MOSCOW: The remains of a Soviet Air Force pilot shot down in 1942 were finally returned to his hometown of Tambov on Monday, 55 years after his hurricane fighter crashed near the northern port city of Murmansk. The hurricane, piloted by Arkadi Bulychev, crashed into a bog outside Murmansk and was preserved over the years by the swamp's icy waters, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The wreckage was discovered recently by a group of Murmansk searchers, the report said.

Ancient find

DAMASCUS (Syria): Dutch archaeologists have unearthed a sprawling 3,400-year-old administrative centre of the Assyrian civilization and found evidence that bribery was thriving at the time. The 13th-century BC site comprises a five-metre high, two-story building with two bathrooms, two toilets and a tiled floor, the official Sana news agency said on Monday. A special archive of an interior minister was found, listing data about employees accepting bribes, names of senior officials and a name of an Assyrian princess,'' Sana said.

Record transplant

LONDON: A five day-old baby girl has become the youngest-ever transplant patient, receiving an eighth of the liver of another child, doctors said here on Tuesday. The operation was performed at King's College hospital, London, after the infant was diagnosed with a rare liver condition - called neo natal haemochromatosis.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.