Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the army to help tackle massive wildfires raging in Siberia and other regions in the east. The decision was taken after Mr Putin was briefed on the growing crisis by the head of the emergencies ministry. About three million hectares (7.4 million acres) have been affected, in what Greenpeace is describing as an “ecological catastrophe”.

Many local residents say not enough is being done to tackle the fires. More than 700,000 people have signed a petition calling for tougher action and for an emergency to be declared across the vast Siberia region. There has been widespread anger after comments by emergencies officials that they are not planning to tackle wildfires in remote uninhabited areas because there is no direct threat to people.

On Wednesday, President Putin ordered service personnel of the defence ministry to join in the firefighting efforts in Siberia. Ten planes and 10 helicopters with firefighting equipment are being deployed in the region. A state of emergency was earlier declared in the Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, two areas of the Republic of Buryatia and one area of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

On Wednesday Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev flew in to Krasnoyarsk city to chair a crisis meeting with local officials. “The most important task is to prevent the fire from spreading to populated areas,” he said. He said everything had to be done to avoid a wildfire disaster like the one that hit Russia in 2010, when “practically the whole country was burning, and there were dozens of dead”.(BBC)…[+]

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzanian police said yesterday they had arrested a prominent investigative journalist and were looking into his citizenship in another case triggering concern over press freedom under President John Magufuli’s rule.

Erick Kabendera’s detention on Monday, by about half a dozen plainclothes police at his home on the outskirts of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, came despite a 2013 government probe concluding his citizenship was not an issue. The city’s police chief Lazaro Mambosasa said the journalist was arrested after refusing to heed a summons.

“Kabendera has not been abducted … he has been arrested by the Tanzania Police Force as part of an investigation into his citizenship,” he told reporters. “He is in safe hands.” Police were working with the Immigration Department and would likely file criminal charges after the investigation, Mombosasa said, without giving more details.Police sources said Kabendera’s family allegedly originated from a neighbouring country and he did not follow proper procedures for naturalisation.(Reuters)…[+]

HAVANA– Communist-run Cuba yesterday imposed sweeping price controls on all state and private businesses as it battles a deepening economic crisis and mounting U.S. sanctions. Resolutions published in the official gazette banned all retail and wholesale price increases except for products imported and distributed by the state where already-set profit margins cannot be increased.

“In effect they have suspended what there is of a market,” a Cuban economist said, asking not to be identified due to restrictions on talking to foreign journalists.

While state-run companies dominate the economy, reforms in recent years have led to a growing private sector of cooperatives, farmers, small businesses and self-employed individuals who, for example, work in the skilled trades or drive taxis, and in general operate on a market basis. Resolution 302 of the Finances and Prices Ministry lists all actors in what is called the non-state sector, saying that they “cannot increase current prices and tariffs of products and services.”(Reuters)…[+]