the biggest stories of the week here on r.g.p. a lot of have been emerges triumphant in the russian presidential election after turning overwhelming poll support numbers in a convincing victory but tough challenges lay ahead for the new leader. the russian opposition scrambles to recapture the public's passion but cash expectations and internal fractures leave the movement increasingly short of support. russia and the arab league are finally in the same book about how to stop the syrian crisis and there are still those trying to put sticks in the spokes of diplomacy. and three days of fire more deaths are reported in israeli airstrikes on

gaza after subsidization of a palestinian resistance leader sense rockets flying over the border. it is just off the four pm on sunday here in moscow this is the life with me rule receipt showing the long and hard for the race for the kremlin is over with prime minister vladimir putin now set to make a return to the presidency after a landslide election victory but expectations are now greater than at any other time with serious national challenges still ahead compounded by a public more politically acute than ever before. the reports. it was one emotional night. yeah i do still. promised you we would win him.

money but we have him on. but you the prime minister may have justified in his cheers might a strong wind but no one would be surprised if it was caused by the joy of victory i it was hardly a shock as to can had been the elections clear front runner but eventually result of almost sixty four percent stunned even those at the helm who would never think about such a high result so it's even higher than were predicted for ourselves and it shows once again actually proves that putin is a political figure number one of these countries and he's potential is here is yet to be oh i'm closer there but it's no time to party now many experts believe real challenge in fact starts now. this will get sort of a battle between the two out there of course of all of the state the relevant coherent developments predators from myself i've been to fry the first concept as

putting the land they want russian political system to be transparent whereas russia's economy where they will get more nepotism and corruption but on the other hand this other group of process elite as well as russian probably i associate it with a deal they just need status quo they need just some ten dollars from the state they don't want any change which is the road to nowhere to change manifested itself in the sudden rise of new high you broke it off in under four months the russian billionaire managed to persuade more than five million people to vote for him many say this new face in a country split takes has serious potential and could also have already declared an intention to form an opposition party with putin promising he would cooperate with it to symbolize the new the new russia is some be sure all the other candidates. from the old. solid. and. they're

not you know any more leaders of the younger generation and figures speak for themselves second place communist leaders are going to gauge seventeen percent in his campaign for presidency less than he already had a parliamentary vote and experts say even this came mostly astral just voting in the eyes of many this is a clear signal it's time for politicians to make way in the western countries if a party loses the election its leader is no friend changed if it happens again plan he's definitely changed these guys had lost three times prior to this moment a lot of those folks are still seen as being somewhat out of touch you in the russian street is you know look these guys got their chance ninety nine years this group things are you know we still need stronger leadership and they're able to offer we need a more concrete program. putin will continue his work as prime minister for two more months a period which could become crucial and decisive for the country's long term future

david korten will officially return to the kremlin on may the seventh that is when his inauguration takes place until then the president elect will have to work out a strategy of holding a dialogue between those in power and those in the streets and given that some are still calling for him to step down even after such a convincing victory this may prove to be quite a task. alexi russia ski r.t. reporting from moscow. and one of the things this presidential campaign will be remembered for is the massive rally that heralded a political awakening of russia's public and by all appearances they worked with transparency becoming a top government priority today however the protest movement is fizzling and support quickly fading out is a ridiculous goal of so what's behind the sudden drop. on protesters i'm happy with the results of the presidential elections took to the streets the day after the votes to place some catholic. always busy. to do that stuff decided to outstay they

wanted two hours notice they were there yet it was ignored brooke i'm not going to leave the square i'm staying here until putin leaves where the tents and there were no tents but there was a fountain which all by itself shows as a makeshift stage to make his statements from and from which police removed him and several dozens of his supporters in a situation repeated itself on saturday when police pulled over and so from an electricity transformer again after the opposition rally was officially over but the antics of the opposition leaders seem to do little to keep people coming to protest rallies and years of what little goals of the old the spirit if that hysteria that irritation and aggression had continues it would have alienated the public no one here wants a revolution no one wants to fight with police the people who come to these protests only want change they don't want bloodshed all violence which is what

could scare them away the results of the elections to the state duma hotly contested by many brought tens of thousands out in the streets of moscow but the day after presidential elections there are only half of that number showed up to push his case square and even fewer still to the demonstration on saturday look a little very serious that they don't always hear every single protest absent was the base of a lot i'd rather see four hours a day going to that ridiculous not so no never called as i recall your guide as you know here is was there some blame the lack of a coherent idea and absence of unity among the opposition leaders for the waning support. i had i think these people all have a different agenda some don't even know why the hair if i were a star i want to see different independent candidates that i could choose from but i don't think we can really reach any goals by quite a slight face even some of the most vocal supporters of the move. actions say solid

