to yet... >> you can't tell the stories of the people if you don't get their voices out there, and al jazeera america is doing just that. you you ja polls open in egypt's presidential election. former army chief abdul fatah al-sisi looks poised for victory. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. also ahead - a political earthquake in the european union. the far right makes big gains in elections across the continent. the coup in thailand gets royal approval as the military moves to stifle dissent. the pope visits the holocaust museum to pay respect to jewish victims of world war

ii. people across egypt are voting for a new president. polling stations are heavily guarded and the election is taking place amid tight security. retired field marshall abdul fatah al-sisi is the front runner. he was appointed egypt's military chief in 2002 and led a coup against the muslim brotherhood's mohamed mursi in july last year. he quit the forces in march to run for the presidency. and his rivalal hamdeen sabahi. he first ran for president in 2012, winning 21% of the votes. he supported abdul fatah al-sisi in the aftermath of the coup and announced a presidential bid in february. the professor of public policy is the author of count "counting islam", the mechanics of the egyptian election, we were giving a background to the

viewers. the elections go on for two days. >> the egyptian electoral system is funny, it will take place over two days. if we found turn out was low, it doesn't mean much because the election continues tomorrow. that may not be the end of it either, because the system requires that the winning candidate has to get more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. what could happen, unlikely, but what could happen is the front runner doesn't get the majority and you'd have to have a second ground. >> so you're saying that potentially there could be a run off but you don't believe there will be. >> no, there won't be. there's only two candidates. i'm thinking of past egyptian elections where there has been multiple candidates, here there's two. there'll be two days of voting. that is clear. >> we'll leave it there. we'll speak to you throughout

the day. joining us to discuss the egyptian elections. al jazeera demands the release of its journalists held in egypt. peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed have been held in a prison for 149 days. their trial has been adjourned until june the 1st. and they are accused of conspiring with the muslim brotherhood. al jazeera rejects the charges against all their staff. a fourth journalist abdullah al-shami has been in a cairo prison for more than nine months. he filed a third grievance to the attorney-general demanding release and requests a medical report to document poor health. >> european elections have seen a swing to the far right in eurosceptic parties. the most dramatic result is in france. that's where they topped the poll for the first time ever. >> translation: our people demand a single policy. the policy of the french, for

the french, with the french. it will no longer be directed from outside. subservient to laws which they have not voted for or commissioners that have not submitted themselves to universal suffer ridge. >> the story of the election was a eurosceptic party gaining popularity. in britain the anti-e.u., u.k. independence party tops the poll. harry smith has more. >> he doesn't have a seat. like other politicians, he's transforming the layout of the country's corridors of power. for months the opinion polls predicted that nimel and his u.k. independence party were on the verge of something big, and as the votes were counted, numbers clearly began to stack

up. one of four successful u.k. candidates... he told supporters that this was an historic moment. >> you have spoken and delivered just about the most extraordinary result seen in british politics for 100 years, and i'm proud to have led them to that. in a way it's surprising it didn't happen before. we had three parties in british politics that led us into a common market. leading into a political union that twisted and turned with a variety of promises to give us a referendum that they have never kept. the balance of power shifted. the conservatives suffered in the polls. he has been forced to take a tougher line and promise a referendum on britain's membership. he's under pressure to move to the right. some observers say that would be

a shake. >> the temptation for the national government is to look at the anti-e.u. and immigration party, and the way to win that vote is harder on migrants coming to the countries to lock up, detain, and impoverish refugees and undocumented migrants. this is a damaging development. >> for the voters in question the question is can they repeat this success in the elections for the u.k. parliament in less than a year's time? lopping before that he'll have to decide which of the groupings in brussels he can form alliances with, and what effect that will have on european politics. >> well, let's speak to jonah hull joining us from london to tell us how the results show that voters across europe feel about the european union, and

