ZIA Network

The blazes in the provinces on the Volga River southeast of Moscow followed wildfires that killed at least 54 in central Russia in July and August during Russia's worst heat wave ever recorded and prompted criticism of the government response.

Fires fanned by high winds and months of drought destroyed more than 500 buildings in at least 26 villages in Volgograd and Saratov provinces, injuring at least 17 people, Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Chernova told Reuters.

"The Unites States is the primary beneficiary of having no controls over the BlackBerry, as it has an interest to spy on the UAE," Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said in remarks carried by the website of the daily al-Khaleej on Friday.

"The West has accused us of curbing the liberties of BlackBerry users, while America, Israel, Britain and other countries are allowed access to all transferred data," Tamim added.

He spoke from the same steps of the University of Havana where 60 years ago he stirred fellow students to political action in the beginnings of the revolution that eventually put him in power in 1959.

The insurgent Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) accused the Sudanese army of attacking the settlements west of the town of Tawila in North Darfur state, more than seven years after fighting broke out in the arid western region.

The joint U.N./African Union (UNAMID) Darfur peacekeeping force told Reuters it had unconfirmed reports that men on horses and camels rode into a market in the settlement of Tabarat on Thursday afternoon and opened fire on the crowd.

The unions rejected a government offer of 7.5 percent pay raises, nearly double inflation, and 800 rand a month for housing, with workers demanding a better offer.