top stories on our blood timid approach and returns to the kremlin russia's president with a raft of new challenges ahead one of the biggest being the protests which grew into clashes ahead of his inauguration. a jihad this terrorist group says it carried out dual suicide bombings in syria's capital which became the deadliest since the on rust began. the search is on for the reasons why a sweet voiced super jet plowed into a volcano killing all forty five on board russian teams reach indonesia in the hunt for the black boxes. and austerity anger fuels massive protests in spain aren't clashes in italy with warnings that the fury among europeans over economic misery

could tear the e.u. apart. oh and thanks for joining r t with me karen tara in the weekly russia's latest president took his seat this week as floods he made a putin return to the top job but it's a very different world when he was last in the kremlin and all eyes are on which course he will take the question being if putin can move forward now that he's back here's a look say at a ship's. for the third time vladimir putin took the thirty three word oath to become russia's president with an air of ease and calm you know it as i fulfill the duties of the president of the russian federation i swear to protect and guarantee the rights and freedoms of our citizens to observe and protect the constitution of

the russian federation to protect the sovereignty independence and territorial integrity of our state to serve its people faithfully. but the task he's taken on could be more like an uphill ride experts believe any leader who's been in power for five six seven years in a difficult position because people get used to him and taken for granted he has to then reinvent himself international challenges have changed greatly since used to previous terms while russia's new president faces an absolutely different situation at home the country has become more politically active and with so many reforms promised by putin during his campaign he has no choice but to start fulfilling them he needs to set out for reform and not a reform on paper but something we'll something that both the opposition and you know the regular people not just in moscow but all throughout russia can see that

this is really putin to point out the eyes of the world are also on what putin's foreign policy will be many believe it's likely to stay close to that of meeting with the video however putin statements on foreign policy have given a hint that we may see something new off to roll first he insisted russia will firmly defend its interests over american missile defense plans in europe he also said he would not be going to the next g. eight summit in the united states it has already made some analysts speculate that the relationship between moscow and washington would not be so rosy the return of putin to the presidency. heralds a strong not a decisive shift but a strong shift in emphasis away from the failed reset policy that hillary clinton offered when video first the people and its president and i think it's been clear that the reset has brought nothing positive for security or stability in russia it

was a time bind measure on the part of washington simply to allow it to build more of its ballistic missile defense installations and put more pressure on russia secure . the situation the next few months say experts will be instrumental in defining putin's long term strategy the question is whether russia and the world will see a new putin willing and able to face difficult challenges. the artsy moscow. people which the new government probably needs to convince the most are the opposition that drew crowds before and after the inauguration some of the most recent protests in moscow resulted in ugly clashes with police and hundreds of arrests parties and he said now and political analysts to me that above it examine who's driving the demonstrations. who is the russian opposition well of course it depends who you ask but also if you take a look for yourself what you'll see most often are a lot of different colors organizations and parties well to help us kind of

decipher who's who in this i think we can call modern russian opposition is dmitri bobbitt he's a political analyst for voice of russia radio thanks for being with us i want to start with aleck's in the widely and sergei so just because they're the most well known at the moment they're constantly getting arrested and being released just briefly tell us who they are and why they've become the prominent leaders. is not a typical leftist populist like well does he use the morning to take corruption and nationalist. but let's focus on the flanks for a bit looking at this video this is this is sunday's protest which for the first time turned really ugly you see these there's so and the left front it's called what what are the main focus of that party it's a flag we saw a lot of on sunday you see the red flags with the red star so this is an image abroad people might think it's you know a communist party because they read russia communist so what they write because it

will do so for recently because. he is. left from the reason why all of the communist party of russian federation human being chronically ill but dissipating all these actions get him constantly arrested that's his style what's like is that they're on a kibbutz where he is the traditional. russian and i guess what does that mean in terms of there are several groups which do not i why themselves with the left front or with the communist party job if you go on a sunday i was there and there were clearly some people who were trying to provoke violence a lot of these so-called anarchists you can see here basically were running into the riot police and also were wearing a lot of these masks. let's talk a little bit more about the nationalist fight that we see sometimes i believe it's white there it is. what's this if it means someone you know all of the groups all the nationalist groups that are strongly opposed to the current government strung

