the week's top stories on our bloody made of books in this one as russia's president with all eyes now on his plans and policies following the latest wave of the continent with them taking the top. radical islamist a responsibility for the deadliest terror attack in syria since the start of the uprising bay last year confirming fears that terror groups are fighting on the rebel side. and certain to europa n.t.l. ceratin protests continue in spain for the second day euro zone exit wounds over greece where pontificators failed to form a coalition government after the elections. and the russian rescue teams joined the search for answers in indonesia at the site of the sukhoi superjet which took all

forty five on board. you're watching our team is a weekly with me to ban would say let's take a look at the stories that he made a putin was sworn into office during the week of for third term as russia's president but with high levels of opposition activism at home and serious changes ongoing in the international arena he faces many challenges both at home and abroad alexi at a chef state takes a look at the issues. for the third time vladimir putin took the thirty three word oath to become russia's president with an air of ease and calm. 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 made a 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 man as 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 to secure. the situation the next few months 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 a look see russia r.t. moscow putin's return to the kremlin brought the russian opposition on to the streets with major rallies held in moscow some descended into clashes with police who made hundreds of arrests artes and he said now i am political analyst dimitri babbage have been looking more closely at the aims and ambition of the opposition movement. 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 it modern russian opposition is to me through bob h. he's a political analyst for voice of russia radio thanks for being with us i want to start with alexis the widely and surrogate 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 of our name is not a typical leftist populist like well does he use the morning to 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 solidly right because it will

do so for recently because. he's. left from the. all of the communist party a russian federation human being chronically ill but dissipating all these actions get him constantly arrested that's his style but it's like is that they're on ikea's where is their traditional. russian i guess what does that mean in terms of these protests there are several groups which do not i why themselves with the left or with the communist party over sunday i was there and they 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. yes what's this is it means someone you know all of the groups all the nationalist groups that are strongly opposed to the current government strong up or white. and red. but who are also but will 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 people 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 mutually exclusive views they're not simply i think in his degree not simply contradictory there just in the school of the nationalistic he was put in of being a liberal the liberal secular student of the nationalist the leftist accused which you know in the soviet social system is the liberal secular sporting of reviving the soviet imperialism 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 it to me through bob rich political analyst from waste 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. marchers were out on the streets of moscow again on sunday had a virtually but some of russia's most prominent writers and musicians police said around two thousand activists walk through the city center but those taking part claimed over five times this figure way involved organizers say they wanted to see how the authorities would respond to a march but as it turned out no one stood in their way with the rally causing them to walk ended at a small antigovernment protests that turned into an ongoing sit in it's being called occupier by and named after a poured his monument i don't says where where the demonstrators are camped. islamist extremists say they are to blame for the twin bombings in the syrian capital on thursday in which killed fifty five people and injured four hundred others it was the deadliest terror attack in the country since the start of the

uprising last year cold of the all nusra front the group is believed to share al-qaeda we had this ideology the terrorists say the bombings are in response to attacks on residential areas by government forces they seem to confirm that al qaeda linked extremists are involved in the fight against the regime artie's a sarah ferguson made syrians who've been living through more than a year of violence and whose hopes rests with the u.n. observers in the country monitoring the frequently broken cease fire. the sound of gunfire and heavy artillery rings out in it lipsky line with the u.n. observers in it and there's been some pretty heavy gunfire going on throughout the night. now was the government seemingly has fairly tight control of the century area in the areas of it live and the fierce fighting is continuing there's no ceasefire here both sides we're told are violating the peace plan we've followed

the un observers into it on the way passing through homs and hama other areas monitors are based and areas that has seen some of the most destructive fighting. as we pass through homes we have a brief an emotional conversation with a resident after. safety. what the people who feel about the fighting that happened. or but it's clear. that it is he tries hard not to show as perfectly encapsulate the level of devastation that has been wreaked on people's lives here throughout the course of the conflict is on to it live on a stretch of road this named 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 are 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 is the government and other states armed groups we don't know who's doing that last we get a chance to meet it lives governor 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. checkpoint after checkpoint but 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 you're 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 is 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 some 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 civil sara firth r.t. . in bahrain antigovernment protesters have stepped up their rallies demanding the release of the country's top human rights activist. was arrested a week ago for allegedly organizing and taking part in protests his interview with weiqi leaks founder julian assange to a head on r.t. days later on tuesday speaking before his arrest he told the whistleblower that he expected trouble after the program what i said in my twitter account that i'm going to meet julian assange then i'm going to. t.v. program my house was surrounded by almost one hundred policemen and. machine guns in the and they realized i was not at home didn't they just. smile to tell me to come to the public prosecutor today at four o'clock where are you going to do i'm

