Main news of October 3

RUSSIA

* Expenses to repair Russia's largest hydropower plant wrecked in August have been approved at 21.6 billion rubles ($717 mln) for 2009-2010, the Russian energy minister, Sergei Shmatko, said

* The Russian government will go ahead with privatizations next year by putting to auction state-owned stakes in some companies, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told the Rossiya TV channel

* Two planes carrying Russian rescuers and doctors have arrived on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where thousands of people remain trapped under rubble since this week's earthquakes

WORLD

* U.S. President Barack Obama is disappointed after Chicago failed to win the right for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, a spokesman for the White House said

* Ireland has voted "Yes" to the Lisbon Treaty setting out rules for decision-making in the European Union, officials said after the country's second nationwide referendum

* Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has ruled out any preconditions for reestablishing ties with Turkey, the Armenian presidential press service said

* A possible conclusion of a reconciliation pact between the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas may help Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to regain control of the Gaza, an Egyptian newspaper reported

* Hamas, which recently released video footage of an Israeli solider held captive for over three years, has threatened new kidnappings to ensure the release of its members, Israel's Haaretz daily reported

BUSINESS

* The Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank heads warned at a meeting in Istanbul that the prospects for global economic growth were still fragile