Residents of the Veshnyaki neighborhood in southeast Moscow were in for a surprise last month when the radiators in their apartments started heating at full blast while it was nearly 40 degrees Celsius outside.

• August 17, 2010

The White House denied press reports that President Barack Obama warned Turkey it could lose its chance to obtain U.S.-made weapons over its position on Israel and Iran.

• August 17, 2010

After three decades of spectacular growth, China passed Japan in the second quarter to become the world’s second-largest economy behind the United States, according to government figures released early Monday.

• August 16, 2010

Marking the second anniversary of Russia’s “coercion-to-peace” operation in Georgia, the Russian Chief of the General Staff, Army-General Nikolai Makarov, told the media: “Arms deliveries to Georgia are in full swing. Georgia’s military potential is significantly higher today, compared to August 2008.”

• August 16, 2010

Russia has imposed a ban on wheat and other grain exports until the end of the year after a severe drought and an outbreak of wildfires destroyed one-third of the harvest and ravaged agricultural land.

• August 16, 2010

For the World Health Organisation, the H1N1 swine flu pandemic is over. The world is no longer in an influenza pandemic alert and is moving into the post-pandemic period, WHO director general Margaret Chan said this week.

• August 16, 2010

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants the EU to set up a rapid reaction force for natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires and floods. France has also pledged immediate aid to Pakistani flood victims.

• August 16, 2010

The publication of this collection of essays coincides with the second anniversary of the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia on August 8-12, 2009.

The first essay looks into the transformation of the Georgian armed forces under President Mikhail Saakashvili and details Tbilisi’s key preparations for the war.

• August 16, 2010