that a drunken policeman can drag an innocent young man into a police station in broad daylight and put him on such a list - I didn't want that to happen to my son." A few weeks later, she came home one night to find signs that her apartment had been broken into. The next morning, she fell violently ill, and fainted. Medical tests revealed acute kidney failure, but in a few days she had recovered, and her kidneys were functioning normally. She believes that an intruder put poison in her food. Asylum and impact on US-Russia relations In March 2007, Tlisova went to the United States for a two-year program to study journalism. In early March, the Sunday Times reported that she had asked for asylum, but she denied this. On June 1, the paper "Caucasian Knot" reported that she had been granted asylum, and rumours persisted. On 2007-06-28, Tlisova and Bagrov, along with the Committee to Protect Journalists, met the Congressional Human Rights Caucus chaired by Representative Tom Lantos. In a press release on the event, the CPJ said "This spring, unable to continue their work unobstructed, Bagrov and Tlisova were granted political asylum, and they resettled in the United States." However, a report a few days later from her workplace, Regnum news agency, quoted her as denying this, saying "There is only one thing true in what has been reported about me: I did take place in a round-table discussion at the US Congress. I am staying in America to study; after it I intend to continue working in Caucasus." The report labelled rumours of her asylum as an "information campaign". At some point, the relevant paragraph in the CPJ announcement was also revised, with an editor's note. The new text says that Tlisova and Bagrov had received refugee status. In her interviews about moving to the United States, Tlisova said that while welcoming the security it gave her family, she also felt that she could not remain silent about the violence in her homeland. At another point, she said "I see my further work only in Caucasus". The asylum for the dissident journalists gave rise to speculation that the United States and its allies were taking a hard line with Russia, especially when shortly afterwards, four Russian diplomats were expelled from the United Kingdom, after Russia refused to extradite FSB agent Andrei Lugovoi, who is suspected