Serbs Pray For Rain Amidst Raging Fires

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Several hundred people answered a call by a Serbian Orthodox bishop to pray for rain as wildfires rage in the Balkan country, and forecasts indicate their prayers may be answered. The church prayers in the town of Valjevo in central Serbia were held Sunday after months of record-setting temperatures and unprecedented drought that triggered fires, destroyed crops, and dried out rivers. Emergency measures have been introduced in parts of central Serbia as two Russian firefighting planes tried to extinguish blazes that destroyed hundreds of hectares of forests and threatened some villages. The Serbian government, which asked for Russian help and deployed army troops to fight the fires, held an emergency session Sunday to deal with the disaster. Weather forecasters predict showers for Serbia overnight.

26 August 2012

Associated Press

As quoted in NewsWest9.com

http://www.kwes.com/story/19378425/serbs-pray-for-rain-amid-raging-fires

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Greek Fire Brigades Continue to Fight Fire Near Mount Athos

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On Friday, the press service of the Holy Community of Mount Athos reported that, for the second day in a row, about a hundred firemen continued their efforts to extinguish a raging wildfire near Mount Athos. Three airplanes and four helicopters are part of the elements deployed to put out the blaze. According to recent reports, firemen managed to confine the flames to an area near the small tourist resort of Ouranoupoli. In a statement issued by the fire service on Thursday, it indicated that the conflagration endangered Ouranoupoli, not Mount Athos. Authorities ordered the elderly and families with children to leave the affected locale immediately. Severe fires broke out in pine forests in northern Greece on Thursday. High temperatures exceeding 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit) only exacerbated the situation.

10 August 2012

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=46958

20 July 2011. Sergei Yolkin’s World: Show Your Papers for a Tramp in the Woods…

Show Your Papers for a Tramp in the Woods…

Sergei Yolkin

2011

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“Hey, you! You got honey? Like about five kilos worth? How ‘bout some of that Tsarkie salami that I can smell from here? We could forget about the pass…” That’s what would happen if the bear were a typical Russki copper… 😀

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Because of a dangerous situation regarding forest fires in his region, Governor Viktor Kress of Tomsk Oblast decreed that most non-local people would only be able to visit forest areas with an authorised pass. Since the beginning of the fire season, forests in Tomsk Oblast have suffered 91 reported fires, which is a 500 percent increase over the number reported last year. The total area affected is 2,200 hectares (5,436 acres (7.94 square miles)), with an average area affected per fire doubled compared to last year. Since 13 May, Tomsk Oblast has been under a special forest fire watch alert.

July 2011

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://eco.ria.ru/ecocartoon/20110718/403648150.html