this line from berlin in elections condemned as an undemocratic sham after its crackdown on dissent the country's strongman ruler is expected to extend his long grip on power opposition groups say the vote is illegitimate will go to come bodie as capital for the latest also coming up. the summer camp with a difference we'll head to russia and meet young people on their summer break where

they learned to fire guns and battle terrorists. and rainbow flags fly here in berlin with hundreds of thousands turning out for one of europe's largest gay pride gatherings christer first street day. and welcome to the program polls have now closed in a general election in cambodia and prime minister who then appears set for a sweeping and controversial victory despite more than a dozen parties listed on the ballot the main and only credible opposition has been outlawed and silenced critics are calling the vote a sham and say the prime minister is moving towards tightening his grip on more than three decades and power. voter registration lists ballot boxes fingers stained with ink across cambodia voters went to the polls but

with only one viable party in the running. consent the world's longest serving prime minister was not taking any chances this year. after nearly losing the vote five years ago to the cambodian national rescue party he took action to make sure they wouldn't threaten him again the rival party was dissolved by court order its leader jailed for treason websites critical of his party were blocked. on sen's only real worry this election day was that cambodians would answer the opposition's call for a boycott. anyone who opposes elections destroys the nation and democracy and should not be forgiven. the the. officially the boycott was averted cambodia's national election commission claims about eighty percent of registered voters cast their vote the opposition however believes that number is inflated former opposition leader sam rainsy now living in

exile tweeted that no credible election observer would confirm an election process that was quote falsified from the outset. for a majority of cambodians unsent is the only leader they've known he began his career as a military commander for cambodia's camaro rouge but as the regime carried out genocide on its own people can send defected to vietnam to help overthrow his own government he was named prime minister of cambodia in one thousand nine hundred five when he lost the country's first elections in one thousand nine hundred three he dismissed the results and refused to step down from thirty three years after his career began he remains at the helm. milena i hope this country in the future will have a real democracy not the big one but. the fact that before there were so many competitors but now there is only one. that is that.

for many however the main concern is that the economy continues to improve. that no matter what the outcome i hope that cambodian people can unite together and the country can progress everyone would get a job the salaries would go up and the living standards it would be improved. vote counting is under way though most see it as little more than a formality. correspondent boston heartache is income bodhi has capital phnom penh fast and the ruling party says there's been an eighty percent turnout considering there is no true opposition is this indicative of the support for the prime minister. well the government is trying to tell people and the reason why turnout is so important for them is of course because in the absence of an opposition that they want to keep up that illusion of this being a democratic process and the opposition party that was dissolved that year its

leaders called for a boycott of these elections saying because this is that would be for voters the way forward to express their dissatisfaction with the government and to protest what happened here in the run up to these elections that what happened. was that the government they tried that there were numerous reports of local authorities officials. trying to urge voters to go to the polls and and a lot of people and a lot of people heeded that because these local authorities you have to understand they realize the power and if you you know if you get at loggerheads with them then they can really make your life miserable so a lot of people did turn out at the polling stations today but it doesn't mean that they were all they all six so in support of the government. that's in local and foreign rights groups say this bill is not credible you mention that as well the main opposition party was dissolved by the supreme court last year what can you

tell us about the overall situation when it comes to limited dissent in the country well politically that that's what they did they say they saw that party there but that wasn't all there is they shut down a lot of liberal media outlets in the country a lot of radio stations were shut down newspapers were shut down there were critical of the government or sold to people who are said to be loyal to stan and and his regime and then also criticism was sipho critics were intimidated with the help of the judicial system which the ruling party has a lot of influence over abbey now with no real opposition to speak of what can we expect next for combo to a. well tonight on c.n.n. his regime they've they've strengthened their grip on power even further and that means that he can that he can keep working on on his succession he's already

started putting in place his son one day to hand over power to him so this doesn't this isn't bode well for everyone who wants a more democratic cambodia and i think somebody at the night has taken a big step toward becoming an authoritarian state every d.w. correspondent boston hartig reporting from cambodia thank you very much boston now at least fourteen people have been killed and another one hundred sixty injured after an earthquake hit the indonesian island of lombok the six point four magnitude quake struck the northern part of the island in the early morning the island is close to bali and popular with international tourists reportedly lasted for just a few seconds and sent people fleeing into the streets several buildings were damaged in the area most of those killed were hit by falling slabs of concrete out of the other stories making news around the world

a powerful typhoon has hit japan bringing heavy rains and winds of up to one hundred eighty kilometers per hour thousands of residents have been forced to leave their homes it's this season high soon so far the storm has now weekend and is moving west. people in mali vote in a presidential election today and it's expected to be a tight race between incumbent abraham boubacar kifah who is seeking a second five year term and opposition candidates to my less he say a poll comes as the country battles a wave of ethnic violence and jihadism. zimbabwe's former president robert mugabe has declared he will not vote for the man who ousted him last year emerson speaking in harare he said his successor quote illegally took power but he encourage them to accept the results of monday's presidential election.

