December 8, 2009 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Dec 8, 2009

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TODAY: Perm death toll rises to 117 as Putin demands inspections; Yukos case coming back to haunt the Kremlin?; Magnitsky’s prison letters spark nationwide attention; internet provider admits to blocking ‘extremist’ sites; Putin’s economic strategy; START delays; provincial architecture being destroyed.
The death toll in Russia’s Perm nightclub fire has risen to 117, with 30 more victims still in critical condition.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered the Emergency Situations Ministry to inspect nightclubs and concert halls across the country, following the blaze, which was started by fireworks (the Moscow Times notes that firework sales have significantly dropped in wake of the news).  After an arbitration panel ruled that shareholders in former Yukos are entitled to seek an estimated $100 billion in damages from the Russian government, this Guardian journalist suggests that, if it wants to avoid large compensation claims, Russia will have to ‘convince an independent court that the seizure of Yukos was a legal act and not a politically inspired violation of property rights‘.