TODAY: Medvedev needs to create parliamentary independence; TNK-BP arrests made on grounds of “industrial espionage”. Russian TV journalist found dead. Russia “less hostile” towards US missile defense plans. If Medvedev intends to widen the discussion on decision-making, he also needs to “create conditions in which the parliament and courts can become both independent and efficient.” The lower house of the Russian Parliament is set to discuss a draft policy statement concerning the breakaway republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnistria. A timeline of Anglo-Russian relations has been compiled here. Two brothers arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service, one employed by TNK-BP and the other the head of the British Council’s British Alumni Club, were, according to the FSB, “illegally collecting classified commercial information for a number of foreign oil and gas companies to gain advantages over Russian competitors, including in CIS countries.” They have both been charged with “industrial espionage”. Alexei Frenkel, the banker on trial for the murder of Central Bank first deputy chairman Andrei Kozlov, says he believes another deputy chairman could be behind the killing.