>> >> pro-russian separatists threaten to disrupt voting as polling begins in the presidential election.

and thousands greet the pope in bethlehem on his second day of his trip to the holy land. our top story - voters have begun to cast ballots in ukraine's presidential elections. let's take you to the scene at a polling station in kiev. there are around 35 million eligible voters. the election is going ahead despite violence in the east where pro-russian separatists vowed to stop people from voting. we go live to ukraine - to a city council north-west of donetsk. first to kiev where nick spicer is standing by. give us an idea of what the turn out is like so far in the capital? we seem to have lost nick. let's first go to hoda

abdel-hamid who is standing by in the north-west of donetsk. now, hoda abdel-hamid, are you seeing people turning out despite threats of violence from pro-russian groups in this volatile region? >> reporter: it's early, but we have seen people voting, not in the numbers that could have happened if this region was not so tense. just to give you an indication, here in the donetsk region, a third of the district commissions are open, and in the nearby lugansk region two out of 12 are operating today. we won't have a victor. in the places where there are polling stations, like where i am here, people are coming, others are scared. the run-off to the election has been quite bloody, at least 20 died over the past few days. there has been a lot of threats,

election commissioners have been abducted. early in the morning some decided not to turn up to work. that's how scared they are. one can't say that the east here is voting. >> give us an idea of the sort of security that is being set up there, for those that do want to vote. >> reporter: well, you don't see much of that security. what is happening inside the city is that you have these self-styled defense units. pro-ukranian militias that have formed over the past few weeks. we have seen them roam around the buildings where they have the electoral commission, or the polling stations themselves. apart from that, you don't see much of security. what you see on the roads, coming from the regional capital to where we are are checkpoints, and it's a succession of checkpoints some manned by the

pro-russian separatists, some by the ukranian army. you get a feel over the last 24-26 hours that the violence has gone down, compared to the uptake earlier this week. the ukranian government announced there'll be no military operations during this election day. but big security we have not seen. >> thank you for updating us on the situation there in north-west of donetsk. well, let's move to thailand, where there are more anti-coup demonstrations in the country. people are taking to the streets. this is despite a warning from the army chief not to join the demonstrations. >> i want you to avoid joining the protests because right now the usual democratic system don't operate normally. as for the transfers of civil servants, police and military personnel, we insist that there

was no intention to dishonour them or any agency. it was necessary to decrease the pressure on those people. scott heidler is standing by for us. under the threat of arrest people are showing their anger over the military rule. >> reporter: absolutely. in the mall behind me - in front of it, over the last 3.5-4 hours there's a large group, several hundred in number. something very interesting happened. the last time we spoke, last hour, we said that this demonstration is different to what we saw during the anti-government movement. this anti-coup movement, protest, sprouted out of nowhere. it's not as though they marched here and stationed themselves outside the mall. what happened after they had been gathering and growing in numbers for a couple of hours, they marched, on their way to victory monument.

what is more interesting is the military. who had a strong preps and posture, when the protests started, took a step back. the police came up, took a step back and allowed them to leave the compound behind me, the turn about in front of the mall and take obvious one the streets, one of the busiest intersections in bangkok and march to victory monument. that's where we are headed. there's a small number of protesters that will meet up there. it will be interesting to see the military at victory monument. again, we have not seen the numbers like we saw leave here in the last 30-40 minutes. >> do we know the fate of those arrested so far? we know that former prime minister yingluck shinawatra has been detained. along with politicians, academics and journalists. >> yes, no, it's expanded the

list, and it's gone into what is called an economic council. advisor group, if you will. it's an interesting term for it, because they were told by the military that they needed to come. that's where executives and minister, energy concerns here in thailand. that's because i am sure that the military hoounta, the government that is controlling the nation, they want to make sure that there's no mark of any energy reserves. one thing that is interesting, some of the people that have been brought into the meeting, was the energy companies, any company that has a certain amount of tanker trucks. people that agencies, companies that can stockpile fuel. that's what we heard over the last couple of hours. there has been academics, journalists, 18 exist, thai newspapers pulled in by the military. >> thank you for getting us up

to date on the situation in bangkok. scott heidler there the u.n. security council is outraged by the al-shabab suicide bomb and gun attack on the somali parliament. 10 were killed in mogadishu on saturday. >> reporter: the gun battle continued after al-shabab fighters launched the multiprong attack. a car bomb, a suicide bomb blast and a string of armed men. the target somali's parliament building. >> i was wounded because i was inside the parliament building. i'm lucky to have survived. >> parliament was sitting at the time of the attack. the building packed with politicians. the members of parliament survived the assault, a soldier and some of the attackers were

killed. . >> al-shabab operates in somalia and kenya. it was behind the siege of the westgate mall in nairobi last year. the group wants islamic law in somalia and foreign troops, including kenyan forces, out. international forces pushed al-shabab out of the capital mogadishu in 2011. the group managed to attack target and the cities. this assault will cause more concern because the group was able to get through parliament and reach somali's top politicia politicians. in djibouti there has been a grenade attack in a restaurant popular with westerners. two were killed, a dozen others injured.

