TODAY: Medvedev defends his cabinet against deputies and Putin comments; U.S. and Russia to have regular dialogue on adoptions; HRW calls for activist’s release; William Browder placed on international wanted list; Navalny rally in Moscow, new investigation opened; Sochi preparations anger locals.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev addressed the Duma yesterday for the first time in a year yesterday, fielding attacks from a number of deputies who lambasted the cabinet for working inefficiently.  Their comments echo those of Vladimir Putin, revealed in a video leaked just before Medvedev’s address, where he “rants” at senior officials for “worthless” work, sparking speculation of a cabinet reshuffle.  Medvedev did warn that Russia could fall into a recession due to falling commodity prices, and that the government was considering stimulus measures to push growth, but that it would stick to its fiscal rule to base spending plans on long-term oil price.  Elvira Nabiullina suggested that Bank Rossii should use monetary and credit policy to stimulate growth.  Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said that Russia’s G-20 plan would have different debt targets for different countries depending on economic conditions.  Hundreds of people rallied in Moscow yesterday in support of lawyer and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, whose trial has been postponed for a week.  Konstantin Sonin says that the fraud case against Navalny: “diverts enormous human and material resources from the more pressing fight against crime and corruption.”  Meanwhile a further criminal case has just been opened against Navalny and his brother Oleg.