05/03/2012 BBC World News

As Russia prepares for a Vladimir Putin Presidential third term,

international election observers say they found serious problems in

Sunday's poll. Although all contestants were able to campaign

unhindered, the conditions for the campaign were clearly skewed in

favour of one candidate. Geir Haarde goes on trail, as the first

national lieder to go on trial over the international financial crisis.

Gunmen in Iraq kill 25 policemen in early morning attacks. Welcome to

BBC World News. Also an advance against Shabaab

rebels. We report from Baidoa. The challenge for Ethiopia is to

ensure this incursion does not become as unpopular as the last one,

it is not seen as a military Vladimir Putin's return to Russia's

Presidential Palace has been criticised by a number of

international observers who are raising concerns about the voting.

The OSCE says there was serious problems and the process was skewed

towards Mr Putin at the expense of his rivals. Although all contesants

were able to campaign -- contestants were able to campaign

it was skewed in favour of one candidate. Registration demanded

competition. While all candidates had access to media, only one

candidate, the current Prime Minister, was given clear advantage.

State resources were mobilised at regional level in his support.

ox - well the golgol says there was independent -- GOLOS says there was

independent voting. We have this report now from Novosibirsk. With

tears in his eyes, Russia's strong man, Vladimir Putin, was quick to

appear before his supporters in Moscow and declare victory.

TRANSLATION: We have won in an open and honest struggle.

I promise you -- I promised you we would win and we have won. Glory to

Russia. Not far away, in a Moscow cafe, one of Mr Moscow's most

threatening opponents was also holding court.

The blogger and opposition leader, pleading mass protests in the

coming weeks and months. TRANSLATION: A substantial number

of Russian citizens, first of all residents of big cities, do not

recognise these elections as legitimate and do not recognise

Vladimir Putin as the President of the country.

The authorities have resorted to falsifications and rigged elections.

The opposition has held a series of demonstrations, unprecedented in

size. These, sparked by evidence that the

parliamentary election in December had been rigged.

This evening, there'll be the first protests following Sunday's vote.

Here in the capital of Siberia, the opposition had hoped to hold their

protest in this central square. In what has become a familiar tactic,

the authorities say they cannot, because the square is reserved for

a rally by the ruling party. So, what might Vladimir Putin's

return to the top job in Russia mean for his country's position in

world events? In particular Russia is at odds with the US, Britain and

France over the issue of imposing a UN Security Council Resolution on

Syria. Alexei Pushkov was asked, the chairman of the American-Israel

Public Affairs Committee what -- of the public affairs committee what

we could expect. I don't think it can be easily dropped. So, a lot

will depend on the ground. If Mr Assad manages to have those

elections he promised in May and if it leads to the appearance of

multi-party system in Syria this may be a kind of answer to the

issue. So I think a lot will depend on how things develop in Syria. If

the civil war spreads on and Assad loses control, then of course, you

know, every power has to adjust its position to what is going on in the

world. We might see a new UN Security Council Resolution in

Syria, which Russia would support this time? I think if the

resolution does not change Russia will not support it. Russia insists

that both sides to the civil conflict in Syria should stop fire.

The last time the Governmental troops stopped fire it was used by

the military formations to get out of Homs and to move as far as to

Damascus. I have been there and I have seen this. So, if this is the

essence of the resolution, I don't think Russia will support another

resolution which will replace the old one it vetoed. If it says that

the UN call both sides to stop fire and to start some kind of dialogue,

whatever, negotiation, through intermediate, whatever, then I

think Russia should reconsider its stance. Just to let you know that

it's reported by the AFP news agency that the EU foreign affairs

secretary has urged Russia to -- saying the EU takes note of the

preliminary results but they are encouraging Russia to address these

short comings. More on that of course at the website. Other news

today: Gunmen in Iraq disguised as police have killed 25 members of

the security forces on attacks in checkpoints and homes in Haditha.

Officials say the gunmen killed police guards at several

checkpoints before dawn this morning. It started at 2am when

groups of armed men stormed the town of Haditha in western Iraq.

Apparently their main targets were two Iraqi Ministry of Interior

officers. The first Street a Colonel and the second a captain.

Both men were killed as a result of the attacks along with more than 20

officers, 20 police personnel and three of the attackers, who managed

to withdraw almost safely, apart from the three men from the city.

The attackers were wearing the uniform of the Special Forces of

the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. They were using SUVs, used usually

by the Ministry of the Interior, which raises question marks about

the abilities of those groups. There was no immediate claim of

responsibility, but the targets, the two killed officers were very

well known for their fighting against Al-Qaeda in Iraq during its

time, controlling the city as part of its presence and control of

large parts of the Sunni part of Iraq. There was a curfew imposed on

the town of Haditha right away. The attacks ended at 4am. In the last

hour or so the head of the UN nuclear watchdog has said he

continues to have concerns about the possible military dimensions of

Iran's nuclear programme. He was speaking at a meeting of the Board

of Governors in Vienna. More on that as it comes in. Jamie is here

with all the business. Thank you. Let's start in Russia. Vladimir

Putin is set to serve third tefrpl as Russia's President. However the

claims of vote rigging will not be the only problems, there are

economical ones as well. There are fresh problems to contend with.

