Erstellt am: 5. 3. 2012 - 15:49 Uhr

Russian roulette?

Reality Check: Putin returns to the Kremlin, Syria latest, Iran and the west, tribute to conceptual designer, Ralph McQuarrie.

As expected, Vladimir Putin won yesterday's presidential election in Russia, although the figures are hotly disputed. He says he won over 60% of the poll, but opposition supporters say it was barely over 50%. Either way, 50% is the magic number, and Putin goes back through the revolving door back into the Kremlin. But the question is, how long for? Putin does not command the popular support he did in the past, and his next terms of office may probe a bumpy ride, but whether it will be his last presidency is anyone's guess. Our Moscow correspondent, Karen Percy, looks at the election and what is means for Russia.

Syria update

Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, gives his interpretation of the latest events in Syria

Iran and the West

With increasing posturing on both sides, President Obama is being very careful to sit on the fence, but with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Washington DC for talks at the White House, Obama is treading a fine line. James Boys of the American University in Richmond, London considers the US strategy at this delicate time.

Meanwhile in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been dealt a hard blow in parliamentary elections which handed more power to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni. Rouzbeh Parsi is an Iran specialist at the European Union Institute of Stragic Studies, and gives his analysis of the rising tension.

Ralph McQuarrie obituary

Riem Higazi looks back at the outstanding career of conceptual designer, Ralph McQuarrie, who died yesterday at the age of 82.

His work included designs for Star Wars, ET, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and his creations included many iconic images.

He won an Oscar in 1986 for the design on Steven Spielberg's "Cocoon".

FM4 Reality Check

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