work work is nowhere near over. well, thank you so much for joining us on dw news that has been haven't been tell us where the foundation for defense of democracies appreciate your time. appreciate it . turning to some other news now and the world's largest democratic election has kicked off as people in india had to the polls holding for the lock. so i'll probably be lower house of parliament will continue through children. first, nearly a 1000000000 voters up and down the country are casting their ballots in 7 phases. the voting is staggered to give election, officials and security personnel time to move around the country. a prime minister and the render moody is seeking a 3rd term in power poles suggest he and his hender nationalist b. j. p. r, on course to win a nother landslide, adored by his supporters. some indians accused him of fueling intolerance and xena phobia. the

leader should be authoritative. the dilution is the icon of the century. i believe should be the celebrity, not just for indians, but for the whole world. and it goes to india's prime minister to lead to moody at his valley in the holy town. especially cage had been violent. speaks volumes about the popularity of a bad promises today can do to ever knew what heights moody has become and does most popular lead in decades by promoting. he knew, oh, he did well. and i don't see i just sent you the donation. the prime minister kicked off his re election campaign in january this year by fulfilling one of his biggest promises building a grand temple in the northern city of all your help i. it's dedicated to load from

one of the most viewed duties in hindu is of the temple was built on the ruins of the 16th century, most long standing side of contention between hindus and muslims, which was ultimately handed over to the former by the supreme court of india in 2019 lord drum is the faithful thing. the drum is the foundation of india. the drum is the idea offering the drum is the legislation of india on. although the indian constitution separates religion from politics, movie is increasingly seen taking the role of a priest, spearheading him to state barely a week off to the grand opening of the rom temple. and are you still a 600 year old mosque that stood here in delhi was raised to the ground, or thirty's, ordered it's demolition, calling it, and the legal struck to move said money used to worship you. he says the demolition

sends the queue to india as minorities. the message is that this country is not middle to mostly and they want us to leave as a 2nd class to do this. this is the message. will these global, the section is starkly different internationally. he's widely regarded as a champion of shed democratic values i made it's on. and in the last summer, he received standing ovations in the us congress followed by a state now posted in his phone to us to our partnership, to our people, to the possibilities of life. i had 2 great friends, 2 great nations and 2 great powers chairs in general, western democracies have ruled out the reg topics for his movie represents the worlds fastest growing nature economy, which huge potential for,

for the investment. and india is seen as an important come to wait to china. the g 20 summit in delhi da september was also an idea of the platform for movie to showcase india as a leading voice for the globe. and so a 100 gotta make in the amount of many images a carrier is not to perform a abroad. and the tons of each of nationalist at home to now his future as india, as prime minister, nice in the hands of $970000000.00 in getting notice to decide if they want him to continue leading towards law, just democracy. for more on this let's get across it to dw delhi bureau chief, sandra peters. man, good to see you. we have polls showing the rend remote e leading by a comfortable margin here. how much do you think his re election is a foregone conclusion? i think this election is indeed something like

a referendum on moti style of food and he has assertive it's very powerful style for winning much of and just pointing to making a sentence around time. and now it's up to the people to the side. and if you look at a recent study conducted by the pew research center, u. s. space thing tank here, amongst the indian people around 80 percent of them said we are very positive when it comes to moody and 50 percent. we are even more than very positive about and what do we really want them to come back? so if that as an indication, then i've seen one could say that this election is indeed a full blown conclusion. but one should never underestimate the indian vote as they have had the habit of kicking out and children prime minister, but it doesn't look very like you. so the question that many of service here are asking themselves is, how big is his majority going to be? is it going to increase its leading him enters alliance to an absolute majority? and that would, of course, in a, in a turnaround mean that the already very weak,

infected opposition would really be smashed into oblivion. and that is something that a lot of indian voters i see many are trying to avoid. so tell us a little bit more about what issues are on voters minds as they go to the polls. i have to be speaking especially to young voters here in the cafeteria, deleon dawson, the countryside. what is really on keep us mind is unemployment, especially men amongst young stuff. we have a very high unemployment rate. if you look at college graduates, the unemployment rate for them is above 40 percent and every year, millions of millions of educated young indians point to the labor market but cannot be absorbed. so they are restless and they are looking for a solution. then also the cost of living here is very high, india is a high inflation country and people do seen it every day when they go to the market, buying tomatoes and on jensen prices again have to increase the way if you look in

the pop ups, every day so that as a major concern for people, but then on the other hand, there is a prime minister telling them i give you my guarantee that it's more dist bronte attaches this guarantee button to his policy, saying i will lead india to the class of the by the nations, by 2047. that is when india send a break, hundreds of independence and a lot of people seem to be leave him. a lot of people seem to think he is actually the only one who can improve our quality of life. that is also taken into consideration that there is no real alternative as the opposition of p as raw the friendship. and how concerned do you think voters are about accusations of discriminatory policies by motives, government, and the b, j. p against muslims and other non hindus and india to that is a concern. but i wouldn't say that that's, that's the concern of the majority of people. what you need to keep in mind clear

