Impact of heatwave felt in Moscow even in early morning hours.

MOSCOW, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - Anomalous heatwave that has been holding
many parts of European Russian in its grip for almost three weeks by now
continued displaying its staying power in the early hours of Wednesday.
For people in Moscow City, the sweltering temperature of 29 degrees
Celsius registered at 01:00 hours was compounded with the strong smell of
burning produced by broadening peat bog fires in the east of the Moscow
region.
Smog continued spreading across the city in the small hours of the
morning, and even the customers of perfectly air-conditioned restaurants
and night bars could sense the very specific odor of smoldering peat.
Weather monitoring stations reported the air temperature of 29 degrees
at the Bykovo airport to the east Moscow.
Two major airports to the south of the city, Domodedovo and Vnukovo,
reported 28 degrees and another bit international air hub, Sheremetyevo,
enjoyed a mild 26 degrees.
Forecasts say Moscow is heading for at least another two days of
searing heat and the air temperatures may rise to new unprecedented levels
Thursday.


.Sudanese govt trying to establish location of Russian helicopter.

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - Authorities in Sudan are holding
talks with rebels to establish the location of a missing Russian
helicopter pilot, Ibrahim Gambari, the joint special representative of the
UN/African Union mixed mission in Darfur /UNAMID/ said Wednesday.
He indicated that another three Russian citizens and all the
passengers of the helicopter, which was reported missing Monday, have been
found alive and are safe and sound at the moment.
Gambari said the helicopter was performing a flight as part of
servicing the UN/African Union joint mission in Darfur.
Traveling aboard were five high-rank representatives of an insurgent
grouping. Their destination was Southern Darfur where they were going for
talks with Sudanese government officials.
In all likelihood, the helicopter had to make an unscheduled landing
somewhere because of bad weather conditions.
Gambari said earlier UN personnel in Sudan had established contacts
with three of four crew members of the helicopter, adding that they are
staying in the sector controlled by the Sudanese government.
Officials at the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the helicopter
belonging to the YUTair airline had been seized in Darfur. It had an
all-Russian four-strong wheels and it was carrying aboard five Sudanese
passengers.
"The information available to us suggests there are no victims and the
helicopter itself has not sustained any big damage.
YUTair is working in Sudan under a contract with the UN.
"Emergency measures are being taken to clear out the situation and to
ensure that the Sudanese authorities manage to obtain release of Russian
citizens from captivity," the Foreign Ministry official said.


.Russian hands over to Japan remains of 4 soldiers of WW II era.

VLADIVOSTOK, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has handed over to Japan the
remains of four Japanese soldiers who died on the Far-Eastern island of
Sakhalin during World War II.
The remains were found there in the past two years.
The soldiers died in August 1945 in central Sakhalin where fierce
fighting between Soviet and Japanese troops was underway. From 1905
through 1945, the southern part of the island belonged to Japan and the
northern part, to the Soviet Union.
The remains of the soldiers' bodies were handed over to a delegation
of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Galina Nikolskaya, the head of municipal administration of the
Smirnykhovsky district where the ceremony took place, said the soldiers'
remains had been cremated Tuesday on the banks of the River Tumannaya.
Attending the ceremonies were soldiers and officers from nearby
military bases and members of the Pioner volunteer association of
pathfinders. All the appropriate military honors were observed.
Wednesday, the Japanese delegation was expected to deliver the remains
to Tokyo.
The Soviet-Japanese land frontier followed the 50th parallel during
Word War II and the Japanese military built a stronghold defended by a
contingent of about 5,000 people.
This stronghold was believed to be unassailable but Soviet soldiers
seized it within the matter of just a few days.
A total of 2,500 or so servicemen on both sides fell in that combat
operation, one of the last operations on World War II battlefields.
Igor Gorozhanov, the head of the Poisk association, said remains of
about 400 soldiers of both sides have been found over the several years of
searching in the Smirnykhovsky district.

.IMF expects growth of Moldova's GDP by over 2 prcnt in 2010.

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - International Monetary Fund expects
that Moldova's Gross Domestic Product will grow 2.5% in 2010, says a
report for the media the IMF released Tuesday.
On the whole, the IMF seems to be assessing the current situation in
Moldova's economy and financial sphere.
The former Soviet republic is now clearing away the aftermath of the
recent global crisis and it relies in so doing on two loan programs
totaling $ 546 million altogether in favorable terms.
The authors of the press release recall that the IMF has held a
regular review of Moldovan economy on the basis of Article 5 of the fund's
Charter.
They indicate that Moldova went through a period of steep growth from
2006 through 2008. The underlying factor for this was a boom of monies
earned outside Moldova and remitted to the homeland, as well as the inflow
of direct foreign investment.
The crisis of 2009 brought about a 6.5% economic slump but now the
economy is against showing the signs of steady recuperation.
According to the report, Moldova's GDP grew 4.7% in the first quarter
this year versus the same period a year ago.
The report describes the country's banking sector as fairly durable,
even though the volume of overdue loans repayments there remains big
enough /17% of the total at the beginning of April/.
IMF experts say, however, the latter figure has apparently stabilized.
-0-kle