up all white. and red. but who also but would not like to be associated with communists or leftists what does it mean that. when we see tens of thousands of people on the streets of moscow as opposed to small groups like we see here which we saw after the inauguration sit ins trying to happen why don't we see the thousands of the masses do we see so many different flanks if they are so anti putin can't they just get under that banner all these groups have a mutually exclusive view they're not simply i think in his degree not simply contradictory that's just an excuse for the nationalistic use which you know being a liberal liberal secular we can all be the nationalists the leftist accused would you know the soviet social system is a liberal secular bordering on reviving the soviet period is so they can't agree on anything the only thing that they can agree on is that they don't like what they want the current russian state to collapse that's about to meet their political analysts from words of russia radio thank you very much for trying to help us

understand what's happening with the opposition in russia because certainly people in the country have never been more involved in politics. and the latest series of anti putin rallies that started last weekend has no dwindled to an indefinite set out in one of moscow central squares the gathering has already been labeled occupy all by the name of the poet whose monument and going to the square not many people are there just a few dozen but there are some surprising visitors one farmer brought his cow to the protest he's got some serious before over russia joining the world trade organization and was an eye opener for muscovites who aren't stuck on the streets but police say so long as it's on a leash no law is being broken. some opposition activists plan to march through moscow later on sunday they're interested in how the police respond to what they call peaceful walks in the capital will follow along and tell

you what happens right here on r.t. . islamist extremists say of their behind the twin bombings in syria's capital on thursday that killed fifty five people and injured around four hundred others the all nusra front thought to share the same jihad us ideology has posted a video online saying it carried out the worst terrorist assault in syria since the start of the uprising last year and also says the suicide bombings were in response to an attack on residential areas by president assad's forces the claim confirms fears that al-qaeda linked extremists have joined the anti regime fight parties sarraf earth met syrians who've been living through more than a year violence and whose hope rests with you when observers. this sound of gunfire and heavy artillery brings out lipsky line or with the u.n. observers in it live in there's been some pretty heavy gunfire. throughout the

night so. you know we'll see government seemingly has very tight control of the century area in the areas of it live and the fierce fighting is continuing there is the cease fire here both sides we're told of violating the peace plan we followed the u.n. observers into it all the way passing through homes and hama other areas monitors that based on there is that is seen some of the most destructive fighting as we passed through homes we have a brief an emotional conversation with the residents after. their safety. what people who feel about the fighting that happens. that is he tries hard not to show perfectly encapsulate the level of devastation that has been on people's lives here throughout the course of the conflict is on to

it live on a stretch of road this name for being extremely dangerous it's a journey that would have been near impossible without the u.n. presence and with the volatile situation criminal gangs thought to operate in this area. we find it live under siege like conditions a quiet and intimidated city i don't know since a year and a half ago no one knows what's happening we go to sleep and wake up with fear some say the government and other states armed groups we don't know who's doing that last we get a chance to me to govern and ask him about the situation here. even if there is a little unrest in some areas or in a few spots it's due to people who are breaking the law. checkpoint after checkpoint then we enter into an area outside of government control and it's a unique chance to see the u.n. monitors in action almost a month into the peace plan and your monitors are making small steps on the ground

but it's going to be a slow process throughout the course of the conflict it's been hard to come to some of the areas where the fiercest fighting happening and get a gauge of exactly what the situation is on the ground the u.n. observers traveling to some of these areas have given them access to what we see is a frightened population and the city symbol is the olive branch the symbol of peace is right now a city at civil war sara for. there's a fear of the u.n. peace mission in syria is being undermined from abroad as the director of the conflicts forum organization explained tartini having militarily experienced witnesses on the ground who can tell what is a mortar shell and what is a burning tar being fired on the top of the roof more than an ordinary journalist can does help but please bring this thing that maybe possibly will contribute to stabilizing it of course military observers any sort of a con deal with

a few determined. who wish to infiltrate the country and place explosives in the middle of a time the head of american intelligence assessment james clapper himself said that americans believe that the earlier bombings were done by groups infiltrating from iraq into syria to places it's most likely those that are sponsoring these groups will be in the gulf states will be gulf states who will be by the funding it all stimulating these sort of attacks it doesn't take a great deal of investigation to work out. for both sides. the peace process is not what they're wanting to see they want to see the ball and overthrow the assad regime. anti-government rallies have gained momentum in bahrain following the arrest of the country's leading human rights activist a week ago now be over jop an outspoken critic of the regime was detained for

