thank you for what. cinema starts may 27th. this is deja vu news long from berlin indian voters reach the finish line polls close on the final day of the country's marathon general election prime minister narendra modi is seeking a 2nd term. own constituency also coming up. austria as its president called snap elections this comes after the country's vice chancellor

quits following the release of a hidden camera video that appears to show him offering government contracts to a fake russian supporter. and swiss voters approved stricter gun laws soon a country with one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world. i'm michael joining us polls have closed in the final day of voting in india's general election with 900000000 eligible voters it's the biggest election in the world and was held in phases over 6 weeks results are expected on thursday one of the seats being contested today was environed aussie it's a holy city for hindus and it's where prime minister narendra modi was up for reelection modi is expected to win comfortably but a controversial development project in his. temple district as to his popularity.

travel to. this report. the holy city is a piece of paper much for devout hindu and consider the spiritual capital of the country. but now and i comic bought of the temple city is in ruins. close to 300 houses some of which date back to the 17th century have been gone down at all and will not stand. devoted to the hindu gods. on the temples are left standing. the demolition is all to make way for the cos she caught her daughter and ambitious infrastructure project off prime minister no. more the represents wadded i see in parliament.

when he was elected 5 years ago he promised to modernize the ancient city while preserving its rich culture and ahead of manuel michel grew up in the not only. he down a shop here but when the parties came knocking to tell him to get out he petitioned the high court. but after 15 months of fighting he gave up for what he claims is not enough money and the promise of a new shop in the quarter door. the a.v.r. around the temple has traditionally been a stronghold for more these be chippy but now says locals feel that the party is crushing the soul of caution. room with what's made the city of shiva the city of modi whatever changes modi wants a happening here. it was the city of temples now is the city of ruins. the prime minister wants to be directed from out of the city. and the controversy

seems to have little impact on his stances. on the campaign trail more he is treated like a celebrity. his stop has been the main draw for the b.g.p. across the country. more the have said that award for the b.g.p. is a vote for him. many locals see no one counted up to watch him for the prime minister . even the opposition has predicted we candidates are practically giving him a walkover. hindu nationalism has been a bold plank for the b j p and the prime minister is counting on this holy cities indorsement to once again be the country. that report joins me now. initiate the ballot boxes are closed now an indication of prime minister modi can expect to be reelected from his constituency in.

well despite the rumblings of discontent we have heard over here around the iconic caution mishra not stempel over the region project the expectation is that prime minister nouri is more the will be elected from veyron se that he will represent this holy city once again in the lower house of parliament the simple question seems to be how large a margin he's going to win with now a few weeks ago we were expecting interesting opposition candidates to come into play against the prime minister in the last election there was over a strong candidate who is now the chief minister of delhi but this time around even the opposition has not fielded very impressive candidates so many analysts are saying that this will basically be a walk over for the prime minister. this was a massive vote of course give us a sense of what the last 6 weeks look like. well

the last 6 weeks have definitely been eventful and busy this is a massive logistical exercise 542 constituencies have gone through the ward 900000000 eligible voters of course we've run through these numbers before but it is worth reiterating because this is such a massive exercise in democracy largely the watching has been peaceful but it is worth noting that in the state in the eastern state over spring ball there have been sporadic reports of violence there were reports of violence today as well there was reporting in some of the states because of allegations of tampering and some of the electronic voting machines have also malfunction but largely the expectation is that the of that the mandate that will come through form these 6 weeks will be accepted and that the elections have over all gone off fairly salty. just in about 10 or 15 seconds or so is it possible to make predictions about who else might have won in these elections.

well the national sport for the last few months has been to make predictions exit polls have already started coming out but i would say it's best to wait for 4 more days the expectation is nothing is more the is likely to do it on behalf of the head of a coalition government but surprises can come across in an election so we should read one of the boarders. thanks so much. we turn to austria now where it has been announced that snap elections will be held in early september president alexander venter beland made the declaration alongside chancellor sebastian clips after scandal brought down curtains far right coalition partner in a hidden camera video vice chancellor heinz christians appear to offer a new part of government contracts true woman posing as a russian oligarchs needs that's in exchange for her backing his party's election campaign. earlier we spoke to de w.'s barber of ezola and asked her whether voters are likely to punish chancellor kurtz's party at the ballot box for forming

