TODAY: Medvedev to hold major press conference; election strategy to be revealed? Music critic faces up to two years in jail for Agata Kristi ‘poodle’ insult; gay rights march banned; Khodorkovsky demands criminal investigation into judge. Results of Libya talks remain cryptic; fire in Moscow highlights perilous living conditions of workers

Today President Medvedev will hold his biggest news conference since taking office at the Skolkovo School of Management, with reports stating that more than 800 journalists will be present.  According to the Moscow Times, the delay of the appeal trial of Khodorkovsky and his fellow defendant, Platon Lebedev, is to ensure President Medvedev does not face questions about the trial at today’s press event.  Will he reveal his election plans?  ‘Medvedev will try to show he is not simply a ‘yes man’ but that he is almost an equal to Putin’.  On the subject of electioneering, Brian Whitmore argues here that Mikhail Prokhorov’s entry into party politics is simply one prong in the authority’s strategy to consolidate the ruling elite.  The Vladimir Putin-backed All-Russia People’s Front will apparently enjoy the cooperation of right-wing movement, the Congress of Russian Communities.