TODAY: Hermitage Capital executive receives death threats; Moscow police pursue Memorial chief for Kadyrov comments; FSB extra power measures dropped by Duma after protests; Putin suggests hanging as punishment for corruption. Russia says US missile defense shield unjustified; Japan irked by war games.  Major investment plan for North Caucasus; infrastructure woes to burden taxpayer; tips for the ladies

A senior executive at Hermitage Capital Management leading the investigation into corruption in the Interior Ministry has received death threats, the Telegraph reports.  Moscow police have charged the head of the Memorial rights group, Oleg Orlov, with defamation for connecting Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov with the disappearance of rights activists in Chechnya, despite the fact that the President dropped his lawsuit against the activist five months ago.  The Duma has abandoned the protest-prompting measures that were to give new powers to the FSB, which activists said would undermine civil liberties.  Dmitry Medvedev has urged that reforms to the police, designed to improve their besmirched image, be expedited, Ria-Novosti reports.  Vladimir Putin has joked that ‘hanging’ should be the punishment for corruption but since that is not Russia’s ‘method’, he has urged instead than anti-corruption laws be observed effectively.  The Duma is currently drawing up legislation that would mean people taking bribes of a maximum of 3,000 rubles would not face prison, but rather a 30,000 ruble fine.  ‘The Kremlin’s undermining of direct mayoral elections is a step in the wrong direction that will make the country’s system of governance more ineffective and unstable’:  Konstantin Sonin sees the power vertical wobble.