>> victory for vladimir putin. winning an unprecedented third term as russian president. >> i promised you we would win. glory to russia. >> but opposition groups report widespread fraud, call for mass protests in central moscow. welcome to "bbc world news." iceland's former prime minister geir haarde goes on trial as the first world leader to face criminal charges over the 2008 financial crisis. gunmen in haditha wearing military uniforms killed 25 iraqi police in early-morning attacks. dob's advance against al-shabab rebels -- ethiopia's advance against al-shabab rebels. the opposition supporters in russia will be protesting today against vladimir putin. he was president 80 years until 2008. then he became prime minister. let's go to moscow for the latest from our correspondent following the events. >> everyone has been adjusting to a dramatic 24 hours over the election results. vladimir putin seems to have a resounding victory, but there are allegations of fraud from the opposition. now the report. >> apparently

international monitors say that vladimir putin's victory in russia was not fair. time for business news. jamie is here. you want to stay with russia. >> the russian stock market is up the last seven months. it has done well. they like the idea of stability. but there has been worry about vladimir putin's ability to deliver on economic reforms. that the economy is still very export-oriented, very dependent on the oil price. whether he can start to change that and diversified economy, which has been talked about a great deal, but whether he can get around to doing it is a different matter. the way in which he actually tries to transform the economy will require increased taxes and possibly taxes on oil exports, and it is not clear at the moment exactly how he will be will to do it or whether he can do it. this is what an analyst talked- about, the possibility of russians perhaps withdraw investments from russia, taking money out of russia and what the consequences would be. >> russians don't trust their government and don't trust the economy. if russians are taking

you really think the clock is ticking on vladimir putin. >> i think so.ause the power structure he has built rests on fear and personal connections and money and the fear is being taken out of the equation and that means the whole thing will collapse and i think it will happen soon. >> jon: he is not kind to his critics and there is all kinds of-- as we say in my language-- militia goss that goes on with people that write that. were you trepidatious at all to take this project on? militias go. >> i tried to keep it secret that i was working on it. >> jon: okay, this is going to be on television. (laughter) i'm not suggesting this airs in russia but... >> right. >> jon: you are talking to me on television. >> right. i'm aware of that. (laughter) and the book is... (laughter and applause) >> jon: i just wanted to let you know... >> the book is due to be published tomorrow so i don't think i'm going to be able to keep a secret for much longer. >> it's interesting because maybe this does help retake critical mass where you demystify the dictator to the point

one emerging new leader optimistically told me that vladimir putin will be gone within 18 months. >> what we need to do now is to return the power to the people. >> inouye internet video shows a computer-generated putin -- a new internet video shows a computer-generated putin heading for the dock. in truth, he is headed for the kremlin again. >> the cuban cigar festival is underway. sarah reports. >> the tobacco fields of cuba yield a precious crop. these deliver the world's finest cigars, revenue for the economy, and a decent living for farmers. >> we cannot complain. if you care for tobacco lovingly, it will yield results. >> the cuban climate and soil add up to a unique product formed here for generations. but some things are changing. it is 520 years since europeans first discovered this of the. western europe is still the key market for the cigars, but with the economic crisis and all of the anti-smoking laws, the island is looking farther afield to newmarket's. with its growing middle class, russia is one of them. these have than a -- these have then fans are visiting -- havana

parts of the media happy to lash out at front runner vladimir putin the victor for that was not only by praise for opposition rallies let's cross now to our washington correspondent by nature to. my understand well by now how is the election process being reported right now in d.c. and. must be us. the money sorry is kind of too early for official statements from this part of the world but as of now we can talk about the media coverage of the election going to hear a gala the prime minister of weekend will be russia's next president the time magazine describes the elections as the most exciting and contentious in a decade but before you actually even started the underlying message in the media here was that those who are going to be unfair are lections also the coverage is focused on the discontent with the leadership among many russians and here is a telling headline right here the beginning of the end. but inside the weekly you read about the surge of the middle class under putin who having first become consumers have now become citizens rights the author there's a great deal of cr

