Periscope No. 9

DEFENSE

ONLY LADIES GO TO BATTLE

In Russia, women's air battalions can be recreated following the example of the famous "Night Witches" that operated during the Great Patriotic War. This was stated by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, General of the Army Vladimir Mikhailov. According to him, the reserve of the Russian Defense Sports and Technical Organization (ROSTO) should become the basis of the women's flight regiment: there are "a lot of girls who are excellent pilots." Yuri Vetrov, executive secretary of the Russian Air Sports Federation, confirmed to Newsweek that ROSTO athletes would quickly be able to transfer to military aircraft—just a little retraining would suffice. There are also women in ROSTO, but most of them, according to him, are no longer young: even among the members of our women's team, many are already over 40 or even over 50. “This is hardly the age when one should start a military career,” he thinks Vetrov: Yes, and why is it necessary? The army is a profession, and sport is a passion and vocation. During the war years, the women's night bomber regiment dropped 3 million kg of bombs on the enemy. After the war, the women's regiments were disbanded.

THE KREMLIN IS DEBATING WHO TO DOWNLOAD

A scandal erupted around the merger of Gazprom and Rosneft. All interested parties cannot decide who will get Yuganskneftegaz with its debt of $11 billion and who will be the boss. Two groups of influence—the leadership of Rosneft, represented by the head of the company's board of directors, Sergei Bogdanchikov and chairman of the board of directors, Igor Sechin, and the first persons of Gazprom, Alexei Miller and Dmitry Medvedev, offer mutually exclusive schemes. Officials have not yet made a decision, but generally support the gas monopoly.

To the scheme:

1. Rosneft remains a 100% state-owned company that owns Yuganskneftegaz, but part of its assets is transferred to Gazprom. The controlling stake in the gas giant is concentrated in the hands of the state, while Bogdanchikov and Sechin remain at the head of a large oil company, albeit heavily indebted.

2. Gazprom receives 100% of Rosneft shares without Yuganskneftegaz. The former Yukos asset becomes an independent state-owned company, and Alexey Miller and Dmitry Medvedev become the heads of a large oil and gas conglomerate.

3. Officials have not yet approved the parameters of the merger, but promise to do so this week. “So far, a decision has been made to include Rosneft without Yuganskneftegaz in one of Gazprom's subsidiaries,” said Economic Development Minister German Gref.

DIPLOMACY

HOW TO SURVIVE IN IRAQ

Future employees of the American embassy in Baghdad (it will become the largest of the US diplomatic missions in the world - 1,700 people) were ordered to take a "training course for diplomatic and anti-terrorist service in Iraq." Everyone, from office managers to ambassadors, is taught how to identify improvised explosive devices, how to provide first aid for the loss of limbs and bullet wounds most common in Iraq, and how to survive a hostage situation. Here are some suggestions: Keep your car windows closed at all times to avoid pop-ups—suicide bombers jumping into your car or throwing grenades through the sunroof. Wear safety glasses. When heading anywhere, learn at least two routes to your destination. If you see a kite in the sky, be aware that this may be a signal of your arrival. Beware of children—not all of them are a priori harmless. And prepare special signals or password words to communicate with your family members or colleagues—in case your phone is tapped by the enemy. In addition, a modern diplomat must, for example, know "by sight" the AK-47 assault rifle - "this is what your enemy is most likely to be armed with" - and remember that during long firefights, the barrel heats up. "We invite people to work in non-traditional diplomatic environments," says Justina Sincavage, director of the training center. The training course for diplomats is designed for a week.