Russians are pulling billions out of the country.

Dmitry Medvedev's four years of President were blessed with record

high earnings from oil and gas. They replenished state coffers

after the credit crunch and helped enrich a wider circle of Russians.

Mr Medvedev's policy was to reinvest billions from state funds

in other industrial sectors such as aeronautics. In his campaign

Vladimir Putin said he would shift away from this form of state

capitalism. The pendulum is starting to shift. The returns on

state capitalism have fallen. Put in place a programme, it is to

increase the role of public enterprise and to open the country

to a long duration of foreign capital in large numbers.

Capital is currently flowing out of Russia, not into it, as business

grows nervous about the rise in political temperature. The

persistent protests against vote rigging in December's parliamentary

elections. Last year alone, says the central bank, wealthy Russians

sent $84 billion abroad. Russians themselves do not trust their

Government and do not trust the economy. If Russians are taking

money out, the westerners are holding it back. What it means for

Russian is it means there is not enough money. It is not a problem

itself. What it means is there is less modern technologies, less

managerial practises are coming into Russia.

More financial pressure has been stored up for the future, because

in his election campaign Mr Putin pledged big increases in state

salaries, benefits and pensions. They could cost the Government $160

billion over the next six years. All this at a time when the world

price for gas has gone into decline. Mr Putin is now considering a major

tax hike on energy to finance this. Corporate news, investors get their

first opportunity to react to BP's actions in the Gulf of Mexico. It

has been seen as a step towards the company recover from the incident.

It killed of course 11 people and spilt four million barrels of oil

into the sea. BP agreed to pay individuals and businesses affected

�7.8 billion. The US Government plans to continue

its case against BP. The oil firm has lost about $45 billion in

market value since April 2010. That is when the accident happened. We

have been told it is still difficult to know what the

individuals will get. From the standpoint of these individual

fishermen, other coastal residents, they don't really know what they

will get by way of settlement. All they know is that BP has agreed to

take responsibility and has agreed to go ahead and get this resolved

on a settlement basis, through a claims process, rather than going

through what would have been protracted, not only trial

proceedings, but also appeal. So, they still have to go to the

claims process. It promises to get them more than the process which

was previously in place. How much? Too early to say.

Glencore has reported a sharp rise in revenues. It said it would push

ahead with its planned merger with Extrata.

The company offered no improvements though knowing the terms of its

deal. China has cut its target for economic growth. It is part of the

Government's plans to reduce the reliance on exports. At the annual

National People's Congress, a ten- day meeting under the leadership of

Premier Wen Jiabao. It was down from 8%.

I am joined by the author of As Goes China, So Goes The World. He

says they need to contain inflation. It is going in and gives us inside

what they are concerned about. One concern is clearly inflation. We

read almost every day about uprisings or disturbances in the

Chinese countryside. What keeps Chinese leaders awake at night is

what could potentially go on in cities if they cannot cap inflation.

People who earn salaries who live in cities could cause major

disturbances in Chinese cities as we saw 20 years ago. The European

Union will today lay out new plans to get more women into the

boardroom. The commissioner said she will take the first steps

towards introduced mandatory quotd tas. It is likely to cause a row

between Brussels and national Governments. That's the business

news. More later. I am saying nothing on that one. We

will keep quiet. Thank you. You are watching BBC World News. Still to

come: Ethiopia's advance against Shabaab rebels. We report from the

A great mystery is grippingly Germany. In the town of

Braunschweig somebody is giving a lot of money away. They leave money,

up to 10,000 euros, in places difficult to find.

These people have a lot to sing about. It is the quiet of a hospice

for the terminally ill. Last week the nurse discovered an envelope

with pen 1,000 euros, just left outside the front door. -- 10,000

euros. It said it is money for good causes like hospices, or churches,

something like that. It would please a romantic. The money was

found under the doormat in the lit porch, so why did the mystery donor

leave it where it might not have been found? There is talk of Robin

Hood, somebody we distributing the proceeds of crime to the poor. But

here is the thing, with the hospice donation the easiest thing would

have been to put the money in the letterbox on the street. No risk

attached to that. A cutting from the Braunschweiger Zeitung is

usually included with the money, referring to the good cause. It is

the best good-news story the paper has ever had.

