Russia’s lower house of parliament today took the first step toward approval of a bill that would prevent foreign-funded rights groups from operating in the country – a move sure to heighten criticism of President Vladimir Putin’s commitment to democracy.

Yukos tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky returns to court for a fourth day for the gruelling reading of the verdict in his fraud case today, with his frustrated lawyers speculating that the numbing pace is aimed at killing interest in the biggest trial in post-Soviet Russia.

Russia’s richest man, oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, appeared in a Moscow court today for the first substantive hearing in a case that threatens to bring down the business empire he built.