vladimir putin defended his decision to stand in next year's presidential elections in russia. he says he's campaigning to keep the country strong and not for personal gain. mr. putin is the overwhelming favorite to return to a position he first held 12 years ago and some see his political indemrunes as increasingly destructive force. our diplomatic correspondent brinlt kendall has been to meet mr. putin in moscow. >> vladimir putin, for 12 years the face of russia. now he's made it clear he wants to come back as president next year and could be around until 2024. if he can stay in power for so long unchallenged, what has happened to russian democracy. tonight there was a chance to quiz him face to face, meeting with foreign analysts of russia over dinner, he denied he was driven by personal ambition or desire to stop russia changing. it doesn't mean that the political system should stagnate, he told us. but, of course, we're thinking of ways for the foam have more influence on those in power. vladimir putin may not have it all his own way. yes, here in russia he's still the mos

vladimir putin was furious.onths later, berezovsky left russia, never suffer to return. >> it is a commercial case about a business dispute. for anyone interested in russia, it is also deeply political. pitting boris berezovsky, one of the kremlin's most impact old enemies, against roman abramovich, who has always tried to steer clear and keep the best possible relations with vladimir putin. >> late in 2000, roman abramovich also entered politics, serving platter or put in as governor of the reindeer herders of russia's remote province. meanwhile, the court heard, after a meeting while on a holiday in the french alps, roman abramovich agreed to pay a staggering 13 $3 billion to boris berezovsky and his partner as the final payoff for the protection he no longer needed. the kind of 24 karat handshake. but boris berezovsky says that roman abramovich was buying him out of their joint business at a knockdown price, threatening that if he did not accept the terms, president vladimir putin might jail one of boris bere

vladimir putin might not have it all his own way. yes, he is still the most popular politician but things have changed the lot. people live better but they're also more dissatisfied. those that once praised him for restoring order say that he could be leaving the country in a dangerous situation. stability has become stagnation. even his former prime minister said it could be on the cards. do you think there could be the equivalent of an arab spring here in russia? >> absolutely. what vladimir putin is doing is encouraging this. this would not mature soon definitely. >> what it would take to get russians out on to the streets? we found this small ticket, hardly the starring revolution. the top political blunder said that the internet has given the opposition is a powerful new tool. >> all of this is true but everything can change in a very short time. >> letter putin's return to the presidency is not in doubt. what is much more uncertain whether his style is still what most russians want. >> you are watching "bbc world news a,"mecall

prime minister vladimir putin's united russian party is expected to win. it has long dominated the politics of the country, but there are signs his popularity is slipping and it could lose their two-thirds majority, a majority which allows it to make constitutional changes. a growing number of russian said they are not happy with the way their country is run. many complained of corruption, injustice, and agreed to. one opinion poll suggests one- fifth of the population would like to leave the country. perhaps the most frustrated are highly qualified young people. in this special report, we caught up with two people very divergent views on the future of their home country. >> this person is a loyal supporter of vladimir putin. the 26-year-old sociologist believes in the russian prime minister's words and deeds and as a candidate for the governing united russian party. stefan wants to pack up and leave. he does not see a future for himself in russia with putin in power. two young people and their perspectives of russia. this is the city of penza, about 560 k

russia party in the country's political arena in one thousand nine hundred nine the same year vladimir putin became prime minister the party has always been supportive of food in sports. so woods popularity has grown proportionally to the politicians approval ratings stability has been the key word in the party is election campaigns and it has been embraced by menu portions we read from years of to equal an economic turbulence two thousand and seven saw the peak of the party's popularity when it received a record sixty four percent of the vote in the state duma election the party's success was further strengthened by vladimir putin who accepted an offer to become leeds chairman even though neither he nor dmitry medvedev are members of the party's opponents cuse united russia of abuse and administrative power in achieving its goals as for the current economic stability they label its diggnation six parties are going to challenge united russia's dominance at the upcoming parliamentary election. mr robey of and welcome to the program of all we just heard about your impressive success in the pre

the minister vladimir putin has.

