Which way to the ground ?

A Russian news report says a small plane has crashed when the pilot lost his bearings and decided to ask a tractor driver for directions. No one was hurt. RIA-Novosti news agency quoted a local police spokesman as saying the accident happened Friday in southern Russia's Stavropol region.
It said the pilot lost his way, saw a tractor below and decided to land to get advice from the driver.
Oleg Ugnivenko, a spokesman for the regional branch of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, said the An-2 agricultural plane grazed the tractor while landing in the field and broke its landing gear. He said no one was hurt but gave no further details.

Colourful Winter

Russia’s far eastern Amur region has received yellow-coloured snowfall as shown in the inset. High winds in Mongolia mixed clouds with dust winds in Mongolia mixed clouds with dust and sand, crossed northern China and dumped the unique yellow coloured snow in the Russian region, RIA Novosti news agency reported. “This type of precipitation is not harmful to the residents of the area and no additional analysis will be done,” Elena Pechkina, a regional meteorologist was quoted as saying by the agency. The meteorologist said this type of snow was not rare. However, it usually falls in the region in the end of March or early April. In South Korea, however, where the phenomenon took place in 2006, people had been warned that the yellow snow could pose health hazards.

Garden Wars

A Russian man, who planted landmines in his garden to defend it from intruders, has been convicted to two-and-a-half years suspended sentence on weapons charges, prosecutors said on Friday. Alexander Skopintsev, a resident of the far eastern Primorye region near Russia's border with China, built three explosive traps in his garage last July and planted them around his garden, Primorye region prosecutors said. "During the court hearings, Skopintsev testified that he had prepared the explosive devices to protect his garden against thieves," a statement said. Police arrested him after a trespasser set off one of the landmines in August and was injured, spokeswoman for the prosecutors Irina Nomokonova said.