TODAY: VKontakte ordered to remove group pages; population decline reversing? Nabucco pipeline threatened by South Stream; Borodin money-laundering case; anti-corruption wishlist; Putin in Bishkek for CTSO meetings; Olympic conference convenes; Arctic research platform; crane collapse. 

Social network VKontakte has been ordered by the federal communications watchdog to remove all references to children’s fashion from its group pages.  The government is considering increasing punishments for extremist crimes and ‘destructive activity by religious organisations’.  The Health Minister says that population decline has stopped, and that the birthrate actually rose by 5.6% last year.  French utilities provider GDF Suez agreed to buy a 9% stake in the Nabucco gas pipeline which aims to diversify energy supplies away from Russia, but according to a ‘dramatic shift’ in opinion, based on speculation that Nabucco could be overshadowed by the $39 billion South Stream pipeline plan, the project could be overshadowed by the more modest Trans Adriatic Pipeline through Greece.  The Bank of Moscow has filed a money-laundering case against its former head, Andrei Borodin, and may also sue him in a bid to reclaim money that was allegedly misappropriated during his employment.  The latest suggested anti-corruption measures include mandatory polygraph testing for state officials, and anti-corruption classes in educational institutions that train future state employees.