speak president of the russian brain and that's it for now from all of us here if you want to have your say on spotlight or have someone in mind you think i should through next start to drop me a line at al gore enough. and let's keep the internet back with more free time comments on what's going on in and outside until then stay on our team and take it it as .

violence and you regularities cloud also got a lot of in phoenix and all signs of the political process now is fading me want to

see a foreign updates. one of russia's most wanted men terrify back with a cry of awaits a court decision on his extradition from home wind. and deadly secrets down below our efforts to rid the baltic sea of world war two munitions which still pose a danger. a warm welcome to you live from moscow this is r t with me nice and now way it's midnight here in the russian capital twelve thirty am in kabul polls have closed in afghanistan's parliamentary elections after a day marred by reports of voting irregularities and deadly militant attacks across the country and with u.s.

troops pledging to pull out of afghanistan by next summer many fear the election show the contrary is far from stable and still plagued by corruption artie's paulus leer is in the afghan capital. by and large this was certainly not a successful day for afghan democracy there was an extremely ill voter turnout with some polling stations reporting that less than a quarter the number of people turned out today compared to the number of people casting their ballot last year during the presidential elections the first results will come in next week wednesday with the final tape tally been tabled at the end of october but these certainly won't be elections associated with violence more than a thousand polling stations where i'm able to open the doors particularly in far flung rural communities where the taliban has strong control we've also heard some of the electoral complaints commission and it says it throughout the course of the day it was seen to numerous reports on irregularities some of the complaints were by people saying that they saw election officials accepting bribes some of the

reports were about fake those two cards and also reports about the so-called indelible ink which was supposed to last more than four days and that was supposed to indicate that a person had voted and prevent them from voting a second time but we've heard many stories of people being able to wash off this and in just a matter of minutes we afghan parliament is meant to be installed early next year but if reports of a vote in the coming weeks materialize and in fact become larger and if many of the two hundred and forty nine candidates who take up seats in the parliament turn out to be the preferred candidates of president hamid karzai people here will feel even listen to me he asked about the political process one of the main reasons for such a low turnout today was violence but the other reason was a lack of enthusiasm and support for an administration that many people feel is corrupt by and large people also feel that this is an administration backed by western governments that has not listened to the will of the people the cause my

administration will be for that deal it gets revised by these reports of irregularities and violence it certainly seems as if they haven't been able to stem the violence throughout the course of the day. this was so is being teddie by many analysts as a missed opportunity by some a karzai and his sponsors to actually win support from the afghan people and also to win support for the political process here in afghanistan of all his troops i mean to leave this country by july of next year they said that they will only do so if there is a security system in place that can ensure political stability and security but certainly based on what we saw today this does not seem to be the case. well afghanistan can only avoid becoming a failed state if it learns from past mistakes that's the view of dr abdullah of draw an afghan opposition leader who is hamid karzai as main challenger in the two thousand and nine presidential election. as i had predicted before the presidential

elections last year that if this same situation frontin you the situation turned only to tell you date this is exactly what we are witness to in terms of governance issues of corruption rule of law and justice and security and as a whole so this is a the these sort of sliding down the the downward trend lead to an absolute failure i list a list we look into the mistakes of the past we draw lessons from the mistakes of the past and we give the people of afghanistan back their sense of direction so this is stage the afghan leadership their administration led by mr i can say it in itself is misled leadership and then lost sense of direction to the failures of the national government cannot be substituted with more troops from outside sources from outside more energy and more support from outside this is the situation that

afghans are to start with and the international community is also stuck with it. and if afghanistan does fail to become a stable nation it will have serious consequences for other countries in the region that's according to matthew hoh head of the afghan study group. i think it's in. every other nation's interest to see a negotiated settlement in afghanistan it's been a proxy war or. a real war in one way or another for the last thirty thirty five years in afghanistan and it has improved nobody's economy has approved nobody's way of life i think for nations like the central asian states or russia for china that have issues with their own ethnic minorities or muslim minorities i think it's important for what's happening in afghanistan not to spread across boundaries. here with r t live from moscow still to come this hour calls for

