TODAY: CEC refuses to overturn election results despite Shein’s optimism; Greenpeace activists arrested in Russia’s Arctic; UR wants to increase protest fines; reviews of Assange’s RT debut; Medvedev introduces public TV.  Peace in Syria under threat, says Russia.  Homophobia.

The Central Election Commission has argued that violations during the disputed March 4 mayor elections in Astrakhan, which prompted Just Russia candidate Oleg Shein to undertake a hunger strike, were ‘procedural’ and could not affect the results of the vote.  ‘[E]verybody knows that Putin answers to nobody, least of all to voters. Sooner or later, this will be his undoing‘: Yulia Latynina warns the Prime Minister against ignoring Shein’s grievances.  The politician, who is in his fifth week of hunger strike, said he was confident that Russian courts would invalidate the election, but has not ruled out recourse to the ECHR.  Brian Whitmore explains how the Kremlin will have to draw up new strategies to neutralize the opposition if local politicians continue to bring electoral fraud to light.  Police have detained a score of Greenpeace activists found protesting against Exxon’s joint plans with Rosneft to drill for oil in the fragile Arctic zone.  A group of United Russia deputies have proposed increasing penalties for protest organizers and participants, including a major leap in the maximum fine.   Six teenagers have been arrested in Moscow for holding an anti-religion demonstration in front of an Orthodox church.