going to go back i mean i have to face journalist and middle east affairs expert afshin rattansi believes rejects the arrest exposes the west the selective approach in 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 how long julian assange has been under house arrest here in this country without charge but they obviously seem to think that they can arrest his interviewees very disturbing what's happened to the president of the bahrain center for human rights is not just him more worryingly of course is. no longer strike just on his daughter who is also been in custody you know they are 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 to 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 i know journalists that have covered if you miss a program that might have triggered the bill read jepson reza head to our website you can catch it and all the previous episodes at us sancia dot r.t. dot com the next edition of julian assange just show will air on r t on choose to. speak to two leading revolutionaries one with the revolution was in egypt where the revolution is now in turmoil what makes a revolution and where is the spring going to go. it's a murky story of dodgy financial links between in his royalty and a fugitive russian all he got prince michael of kent is facing questions a reports he's received more than half a million dollars from the london based tycoon barr is a better off scheme the prince's spokesman said the financial support was private

and has now ended our london correspondent bennett has more. the two men are said to be very close but were these payments just a friendly exchange or was there something more to it both sides have been very keen to play down any shady implication here stressing that everything was above board has come out and said that there was nothing underhand he's called it just a matter between friends and prince michael of kent who's the queen's first cousin their fathers were brothers his spokes person has said that everything was conducted properly and all the appropriate tax was paid on these payments there were fifty six payments made in total over the years between two two thousand and two and two thousand and eight to one of prince michael's offshore companies amounting to a massive three hundred twenty thousand pounds so over half a million dollars and serious questions still remain over these cash payments such as what was the money use for and why was it needed neither the questions answered

so far by either party lawyer however has said that his client client neither saw nor obtained any benefit from this friendship however it's certainly worth noting here that at the time of these of the first payments was and still is . on the run from the russian government he used to be one of the country's richest men he was highly influential but in two thousand and fled to the u.k. after an investigation was launched into his assets. seeking us political asylum here he was actually convicted in russia in absentia in two thousand and seven for embezzlement he's been living here ever since. and obviously was in his interest that he should be allowed to stay in the u.k. despite numerous extradition requests from russia now he said there was nothing in it for him but the fact that substantial cash payments were made to a member of the royal family here certainly begs the question why were these

payments made. alexander call from the u.k. based production company russian alice says some of wondering why the british royal family are taking what an american journalist has described as money tainted with blood the year reign to prince michael probably would be very confirmed concerned about you know issues welfare and i think that is. who have supported that they're pretty soon it's here the american journalist told me they're actually referring to that today's article. well i didn't know that the house of windsor it takes blood money many in britain not being offended with with people who are you know using their position using the streets of the refugee to basically bring a volatile political on the rest elsewhere or using that simply as a leverage and i think that it's not going to reflect very nicely either prince

michael or mr berezovsky. coming up a look at how the mighty have fallen played as arrogant and divisive a week nicolas sarkozy lost his presidential reelection bid to the socialist francois hollande but can the winner reverse sponsor's fortunes. recovery teams in indonesia a raven e a way a sukhoi superjet crashed hoping to find the flight data recorders all the black boxes has been put on hold over night but will begin again at dawn all forty five people on board were killed when the newly designed russian plane slammed into a mountain during a demonstration flight has the 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 the 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. she was not supposed to fly because shouldn't tell me i wasn't forms of the normally when she flies she would turn on me while authorities are still continuing the search and investigation into exactly what happened many believe that the poor visibility in fog that day contributed to the plane crashing into a nearby mountain the sukhoi superjet was on a tour of five asian countries demonstrate. it had already taken place in

kazakhstan pakistan and me and maher 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 orders placed for its purchase around the world it's not yet clear if the crash will affect the jets future as well as sukhoi for a few taishan but some aviation experts say it won't this is going to have a temporary. sukhoi very much depends on the crew pool to cool. to the primary school crush was we have to remember of course because the jet you thought implying here in commercial was a very new across a very modern russian rescue teams will work alongside indonesian search teams until the investigation is concluded hoping that family members like they can get some answers to that that it's be able to i just want to find out what happened to

