alexey navalny has been released. it will be a long battle here. >> you are watching newsday live from singapore and london. a growing call for change causes a great turnout in the indian elections. >> the u.n. sets to preserve one of the natural wonders of the world. >> let's look at the stories making headlines. we start with obama reassuring netanyahu. he is trying to east tensions between iran and israel, but that they will prevent iran from making nuclear weapons. spain may be on a collision course with the financial -- as they fail to meet budget deficit targets. the "south china morning post" jiabao has led to an eight year low that will help them lower price pressures. clashes broke out in moscow after the presidential elections. >> this is "newsday" on the bbc. >> the headlines for you. people who fled the syrian city of homs have reported widespread atrocities. >> barack obama has met benjamin netanyahu at the white house to discuss concerns about iran. >> the cultural agency of the united nations has arrive

among the leaders, 35-year-old lawyer and anticorruption blogger alexei navalny. he coined the now popular description of prime minister have had a here putin's united russia party as the party of crooks and thieves. navalny and others were arrested on the first day of those demonstrations, but by christmas eve he was out and speaking to an even bigger anti-putin rally. all this has brought white-hot focus on this coming sunday's presidential election as putin seeks to reclaim the top office. though polls show navalny is the most popular of the opposition figures, he's not on the ballot, but he stayed active with a campaign branding putin as a corrupt autocrat with his widely red live-journal blog of government corruption exposeeÉs and with a new project to enlist volunteers to monitor polling places this sunday. i spoke with alexei navalny at his office in moscow. thank you for joining us. you were at a rally in st. petersburg and you said these are not elections, this is the reappointment of putin. what did you mean? >> (translated): literally it means what i sai

alexey navalny has now been released. it is going to be a long, drawn- out battle here. bbc news, moscow. >> votes are being counted for elections held in five states, including the largest state, where turnout was reported to be 60%, with 112 million voters. it is seen as a political bellwether for the next general election due in two years. the government has been under pressure over corruption and the economy. to tell us more about the election, our correspondent. when do we expect the initial results to be coming out? >> we have already got some initial trends. four other states have been voting. it is not looking good for the federal congress party. they are currently placed in fourth place. that is no improvement from their position earlier. they staked a lot in these elections. they put in some of their top leaders. at the moment, they're doing quite poorly in the state. in punjab, a state they were hoping to regain, once again, it looks like they're slipping. they are losing ground to the main opposition party, which has been in power for the last five years. if

person who probably gained the most out of this election campaign wasn't even standing it was alexei navalny and of course it's very controversial but we'll see what he comes up with tomorrow when he launches his protest and we'll see where that might just stay within the law and managed to stay peaceful but i think that he's gained an awful lot of support and i think he has his eye possibly on the next election campaign how do you think so well i know the position well i actually i prefer to hear your opinion do you do you want i am less clear when do you believe that an internet creation like alex a no one is who is against he said first he is against he's always he he doesn't trust he's against then well he's a guy like one hundred percent hundred percent computer computer virtual like person is most well he is popular or like do you think that he made make a cabinet for the next political political action like four years ago in the various nine five six years now i believe so you think he has a good chances to become a politician a real politician and declaring not just that he is agains

alleged sweetheart deals for putin's friends and family have been exposed by bloggers like activist alexei navalny. veteran putin opponents use older-style methods to publicize what they say is a deep and pervasive rot. >> many people understood that he's working not so much on russia as much more on his personal wealth and his personal good life. >> warner: independent parliamentarian vladimir ryzhkov was muscled out of politics after putin ascended. >> putin is not reformist, he's a reactionary. he tries keep same corruption status quo in russia; we want real system reforms. >> warner: systemic reform of corruption can't come under putin, believes analyst masha lipman of the carnegie moscow center. >> corruption in russia is not, if i may, a malignant tumor, on an otherwise healthy body that can be severed, and then body can live and develop. it's actually the very texture of the russian governance. people who close to putin, who constitute his elite, can expect, can rely on the government cover-up if they do something unlawful. >> warner: among the victims of that corruption, young professional