TODAY: Russia keeps its voting rights in Council of Europe; Lavrov says Russia wants unbiased discussions about human rights; French Foreign Minister argues Russia flouting ceasefire; Israeli diplomat makes swift exit; UK Foreign Secretary visit to ease tensions?; Scientology 1- Russia nil.At a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Sergei Lavrov has asserted that the Kremlin has not avoided discussing human rights issues with other European states, 'but that dialogue should not be politicized, it should be concrete'.  According to Bloomberg, Kouchner has said that Russia is not honoring the terms of the 'Sarkozy-Medvedev' ceasefire agreement.   Ex-Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze has blamed President Mikheil Saakashvili for last year's conflict with Russia and has affirmed ...

RFE/RL interviews Pavel Khodorkovsky, the 24-year-old son of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, as he participated in against Russia's holding of political prisoners on Times Square in New York City:"I think that at the time my father was rather idealistic. He was innocent and he was confident he would be able to prove his innocence in court," Pavel Khodorkovsky said. "But because neither the first nor the second trail was independent, he did not succeed. In retrospect, six years later, one can say that, yes, what he thought then was naïve. But at that time, he didn't think so because there was a new president. There was a new wave of enthusiasm. People thought that these were changes for the better."Perhaps that's what Mikhail Khodorkovsky meant when ...