and vladimir putin currently russia's prime minister is formally nominated to run for the presidency next year his head as he was proposed at the united russia party convention on sunday and given unanimous support by the delegates. up next a documentary titled dead ocracy casts doubt on the course chosen by e.u. leaders to tackle the debt crisis up next our interview with a man behind the film. from the very beginning of the year as a crisis one of the major criticisms to be of the e.u. leaders failure to adapt to the continuing problems which by aras had just a finite piece documentary does focus they gained a lot of attention but opening the discussion about possible alternatives and challenging the assertion from yours they needed that there was no plan b. paris thank you very much for joining us now the title of your documentary that's a pretty self-explanatory can you tell us what the main message is on that documentary you know we started with the idea that the another countries there where are there no other solutions to this grace is that they weren't mentioned in greece by

from that is to vladimir putin has just been officially approved as the united boss appointees candidate for the next president elect. or looking back at the week's top stories also on our t.v. the heat turned up on egypt's ruling generals with hundreds of thousands protesting their power on cairo's tahrir square and across the country it's leading to fears of more violence ahead of monday's parliamentary poll. fresh credit rating downgrade shaky europe is the struggles to control soaring interest rates on its runaway debt all vending market fears that collapse may now be eminent. russia sounding the alarm over the u.s. missile defense shield in europe president medvedev warning moscow will deploy its own rockets of the borders of washington's plan continues without guarantees for russia's security. three pm in moscow i met treasure bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t russia's biggest political party united russia has just approved vladimir putin's official nomination as their presidential candidate the prime minister first gave a speech in which

he said he thought he was looking at himself when he saw vladimir putin on tv. doppelganger does not quite get the female admirers, saying that he is still looking for love and hope to start a family. for now. maksense of intertional >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its r abal strength to worfo wide range of financial companies. >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.

a small crowd protested en vladimir putin's likely return -- protested vladimir putin's likely return to the presidency. catastrophic flooding has affected the lives of 2 million people and left 400 dead. the worst monsoon rains in 50 years have devastated large parts of the central river basin and have displaced thousands in the capital of bangkok. >> the water is still high. the government says the situation was about. for people here, there is little sign of relief. many are becoming desperate. >> the water was stable and seemed to be going down, so we came back. today, it is rising dramatically. now it is almost too late to leave. >> some residents accused the government of sacrificing their areas in order to keep the main business district tdry. they're demanding that the sluice gates be opened. >> but how about the water condition is. -- look out bad low water condition is -- look how bad the water condition is. >> some people have decided to take the law into their own hands. authorities say this might cause flooding elsewhere. >> a polish airlines boeing 767 has made a dramati

dibbed for treasure and never -- dived for treasure but never been food no longer the case for vladimir putin>>> time for birthdays. and roberta mccormick turning 90 years old. we want to wish you a very happy birthday and thanks for watching "good morning maryland" if you have birthdays or announcement to share photos always appreciated. morning show at wmar.com. back in a bit. >>> now "good morning maryland." >>> hopefully you don't have to deal with weather like this on your holiday travels. the mountains of washington state were a treacherous place to drive. overnight snowstorm expreactedto -- expect to bring ler made driving ff to the through the pass worse. traffic backed up for miles when the crews moved finally were able to get the truck out of the way. justin. >>> charley, check this storm system out. wanted to get a closeup of the nation's heartland. this is ahead of a comma where you have the cops straighted steady rain and the cooler air -- concentrated steady rain and cool are air. it throws a lot of energy out ahead of it to the east. from central illinois urban and south of ind

said be upcoming voters lining up to be one of its norse performances ever and prime minister vladimir putin acknowledged that problems do exist in the united russia party but he also warns that a deep beats of the ruling party would mean that the country could plunge into an academic crisis similar. the crisis which has gripped the whole of europe now when you said that it was only thanks to you not to russia's majority in the last elections that russia survived the economic crisis of two thousand and eight and two thousand and nine pressure expert martin mccauley from the university of london says putin will remain so but will maintain stability and promote the country's image on the world stage if you look back to two thousand russia was in crisis because of the mad nine hundred ninety s. and putin gave russia stability and you give it respect and that was very very important during the period he was president of two thousand and eight he gradually became harder and he fell out with practically everyone he represents if you like the russian nationalists longing for the outside world doesn

