TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?  Activist abducted in Moscow.  Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.  Medvedev reserves army use for emergencies. Luzhkov lays into Abramovich; new vodka pricing; toy story. The Moscow Times reports that revenge may be the motive behind the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.  Apparently the alleged gunman Nikita Tikhonov may have been a suspect in the stabbing of anti-fascist activist Alexander Ryukhin in 2006, whose mother Markelov was a lawyer for.  The other suspect, Eugenia Khasis, 24, appears to have no prior convictions.  Apparently the killer has confessed - the Other Russia reporting it to be ...

AIDS experts are aghast to see that rates of HIV in Russia have doubled in the past 8 years, reports the Washington Post.  Russia's 'healthy lifestyles' program and advocacy of abstinence have not been effective in combating the problem, international AIDS workers at an Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference have argued.  Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yakovenko has apparently defended Russia's 'humanitarian but not dubious methods' (the 'dubious' one being the widely-favored methadone substitution program - illegal in Russia) and advocated the increasing involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in curbing insalubrious lifestyle choices. So will any advice be heeded?  The problem of HIV in Russia seems to remain, in the Kremlin's ...

TODAY: Medvedev admits terrorists have strong hand in Caucasus; proposes sidestepping trial by jury for special cases; technological breakthrough to solve missile defence situation?  Ukraine-Russia issues still making waves; church reacts on exposé article.At a security conference on the North Caucasus, Dmitry Medvedev has said that terrorists must be killed 'without emotion or doubt', and that they should be tried elsewhere in Russia if a 'quality trial' cannot be assured in the region itself.  He also told police officers that police safety must be ensured at all costs: 'Chiefs of any rank will be taken to task, or even fired, for failing to provide such [security] measures'.  Medvedev has pledged a commitment to regaining stability in ...

TODAY: EU to extend Georgia monitoring mission; Kyrgyz opposition turns to Moscow.  China-Russia relations strain over river proposal.  Activist shot in face following threats.  Moscow Patriarch Kirill appeals for unity in Ukraine.  Putin song.White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has apparently played down the suggestion that US Vice President Joe Biden made a U-turn on the reset.  Reuters analyzes the change in posture of an arguably more modest Mikheil Saakashvili?  South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has argued that the US, Ukraine and Israel bare grave responsibility for rearming Georgia 'to the teeth'.   The EU has extended a cease fire monitoring mission in Georgia for one more year, but the idea of other countries joining ...