TRAVEL: A holiday gift list for the frequent air traveler

Blankets with sleeves, reading glasses with a built-in light and a convenient scale to weigh luggage are among the ideas that make flying more enjoyable.

December 20, 2009

By Terry Gardner

Until short security lines and turbulence-free skies come gift-wrapped, here are some holiday gifts and a few stocking stuffers that can lessen the stress of your frequent flier. Most cost less than $35.

For help with this list, I consulted Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com, Joe Brancatelli, who produces the JoeSentMe newsletter for business travelers, product developer Phil Baker, consumer writer Christopher Elliott, Matt Daimler of SeatGuru and George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.

Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale

• What it is: A scale small enough to pack and strong enough to weigh up to 100 pounds. A new ergonomic version moves the digital scale into the grip and is positioned horizontally rather than vertically.
• Benefits: This topped most lists. Even carriers that check a bag or two for free charge you for overweight bags, and once you're at the airport, you can be slapped with hundreds of dollars in excess-weight fees. The Balanzza's flexibility in measuring in pounds or kilograms makes it ideal for the international traveler.
• Cost: $17.75
• Where to buy:Amazon

Joby Gorillapod or Gorillamobile

• What it is: A compact, lightweight tripod with flexible, wrapable legs to secure a camera or mini video camera to almost any surface for self-portraits and other creative shots
• Benefits: "I've tested other mini-tripods, and this one just does the job without getting in the way of your art," Elliott says. Daimler likes Gorillamobile because a flier can "attach your device to the seat back in front of you and avoid a stiff neck while watching your favorite movie or TV show."
• Costs: $21.95 to $29.95 (SLR and iPhone models cost $39.95)
• Where to buy:Joby

The Travel Slanket

• What it is: A blanket with sleeves (58 inches by 66 inches for travel)
• Benefits: Most airline blankets are too short to cover you. Banas says the Slanket offers greater comfort, letting travelers "sleep, work, watch movies, wander the cabin, and eat your in-flight meal, all without leaving your Slanket."
• Cost: $24.99
• Where to buy:Theslanket.com

Eurosocks TravelSox compression socks

• What they do: The socks' patented design is said to help stimulate blood flow and reduce swelling while you're sitting in cramped quarters for extended periods. Coolmax helps wick away perspiration.
• Benefits: Banas recommends this comfortable defense against deep vein thrombosis.
• Cost: $29.85
• Where to buy:Magellans, Eurosocks and Amazon
  

Brookstone's lighted eyeglasses

• What they do: Reading eyeglasses that shine a light exactly where you look. Magnification available.
• Benefits: A great solution for reading in the low light of an airplane cabin.
• Cost: $29.95
• Where to buy:Brookstone
  

Lights Out Sleep Mask

• What it does: This form-fitting sleep mask is designed to encourage Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep by allowing complete eye movement while blocking out even peripheral light.
• Benefits: Banas recommends this for getting some shut eye on a red-eye or long international flights.
• Cost: $10.85
• Where to buy:Magellans
  

The Clear Bag System

• What it is: This toiletry system for men and women is Transportation Security Administration compliant that contains pump bottles for liquids.
• Benefits: Brancatelli says it's the "best toiletries kit I know given the snoopy nature of the TSA. And much sturdier than a Ziploc bag."
• Cost: $24.50 to $32.19
• Where to buy: ClearBagSystem

The 150 Country Travel Adapter

• What it does: This pocket-size adapter has a built-in surge protector, an AC outlet and two USB ports.
• Benefits: Brancatelli says it "works on every electrical system/wall plug I've seen anywhere in the world." You can power or charge three devices simultaneously in more than 150 countries.
• Cost: $34.95
• Where to buy:Hammacher Schlemmer

Skooba Design's Netbook Neo-Sleeve

• What it is: A 6.4-ounce form-fitting, cushy neoprene sleeve protects a netbook with a screen up to 10.1 inches. It includes a front pocket for the power cord, a thumb drive pocket and a removable shoulder strap.
• Benefits: Good quality and stylish design.
• Cost: $19.95
• Where to buy:Skoobadesign
  

TravelTow Rotating Luggage Handle

• What it does: The handle attaches to any roll-aboard and can rotate 360 degrees to position your hand naturally, whether you're strolling or dashing to your flight's departure gate.
• Benefits: Daimler says it prevents rolling luggage from falling over as you pull it behind you.
• Cost: $9.95
• Where to buy:Tamperseal.com
  

Suggested traveler stocking stuffers:

LaCie key USB drive for storage in a key-shaped device, $21.99 to $34.99

 

 

Kensington Portable Power Outlet lets you power up to five devices, $24.99

 

 

Tide stain remover sticks, Amazon or grocery stores, about $4 each

 

 

Vapur, eco-friendly, PBA-free, "fold-and-go" water bottle, $8.95

 

 

 

Silk Underwear top ($23.95 from WinterSilks).  Hobica says this layering item is "indispensable -- washes and dries fast on the road and takes up little space in the suitcase."

 

 

MagicJack, $39.95, for free international calls. Your digital or analog telephone plugs into one end of magicJack while its USB plug connects to your computer for voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) calls.

 

View Article in the Los Angeles Times

CHINA: New Pipeline From Central Asia Feeds China

Workers celebrated the opening of a natural gas pipeline in Turkmenistan on Monday near portraits of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, China and Uzbekistan.   Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

December 15, 2009

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

MOSCOW — With the turn of a ceremonial valve, China’s president, Hu Jintao, opened a big natural gas pipeline from central Asia to China on Monday, significantly increasing China’s access to the fuel and providing the first major alternative to exporting the region’s gas through Russia.

The ambitious project runs 1,140 miles across three Central Asian nations to the Chinese border, linking Turkmenistan to the Chinese region of Xinjiang. Once inside China, it connects with a pipeline that can carry the fuel even farther east.

Though helpful to energy-parched China, the project siphons potential supplies from the long-delayed pipeline that the European Union would like to see built from Turkey to Central Europe. Such a project could also tap sources of natural gas in Turkmenistan, a stark illustration of the overlapping energy interests at play in the region.

For the China pipeline, Turkmenistan says it can supply 40 billion cubic meters of gas for 30 years once the line reaches full capacity, reported China Daily, an official English-language newspaper. That is about the equivalent of half of China’s current consumption of natural gas.

The pipeline is the first major export corridor for natural gas out of the region that does not pass through Russia. It breaks from the Soviet-era design of a pipeline system built to supply Eastern Europe via Russia to the north of Central Asia. The new pipe revives a pre-Soviet view of trade in the region, in which economic exchanges flow east and west, not just through Russia.

“The startup of this pipeline reconstructs the ancient Silk Roads and symbolizes friendship and cooperation,” Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, said at the ceremony on Monday, the Interfax news agency reported.

Mr. Hu was in Turkmenistan to turn the valve, which signaled the start of gas being transported along the pipeline. An inauguration ceremony was also held Saturday in Kazakhstan for that country’s part of the project.

China’s accomplishment was all the more notable because Europe and the United States have been jousting with Russia for years to break its natural gas pipeline monopoly.

Alexander A. Cooley, an authority on Central Asia at Barnard College, said China succeeded because it did not blend energy ventures with support for democratic change in the region, or demands for access to the military bases the United States needs to help wage the war in Afghanistan, as was the case with the Western powers. These other Western policy goals in Central Asia served only to stiffen Russian opposition to European and American oil and gas ventures, which fed into Russia’s fear of being encircled by Western interests in the region, he said.

Russia also acquiesced to the Chinese because the pipeline poses far less of an immediate threat to the business of Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, than a westbound pipe would, according to Vitaly Y. Yermakov, research director for Russia and the Caspian for IHS CERA, an energy consulting group.

Russia’s paramount goal is to prevent the West from breaking a monopoly on natural gas pipelines from Asia to Europe, which is the core of Gazprom’s business. The eastbound Chinese pipeline, in contrast, does not undercut an existing Russian export market, because Russia sells no pipeline gas to China now.

Edward Wong contributed reporting from Beijing.

View Article in the New York Times

CHINA & US: Climate Control Conflict

Compiled by Heather Hopkins Clement

* China and the US are key players in the climate control talks in Copenhagen. However, they have some differences.

* The United States believes the Chinese emissions target is too low. They want to see a stronger emissions commitment from China.

* The latest dispute in this second and final week of the summit is over how to monitor and verify any agreement. China is rejecting any kind of international monitoring of its emissions levels. The US will not agree to any deal that cannot be monitored and verified by a third party.

* International verification is essential to get the US Congress to sign off on any deal. Congress might even call for punitive tariffs on goods imported from China. They want to ensure a level playing field for American companies when competing with China.

* There are also cultural and political factors driving Chinese negotiators to engage in brinkmanship.

For More Details:

China and U.S. Hit Strident Impasse at Climate Talks, New York Times, December 14, 2009

RUSSIA: Nightclub Explosion in the City of Perm is deadliest fire since the fall of the Soviet Union

Compiled By Heather Hopkins Clement

• Fire broke out at a popular nightclub in the City of Perm on December 5, 2009 causing panic and death in the overcrowded café. A stampede resulted in many victims being trampled or suffocated to death. Witnesses claim security guards had to break down the club's sealed doors. Initial reports were 70 dead and 60 injured.

