TODAY: Medvedev lambasts Quadriga Prize organizers over Putin volte-face; hints at return to presidency? Journalists rally in Moscow in solidarity with photojournalists accused of espionage; police salaries to triple.  Medvedev warns against partisan attitude to Libyan conflict; airbase talks with Tajikistan inconclusive; Britain and Russia to extend military ties. Wildfires; how Russia will benefit from NASA’s retreat from space

At his meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, President Dmitry Medvedev described the withdrawal of the human-rights oriented Quadriga Prize from nominee Vladimir Putin as a manifestation of ‘cowardice and repugnance’. The Petersburg Dialogue is not normally chaired by heads of state, so when the President said neither himself nor Ms Merkel would chair it in the near future, certain commentators were quick to suggest therein lay a hint that he plans to retain the presidency.  Brian Whitmore describes the many rounds of pre-election crypticism as evidence of ‘managed pluralism‘.  Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has voiced his opposition to the possible return of Vladimir Putin.