DMITRY MEDVEDEV

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen hopes to secure Russian help in equipping and training Afghan security forces during a visit to Moscow in December, an alliance spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Berlin Wall will be back to briefly divide the German capital again next month -- but with giant brightly colored dominos rather than cement slabs.

President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization had not been damaged by the complications of pursuing membership together with Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The Kremlin on Thursday said President Dmitry Medvedev backed the ruling party's landslide victory in disputed regional elections, snubbing opposition parties who walked out of parliament alleging vote-rigging.

Russian opposition parties walked out of parliament on Wednesday in a rare act of protest against disputed regional elections, with the Communist Party blaming Vladimir Putin for an unworkable system of governance.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up a European tour Wednesday by calling on Russia to uphold human rights and prevent attacks on activists who challenge the Kremlin.

Moscow and Washington must agree on where the threats to their security come from before plans to cooperate on missile defense can progress, Russia's negotiator said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ends her visit to Russia on Wednesday with a charm offensive to win public support for Washington's efforts to reset relations but no clear breakthroughs from formal talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed to win specific pledges from Moscow on tougher sanctions against Iran during a visit to Russia on Tuesday but hailed progress in other areas such as arms control.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday the time had not yet come for more sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program and praised what she said was Russia's help in tackling the issue.

President Dmitry Medvedev faced a test of his pledge to boost Russian democracy on Sunday when polls opened for 30 million voters in regional elections the opposition says have been rigged.

The GOP poked fun at President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize in a fundraising letter sent out to supporters on Friday.

Iran and Afghanistan will dominate talks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton next week on a trip to Britain and Russia that could also spur progress on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Moscow.

Russia sees a redrafted U.S. anti-missile shield plan as less of a security threat than the previously proposed project, Russian agencies said Wednesday, which should ease tensions between the two powers.

After his efforts at diplomacy on the international stage last week, President Barack Obama faces some particularly daunting foreign policy decisions about the Afghan war, a nuclear Iran and an elusive Middle East peace.

China dampened expectations of further sanctions on Iran Thursday, telling other major powers that putting even more pressure on Tehran would not persuade it to halt its nuclear program.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed on Wednesday that serious additional sanctions must be considered if Iran does not respond to proposals to end a nuclear standoff.

Russia's top general said on Monday that plans to deploy missiles in an enclave next to Poland had not been shelved, despite a decision by the United States to rethink plans for missile defense in Europe.

Israel has not given up the option of a military response to Tehran's nuclear programme, senior officials said on Monday, after Russia's president said his Israeli counterpart assured him it would not attack Iran.

Israel told Russia it would not launch an attack on Iran, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a CNN interview released Sunday, in which he described such an attack as the worst thing that can be imagined.

President Barack Obama on Thursday dumped a Bush-era missile defense plan for Europe that Russia had bitterly opposed and offered what he said would be faster, more flexible defense systems to protect against Iran.