Russia will participate in its first major naval exercise close to the U.S. since the Cold War. Moscow is sending "Peter the Great," a nuclear-powered cruiser to the Caribbean for a joint naval exercise with Venezuela. The destroyer "Admiral Chabanenko," will also participate in the exercise this November.

Jon Rosamund, of Jane's Navy International, said the "Peter the Great" is heavily armed, "On paper it's an immensely powerful ship. We are not really sure if this is a show of force or if it poses a viable operational capability at this stage....These ships have far more capability, on paper, than the U.S. destroyers that went to the Black Sea, but it's difficult to compare capacity."

The Russian company constructing Iran's nuclear power plant said yesterday that preparations for the launch were close to completion. The head of the company even called the launch of the Bushehr plant "irreversible." Experts speculate that this means fuel will be loaded into the reactor which would be very difficult to take out. Iran is paying a fee of more than $1 billion for the project.

The Russian Ambassador to NATO said last week that his country's cooperation in Afghanistan will depend on "NATO's position in the Caucasus crisis" adding, "we are not satisfied either with NATO's words or actions" regardomg the recent upheavals in the region.NATO has been critical of Russia's action in Georgia but Russia is a key player in the effort in Afghanistan, serving as a passage for supplies.

For more on some of Russia's troubling ways, Andreas Oppenheimer's column on Russia and its growing alliances in Latin America is a must read.

And finally, for what it's worth, "extremist" is the word Russian prosecutors have called an episode of the U.S. cartoon South Park, warning a TV station there about broadcasting it. Prosecutor General's Office said it "offends the honour and dignity of Christians and Muslims and insults the feelings of believers irrespective of their faith."