December 6, 2010 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Dec 6, 2010

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TODAY: Crash-landing plane kills 2; satellites crash into Pacific; Putin held secret talks with FIFA heads, source alleges; Khimki opposition editor dies of cancer; Medvedev in Poland; corruption website to track suspicious tenders; UK MP denies aide was Russian spy.
An investigation has been launched into the crash-landing of a passenger plane at Domodedovo Airport; its pilots reported engine failure and made an emergency landing despite full fuel tanks and lack of visibility.  Two of its 167 passengers – including Gadzhimurad Magomedov, the brother of the leader of Dagestan – died in the crash.  Grigory Chekalin, a former deputy prosecutor for the Komi republic, has been sent to prison for fabricating charges against a local police investigator.  Russia’s three satellites crashed into the Pacific yesterday following a failed launch.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was directly responsible for Russia’s World Cup win, according to a former head of the Russian Football Union, who says that Putin held ‘secret talks‘ with FIFA members.  ‘The world’s media now worry about how [corruption and organized crime] might affect the 2018 football World Cup.‘  Speaking at a United Russia conference, Putin suggested that the party could learn to operate within a competitive political structure.