MALAYSIA

HUNT FOR ILLEGAL

In Malaysia, the largest-scale hunt for illegal immigrants in the history of the country has begun. More than 400,000 people, mobilized in special units of the RELA Volunteer Self-Defense Force, accompanied by police officers at exactly midnight from February 28 to March 1, began to comb construction sites and slum areas throughout Malaysia. For each head of an illegal immigrant, the squad is entitled to a reward of $160. All volunteers received special training in arrests. The RELA squads have the authority to break the doors of residential buildings and enterprises wherever they are refused to be allowed in. However, the results of the first week of searches are not impressive. According to official figures, there are about half a million illegal immigrants in the country today, mainly from Indonesia and other countries of Southeast Asia, but in 5 days of searching, only 560 people were caught. Moreover, 40 of them had to be released later, as they turned out to be citizens of France, Great Britain and the United States. Tian Chua, director of the Malayan human rights organization Labor Resource Center, considers this action cruel and senseless. “Many of these people have been working in Malaysia for many years, and it is inhumane to treat them in this way,” Tian Chua emphasized in an interview with Newsweek. “The operation will not solve the problem of illegal immigration, it is necessary to work directly with enterprises that hire cheap labor.” Captured immigrants are now waiting for their fate to be decided in special centers. By law, they face a $10,000 fine or two years in prison and six lashes.

CODE

LEGAL COLOR

Moscow will have its own Code of Administrative Offenses: the Moscow Duma is already discussing the relevant bill. The document prepared by Alexander Semennikov, a member of the United Russia faction, contains many absurd restrictions. For example, a ban on “appearing at a cemetery with a dog” and “grazing cattle in a cemetery”, “committing actions in the water related to diving and capturing bathers” or “exploiting a horse from 22.00 to 6.00”. And although Semennikov explained to Newsweek that at night "the horse is not lit and therefore dangerous," he himself admits many of his proposals are "strange." Nevertheless, he hopes that after the revision, for which the bill has already been sent, the deputies will adopt a new Code of Administrative Offenses. "In the US, for example, there are a lot of strange laws, I specifically searched the Internet," he tells Newsweek. "It gives originality and color." In addition, according to Semennikov's document, the capital may ban turning on the TV loudly even during the day, blowing up firecrackers, kissing in public places and organizing nightly car races. Teenagers under the age of 16 may be subject to a curfew. To date, own Administrative Codes have already appeared in 9 Russian regions.

STATE ORDER

CRYSTAL WHOLESALE

The administration of the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, will order dishes for ceremonial receptions worth €300,000 from a small French crystal factory in the town of Portier in the Vosges. Factory workers will have to make 3,000 vodka glasses from blue crystal (to match the already purchased faience service) 3,000 vodka glasses, the same number of glasses for water , 2000 champagne glasses and 180 decanters. The plant confirmed to Newsweek that Nazarbayev's representatives were interested in whether it was possible to quickly fulfill such a large order, but the contract has not yet been signed. “We are negotiating,” La cristallerie de Portieux said. “This is, of course, a very important event for us, since such large orders are very rare.” Founded 300 years ago and now employing just 25 people, the factory specializes in colored crystal and is popular with celebrities from all over the world: Elton John recently ordered 450 pink and green crystal champagne glasses.

CONNECTION

COZY ROOM

As early as this year, cellular subscribers will be able to move from one operator to another, leaving behind a phone number, Leonid Reiman, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications, made such a forecast. The service is likely to be paid—how much exactly they will be charged from “defectors” is still unclear; in Europe it costs €5–10. So far, Russians do not often change operators—according to KOMKON, in the last six months of 2004, only 8% of mobile phone owners did so. Roman Prokolov, adviser to the general director of Megafon-Moscow, believes that with the introduction of "personal" numbers in Moscow alone, Megafon will have "at least 1 million new subscribers." “Already today, 90% of new subscribers of the Moscow MegaFon are people who came from other operators, and when the number does not need to be changed during the transition, there will be even more of them,” Prokolov is sure. Other operators evaluate the new service more reservedly: according to Mikhail Umarov from Bee Line and Pavel Nefedov from MTS, their companies keep subscribers with marketing advantages and quality of services, and not at all with the fear of losing a number. Analyst of ACM-Consulting Anton Pogrebinsky believes that the main struggle of operators will unfold for corporate subscribers - they value their numbers the most and bring operators income hundreds of times higher than revenue from private users. And the leading analyst of MobileResearchGroup, Eldar Murtazin, believes that the opportunity, leaving the operator, to take the number with you will provoke a significant outflow of customers from regional operators to the "big three". MobileResearchGroup estimates that once the new service becomes available, at least 10% of subscribers will use it.