her. preassure either our teacher carda indonesia. now head to our website r t dot com for the latest news of videos all stories you may have missed here's a taste of what's lined up before you iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad's says there's no need for war with israel find out why he thinks that your state would crumble on its own class. and discover how operations by al qaeda doctors are planting explosives in volunteers for suicide attacks and the bizarre way they could be detonated. it's been a truly hectic week for the e.u. with violent n.t. austerity demos and political deadlock constant doubts over the future of the euro in spain mess anti austerity demonstrations went on for second day in a row tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against spending

cuts and tax hikes in italy violent clashes erupted in the city of metals after yet another suicide apparently triggered by and question tax collection methods and political turmoil in greece has thrown the eurozone into chaos once again party leaders in athens have failed to form a coalition government and i said to meet with the president on monday once again to attempt a compromise deal new elections however now seem unlikely which could mean greece of quitting the euro due to failure to meet the terms of its bailout deal with the e.u. and i.m.f. regardless of the outcome greek journalist and lecturer panagiotis also terrorist says default is guaranteed on the country's mess of debt and loans. i think the only way to solve the problem is to highlight radical change in turn is it austerity cannot continue in our way it is a choice between austerity and democracy the people have rejected the terms of the

bailout agreements they have rejected the terms of little or no dream and they want a radically different. policy the question is not whether or when greece is going to exit but how i think that that's different and an exit from the euro zone are now practically inevitable i think it's must but it's much better if i default and an exit from the euro zone takes place according to the will of the people and not in the sense that i think that certain circles in the european union are currently thinking that is actually jim's exit from the euro zone as is in no way to punish people for rejecting austerity trouble for the euro zone came this week not only from the struggling south but also from the more prosperous north french president elect france alonso has vowed to renegotiate europe's debt limiting agreements on member nations that may begin on tuesday when he meets

a german chancellor angela merkel. now reports on the man elected to lead france and whether he can really deliver. out with the old. in with a new. translator large as a victory in the french presidential elections the people here are saying that france is once again peaceful event here they are voted for change but the question is how soon are they going to see that change and what kind of crowds are they really going to have and the world is asking precisely the same question realizes that people rejected because it would then france would also cite france for many reasons one of them was his personal 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 coming out about his relationship with gadhafi you know the much good psycho see has created an overall image of france we don't want divisions within the french society we don't want the bombing of arab countries we are friends of the arabs. a lot is being branded france's new hope or gargantuan 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 lot it did throw out two moves one go head to head with germany's angela merkel on renegotiating the e.u. fiscal pact believe me he will experience in the coming month the negotiation power of america because america will face an election in one year and will not be

willing to compromise we said was a french president and to withdraw for. troops from afghanistan a year earlier than planned it's a sign that i think you want to scale down the foreign policy but i would guess that is going to be. considered what is happening in the rest of the world a move focus on economic issues within europe at the end of the day all the french really want are jobs and leadership to truly represent them both at home and abroad . tesser still there are two pairs world news in brief for right now the turmoil in syria has sparked clashes in neighboring lebanon was soldier and three civilians were reportedly killed on sunday fighting broke out in the city of tripoli in the north of the country between two neighborhoods that support rival factions in the ongoing unrest in neighboring syria the lebanese army has deployed three units in an effort to restore order. gunmen have

shot dead a top afghan peace negotiator in a drive by shooting in the country's capital kabul money was a senior member of afghanistan's high peace council set up two years ago in an effort to reach a peace deal with militants the taliban recently announced at the start of the annual spring offensive aimed against officials as well as americans and coalition personnel. and afghan president hamid karzai has offered his views on the tense security situation in the country in an interview with r t you can listen to what he has to say later on monday. to stand and 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 city flood this is one of the issues over which we have been. but they will be here they will be. gone as far as the afghan

government is concerned no way no mercenary no way way no. i'll be back with a recap of our top stories in just a few minutes and don't go a. night

fifty two meters. more than a thousand tons it's. skin thickness thirty centimeters the guinness record. commemorating the battle of stalingrad. the motherland carson on r t.