11 killed in bus crash on Trans-Caucasian Highway: fresh reports.

VLADIKAVKAZ, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - According to fresh reports, 11
people were killed as a bus en route from Tskhinvali to Vladikavkaz fell
down into a gorge from the Trans-Caucasian Highway on Sunday, the North
Ossetian Emergency Situations Ministry said. Earlier reports put the death
toll at 12.
Nine injured passengers are in hospitals, seven of them are in a grave
condition, the ministry reported. All passengers of the ill-fated bus are
citizens of the Russian Federation. There are construction workers from
Chechnya and Dagestan and two children, aged three and ten, among the
casualties.
North Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has issued instructions to
grant pecuniary aid to the families of those killed and injured in the bus
accident.
Two severely injured patients from South Ossetia were taken to
Vladikavkaz. The others were admitted by hospitals in South Ossetian Java
and Tskhinvali.
In all, the bus had 25 people onboard. The accident happened on the
South Ossetian territory, near the Roksky Tunnel.

.GM-Avtovaz goes on summer holidays.

SAMARA, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - GM-Avtovaz carmaker in Togliatti,
western Russia, goes on summer holidays from July 19 to August 1, the
press service of the car manufacturer said.
"During a regular shutdown of the assembly line equipment maintenance
will be made," the press service said.
As of August 2, the car-making plant will begin its work in a routine
mode. As of September 21, the plant will begin to work in two eight-hour
shifts five days per week.
GM-Avtovaz is a joint venture that was set up by Russia's carmaker
Avtovaz, U.S.' General Motors and the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development. The joint venture's car production began on September 23,
2002.
In the first six months of 2010 the Togliatti-based plant rolled off
its assembly line 16,454 Chevrolet Niva cars, up by 58 percent as against
the same period of 2009.
Under the state program for concessional lending 4,921 cars were
retailed and under the old car utilization program 1,693 cars were
scrapped.

.Baltic Artek youth summer camp opens in Kaliningrad region.

KALININGRAD, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - The international youth summer camp
Baltic Artek opens on Tuesday on the Baltic Sea in Russia's enclave
Kaliningrad region, the head of the regional agency for youth affairs,
Galina Grechenko, told Tass on Monday.
Almost 500 young people from Russia, CIS and foreign countries, aged
between 14 and 30, will be participants of its first session, she said.
All in all, the summer camp on the Baltic Sea will receive about 2,000
people within the period of 30 days.
Young people from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,
Ukraine, Belarus, Austria, Kazakhstan and other countries will spend their
summer holidays there. Young Russian people will arrive from all corners
of the country - from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Far East and the
Krasnodar region in the south, to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the north.
Sand beaches, sports and cultural events are in store for the young
people. "However, the main accent will be put on educational programs, an
exchange of working experience, the working out of joint ideas how to make
our future better," Grechenko stressed.
The young people will meet with renowned politicians, business
executives, diplomats, scientists, athletes and men of art.
The regional budget has allocated 17 million roubles for the
international summer camp. A ceremony to unveil the camp with
participation of Kaliningrad Region Governor Georgy Boos is scheduled for
Tuesday.

.New route opens on Russia's Baikal Lake.

IRKUTSK, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - A new tourist route opens on Monday on
Russia's Baikal Lake. The Barguzin hovercraft will leave Irkutsk and head
for the Chivyrkuisky Bay situated on the opposite, western side of the
deepest on the planet freshwater lake, sources from the administration of
the East-Siberian inland navigation company told Tass.
"This is one of the most visited sites" on the lake, the sources said.
However, it is difficult to get there because of its remoteness and bad
roads. Meanwhile, the bay boasts areas of virgin nature, clean sand
beaches and warm underground sources. The route goes along a picturesque
western lakeshore. The one-way trip with stopovers will take twelve hours.
"The route is designed for those who wish to see as many as possible
places of interests of the unique lake, and in the future it will connect
two special tourism zones on the territory of the Irkutsk region and the
republic of Buryatia," the sources added.
There are already seven passenger routes on the Baikal Lake for
travellers and people on holidays.

.China, Japan tourists go to Russian Far East to admire rare lotus.

BIROBIDZHAN, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - Tourists from China and Japan visit
Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region specially to admire the rare Komarov
lotus, sources from the region's directorate for protected natural sites
have told Tass.
Large pink flowers of the rare plant blossom at the moment at all four
lotus lakes. Komarov lotus was named after renowned Russian botanist and
geographer Vladimir Komarov.
The plant is on the Red List, it grows only in the Far East and is not
only beautiful, but also has scientific value as a cladotype of flora that
existed over one million years ago. It survived the Ice Age and is not
afraid of Amur frosts.
The plant will blossom for up to 20 days, and during this period of
time inspectors and school students who help them protect the lakes.
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