EUROPE EEU EMRG VIO]
http://www.interfax.com/3/74390/news.aspx
RIA Novosti
Russia set to chair the G8
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov).
The G8 Gleneagles (Scotland) summit that opens Wednesday will have special importance for Moscow: for the first time ever Russia will assume the presidency of this informal group of the world's most advanced nations. Next year it will host another summit that is expected to take place in the suburbs of St. Petersburg.
A mighty nuclear power, rich in manpower and natural resources, Russia still trails far behind the other seven members of the G8 in terms of per capita income. But there is one factor that makes Russia an influential and indispensable member of G8, if the latter's goal is indeed to make the world's economic advance more stable. This is Russia's growing role as a leading supplier of energy resources.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20050704/40841537.html
Russians say their country should aim for full G8 membership
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - A poll released Monday by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) showed that a majority of Russians favor their country becoming a full member of the G8.
The poll put the percentage of those in favor at 58%, up from 51% earlier this year. Only 14% of respondents were opposed to full membership, while 28% found it difficult to give an answer.
A quarter of respondents said Russia was a full member already. However, 40% did not, while the other 35% could not assess Russia's role in the informal organization.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40840826.html
Putin sends Bush Independence Day telegram
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to U.S. President George W. Bush with a special message for Independence Day, the Kremlin press service said Monday.
"We should work hard to promote diverse Russian-U.S. cooperation," Putin wrote in his telegram. "The high level of cooperation achieved by our coordinated efforts will allow our countries to counter global threats and challenges, including international terrorism, and expand economic and public contacts."
"I am convinced that our practical efforts will show that cooperation is firmly grounded," he wrote.
Putin added that the joint celebrations of the 60th anniversary of VE Day in Moscow in May "demonstrated a new quality of Russian-U.S. relations based on partnership and mutual trust and the traditions of our joint fight against a common enemy."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40841106.html
UN needs a peace-building commission - Russian foreign minister
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia supports the creation of a UN peace-building commission, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. The commission would help in conflict resolution and promote post-conflict development, Lavrov said after talks with his Irish counterpart, Dermot Ahern, who is also the UN Secretary General's special envoy ahead of the September 2005 summit. Lavrov said that effective conflict and crisis regulation was a key aspect of UN reform.
"The principle of universality should be maintained during discussion of UN reform," Lavrov said, adding that Russia backed Ahern's work as the summit's special envoy.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40840353.html
Iran to take part in Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kazakhstan
TEHRAN, July 4 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref was traveling to Kazakhstan Monday for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) slated to open in Astana on Tuesday.
"The SCO was established to promote regional cooperation, ensure stability and security, while Iran's membership in the organization meets our interests and the organization's interests," Aref told reporters before boarding his flight. "The issue has been put on the Iranian foreign ministry and government's agenda."
http://en.rian.ru/world/20050704/40841867.html
Sounds like a covert meeting of the Secondary Layer of Nuclear Powers.
Pakistan chasing observer status in Shanghai Cooperation Organization
ISLAMABAD, July 4 (RIA Novosti, Yevgeny Pakhomov) - Pakistan's Prime Minister said Monday that observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) would give Pakistan new opportunities to develop relations with the organization's members. Shaukat Aziz was traveling to the Kazakh capital, Astana, which will host the upcoming SCO summit. Pakistani news agencies said Aziz was going to Astana to secure observer status in the organization. "In Astana, Pakistan intends to put forward a series of proposals designed to encourage regional cooperation," said Aziz. "Pakistan has maintained friendly relations with the SCO countries and hopes the Shanghai forum will promote them further," he said.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20050704/40841616.html
Iran, India and Pakistan to become observers in international organization
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Iran, India and Pakistan will be given observer status at a July 5-6 summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an international organization uniting four Eurasian states and China.
"The summit will formalize observer status for Iran, India and Pakistan," Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to the Russian president said.
The SCO member countries are Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia has observer status.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40837513.html
Moscow hopes Lithuania will take unbiased approach to Russia's Yukos inquiry
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow hopes Lithuania will study the Russian Justice Ministry's inquiry about the Yukos oil major, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
"We hope Lithuania's Justice Ministry will study the inquiry and will adopt a decision based exclusively on the rule of law," the ministry said in a statement. "This is a purely legal issue."