foundations are necessary to carry on with the movement because that's when there's not some sort of regulation and structure is needed some sort of goals an understanding of what happens next which can be easily understood by people who are also necessary. movement which began as a call to free and fair elections in russia pulling the load for the state duma seems to have turned into haphazard series of gatherings they have achieved success in bringing people suits at streets. trying to attract more attention to their slogans. we are now witnessing their slogans leads to the change there's a need for a u.s. gender impact the rallies seem to have only one slogan around with putin but what to do if he leaves no one seems to know in moscow one of those who aren't. and their reaction to vladimir putin's return to the presidency by no means stopped

at russia's borders coming up in about twenty minutes time here on the program with thirty states for every one of the media's relentless tirade against putin's caliber see comes to our hard stop as observers and russian voters paint a very different picture of reality. and from a moonwalking to the ballot box to weddings and discos of polling stations all part of the electoral reality show captured by two hundred thousand a burka or more about a bit later here on r.t. . debate on how to stop the syrian crisis has been showing her leaning towards diplomacy russia and the arab league of come up with a joint plan of rolling out foreign meddling and calling on both the government and the opposition to lay down arms u.n. arab envoy is in syria promoting an all inclusive dialogue but that is rare for national reports there are those still trying to hinder those efforts. after

several recent differences between western and arab views and those of russia and china on how the long running syrian conflict should be handled we are now seeing some consensus speaking after the meeting with this arab counterparts russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has said they haven't out a common plan that sends a clear message to all the sides been involved in this crisis. we've agreed a joint position of five main points first to stop violence wherever it comes from second to create an impartial and independent monitoring system third no external interference for the unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid to the syrians and finally the firm support of kofi annan mission to start a political dialogue between the government and all opposition groups you see in your presence on. the joint you and arab league envoy is currently on a peace mission here in damascus both their sources and within the country opposition welcomed the initiative but the efforts were dismissed even before the un's arrival to syria why and now the opposition group based outside the country

the syrian national council recognized by many countries by e.u. as a legitimate representative of the syrian people thinking for democratic change is firmly rejected talks with the government and called on more military pressure on the regime of bashar al assad these calls were followed by suggestions by qatar to deploy foreign troops to syria but there is a fear here on the grounds of the growing international interference in the country's conflicts paving the way for an even bigger crisis as the syrian conflict stretches out in time it has also spread geographically i coasts of the uprising belt far from the country's borders what's happening in syria is. rages and what you've seen is the international community mobilize against the assad regime strategic analyst dr sullivan says one thing is clear though that mobilization has many more force than officially stated. during the operation in baba amr the soon.

an army arrested fighters from gulf countries and afghanistan iraq libya and some european states their work was coordinated by qatari and saudi intelligence officers as well as cia and mossad it's also seized israeli weapons especially in take tank missiles and israeli drones while the u.s. and many other countries have admitted al qaeda linked extremist groups fighting alongside the armed opposition in syria dr sullivan says some countries are using those groups to further their own interests. to get local players involved in order to hide their involvement this is why we are mostly arabs like saudi arabia and qatar or iraq and these countries don't have democracy at home of course they cannot ask for a status thing in syria they have another agenda. there are books and written sources where this plan is described in detail decades ago and how to coach never blogger and freelance journalist has been investigated for a serious crisis since last year she says this is

a story with three main chapters weapons smuggled across the border overseas contractors and foreign cash. when you see a lot of money here then you will be i believe this is comparable to what happened in the civil war in lebanon there were plenty of money then you will find that the government talk about hundreds of dollars or something nobody would give in so. now you would see now this is. here in syria with more and more reports on international involvement emerging and calls to arm the opposition get louder even for those at the grassroots of the uprising the initial euphoria is turning greater . they can say we regret what we did but we don't want things to go bad for turn so much militarized globalized and violent we never wanted and

don't want intervention now but fears are after lizzie's says that it could be too late to stop this all the current flames of conflict while the conflict between president bashar assad and his opponents here in syria about to enter its second year another conflict is also in full swing between those calling on solid and political settlement as the way out and those who insist on military solution and the let's turn it into a fight almost as important as the one claiming blood on the streets. not start see damascus syria. something attention to libya now he was interim leaders of struggling to keep the country together after a group of tribal and militia leaders declared a partial or total me for an oil rich region in the east the head of the national transitional council was quick to blame residents of the regime for the breakup stuff jolie has also said the country should take or he would be defended by any