• Many of the injuries were critical with severe burns, and the death toll as doubled in the week after the incident. About 20 of the injured were taken to Moscow for further treatment. Those that do survive are to receive free plastic surgery.

• Russian ministers rushed to the scene, and the regional government resigned days later.

• Terrorism has been ruled out. Initially, it was believed some kind of short circuit may have caused the fire. Later, it was determined that onstage fireworks were the culprit. Fire safety breaches in the club were ignored for years.

• Arrests to date include the owner and other management.

• President Medvedev has demanded the culprits be brought to justice with harsh punishment.

• Prime Minister Putin says the tragedy reflects all the vices of Russian bureaucracy such as incompetence and corruption. Fire safety codes and their enforcement are notoriously lax in Russia due.

• Families of the victims were initially offered $3400 in compensation, but the amount was raised to $16,700 several days later.

• Victims memorialized with candles and flowers.

• Russia plans nationwide inspections, and Russia's emergencies chief demanded a fireworks ban in public places. A Moscow fire safety watchdog has asked courts to close 54 nightclubs.

• Russian records show up to 18,000 fire deaths a year which is several times the per-capita rate in the United States and other Western countries.

• Nightclub fires have killed thousands of people worldwide.

• The death toll as of December 12, 2009 stands at 146.


Related Articles:

Russian nightclub fire disaster: death toll rises to 146, RIA Novosti, December 13, 2009

Moscow fire safety watchdog asks courts to close 54 nightclubs, RIA Novosti, December 12, 2009

Inspectors could face charges over deadly nightclub fire, RIA Novosti, December 12, 2009

Death count in Russian nightclub blaze rises to 145, RIA Novosti, December 12, 2009

Death toll from Russian nightclub fire rises to 143, RIA Novosti, December 11, 2009

Nightclub blaze death count climbs to 142, RIA Novosti, December 11, 2009

Two more nightclub blaze victims die, toll climbs to 141, RIA Novosti, December 11, 2009

Fire safety breaches in Perm club were ignored for years – Shoigu, RIA Novosti, December 10, 2009

Perm tragedy reflects all vices of Russian bureaucracy – Putin, RIA Novosti, December 10, 2009

Death toll from Russian nightclub fire reaches 136, RIA Novosti, December 10, 2009

Death toll from Russian nightclub fire climbs to 135, RIA Novosti, December 10, 2009

Death toll from Russian nightclub fire reaches 134, RIA Novosti, December 10, 2009

Death toll in Perm nightclub fire rises to 128, RIA Novosti, December 9, 2009

Death toll in Perm nightclub fire rises to 125, RIA Novosti, December 9, 2009

Deadly accident in Russian nightclub, RIA Novosti, December 9, 2009

Regional government resigns over deadly fire, RIA Novosti, December 9, 2009

Russian nightclub hit by deadly fire was overcrowded – governor, RIA Novosti, December 8, 2009

Russian nightclub fire death toll reaches 120 - emergencies service, RIA Novosti, December 8, 2009

Russian nightclub fire death count 'rises to 119', RIA Novosti, December 8, 2009

Medvedev orders guilty parties of Perm fire be brought to justice, RIA Novosti, December 8, 2009

Russian nightclub fire death toll rises to 118, RIA Novosti, December 8, 2009

Russian nightclub fire death toll rises to 117, RIA Novosti, December 7, 2009

Russia mourns victims of Urals club fire as 113th victim dies, RIA Novosti, December 7, 2009

Vladimir Putin blasts fire safety measures in Russia, RIA Novosti,
December 7, 2009

Families of Perm nightclub blaze victims to get $16,700 each, RIA Novosti, December 7, 2009

One more Urals night club fire victim dies in hospital, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

All bodies in deadly Perm nightclub fire identified, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

Perm residents bring flowers to nightclub fire disaster scene, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

Russia's emergencies chief demands fireworks ban in public places, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

Flowers and candles: in memoriam for Perm fire victims, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

Deadly fire at Perm night club, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

SHORT CIRCUIT COULD BE THE CAUSE OF PERM NIGHTCLUB FIRE DISASTER – INVESTIGATORS, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

URGENT: All managers of Urals fire-stricken club detained –investigators, RIA Novosti, December 6, 2009

URGENT: Death toll in Urals cafe fire rises to 111, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Perm emergencies officials raise death toll in nightclub fire to 110, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Russia's health minister says 109 dead in Perm nightclub fire, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Russian nightclub fire kills 109; many crushed, Associate Press, December 5, 2009

Explosion At Russian Nightclub Kills At Least 109, Associated Press, December 5, 2009

Lax codes cited in Russia blaze that killed 107, Associated Press, December 5, 2009

Security guards had to break Perm club's sealed doors down – witnesses, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Five arrested in Perm club fire, death toll reaches 107, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Death toll in Perm club fire reported lower at 106, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Perm nightclub fire victims to receive free plastic surgery, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Russian investigators arrest 3 more over deadly nightclub fire, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Russia plans nationwide inspections over nightclub fire tragedy, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Death toll from Russian nightclub fire reaches 109, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Dozens in critical condition after Russian nightclub fire kills 103, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Medvedev urges harsh punishment for culprits in nightclub fire, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Nightclub fire in Russia's Urals kills 103, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Four suspects wanted over Urals nightclub fire, RIA Novosti, December 5, 2009

Urals nightclub bosses arrested after fatal fire, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Owner of Russian Urals nightclub arrested after fatal fire, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Nightclub fire in Russia's Urals kills 102, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Over 20 injured in Urals fire to be flown to Moscow, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Families of cafe fire victims to get $3,400 in compensation, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Fire rips through crowded Russian cafe, over 100 killed, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Russian ministers in Urals city over cafe fire, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Russian ministers arrive in Urals city after fatal nightclub fire, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Russian cafe fire death toll rises to 112 – TV, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Urals fire death toll reaches 100, 131 injured, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

HUNDRED KILLED, 131 INJURED IN URALS FIRE - RUSSIAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Rescuers begin to compile lists of Russian cafe blaze victims, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Urals cafe fire death toll rises to 98, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

PERM CAFE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 98 AS FOUR OF THE INJURED DIE IN HOSPITAL - REGIONAL EMERGENCIES MINISTRY, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Local police look into several versions of cafe tragedy, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Investigators rule out terrorist attack on Urals café, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

100 killed in Urals cafe blast, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Some 76 killed, 114 injured in Urals cafe blast , RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Some 76 killed, 60 injured in Urals cafe blast, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Over 70 killed in Urals cafe blast, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Blast rocks cafe in Urals, RIA Novosti, December 4, 2009

Explosion At Russian Nightclub Kills At Least 109

December 5, 2009

by The Associated Press

Russia's top investigative body says the number of people who died in a nightclub fire in the Urals city of Perm has risen to 109.

The Investigative Committee says 98 died on the spot and 11 others later died in hospitals.

The victims crushed each other to death and suffocated after the fire tore through the popular Lame Horse nightclub in Perm late Friday, filling the crowded barracks-like building with thick black smoke.

The Investigative Committee said Saturday that some 130 people were injured and many remain in critical condition.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PERM, Russia (AP) — Panicked clubgoers crushed each other to death in a popular Russian nightspot as they tried to flee a fast-moving fire that one eyewitness told The Associated Press was started by pyrotechnic fountains set up on the stage.

Officials said 103 people died when the fire tore through the popular Lame Horse nightclub in the city of Perm late Friday, filling the crowded barracks-like building with thick black smoke. Authorities said they arrested the registered owner of the club and the manager.

Officials said the club managers ignored repeated demands from authorities to change the club's interior to comply with fire safety standards. "They have neither brains, nor conscience," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said, urging a tough punishment for the culprits.

Officials said most of the dead suffocated or were crushed at the exit.

"The fire spread very quickly," said Marina Zabbarova, chief investigator for the local prosecutor's office. "Panic arose which led to a mass death of people."

News footage shot later outside the Lame Horse showed charred bodies lying in rows on the ground amid a light snowfall. Rescue workers carried bodies on stretchers into waiting vans.

Svetlana Kuvshinova, who was in the nightclub when the blaze broke out, told the AP it started after three fireworks fountains spewed sparks, igniting the plastic ceiling.

"The fire took seconds to spread," she said. "It was like a dry haystack. There was only one way out. They nearly stampeded me."

Another clubgoer said panic spread quickly through the crowd.

"There was only one exit, and people starting breaking down the doors to get out," said a woman who identified herself only as Olga, smeared with soot and wearing a filthy fur coat. "They were breaking the door and panic set in. Everything was in smoke. I couldn't see anything."

A video recorded by one of the clubgoers and run by Russian television stations showed flames engulfing the ceiling decorated with willow twigs as a host shouted in a casual tone: "Ladies and Gentlemen, guests of the club, we are on fire. Please leave the hall!"

People reluctantly and slowly began heading toward the exit, some of them turning back to look at the burning ceiling, but then rushed away in panic as flames quickly spread around seconds later.

Authorities set about identifying bodies Saturday morning, as ambulances delivered some of the more than 130 injured to planes waiting at the airport, where they were being evacuated to Moscow hospitals.

Medical authortities said nearly 90 of the injured were in critical condition.

Firefighters were on the scene in downtown Perm one minute after the alarm was called in, the Emergency Situations Ministry said, and they took less than an hour to put the fire out.

Zabbarova, the top investigator, said that there was no suspicion of a terrorist attack.

