The Guardian informs its readers that Putin claims a resounding election win as opposition activists allege widespread fraud. At a rally in front of the Kremlin an emotional Putin, with tears running down his face and flanked by the outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, said: "I promised you we would win. We have won. Glory to Russia." Putin congratulated his supporters for preventing unidentified outside forces from determining the country's fate, angrily reiterating his charge that the unprecedented protests against his rule that have rocked the country since a contested parliamentary vote in December have been curated by the west. But, as with the December vote, independent election monitors and opposition activists presented evidence of widespread falsifications, including ballot stuffing and "carousel voting" – packing vans with voters and bussing them to several polling sites to cast numerous votes. The Kremlin set up webcams in polling sites to combat fraud. One camera caught a man stuffing voting papers into a ballot box in Dagestan. Putin's supporters rejected claims of voting irregularities. "This is the cleanest election in Russia's entire history," said his campaign chief, Stanislav Govorukhin. "The violations our rivals and the opponents of our president will now speak of are laughable."
According to the same newspaper, the last UN inspection found accelerated uranium enrichment and little cooperation, but also signs of problems in the Iranian nuclear program that suggest there is still time for diplomacy. Member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) begin a week-long meeting today focused on the debate over Iran's nuclear programme, at a time when it threatens to become the casus belli in a new Middle East war.
A day after President Obama told the main American Jewish lobby it was time for a pause in the near constant sabre-rattling of recent months. while stressing that the US would use force if it deems it necessary, the outcome of the IAEA board of governors meeting will help set the tone for the next few tense months. Barack Obama has warned that talk of an Israeli war against Iran has driven up the price of oil, benefiting Tehran, as Iran's nuclear programme depends on the country's oil revenue. Addressing the pro-Israel lobby group Aipac on Sunday, Obama said the world needed to give sanctions a chance to discourage Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
However, the Washington Post reports that Israeli leaders say President Barack Obama’s speech on Iran’s nuclear program is an unprecedented show of support for the Jewish state. Israelis had been skeptical of the White House’s commitment to stopping Iran’s nuclear progress by any means, including military action if necessary. President Shimon Peres said on Sunday that Obama “is determined to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.”
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said yesterday the party would work on changing the perception it was anti-religion, a perception he claimed was created by the ruling party as propaganda. In a heated debate, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously accused the CHP of being annoyed by the existence of the imam-hatip religious schools and suggested the main opposition aspired for “a less religious generation.”
The New York Times reports that as the Syrian government continued to block an aid convoy from entering a devastated neighborhood in the city of Homs, Syrian refugees and activists reported Saturday that government forces were turning their guns on other restive cities. Syrians who have fled to Turkey in recent days have described intensifying military operations in the city of Hama, and in northern Idlib Province. A Turkish official said the number of Syrian refugees seemed to be increasing.