vladimir putin's confidence in victory was vindicated by his first-round win. ere is a large security presence in moscow the day after the vote. putin's election victory as a dividing russia. >> i think the big winner is absurd and unjust. so many cases of the vote manipulation reported in moscow and other regions. >> it was a fair and just election. i voted for putin. i trust him. >> the victory celebrations on sunday night, another perfectly choreographed show on state television. putin used the opportunity to hit at the opposition and the recent wrote -- wave of protests. >> this election was an important test for all of us, for the political maturity and independence of our country. we proved that no one could force anything on us. >> but independent international election observers complained there were irregularities in every third polling station. >they claimed the vote was not fair. >> the point of election is that there outcome should be uncertain. this was not the case in russia. the biggest problem with this election is that there was no real competit

>> vladimir putin held most of the cards, and he has held most of them. he probably won an absolute majority on sunday. >> even if this was not 64%? >> even if this is not 64%. it is difficult to do this with all of this going on across the country. he interprets this as a popular mandate, justifying his regime to the last decade, and saying what he will do with regards to the protesters. if he continues the way we have seen over the last 24 hours, giving them the safety valve and letting them go out on the streets, but selectively cracking down, putting him in custody and others, it is going to be cat and mouse, basically for the next several months. >> if he won the majority, and he won the election, the protest movement -- if they keep on saying russia, without putin, this is irrelevant because he won, and he is still popular. >> putin recognizes there is a french protest that is never accepted -- fringe protest that is never accepted. but the people around the people will not keep coming out if he can offer them something. even something superficial,

kellogg has the latest. >> reporter: thousands of russians crowded the square in the capitol as vladimir putin claimed presidential victory again in russia. putin says victory was won in an open and honest battle. the opposition calls this vote anything but fair. >> this is not an election. it was not. it's imitation. >> reporter: this will be vladimir putin's third term as president. he led russia from 2000 to 2008 before moving into the prime minister's office due to term limits. many believe demetri nagerdov put the presidency as a caretaker knowing he'd be out in four years. among the reports of violations some say there's been carousel voting meaning busloads of voters being driven from place to place casting ballots multiple times. the government in an effort to prove they held transparent elections put in place thousands of webcams transmitting video polling sites, now the opposition refusing to give in. >> we will not recognize the president as alleged president, president of all russians. >> reporter: those not happy with the results are planning a big protest tomorrow in months cow.

everybody know that vladimir putin really -- >> 250 were all arrested. 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 g

sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: vladimir putin won his third six-year term as president of russia on march 4. an opposition movement that challenges his legitimacy is disputing the widely anticipated outcome. putin has dominated russian politics for more than a decade. in 2008 he moved to the post of prime minister but continued to be russia's most influential politician. he announced he'd return to the presidency last september. he has astounding popularity that's started to wayne. his party, united russia, attained a faint majority in december's contested parliamentary elections. since then, a series of unprecedented anti-government protests have followed. joining me now masha gessen, a russian author and a squrnlist. ioewrhygr b of putin tracings his political aseptember. it's called "the man without a face: the unlikely rise of vladimir putin." i'm pleased to have her here at this table for the first time. welcome. >> thank you. it's great to be here. >> rose: how is it to be a journalist in russia today? >> it's dangerous. th

they failed to stop vladimir putin from winning the election in the first round. some tried a permanent occupation of the square. they were dragged off by the police. analysts believe the opposition movement does need to change tactics now but not by becoming more radical. >> a very small proportion of those who participated in the rally are ready to realign and act in on lawful ways -- unlawful ways. because they are much smaller, they are a much easier target. it will more likely signal the end of this movement. >> using the streets to demand change may become less popular. the opposition focusing instead on creating their own political parties to fight the next election. >> this is bbc news. still ahead -- the male voice-over still rules in hollywood. will women get more of a chance at selling movies? players for the glasgow rangers try to keep the football club in business. the biggest hits were taken by whitaker and naismith. >> the players deserve great credit. this agreement is the best way to achieve the necessary cost savings to ensure the continuing oper

