this video about about there the new and the other part of putin's. and election strategy is well pretty well do you agree that this is really his manifesto published chapter by chapter in the press well i would believe this see a lecture campaign and this is a short resource or because obviously put in try to pleasurable sites here for it to send a message to can i am official meat or else that they should be fred at the same time here send a message to the russian ethnic majority this is should be afraid if there arise were protected against the rights of my consul soul just for authority but no matter what is hot at plenty of this or would you would you agree that this issue the this city issue may become the major issue of this year's election campaign i think it could be perfect later this year we'll probably see a shift towards economic issues because as we know there is this developing world crisis particularly from europe in the united states so it may be that now nationalism is high on the agenda but later in the year we might see. economic i

they were a gift from vladimir putin. it is just one reason why parents and teachers here want putin to return to presidential office. >> since he has been in charge in russia, we get paid on time. businesses are full, which you could not count on before. russians do not live any worse than europeans. and we are still developing. >> putin promised this school computers when he visited two years ago. in a local meeting that was broadcast on television, putin unleashed a general modernization of the village. this retired couple treat the bench where putin sat in their garden like a treasure. they still gush over how modest the most powerful man in russia was and how easy to talk to. >> vladimir putin would be a president for all russians again. two years ago, he major that pensions were substantially raise for pensioners like us, and now, two more increases are coming in february and once more. >> when they see mass protests in moscow against putin, they do not agree. they do not think that recent elections involved fraud,

and would almot be a complement to putin.e is much -- he has revived what was bad about the soviet system. >> un putin's what, dissent has been stifled, public demonstrations forcibly dispersed, and critics thrown in jail, all highly reminiscent of soviet times. a token parliamentary opposition hardly dares to challenge him. the state television allows no criticism. now, dissatisfaction with the kremlin has brought tens of thousands of ordinary russians on to the streets, including young, well-educated middle- class citizens who had never been politically active before. the unrest was triggered by reports of vote fraud in the recent elections. the discontent with putin's entire system is widespread. >> corruption in russia is out of control. it makes life very hard, almost impossible. hardly anyone supports putin and his party anymore, so they rig to the elections. -- they rigged the elections. >> i don't want my vote stolen. >> putin dismisses his critics as jackals and accuses the west, specifically the u.s., of inciting pr

putin's article i recognize that putin is still using the nineteen ninety s. as sort of a benchmark in order to praise his the years in power is that well it didn't work during it during his first tournament now maybe partly during his second term in power but is it working now to took comparing with the ninety's aren't people today in need of new standards now of growth so i guess it doesn't work it doesn't work yes and. i think. more chance for putin to be in. his opulence because. think of the leaf and the wall to. use to never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. in those elections. there are a serious problem of our position the main problem in the second you should agree with me that the main problem of two of the putin's years yes is corruption why limit what everybody says and then this is this is something that they couldn't so neither would normally they can't solve the problem why isn't there a single word about corruption in this article i can agree on the partly with your because grab some is not the problem of presence corruption is a prob

mikhail is putin's president challenger. here he is. >> because i think it's a really window opportunity. it's just -- it's a hot debate in russian society. and maybe it's time for the last 20 years. and for me, maybe -- [not understandable] all of my country. and really i see lot of problems, pino the answers. and to quote abraham lincoln,s the government should be by the people and for the people. >> that was new there on that videotape, your interview. >> that was my interview. >> and you gave us a piece of that videotape to run. what is the story on mikhail? >> so people -- the question is, is he a puppet of the kremlin or a real challenger? >> money? >> he has $18 billion. that's what his fortune is estimated at. mitt romney is a piker compared to him. >> he's a u.s -- a -- a russian citizen. >> yes. >> but he spends time in the united states. >> in the that much. but he is the owner of the nets. that's the reason -- >> new jersey nets. >> you think -- >> he did tell me if elected president he'll move the nba to russia.