and vladimir putin formally selected as the ruling united russia party's candidate to run for president next year. five pm in moscow i met tries to bring you today's top stories in a look back at the week's news here on r t we begin in egypt where military rule where the military rulers have warned of grave consequences if the crisis doesn't end this comes a day before the country's first parliamentary election since the fall of hosni mubarak the muslim brotherhood claims it's set to win the majority of seats artes and he said no way has more from cairo. when you talk to people here on talking or about the muslim brotherhood most of them talk about it as their revolution being hijacked because of the organization is very well organized itself they claim that they're going to win some forty percent of the votes on one day's election the movement that is really this revolution to mobilize people here on the square angry about that and in fact some analysts that we've been speaking to people around the globe feel but if they do come into power is a very big chance of that but it could serv

vladimir putin has officially been chosen as the candidate to represent russia's biggest party at nextyear's presidential election at the united russia convention in moscow the prime minister ally in the direction he would take if elected next march artie's a catarina groucho has more. now it's ambition to. run to seek reelection as president in this country in several months from now he had been russia's president for two terms from two thousand to two thousand and eight according to the constitution one cannot keep the top job for three terms in a row but should let him if we do in the upcoming presidential vote will be the first leader in modern russia to keep this post for six years today in his speech will still being about the way the election process is going on in this country he said but some of the criticism from the opposition is justified but he also warned the meanings to special even from the west and he said that in the first place elections in this country is a domestic affair approaching. i know that representatives of some foreign states pay money to so-called receive

their ruling united russia party has unanimously voted to nominate its leader promiser vladimir putin as its presidential candidate for the march fourth elections if he wins he will take up the post for six years artie's it at that and i'm going to show has the details. now it's a vicious bloody murder to temple run to seek reelection as president in this country in several months from now he had been russia's president for two terms from two thousand to two thousand and eight according to the constitution one cannot keep the top job for three terms in a row that should let him if he were to win the upcoming presidential vote will be the first leader in more than russia to keep this post for six years today in his speech was talking about the way the election process is going on in this country he said that some of the criticism from the opposition is justified but he also warned meanings to specially from the west and he said that in the first place elections in this country is a domestic affair approaching already video i know that representatives of some foreign states pay money to

vladimir putin. uh, give the order, $800. chinchillas are rodents. and now the last clue... it's almost like being back in school, isn't it? (beep) a gorilla is a primate. all right. $6,400 for jay, $5,200 for kara, and buddy leading with $10,800. here comes final jeopardy! hollywood history. clue in a moment. do you have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tel

now, vladimir putin has an ad showing a couple getting it on. getting it on in a voting booth. for >> the tag line is, let's do this together. >>reporter: those skeptics think that it is an attempt to go after the use of votes. some say the advertisement goes hand in hand, vladimir putin has a brand brimming with testosterone. do you want more, it says. >>reporter: the most orgasmic levels ahead ever came from spain. in this advertisement the woman sabers and dropping her ballot. voting is a pleasure is the tagline. orgasmic advertisement gained criticism from a committee of women. now, a new benetton campaign is called the un hate campaign yet pictures leaders around the world kissing. an image of the pope kissing a muslim that we are not showing was declared unacceptable by the vatican. call >>justine: we have live pictures into our newsroom out of occupied wall street as protesters are calling for a day of action. the plan is for them to take to the subways and to the streets. protesters hope to bridge all street and the new law will not been changed. they want to prevent in

they're probably capitalizing on the sexiness that they think surrounds vladimir putin. >> this partyt party in russia, putin's party. people saying this video isn't going do help him. a member of the opposition party a just russia, is calling for an investigation on the video, they say the ad is promoting rule-breaking of going into the booth together. especially with the slogan, let's do it together. >> it's an ad, i don't think they're mirroring real life here. >> imagine the poor idiots that think this really happens and he goes to the poll place thinking that something is going to happen. >> where is girl? where is girl? >>> dogs love to eat. all kinds of things. most of the time we can forgive them. except for this couple, it was a little hard. >> oh, no! >> this is twitty, and he ate his owner's $1,000. in $100 bills. >> i would be so mad, i -- i would have to get rid of the dog. >> that's what a lot of people are commenting on the story. but the owners kind of were at fault. they left an envelope with money on their countertop and left the dog in their house with the money on