djibouti had hundreds of troops fighting as part of the african union mission. it's home to one of the biggest army bases in the region. a car bomb explots in northern iran -- explodes in northern iran. the city has witnessed a growing number of attacks. the votes are being counted again in malawi's presidential election after an attempt by the president to order a re-run. the election commission admits more votes were cast than there are registered voters. >> reporter: the head of the election commission tells staff to ignore an order. there were too many irregularies, says joyce banda: others say the president does not have the power to cancel the

elections. exercising power has more effect in an election like this. where a lot of things were happening. every stakeholder, every competitor will try to look at the possibilities. after going to court the election commission was allowed to continue counting. it's believed test rigged by the opposition. officials showed observers what they say is an example of election fraud. >> if you compare the numbers, total - you will find that the total number are more than voters. the question we are asking is how did it happen. >> reporter: there were squirmishes after the president's announcement in some areas. business openers had been told to stay alert in case things get out of hand. malians are surprised and shocked about the latest developments. >> in one word, shambolic.

as a malawian i am affronted. embarrassed and, indeed, i am deeply offended by the travesty that has gone on in the name of an election. it is not the first election we have held. we have held elections since 1994. by now one would think that which would have at least got the management of the process right. opposition leaders deny allegations made by the president of vote rigging. according to preliminary results, the leader of the democratic party is leaving. the president is trailing. those concerned about vote rigging get the news, the electoral commission will reopen the ballot boxes and the manual recount will take place next week. >> the country needs to move on. it's unlikely to happen until

the political crisis is resolved. >> before we get you to the break, let's go to bethlehem, to manger square where pope francis is celebrating mass there. this is his first visit to the middle east. and there's a huge and long agenda ahead of him. there he is. you can see him sepp operating mass -- celebrating mass with thousands who have turned out to see the pope. let's listen in to the ceremony for a little while. [ ♪ music ] [ singing ] as you can see there too is the head of the palestine authority, mahmoud abbas there, who earlier met with the pope as well. both had given a press conference. we will, of course, continue to bring you more out of bethlehem.

still to come on al jazeera - we report from inside a child improvement center in bangladesh, where children are beaten and tortured. >> after the flooding comes water borne diseases. >> mandatory minimums >> the whole goal is to reduce gun crime, now we've got people saying "this isn't fair"... >> does the punishment always fit the crime? >> had the person that murdered our daughter got the mandatory minimum, he wouldn't have been out. >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america >> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective

wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera the performance review. >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. what is this place? where are we? this is where we bring together the fastest internet and the best in entertainment. we call it the x1 entertainment operating system. it looks like the future! he has a phaser!

it's not a phaser! it's my phone! he can use his voice to control the tv. you can use your woice? my voice. your woice. my voice. "vuh," voice. his voice. your woice? look. watch sci-fi. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity. welcome back. a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the presidential election has begun in ukraine, despite fighting in the east where pro-russian separatists promised to stop people voting.

anti-coup protesters in thailand are defying a warning by the army to stay off the streets. soldiers have been fighting with demonstrators they tried to arrest. newspaper editors have been summoned for talks with military leaders. the united nations security council says it is outraged by the al-shabab suicide bomb and gun attack on the somali parliament. at least 10 were killed in mogadishu on saturday. let's take you to manger square in bethlehem where pope francis is celebrating mass with thousands of pilgrims, at the spot where it's thought jesus was born. as you can see thousands attended mass. this is his first visit to the middle east, the fourth pontiff to do so. he is arriving in a region known to be plagued by national and

rivalries. let's listen in a little bit to the ceremony for a while. [ singing ] and this is live pictures, if you just tuned in - live pictures out of bethlehem, manger square where pope francis is celebrating mass. let's bring in our correspondent at main ger square. no doubt exciting to be there with the pope. give us the idea of the numbers there at the moment. . >> reporter: thousands of palestinians and tourists have shown up - all different nationalities. thousands were lined up on the streets as the pope mobile drove

along. the pope did stop at the contested separation wall, a wall that has been named by many as the apartheid wall, but the israelis see it as a security wall, saying it protect them from an attack going into israel. what was interesting about this is that the pope got out, walked to the separation wall, where there was a guard tower and prayed at the wall for about five minutes. it's symbolism at its biggest, something that the palestinian people wanted to see. if not the words, the actions. right now he's here, he's participating in the mass. it will be about a two hour mass afterwards. he'll meet and have lunch with five families and heading to a camp where he'll meet with 200 children before heading to jerusalem. >> before he left, you did say

he was bringing a message of hope and peace to the middle east. actions speak louder than words. just talk to us through the security situation there, around the pope. no doubt this is a volatile area. what is the security situation like there? >> absolutely. security is a big concern, because this pope it not driving around in a fully armoured vehicle. it has its sides open. the pope wanted to make sure he could wave to the crowds. something that he wants in the palestine territories and jirz elliot rodgers. we have seen thousands of security forces making sure that they protect the pope, and from what we heard from the israelis, they have thousands of security forces preparing to protect his visit too. it's a concern for the israelis because leading up to the pope's