Russia has been on edge since last week's bombing of the high-speed Nevsky Express passenger train midway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, which killed 27 in the first deadly terrorist attack outside Russia's restive Caucasus republics since 2004. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the blast.

Perm, a city of around 1 million people, is about 700 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.

Enforcement of fire safety standards is notoriously lax in Russia and there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes, apartment buildings and night clubs in recent years.

Medvedev, who summoned top officials to report on the fire and rescue efforts, urged changes in the law to toughen punishment for violation of fire safety standards.

Russia records nearly 18,000 fire deaths a year, several times the per-capita rate in the United States and other Western countries. Nightclub fires have killed thousands of people worldwide.

Ten people died when an entertainer's clothing was ignited during a so-called "fire show" at a Moscow club in March 2007.

In February 2008, a fire in the Golden Rock nightclub in the Siberian city of Omsk killed four people. Officials said the blast might have been caused by natural gas.

A nightclub fire in the U.S. state of Rhode Island in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling.

Associated Press Writers Douglas Birch, Jim Heintz and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Time Runs Out On U.S.-Russia Arms Control Treaty

December 4, 2009

by Mike Shuster

TRANSCRIPT

The landmark 1991 arms control treaty negotiated by President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that brought the Cold War nuclear arms race to an end expires Friday night.

U.S. and Russian negotiators have been working round-the-clock in Geneva to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, and maintain some of its key provisions, but that work is not yet completed. Both governments say they will abide by the terms of the treaty as the deadline passes.

For months, U.S. and Russian officials have been negotiating a replacement for the START, especially some way to extend key verification measures that have allowed each side to maintain a timely and accurate accounting of the strategic nuclear weapons the other side has deployed.

The START called for the reduction of each side's deployed strategic nuclear arsenal on long-range bombers, missiles and submarines to about 6,000. Those targets were reached years ago, and now the United States and Russia each deploy fewer than 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads.

Maintaining the verification measures of the START is important to the Obama administration. It was on the agenda Friday when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Brussels.

"We always knew this would be very difficult. Remember, the prior administration didn't believe in arms control treaties, and so we were pretty much starting from scratch, and these are highly complex technical negotiations," Clinton said.

In 2002, the George W. Bush administration signed the Moscow Treaty that brought the nuclear arsenal of both sides down to current levels.

But President Obama has mapped out far more ambitious goals for the reduction of nuclear weapons. Clinton explained the rationale for this in a speech on arms control in October.

"Clinging to nuclear weapons in excess of our security needs does not make the United States safer. And the nuclear status quo is neither desirable nor sustainable. It gives other countries the motivation — or the excuse — to pursue their own nuclear option," she said.

Russia and the United States have already agreed to new levels for nuclear weapons — roughly 1,600. That turns out to have been the easy part.

Achieving reciprocal verification has been one of the hard parts. The U.S. stopped making long-range missiles years ago, and Russian personnel who monitored that production in the U.S. returned home. But Russia continues to produce long-range missiles, at a facility at Votkinsk on the Volga River, about 800 miles east of Moscow.

With the expiration of the START, American monitors at Votkinsk were set to leave. Arms control experts argue that even though the United States and Russia are no longer enemies or adversaries, verification measures such as this are still very important.

In fact, the fewer the nuclear weapons, the more verification matters, according to Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a nonprofit group that seeks to reduce nuclear weapons worldwide.

"Once you start going down to, say, a thousand or a few hundred deployed weapons, then it really starts to matter. You want to be sure that you can account for those weapons, that there's no secret stock of weapons that the other side is using, that there's no breakout capability where one side could suddenly double or triple the number of weapons they have," Cirincione says.

The possibility of miscalculation is another good reason to maintain verification measures, says Jeffrey Lewis, who runs the Web site armscontrolwonk.com.

"We do constantly see on the Russian side and on the American side ridiculous over-estimates of each other. ... The Russians think the United States is 10 feet tall, and sometimes we think the same thing about them," Lewis says.

There are other issues that still divide the U.S. and Russia — for instance, disagreements over how deployed nuclear warheads and their delivery systems are counted. Russia wants to include missile defenses. The U.S. does not.

Despite the expiration of the START, it looks like the United States and Russia will continue working on these issues. Any new treaty will have to be ratified by the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma.

Recession Elsewhere, but It’s Booming in China

December 10, 2009

By KEITH BRADSHER

GUANGZHOU, China — For the first time, Chinese will buy more cars this year than Americans. Demand is so high that drivers put their names on long waiting lists for the most popular models.

“I’m disappointed, but what can I do?” asked Zhang Ge Lu, a 28-year-old interior designer. He came recently with two friends to a row of dealerships here in southeastern China to buy a black Toyota RAV4, only to be told that he would have to wait two months for delivery.

And it is not just cars. For more and more consumer goods, China is surpassing the United States as the world’s biggest market — from cars to refrigerators to washing machines, even desktop computers.

The Chinese market is “on full tilt — booming is an understatement these days,” said John Bonnell, the director of Asia vehicle forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates.

China is pulling ahead at this particular moment partly because Americans, debt-laden and worried about their jobs, are pulling back. After decades of gorging on consumption, Americans are saving. And the Chinese, whom economists thought were addicted to saving, are spending more.

Among China’s 1.3 billion people, rising incomes are finally making large numbers of Chinese prosperous enough to make big-ticket purchases.

The question is: will they keep spending? The Beijing government is increasing consumption with rebates, subsidies and heavy bank lending. Whether China can turn the spending spree into the seeds of a true consumer society matters not just to China, but to the world.

For years, the West has pushed China to increase domestic consumption and reduce its dependence on exports — that’s because its overdependence on exports has distorted global trade.

To keep its export machine humming, China kept its currency undervalued to make its goods more competitive in foreign markets. The county beggared its own citizens, keeping salaries and bank deposit interest rates artificially low to support exporters.

China’s trade surpluses and extensive intervention in currency markets have led it to amass $2.27 trillion in reserves, mainly in United States Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities and other dollar-denominated investments, helping to keep interest rates low and finance Americans’ borrowing. Chinese parsimony enabled American profligacy.

If the Chinese buy more and Americans save more, a more stable global economic exchange can take shape. In the meantime, China’s rapid consumption growth is good news for the whole world. For the first time, China, not the United States, is a locomotive helping to pull the global economy out of a slump. But China’s tiny appetite for American exports means that the main benefit has gone to commodity exporters and to businesses in China.

Automakers are on track to sell 12.8 million cars and light trucks in China this year, virtually all of them made in China (although many are foreign brands), compared with 10.3 million in the United States. Appliance manufacturers expect to sell 185 million refrigerators, washing machines and other pieces of kitchen and laundry equipment in China this year, compared with 137 million in the American market.

In desktop computers, China moved solidly ahead of the United States in the third quarter, buying 7.2 million compared with 6.6 million in the United States.

Retail sales are growing 17 percent a year in China after adjusting for inflation, almost twice as fast as the overall economy.

Americans have been cutting back on purchases of everything from shoes to furniture to jewelry. But Chinese households are crossing a series of income thresholds at which cars and other big-ticket purchases become affordable.

At the same time, Chinese banks are stepping up consumer lending. The proportion of car sales financed with loans has doubled this year, to nearly 25 percent, although most Chinese still head for dealerships with bricks of 100-renminbi notes, each note worth about $14.62. Credit card spending rose 40 percent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period last year, yet China still has just one credit card for every eight people, compared to two credit cards for each American man, woman and child.

While it is spreading creature comforts, China’s lending-based prosperity may also be sowing the seeds of future economic problems. China’s Banking Regulatory Commission recently told banks to show restraint in lending for the rest of the year, fearful that some of this year’s loans could become bad debts in the next several years, as happened with the mortgage lending spree in the United States.

The regulator threatened to block banks’ overseas investments and branch openings unless they can demonstrate adequate capital to cover risks.

The size of China’s consumer market, notwithstanding its growth, will make it hard for China to rescue the world economy by itself. Total consumer spending in China is still less than a sixth of American consumer spending at current prices and exchange rates. That is mainly because China has relatively few restaurants, hotels and other service businesses, even as sales of manufactured goods have risen.

The average price tags on most Chinese products are much lower than in Western markets. For many products, including some in which China leads in the sheer number of goods, the total dollar value of sales in China is still smaller than in the United States.

The average new car sells for $17,000 in China compared with almost $30,000 in the United States, according to J.D. Power. This is because Chinese consumers buy more subcompacts and fewer sport utility vehicles. While the Chinese market is one-quarter larger in the number of cars sold, the American market is still about two-thirds larger in dollar terms.

Similarly, the United States market for household appliances is a third larger in dollars, even though the Chinese market is a third larger in the number of appliances. Cooking ranges in China are sold for countertop installation without a lot of other equipment, for example.

“You don’t have the cook-a-turkey-in-the-oven type of product in China, because we don’t have that kind of cooking,” said Philip S. Carmichael, the president of Asian operations at Haier, China’s biggest appliance manufacturer.

But in some sectors, Chinese buyers are already proving more lavish than Americans. The average flat-panel television sold in China is bigger than in the United States, according to AU Optronics of Taiwan, the world’s third-largest manufacturer of flat-panel televisions.

When car sales began surging early this year, many auto executives attributed the boom to government incentives. To stimulate the economy, the government has offered rebates for rural families to buy cars and household appliances, and has cut sales taxes on cars with small engines.

