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To: CIMA who wrote (92990)	10/4/2001 3:57:03 PM
From: Jim Bishop	Respond to of 150070

Putin says attacks on Afghanistan could be successful, praises Blair MOSCOW, Oct 04, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he had no doubt that the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan could be successful and hailed visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair's role in warming ties between Moscow and the West. "We shall see how effective the actions of the international anti-terrorist coalition will be after such actions become a reality," Putin said. "But I don't have a grain of doubt that they can be effective indeed." Putin dismissed concerns that the military action in Afghanistan could hurt civilians, saying the action's planners were taking due care of their safety and adding that civilians had already been suffering under rigid Taliban rule. "If there are victims, terrorists who have made civilians their hostages are to be blamed for that," he added. Putin last week expressed strong support for the U.S.-led coalition, offering Russian airspace for humanitarian flights and pledging to provide Afghanistan's opposition forces battling the ruling Taliban militia with weapons and equipment. He said Thursday that Russia might offer further assistance to the coalition depending on the "level and character of relations with our partners." Blair arrived in Russia on a quick visit after a speech in the British Parliament where he said there was "absolutely no doubt" that Osama bin Laden was behind the terror attacks on New York and Washington. After speaking to Putin in the Kremlin, Blair said that Russia's move to support the international coalition against terror had changed the face of the world. "When we are battling something like the issue of international terrorism and also on many other issues, too, we need Russia there as a partner and a friend and that is the relationship today," Blair told a news conference. "The fact that we have Russia today standing alongside the other countries of the world ... and giving its strong support to action against acts of terrorism that took place in the United States of America that is living proof, visible proof of the changed world in which we live," he said. Blair said that right from the very first meeting of his eight meetings with Putin he recognized him as "someone who had the vision and imagination to set the past aside and build new relationship for the future." Putin, in turn, said that Blair along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were to be credited for their efforts to improve ties with Russia at a time when "the Western public wasn't as friendly toward Russia as now." "Thanks to the stance taken by those leaders, the West has acquired in Russia a reliable partner in the struggle against international terrorism," Putin said. The Interfax news agency reported that Blair would leave Moscow on Friday morning and head to Pakistan. Blair's office refused to say when the prime minister would return to London, and would not comment on reports that he also would visit Pakistan and possibly Oman. By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved -0- APO Priority=r (PROFILE (WS SL:BC-Attacks-Putin-Blair, 2nd Ld-Writethru; CT:i; (REG:EURO;) (REG:BRIT;) (REG:SCAN;) (REG:MEST;) (REG:AFRI;) (REG:INDI;) (REG:ASIA;) (REG:ENGL;) (LANG:ENGLISH;)) ) KEYWORD: MOSCOW Eds: UPDATES throughout with new comments from Putin, Blair. Trims. (vi/ji) * end of story *

To: CIMA who wrote (92990)	10/4/2001 3:57:49 PM
From: Jim Bishop	Respond to of 150070

Nunavut mayors ask for cash as garbage burns openly and sewage sits untreated Oct 04, 2001 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- Safe waste disposal in the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit means waiting for the right wind so smoke from piles of burning plastic doesn't blow over the town. In the High Arctic community of Cambridge Bay, sewage treatment means trucking it to a lagoon and letting it either evaporate or seep away. Mayors of Nunavut's 25 communities are banding together to fight for cash to improve municipal services that they say violate environmental and health regulations and wouldn't be tolerated in the south. "We've got garbage blowing around, we've got stench," says Kevin Peterson, Cambridge Bay's mayor . "If the water system's broken down, people (still) need water for cooking and taking showers. "You wonder. You're living in Canada, it's supposed to be a G-7 country." Mayors had high hopes two years ago of getting money for what they needed from the federal Canada infrastructure program. However, those grants were distributed by population, so out of a total pool of $2 billion, Nunavut got a grand total of $2 million. "It's total disregard for the needs of Nunavut municipalities," says Rick Butler, town manager of Iqaluit. So the mayors got together and formed the Nunavut Association of Municipalities to lobby for money to address infrastructure and other needs. Butler said association board members have joked about applying to UNICEF, the United Nations agency known for its work helping kids in the Third World, for money to improve services. Problems are widespread throughout the territory. In Cambridge Bay, the town's 22-year-old water intake pipe has buckled in two decades of permafrost. It sometimes freezes up in the winter and forces the town to run water trucks. "If we ever had a fire in one of our major buildings, or any building . . . we're going to have big problems," says Peterson. Some communities sort their garbage and some don't. Iqaluit has a deal with air carrier First Air to fly all its paper waste out on empty aircraft as ballast. But almost all Nunavut's trash gets burned in big, open, smoky bonfires that contain everything from household waste to plastic jugs. No one has the facilities to deal with waste such as Freon from old refrigerators, considered a toxic material in the south. In places like Grise Fjord, on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island, non-burnables like old batteries are simply piled up and stored. Part of the problem is that most northern communities aren't allowed to raise their own funds through levying taxes. The enabling legislation just doesn't exist, says Peterson. And even if it did, there isn't much to tax. "We don't really have a sustainable economy yet," he says. The Nunavut government has pledged to spend about $335 million over five years on everything from sewage to roads. But given the expense of construction in the North, the mayors say even that isn't enough. Iqaluit alone needs about $17 million for its waste and water treatment system, says Butler. Meanwhile, northern communities routinely violate waste disposal standards developed in the south. "There's no use setting standards that we can't meet," says Butler. He's headed to Ottawa next week to visit Northern Affairs Minister Bob Nault and any other member of cabinet that will listen to him in an effort to make his case. The mayors want Ottawa to stop distributing infrastructure money on the basis of population when it comes to the North. They argue they've never had the long-term investment southern communities have enjoyed and they need extra money to catch up. Giving the territories a larger share of resource revenue would help, too, says Peterson. "I hate to come across like we're a bunch of beggars," he says. "We're not. "But when you don't have a real viable economy, it's difficult." BOB WEBER The online source for news sports entertainment finance and business news in Ca ada Copyright (C) 2001 The Canadian Press (CP), All rights reserved -0- SUBJECT CODE: national * end of story *

To: CIMA who wrote (92990)	10/4/2001 4:56:58 PM
From: Jim Bishop	Respond to of 150070

URGENT-Talks to sell RBC-DS to FC Stone cease WINNIPEG, Oct 4 (Reuters) - RBC-Dominion Securities said on Thursday that negotiations to sell its Winnipeg-based agricultural commodity trading division to FC Stone had ceased. A statement by RBC-DS, an institutional trading division of the Royal Bank of Canada (Toronto:RY.TO - news), the country's largest bank, said the trading house would remain a part of the RBC financial group. FC Stone, one of the largest commercial grain brokerage firms in the United States, said on Sept. 10 that it was in ``serious negotiation'' to buy RBC-DS's commodities unit. The Des Moines Iowa-based risk management firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Farmer's Commodities Corp., an agricultural co-operative and one of the largest volume commercial grain brokerage firms in the United States. RBC-Dominion Securities' commodity trading division in Winnipeg operates as a futures commission merchant, which trades at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, Canada's only agricultural futures and options trading floor.