organizing and participating in the protests just days after meeting with wiki leaks is truly an assignment for job himself believes the interview which did air on our t.v. last tuesday prompted his arrest. when i said in my twitter account that i'm going to meet julian assange then i'm going to a. t.v. program my house was surrounded by almost one hundred policemen and. machine guns. and they realized that i was not at home didn't they just. to tell me to come to the public prosecutor today at four o'clock where i am going to do it i'm going to go back i mean i have to face a. challenge stand middle east affairs expert option or a town c. believes revolves around exposes the west selective approach and dealing with the arab uprisings there is no case against in the case against the british and american and european governments that are backing bahrain i don't know i don't

know how long julian assange has been under house arrest here in this country without charge but they obviously think that regular arrest is interviewees very disturbing what's happening to the president of the bahrain center for human rights is not just him more worryingly of course is a. hunger strike i understand his daughter who is also being in custody you know killing people fifty dead in a country that small equates to a lot of people this is an apartheid state being backed by the obama administration in the years two thousand and nine two thousand and ten as if seeing what was about to happen in bahrain the obama administration stepped up sales which include equipment used by the authorities in bahrain to suppress the protests and to this is ongoing and they know journalists that a cover of. the next edition of julian assange show is here on our team next tuesday and if you missed the program that allegedly triggered not be over shops or rast you can have tara website where you can catch all the editions so far at. our

team com. as speak to two leading revolutionaries one from bahrain where the revolution failed once in egypt where the revolution is now in turmoil what makes a revolution and where is the arab spring going to go. sixty minutes past the hour and russian recovery teams are scouring the site of wednesday's deadly air crash which saw a sequoia super jet slammed into a mountain in indonesia story. it was the demo flight that ended in disaster rescuers in indonesia have attempted this week to scale the treacherous terrain outside jakarta at the site of the crash of the russian sukhoi superjet one hundred forty five people were on board and authorities say there are no signs of survivors ever since the plane disappeared on wednesday family members of those who

were on the plane have been gathering here at the airport hoping for any word from authorities about what could have happened to the plane they've also been putting up memorials like this one to remember the lives that were lost that day did they come med had no idea his wife was on board the jet that took off for the second time on wednesday for a thirty minute demonstration for potential customers an airline executives his wife was heading the cabin crew that day look at us and they got to she was not supposed to fly because shouldn't tell me i wasn't informed of the normally when she flies she would tell me while authorities are still continuing the search an investigation into exactly what happened many believe that the poor visibility and fog that day contributed to the plane crashing into a nearby mountain. the sukhoi superjet was on a tour of five asian country demonstrations had already taken place in kazakhstan

pakistan and meehan are the multibillion dollar plane is the first commercial aircraft built in russia since the end of the soviet union and already had one hundred seventy order is placed for its part just around the world it's not yet clear if the crash will affect the jets future as well as sukhoi reputation but some aviation experts say it won't this is going to have a temporary impact on. you very much depends on the report of course. to the primary cause the crash was we have to remember of course that was the cause of the jet li's thought implying here in commercial it's a very new across a very mild russian rescue teams will work alongside indonesian search teams until the investigation is concluded hoping that family members like they can get some answers that the bit that i just want to find out what happened to her. preassure

either our teacher carda indonesia. all right and still ahead on our team the pressure is on for france's new president. doron crowds are sure in france where i learned to but there will be no honeymoon period with eminent crucial negotiations which could dictate europe's a death survival plan last. jailed russian businessman viktor bhutto gives his first interview to english speaking since his axe tradition to the us exclusively tells r.t. about what's behind his conviction. it's been another turbulent week for the troubled e.u. as an tile sturdy anger spilled onto europe streets in spain tens of thousands marched in eighty cities across the country on saturday with loud demands for an end to parts and economic misery earlier in the week violent clashes erupted in the italian city of naples where hundreds of protesters attempted to storm

a local tax office as euro zone's future again descends into doubt over of greece sticking to the harsh plan to dig it out of debt party leaders are in a last ditch effort in order to form a coalition following last sunday's inconclusive election if they fail it would mean going back to the polls in a few weeks political and strategic analysis analyst dr lisandro poorly piece says the protests we're seeing in europe could soon spill into revolution. it is very clear that this financial schulze is like an artichoke first you start with the weakest states and then you go to the heart and the heart is from germany and the other aaa reserves already church you know the bottom and very should other countries will do the say because it's not just working class it's really middle middle class which will be squeak. without any picture for the sake of these