according to prime minister putin the world is currently witnessing a very interesting time when the global economic crisis has led to a reorganization of power with some traditional fever stepping down and new players gaining more into. and the prime minister says russia has all the chances to secure a place on the leaders of course are problems and one of the main one is russia's dependency on natural resources leads to poor labor efficiency outdated technologies and a lack of competitiveness in other years of in this trees in russia and the prime minister also says that private investors are afraid to give money into new projects in other skiers besides energy projects and a major overhaul is needed for the entire system for from the service sector to the farming industry but it's not an easy task since russia is a huge country with diverse climates and big population these aren't really tast for the next several months but for the next several years for the prime minister to set off for coup or industries which have to be developed they include the traditional space exploration a

fundamentally new things that putin is proposing however at the same time i would argue. for a very first time we're hearing such lofty goals at a very high level we should remember that this is the second very important speech the region has delivered on the economy over the last two weeks he. started with a speech on twenty second of december when he said that the potential growth of the russian economy should be raised to sixty one percent and this is the second major speech i think it's a very important one of course it is very rich the key question for us is whether it will be on implementation well putin calls for improving the investment climate and the science kazakhstan as an example do you consider that a success model and if so why and that's a very very important question i think we should distinguish between kazakhstan in terms of model for political development in kazakhstan in terms of the kind of economic growth rates that we deliver obviously on the former i don't think that kazakhstan should serve as a good example on the left there maybe more so however

fundamentally new things that putin is proposing however at the same time i would argue the. very first time we're hearing of such lofty goals at a very high level we should remember that this is the second very important speech the region has delivered on the economy over the last two weeks he. started with a speech on twenty second of december when he said that the potential growth of the russian economy should be raised to sixty one percent and this is the second major speech i think it's a very important one of course it is very rich on the rhetorical the key question for us is whether it will be reach an implementation you mentioned on rhetoric is one thing but implementation is something different how do you think these ideas will be implemented i actually think that they'll be strong moch economic and political economy incentives for put in should he return as a president to be much more reform of the answer and much more proactive in a in introducing and implementing this kind of reforms this is an idea to been trying to advance here at an essence capital russia's alr

putin's hometown is st. petersburg where the mood is turning against him. "give power to the people," they chanted last month. others never had the chance to be heard. the 1917 revolution began here. so could this be the launch pad for russia's version of the arab spring? channel 4 news has been given access to three groups in the vanguard of anti-putin protest. these are the most notorious and secretive of st. peter burg's revolutionaries. they're currently in hiding and there's an international warrant out for their arrest. their name means war. on new year's eve they set fire to a police transportor. claiming this was their gift for all political prisoners. they've turned over police cars in protest. the aim here, they say, is to create works of art which humiliate the authorities and inspire dissent. here they soldered and screwed shut the doors of a restaurant owned by a putin supporter. the three ring leaders live by stealing food and clothing. and they're constantly on the lookout for the police. they keep their home address secret. it's so run down

putin, doesn't it? >> it is all very good for putin. in recent weeks he has been accusing the west, particularly the united states of meddling in russian affairs and encouraging the street protests, and he could, if he wishes, point to this admission by the u.k. of evidence of meddling in russia. >> i will turn now to gordon. it is a laugh in one respect, gordon, just by the nature of it. is this sort of thing going on all the time, do we presume? >> it comes as no surprise that aspying is still going on since the cold war. this is the kind of thing in the cold war that often you get these kinds of things. trading information or putting it behind the toilet with the kinds of things that would happen. i mean, here in britain you have the head of counterintelligence. there are complaints about the number of russian intelligence officers in u.k. taking up their time. the fact is we know they are doing it, but it is unusual to get caught doing it in a very open way and then to admit that you were doing it. that is unusual. >> this is not an

there needs to be opposed to government policy as putin said very well i mean. the real question question is never going to be russia is how does this government really. positive government policy how does it build roads what is it with sponsor industries where you look at what works in russia at the moment is the private sector you've got great supermarket chains that have opened up you've got good for natural companies that have really evolved mobile telecom companies you know these are really successful companies that have been developed over the last fifteen years and they're a long way ahead in terms of their efficiency in the government sector. the prime minister has been taking. to business on monday he opens a new state of the art train coal production plant in buses northwest the billions all the facility will produce thirty thousand wagons a year to meet the growing demand for ralph writes i'm a place the soviet era cars that make up most of the culture is a rolling stone. ok but still if the market is over the oil traders are just ahead of the europea

