TODAY: Zhukov promises fresh start for Russian sports; Sochi hunger strike; Paralympian triumph.  Suit against Gryzlov thrown out; gay pride march unsanctioned.  Ukraine-Russia thaw in spotlight; what exactly are Russia’s foreign policy plans?  Eurochem denies toxic spill; Medvedev appears to oppose Gazprom tower; the devil’s music

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, who has been elected the head of the Olympic Committee, apparently plans to make ‘drastic changes’ to the state of sport in Russia.  The avid chess player hopes to make the game an Olympic sport.   Residents from Sochi who claim they have been evicted without proper compensation to make way for Olympic facilties are going on a hunger strike, the Other Russia reports.  The New York Times looks at the achievements of the Russian Paralympic team; no mean feat in a country where disabled people are hardly well-accomodated.  A court has thrown out a defamation lawsuit against State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov over accusations that Moskovsky Komsomolet columnist Alexander Minkin showed solidarity with terrorists after the Moscow metro bombings.  The Solidarity movement has made proposals to the Interior Ministry in an attempt to reform the country’s police force.  Moscow City Hall has banned a gay pride parade for the fifth year in a row.