We learned this morning that Paul's requests for consular access, made last week at the visit he had with U.S. Embassy officials, are moving forward. Paul's family members have communicated with UK, Canadian, and Irish government staff about his situation.  All three countries made requests for consular access to Paul and those requests were granted by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs [when: I don't know, the email came to us this morning about 0800Eastern].  U.S. Embassy staff say that the other consular officials all hope to visit Paul later this week. 

We were hoping for a phone call with Paul's lawyer's office, through an English-speaking staff person, but the person failed to participate in the call.  Paul's family will look forward to an opportunity to touch base in the near future.