TODAY: Amnesty laments lack of progress five years on from murder of Anna Politkovskaya; US pays tribute to slain journalist; Russia takes issue with Washington’s Spanish missile interceptor plans; are CIS nations really keen on idea of Eurasian Union?  Medvedev pledges ongoing support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia; chill descends over Russia-Germany relations.  Predictions for Putin’s reign; nationalism in the elections; Khodorkovsky says Aleksanyan offered treatment for testimony; good news for Moscow’s architecture?  Medvedev mourns Steve Jobs.

Amnesty International has marked the anniversary of the murder of Kremlin-critical journalist Anna Politkovskaya with a statement in which they say ‘little progress‘ has been made in the past five years to ‘increase the safety of journalists or human rights defenders who dare to expose abuses or challenge authority in Russia.’  Russian investigators have marked the anniversary by filing new charges against suspects involved in the slaying, but have failed to provide any insight into who planned it.  Resolving the case which ‘came to symbolize the corruption of the political and judicial system under Putin’ could be an important step for the reputation of the soon to be President, says the New York Times.  A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State has said the country ‘honors the legacy’ of the investigative reporter and urges Moscow to prosecute all guilty of killing her.  London-based rights NGO Reach All Women in War (RAW in War) has bestowed its annual Anna Politikovskaya award on Syrian human rights activist Razan Zeitouneh.