March 9, 2011 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – March 9, 2011

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TODAY: US VP in Russia for reset talks; any no-fly zone plans for Libya must be UN-led, says Clinton, as Russia sends humanitarian aid; United Russia call for tougher anti-extremism laws; Medvedev bans minimal prison sentences for some crimes; Russian protest takes the form of emigration; Blueberry Hill fund debate continues; decoding Medvedev; Chapman blog.
US Vice President Joe Biden begins talks with Russian business, political, and opposition leaders in Moscow today, providing ‘an opportunity to take stock of the reset‘.  Reuters has a factbox of key issues between the two, including arms and security in light of Iranian nuclear developments.  RFE/RL says that World Trade Organization accession is the big issue.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, says that the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya would have to be a UN-led decision, meaning that Russia’s veto would make such a move unlikely. The country is currently delivering humanitarian aid to refugees in Tunisia.  United Russia would like to see tighter anti-extremism laws, although rights activists argue that the existing laws are stringent enough, and often used to restrict freedom of expression, rather than to fight racism or nationalism.  New legislation signed by President Dmitry Medvedev to ban minimal prison sentences for certain crimes could reduce the Russian prison population by a third, but could also see minor criminals ‘legally avoid[ing] jail‘, and leaves maximum sentences intact.