that to me a putin has said should he be elected as president in march his elections then he will make to me to get if his prime minister something which may get if they accept it no it is has said though that no matter what happens in the elections in march he will remain in politics now he also said that he was willing to meet with the leadership of the opposition leadership and the leaders behind protests which took place following the pollard mentary elections we saw in december here in russia now he said he wasn't willing to meet with individual protesters but that organizes those people behind the protests that he was willing to sit down with them and discuss their grievances though this was an address by the president to a group of journalism students at a moscow university plenty of things that were being discussed one of them was the case of mikhail khodorkovsky the president saying that the holocaust the case shouldn't become a political football it shouldn't be politicized and also dismissed rumors they've been circulating that last summer he had planned to release the jaile

you just don't like vladimir putin? >> i do not think so. it is not the main fact that we are drawn together by. the main fact is that we are deeply terrified by the fact that the last elections in parliament have been falsified a lot. and several facts have been proven. but a lot more facts have not been researched yet and will not be researched. it is terrible. theake all the citizens thought in russia to be socially responsible and that is a big story. it is not as it is now. many people join the elections, but not enough people to. only 50% of the russian citizens. have citizens the other 50% said at home and do nothing. >> i'm sorry. i need to stop you there. thank you very much for being with us, dmitri. that brings us to the end of this part. stay with bbc world news. there's plenty more to come. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work h

and russia without putin rise why not give away your country your beautiful girlfriend to some foreign guy what will happen to the caucuses nothing less just give it away to you responding and more technical the videos made a very professional you can see that a highly paid specialist did it with good appeals to primitive responses but works one hundred percent first thought is that there is indeed no future without put but videos from the opposition are just as blatant. and now the whole trend of this election season eavesdropping on politicians and posting recordings online those taking part in a massive opposition rally in december were surprised to find out that one of their inspirations worrisome self described them in a phone as. hear from each. reporter for your comfort or. it's naive to expect politeness from any side when we are living in election year there are no holds barred in this war not even interfering in someone's private life. a lack of privacy for today's politicians is already a modern day reality and with fifty million russians going online today about forty perce

it's no surprise then that putin as a character from harry porter became an overnight hit. doing this you will. see what i see you stuck with something yes that go to the caribbean they're going to go you'll make. sure that the word is work when you're put in the new. propaganda but it will just be them. but i don't compete it's up to you about you apart from catching images memorable catch phrases are used against those in the corridors of power opposition blogger alex enough while me was the first upload his shot which is tongues online a year ago he labeled the ruling united russia party the. and scoundrels lose the insulting phrase and first and hear it on the net but quickly migrated to almost every magical media in russia and beyond a year after the party won in the parliamentary elections and reworked the catchphrase felicity's of one vote for the party of fees and scoundrels for ten years of economic growth but the party of these in scoundrels united russia. the mastermind behind that video and state duma deputy robert proved his party can also fight its words onlin

today will grow closer i don't forsee a political union it is not clear to me exactly what putin had in mind in the eurasian union whether he meant in the end the political union there may be for a little bit of time john will see what that'll happen in ten years from many thanks my guest today and province in here in the studio and thanks to our viewers for watching us here to see you next time i remember. it. the arab league appealed for an end to violence in syria but once no u.n. hand in the deal while many of the unrest hit the country just want a peaceful life back. again a stand of man's the handover over of the tore his wrongful reason after those jailed in the american ron detention center say they were severely tortured. and euro survival back on the agenda as the region's first couple need to merlin amid concerns cash cow germany is on a power grab a turn for its investments.

today will grow closer i don't forsee a political union it is not clear to me exactly what putin had in mind in the eurasian union whether he met in the in the political union there may be for a little bit of time john will see what that'll happen in ten years from many thanks my guest today and province in here in the studio and thanks to our viewers for watching us here to see you next time around the rostock. ok after the arab league has called on all sides of the conflict in syria to cease fire and implement a peace plan still rages on. new year new worries for europe as the leaders of france and germany meet to discuss the euro rescue plan it's all a bit concerned but now wants a bigger return on its investments. as football fans all around the world count down the days until the euro two thousand and twelve championships kick off in ukraine and poland many skeptics question whether the costs of the tournament are justified.