the symbolic message for vladimir putin here is vote putin and keep the good times rolling in russia.aturally, the campaign slogan is, let's do it together. >> wow. okay. that is actually his campaign ad. that is not to get just people to vote in general. that is to vote for him, is that right? >> that's right. because he's really projected himself as this man's man. this macho guy. virility and sex and he was off without his shirt in some river area a few months ago. so, the idea is, you need a tough guy like putin. you got to be, you got to trust him and this is what russia is all about. vote putin. >> is it working for him as far as his popularity goes? i understand he was slipping a little bit. >> his polls were slipping a little bit, but still the most powerful man in russia, even when he was prime minister, a lot of people thought he was really pulling the strings of the puppet, the president and it was him that was really in charge. even if his popularity may be slipping, it may rise after this vote for me sex in the ballot box, but he really is the powerhouse in russia and a l

well, maybe if you're voting for vladimir putin.s to be the message of a new ad released by his supporters. the russian prime minister is not the only one exploiting racy themes. our jeanne moos has been taking a look at some eyebrow raising ads that are way out there. take a look. >> reporter: first, russia's leader couldn't keep his shirt on. and now vladimir putin's party has a get out the vote ad that shows a couple getting it on. getting it on in the voting booth. >> the tag line is let's do this together. >> reporter: herreman institute director timothy frye says the ad smacks of desperation on the part of putin's united russia party. >> it's clearly an attempt to make united russia look hip. >> reporter: the attempt to go after the youth vote spawned putin puns like she is is putin out. they're attempting to show the macho brand brimming with te testostero testosterone. cleavage bearing women calling themselves putin's army strut their stuff much like obama girl did in 2008. ♪ i got a crush on obama >> reporter: at least obam

the russian prime minister vladimir couldn't announced a $14 billion -- vladimir putin announced a $14 billion rescue plan for belarus. russia wins complete control over the belarus's gas pipeline network. >> the bill russian president alexander wishing go -- desperately needs russian assistance. prime minister putin pledged support. >> on average, european customers will have to pay for in dollars per cubic meter of natural gas next year. the price for belarus will be $164. >> in exchange for the discount, the russian energy giant gasprom will take control of the gas pipeline. >> it is certainly clear who was dominating the economic front. = status is -- equal status is an allusion. >> mask go double its previously guaranteed loan for the project -- moscow -- is bruce the guaranteed loan for the project. russia is belarus' me friend as long as belarus is isolated from the eu. the country's political independence could still change. >> now for space exploration news. >> awesome. it is nasa's latest mission to mars. at cape canaveral on saturday -- is cargo at $2.5 billion mars science

although politically powerful and the 1990's, he fell out with vladimir putin and lives in exile in britain. their argument is over a russian oil company. he claims that he threatened him into selling its share for a fraction of their value. he is suing for breach of trust and contract. he denies the allegations. he says the two men were never business partners, but he paid him as a sort of power broker. this is a case about two men who got extremely rich after the collapse of the soviet union. it is also about the power struggle in modern russia. he is usually a very private, a publicity shy person. here in court, between his cross-examination and the publication of all of this witness statement in both english and russian, his life is being shared. he is expected to give evidence for several more days. >> greece will hold a referendum on a new european union aid package intended to resolve the debt crisis. >> the u.s. as libya must do more to secure its weapon stockpile. >> china has launched an unmanned spacecraft as part of its plan to build a space station. a rocket blasted off from th

vladimir putin came in second and chinese president hu jintao fell to third. >>> authorities in brazil has released video of officers ramming their car into a small plane to stop it from taking off. police say the plane was carrying more than $100,000 worth of smuggled electronic goods. >>> now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,044 after climbing 208 points yesterday. the s&p jumped 23 points. the nasdaq spiked 57. taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo the nikkei rows 160 points, while in hong kong the hang seng skyrocketed 600. >>> well, faced with expulsion from the european union and revolt in his own government, greece's prime minister backed off a national referendum on europe's debt crisis plan thursday and wall street breathed a big sigh of relief. stocks rallied after embattled greek leader george papandreou not only gave up the referendum many feared could destabilize global markets but agreed to resign soon. also reigniting european optimism, european central bank cut interest rates. >>> good job news also fuel

and vladimir putin the current prime minister of russia formally nominated to run for the presidency next year his candidacy was proposed at the united russia party convention sunday and given unanimous support by the delegates. while half the world fills its bins with wasted food the other half seems to go hungry up next we'll look at who may be controlling food production and pricing that starving out of the market stay with us. was was. the were i had to describe chicago's food market for theater play was i thought it would be easy to get the necessary information by asking a few specialized stock brokers. was was was. but it wasn't like that was one of the people i asked were able to explain the norms that rule the stock market. was was was. i began to believe it was something that couldn't be explained or conceived by the human mind therefore it was something absurd the way in which the global grain production was being allocated was simply in comprehensible situation unbearable to everyone save a bunch of profiteers. was the they were. this is by answer this way this is cell ca

