麻豆约拍

Russia's leader president Putin says Western sanctions are the main reason his country is facing recession, but do Russians believe him?

Also on the programme: we have a report from India about a 2000 year old cow-selling event, the Sonepur Mela in Bihar, which has attracted over four million people this month. And with more protests in New York and across America over the killing of a young black man, Michael Brown, during a police arrest in Ferguson - how far is the US a post-racial society? Finally, we speak to the Mithika Aborigines in Australia about why they're protesting about fracking on their land.

With guests Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland who's in Washington, and program director for mainland China Tianjie Ma of Greenpeace China, joining us from Beijing.