[000:00:00;00] plane . this is a w newsline from berlin thailand told its first general election since a military takeover and twenty four th thais are choosing between a military backed party and allies of the country's populist old guard but there are fears the military has already stacked the political deck and the paper will cross to bangkok for an absence. terrifying moments at sea a cruise ship breaks down in dangerous waters off the norwegian coast we'll have an

update on the rescue efforts four hundred stuck on board. identical welcome to the show. the people of thailand are voting and the country's first general election since a military coup five years ago prime minister and former army chief. is hoping to extend his hold on power as the country returns to civilian control he hopes to see off the challenge by the populist peo thai party which is allied to the ousted prime minister taksin chin out what. critics say that changes to the political system since the coup mean the electoral system is biased in favor of parties aligned with the military after casting his own vote the hometown backed prime minister appeared to encourage

a large turnout that it would be my hope everyone will photo day to exercise their rights everyone wants democracy and that means everyone should have failed them selves of those rights in transparency and the country will be developed through our own hands. i can say that and so i. will depend on the people who. i think. be convened in this election let's bring to delhi correspondent joins us from bangkok bus john you've been talking to the people coming to the polls many of them first time voters what kind of change are they hoping for. both think first of all the whole lot of people here are just tired of not being able to vote so they're excited about the fact they're many are excited about the fact that they get to go to the polls at all if you think about the fact that there haven't been elections in this country that counted for eight years and then for the past five years the country's been under

a military dictatorship promised elections but postponed time and time again so a lot of people do want change if you ask them they're going to say that they want the economy to get better and also especially the young people because you mentioned the first time voters they want to reform of the education system which is dismal is country but then again having said that. a lot of people are excited that now they get the chance to cast their ballot and to have a say in this country in these elections and we spoke to a few of those voters this morning have a listen. they've been very happy that we have elections today we have waited for this day for a long time. i'm not expecting much in terms of the elections result i just hope that the whole process will be honest and transparent. and even me as long as we're under a dictatorship we have to accept that now it's time that they use my right to vote i'm so proud a man that's in the military change the constitution in order to enshrine their

power no matter the outcome of this election what chances does that leave for a democratic process. well the process nicole isn't democratic at all if you let me explain this to you let me lay this out what people are voting for today is the lower house of parliament that has five hundred seats what they don't get to vote for is the senate that has another two hundred fifty seats and those are entirely appointed by the military but those two houses together will choose the next prime minister with a simple majority vote that means that the military only needs one hundred twenty six votes out of five hundred in the lower house of parliament to elect the next prime minister now that's one thing the other thing is that. opposition parties especially opposition parties have been under pressure in the run up to this election one of those parties which is affiliated with the protests in camp was dissolved just a few weeks ago which was

a major setback for that camp that won every election since two thousand and one which in which still has a strong or enjoys strong support in this country now the electoral system is another thing that's designed to put those parties at a disadvantage and if all that fails from the point. if you were the military and the opposition camp gets to elect the next prime minister then there's still this twenty year reform agenda that the that the military government put in place and that the next government or the governments for the next twenty years have to stick to and there is an independent commission which is also appointed by the military which is going to keep a close eye on that me whole. talen has been waiting for this moment a long time as he said before it's been postponed again and again house fair and free of an election the country actually hoped for. these elections might be free but they're definitely not fair just keep in mind the

framework that i that i just laid out that's one thing and then another thing the political parties that are running for seats in this election they haven't been allowed to campaign until mid december of last year while the military government has been nonstop touring the country handing out money advertising their political platform and on top of that the military dictator has a t.v. show every friday that has to be aired on every t.v. channel in the country it's mandatory so you can see that the playing field is not level in these elections at all nicole thank you but in bangkok. a dramatic rescue mission is underway in southern norway crews have been racing to bring cruise ship passengers to safety after their boat was stranded in dangerous waters the ship broke down on saturday and with over a thousand passengers on board most of the vessels engines have now been restarted

and it's hoped it can be towed to port but the ship stranding has already led to harrowing moments for passengers. passengers rushed to shield themselves from sliding furniture and falling ceiling panels as heaving waves tossed the cruise ship from side to side some said those waves that smashed ship windows and sent cold sea water gushing in. elsewhere on board the mostly british and american travelers could do nothing but sit and wait for their turn to be airlifted to safety. amid winds of nearly ninety kilometers per hour and why. so over eight meters high the viking sky sent out a mayday call early on saturday afternoon it had suffered engine failure and was beginning to drift towards the rocky shore fearing the ship would run aground the crew managed to anchor in the bay an area known since viking times is treacherously

