Khakassia lifts emergency imposed after HPP accident.

NOVOSIBIRSK, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The emergency imposed in the
Republic of Khakassia after the accident that shut down the biggest
Russian Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant will be lifted on Friday
according to a resolution of local governor Viktor Zimin.

"The emergency regime is lifted as rescue and emergency operation at
the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant has been completed and the rescue
force is returning to the place of permanent deployment and due to the
beginning of restoration work," the governor said, adding up to 2500
people will be engaged in restoration by the end of the week.
"Energy experts are currently examining the turbines to determine the
level of damage and preparing less affected equipment for re-start,"
republican government official told Tass.
On August 17 water burst in and ruined the turbine room. The accident
took a death toll of 71 personnel of the station. Four people are still
reported missing.

.Pensioner bikes across Russia.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKI, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- A 68-year old woman
from the city of Tver, 180 kilometers north of Moscow, fulfilled the dream
of her life by riding a bike across the whole of Russia and visiting
Kamchatka Peninsula.
Former physical training school teacher Yulia Mikhailyuk arrived to
the famous Geyser Valley in Kamchatka and will be welcomed at a gala
reception on Friday, Kamchatka government told Tass.
The pensioner started her voyage on May 20 and covered 100 kilometers
a day. It took her three months to ride eight thousand kilometers to
Khabarovsk.
She carried 25 kilograms of belongings with her, which included a
tent, a sleeping bag, clothes, dried fruits, nuts and honey, as well as a
photo camera, a mobile phone and a notebook.
Mikhailyuk admitted she did not risk riding from Khabarovsk through
uninhabited lands of Kolyma and Chukotka to Kamchatka and arrived to the
peninsula by plane.
Mikhailyuk has been traveling across Russia on her bike for ten years.
She has covered nearly 70 thousand kilometers and has won the title of the
most elderly biker. She said she is thinking of a round-the-world trip.

.Russia starts production of digital TV receivers.

KALININGRAD, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia will launch two
facilities on Friday in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad to back the
program of digital TV introduction in the country.
The Digital Television Systems plant in the town of Gusev has an
annual capacity of four million receivers, while the Prancor enterprise is
to annually produce 800 thousand satellite antennas.
Serial production is scheduled to begin by the end of the third
quarter. The project creates new jobs in Kaliningrad region, which is to
switch to digital TV by the end of 2010.


.Toyota to end joint production with GM.

TOKYO, August 28 (Itar-Tass) --Japan's Toyota said on Friday it will
terminate production at a car manufacturing joint venture with General
Motors in California by the end of next March.
The company said in a statement posted on its website it will end its
Corolla and Tacoma production contract with New United Motor
Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) on March 31, 2010 and shift production of
those vehicles to Toyota wholly-owned facilities.
NUMMI is a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota.
Following the end of the contract, Tacoma pickups will be produced at
Toyota's manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A., which
specializes in trucks. Corollas will be sourced from its Cambridge,
Ontario, Canada plant, as well as Japan to meet near-term demand.
This will enable an uninterrupted supply of vehicles to dealers and
customers in North America, Toyota said.

.Japan's unemployment rate record high in July.

TOKYO, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Japan's seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 5.7 percent in July, up from
5.4 percent the previous month, Kyodo news reported on Friday quoting a
government report.
It said the previous post-World War II record was 5.5 percent, marked
most recently in April 2003.
The number of jobless people rose 1.03 million from a year earlier to
3.59 million, according to a preliminary report of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Communications.
There were only 42 job offers for every 100 job seekers in July, a new
low for the third straight month and down from 43 the previous month,
Kyodo said.
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