whether they'll have impacts on the way the e.u. functions. >> well, broedly speaking there are two ways to look at this. on the first - on the one hand, first of all, it's important to peers the hype and point out while there has been political earthquakes in a number of countries, the parliament has not collapsed, there's a strong majority grouping on the center right and the left holding things together. beyond that, on the fringes it's clear that there has been a lot of chance. look at harry smith's report. the big win, the first time a minority party beat the main political parties since 1906. anti-e.u., and anti-immigration. a win for the national front beating the main political parties there, and a similar picture in italy, in denmark,

spain and greece as well. it is not hard to so why this happened, since 2009, there has been sovereign debt crisis across europe, the dreaded eurozone crisis, bailouts, hatching austerity. unemployment has gone up, and with it hostility has grown towards the european prospects and the key ten able to. the freedom of migrants, and towards mainstream politics and politicians who are seen by larger and larger sectors of populations around the country, part of a dispatch connected elite. petero poroshenko is claiming victory in ukraine's presidential election. results are not out, but it is suggested that the billionaire won 56% of vote. he promised to make peace with

russian separatists, reform the economy and fight corruption. >> a fire in a bus terminal killed six people, starting in a site close to the stays. 27 people were injured. most of those killed were construction workers. thailand's military chief that led the army coup received the royal family endorsement. prayuth chan-ocha is now head of the military council. >> general prayuth chan-ocha is the head of thailand, after a ceremony giving him royal endorsement. there's a long road ahead of reform, and the ultimate goal is still to bring the country back to democracy, but there are many steps in the progress. the anti-coup movement that we saw grow on sunday, he said he'll crack down on that if this continues. we are in the attorney-general's building, because the leader of the anti-government movement has been released from detention by

the military, processed here for charges much insure access. he'll go on to criminal -- insurrection. some of the cabinet members and the ruling party. what we don't know is the fate of the red shirts. that's the group holding protests on the outskirts of bangkok. >> still to come... >> anybody homesick. live on stage in afghanistan. barack obama makes a surprise appearance. and is it fair - research says fair trade is not what it says. sh >> we're following the stories of people who have died in the desert >> the borderland memorial day marathon >> no ones prepared for this journey >> experience al jazeera america's critically acclaimed original series from the beginning >> experiencing it has changed me completely

>> follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. >> it's heartbreaking... >> i'm the enemy... >> i'm really pissed off... >> all of these people shouldn't be dead... >> it's insane... >> the borderland memorial day marathon only at al jazeera america real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. i think that al jazeera helps connect people in a way they haven't been connected before. it's a new approach to journalism. this is an opportunity for americans to learn something. we need to know what's going o

awe hello, the top stories on al jazeera. voting begins in egypt's presidential elections. security has been increased and polling stations are guarded. that's a candidate there, abdul fatah al-sisi, in a voting station in egypt. >> preliminary results for the european elections. eurosceptic parties with the big game. parties in france take a large share of the voit. leadership of thailand's army chief, general prayuth chan-ocha has been endorsed by the royal family. court proceedings have beginning against the opposition leader.

elections in egypt. abdul fatah al-sisi is widely expected to win. we look at the front runner. abdul fatah al-sisi has come a long way in 12 months, as large-scale demonstrations occurred on july last year. the happened of the military delivered an ultimatum to the egyptian president. negotiate with your opponents or the army will intervene, abdul fatah al-sisi warned. two days later abdul fatah al-sisi lead the coup that deposed mohamed mursi. it launched the general on a trajectory that seemed to propel him to the presidency. a year original mohammed morsi had the top military job. the president must have thought he was appointing an ally, someone like minded. abdul fatah al-sisi was to have mohamed mursi locked up. he presided over a ruthless crackdown over the muslim

brotherhood. >> we are calling for legitimacy. this is our point of view. that's why they are killing us. >> abdul fatah al-sisi did it. he seemed to have popular support. the general was attracting something of a cult following. it kept him in the spotlight since late summer. he hasn't discouraged xorns. he ruled egypt from 1956 to 1970. nasser, a general was popular. abdul fatah al-sisi is known as being religiously devote. he has not publicly expressed an opinion on how he views the role of islam in politics. he said religious - scores facing the egyptian people. there's a need for a new vision.