means including force if patrick hays from the online of world affairs magazine spiked so these comments exposed the new rules to accusations of operating just like that. you almost couldn't make it up the. now the head of the national transitional council there i thought truly himself the minister of justice under the threatening to use force against you know the kind of peace the region who are thinking about it because they decided to act autonomously i think that's very worrying you know one this is an unelected representative saying this and you know how can you justify this you know how can we actually say any better than gadhafi if i'm going to use brutal force if i'm going to use coercion to try and keep my country together so it meets with my will which is not the will of the people because i haven't been voted. quarter past the hour in moscow you watching

r.t. still to come for you on the program emotional japan one year on a country stuck united in solemn silence to remember the thousands of lives taken by the deadly earthquake and tsunami last march. either salvation to some collapse to others grief some as are the biggest debt reduction deal in history while it's praised to the hilt by brussels ratings agencies slammed it as default by another name. israel has carried out several airstrikes on gaza killing seventeen people over three days as the worst violence the region has seen in more than a year the first attack came despite an informal truce between both sides targeted a high ranking palestinian resistance leader and sparked a fierce exchange of fire. as watching developments the situation here on the ground continues to escalate as israeli forces and palestinian militants continue

the exchanges of fire for the third straight day today sunday now the latest figures we have with the palestinian death toll at seventeen most of the non members of islamic jihad but overnight a twelve year old palestinian boy was killed in the jabalya refugee camp by an israeli air strike cairo is reportedly mediating work he's trying to mediate there is a harassed irrigation in egypt and the egypt's ambassador to the palestinian authority has put the blame firmly on the shoulders of the israelis saying that they are to blame for breaking this tacit ceasefire that has been in place between israel and gaza at the same time the arab league has been easing in cairo and they've also called the israeli airstrikes and massacre now tomorrow monday in the middle east quartet is meeting to look at these stored negotiations between israelis and palestinians that meeting comes ahead of a special session of the united nations security council that will be addressing the arab spring uprisings and his policy reporting about japan is marking

a year since a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated the country leaving more than twenty thousand dead or missing people gathered to united at the exact moment the quake struck last march to korean peninsula. the nine a magnitude quake which literally shifted the earth's axis left the whole northeast of the country in ruins displacing hundreds of thousands of people other tsunami it triggered also knocked out the cooling systems of the fukushima plant triggering the worst nuclear crisis in decades old gunderson energy advisor affair winds associates believes many details about the meltdown remain undisclosed with the contamination is spreading or well beyond the local area he got there. and i think the government has been slow to disclose facts ever since the accident occurred and

there's clearly the cleanup is going to cost around a half a trillion dollars u.s. and that's not just for the side but for the prefecture of fukushima as well but the contamination goes well beyond the appreciate your pick it up in tokyo and that's two hundred fifty kilometers away the entire north of the country as a public health hazard here because everyone is exposed to radioactive cesium radioactive strides and other isotopes. and for more on the fukushima crisis one year on you can just log on to our website on t.v. thought com and also waiting for you there right now for example of unusual survivors of the atomic bombing of hiroshima carefully preserved seeds from plants grown at the time of the a type sixty seven years ago to be planted in russia. plus the final

frontier mystery an experimental of us of spacecraft has been circling our planet for a year the purpose of the mission remains a secret. it's been a week of sharp ups and downs for the greek economy athens managed to talk private creditors into accepting a crucial bond swap deal that's considered to be the biggest debt write down in history be agreement seem to loosen the noose around athens and that by reducing the debt burden by more than one hundred billion euros e.u. leaders praised the deal to the skies claiming a solution to the crisis at last been found but just hours later for your credit suffered a major slap in the face by the credit rating agencies as moody's and fitch declared greece and to fold the markets back to trend by showing no signs of optimism william anderson associate professor from frostburg state university is a resolute in his assessment which is default and. this is before i'm going to

whatever you settle with your creditor for less than what you. are have agreed to do it then and you do it i don't care how systematic it is or how complicated these debt swaps are we are dealing with a real live before everybody knows that just because sir cosy claims that it isn't a deep fault means absolutely nothing it's a politician don't believe the european leaders are trying to put a political spin on this but what you have in the end is in fact the taking of assets that are worthless and you have a sum full by. i repent with these mean so these assets really are valuable when in fact they're in art and then they try to monetize the whole thing and then pretend as though they've solved the problem solved nothing we have actually made it worse because they won't mirror what is going or. watching r.t. it's good to have your company today some other global headlines of grief with the