Russia's Justice Ministry approached the justice ministries of Lithuania and the Netherlands last Wednesday with a request to track down assets of Yukos' affiliates located in the countries and ban transactions with the oil company's 53.7% of shares in Lithuania's Mazeikiu nafta (MN). The requests were made to help Russia's tax authorities have Yukos pay its back taxes.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40842100.html
Deep Impact probe with names of 625,000 people to collide with comet
MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - A space probe with research equipment and a CD carrying names of 625,000 people including 5 RIA Novosti journalists is set to collide with the Tempel-1 comet on July 4.
The worldwide Internet campaign to register people wishing to go down in the space exploration history ended on January 31, 2004. The CD was put inside the probe which was installed on the Deep Impact-1 spacecraft. Deep Impact blasted off in January from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for its six-month 431-million-kilometer journey.
The probe is set to collide with the comet at a relative speed of 40,000kph. According to NASA experts, the probe will make a crater in Tempel-1 and let them study the ice surface of the comet.
As the comet closes in, the probe will transmit images of its target to the Deep Impact spacecraft. NASA's space telescopes Hubble, Spitzer and Chandra will observe the collision, as well.
http://en.rian.ru/science/20050703/40835708.html
Putin, Schroeder and Chirac discuss UN reform, Iraq in Kaliningrad
KALININGRAD, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a broad range of issues, from UN reform to Iraq, with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday during a routine visit to Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea.
Putin told a news conference after the talks that he hoped for productive cooperation with the Germany and France next year, when Russia holds the rotating presidency over the G8, an organization uniting the world's leading industrialized nations.
Putin said: "Energy security might become a priority on the G8 agenda in this period. I have no doubt that the G8 will borrow from the experience of the Russia-EU dialogue when making the relevant preparations."
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40837951.html
RICE'S takes 'stump speech' international. If it worked for Bush why shouldn't work for Putin?
Terrorist access to WMDs could lead to tragedy - Lavrov, Rice
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned in a newspaper article Monday of a potential catastrophe should weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of terrorists.
The article, "Russia and the U.S. Against Nuclear Terrorism," warned that, should terrorists gain access to WMDs, it could lead to death and devastation on a scale far larger than the attacks of September 11 and other terrorist attacks combined.
The article appeared in Izvestiya to mark the second anniversary of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) announced on May 31, 2003, which Russia joined last year.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20050704/40840380.html
Russian scientists to join European aerohydrodynamics projects
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) is set to take part in all European research projects, deputy director Sergei Chernyshev said Monday.
The institute is currently involved in a project to develop a flexible or aeroelastic airplane, he added.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40840414.html
Ukraine threatening European consumers of Russian gas
KIEV, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Naftogaz Ukraine has told Gazprom that reducing supplies of natural gas to Ukraine could lead to a decline in Russian exports to Europe, Novosti-Ukraine agency reported Monday.
The warning came in an official telegram issued by Naftogaz in response to Gazprom's decision to consider 7.8 billion cubic meters of Russian gas lost and later discovered in underground storage in Ukraine as payment for the transit of Russian natural gas to Europe through the country.
Gazprom's decision was communicated by CEO Alexei Miller to Alexei Ivchenko, head of the Naftogaz board of directors and also Ukraine's first deputy fuel and energy minister, last week. Gazprom later notified Ukraine that it would provide up to 1.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas to pay for transit services by yearend.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20050704/40841424.html
Russia pledges to keep high import tariffs to protect carmakers
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's chief negotiator at WTO accession talks said Monday that the country would preserve high duties on imported cars for seven years after joining the World Trade Organization, and after that tariffs would be at least 50% above European levels. Duties on other imported products will be slashed by an average of 25%.
Maxim Medvedkov, the director of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry's trade talks department, was presiding over a three-hour-long seminar-cum-conference in Nizhny Novgorod, a city 400 kilometers from Moscow where GAZ, Russia's leading carmaker, is based.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050704/40841610.html
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