>> before that conversation starts, abdul fatah al-sisi knows his priority is to turn egypt's economy around. >> during two revolutions egyptians were aspiring to freedom and justice. >> egyptians love this. i need to give them stability freedom and development. >> abdul fatah al-sisi says he can improve the economic condition of the people. he'll need to retain popular support if he's to have chance of achieving that ambitious goal. pakistani prime minister nawaz sharif arrived before narendra modi's inauguration. nawaz sharif is the first pakistani leader to visit. narendra modi will be sworn in at the presidential palace after leading the party to a landslide election victory. 20 are feared dead after a train

crash. it happened at the railway station in the neighbourhood. the express hit a train that stopped. there are reports that around 50 people have been injured. the white house mistakenly revealed the identity of a top c.i.a. official in afghanistan. the name was included on a list of the people attending a military briefing during president obama's visit to bagram airbase. >> reporter: it was an unexpected visit by the u.s. military's commander in chief. president barack obama touching down at an air force base in afghanistan to get what advisors called a read on the security situation. u.s. soldiers waited to hear from the president while he healed a top of dur meeting. the soldiers were entertained by a country music singer while they waited. >> and when he emerged from his

meeting president obama thanked his troops for the service in a conflict that lasted more than a decade. with the afghan security forces in the lead he announced he'd decide how many u.s. soldiers will remain in a supporting role, after the planned withdrawal of the bulk of u.s. and n.a.t.o. forces. >> for many of you this will be your last tour in afghanistan. and by the end of this year the transition will be complete and afghans will take full responsibility for their security and our combat mission will be over. america's war in afghanistan will some to a responsible end. >> the pentagon indicated that it would like to see 10,000 soldiers stay in afghanistan after 2014, but any u.s. president is contingent on a by lateral agreement.

hamid karzai has refused to sign an agreement. both candidates indicated an agreement can be worked out allowing us poreses to say. >> there are roughly 32,000 u.s. soldiers in afghanistan the president says it's his goal. the number of forces is not clear, a decision the white house promises would be made soon. . >> columbians go back to the polls on uni-15 pore a president until run-off election which many see as a referendum. neither of the two leading can't dads scored 50% needed for an outright win. oscar zuluaga said he'd freeze talks with f.a.r.c.

juan manuel santos calls the election a battle twip the past and the -- between the past and the future. increased security for belgium sites. two others were killed after a gunman attacked a museum in brussels, a nation-wide manhunt is under way. security camera footage shows the moment the gunmen struck, surveyoring an assault rifle into the jewish museum in brussels before making off on foot. >> what we can say is the camera images showed us that he was alone, probably, he was prepared and that he was armed. >> the museum remained sealed. no one knows why the gunmen opened fire on a quiet saturday afternoon, but anti-semitism is widely suspected. >> you have to remember that europe as built on a promise. this promise is never again. and today you have people in the

street who want to do one more time. >> israel's prime minister lashed out at leaders for failing to condemn the killings. >> there are elements in europe that hurry to condemn construction. but don't hurry to condemn the murder of jews. security is increased to institutions across belgium and franed. jewish leaders feel more attacks will follow. >> we feel assured. but attacks can happen anywhere, anyhow, any time. >> if provt this would be the worst attacks against geale gum juice. tips will be crucial in tracking down the gunman. pope francis is on the third and final day of his visit to the middle east. the leader of the roman catholic

church visited. we have been following the pope's progress. and is telling us what he's going to do next, what is on the agenda for the third and final day. >> reporter: hi. today was really a day for interface unity. he started meeting the grand mufti. showing respect, taking off his shoes before entering the mosques itself. he went to the western wall, said a prayer, before meeting up with israeli prime minister and shim own peres. a man known for modern political xionism. he went to a monument for israeli attack victims and headed off, going back to the