today will grow closer i don't foresee a political union it is not clear to me exactly what putin had in mind in the eurasian union whether he met in the in the political union there may be for a little fun at a time gentlemen we'll see what that'll happen in ten years from many thanks my guest today and province in here in the studio and thanks to our viewers for watching us here to see you next time. and you can. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. for the future of science technology innovation all the list of melons from around russia we've got the future covered. he he. he. i'm sam saxon for tom hartman in washington d.c. and here's what's coming up tonight on the big picture just in case the few hundred republican debates in two thousand and eleven weren't enough for you there were two more this last week in less than fifteen hours apart from each other so we

really care if you're a crumb and project that so you make it to the runoff where you run against putin what would people outside russia know about you first they know your take then they know about the scandal in france where you were practically accused of being a pimp and also the fact that you own the new jersey nets why should the west take you seriously because of appalls the point isn't whether it should or shouldn't it's up to me my team to explain to people that my goal is to change russia to have a specific program for integrating our country into the international community and making it war old leader of the whole world is changing all nations are having a hard time unless we change our country and develop it our relations with other countries will only become worse in the future when you last on this with me let's talk about the u.s. over the three years of reset invasion. russia and the u.s. have fallen out on quite a number of issues iran libya the spy scandal not to mention the south the facts how would you build a relationship with america the purest form of the world t

such things are xenophobia and ethnic tensions on the subject of nationalism vladimir putin addressing those that say that they should stop feeding and stop funding the north caucuses saying that this was something that couldn't happen that the north caucasus was a part of russia and if you started listening to those kinds of statements then the next time it would be stop funding siberia stop funding the moscow region things of course that they're not going to do addressing multiculturalism further afield but to a putin said that in his opinion the the system that was adopted by countries in europe had failed saying that this was something that trying to establish multiculturalism based on a nation and all being in it together really hadn't worked and that this was also the case with the the melting pot system and in america really the fact that everybody is essentially an immigrant coming to the united states at some point down the line. russia had a very different system and that russia's idea identity as a country and as a multicultural society have to be viewed in different light w

and more detailed analysis of that in the putin's proposals in our business update that's coming up next here on t.v. that will be shortly but now back to the growing international pressure on iran america's behavior towards the islamic republic is often seen as the most threatening but it may not just be about to iran's nuclear ambitions this rhetoric has intensified noticeably over the course of the current presidential race and as well it is very important or explains some politicians are putting political points on the support of the jewish community ahead of the u.s. national interest. america almost never misses an opportunity to praise its ally ironclad commitment and i mean i required to israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history both point a proverbial punch at its greatest adversary but there be no doubt. america is determined to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon and i will take no options off the table. however for many american jews in israel supporting the iraq obama's a war of words against the wrong doesn't go

just over a month before russia's presidential vote by minutes of one of the putin penned this is a pre-election article painting himself as the presidential candidate for widespread economic reform. plus something more than a decade of conflict in afghanistan at the time about the need us home. process building talks and yet the two sides remain rather far apart on one issue. iran has vowed to halt oil exports to some e.u. countries for up to fifteen years despite its parliament postponing a debate on a complete bound of supplies to europe it would be in retaliation to the e.u. imposed embargo on iranian oil due to come into effect that open this summer russia's foreign minister says tehran's threat shows how unilateral sanctions can often backfire. russia's firmly held the opinion that in most cases sanctions are not only effective but also counterproductive for the current situation yet again confirms the old war to every action there is an equal reaction to iran's announcement was made in response to the european union's decision to ban the purchasing of uranium oil by even member states. me

but if you are a person polls indicate that the people of russia see putin as the next president if putin returns to the kremlin and it seems that he will what would that mean for the russian economy if you just nature in your brain it's nothing changes the posi of stimulus nation will continue and this will seriously undermine the competitiveness of our country we have to change because we are behind if we're really the nation we can defeat any four or any rival at the moment you know what we need to do a is we need to realize that we are at war with iraq but this is an economic war going on this is a war for the future of the need for a slice of the global paey we need to get our slice of the pie and to a group of people often ask you who could be your prime minister if you could choose between political skin put in whom would you pick up as prime minister but that put purchase you were asking me to choose between two alternatives but actually you need more options than that in fact i don't think you can consider putin as a candidate for the prime minister's job at all when the you know

today will grow closer i don't forsee a political union it is not clear to me exactly what putin had in mind in the eurasian union whether he met in the in the political union there may be for a little bit of time john will see what that'll happen in ten years and many thanks my guest today and province in here in the studio and thanks to our viewers for watching us here to see you next time. and. a day off in the arab league called on all sides of the conflict in syria to cease fire. peace plan violence still rages live reaction. brinkmanship iran which is a new enrichment facility off to threaten to shut down a vital oil supply route in the gulf sparking warnings of military action from the u.s. also live analysis on that. and back to the rescue the leaders of france and germany get to grips with the continuing crisis as they work towards drawing up tighter regulations.

