Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said modernization of the country's nuclear forces was imperative in part because of the threat of NATO's eastward expansion, Russian news agencies reported.

"Attempts to spread NATO's military infrastructure along Russia's borders have not stopped," Medvedev said at a Defence Ministry meeting. "All of this requires a high-level modernization of our military forces.

Moscow  - Just seconds before blast off, Russia delayed the launch Monday of one of Europe's most technically advanced space missions, a Space Forces spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying the launch was delayed for 24 hours for "technical reasons."

The 450-million-dollar European Space Agency (ESA) satellite is to reach orbit strapped to the back of a modified Russian ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north-west Russia.

Moscow - US actor Mickey Rourke fulfilled a "dream" by making a three-hour visit to Moscow's notorious Butyrka Prison as he prepares for his next big screen role as a Russian bad man, it was reported Saturday.

The 56-year-old - Oscar-nominated this year for his role in The Wrestler - met behind locked cell doors with inmates during the tour which included visits to the prison gym, church, museum and canteen, Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper said.

It quoted Rourke as admiring the prison's facility for allowing inmates time with their wives - "that's very humane" - and said Rourke gave autographs to warders and inmates.

Moscow - The Russian Air Force is considering temporarily basing long-range bombers on Cuba or in Venezuela, Interfax news agency quoted a senior officer as saying Saturday.

Cuba alone had four or five suitable bases, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had offered a base on La Orchila island, Major- General Anatoly Shikharev was quoted as saying.

Moscow - Russian police in Siberia stormed a bank and killed an armed man who had taken five hostages there Friday, a police spokesman said.

"The operation was successful. The hostages are safe and sound. The criminal is dead," the Interfax news agency quoted a police spokesman from the town of Leninsk-Kuznetski as saying.

Moscow  - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that the government's anti-crisis policies were not beyond criticism, welcoming policy debate while warning against social unrest in a meeting with lawmakers.

The open attitude comes in marked contrast to his predecessor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's uncompromising rule and to the Kremlin's swift moves to quell protest against the governments anti- crisis measures in recent months.