TODAY:  Georgia-Russia tensions simmer in advance of EU report; Council of Europe hullabaloo.  Russia edgy on Washington's new defense scheme; Obama forward looking; Kremlin does not feel Iran missiles justify sanctions.  Journalist in hiding over anti-Soviet article; no joy for beer drinkers and hackersAccusations are flying ahead of today's publication of EU-backed report on the war in Georgia which is expected to be critical of both parties.  The Times says that Georgia has preemptively accused Russia of spreading 'patently false information about fictitious attacks on Russian peacekeepers'.  Tbilisi has also claimed that the report has concluded that Russian troops were responsible for ethnic cleansing during the conflict.  Russia is bristling at motions in the Parliamentary ...

TODAY: SCO wraps up in blaze of activity; Medvedev calls BRIC 'historic event'; no decision from US on defense system; German MPs agree Khodorkovsky trial is trial for Russian justice; Vaclev Havel speaks out against RussiaFor detailed step-by-step coverage of the SCO summit, see Ria-Novosti.  The countries endorsed the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov calling his visit to Russia 'symbolic'.  Yulia Latynina comments on long-standing collusion between Russia and Iran:  'Iran spends so much money on Russia that supporters of the Islamic revolution work in the Russian Embassy in Tehran'.   The summit also saw: the signing of a declaration affirming a multipolar world, castigation of North Korea, promises to help Afghanistan and ...

TODAY: Russia plays host to SCO and BRIC meetings; sidestepping protests at home, Iranian President Ahmadinejad lands in 'welcoming' Russia; is the US re-start set to stall?; Kremlin vetoes UN mission in Georgia; Russia holds record for journalist deaths in EuropeRussia has welcomed controversially re-elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Yekaterinburg for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at which the country has observer status.  Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has called the violently-contested election: 'an internal affair of the Iranian people.'   The New York Times examines the difficulties awaiting Barack Obama in Moscow, particularly regarding hopes of Russian pressure on Iran.  Another article in the Times suggests that during the BRIC summit, Russia, the group's 'ideological provocateur', will be 'especially ...