The Toyota plant in St. Petersburg intends to double car production in 2012 compared to 2011, plant representative Olga Krainyuk told reporters on Friday. “We plan to double the output volume by the end of the (current) year compared to 2011,” she said, without specifying the absolute output figure. Last year, the company produced 14.131 thousand Toyota Camry cars.

TEST DRIVE Frowning German Test drive Mercedes ML The updated Mercedes ML SUV has appeared on the Russian market. correspondent found out how the Mercedes ML 350 model differs from its predecessor during the test drive The Gazeta.Ru . Commenting Rules

recommended that the Google South Korean concern Samsung change the design of its gadgets because of their similarity with Apple products , according to correspondence between the companies presented on Thursday in San Jose, California court as part of a patent dispute. Apple lawyer Harold McElhinney provided the court with letters from a Google designer dated February 16, 2010, in which an employee of the Internet corporation points out similar design elements of one of the tablets.

The UN confirms information previously published in the media that former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi will become the new UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria. reports this Reuters . Brahimi will succeed Kofi Annan , who was sent to Syria to oversee the peace plan that he himself developed.

An emergency situation occurred during fire tests of a rocket engine at the Research Center for the Rocket and Space Industry in the Moscow Region. Interfax reports this, citing a source in the local administration. “During the fire bench tests, the engine of one of the stages of the Soyuz launch vehicle was damaged. There are no casualties. The stand was also damaged,” a source told reporters. He clarified that the engine was manufactured in Samara for the Soyuz launch vehicle.

An official police examination confirmed that human rights activist of the Agora association Ilnur Sharapov and surveyor Nikolai Pomeschenko, who were detained on Bolotnaya on August 4 allegedly for drug use, are innocent. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow. Administrative cases initiated against Sharapov and Pomeschenko have been terminated.

17 August 2012, 11:02 Cars Governor of Primorye denies restrictions on gasoline sales during APEC summit Governor of the Primorsky Territory Vladimir Miklushevsky on his Twitter refutes reports of restrictions on gasoline sales during the APEC summit . "No it is not true. Gasoline will be in the required quantity. I contacted the Federal Antimonopoly Service with a demand,” wrote https://twitter.com/v_miklushevskiy.

On August 17, 2012, at 14:30 Moscow time, the Russian DAN instrument was turned on on board rover NASA's Curiosity , located on the surface of Mars in Gale Crater. Telemetric and scientific information was received, which indicates the normal operation of the equipment. The DAN equipment operated normally for one hour without any problems and was turned off on command, reports the press service of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences ( IKI RAS ).

The head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Alexander Neradko, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, complained about the problem with the instructor staff in the country’s flight schools, low salaries in the aviation industry and the shortage of pilots in Russia. However, Neradko refuses the idea of ​​attracting foreign pilots to work in Russia.

The State Security Committee of Belarus released from custody on recognizance not to leave the place of photographer Anton Suryapin and realtor Sergei Basharimov, who are accused in the case of a “landing” of teddy bears, landed by a Swedish light-engine plane over the city of Minsk. RIA Novosti reports this, citing a KGB representative.

In connection with the cutting down of a worship cross in the center of Kiev, a criminal case has been opened under Part 2 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hooliganism), the Kiev police reported to the Interfax agency. The police noted that the cross will be restored if it is technically possible. Representatives of special technical services have already arrived at the scene of the incident.

DNA molecules, which contain detailed instructions necessary for the growth, reproduction and maintenance of life of organisms, are among the smallest, most capacious and stable information carriers, leaving far behind all currently artificially created memory devices.

August 17, 2012, 11:01 Business Too much Facebook The end of the moratorium on the sale of Facebook shares by early investors collapsed the value of the social network Anastasia Matveeva close 100% Facebook shares fell in price again Reuters The end of the moratorium on the sale of Facebook shares by early investors has collapsed the value of the social network. Trading volume has increased five times the average over the past month.

The Pacific Fleet Court on Friday failed at its first attempt to form a jury in the criminal case regarding the accident on the Nerpa nuclear submarine. reports this Interfax with reference to Sergei Bondar, the lawyer of the nuclear submarine commander Dmitry Lavrentyev. “20 candidates came to the meeting. After challenges and self-recusations, four candidates remained,” Bondar said. The next court hearing is scheduled for September 25. It will also be held behind closed doors.

The Nikulinsky Court of Moscow authorized the arrest of Hieromonk Elijah ( Pavel Semin ), who caused an accident on Kutuzovsky Prospekt on the night of August 16, which killed two people. reports this Interfax with reference to court press secretary Arsen Poghosyan. “The court granted the request of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Closed Joint-Stock Company and took Semin into custody,” Pogosyan said.