a coalition with the far right in the previous government so far the popularity of course has been splendid i mean he has done a very good job of selling himself as a reformer of austria off course the other parties here the opposition can stroll all those big promises back into his face now and say what have you achieved just a made just gamble and made to austria a laughing stock all over europe by by the publishing of these tapes the corruption and the typical austrian swamp that's been that has been uncovered just one more time this is not the 1st scandal to rock austria in the last decades off a similar soft bought chords is sort of is a very very astute politician he knows how to sell himself he knows how to sort of get on the good side of the public so maybe he won't be punished but the freedom party will be punished large the end it will be a good day for the opposition so the political whether you're in austria is going

to change in all likelihood. switzerland's strong gun culture has been on the minds of many people there today that's because they've had to vote on it and projections show they've decided in favor of stricter gun laws it's estimated over 60 percent approved restricting access to semiautomatics and requiring more training of gun owners the measures would put switzerland's weapons laws in line with many of its european partners the government had warned citizens that relations with e.u. countries could be threatened if they voted no but the proposal sparked a fierce pushback from gun enthusiasts. we're joined by laura zimmerman a political activist from the organization operation la barrow which supported these restrictions she joins us from zurich laura i have to ask you why are stricter gun laws a good thing for switzerland. i think 1st of 4 good afternoon 1st of

all the restrictions very very marginal they make sense they've are like you know in the role. of showing an association that we had and this is why does a vote was not only about weapons it was more over about our showing in the agreement our european policy and this is why we have to look at it in the broader context switzerland of course has high rates of gun ownership and yet it hasn't suffered the kind of major extremist attacks we've seen obviously in france belgium britain germany so why the need necessarily to change. the need was there because we are part of the saying in association and there were restrictions which have to be overtaken by all the member states which made sense which are marginal and which we overtook now with a clear yes on this. as you well know switzerland has been a member of the e.u. but there were worries that not tightening gun laws were threatened you relations

so have you allowed yourself to be coerced by brussels. and i don't. know i think. a clear sign on how we work together with the european union without being a member i think it's absolutely necessary that we where together in security issues and free to misuse and this is one thing into saying in the association agreement which we really broaden our interests and our points we had the specialist swiss finnish. weapon of the nuclear fuel which we said yes to today and i think this is. a yes to european cup ration for sweets land which needs to be more progressive which needs to be more positive and it's not an only swiss thing to look at security issues political activism laura zimmerman in zurich really appreciate you joining us thank you. thank you. thousands of people are taking to the streets across europe in support of the european union the

demonstrations like here in berlin are taking place just weeks before elections to the european parliament organizers hope to get out the vote for pro e.u. parties and to take a stand against populism in the far right. our correspondent thomas sparrow is at that demonstration in berlin thomas thanks for being here who exactly is rallying in berlin today a mixture of folk on his ations around 250 organizations on initiatives. protester day and other german cities and in other cities around europe according to organizers there are more than 40 european cities where people today are protesting in favor of the e.u. against nationalism and populism some of the organizations here are left leaning organizations we've also seen some political parties in particular from the center left all the left of the political spectrum also joining forces what they want to

say is that they're against populism and nationalism and they've been asking people to go to vote in the elections next week which they are describing as very important even a crucial for the future of europe thomas as you know demonstrations are also being held in other european cities do you get the sense that the rallies will make a difference in how the outcome of next week's european elections go. told that is exactly what the organizers wanted in fact if you read the motto of these protests it is precisely asking people to go out and vote to try to make a difference it is obviously an open question whether they will make a difference where people will go out and vote next week but that's at least what the organizers want but apart from that it's about sending a message and sending a message at a time when nationalist forces when populist forces are also going to the streets they're also trying to get alliances formed and join forces with other groups so what people here in berlin and in the other cities that have joined these protests

want is precisely to send a message in favor of europe and against those populist forces that also try and want to change europe but in a very different way from people here in berlin and other parts of europe thomas sparrow in the streets of berlin thank you so much. if you've got a beard belgium is the place to be right now hundreds of hairy men from around the world have descended on for the $29000.00 world beard and moustache championships the wacky contest sees the well groomed competitors take part in 3 main categories moustache partial beard full beard with each including several subcategories many spectacular styles around show including majestic handlebars and swirling whiskers as competitors battle it out to become the facial fuzz came. and a reminder of the top story we're following for you austrian president alexander vander bell and as said elections for early september the announced the snap vote

alongside chancellor sebastian curse it comes after a corruption scandal brought down curses far right coalition partner. you're watching the news on my globe who will be back at the top of the hour with more news as over and stay tuned for the bundesliga show coming up after the break. my 1st vice i was just sewing machine. where i come home women are bound by this ocean for. something as simple as any home to write about is that it isn't. since i was a middle god i want to have a bicycle off my home and it took me to and. finally thinking about invention

buying but 3 times because sewing machine sewing i suppose was more apt procreate for girls than rising up.