But the boom has broadened to categories that barely qualify for incentives.

S.U.V. sales rose 72 percent in October from a year earlier. At Nissan, sales of cars with larger engines that do not qualify for the sales tax reduction are growing even faster than sales of small-engine cars.

Auto sales jumped 42 percent in the first 11 months of this year compared with sales in the same period last year. And sales are still accelerating, soaring 96 percent in November compared with the same month a year ago. Auto sales in the United States plunged 37 percent last month on the same basis.

China’s consumers have the potential to buy even more in the years ahead. The savings rate is close to 40 percent — and will remain high unless and until Beijing creates a social safety net for things like health care or retirement, which would encourage Chinese to spend more today.

And though annual incomes still average just $2,775 a person in cities and $840 in rural areas, Western economists predict the economy will grow almost 12 percent in each of the next two years and the renminbi is widely expected to appreciate someday, further increasing consumers’ buying power.

Hilda Wang contributed reporting.

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Porsche, Daimler Snub Tokyo’s Car Show as China Eclipses Japan

Last Updated: October 20, 2009 04:48 EDT

By Makiko Kitamura and Kiyori Ueno

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE, Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG all sent top executives to April’s Shanghai Motor Show as China is set to become the world’s largest car market. All three are skipping this week’s Tokyo Motor Show.

With the recession slashing global vehicle demand and Japan’s car sales headed for the lowest in three decades this year, no major foreign automakers will be represented for the first time in 45 years at the Tokyo event, formerly one of the world’s five biggest car shows.

“The Tokyo Motor Show is being snubbed by companies who made a beeline for Shanghai,” said Yuuki Sakurai, chief executive officer of Fukoku Capital Management Inc., which manages about 800 billion yen ($8.8 billion). “It’s just like investors being more interested in emerging-market stocks than in Japanese shares.”

The Tokyo show, open to the public from Oct. 23, will feature 108 automakers and suppliers. Compared with 26 foreign exhibiters at the last show in 2007, this year there will be only three; the U.K.’s Group Lotus PLC and Caterham Cars, and Germany’s Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH. In contrast with the Tokyo event, 1,500 exhibitors from 25 countries were present at the Shanghai show.

Foreign automakers and suppliers are passing on Tokyo to cut costs as vehicle demand drops in the world’s most rapidly aging country, whose population began declining in 2005. Imports accounted for just 176,723 out of Japan’s 5.08 million vehicle sales in the fiscal year ended March 31, representing a market share of 3 percent.

China Eclipses Japan

China overtook Japan as the world’s second-largest car market in 2006 and is set to surpass the U.S. for the top spot this year. U.S. vehicle sales are expected to drop by 23.5 percent to 10.1 million this year, according to an estimate by CSM Worldwide, an auto consulting company. In China, full-year vehicle sales may rise 28 percent to 12 million, according to a government forecast.

Japan’s market is expected to decline 8.5 percent to 4.3 million vehicles in the year ending in March. The show area in Tokyo has shrunk by about half to 21,000 square meters, or one- eighth of the 170,000 square meters allotted at Shanghai.

Even domestic truckmakers Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Hino Motors Ltd. are sitting out the Tokyo show, for the first time. Hino, Japan’s largest maker of heavy trucks, withdrew “due to the difficult business environment,” spokesman Yoshihiro Udagawa said.

Economic Contraction

Economists expect Japan’s economy will contract a record 5.7 percent this year and the unemployment rate will reach an unprecedented 6 percent in 2010, undermining consumer spending, according to a survey by Bloomberg.

In one parallel to Shanghai, the Tokyo Motor Show will feature electric cars alongside hybrid and gasoline-engine models. Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s three largest carmakers, are all displaying models designed to cut carbon emissions.

“In terms of scale and volume, China is the main attraction,” said Yasuaki Iwamoto, an auto analyst at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. “But Japanese carmakers will remain the front-runner in environmental technologies. That won’t change.”

Honda, Mazda

Tokyo-based Honda will display a battery-powered concept car, the EV-N, and a concept electric motorcycle. Yokohama-based Nissan will show its Leaf electric car, to be sold starting next fiscal year. The carmaker’s shares have risen 46 percent this year.

Mazda Motor Corp., Japan’s second-largest car exporter, is developing a high-performance gasoline-engine car that achieves 32 kilometers (20 miles) per liter. The concept car, Kiyora, will be showcased at Tokyo Motor Show.

Toyota will unveil the four-seat FT-EV II electric concept car, which can run more than 90 kilometers on a full charge and can hit a top speed of more than 100 kilometers. The company’s stock has gained 23 percent this year.

The automaker will also show its FT-86 Concept sports car at the show. The model, which is set to be sold in 2011, is a compact rear-wheel drive sports car. Toyota will also display a plug-in version of its third-generation Prius gasoline-electric hybrid.

The three foreign exhibitors are all niche brands. Alpina configures Bayerische Motoren Werke AG cars, producing less than 2000 vehicles a year. Lotus makes hand-built cars with an aluminum chassis and Caterham builds two-seat racing vehicles in the U.K. It forecasts sales of 70 cars in Japan next year, according to Andy Bothwell, a spokesman for the company.

“There is great affection in Japan for anything quirky and British,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in Tokyo at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net

GM, Chinese Partner To Sell Vehicles In India

December 4, 2009

by The Associated Press

General Motors Co. and its main Chinese partner announced a venture Friday to sell vehicles in India, uniting the two fastest-growing car markets in a deal that reflects GM's reduced status as a global automaker.

As part of the deal, GM gave majority ownership of its main China joint venture to Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp., which is to invest up to $350 million in the India initiative. GM said they also would collaborate in future efforts to sell vehicles in other emerging markets such as Southeast Asia.

Analysts said the moves reflect the U.S. automaker's pressing need for money as it overhauls operations following a restructuring in U.S. bankruptcy court. The U.S. government owns 60 percent of GM after providing billions of dollars in loans.

"We have an outstanding relationship with SAIC," said Nick Reilly, president of GM's international operations, in a conference call with reporters. "It seemed to us very sensible and a big opportunity to deepen that relationship and broaden that relationship outside of China."

GM agreed to turn over 1 percent of Shanghai General Motors to SAIC, which will give the Chinese partner 51 percent of the company. Reilly said GM valued that 1 percent at $85 million. He said the transfer will give SAIC the right to approve the joint venture's budget and the appointment of senior managers, but he said the partners already operate that way and both are satisfied with management, so there should be no major changes.

Reilly said bringing in SAIC and its investment meant the Indian venture could develop more quickly. He said SAIC wanted majority ownership of the China venture so its financial results could be reported as part of SAIC's earnings. He said GM agreed to that "to get their full cooperation and the full cooperation of the Chinese government in other things," though gave no details.

"It also helps us, obviously, share the large investment that is behind this program and therefore get it done faster, and bring in other products than we envisaged in our GM-only plan," Reilly said.

Total investment in the India venture is expected to be more than $650 million, Reilly said. GM was contributing half in the form of factories and a distribution network in India and SAIC would provide the rest, he said, though declined to say whether that would be cash or other assets.

The venture also will sell Chinese-made GM cars and mini-commercial vehicles.

GM's decision to surrender control of its successful China operation and share access to India's promising market is a sign of its financial struggles, said John Bonnell, director of automotive forecasting at JD Power & Associates in Bangkok.

"The only motivation could be money - they need money," he said.

Bonnell said the move in China could reflect a shift in global strategy for GM after it canceled plans to sell its Opel unit in Europe. He noted that after it entered Chapter 11 reorganization in June, GM held onto its valuable stake in the China joint venture rather than sell it to raise cash.

"They were ready to give up on Opel, give up on Europe if you will, and maintain control in Asia," Bonnell said. "Now it looks like maybe they've decided to maintain their position in Europe at the expense of Asia.

Separately, the U.S. automaker and Suzuki Motor Corp. agreed Friday to end their manufacturing joint venture in Canada, leaving GM without a Japanese production partner after also severing manufacturing links with Toyota Motor Corp.

Like other global automakers, GM has said it wants to use India as a small car production base for export.

GM executives told The Associated Press in June that the company's regional units could no longer turn to their U.S. parent for funding. At the time, GM was in the midst of a $645 million expansion in India and Thailand.

GM has also run into trouble with its South Korean unit, GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., which saw its finances deteriorate due to a sharp drop in sales and large losses on currency hedging bets.

In October, GM pumped 491.2 billion won ($416 million) from its global operations into GM Daewoo, raising its stake to 70.1 from 50.9 percent through a rights issue that other shareholders, like the state-run Korea Development Bank, declined to participate in.

The GM deal makes SAIC the first Chinese automaker to come to India.

Analysts say the company will have to overcome Indian consumer prejudice against Chinese goods. Products made for China might not work in the Indian market, which is dominated by small, affordable cars, though analysts say GM's Chinese-made Wuling buses might succeed.

GM itself has done a poor job at cracking the Indian auto market.

Deepesh Rathore, chief auto analyst for IHS Global Insight in New Delhi, said GM India is overstaffed and needs to expand its dealer network and invest in new models to compete with market leaders Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

"SAIC is a good partner. They can bring in the financial muscle," he said.

GM's sales in India rose about 10 percent last year to 65,702 cars, but the company is still a distant fifth to Maruti Suzuki, which sold 711,818.

