TODAY: Lebedev removed from Sochi election; Israel lobbies Russia over Iran; government environmental inspector resigns; Business FM has its say

‘It’s the usual trick to get rid of a strong candidate’, says Alexander Lebedev, after a court disqualified him from the Sochi election, in what his spokesman described as ‘an absolutely illegal decision’.  Lebedev vows to appeal the decision, says the New York Times.  ‘Public politics are returning to Russia’, via the Sochi electoral race, argues a comment piece in the Moscow Times.  Israel has tried to convince Russia not to sell a strategic air defense system to Iran, but received ‘only vague assurances‘ reports the Moscow Times.  Russia ‘regrets’ North Korea’s dismissal of six-party talks and its decision to restart its nuclear program, according to Ria Novosti.  Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, claims he has ‘documentary proof‘ that opposition protests are funded by Russian oligarchs, but ‘whether the money is being sent from Russia under the supervision of the Russian government, that I do not know’, in an interview that can be read here.