difficult to navigate. the cult and of course it will not you this is clearly a serious situation this is a cruise ship with one thousand three hundred passengers on board is stuck in one of the northern europe's worst stretches of water scattered with reefs so this is a serious situation as it will show him the authority has mobilized five helicopters for the operation though some had to be diverted to help a second vessel nearby the freighter with a crew of nine also suffered engine failure delaying the crew ship airlift. rescue passengers have been brought to a reception center on land clearly this was not the kind of adventure they'd had in mind when they booked their cruise. every threat. very frightening we were not on the helicopter with the sling the two of us together and it was quite scary the severe weather is preventing rescue workers from using smaller boats to

take passengers ashore so authorities now aim to tow the cruise ship itself and the hundreds of passengers still aboard. for the latest on this rescue operation i'm joined now on the line by p.f. yell he's with the joint rescue coordination center for southern norway mr feel thanks for taking the time how's the rescue unfolding what's the latest. the rescue operation is still going on as far as a recreation is ongoing with passengers being lifted in the same transport to show that same time. of the year in the nearby the ship have managed to secure trucks on the ship and they are preparing for turning the ship toward sure so that's really the situation at the moment so there's still passengers on board how are they doing. i don't have any detailed information about

that at the moment but that would be information you have to seek elsewhere. our main focus is to have a secure ongoing avocation going on at the same time as we try to make sure that the ship can go safely to shore how long is that going to take to tell them to shore. a few hours i believe because first it has to be it. will have to go to the to the direction of the term of model. and it takes a few hours before it is in. quieter waters where. new evaluation will be made as. to ation operation goes. do we know what can the engine problems on this cruise ship. we don't have any information on the cause of it i'm afraid. with the joint rescue coordination

center for southern norway thank you very much. now for some of the other stories making news around the world. britain's sunday times says cabinet ministers are moving to oust prime minister to resign may as soon as monday this comes with her breasts that strategy in tatters just weeks before britain is set to leave the european union on saturday hundreds of thousands demonstrated against bric six in london. the u.n. says more than one hundred thirty people were killed in an attack on a village and central mali as a delegation visit at the west african country survivors accuse traditional doggone hunters of carrying out the deadly raid and. the massacre comes amid an increase in jihadist violence in the region. and as well as the government is accusing the opposition of coronating with the united states to organize the assassination of

president nicolas maduro and told his supporters that he believes the venezuelan opposition leader is directing the alleged plot by dole declared himself interim president of the country in january. to sports now germany's national football team is in the midst of a changing of the guard on wednesday their first match of twenty nineteen and that disappointment when their new look side drew one all and a friendly against serbia later on sunday they kick off their qualifying campaign for the next major tournament euro two thousand and twenty they face in a verse the netherlands and amsterdam the last time the teams met there and october another month celebrated a three nil victory now in germany youngsters have a chance to take swifter of that. many retirees take up relaxing activities such as knitting baking and sightseeing but those pastimes aren't for

a one eighty four year old american athlete florence fillion miler flow for short is a competitive pole vaulter who's been training six days a week in preparation for the twenty nine thousand indoor world masters of flooding championships in poland. laced up in ready to go flo has already set pole vaulting records age seventy seventy five and eighty and she still loves competing. it's challenging you really have to work you have to have a record you have to have timing and i just love it because it's challenging according to her coach eighty four year old is not only inspiring but fully dedicated to doing well at the coming world masters athletics championships endure in poland where she'll be doing more than just the pole vault.

it has been early to make sure she's worked up enough she goes home and such as a lot she pretty much. searches her entire life around. which you know is remarkable at any age at the event in poland flo will be the only pole vaulter in her age group but competition is expected in the other disciplines so she's been hard at work training for victory and just maybe she'll put her name in the record books again. and a reminder of the top stories we're following for you. thailand is holding its first general election since a military coup five years ago more than fifteen million thais are choosing between the military backed party and allies of the country's populist old guard. crews are working to rescue hundreds of passengers on a cruise ship stranded up norway's coast teams are preparing to tow the ship to

shore more than three hundred people have already been brought to safety. you're watching news from for a lens coming up next shift living in the digital age don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our website at c.w. dot com thanks for joining us. with the. first clue listen and then there is a grand moment to run and join the arena turn on her journey. you know we're going to return to the tour around the ring in turn returns home. what's the connection between bread. and the european union dinos guild going to