TODAY: A new twist – Politkovskaya case to be open to the media; Samara judge and North Ossetian mayor both shot; Georgian diplomat accuses government of plotting war; will NATO’s refusal to Ukraine look like Russian victory?

It is being reported that the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial will now be open to the media as originally planned, after Judge Yevgeny Zubov reversed the initial decision for the trial to remain open.  Zubov is apparently going to consider the prosecution’s request to have him removed from the trial today, ‘adding to the confusions that have come to typify‘ the trial.  Perhaps the mysterious politician will be revealed after all?  The top judge in the Samara region was shot ‘in an apparent assassination attempt‘ yesterday, and the mayor of North Ossetia was shot dead following an attack on his car this morning.  Prosecutors may classify the Mihkail Beketov case as attempted murder, rather than aggravated assault.