financial. interests and this is something which goes against the grain of democracy because the green of dignity and freedom so i think that the situation at least in some countries is really ready for. something very similar to an arab revolution. all right another worry for the e.u.'s austerity champions is france where the newly elected president francois learned plans to renegotiate the fiscal pact driven by german chancellor angela merkel now meet on tuesday after our land is sworn in tests are sillier sums up the nation's mood as she joined the crowds welcoming their new leader. out with the old. in with the new. the press were allowed to ask a victory in the french presidential elections the people here are saying that france is once again peaceful event here they had voted for change but the question

is how soon are they going to see that change and what kind of threat are they really going to have and the world is asking precisely the same question belise is that people rejected tuckers it when then france would also cite france for many reasons one of them was is based on arrogance so we can hope that in foreign policy is going to move in the right direction that is less arrogant. be it arrogance or something else there was no hiding nicolas sarkozy's eagerness to lead the libyan intervention sending french warplanes in first he of course betrayed himself all along as deliberate of libya but he kept that extremely quiet as allegations kept you know coming out about his relationship with gadhafi you know the march thirty quid a psycho see has created an overall image of france we don't want divisions within the french society we don't want to see bombing of arab countries we are friends of

the arabs yet it is not. a lot is being branded france's new hope or gadget one task ahead of him to sort through the euro crisis and clean up an image which many think is no longer in line with what's traditionally french while foreign policy took a backseat during the campaign a model did throw out two moves one go head to head with germany's angela merkel on really go sharing the e.u. fiscal pact believe me he will experience in the coming month the negotiation power of america because it's just a miracle we will face an election in one year and will not be willing to compromise we said was a french president and two with. french troops from afghanistan a year earlier than planned it's a sign that i think you want to scale down for it but i would guess that is going to be. what is happening in there in the rest of the world and will focus on economic issues within europe at the end of the day all the french really want are

jobs and leadership that truly represents them both at home and abroad. yes or still there are two parties. and it's not just the burden of cutbacks that's got europeans fired up as we report on our t.v. dot com hundreds marched through london in an occupy demo against corporate corruption we've got the details and a video online for you. plus how's this for getting to grips with your gadgets meet the man who's that literally attached to his toilets the details are all at parties dot com. if you're just joining our russian businessman viktor boot convicted of arms trafficking my the us has compared america's justice system to

a witch hunt an exclusive interview with our team he's serving twenty five years for conspiring to kill u.s. citizens and sell arms to colombian militants but he insists he's innocent this week it was decided boot will be sent to a super maximum security prison despite his trial judge recommending medium security confinement the jail in colorado is known as the alcatraz of the rockies and houses of america's most dangerous and violent criminals moves lawyers or want the decision stalled right now victor boot is still in a new york prison where he exclusively spoke to our two year about why he's been targeted. what is happening to me it's a pure political case and kind of trial it's a little sort of very you know similar to the mint do you feel it always hot trial of inquisition where you know you must accept that you confess the truth lantana no deep but i think some of that. that'll solve i don't i don't committed any think to

have that punishment. when i was a allege me and a crime so these crimes would never exist a lotus the u.s. government would not give whether a crime that was not with this big conspiracy will not label. decision to kill americans which is i feel like a magic bullet was for the generals here. and in the next hour we'll bring you all a victor boats first interview to an english language channel since his extradition it to the u.s. from thailand. now let's take a look at some of today's world news turkey's turkey's championship final ended in a month's riot as hundreds of angry supporters of istanbul side of the general bochy reacted to their team's goalless draw the title was given to arch rivals go after some ray and salt raging spectators storm the pitch as well as throw flares

and chairs police had to protect players with their shields as they fled to the locker rooms the violence continued outside the stadium with police cars torched and buildings vandalized. a former taliban official who became a senior member of the afghan peace council has been killed in a drive by shooting in kabul arsala rahmani was reportedly a close figure to president karzai and responsible for peace talks with taliban insurgents the group earlier threatened a spring offensive and downed lawmakers and officials as well as american and coalition personnel on saturday for nato troops were killed in separate incidents. afghanistan president hamid karzai has been sharing his thoughts and forecast on this country's many issues in an exclusive interview it's here only on r t on monday. to what extent when i would call them paid mercenaries how much are they

going to be in your defense to protect your administration and your successors none none you say the mercenaries like blackwater will not play a major role in syria this kind of though this is one of the issues over which we are in many. generation they will be here they will be. gone as far as they are going to go which goes in no way no mercenary no way way no. and in a few moments we'll explore the reasons behind another military conflict that claimed thousands of lives the war in iraq that's after a reminder of our headlines.