israel has released palestinian teenager i had to mimi from prison a seventeen year old was jailed for eight months alongside her mother for slapping and kicking two israeli soldiers near her home in the west bank israel says she's being used by her family for political reasons the palestinians she has become a symbol of resistance. to russia now which has put on a display of its military might during the annual navy day parade on show were forty warships sailing in parade formation through the waters of st petersburg president vladimir putin presided over the event saying his country's fleet helped protect russian interests but its large crowds turned out to catch a glimpse of warplanes and submarines as well. that display is part of a culture of militarization and nationalism under putin one that's instilled early in young russians every summer thousands attend summer camps where they learn to fire guns and simulate clearing

a building of terrorists the so-called patriotic summer camps are growing in popularity. a summer holiday playing war these kalashnikovs machine guns may not be loaded with real bullets but it was a bit but camp the boys are learning how to handle them. the kids here are aged between ten and sixteen. right to the right i know that clutch. little it's nikita's first time in the military summer counter the fifteen year old is from nearby moscow like many of the boys he wants to try out life as a soldier here to decide if it's for him. you don't feel like a normal russian citizen here you feel like a soldier maybe even in another country and on a secret mission which is totally different from normal life and that teacher at the mission. today the boys are swinging into action to clear

a building of terrorists. the instructors say these are current real life scenarios from the russian army's operations. structures in the camp of a military background several are even actively serving soldiers though the program is open to girls the camp counselors see it as a male rite of passage. to me i would make them sleep with their weapons each with their weapons a man should always have a weapon with him it's his job to protect the weak and to protect women if he doesn't have a weapon he's not even a man anymore if we were going to. but it is a private camp and receives no government funding but the idea matches the mood in russia a recent government survey shows that over ninety percent of people in russia feel patriotic. so far military summer camps are the exception rather than the rule in russia but

a recent law promoting patriotic education in the country praises the camps it says they're a good way of instilling patriotism in young people who are. we need a strong generation we should all know how to protect the country and bring up a decent kids. if you like we missed out on bringing up a whole generation in the ninety's after the fall of the soviet union. compensating for vets and that's why the government is also putting an emphasis on these military patriotic hours. right around the potential security over. the battalion gathers to review the day before. the organizers insist the camp is about teamwork and not about patriotism or preparing a new generation to fight for russia. isn't as important to me as the law for your home country when she had the camp it also plays a role if you have that feeling already developed it's impossible not to be

patriotic here. nikita is still deciding whether the army is for him in the long run but for some of the boys this camp has clearly kindled a flame that will be hard to put out. a burst of color and glitter hit berlin this weekend with hundreds of thousands churning out for the city's annual gay pride parade known as christopher street day this year was the fortieth time the event has been held in the city and it's one of europe's biggest pride events. burn geyser has been at almost every christopher street day parade he's one of the pioneers of the movement. that we did and i'm always excited as i was the first time the excitement doesn't stop and. he helped organize the first event held in one nine hundred seventy nine when nearly five hundred people in west berlin demonstrated for equal rights at the same time public opinion was hostile towards them. but then i found that we got some of the positive

reactions and that was very relieving for me that it gave me courage. to come up christopher street day is not just a street party it's also political the fight for equal rights and acceptance in germany is far from over the campaign is what the constitution amended to protect against discrimination based on sexual identity there are also calls for better education anti gay insults are still widespread in gym schools. and have ever were not there yet there's still a lot of injustice we have to deal with and i think this is a wonderful way of doing that. that's going to develop all show you are a public people should not hide for you this is about freedom of not having to hide anymore you can be yourself i've signed the bill for. crime statistics hell of a show that being yourself can be dangerous in berlin alone there were three hundred twenty four confirmed homophobic attacks last year young reported number will be significantly higher for but geyser and tens of thousands of others the

fight for justice continues. you're watching the news live from berlin we're back at the top of the hour with all the latest and get the latest anytime on our web site that's b.w. dot com and abbie hoffman thanks for joining us. from beethoven. his work god is for tonight. the maestro and the. beethoven strong twenty.