GM has invested more than $1 billion in India, where it sells six models under the Chevrolet brand. Its two factories there can turn out 225,000 cars a year, far more than it sells domestically.

"For them to take on a Chinese partner in India, which is a very nationally proud market, is very interesting. That tells me it's financially motivated," Bonnell said. "I don't think they're taking expertise from Shanghai over to India."

JD Power forecasts that car sales in India will grow from 1.7 million in 2008 to 3.2 million in 2015, while car sales in China will surge from 8.8 million to 16.0 million over the same period.

RUSSIA: In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security

December 13, 2009

By JOHN MARKOFF and ANDREW E. KRAMER

The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace.

American and Russian officials have different interpretations of the talks so far, but the mere fact that the United States is participating represents a significant policy shift after years of rejecting Russia’s overtures. Officials familiar with the talks said the Obama administration realized that more nations were developing cyberweapons and that a new approach was needed to blunt an international arms race.

In the last two years, Internet-based attacks on government and corporate computer systems have multiplied to thousands a day. Hackers, usually never identified, have compromised Pentagon computers, stolen industrial secrets and temporarily jammed government and corporate Web sites. President Obama ordered a review of the nation’s Internet security in February and is preparing to name an official to coordinate national policy.

Last month, a delegation led by Gen. Vladislav P. Sherstyuk, a deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council and the former leader of the Russian equivalent of the National Security Agency, met in Washington with representatives from the National Security Council and the Departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security. Officials familiar with these talks said the two sides made progress in bridging divisions that had long separated the countries.

Indeed, two weeks later in Geneva, the United States agreed to discuss cyberwarfare and cybersecurity with representatives of the United Nations committee on disarmament and international security. The United States had previously insisted on addressing those matters in the committee on economic issues.

The Russians have held that the increasing challenges posed by military activities to civilian computer networks can be best dealt with by an international treaty, similar to treaties that have limited the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The United States had resisted, arguing that it was impossible to draw a line between the commercial and military uses of software and hardware.

Now there is a thaw, said people familiar with the discussions.

“In the last months there are more signs of building better cooperation between the U.S. and Russia,” said Veni Markovski, a Washington-based adviser to Bulgaria’s Internet security chief and representative to Russia for the organization that assigns Internet domain names. “These are signs that show the dangers of cybercrime are too big to be neglected.”

Viktor V. Sokolov, deputy director of the Institute of Information Security in Moscow, a policy research group run by General Sherstyuk, said the Russian view was that the American position on Internet security had shifted perceptibly in recent months.

“There is movement,” he said. Before, bilateral negotiations were limited to the relevant Russian police agency, the Bureau of Special Technical Operations, the Internet division of the Ministry of Interior, and the F.B.I.

Mr. Sokolov characterized this new round of discussions as the opening of negotiations between Russia and the United States on a possible disarmament treaty for cyberspace, something Russia has long sought but the United States has resisted.

“The talks took place in a good atmosphere,” he said. “And they agreed to continue this process. There are positive movements.”

A State Department official, who was not authorized to speak about the talks and requested anonymity, disputed the Russian characterization of the American position. While the Russians have continued to focus on treaties that may restrict weapons development, the United States is hoping to use the talks to increase international cooperation in opposing Internet crime. Strengthening defenses against Internet criminals would also strengthen defenses against any military-directed cyberattacks, the United States maintains. An administration official said the United States was seeking common ground with the Russians.

The United Nations discussions are scheduled to resume in New York in January, and the two countries also plan to talk at an annual Russia-sponsored Internet security conference in Garmisch, Germany.

The American interest in reopening discussions shows that the Obama administration, even in absence of a designated Internet security chief, is breaking with the Bush administration, which declined to talk with Russia about issues related to military attacks using the Internet.

Many countries, including the United States, are developing weapons for use on computer networks that are ever more integral to the operations of everything from banks to electrical power systems to government offices. They include “logic bombs” that can be hidden in computers to halt them at crucial times or damage circuitry; “botnets” that can disable or spy on Web sites and networks; or microwave radiation devices that can burn out computer circuits miles away.

The Russians have focused on three related issues, according to American officials involved in the talks that are part of a broader thaw in American-Russian relations known as the "reset" that also include negotiations on a new nuclear disarmament treaty. In addition to continuing efforts to ban offensive cyberweapons, they have insisted on what they describe as an issue of sovereignty calling for a ban on “cyberterrorism.” American officials view the issue differently and describe this as a Russian effort to restrict “politically destabilizing speech.” The Russians have also rejected a portion of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime that they assert violates their Constitution by permitting foreign law enforcement agencies to conduct Internet searches inside Russian borders.

In late October at a luncheon during a meeting on Security and Counter Terrorism at Moscow State University, General Sherstyuk told a group of American executives that the Russians would never sign the European Cybercrime Treaty as long as it contained the language permitting cross-border searches.

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

JAPAN: What Is Life Like for the Crown Princess of Japan?

by Vanity Fair
December 11, 2009, 5:40 PM


Following her 46th birthday this week, Japan's troubled Crown Princess Masako vowed to continue efforts to overcome her stress disorder. "Under the guidance of my doctor, I have been doing my best, step-by-step, to regain my health, mentally and physically," the Princess announced in an official statement. Before marrying into the Japanese royal family, in 1993, the Princess, then Masako Owada, was a decidedly modern career woman. Since wedding Crown Prince Naruhito, she's had difficulty adjusting to the rigid, conservative lifestyle enforced by the Japanese Imperial Household. According to some reports, in an effort to have the Princess focus her attentions on conceiving a male heir, court officials have limited her travel and restricted phone use. She gave birth to a daughter, Princess Toshi, in 2001 and in recent months has made more public appearances, which supporters interpret as a sign of improvement.

JAPAN: Rap and manga - new roads to Nirvana in Japan

by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura

Wed Dec 9, 1:44 am ET

TOKYO (AFP) – They rap sutras, use manga characters and serve beers -- some of Japan's Buddhist monks are turning to decidedly unorthodox means to boost the appeal of their ancient faith.

The new breed of holy men worry that Buddhism is slowly losing its shine as a generation raised in a consumer society turns its back on prayer and seeks solace in material rather than spiritual remedies.

Buddhism is still Japan's main religion, along with the animist Shinto faith, but hundreds of temples have been shuttered and monks say they struggle to be heard above the buzz of modern life.

With prayer beads in one hand and a microphone in another, robed and bespectacled monk "Mr. Happiness" flicked on a boom box one recent afternoon and, under the placid gaze of a Buddha statue, rapped lyrics that roughly translated to this:

"This is a story from a long time ago /

He gets in my dreams, he's my cosmic idol /

Yeah yeah, who ya talkin' about bro? /

I'm talkin' about the Buddha yo."

His lyrics, sung in modern Japanese, are inspired by ancient Sanskrit scriptures about compassion, pain and suffering, said the monk, the latest in a line of family patriarchs to head the 400-year old Kyouyoji Temple.

"There was a lot of controversy when I started this," said the monk, whose real name is Kansho Tagai.

"But I think a monk's role is to spread the teachings through a wide variety of performances. With more than 2,500 years of history, I think we should be able to choose ways to adapt Buddhism to every age.

"Buddhism has the substance ... to respond to people's needs, but monks need to get closer to the people," said Tagai, who on his website describes his temple as "Your Heart's Clinic."

Elsewhere in Tokyo, the suburban Ryohoji temple attracted hundreds of people for last month's autumn festival by drawing on the power of manga comics and the quirky youth cult of Cosplay, or costume-play.

Girls sporting frilly maid uniforms and sets of fluffy cat-ears -- the latest in comic-inspired costuming and usually a more common sight in Tokyo's geeky manga cafes -- greeted visitors to the 16th century temple.

Benzaiten, the goddess of knowledge, music and the arts, was depicted as a doe-eyed cartoon character on a sign at the temple, which also offered short cellphone video downloads of chief monk Shoko Nakazato chanting prayers.

"I came over because this temple has been the talk of the Net," said software programmer Mitsutaka Adachi, 26. "I was a bit surprised to see this, but it's fun. This can motivate people to come here."

Ryohoji's abbot Nakazato, 45, said he is part of the manga generation himself, having grown up on a diet of big-eyed cartoon figures and robo-cats, and sees nothing wrong with using the genre to attract newcomers.

"I have little resistance to manga ... I wanted to tell the people that temples are a fun place to visit," he said.

In another Buddhist temple, monks and nuns have even staged a fashion show to promote the faith, strutting down a catwalk to hip-hop music at Tsukiji Honganji Temple and showcasing their colorful Tokyo Bouz ("monk") Collection.

The fashion-monks from several different sects wore colourful robes and rapped sutras under a shower of confetti shaped like lotus petals.

Yet another monk, hipster Kaku Aoe with a goatee and a shaved head, has organised monthly 'dinners in the dark,' where blindfolded guests play a guessing game about the food but also get a taste of a monk's life.

"There are few opportunities for monks and people to connect," he said during a recent dinner. "Through a fun concept like this, people will be more open and eager to learn about Buddhism."

While some detractors dismiss the monks' business ventures as marketing gimmicks, the debate underscores real worries over the faith's future.

Japan is home to 75,000 temples and 20,000 monks, but hundreds of the religious sites are shuttered each year.

Although temples and religious festivals remain popular, many Japanese see them as tourist magnets that do a roaring trade in lucky charms and expensive funerals but have little connection to their lives.