It is like in the famous fairy-tale. It is a mystery, secret, hidden,

and people like to read that. St Markus' Church the Hans-Juergen

Kopkow found an envelope with the can present Euros tucked behind him

books, so who is the donor? Perhaps somebody begins with it and other

people think OK, I will do the same. Do you think they are crazy?

not crazy. Not crazy, just warm and A rare bit of good news. Also, some

spectacular pictures from Argentina. A major portion of a glacier has

collapsed. Huge sections crashed This is BBC World News. The

headlines: International monitors for the Organisation for Security

and Co-operation in Europe say there were irregularities in the

Russian presidential election. Iceland's former Prime Minister has

become the first national leader to face criminal charges over the

global financial crisis. The trial has opened. The former

Icelandic leader is accused of negligence in the build-up to the

collapse of his country's economy. A special court convening in

Iceland for the first time his hearing not enough linnets were put

in place to prevent the crisis. He denies the charges calling them

politically motivated. An economic consultant in recce Vic told me he

believed he should not be alone in standing trial -- Iceland. This is

not fair to try just one person. Many people caused the collapse.

This was an international collapse with the collapse of Leman brothers,

and it is hard to see what he would have been able to do because of the

assets of the Iceland banks. Probably the shareholders and the

bankers were liable for this probably would be seeking

compensation from the Treasury. parliament in your country voted

that he was the only person who should be tried on these charges

relating to the collapse of the bank. It did lead to a huge

diplomatic row as well between Britain and the Netherlands. Isn't

it good and important somebody specific is held to account?

better solution would have been some kind if truth and

reconciliation committee are to go through this because there were

many other ministers involved, the Minister of banking, etc, people

that had meetings with Alistair Darling and all those others who

are not standing trial. And yet you do need the buck to stop someone,

and this, he stands accused of negligence, a serious charge,

shouldn't he have the chance to defend himself but for him to go on

trial and justice seen to be done? Since this was called by the

parliament people in Iceland, even though they are divided, they are

curious to find out what happened. But he put in place legislation but

basically protected depositors, not only in Iceland, but in the UK and

the Netherlands. The consequences of that is probably that from about

people probably had 99 of the dollar from the estate so that is

the most important thing, we were The deputy president of South

Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, has told the BBC South Africa will not be

adopting a policy of nationalisation of mines in an

exclusive interview, he said nationalisation is not a policy of

the agency, as will not happen now or in the future. No, it is not

going to happen. The party had a team of researchers, and they came

back with their report, and their recommendation is that is not a

good option. What about the expropriation of land without

compensation? Are you worried about the calls from the Youth League

about this? Some would say colloquially Zimbabwe style? There

is no basis for that. We have a constitutional democracy. There is

a clause in the constitution which must be respected. The constitution

allows for land to be expropriated if it is in the public interest.

And even then with compensation. That is why you do not have

expropriation taking place outside of the law. You have been on Robben

Island for 10 years, sacrificed a lot of your life fighting apartheid

and he we are with the Youth League leader be expelled, what does that

mean for you? I hope this does not mark the end of the Youth League

leaders' political life. It all folk -- also offers the opportunity

to develop himself, grow, better person. As to whether he will play

a leadership role or not, that is not for me to comment on. But any

setback also of his time for reflection and unit in boxing they

say that a boxer who has no experience of being knocked down

may not be a good champion, because the day he gets knocked down the

surprise of it may mean that he doesn't know how to rise. I hope he

takes it in that spirit. The deputy president of South

Africa. We have heard Julius Melema will

appeal his expulsion. The stronghold of Baidoa was

recently captured. Our East Africa confident -- correspondent was one

of the first correspondents into Baidoa following his fall. A rare

chance to go deep inside Somalia. A flight to the town which until just

a few days ago was a key Al-Shabab stronghold. Landing at the airstrip

it is immediately clear who controls Baidoa now. Ethiopian

soldiers with plenty of firepower. The visit was organised by the

Ethiopian army, keen to show it is winning the war against Al-Shabab.

A look inside what was the Islamist militants'bass. On the walls

jihadist graffiti. The images of a war that has drawn in foreign

fighters from across the world. The weaponry of the al-Qaeda link

militants. Some of these were captured, others were abandoned as

the Ethiopian and Somali troops advanced across the country. We did

offensive on these places. There was very small and rare and issues.

Cash and bushes. A key ally of the West, this is Ethiopia's second

major offensive in recent years to stop the Islamists from controlling

Somalia. About three years ago Somalis were celebrating on the

street as the Ethiopian army pulled out. Those soldiers are now back,

the challenge for Ethiopia is to ensure this incursion does not

become as unpopular as the last one. It is not seen as a foreign

military invasion. A on the streets many businesses have stayed shut,

partly because the battle for Baidoa may not be over.

Nobody knows how long the Ethiopians will stay, so there is a

fear Al-Shabab could return. In the presence of Ethiopian officials

Somali elders said they were grateful for the help in tackling

the militants. Sheikh Amin Abdu said the Islamist fighters will be

welcomed back home if they came in peace. Bringing this thing to get

there, they will make a bomb. ingredients of terror preferred

these days by Al-Shabab. It has promised blood shed in Baidoa. The