Ruled russia, as president or Prime Minister, he hasnt done it alone. Hes been backed by a coterie of trusted associates, connected through past ties in St Petersburg, or in the kgb or in business. One of mr putins inner circle is my guest today. Vladimir yakunin ran Russian Railways for a decade and was a close putin adviser. So much so the us made him a target of sanctions after the invasion of crimea. He left the railway two years ago. Is he still a true believer in the putin project . Vladimiryakunin, welcome to hardtalk. Hello. I think its fair to say, you, for a decade more, were one of Vladimir Putins closest associates and advisers. In general terms, as you look at putins impact upon russia, would you say that you believe he is taking russia in a very positive direction . Thank you for your introduction. Listen, to tell the truth, i never considered myself a voice to be in the position to be considered an adviser of mr putin. I was doing my business, i was ceo, i was the head o
Ruled russia, as president or Prime Minister, he hasnt done it alone. Hes been backed by a coterie of trusted associates, connected through past ties in St Petersburg, or in the kgb or in business. One of mr putins inner circle is my guest today. Vladimir yakunin ran Russian Railways for a decade and was a close putin adviser. So much so the us made him a target of sanctions after the invasion of crimea. He left the railway two years ago. Is he still a true believer in the putin project . Vladimiryakunin, welcome to hardtalk. Hello. I think its fair to say, you, for a decade more, were one of Vladimir Putins closest associates and advisers. In general terms, as you look at putins impact upon russia, would you say that you believe he is taking russia in a very positive direction . Thank you for your introduction. Listen, to tell the truth, i never considered myself a voice to be in the position to be considered an adviser of mr putin. I was doing my business, i was ceo, i was the head o
Report. Chinese shares on a global index. We look what this could mean for investors in asia and around the world. And what are the big spenders from the Aviation Industry eyeing off at the Paris Air Show . It is tuesday. Good morning asia hello world, glad you could join us for Asia Business report. We start off with chinese stocks. After years of discussion, msci it will announce whether it will include chinas a shares, the mainland shares traded in china, in its emerging markets index. This is the fourth time that msci is looking into the possibility. It could mean potentially a lot of investment going into mainland issues. Our correspondent has more from a rainy day in beijing. China is chasing a globalfinancial day in beijing. China is chasing a Global Financial benchmark here. Inclusion for its eight shares, leading shares here would mean that they attract by investors and responsible for trillions of dollars of investment. There would no doubt bea of investment. There would no d
Chinas richest man heads to detroits uluru is small American Business tallulah small American Businesses. And how do you keep track of 1. 2 billion people . We look at the new biometric identification system. Welcome to Asia Business report. Im sharinjit leyl. Most americans have never even heard of alibaba even though its a Household Name right here in asia, so the giant has gone to detroits. Its a first major eventin to detroits. Its a first major event in the us since it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange two yea rs the New York Stock Exchange two years ago, but the challenge is both to introduce and convince americans to introduce and convince americans to use the platform. Alibaba has to use the platform. Aliba ba has come to use the platform. Alibaba has come to america with a bang. The Chinese Commerce giant is here to show businesses what the company is all about and how it can bea company is all about and how it can be a gateway to the chinese market. The harder sell of co
Live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. Its newsday. Good morning. Its 8am in singapore, iam in london, and 3am in the last stronghold of so called Islamic State, the syrian city of raqqa. The extremists are facing all out war on several fronts now. Across the border, iraqi troops have re taken most of the city of mosul, but not in time to save the famous mosque there. In raqqa, us backed fighters of the Syrian Democratic forces are close to pushing is out. Our correspondent, gabriel gatehouse, and cameraman, fred scott, are with the sdf on the frontline, and sent this exclusive report from raqqa. This has been a long and brutal road. We are inside raqqa now, driving to the centre of the Syrian Democratic forces, the sdf, a Coalition Of Kurds and arabs. They have onlyjust retaken this street from fighters that called themselves Islamic State. Here is is often unseen but all the more dangerous for it. A noise in the sky signals the presence of a drone. Wha