Fire extinguished near northern Moscow river station.

MOSCOW, August 16 (Itar-Tass) -- A fire near the building of the
northern river station at Leningradsky Avenue in Moscow was extinguished
overnight, a source at the Emergencies Ministry's Moscow department told
Itar-Tass.
The fire broke out in a one-storey sauna bath building in the park
near the station. Ablaze were 150 square metres. Nobody was hurt.
Specialists are investigating what caused the fire.
The blaze broke out at around 01:00 Moscow time. About ten fire crews
worked at the site.
.

.UN program for Turkmenistan development assistance signed in Ashgabat.
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ASHGABAT, August 16 (Itar-Tass) -- Priorities of cooperation between
Turkmenistan's government and U.N. agencies accredited in the country are
put down in the United Nations framework programme for Turkmenistan
development assistance (U.N. Development Assistance Framework) signed on
Saturday for the period from 2010 to 2015, national television said.
The distinctive feature of the programme is that it is aimed at
solution of issues of peace, stability and security, Turkmen Foreign
Minister Rashid Meredov noted at the signing ceremony.
Much attention will be paid to the implementation of projects to
combat drug traffic, organised crime, terrorism and other challenges
constituting real threat to the humanity, he added.
The document covers also such strategic areas of cooperation as
education, public health, ecology and the social sphere.
The programme is the culmination if the constructive joint work and
the exchange of views, U.N. permanent coordinator in Turkmenistan Richard
Young noted.
Particular attention in the joint work will be paid to cooperation for
further democratization of the Turkmen society and firm establishment of
the priorities of human rights and the rule of law, he added.
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.Week of South Ossetia held in Venezuela.
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CARACAS, August 16 (Itar-Tass) -- Week of South Ossetia was concluded
in the Romulo Gallegos Latin American Research Centre on Saturday.
After the anthems of the two countries were played, the people present
at the ceremony paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the war
started by Georgia on the night to August 8, last year.
A representative of the association For Democracy and Rights of
Peoples in Venezuela, Christian Laslov, expressed gratitude to Venezuelan
leaders for their support for Russia's position on the Transcaucasian
region. He recalled President Hugo Chavez's words that the conflict in the
region was caused by the striving of the United States to impose the
puppet Georgian president and it resulted in the aggression against South
Ossetia. Laslov noted that Georgia turned out to be the second country in
the world after Israel for U.S. military aid volumes, and the threat of
military provocations remained in the region.
During the week, conferences and round-table discussions took place in
the National Assembly (parliament) with the participation of leaders and
deputies of the Latin American and Andes parliaments, widely-known
politologists and diplomats of the Russian embassy in Venezuela.
Representatives of Venezuelan political and public organisations
called for bringing Mikheil Saakashvili to trial for the committed
military crimes. They spoke out against the plans of Georgia and Ukraine
to join NATO and favoured recognition of the independence of South Ossetia
and Abkhazia and dismissal of the interstate organisation of Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
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