Moscow  - A fire in a dilapidated wooden building in southern Russia killed at least 16 persons, with the blame being quickly placed on a drunken woman resident, the Interfax agency reported Sunday, citing investigators.

The fire occurred late Saturday in a village near the Volga River city of Astrakhan. Around 50 residents were rescued and were given shelter in a school.

Moscow  - A fire in a dilapidated wooden building in southern Russia killed 14 persons, the Interfax agency reported Sunday, citing public prosecution officials.

The fire occurred late Saturday in a village near the Volga River city of Astrakhan. Seven other persons were taken to hospital for treatment for injuries, the report said.

Around 50 residents were rescued and were given shelter in a school. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

New Delhi, Feb 13 : The wreckage of US and Russian satellites that collided over Siberia poses a threat to Chinese satellites in orbit, but the latter's space plan will proceed as scheduled.

A privately owned US communications spacecraft collided with a defunct Russian military satellite about 800 km above northern Siberia at 4:55 pm GMT on Tuesday, the China Daily reported.

The 560-kg US satellite, of Iridium Holdings LLC, was launched in 1997 and the Russian Cosmos-2251, weighing almost a ton, was sent in space in 1993.

According to news report released by a well known Press agency, an enormous space debris was created by the collision of two communication satellites from the US and Russia on 10th February, which might pose a threat to the International Space Station.

Moscow - At least 6 people were killed in the conflict-torn Northern Caucasus Thursday when Russian special police tried to arrests suspected Islamist militants in the republic of Ingushetia.

An explosion during the clashes in the central Ingushetian city of Nazran led to the collapse of the residential building where the suspects were staying.

Four members of the Russian special unit (OMON) died and the bodies of two suspected rebels were found buried in the rubble, Interfax reported, citing Ingushetian President Yunus Bek-Yevkurov. The militants had been suspected of preparing suicide attacks.

Moscow - Russia on Wednesday hailed US President Barack Obama's "fresh" approach on Iran, in the latest sign of a thaw in US- Russian ties.

"We are paying particular attention to the declared intention of the new (US) administration to begin a direct dialogue with Iran," Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying at a press conference with EU officials.

The United States and many western European countries suspect Tehran's civilian nuclear energy programme of serving as cover for ambitions to build atomic weapons.