a change in priorities in u.s. politics. but in an all time high in poverty of more than fifteen years at these big name conservative leaders say what america needs is to ban gay marriage to bring god how can. we hit the campaign trail for the u.s. midterm elections and discover what values some think are the most important in these hard economic times. also in the program find out what dangers work in the depths of the baltic sea that's coming up in just a few minutes. but first a polish court is due to decide whether to extradite one of russia's most wanted terror suspects. of was detained in warsaw on friday and later released russia is demanding his extradition in connection with atrocities in the north caucasus artie's alexei yourself is in warsaw. left this building was district court

late on friday night feeling almost like a free man it is hard to say whether he is a free man now as the court as you said is still to decide whether extradite to russia or anywhere else or not we heard comments from the officials working in this court that according to the country's largest lation that's a kind of has a political refugee status in the u.k. this applies to the whole of the european union and that's why he had to be set free immediately i'd like to remind two of us that he was detained early on friday morning in the polish capital warsaw on charges that he is on the international wanted list by the interpol and that's why the polish authorities had to do one of russia's most wanted terror suspects now many experts in poland have already been very surprised at the decision by this court saying that usually the fact that a person is on an international wanted least is more important than

a rescue political refugee status and that's why it is still unclear what fate lies ahead of all in all. eleven criminal acts russia believes moscow believes that he led militant group in the northern caucasus which was involved in a lot of different crimes from brutal killings to kidnappings in the northern caucasus region also mosco believes that as a kind of was somehow involved in a terrorist attack in most infamous theater siege the north in in moscow which was one of the most painful pages in the modern russian history. it was definitely one of the most wanted man in russia he was granted political asylum in the u.k. in two thousand and three and ever since most school has been asking london to extradite but so far all attempts have been futile this detention in warsaw which happened on friday morning. is the closest moscow got so far to actually get things

that drive back to russia for a trial but so far it is as i've said unclear whether he will be extradited to all the comments we've heard from the local politicians and authorities say that this decision will not be politicized that poland will act in full accordance with its own law and international legislation and we of course are waiting to hear any developments on the story and the future fate of one of the most wanted men in russia. well that all can our political analyst from conversation newspaper told us why he thinks poland won't extradite to russia. i think that despite current approach men and russian poles for relations and despite russia's strong pledge pledges to extradite him i don't think that we expect him to come back to russia i personally would be very surprised if he's extradited for simple reason that still this is a very politically charged issue and as you understand. the ruling elite they also

have the only mitigations they have all on domestic agenda and they can go too far in that so i see it this as a sort of get in my old game you see all the north i think you would not go to russia there were a subgroup conflicting reports some said that he was not informed that he might be arrested but i think the reason is that he simply understood that polish authorities had no guts just to arrest him and percent him to russia and in fact it was proved yes to do and polish prime minister said that russia should not go to fly expectations definitely i think this is. a moment of truth for our relations moment just to see how mature this relations are of course what he's facing this those are very serious accusations but definitely he would be intitled the best lawyers and the case would be fully transparent and it would come under close scrutiny of international community of international human rights activists so i

don't understand why such a big fuss or what that's why he can go to russia can be extradited. there's more on that and many of the stories we're covering on our website are today dot com here's a quick look at what else might catch your eye on mind today set for space the crew for the next mission to the i assess has been confirmed find out who's going and what they'll be doing in orbit after the launch in october. and riding retro style the russian and ukrainian presidents get behind the soviet wheels rather of soviet made cars in an international rally. the u.s. is preparing for midterm elections against a background of grim news this week about the country's poverty rate but on the

campaign trail some parties say it's not finance but family values that should be the priority christine for has been following the conservative values voter summit . they say they came to take america back it isn't our values our shared timeless values that have changed that it's our leaders that have changed in campaign like speeches they criticized among other things president obama the white house tries to argue that the stimulus has helped . that's a bit like saying that squirting water from a garden hose helps put out a forest fire one day after staggering numbers were released from the u.s. census bureau showing a more than fourteen percent increase of those living below the poverty line powerful organizations and big name politicians came out to spread this message you cannot divorce the social issues from the fiscal and financial issues so just what

