TODAY: Politkovskaya defense will insist on open trial; Duma approves presidential term bill; Medvedev pledges cash to APEC, demands summit play stronger role in security; National Intelligence Council evaluates Russia’s global position; Russia-Finland camouflage spat.

Following news that the jury on the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial denied that their concerns over publicity had anything to do with the closing of the trial, the judge has adjourned the proceedings for ten days due to ‘scheduling conflicts‘.  This report says that Politkovskaya’s defense lawyers are now intending to demand an open court.  Another Russian journalist has been attacked, the fifth attack of its kind in Dagestan this year. 

A new report by the National Intelligence Council differentiates Russia’s ‘state capitalism‘ economic model from the western model, evaluates the prospects for a Russian push for democracy, suggests that Russia could benefit from global warming, and discusses its organized crime problem.  The State Duma has approved the final reading of the bill to extend the presidential term from four to six years.