is that we're looking at a nation of 1400000000 people. and out of these 1400000000 people, 80 percent happen to be in your handle is. so that's a vast majority. and moody, antis rolling beach, a p r, combining a few political elements here. yes. so is the element of conduct bar, which basically says india is that in the 1st stage, but then they also deliver the promise of development. they deliver the promise of own if you will have a better life in future if you stick with us. so those 2 things combined and also the weakness of the opposition finding a sound board in the logic population that the majority seems to think. we rabo agreed to losing some civil liberties, some public civil space for a descent for minorities, then going for the unexpected and trying out something you was. so at the moment, the trajectory here really looks like that this government under prime minister on

their end from already is going to go for it the 3rd consecutive term of 5 years. and that would mean that this prime minister is basically catching up with one of india phone deposit in your 1st prime minister job a. how does nero, who also is sick? you are 3 consecutive tons. are bureau chief sandra peters meant in delhi. thank you so much. for that update to her returning rather to our top story. now there are reports of the sound of explosions in the sky and are there ronnie in the city of is 400 early this morning where a military base and a nuclear facility are located. one official has said that drones were shot down, and iranian commander told state tv, there was no major damage and the incidents, tyrone temporarily closed its air space and flights were diverted.

let's get back across to our correspondent rebecca rivers in jerusalem for an update here. rebecca, for our viewers were just joining us now. can you please bring us up to speed? what is the latest that we can say for sure, and what has happened dinner on? certainly clear what i will say before i say anything. i will preface everything by the fact that this is very much of developing story the picture of what exactly has taken place and what potentially may take place going forward is oh, very much unclear. what we do know is that us officials have been speaking to some us media confirming that an attack and his really attack did take place on a writing on arabian soil. the explosions, as you just mentioned, reported above, is for han province and also another city about 500 miles from east behind cold to brits. the video is circulating, shows what appears to be into sections, and we are hearing from it right in the state media that the there was no

significant damage. now, um the defense was activated in the region and as you mentioned, airports and s face was closed. they have now that is, will been reopened at this stage. israel has a, this is not commented, we have reached out to the as riley military, but they are not making any comments confirming or denying this attack of this reported attack. i should say. um the, as i said, the space was closed. that has reopened. now, for a israel, the home front come on, which usually issues warnings to citizens when there is the threats of an attack they have issued so far. no warnings that could suggest that is riley is not at the moment concerned that they will be or retaliation that way ron had said in the lead up to this, that is a right, right. and so l or even ran in targets were targeted that they would indeed reduce retaliate and retaliate swiftly and hot. so you know, it's not clear whether or not that will happen,

as there was no major damage. iran could also take this as a when and potentially not retaliate will really have to see what happens in the day. so the hours, in fact, ahead as i say this very much a developing story. rebecca briefly, if you can put this into context for us as roles, prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his war cabinet met earlier this week. what kind of pressure is netanyahu under after a runs retaliatory attacks? it's under incredible amount of pressure from all sides of domestically internationally. even within his coalition and even with a and he's on policy, other members of the coalition cooling that we're calling for a swift and definitive response that they wanted to say a large attack on iran, alondra talent response response. on iran, you had the international impressions from there, from israel is allies, particularly the us, but also germany, the u. k. and others, you know, encouraging restraint. nobody wants to see why the conflict spilling out here in

the region. the region is incredibly intensive course because of the ongoing conflict that's been happening between israel and her mouth for the last more than 6 months. and everyone worried, but this is going to spill over into a wide, a regional conflict spot. so you know, it's ready, prime minister, under a lot of pressure. we have seen some opinion polls that came out this week to say that he's approval ratings. that should be at an old time low, had slightly boosted in the late up to, to this a tackle in the, off them off of the retaliate tree attack by iran. so suddenly, approval ratings. you know, in these intense times of pressure, perhaps as riley's thinking to, to stick with the, with the candidate that they know at this stage. although he's improving approval ratings, still very low. he's under an immense amount of pressure. and as i say, particularly from his greatest ally to us, what thank you so much for bringing us up to speed there. that's our course when it rebecca rivers in jerusalem. and that is our show for now. there's more on dw doc.

com and social media like instagram and ex. thank you so much for watching the into the conflicts own. with tim sebastian. as the board and ukraine grind gum the neighboring voltage states, what's anxiously from the ring side, see, pressing the west to increase a think kia and make sure russia dozens wait. my guess this week is last is 5 minutes to pc on his current. and he's clear nature as to optics can conflict next on d, w to the point. strong opinions, clear positions, international perspectives. growing frustration with the us as russia rams off aerial assaults. can ukraine hold at the eastern front as it struggles under

rock at a time? and how can an air defenses be strengthened? join us this week on to the point to the point in 16 minutes on d. w. as the boring ukraine grimes on the neighboring voltage states, what's anxiously from the ring side seat, pressing the west to increase 8 to kia and make sure russia doesn't. with my guess this week is the last to be as 5 minutes to kristy on these kinds. and he's clear nato as to up its game. the difficulty in the frustration that i feel is that as we are going step by step, russia is going full frontal flows. so how ready is nato to take on an expansion? is russia? why are some rich european states still i'm willing to meet the alliances defense spending targets and was present the macro really calling his allies co.