A new Cold War?
We're off air now, but you can listen again to Thursday's programme here.
I've only been to Moscow once, and as any visitor to the city would probably say, it's far from the concrete Communist monstrosity you might expect. In fact, Moscow is elegant, pretty and majestic. I wasn't there long enough to get to grips with the Russian character, but certainly, from far away, Russia does often seem proud to the point of intransigence, and sometimes, belligerence.
In May this year, Russia tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile system and a recent Russian submarine expedition to the North Pole saw Russia plant a flag on the seabed. Litvinenko... alleged attacks on Georgia... threats of cutting off oil & gas to Europe.... Is Russia right to flex its muscles? If you're Russian, do you feel your country deserves more respect? Do you feel President Putin speaks for you? ...
... Or is Russia in danger of poisoning relations with the rest of the world? Are Russia's neighbors right to be concerned?
Paul has been assembling people from across continents to speak to us. Mike Averko, who is unapologetically pro-Russian, is causing controversy before we've even put him on air. A we approached said they wouldn't 'demean' themselves to participate in a programme with him. Judge for yourself- here's one of Mike's .
Here's a great link to special ´óÏó´«Ã½ features on
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State of Emergency
We're also closely watching events in Pakistan, where there have been persistent rumours for the past 24 hours about a possible state of emergency. If you're in Pakistan, what have you been hearing? Add your views .
Well, as I sign off, Fiona and Mark are clearing the shelves and desks of two years of assembled souvenirs... Mardi Gras beads from New Orleans... a leprechaun from Donegal... a marble Indian elephant... a collection of tacky snow globes from Finland, Boston and Cleveland... a ballot from the South African elections and of course piles and piles of your old emails, texts and blog posts that keep us going! Tomorrow, we'll be moving to another floor as the builders come in to refurbish the offices of World Have Your Say, Newshour, Europe Today and the World Today here at Bush House in central London. So if tomorrow's blog posts are late... it's only because we're trying to figure out which box we put the computers in!
Speak to you soon,
Anu
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