TODAY: British Council shuts two of its offices indefinitely and the director of its St Petersburg office is detained. Medvedev a liberal? Putin heads to Bulgaria to cement energy pipeline deals. Yukos executive accuses jailers of blackmail. Russia’s freedom is downgraded. Japanese activists respond to allegations of Russian spying. The “diplomatic war” between Russia and the UK reached “a dangerous new phase” after Russian police detained the son of the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock on drink-driving charges, in a move that British newspapers are calling “a Kremlin-backed campaign of intimidation against British Council staff.” The Council has indefinitely shut its St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg offices. Washington’s State Department has chimed in, saying it ”regrets” the actions taken by Russia and noted that the British Council plays ”a vital role in increasing understanding between the peoples of the United Kingdom and Russia.”