we heard allegations of vote- rigging in favor of vladimir putin's party.local elections, students -- this didn't said that he was paid the equivalent to -- this student said that he was paid the equivalent of 10 pounds to stuff a ballot box. >> they told us that we would need to go around to the polling station and have ballots already marked for a united russia. i was not happy with that. i did not put any of the ballots i was given into the boxes. >> at this man was an election observer that day for the communist party. he has gone to court claiming that at one station, the results were changed to give united russia a bigger share of the vote. >> this is death, falsification. this is a crime. -- this is theft, falsification. >> it is only in the last 20 years the russians can take part in multi-party elections. these allegations reflect what human-rights groups have been saying, this elections are in favor of the ruling party. at the head of the election commission denies that they rigged the elections. >> out of 85 cases, 68 on a total fantasy. they hav

but it was actually just pictures of me with hu jintao, with vladimir putin of russia said to a songitten called "black flower in the white house." (laughter and applause) (laughter) >> jon: how's the song go? >> it's kind of hard to sing. >> jon: i would imagine. did he... what does a guy like him do... like, how does he dress to impress? because normally he's throughout looking like a cross between, you know, tyne daly and michael jackson. >> well, he was in the big white robe, big red africa pin. black hat. i think it was his finest. (laughter) but the most important thing is i was there because he'd given up his weapons of mass destruction and, i'll tell you, when he was in that bunker as the revolution was unfolding all around them i was glad he had given up those dangerous weapons i have no doubt he would have used them. >> jon: they said that he still had chemical weapons. >> he still had some chemical stocks, old chemical stocks but the really dangerous stuff, for instance, some of the weapons that he'd gotten through the a.q. khan network, the pakistani nuclear scientist, th

. >> vladimir putin is prime minister of russia now, had he will run for to become president in march and he will win, and it's a six-year term. bye-bye! [ man ] i got this citi thank you card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes, i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] write your story with the citi thankyou premier card, with no point caps, and points that don't expire. get started at thankyoucard.citi.com. [ jennifer ] here... this is my world. ♪ this place inspires me to be tougher... to stay sharper... to think faster. they may be just streets to you. but to me... they're a playground. ♪ ...loving you ♪ 'cause i'm alive, i can breathe, i can feel ♪ ♪ i believe ♪ and there ain't no doubt about it ♪

and it was actually just scene after scene of me with vladimir putin or hu jintao. but then set to this song, "black flower in the white house," that he had written by libya's best composer, he said. so i was glad to get on the plane for algeria. >> reporter: i want to end by talking about where we are today. syria, iran-- both run by dictators showing no sign of going anywhere. the u.s. seems to be pushing, but not to any good outcome. which is the bigger threat? >> well, iran, in the sense that it has-- it's the poster-child for state sponsorship of terrorism, that it is seeking and making some progress toward a nuclear device. although, i sometimes think the iranians overstate their progress. but we shouldn't underestimate the impact of syria on iran's reach. syria is iran's handmaiden in the middle east. and if the bashar al-assad regime were to go down, which i think in time it will, it will significantly undermine iranian reach into the arab world. and so we ought to be doing everything that we can to put pressure on the syrian regime. it has lost the support

across the area we heard allegations of vote rigging in favor of vladimir putin's party, united russia. at local elections, in march, students -- he was paid the equivalent of 10 pounds to stuff ballot boxes. >> a couple of days before the elections, me and some other students were asked if we would like to earn some extra money. when we turned up, they told us we would need to go around to the polling stations and count ballots marked for united russia. i was not happy with that. it was a deception. i did not put any of the ballots i was given into the boxes. >> alexander was an election observer for the communist party. he has gone to court claiming that at one polling station, the results were changed to give united russia at a bigger share of the vote. >> this is theft. this is false vacation. according to our constitution, this is a crime. punishable by law. >> in the last 20 years russia has had the chance to take part in elections but these allegations reflect what human- rights groups have been saying for some time. those elections are weighted heavily in favor of the ruling pa