RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Oct 14, 2008

TODAY: Elections shut parties out; EU divided over resuming talks with Russia in aftermath of Georgia war; Medvedev never mentioned a ‘sphere of influence’, argues one reporter; Russian to sue US government over Aeroflot crash. Roscosmos. Hockey player dies at Russian game. Russia’s regional elections, which took place over the weekend, denied registration to all parties not represented in the Duma, ‘effectively locking in a four-party system’. Roman Abramovich won a seat in Chukotka with a reported 97% of the vote. Germany and Italy are leading the campaign for Europe to resume discussions with Russia on trade, energy and political ties, although Britain and France have protested. The US is to join tomorrow’s Russia-Georgia talks, which have been organised by the EU, UN and OSCE to work towards promoting stability in Georgian regions. The Moscow Times tries to set a few things straight regarding Medvedev’s supposed ‘sphere of influence’ and the discussion of Russia, as part of coverage for the US presidential elections, as an ‘evil empire’.

Two US law firms are suing America’s Federal Aviation Administration on behalf of a Russian citizen whose son was killed in last month’s Aeroflot crash, alleging that the FAA failed to regulate the training institutions that trained the plane’s crew. On the ‘capricious decisions and byzantine rule’ of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency. 19-year-old Russian professional hockey player Alexei Cherepanov has died after collapsing during a game.PHOTO: Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev holds a tennis racket given by the country’s tennis team during a meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow October 13, 2008. REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Pool (RUSSIA)