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Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers.

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From Our Own Correspondent: Russia and Romania

Russia and Romania

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Russia and Romania

Tony Grant with insight from Steve Rosenberg in Russia and Nick Thorpe in Romania

Tony Grant with reflections from BBC correspondents around the world. Today, Steve Rosenberg ponders Russia's political puzzle while Nick Thorpe hears why a Romanian reactor is 'safe' from earthquakes

Tony Grant presents in-depth reportage and analysis from BBC correspondents abroad. In this edition, Steve Rosenberg ponders Russia's political puzzle, while Nick Thorpe hears why a Romanian reactor is deemed 'safe' from potential damage from earthquakes.

"Like a 5000-piece jigsaw with no picture and half the pieces missing"

Russians aren't due to vote for their next president until March next year. But already there's feverish speculation. Will the incumbent Dmitri Medvedev stand again? Or will Vladimir Putin, the man who used to hold the job and who many say is still the real power in the land, make another bid for the Kremlin? 

The art of 'Kremlinology' - trying to sniff out the true currents of power in Russia - didn't die out with the Soviets. This vast and often enigmatic country has often baffled outsiders trying to understand its inner workings. And those questions continue to crop up for our Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg.

Inside the blue control room of a Romanian reactor

Around the world, the atomic energy industry has recently had to take a long hard look at its safety procedures. This follows the suspected meltdown in March, in the reactors at the Fukushima plant in Japan. Detailed checks have been going on at nuclear power stations the world over. Nick Thorpe's been to visit one - on the River Danube in Romania - which the experts seem to believe is secure.

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