TODAY:  Extended presidential terms signed into law – protests in response, a missile test gone awry, clashes in Dagestan claim life of top Russian official, Abramovich to sell yacht or Chelsea while Latvia asks to be bought, fallen hockey star Alexei Cherepanov is alleged to have used drugs, and Ded Moroz, Russia’s version of Santa Claus, pulls a heist at a gas station.

On Tuesday, President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law a proposal to extend Russia’s presidential terms from four to six years, which made its way through the legislative bodies with record speed – the constitutional amendment cleared the parliament at 83 regional legislatures in less than 50 days.  The pro-democracy Yabloko party held a last-ditch protest demonstration to oppose the change to the constitution, pointing out that under law the regions have one full year to consider any such change.  “They’re completely ignoring the law,” said Sergei Mitrokhin, chairman of Yabloko. “Unfortunately, this happens quite often, but this is the first time the process has been ignored for such a significant issue as a constitutional amendment.”