modesty of the pope. he met with holocaust survivors, kissing the hand of each and every survivor. following, he is supposed to have a meeting with the prime minister and the president at the notre dame center. this is the residence for the vatican. later in the day he'll meet with the spiritual leader of the ooen orthodox church before holding mass at the senn abbingle, a room considered to be the place where the last supper took place. a day for interfaith unity and christian unity. >> we understand that the israeli and palestinian authority, and shimon peres to come to rome to pray for peace. how significant is that at a time when the peace talks are

stalled? >> it's significant - it's significant in the sense of symbol. >> this is a vatican that wants to get involved in the israeli palestine issue through the pope, which has not happened in the past. they have stated that they consider palestine a state. they did that in 2012, and now pope francis did send out and invited both presidents to the vatican. we hear from israeli media that the meeting will take place on june the 6th. >> thank you very much. that report if jerusalem. as floodwaters recede in the balkans people in some areas face new difficulties, in a down on the serbian-bosnia border there's an evacuation planned because of a looming landslide. we have this report. >> reporter: went the cliffs behind the village fell away there was little warning. now those living below are told

the worst is yet to come. after the record rain fall experts say the hill will come sliding down, saying it could dam the river, the border between bosnia and serbia, flooding the villages on both sides. >> there is a risk that it will all fall down. the mountains will faum. i know there is ganger for me and the people that passed through here. >> translation: it could happen, the ground could slipped up the river and flood in. >> leaders in serbia and bosnia are working on evacuation plans. this road which cuts through a quarry, deep into the hills is one of them. >> translation: basically our country will be cut into two parts. in one part we have bakeries, gas stations and shops. on the other side industrial buildings. basic necessities will not be

able to get in. there has been thousands of land slides as a result of recent flooding. in some parts of the balkans, three months of rain fell in three days. bursting river banks and sending forth torr ents of water. >> this gives you an idea of the water of the this was a road. now it's a see of boulders churned up and forced dune from the hills above. no one was killed by the boulders, but locals believe it is luck. rainfall is predicted in the coming days. residents are making sure there's a plan, hoping to remove luck. a massive wildfire in the u.s. state of alaska is forcing thousands to leave their homes. the blaze is burning in the wildlife rescue.

the funny river fire destroyed 57,000 hectares of land. high winds and dry conditions are fuelling the fires. >> memorials appeared throughout the coastal town where a gunman wept on a shooting rampage. among those paying reports was a congress woman from washington. the 23-year-old son of a hollywood producer shot to death 16 people. the fair trade union was supposed to ensure people got proper pay. it's not always the case prices, decent working and sustainable forming - that's the promise that fair trade offers when purchasing their products. it's a biword for a better way of doing business in rural areas, for the farmer, workers and local community. but it may not be effective enough. after studying 1500 people

working in fair trade certified businesses in uganda and ethiopia, academics from the university of london have found otherwise. many workers profiled fell short of earning decent wages and receiving little benefits. there was evidence of children paid to work on such farms. >> in certain cases, areas where there's larger scale, commercial production, what we tend to find, and the statistics show this is significant is that the wages are typically lower on the areas dominated by fair trade certified producer organizations. countries selling fair frayed product, it proved a popular idea. the daily cap cleano or bar of chocolate could help farmers around the world. leaving others reassured that the money could go towards

supporting ethical products. it's a $3 billion enterprise, backed by the government and supermarkets. it's become a trusted consumer brand. nearly 1.5 million are part of the fair trade scheme, and the products, sanitation and health projects. fair trade maintains that it is a work in progress. and the challenges are numerous, but it is improving working conditions in countries with high levels of poverty. i hope most people acknowledge how tough it is to acknowledge the problem, as the report shows, it's a problem that all governments and companies have yet to tackle. and that's why you fine a terrible poverty, in particular the report looking at women widowed or divorced. illiterate and have to find temporary work. in the globalized world it is the regulators, governments and

consumers who need to push for better living and work conditions for the people fair trade is trying to help. just a reminder that you can keep up to date with all the news by logging on to the website. it's at aljazeera.com. china's one child policy has quoted controversy, from accusations of the state confiscating children, to forced abortions. today it is being blamed for a declining fertil