Others resent the idea of ascetics seeking enlightenment in the comfort of their tax-free temples at a time when a severe recession has caused massive layoffs, a spike in suicides, and worries over a bleak future.

Hoping to take his spiritual message into the earthly realm of the Japanese office worker, another monk has ventured into the inner sanctum of the salaryman, the after-hours beer bar.

Working the counter of a cozy music club one recent night, monk Hogen Natori was serving drinks, yelling orders, joking with customers -- and chanting traditional ancient sutras.

Hogen began performing with two junior monks six years ago, experimenting with jazz and other styles. In the end they decided to stick with the original -- unembellished and ancient chants.

The monks explained their message before dimming the lights. Then, one struck a chime and a hush descended over the 12-seat bar. The trio began to hum in low voices that swelled into chants as candles flickered.

After their performances, the monks engaged the guests in dialogue.

"Japan's youth have very few opportunities to run into Buddhism," Natori said. "They think monks are boring, that they just sit in their temples and say they pray for people without even coming out to listen to them."

Natori is unashamed about his nocturnal forays into Tokyo nightlife in his bid to bring enlightenment to the people.

"We need to actively guide people about how to live," he said. "But we also need to make monks fun ... If they can't come to us, we need to go to them, like a delivery service."

Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved

HONG KONG: Tattoos and Hong Kong women

11/12/2009 02:34:00 Ed Jones

Spurred-on by celebrity style or simply looking for a new way to stand out in a city of seven million, Hong Kong women are increasingly taking to tattoos – an art form long considered taboo.

Hidden demurely behind blouses and stockings during office hours, the walking, talking, body-art galleries are flaunted at the beach or in Hong Kong’s trendy nightspots.

“Most women here who want tattoos are between 20 and 40 years old,” says tattooist Joey Pang, who went a step further than most and opened her own parlour, the Tattoo Temple.

“At first they want smaller tattoos, more for beauty, more feminine designs. For their first one, most of the female customers want lower back tattoos, very popular.

“We educate them; they can have more choice, but they still don’t want to show off.”

Historically a firm favourite with male-dominated triad gangs, tattoos have been slow to gain popularity among women in the southern Chinese territory.

But with the ancient art now flashed on the pampered skin of a range of celebrities from movie star Angelina Jolie to party girl Paris Hilton, Pang says there has been a sharp rise in female customers eager to “get inked”.

Tattooist Kenny Chin of Solo tattoo agrees that the old stigma attached to body-art is fading.

“Some men in Hong Kong do not accept their girlfriends having tattoos,” he said. “But people are more open now – the tattoo is loosing the bad-guy status it once had.”

For young women the decision to go under the gun now revolves more around the reaction of their parents than touchy gangsters – something Hong Kong student and apprentice tattoo artist Jeyers knows well.

“I had to hide my first tattoos because my parents are pretty traditional – and especially because they work in the medical field,” she says, asking for her full identity to be withheld.

“They still don’t know that in my spare time I work as an apprentice tattoo artist,” she adds, recalling that when her mother found out about the first tattoos she initially wanted them removed by laser.

The 25-year-old, whose collection of body-art includes a hand-sized portrait of her surgeon father at work, located on her left shoulder, feels that mass media has played an important role in the rise of the female tattoo.

“Ten years ago tattoos were more underground; you didn’t see a lot of tattoos on the streets, so I didn’t know much about them.”

But she says she saw more and more tattoos popping up in magazines and on the internet, and was attracted to them immediately.

“Before, there was not much choice, but it has evolved a lot more now,” Jeyers says. “There are portraits, colour works, Japanese works, all kinds of styles, and I am so amazed by the work that you can put on people’s skin.”

AFP

S. KOREA: South Korea markets demilitarized zone bottled water

Published: 2009/12/10 16:49:19 GMT

Designer water connoisseurs can try a new tipple, directly sourced from the military zone between the two Koreas.

The water is called DMZ 2km and is bottled near the buffer zone separating North and South Korea.

It comes from an area unspoilt for decades, enclosed by razor wire fences, filled with land mines and monitored by more than one million armed soldiers.

The zone is a wildlife haven but also boasts one of the world's largest concentrations of weapons.

In spite of its name, the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) is the world's most heavily armed frontier.

It is a 4km (2.5-mile) thick ribbon that has divided the Korean peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The two Koreas are still technically at war.

But the makers of the drink hope it will appeal to those who do not think of the area in geo-political terms.

"We decided on water from the DMZ because it's different, and the environment there is untouched, so many people thinks it's clean," brand spokesman Lee Sang-hyo says.

The bottler draws the water from a plant close to the South Korean end of the DMZ, from a spring that flows directly under it.

"Getting the water is not dangerous at all. We worked it all out with the military," Mr Lee added.

© BBC MMIX

JAPAN: And the best Japanese films of 2009 were . . .

The Japan Times: Friday, Dec. 11, 2009

BEST FILMS OF 2009

By MARK SCHILLING
Staff Writer

1. "Fish Story":

Can a punk-rock song, recorded in 1975, save the world from a comet on course to destroy the planet in 2012? In his 10th film, Yoshihiro Nakamura answers this question with four radically different stories in four different periods — and ties them up in a glorious final five-minute sequence that is pure cinematic satori.

2. "Dear Doctor":

The most promising director of her thirtysomething generation, Miwa Nishikawa hits a new peak with this finely layered character study of a phony doctor in a rural village. Tsurube Shofukutei deserves every acting award out there for his shape-shifting performance as the kindly-seeming, but deeply devious doc.

3. "Summer Wars":

Mamoru Hosoda assumes the title of Japan's premier animator with this human-scaled but stunningly imaginative film about an online "war" between a rogue AI program and a boy math prodigy, aided by a large, rambunctious family in rural Nagano.

4. "Villon no Tsuma":

Based on a story by Osamu Dazai, Kichitaro Negishi's unsparing, finally cathartic portrait of a troubled marriage features career-peak performances by Takako Matsu as the plucky, self-realizing wife and Tadanobu Asano as the alcoholic, unfaithful, but somehow sympathetic, writer husband.

5. "Zero no Shoten":

Isshin Inudo's mystery about a woman's search for her missing newlywed husband in Kanazawa in the dead of winter channels the stylistics of Alfred Hitchcock, while echoing the social-mask-vs.-true-face themes of Douglas Sirk.

6. "Nankyokyu Ryomin":

Shuichi Okita's dramady, centering on the gung-ho cook (Makoto Sakai) for a Japanese research team in Antarctica, offers up big helpings of wry humor, likable characters and absolutely scrumptious-looking chow.

7. "Live Tape":

Tetsuaki Matsue's docudrama of singer-songwriter Kenta Maeno's New Year's Day stroll through Kichijoji unfolds in one 74-minute take that amuses, surprises, entertains — and finally moves, as the too-cool Maeno reveals his own insecurities and regrets, summed up in a stirring final number dedicated to his dead father.

8. "Instant Numa":

Satoshi Miki's comedy about an endearingly flaky woman's search for her eccentric antique (i.e., junk) dealer dad is packed with small comic gems, delivered in Miki's trademark dry style of spot-on timing and blithe disregard for logic.

9. "Symbol":

Hitoshi Matsumoto's man-in-a-room comedy takes inspiration from the final sequence of "2001: A Space Odyssey," but the silly, inspired slapstick gags are pure Matsumoto.

10. "Ultra Miracle Love Story (Bare Essence of Life)":

Satoko Yokoyama's drama about a mentally challenged man's crush on a new kindergarten teacher in his rural Aomori town is a bold, original blend of the real and fantastic, comic and dramatic.

(C) All rights reserved

CHINA: Chinese car market overtakes that of United States

Associated Press

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and DEE-ANN DURBIN , 12.10.09, 05:10 PM EST

SHANGHAI --

China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford, the Cadillac and the minivan.

Now that the Chinese buy more cars and trucks than Americans, the shift could produce ripples for the environment, gas prices and even the kinds of cars automakers design.

More than 12.7 million cars and trucks will be sold in China this year, up 44 percent from the previous year and surpassing the 10.3 million forecast in the U.S., according to J.D. Power and Associates.

China has long been expected to overtake the U.S. since its population of 1.3 billion is more than quadruple that of the United States. But the increase in sales happened much faster than anyone expected because of China's tax cuts, its stimulus program and a depressed American market.

Two years ago, J.D. Power predicted China would pass the U.S. in 2025. Earlier this year, it forecast 2009 sales of just 9 million vehicles for China.

After a sharp slowdown in auto sales late last year, the Chinese government cut taxes on small cars and spent $730 million on subsidies to encourage sales of SUVs, pickups and minivans. A big stimulus program also boosted truck sales by pumping money into construction.

Auto sales were expected to rise with China's stimulus, but they have far exceeded expectations, said Jeff Schuster, J.D. Power's executive director of automotive forecasting.

Most experts think the top-sales title will shift back and forth between China and the United States for the next several years, with China ultimately prevailing.

Improving sales of autos and other big-ticket items is key to Beijing's strategy to promote stronger domestic consumption and lower dependence on exports.

"The government has sent a very clear message that they will not let the auto industry weaken, especially in 2010," say Jia Xinguang, chief analyst at China National Automotive Industry Consulting & Developing Corp.

Meanwhile, U.S. sales hit a 26-year low in early 2009 and remain well below the 17 million average from earlier this decade.

