Russia joins the race race

It is a truth universally acknowledged that even after the end of the cold war, the Russians are still very keen to compete with their American rivals.

This may go some way to explaining the publicity for Joakim Krama, a black African immigrant who is running for a position as head of the Volgograd Municipal Government.

Not quite as impressive as a black American President you say? Perhaps. But the Russians seem to be proud that their candidate is much blacker than Barack Obama, even down to being (hard to believe, I know) - a watermelon salesman.

As Pravda somewhat less-than-tactfully puts it, "Local people joke that if he is elected, he will work like a slave for the region."