action operation in libya saying that it has gone far beyond the approved mandate meanwhile russia putin supports the aero observe us mission in syria that came to the country late december however most those stresses that the arab league is also not authorized to send peacekeepers to syria. but get some analysis now from beirut based mideast affairs expert at the risk thanks for being with us this evening russia's trying to ratchet up support here for its draft resolution among fellow security council members they've not seen eye to eye yet what are the chances of ever finding common ground. well of course there are always chances to find common ground but you have to also look at this from the perspective of the united states other states and its allies they view that syria is a very primary a very important part of his confrontation with iran so the u.s. of course views syria as a card to play with its ongoing feud with iran for this reason you're saying that the u.s. is continuing to insist on this issue on this issue of taking a serious security council in escalating against syria n

cuts prime minister putin gets down to business and comes up with brushes in the economic layout of the latest article to back his presidential bid. that's for the top stories and i'll be back at the top of the hour with more updates for you remember you can always turn to our web site for more on. the meantime i bring you our special report. on his way to work every day. by the homes of his neighbors the houses of the remains of. the people moved out a long time ago. they used to be a house right here. and there with.

today will grow closer i don't forsee a political union it is not clear to me exactly what putin had in mind in the eurasian union whether he meant in the end the political union there may be for a little bit of time john will see what that'll happen in ten years from many thanks my guest today in providence in here in the studio and thanks to our viewers for watching us here to see you next time and remember. to. the arab league urges an end to brutality in syria but doesn't want the u.n. involved while many in the troubled country just want every turn to peace. again to stand a man's the keys to the notorious bagram prison after those held in the u.s. run facilities say they were abused and tortured. and euro survival back on the agenda as the region's first couple meet in berlin amid concerns cash cow germany's on a power grab and return for its investment.

conductivity that we've talked about here is that i remember that was a few years ago that vladimir putin lamented the end of the soviet union and i think is one of the most misquoted or misunderstood quotes in modern history because he said one of the great tragedies of the twentieth century was the collapse of the soviet union but everyone forgot to read the next five sentences because millions of russians found themselves on the other side of another border millions of russians for found themselves in poverty and in despair and and the reason i brought this up is because nicolas as you know they need to some kind of connections i mean there are so many russians and russian speaking people in ukraine for example and having a new border was not what people wanted ok maybe they didn't want to be part of the soviet union that's one thing but being separated from each other completely is another let's be heretical it's not even clear they didn't want to be part of the soviet union remember in march only a few months before the abolition of the soviet state there was a referendum. nine repub

and turns of russian politics as electoral campaign intensifies presidential hopeful blood in your putinwants to get tough on immigration. but first in the e.u. entry ticket has been approved by the people of the u.s. wasn't as solid as expected more than half of the croats simply ignored voting in the national referendum the country will become the nation's twenty eight states by july of next year if it gets the approval of the other member states curry show was split on the issue with those in opposition saying there is nothing to gain from a block that's currently experiencing its worst ever crisis as artie's tom barton reports the divisions are here to stay even after a yes vote. violent scenes in the croatian capital it is the country's referendum but setting. limits to be made to find me the police came to the protest as always they take and seize protest his labor six ways to many seats in the creation capital and financing has been calling believe the pyramids well now. these are empty protests to say the government is trying to suppress the dissenting voices they are the ones th

me a putin is running for president in march putin's offered the job of prime minister . should he be elected that he would take that position. and return as prime minister but what we're hearing is that perhaps sometime in the future we could see president dmitri medvedev name back on a ballot paper running for the top job in russia. until the nation. the presidential race shaping up. well everybody's getting into position really what we're going to be seeing on friday we've heard from the central election committee that will hear the official shortly but we pretty much know it already but the official list of who people will be able to vote for a macho that will be blood in me a putin from united russia. vladimir putin also democratic. russia and the independent candidate the only independent confident to get his name . billionaire owner of the n.b.a. basketball teams because. those are going to be the five people going to be on the list. and people are able to vote for say only one independent candidate the rest of those names coming from the established political part