China's growing auto market is sure to affect the industry worldwide. Some key factors are:

_ CHINA'S CAR POLLUTION: It's gotten worse. China's fleet is newer, and big cities have imposed emissions standards that exceed those in the U.S., but lax enforcement of standards is a major problem. Vehicles may meet standards at first but then degrade over time.

On top of that, the number of vehicles on China's roads is soaring, although it's still a fraction of the U.S.

_ FUEL DEMAND: Global demand for oil is rising, fueled by China and India. Most energy experts agree that demand for crude has peaked in the U.S. Meanwhile, China's demand for oil used in transportation could more than double between 2007 and 2020, according to the World Energy Outlook, a joint study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Energy Agency.

At home, China struggles both with the amount and quality of its fuel supply. A study by Harvard researchers found that refiners were not supplying fuel that was good enough to meet the country's rising emissions standards.

The cost of oil is prompting China to encourage a shift to cars and trucks that are more fuel efficient or run on batteries and alternative fuels. The government has raised taxes on gas guzzlers. China is the world's No. 3 net importer after the U.S. and Japan.

_ VEHICLE DESIGN: The Chinese will have more influence over vehicle design as they buy more cars. GM had its Chinese team design the 2010 Buick LaCrosse because the brand sells better in China than in the U.S. Buick is considered a luxury car in China.

The designers included sumptuous back seats for executives with drivers. They also used Feng shui principles and swooping designs based on Chinese art.

Chinese automakers will emerge stronger from the sales boom. BYD Co. aims to overtake Toyota as the global auto leader by 2030. Among BYD's backers is billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

China's sales may grow so large that cars designed for Chinese tastes are sold globally, the way U.S. vehicles are now. But some experts doubt that will happen until Chinese automakers become competitive on style and quality.

Meanwhile, as China's middle class expands, Chinese car shoppers are developing tastes similar to those of drivers in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.

"I talk to my friends in Beijing," says Crystal Jiang, a professor at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., who studies globalization. "I drive a Subaru, they also drive a Subaru."

Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

CHINA, RUSSIA & US: China charges US, Russian steel dumpers in tense time for trade

Created: 2009-12-11 1:46:23

Author:Wang Yanlin

CHINA will from today start levying charges on United States and Russian companies that export steel used in electrical apparatuses and dump it on the domestic market after receiving government subsidies.

It is another sign that trade tension is a part of life, at least in the short term.

An announcement yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce on imported flat-rolled electrical steel - used in transformers, rectifiers and reactors - said the US companies were dumping the product in China with a rate of 10.7-25 percent after they received subsidies ranging from 11.7-12 percent.

The ministry said the Russian flat-rolled steel producers were dumping with a rate from 4.6-25 percent.

China would collect cash deposits from the US and Russian steel producers of varying percentage amounts starting from today, the ministry said.

It was the first time China unveiled results of an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation, which started in June.

The decision is preliminary and a final ruling is expected before next June.

The decision followed a US ruling last month that imposed countervailing tariffs on China-made pipes used in oil wells.

"It could be a coincidence that the Chinese announcement came just after the US decision but trade disputes are escalating," said Sun Lijian, an economics professor at Fudan University. "Although the sector involved is relatively small in the total trade spectrum, it will deepen people's fears about a full-blown trade war."

The US and Russia exported a combined US$602 million of the targeted steel products to China last year, compared with China's steel imports of US$23.4 billion during the same period.

China's overall imports totaled US$1.13 trillion in 2008.

"It seems China has learned fromthe global experience and is using countervailing duties to protect the interests of its domestic industry," said Wang Feng, a steel analyst at Guotai Jun'an Securities Co.

"US and Russian imports have hurt companies like Baosteel Group Corp and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group."

Trade tussles continued to hit headlines in China after the US decided to levy special tariffs on imports of Chinese tires in September.

China started an investigation into American exports of chicken and auto parts in October.

The agony deepened last month after the US Commerce Department issued a final ruling allowing the imposition of countervailing duties ranging between 10.36 and 15.78 percent on the China-made oil well pipes.

These duties will affect more than US$2.7 billion worth of products, making it the biggest trade conflict between the two countries in terms of value.

"Although the affected sectors are limited, investors and exporters are in fear they could be the next victim," said Xue Jun, a CITIC Securities Co analyst.

"It threatens the process of the global economic recovery, which is just showing signs of improvement."

Copyright © 2001-2009 Shanghai Daily Publishing House

CHINA: China Detains Three In New Toxic Milk Scare

December 10, 2009

By REUTERS
Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained three people suspected of selling milk powder tainted with melamine, state media said on Thursday, the industrial chemical involved in a massive toxic food scandal last year.

The three were detained in northwestern Shaanxi province on December 2, before tainted goods reached stores, the official Xinhua news agency said.

It named the three as Liu Ping, general manager of Shaanxi Jinqiao Diary Company, and two of the firm's employees and said they were detained for "the suspected crime of producing and selling toxic food."

The report, citing police, said they sold 5.25 tons of melamine-laced milk powder to Nanning Yueqian Food Additive Company, based in the southern region of Guangxi.

The powder was seized on November 18, so did not make its way into the market, Xinhua added.

China executed two people last month for their role in a huge melamine-tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children and further sullied the made-in-China brand.

Nearly 300,000 children fell ill in that scandal last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound that can give a fake positive on protein tests, sold mainly in that case by the now bankrupt Sanlu Group.

The case was the latest in a string of food safety failures, but the Sanlu milk scandal was also one of the worst and prompted an outpouring of public anger.

Melamine, which can cause kidney stones, is meant to be used in making plastics, fertilizers and even concrete. Its high nitrogen content allows protein levels to appear higher when it is added to milk or animal feed.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)

Copyright 2009 Reuters Ltd.

RUSSIA: Putin: Yes, I May Run Again. Thanks for Asking

Wednesday, Dec. 09, 2009

By Simon Shuster

When Vladimir Putin took to the airwaves on Dec. 3 for his annual call-in show on state-run television, the questions and Putin's answers appeared natural and unprompted. But as with many high-profile political campaigns in the West, little is left to chance at the upper echelons of Russia's leadership, especially when the Prime Minister's image makers want to send a message to the public. Which is why, says Andrei Kryukov, a student who asked Putin about his plans for the 2012 elections, he had been steered by Putin's press service and coached for two days before the live show went on the air. Putin's answer to Kryukov's question and one other was clear and direct. Yes, he told the millions of viewers watching the show, he would think about running for President again. And no, nobody should hold their breath for his giving up power.

If the Q&A session is anything to go by, Russia's democracy will probably stay tightly choreographed. "It was very well organized," says Kryukov of the rehearsals for the show. "They gathered together people from various institutes across the country, and one of those was our institute," he says, referring to the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute, which he has studied at since 2005.

Kryukov, a graduate student in open pit mine development, says he and four classmates caught a train to Moscow and were housed at a resort outside the capital that is owned by the Russian State Technology University. "That's where all the students were taken. They treated us really well. We didn't pay for any of it," he says. Rehearsals for the program lasted two days and were organized by Putin's press service and producers from the state-owned Vesti television channel. "We had other questions, ones that were more relevant to us, about mining, about the education system and so on," Kryukov says. "Then it was decided that the question should be more general, more significant. So that's how it came out."

In a statement to TIME, Putin's press service said it had helped state TV producers organize the event and rehearsals but had not helped select questions. "Of course we did not help them formulate their questions. People asked their questions on their own and chose what questions they would ask," the statement said.

Putin's answer was hardly surprising. In 2008, with the constitution barring him from running for a third four-year term, Putin stepped down as President, chose ally Dmitri Medvedev as a successor and then took the post of Prime Minister for himself. Widely regarded as a placeholder President, Medvedev has no political power base of his own, little charisma and a rather awkward habit of trying to imitate Putin's macho demeanor. Many of his key advisers once worked on Putin's staff.

Indeed, just hours after Putin made his remarks about the 2012 vote, Medvedev chimed in with his support. "Prime Minister Putin said he doesn't rule out this possibility [of seeking re-election], and I also say I don't rule it out," Medvedev said. "We will be able to agree how not to elbow each other, but to make a reasonable decision for the nation," he told a press conference in Rome, where he had traveled to meet the Pope.

Political analysts in Russia say the transition plan is clear. "What they are signaling is that in 2012, they will not compete with each other for the presidency. They will sit down and decide in an orderly fashion which of them will be the next President. If Putin wants it, he will take it, and the public will then legitimize this decision at the polls," says Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Center for Political Technologies, a think tank in Moscow. "There's no room here for Western ideas of plurality, debate or political struggle. Nobody wants that here. The public wants to know exactly what's coming and whom they should vote for well in advance."

Some pundits, pointing to Putin's wish to regain full control of the Kremlin as soon as possible, believe he may return to the presidency next year by asking Medvedev to take the fall for the financial crisis and resign. That would trigger a snap election, which Putin would be sure to win. His approval ratings are still around 65%, despite a year that saw an economic recession, spiking unemployment, a sharp currency devaluation, the murder of several human-rights activists and persistent terrorist attacks.

"Changing places too suddenly would create dissonance in the dance they've created," says Makarkin, who believes Putin will avoid a hasty or obvious power grab ahead of the 2012 vote. Instead, he could use the next few years to pass messy reforms, which would then be associated not with his reign but with Medvedev's. One of these is a constitutional amendment that is expected to pass this month; announced in Medvedev's first state-of-the-nation address last year, it would extend the presidential term from four to six years and would go into effect, of course, only after the next election. This would allow the next President to hold the post until 2024.

