July 11, 2008 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – July 11, 2008

110708.jpgTODAY: More UK-Russia rows; population problems threaten economic security; Kasparov in the FT; new democratic political program; regulations for setting up NGOs “more complicated” than those for companies; Russia-Georgia conflict shows no signs of improving. Adding to an already teeming list of “tit-for-tat accusations”, Yuri Fedotov, Russia’s ambassador in Britain, has accused the media of running an organised anti-Moscow campaign, and demanded a government response, after Whitehall sources accused the Kremlin of being involved in the death of Alexander Litvinenko on the same day that prime minister Gordon Brown met with Dmitry Medvedev to try and improve relations. One newspaper says that Britain is trying to “defuse” the row by “playing down” the claims. Another argues that Russia’s tactics will harm its future prosperity. Meanwhile Russia has “ignited a new row”, accusing British diplomat Chris Bowers of espionage. “Britain and Russia have uniquely bad relations with each other.” Russia’s shrinking population “poses a serious threat to future economic growth and security”. A government incentive for mothers giving birth on Russia day supposedly saw “labor artificially induced on a mass scale.