BBC: Russia is still fighting to extinguish nearly 600 wildfires in an emergency that has now claimed 50 lives. Foreign reinforcements are arriving, Russian officials say, including two Canadair water-bombing planes from Italy. Ukraine and Belarus are also sending firefighters. One fire threatens a shelter housing some 1,000 animals in the Moscow area. The Moscow smog eased on Thursday, though an acrid smell persisted from peat fires burning outside the city. The Bim …