Poll: Putin to win Russia presidential vote

Vladimir Putin will win about two thirds of the vote in Russia's presidential election, avoiding a humiliating second round run-off in his bid to extend his rule by another six years, the last major poll before the vote showed on Friday.

Prime Minister Putin hopes to convincingly win the March 4 election to take the sting out of a growing urban protest movement which casts him as an authoritarian leader who rules through a corrupt and tightly controlled political system. (Reuters)