petersburg against the election of vladimir putin for president. he had 64% of the votes but people observing say that this was unfair. others say this was an open contest. we have this report from moscow. >> the government promised there would be no crack down tonight. but when some people refused to leave pushkin square, the police moved in in force. in the scrum is alexey navalny, the emerging leader of the protests. otherwise, it had passed off peacefully. moscow was the only place that did not give putin 50% or more of the vote. these people are flexing their political muscle. >> this is just the beginning. this year is going to be very hot. before his arrest, i asked alexey navalny if people would get tired of demonstrating. >> this is not just passion. people are fighting for rights. >> the choice of pushkin square was deliberate. >> i would come here to see a very small numbers of dissidents. they were protesting against the communist government. now there are tens of thousands of people in the square. >> this is the kind of thing that has

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this is artie's a presidential election coverage live from moscow well russia's prime minister vladimir putin has declared victory is it for a third term as russia's president he addressed the crowds of jubilant supporters in moscow of the winning an estimated sixty five percent of the vote almost ballots counted let's talk to our teams lexi. lexi a look said to have won a decisive victory the figures at the moment. well we understand around ninety eight percent of all the votes have been counted so far and so far leads by had great margin of which around sixty four percent his closest rival in this case is the communist party and he cannot he's gone up with around seventeen percent the next comes out of the dark horse of this presidential campaign with around seven point seven percent and. still with six percent pennsylvania on the with three percent full of them at the lower part of this presidential race now of course there was a big intrigue of this particular presidential race whether there would be a second round runoff in that case it could have happened if we did not manage to gather

perhaps that's because vladimir putin was so far ahead in opinion polls he didn't need to cheat.ins a popular figure in much of russia and was seen as the candidate of stability. the only suspense here has been over the size of the victory margin. in the end, the putin vote was put at just upwards of 63%, large enough for an absolute majority but not so large that he can be accused of massive vote rigging. it's about 10 points down on its last time he ran. still the arguments don't matter. vladimir putin is the one and future president of russia. >> jeff: mark phillips in moskow, mark, thank you. ahead here it is an historic house so what happened when the kilauea volcano came to call? you should know that just one dose of children's advil gives up to eight hours of fever relief. allowing your little one to get back to building a better afternoon. children's advil. relief you can trust. to put more giddy-up in our get-along. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip-hop. with the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's mass

with their prime minister vladimir putin it was a company president. as many pointed out. during the motions as a here when. a leader he did say that that was caused by the rather the prime minister after the visit into his campaign headquarters where he. stood with his supporters both in the headquarters and in some of the regions. video conversation. with ross but just barely and i mean it's look you know there are some insulin people but you put them back in their place those people who are offended workers the working class but what you did together with your colleagues people who actually work of factories plants and the physical labor your intellectual level turned out to be much much higher levey's people who consider themselves to be on to lecture. hall with his return to presidential politics a lot of attention has been placed on reading your post and what can you tell us about the other candidates. well for other candidates taking part in this election let's start with. the head of the communist party he's still far managed to get just over seventeen percent of t

the polling station recorded one of the highest votes for vladimir putin anywhere in moscow. >> i was on the verge of crying, but at the same time i realized there was no way to stop it. >> the league of voters estimates the 63% was wrong by about 10 percentage points. they believe he got 53% of the vote. he still won the election in the first round. >> now to a question that has puzzled scientists. just what genetic changes occur during evolution that caused humans to split from the great ape? we may be closer to figuring that out. good >> they are one of our closest relatives. they are sociable and live in communities, and in the distant past, humans were little different from the board allows region -- from gorillas. >> we live in social groups, probably in africa, and at some point humans developed language. we do not know what steps are was. >> behavioral studies showed our fellow agents were intelligent, chimps in particular. now they could solve problems and use simple tools. what happened in the distant past that allowed our species to rise above fellow tapes region -- fellow