"All the levers are in their hands for enacting this change," says Lilya Shibanova, director of Russia's only independent election watchdog, Golos, or Voice. Putin's political party, United Russia, has enough seats in the parliament to change the constitution single-handedly. "So far in the political arena, there is no competition to the tandem of Putin and Medvedev," Shibanova says. "And to think that Medvedev could in any way compete with Putin is quite frankly naive."

That means United Russia will probably field Putin, its chairman, as the favored candidate. Now 56, Putin would then be free to legally hold the presidency until the ripe old age of 72. As student Kryukov (whose name was given as Kurikov in the transcript of the show that was posted on the government's website) puts it, "He said what I expected him to say."

JAPAN: Japan to Give U.S. a Plan on Air Base

December 10, 2009

By MARTIN FACKLER

TOKYO — Japan’s prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, said Wednesday that he wants to present concrete proposals to President Obama next week in hopes of ending a growing rift between his new government and Washington over an American military air base in Okinawa.

Mr. Hatoyama did not disclose the content of the proposals, which he and members of his cabinet appeared to be still working out at the prime minister’s residence. Mr. Hatoyama said he may seek a meeting with Mr. Obama during the climate change conference in Copenhagen to relay the proposals directly to him.

In particular, it remained unclear if the proposals would seek to significantly alter a 2006 deal to relocate the Marine Corps air station at Futenma, which sits in the center of a city, to a less populated part of Okinawa. Mr. Hatoyama, who took office three months ago, is under political pressure in Japan to fulfill campaign pledges to move the base off Okinawa or out of Japan altogether. But Washington has adamantly opposed changing the current deal, which is part of a broader, laboriously negotiated agreement to move some 8,000 Marines to Guam.

The discord over the base’s relocation has emerged as the most contentious topic in the countries’ increasingly tense relationship. However, recent comments by some Japanese cabinet members seem to reflect a growing sense of urgency to prevent the Futenma issue from causing a serious rupture in the relationship with the United States, Japan’s longtime protector.

Political analysts have said the dispute highlights the lack of communication between Tokyo and Washington after an election victory in August by Mr. Hatoyama’s Democratic Party ended a half-century of leadership by Japan’s pro-American Liberal Democrats.

Fears of a rupture seemed to increase this week, after Japan’s foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, announced Tuesday that talks over the Futenma issue had been suspended. A Japanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to speak with the press, said American negotiators had become irritated by Mr. Hatoyama’s delays in making a decision on the Futenma issue.

When asked by reporters on Wednesday if the Futenma issue was hurting the alliance, Mr. Hatoyama replied that that was not the message he was getting from the Obama administration. Some in the United States “may state such an opinion, but that is not a remark made in formal negotiations,” he told reporters.

Earlier, a government spokesman said that Tokyo may ask Washington to ease the burden on Okinawa, where many of the 50,000 American military personnel in Japan are based. The spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, also said there may be delays in implementing the broader plan to relocate the 8,000 Marines to Guam, now set to take place by 2014.

Reports in major Japanese newspapers have said that Tokyo may propose an immediate relocation of the Marine helicopters at Futenma to another base, as well as steps to clean up environmental damage on many of the American bases. The noise and danger from Futenma’s low-flying helicopters have become a symbol here of the burden placed on Okinawans, who have held large protests in recent weeks calling for removal of the base from the island.

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Epidemic Of Addiction Threatens Russia's Future

by Anne Garrels

December 8, 2009

Transcript

Russia has long grappled with alcoholism among its population. Now, a second plague is afflicting the country: intravenous drug use. Officials say addiction — whether it's drug or alcohol dependency — is threatening the country's future.

Heroin use is a relatively new phenomenon in Russia. It first exploded in the 1990s, when the country was in post-Soviet turmoil and uniquely unprepared to cope with the problem, and it has spread like wildfire. Alcoholism, long Russia's bane, is also rising, especially among young people.

Officials acknowledge the country will have difficulty resolving its demographic crisis if it does not do more to confront these problems. Russia's population has been falling since the mid-1990s, the result of higher death rates and lower birthrates.

The rate of drug-related deaths, at 80 a day, is among the world's highest. Researchers say alcohol is the cause of more than half of all deaths of people ages 15 to 54 — often from accidents, violence or alcohol poisoning.

One group is trying to make a difference at a rehabilitation program in remote western Siberia.

The largely abandoned village of Gerasimovka lies a good hour from Tyumen, the nearest town. It is a risky trip by dirt roads covered with a layer of slick ice.

In a ramshackle house, 30-year-old Natasha Ustiuzhanina sits at the head of the dinner table on a recent evening. The other five people at the meal look to this petite woman for inspiration.

Ustiuzhanina has been through it all. A good student from a prosperous family, she got hooked on heroin. After five years, she finally broke the habit in a 12-step program run by a private agency in Gerasimovka. She now runs it.

Ustiuzhanina is also a leading figure in Russia's association for those living with HIV. Like the majority of intravenous drug users who come to Gerasimovka for help, she is HIV-positive.

This young woman says she is a classic member of what's often called Russia's lost generation

"Nine years ago, heroin became really fashionable. We sat in the best hotels, the best restaurants and sniffed it. We knew nothing about the dangers. Eventually, I started shooting up," she says.

She wants to make sure the next generation is not as ignorant as she was. She also hopes this 12-step program can do what the government has not done: provide effective help for addicts.

Dr. Aleksei Salenko, with the Tyumen government narcotics center, says most addicts who go though government rehab programs suffer a relapse because there is not adequate therapy or post-treatment support.

He says nongovernmental groups like Ustiuzhanina's organization Pokoleniye — which means "generation" — are essential, and he believes there need to be many more of them

At the rehab clinic, the day for recovering addicts begins with a race through the Siberian wind to a pump where they are required to douse themselves with freezing water.

After work, study and therapy sessions, the day ends with an intense sweat in the banya — the traditional Russian steam bath. The staff supervising the four-month program includes former addicts who volunteer their time

Denis Prokin, 32, has been hooked on heroin for 15 years. He finally turned to Pokoleniye after hearing about its success rate. Ustiuzhanina says about 50 percent of addicts treated through her program stay drug free — a high rate compared with most programs worldwide.

"The government programs I went through just isolate you and pump you full of pills. I didn't learn anything about myself. I got out and immediately started shooting up again. I know a lot more now, and when I finish here, I know where to find support groups," Prokin says.

Heroin from nearby Afghanistan has flooded the country, turning Russia into the world's top consumer.

Russia's leading drug enforcement official, Viktor Ivanov, blames the U.S. for this. He says the military is not doing nearly enough in Afghanistan to eradicate poppy production. He says it is notable that while the U.S. funds aerial eradication programs in South America, where drug production is a direct danger to Americans, Washington seems totally indifferent to Afghanistan's threat to Russia.

"Given the damage by Afghan heroin, we have to call it a weapon of mass destruction, selectively attacking the young, the future of our country," Ivanov says.

The Russian government has largely relied on education and healthy living campaigns to fight drug abuse. There is no government money for needle exchange programs to stem the explosion of drug-related HIV. Private agencies rely on foreign funds for this, but after threats of legal action, Ustiuzhanina is afraid to continue Pokoleniye's needle project.

Methadone, widely used in the West to wean people off heroin, is illegal in Russia, and Ustiuzhanina believes the country is currently ill-prepared to handle methadone correctly.

"I know there are successes with it elsewhere, but Russia is so corrupt, supplies would end up on the streets. And it would be misused by incompetent doctors. However I do think the government should encourage discussion about this. Now, there is none," she says.

According to experts in Russia, heroin use may have peaked, though officials say the number of intravenous drug users — an estimated 2.5 million people, or about 2 percent of Russia's population of 142 million — remains a national security threat.

Prokin, the addict seeking treatment at Pokoleniye, believes heroin is losing its appeal as young people see the effects. But he and others say it's being replaced by a wave of new disco drugs, including methamphetamine and ecstasy, and strong narcotics that are distilled from easily obtained over-the-counter, codeine-based medications.

Undermined by a combination of synthetic drugs, 26-year-old Katya Indrulenas has come thousands of miles from Moscow for treatment in Gerasimovka. She says these new drugs are everywhere, along with pressure to try them.

"My friends still don't understand that club drugs are just as addictive and dangerous," Indrulenas says.

Denis Driagin is at the clinic to deal with serious alcoholism. He managed to kick his heroin habit in part because of social pressure. He says he had become a pariah. So instead he turned to beer and vodka because it was socially acceptable.

Salenko, of the Tyumen narcotics center, says rising alcoholism among young people is even more deadly than drugs in the long run. Russians consume roughly 4.75 gallons of pure alcohol a person annually, more than double the level that the World Health Organization considers a health threat and twice the consumption figure for the U.S.

In addition to its anti-drug campaign, the government is launching yet another anti-alcohol campaign. But Salenko isn't optimistic that the modest measures proposed — such as stiffer penalties for the sale of alcohol to minors and a ban on beer sales at kiosks — will have any effect.

He says the government gets too much income from alcohol sales and that entrenched Russian habits and the alcohol lobby are "formidable adversaries."