TODAY: Anti-government protesters hit the streets again; Elections Commission refuses independent candidates; Medvedev calls for overhaul of system; Udaltsov in critical condition; Medvedev to lead United Russia? Putin’s approval ratings hit all-time low. Education and the Orthodox Church; Altai poachers acquitted – again.

Reports from this weekend’s rallies variously count 1,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 7,000 anti-government protesters.  The Central Elections Commission apparently refused to register three independent presidential candidates (including Eduard Limonov, who called the refusal a ‘political crime’), as the Communist and Yabloko parties nominated ‘old-guard leaders’ to run, ‘disappointing some supporters’, particularly those who had been holding out for a nomination for Alexei Navalny.  Yabloko has filed its first official complaints about election violations.  President Dmitry Medvedev has described recent anti-government protests as ‘foam’ on the surface indicating deeper problems, and has called for an overhaul of the political system; U.S. President Barack Obama apparently raised concerns over the recent elections in a telephone call with Medvedev.  The Guardian reports on the protest activities of Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov (currently being held in a detention center and allegedly in a critical condition) and his wife, Anastasiya Udaltsova.