[HIGHLIGHTS] Russia: Putin opponent Boris Nadezhdin fails in his lawsuit against being excluded from the election.

Putin opponent Boris Nadezhdin fails in his lawsuit against being excluded from the election. The electoral commission had said that “irregularities” had been found in some of the 105,000 signatures from supporters.

Incumbent Vladimir Putin is expected to win the presidential election in mid-March. There is no real opposition in the election; many opposition politicians are in prison or in exile.. Last week the prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny died in custody. hen/AFP