TODAY: Russia condemns North Korea ‘Hiroshima’ size bomb test; Lavrov says election result in Lebanon must be respected; Medvedev believes influence in CIS states should be extended; streamlining the military provokes discontent

A spokesman for President Medvedev has said that ‘North Korea’s underground nuclear test in the region adjacent to the territory of the Russian Federation … causes deep regret and the most serious concern‘.  The detonation was, according to Russian experts, of a bomb roughly the same size as that dropped on Nagasaki or Hiroshima.  Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the international community must recognize the results of Lebanon’s upcoming general election, regardless of who wins.  This comment comes hot on the heels of those by US Vice President Joe Biden who visited the country and warned against supporting ‘spoilers of peace’ – referring to Hezbollah.  NATO has said that Georgia, who will participate in the military exercises it is hosting, will eventually become a member.