to vladimir putin to have falsify it had elections so publicly it was impossible to ignore. >> warner is there an irony here that the 12 years of putin and the economic growth that occurred has helped create the very class that wants to get rid of him? >> putin claims credit for economic growth and arguing after the collapse of the '90s, now we have seen the so-called putin stability. however comparing russia with neighboring countries we see other former soviet union countries grew stronger so putin's time is a time of lost opportunities. russia has enormous gas, oil and energy resources and prices are very high. yes, part of this money remains in the country and led to the creation of the middle-class which now tries to get rid of putin because they understand that most of the money was simply stolen by him and his friends. >> warner: so what have you achieved with this so far? i mean, even if, as you say, it's a foregone conclusion putin will win. >> we see that putin and medvedev have already announced political reforms and we have realized that there is no huge gap between the po

yes, vladimir putin remains the popular leader across the country.urban situations, his population has plummeted. he was expected to win, but what people dispute is the margin of victory. he won very comfortably. he came home with about 65% of the vote. people believe that is suspicious. that's why there are accusations of fraud and cheating being thrown around today. it's why once again there are tens and thousands of people on the streets of moscow protesting. >> to be more specific, when you talk about allegations of ballot stuffing, padded voter polls. can anything be done now beyond simply demonstrating? >> reporter: well, vladimir putin has said that all claims of cheating should be investigated. the problem is, we heard something similar before back in december of last year following parliamentary elections which were said to involve widespread cheating in favor of his own united russia party. that was the response there, that any allegations could be investigated, and if they were found to have any substance, well, in that case people would b

they had failed to stop vladimir putin from winning the election in the first round. some tried a permanent occupation of pushkin square but they were dragged off by the police. analysts believe the opposition movement does need to change tactics now, but not by becoming more radical. >> a small portion of those who took part in the rallies are ready to radicalize and in an unlawful ways challenge the authorities. they are a much easier target for the government. radicalization is more likely to actually signaled the end of this movement. >> so, using the streets to demand change may now become less popular with the opposition focusing instead on creating their own political party to fight the next elections. >> tonight greece looks certain to receive its second enormous bailout after a decision by private investors to except losses of more than half the value of their holdings of greek debt. the deal is the biggest of its kind in decades and was greeted enthusiastically by the european government. but the in fester losses -- investor losses have triggered a multi-bil

they had failed to stop vladimir putin from winning the election in the first-round. some tried a permanent occupation of pushkin square. they were dragged off by police. analysts believe the opposition movement does need to change tactics now, but not by becoming more radical. >> a very small proportion of those who took part in the rally are ready to radicalize and act in defiance of all lawful -- unlawful way, challenging authorities. because they're smaller, they're easier targets. it is more likely to signal the end of this movement. >> so, using the streets to demand change may now become less popular, with the opposition focusing instead on creating their own political party to fight the next election. bbc news, moscow. >> and this sunday marks one year since an earthquake sparked a devastating tsunami that rabid japan. now, documents show the government knew the fukushima and nuclear power plant was facing meltdown hours after the tragedy struck, but the scale of the crisis was kept secret. our correspondent has been back to see how life has changed in two com

nbc's jim maceda has that story from moscow. >> reporter: relaxed and confident, prime minister vladimir putin looked like a man who knew he was a shoo-in to win an unprecedented third term as president. across 11 time zones, the turnout was high, and partial results were as expected. with putin winning over 60%, and avoiding a runoff with other kremlin approved candidates. >> who did you vote for? can you tell me? >> for putin. >> putin. >> reporter: russia's 90,000 polling stations saw something new. web cams, feeding live images of the voting and supposedly any cheating. the half a billion dollar project meant to clean up putin's tarnished image after allegations of widespread fraud in december's parliamentary elections. that triggered a series of massive street protests by angry middle class russians, fed up with what they see as a corrupted repressive system led by putin. but opposition leaders cried foul again today, citing thousands of violations, like this ballot stuffing caught on one web cam. they're calling a putin win illegitimate. this election comes at a defining moment for russi