r.t. world update for a suicide bomber in northwest pakistan has attacked a funeral being attended by an anti taliban politician at least thirteen mourners are being killed and about thirty others wounded the politician escaped unhurt secular leaning i won the national party holds power in the region conservatives leaders have been targeted in the recent past. the fire has torn through two adjoining neighborhoods in the proof capital destroying more than five hundred homes emergency services struggled for hours to control the police with just left over one hundred thousand people homeless no deaths are being reported local authorities setting up camps for people who have been affected. quite up like our top story here in r.t. other russian presidential elections of two thousand and twelve from politicians to the media across the world the election run up was an opportunity to make a statement from our put our public opinion and take cheap shots but for many of

them who turns sixty four percent victory came as an anticlimax leaving newsrooms with little left to say about it now delves into how harsh rhetoric may come up with a hefty price tag. a ruthless dictator whose days are numbered not exactly the language of international diplomacy but that's what britain's former foreign secretary thinks of russia's president elect casting he's aspersions even before russians cast their vote while david miliband is using these sort of expressions dictatorship they don't conform to reality in a dictatorship. people allowed to protest people were not allowed to walk around publicly with placards in the face of the leader of the country with derogatory terms written across the placards we've seen this in russia david miliband comments appeared in a british tabloid the morning of russia's presidential poll long before it finished the m.p. accusing putin of reversing russia's reforms because of vested interests the sort

of claim some experts say typifies the perception here of putin and russia the coverage has been very stereotyped so that when bad things happen in russia then they get huge coverage and then when i think we're good things or progress like genuine economic progress that tends not to get reported david miliband may not be in government now but he's widely expected to feature again should labor return to power should that happen he'll face a tough job repairing relations with russia after such a venomous attack talk about getting off on the wrong foot as miliband asserts but to a vital partners when it comes to foreign policy security and economic issues david cameron's reaction to putin's elections been far more measured until now the prime minister's haven't exactly been close didn't even make it on to cameron's extensive christmas card list last year but while cameron may not have congratulated person

on winning he has in the result it's clear the election has delivered a decisive result evenly and your polling data could put in above the fifty percent needed to win in the first round the same can be said of britain according to the electoral reform society two thirds of m.p.'s elected in two thousand and ten lacked a clear majority thanks to the ballot method of first past the post is russia's electoral system perfect no it's not but then the electoral system in the world is perfect let's not forget in britain no british prime minister. the chief anywhere near fifty percent of the votes a protest movement against putin's return to the presidency is certainly loud but according to official election results it's toward by those in favor putin received almost sixty four percent of the vote miliband predicts that support won't last for long but while it does britain will have to like it or lump it if it wants to do

business i've been it's r.t. on the. a free fair election the government's not getting out of its own actions and officials certainly spared little expense in delivering hundreds of thousands of webcams broadcast the vote for the entire world to see but if that isn't the buying and. much transparency also came with a dose of. allegations of widespread voter fraud in last december's parliamentary elections set off a wave of mess of protests against mr putin sensitive to the incited opposition he ordered the installation of web cameras and all of russia's polling stations it has been a very ambitious and costly project for the russian government not everybody was convinced by the use of a web cameras to ensure transparency the cameras however did prove to be quite handy in some provinces such as degas done in one station the results much cancelled after the cameras showed why lesions of election procedures.

the web cameras reproduced a fascinating slice of russian provincial life which went viral and got hundreds of clicks on social networking sites such as. some even joke that mr putin gave us the best reality show. cameras captured various activities from cultural dancing in chechnya. to russian women at straining and lots of dancing. one of video that was a hit with over three hundred thousand hits on you tube should this man bring in michael jackson's moonwalk back to life because his ballot.

we caught up with him in oz give he expected his video to be this popular. song i would say we did it for fun. actually i was surprised that we were the only ones who voted this way i thought there should have been more people like us there were a lot of opportunities to create whatever you want i hope next time people will vote more creatively with me election and the world and the country awaits the swearing in the president elect most of. as for the rest of us there's no doubt we'll never forget the glimpses the people gave us all realize from all across the country and those who thought that their moment on camera wasn't being watched by greedy we were looking. to ban it they don't see moscow. well sunday is a big day in the russian football premier league i look at today's fixtures coming up with the sports in about twenty minutes time but in just

a moment i'm back with the headlights see the shortening. this respectable british gentleman's choice was.