are these pressing social issues like anything else everything's great help if you are you know very. first one organization says marriage in america is under attack marriage is a fundamental right but there is not a fundamental right to marry whoever you want our government our policies have always regulated who you marry or who you may not know the national organization of marriage wants to keep it that way in other words no gay marriage and speaking of gays tradition family and property works to keep them out of the military when you fight for freedom shouldn't you also want to have freedom. obviously we have we have to fight for freedom and freedom does not mean license to do whatever you want these issues so important to the masses here a new lobbying group has been formed its aim is that republican elected officials to get them to put social issues back at the top of their agenda these are elected officials they were sent to washington to represent the people in their districts

and their states many of these people the bottom line is they can't pay their mortgage they don't have a job shouldn't that be the number one focus the thing is is that the issue of the middle class that's the main issue at stake here the middle class has a number of priorities it's the main class that is the emphasis for social issues well you heard it here first the middle class cares most about social issues a month there is one issue even more important to the participants here god hala avalanche from an almighty god and then god. upon the individual power and then the individual in turn each confirms up portion of their power on the government reserving all the remainder of the power to themselves for the last two years the most outspoken voices in the conservative movement have come from the tea party which stands for tax enough already well here at the voters value summit

profound a turning point that things are changing that despite an all time high in poverty in more than fifteen years at these big name conservative leaders say what america needs is to ban gay marriage to bring god back and. reporting in washington christine right now our team. paradise lost in just over an hour's time marty brings you the story of the caribbean island obviate case used and abused by the u.s. navy. these. these guys. are not for the military presence which occupies almost two search of the instruments and number shadows the people whose everyday life. when the all the sand so people could use or lack of sleep. is worth every. teat. now dangerous work is underway at the bottom of the baltic sea to remove

world war two munitions is expected to take at least two years to dispose of thousands of mines and mortar shells piled up on the sunken german ship their. house more. cold wet but determined to do a dozen men on a mission and that mission is to monitor the state of all german munitions. that was looted got the visibilities low just a couple of meters their missiles every web somewhere in boxes and tightly packed together the boat could be from world war two it's wrecked some shells actually laying on the seabed near the boat. one and a half kilometers of score seven thousand meters underwater and ten soudan me sile still on board this german ship is just one of the many reminders a world war two in the baltics the russian emergences ministry lissome was ninety underwater hotspots in this area alone but only

a few have been checked subtly you know with you know these missiles are very dangerous there are none that have rusted away and become homeless on the contrary some that we take out are in very good working condition. they some can ship is on the russian emergences minister to do list but with money tight and bureaucracy long and complicated it's not something that can be done quickly and while the wheat local fishermen feel the weapons will still get their chance to fulfill the. boats have been known to return to port with paedos and then captain valeri emotion knows only too well the dangers he says the deeply and that goes the bigger the trouble it can bring out. once a fisherman from our village at thirty six missiles in is that he was fishing near its head on cape and brought the multiple tees they put all the missiles right on the deck what else could you do though relatively small in size the baltics is the most densely mined area with around one hundred fifty some of the still buried

there the clock is ticking louder now as time and seawater are against the residents. area could be helped by a sudden explosion unless the urgent measures are taken out sound like a troll r t. let's take a quick look now at some world news for you thousands have rallied to monday against hope benedict's visit to the u.k. they slammed the church over the sexual abuse of children by priests and other issues the pontiff meanwhile met with five victims call abuse early in the day he expressed his quote deep sorrow over the scandal saying it had heap shame upon the catholic church it's been seen as the strongest apology yet. maybe is waiting for just one more pressure test before its ruptured well in the gulf of mexico can finally be declared sealed for good cement has been poured into the well head after a relief drill reached it on friday the oil leak has been plugged by

a temporary cap since mid july the explosion at the deepwater horizon rig in april killed eleven workers leading to the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. and drenched the rains have. as rivers across live ania in central europe to burst their banks flooding in some areas has forced residents to flee their homes several roads are closed to traffic in the capital of the more heavy rain is expected. now in ten minutes time you can join martin andrews as he shows us how to enjoy the far east in the russian capital with this week's entertainment guide. caustically is a see the explosion. started also provides for example for you so your remarks about me tell the subject of israel. the sweet spot story.

