Russia reports new confirmed A/H1N1 flu case

MOSCOW, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- A new case of A/H1N1 flu was confirmed
in Russia on Thursday bringing the total number to five.
An official from Rospotrebnadzor sanitary watchdog told Tass on
Thursday the diagnosis was confirmed for a man who returned from Thailand
on July 10.
Besides, two 18-year old girls who arrived from Cyprus were
hospitalized on July 12 and 13 after PRC-diagnostics suspected the virus.
Earlier Rospotrebnadzor chief Gennady Onishchenko said the state of a
19-year old man who returned after vacationing in Spain and was diagnosed
with A/H1N1 flu no longer caused concern.

.US pastor sentenced for bribery on Sakhalin.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- A US pastor was sentenced to
18 months in jail on Russia's Pacific Island of Sakhalin for an attempt to
bribe an immigration official, the press service of the local branch of
the Federal Security Service told Tass on Friday.
Hio Sun Pak, a 65-year-old US citizen and Pentecostal pastor of the
Blagodat (Grace) church, and his interpreter in July 2007 offered the
official 300,000 rubles (10,000 US dollars) for halting an investigation
into the use of illegal Chinese labor migrants at the construction of a
Blagodat church in the city of Kholmsk.
After two months in custody the pastor was released for health
reasons, but restricted in travel.
The Kholmsk city court conditionally sentenced the interpreter to 16
months with a two-year probation.

.US environmentalist reported missing near Lake Baikal.

IRKUTSK, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- A US environmentalist went missing
near Lake Baikal in Russia and local media are airing her descriptions.
Police told Tass Mary Hudson, 69, arrived in Irkutsk in early July
upon an invitation of the Big Baikal Footpath public organization to
participate in an environmental program on Baikal banks.
However, she did not show up at the appointed date.
In the past five years hundreds of volunteers from Russia, Austria,
Belarus, Germany, Poland, the United States, the Czech Republic come to
Baikal in summer to arrange footpaths around the lake. The
environmentalists aged from 18 to 70 years live in tent camps and in five
years restored and organized over 500 kilometers of footpaths.

.Most Russians dissatisfied with TV programs.

MOSCOW, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- Most Russians are dissatisfied with TV
programs saying there is too much violence and erotic, according to a poll
held by the TSIRKON sociological service.
"The results of the poll dethrone the stereotype that TV mirrors the
country," Alexander Schipko, an aide to the Federation Council speaker,
told a press conference on Thursday.
65 percent of respondents said they do not watch scenes of violence
and 56 percent said they ignore erotic programs.
74 percent complained of "harmful and dangerous TV programs" and 69
percent backed the idea of creating a public council of outstanding
cultural figures who would judge whether TV programs meet ethic norms.
72 percent of the polled said they watch mostly news programs, while
only 24.9 percent said they prefer talk shows and entertainments, which
gives the latter the fourth place.
The poll involved 1600 respondents from 150 residential settlements
across the country.

.Russian MP hopes Nord Stream will be built as scheduled.

MUNICH, July 17 (Itar-Tass) -- A leading Russian lawmaker said the
Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia with Germany across the Baltic Sea
bed will be built as scheduled in 2011 despite opposition in some littoral
states.
"For this it is necessary to get all the permissions this year and
begin construction next year. An 11-month construction period has been
determined for the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Technologies allow to do it.
The problem is in permissions," Valery Yazev, State Duma deputy speaker
told Tass on Thursday.
He admitted Sweden opposes the project, but hopes its current EU
presidency will make Stockholm back the pipeline in the final end as it
promotes pan-European energy security.
"Everyone recognizes the gas pipeline is necessary for Europe. The
proposed project minimizes the impact on the environment both during
construction and operation," said Yazev who participated in the
Russian-German Petersburg Dialogue public forum.
As for the EU-backed Nabucco project, Yazev believes it cannot be
viable until it secures the necessary natural gas resources.
"It is absolutely clear there can be no financing of the project until
the investor perfectly knows the source of gas. And there is no source at
present," Yazev said.
"None of the states with real gas reserves participated in the
signing" of the Nabucco agreement in Turkey, he added.
Yazev believes Russia's South Stream project "is more realistic as it
decreases transit risks and has the necessary resource base."
-0-nec