visit there has been many ultra nationalists protesting the visit, so there is a bit of concern about his security when he heads off to jerusalem. >> highlighting the security issues surrounding the pope's visit to bethlehem. >> let's listen in a little bit to the mass that the pope is conducting. [ speaking foreign language ] you were listening to pope francis there, celebrating mass with thousands of people that turned out at manger square in bethlehem to see him. we'll bring you more a little later in the show. now egyptians will vote for a new president on monday and tuesday. former army chief abdul fatah al-sisi is widely expected to win. if he does, he'll be the latest

in a line of military men to lead the country. we have more. >> reporter: in 2011 they overthrow an army general. three years later they are about to elect another one. >> translation: we don't want a political role for the army. his role is to protect, not to rule. >> reporter: it's been over 60 years since the army got involved. the first generation of leaders, were seen as heroes, tasked with liberating palestine and ending the occupation of arab land. they perceived threats. decades of emergency laws

previously were made, his son was prepared to replace him, but when the egyptians overthrew him, they saw the despotic ruler and a soldier - the defender of the nation. the army refused to crackdown on protesters. the military helped in the overthrow of mubarak and seen as the save our of the nation and defender of the democracy. it did not last. army leaders formed a military council to form an open-ended transition. they tried to cling to power. military police clashed before the army accepted to hold elections. the president was elected. that didn't mark the end of the trouble. another general staged a coup. this time popular support for the military was shown by one camp, including mubarak

supporters, egyptians and other opponents of the muslim brotherhood. security forces open fire on protesters killing hundreds of them in cairo. the coupe leader abdul fatah al-sisi said he was a man that didn't want power. that stance changed >> translation: i announce my will to run for the egyptian presiden presidency. i would be honoured to have your support. >> abdul fatah al-sisi's candidacy and the crackdown caused many to worry that a new chapter of military oppression will start. others say this is the only solution for egypt at the moment. al jazeera continues to demand the release of its journalists in egypt. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed have been held in prison for 148 days. their trial was adjourned until 1 june. they are falsely accused of

conspiring with the outlawed muslim brotherhood. a fourth al jazeera journalist abdullah al-shami has been in a caro prison for -- cairo prison for more than nine months without trial. his lawyer filed a third grievance demanding his release and a medical report to document his poor health. al jazeera relates the charges against its staff. in bangladesh the age from which a person can be convicted of a crime is nine years old. we have this report - many children say they have been mistreated in the juvenile justice system. >> this boy has escaped. we'll protect his identity. he does not have fond memories of his treatment at the detention center. >> first they tie us up, hands and feet and beat us with sticks.

it's hard. this is called a child's improvement center. children found guilty of crimes are brought here to serve their time. there's a badminton court, a playing field and a school. some of the children complain about being beaten and tortured. >> at one juvenile detention center, riots lead it fights with the police. >> the children say they are abused. a number have been trying to escape. this is a social welfare minister, in charge of the juvenile centers. >> they are high finance. attacking buses, giving money for burning a bus. an estimated 4 million children live on the streets of bangladesh. the prime targets for drug dealers looking for cheap labour. >> he says his military has a difficult task.

back at the shelter this boy is nearly 18. he's getting training to become a carpenter and hopes to find a job soon. if he completes, he'll have a shot at a normal life, one elusive for many going bangladesh's juvenile justice system european parliament elections are under way in 21 of 28 countries. it started in great britain and netherlands. 400 million are eligible to vote. the first results are expected on sunday evening. >> well, this is my last video. >> dackts say the -- detectives say the son of a hollywood film director killed six people in a shooting spree. a dozen others were wounded in santa barbara and southern california. 22-year-old elliot rodger stabbed three room-mates to death. it's feared water borne

diseases are spreading after floods in the balkans. partly submerged villages are slowly emerging. >> reporter: locals work with teams to recover the rotting carcasses of livestock. it means watching the livelihood be carted away. >> translation: everything is destroyed. all by cattle are gone. i don't have a place to come back to. it's sad, even to god. i feel sorry for all of us. >> reporter: six villages in the region have been cut off, leaving many. 7,000 who live here homeless. for now only authorised volunteers are allowed in. after filming his last recovery mission, she showed us fields turned to lakes. his dead livestock decomposed quickly. with the risk of disease and the smell of rotting carcasses

overwhelming, visitors are keen to clean up as soon as possible. but with the scale of the disaster undeniable, it could be weeks before they can return to their homes. many residents are coming here to a school-turned-emergency shelter. more are arriving every day. the school is running out of the basics. drinking water is low and they need antibacterial spray to stop people getting stick. >> translation: what about the future. for now we have something to seat. everything will be under water for a while. >> translation: everyone speaks of humanitarian aid - we haven't seen it. >> at the school, this woman asked to show us her house. she and her husband had been working on her home for 40 years. when the water came she only it

time to take her handbag. everything else is gone. heart break is mirrored on the faces of most here. aware that the real work is just the beginning. a reminder - you can keep up to date with the latest news on the website. that's at aljazeera.com. >> let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. our father and our most gracious god. as this family, the murdough family and their friends, as they gather, we ask that you send your comforter, your holy spirit, your guide, to be with them. >> queens, new york. jerome murdough's family is laying him to rest. four months ago, 56-year-old