vladimir putin. "you'll be happy with him," the fortune teller says. everyone is happy with putin. protesters have been on the streets, concerned this vote may be as rigged as the suspect parliamentary elections last year. putin says he's not worried. the demonstrators may be the first harbingers of a democratic russian spring. >> no, i'm not concerned. i think about the people, the ordinary people in russia. >> reporter: the citizens, show, are wary. putin's famous strong man image no longer intimidates them as much. groups have formed to try to make sure ballot boxes aren't stuffed this time, even if andrei buzin says his team doesn't have the numbers to everything. how many stations can you cover? 2,000 polling stations. >> reporter: and there are about 100,000 being used? >> yes, yes. >> reporter: yet, putin doesn't need to cheat. ask these workers at this bakery an hour's drive from moscow who they're going to vote for, and they'll reflect the national poll numbers. putin, they say, offers what they want most, stability. there may be a growing oppo

after the presidential elections but it's really come as a surprise because back in december vladimir putin did say that he was considering a pardon because of the boesky if a key admitted his guilt and he would do that if you won the presidential elections we also know that this comes after a meeting the president needs to get had with the leaders of on the largest search and largely oppositional political parties here in russia and this is just the pampering and supposedly a gave him a list of people they're regarded as political prisoners and for weeks some already describing this as the government's way of handing out and all of france to the opposition but we do not know what motivated the prize there to make such a decision to impose his lawyer has already said that it would have to judge the significance of this move once the investigation completed out her view is based on the basis and the legality of the convictions of thirty two russian citizens and among them is because of the pope's speech and his partner plots in the lead but that because of the post it was of course russia's

issue really isn't about which the elections were fair or not you which they were it's all about vladimir putin what he's done for russia in the last twelve years since he's been at the helm of power in the kremlin and very briefly what course you think putin will take during his third term as president how far will he try to placate the opposition while continuing on with his own agenda. well. the opposition are entitle woods. it's to express their opinion but let's not forget three of the four candidates that stood in some place presidential elections have met with latino puts in have accepted the results. in regards to what's called president elect roots and will take without a doubt the economy will be its focus needs to be diversified russia cannot keep a line on oil and carrots and one possibility that the russian government may need to explore the supply of water to china china has been urging the russians to do this through a longtime china as a shoot to kill filter of russia as an abundance of water and if russia somehow can divert its rivers which are close to the chinese border south

testing the splits his popularity it's been a difficult period for vladimir putin a two time president not used to such discontent moscow and some petersburg in the big cities the million ikey these are not really his territory anymore and he i mean maybe he'll get them back but it seems to me that he's sort of thinking that he has to rely on the other russia strange face for putin the russia of the region why he would probably manage to win with the you know from the majority of the selection is that one of the best slogans from the pro put in camp is if not putin who. three other candidates are also seasoned political veterans struggling to convince voters they can deliver change and all those stands make this the most definitive word so far in the election campaign marked by mass there a strange sense protests regardless of the winner and the results on the fourth of march these guys are how best they impact on russia's future do you agree the moscow. know before we cross over to k.g. in the business newsroom let's check out some of the other news making headlines around the world t

watching our teaser russian the presidential election coverage live from moscow prime minister vladimir putin declares victory in his bid to return to the kremlin for a third time as russia's president almost all the ballots counted results so far show him winning sixty four percent of the vote. for in monitors precis the actions as fair and free of the unprecedented measures are taken to ensure transparency about seven network of web cameras were installed at polling stations across russia thousands of observers monitoring the voting. the opposition claims serious electoral violations saying they'll be bringing people out onto the streets once again to protest against the results that's a visit to an independent observer some started irregularities such as people turning up to vote at different polling stations several times. but in depth look at the presidential election results and the efforts of the opposition that's in our interview show spotlight next here r.t. . world. science technology innovation all these developments from around russia we've got the future covered. hello again to w