This one is fresh off the wire on Angela Merkel’s upcoming meeting with Dmitry Medvedev.  Despite strong efforts, Merkel’s past comments on human rights have not produced much.  Perhaps this summit, a new approach will be attempted.

From The New York Times:

For all her ability to speak Russian, or draw on her experience of growing up and working in Communist East Germany, Mrs. Merkel also has little to show for speaking out on human rights.

That will not stop her from voicing concern about recent killings of activists in Chechnya, said a government spokesman. This week, the bodies of Zarema Sadulayeva, a human rights campaigner, and her husband were found in the trunk of a car in Chechnya. Last month, Natalya Estemirova, a human rights campaigner, was kidnapped and killed; even Mr. Medvedev expressed dismay.