well before moscow our return to a story we've been covering covering closely here in our team for some time now the nuclear arms reduction treaty between russia and the u.s. in washington it's still on clear whether there will be enough republican support for the ratification of the agreement former u.s. senator gary hart is among those who call for president obama's opponents to put political grudges aside for the safety of the world is going to just you can caught up with mr hart.

it's time for the senate to vote on a new start that's the title of the letter signed by some top former u.s. officials as well as some former senators including gary hart thank you so much for joining pleasure a few days ago i heard ambassador richard byrd say that if it had to being a republican president submitting this treaty the strategic arms reduction treaty for ratification it would have already been ratified i mean no doubt it's been a bumpy ride for the for the trading the senate but in your opinion how much of it was about the actual treaty and how much about republicans trying to make a point to the democrats well over the course of my life involved. control issues the pattern has been republican presidents get much. quicker revocation easier ratification of arms control treaties for example

president reagan then democratic presidents and one would have hoped after the end of the cold war fifteen or more years ago that partisan approach to arms control would not still prevail but i'm afraid it still does and the questions about the treaty or all coming are virtually all coming from the republican party so i think those of us who signed the letter in the opinion piece are hoping former secretary of state george shultz and senator hagel are hoping that we can encourage bipartisan support for this treaty and hopefully at least some republican senators will support it mr hart american officials have more than once told the senate that the treaty in no way limits the ability of the united states to deploy missile defenses and you know when it wants and where it was the senate foreign

relations committee include at that point in their resolution but the russians seem to understand this type between up fast if and defensive weapons in the treaty as binding are we lost in translation or is it just me well i hope not the treaties can never be ironclad in the sense of. absolutely eliminating ambiguity the language is language and people from with starting with different language base have different meaning for words but the art of diplomacy in the skill of almost diplomacy is to overcome those language differences and to have a common understanding of exactly what crucial terms mean and i think of the time with the ratification is completed here in the united states hopefully successfully there will be a clear understanding on our part and on the part of the russian government as to what those terms mean and that's the best we can hope for mr hardee let me explain

this a couple of days ago i went i went up to the rose garden that it or the key u.s. negotiator on start after the press conference and i asked her about this whole debate to on the connection between offensive and safe weapons there in the train she said yes but the treaty acknowledges that time as a fact and not as an obligation so it is supposed to make sense in legal speak but i honestly don't understand because russians do seem to see it as that's legally binding as something equally binding which americans don't see it such what do you make of it the skill of both teams is such that they would have. had a negotiating record that clarified this issue so you think they do have an understanding is that these outsiders they they have two or or they have to agree to disagree that is to say you interpret this way will interpret it that way but that's a very. shaky way to approach these things because it just leads to

ambiguity slater i have to believe not having participated that there is a common understanding on this apart from that any real concerns about the treaty among senators that you could touch upon well clearly the republicans. have. concern some of them genuine i think others less genuine. there is still i think for many of us not the kind of. understanding. by americans of russia and russians government and where it's headed that we would like. but and i think from the russian side there is still confusion as to why. we have not developed stronger ties in the last fifteen or twenty years i'm not clear clear on that myself i think we should of but. as time goes on hopefully the questions are

being raised again primarily on the republican side will be satisfied at the end of the day there will be a vote on the treaty people will have to vote for it or against it and those who vote against it are going to have to justify why they voted against it and why it makes us more secure not to have a treaty then if we had the treaty and it's a very hard burden to carry my start even with this treaty in place we're obviously very far from this global zero they call a nuclear free world you know with new forces trying to get hold of nuclear weapons and nukes are going to be around for quite some time it's deterring now should we just stop talking about nuclear free world and just tag it as the wishful thinking and know what i think of human beings need goals and and more than just rhetorical goal schools that are that are achievable. why the donna sits.