action hi kathy but of course you know a pretty good turnout this sunday as a whole of people hopeful about this election outcome. though rory one could certainly say that judging purely by the voter turnout already the belorussian central election committee has pronounced this presidential election valid as over fifty percent of registered voters have cast their ballots ad that was a half way throughout the voting day so quite a high tariff turnout not perhaps surprisingly enough the lowest order to voter turnout was here in the capital in minsk where opposition support is quite strong but with the other belorussian regions showing quite a high voter turnout we do know that according to exit polls the incumbent bell russian president alex on the lookout is already receiving nearly eighty percent of the votes with that of the highest ranking of his opposition. competitors receiving just over six percent of the votes of course

a huge gap that would certainly seem to prove almost everybody right because new most of course people believe that alex of the question will win this presidential election the country's and his fourth consecutive run for office prolonging his sixteen year stretch of power bars so what you're saying that the election is being seen at this point as valid with fifty percent of the votes in the time it has the voting been meeting democratic principles so far is there any sign perhaps of a real window of change in the country. well many do seem to certainly hope so because specifically because of course this presidential election has guys seen a number of persons specifically of course in regards to opposition candidates they received free on air time very limited amount of money or time admittedly but still it was a first for this country and there are a lection where opposition candidates did have a chance to talk to their electorate through. mass media outlets are there were

also some sanctioned anti-government protest that was also a first for the country so optimist do seem to say that this could be the political changes that it's on the whole question paul was referring to when we spoke when he spoke to journalists a little earlier but skeptics of course already say that this has a very pragmatic reason behind it the european union has promised billions of euros to belarus should there be signs of a free and democratic election and democratic progress in the country and with minsk it very hard by the global financial crisis this incentive is definitely worth a lot but the people that we managed to speak to have mixed reactions of course voter turnout was quite low in the capital where we are and a lot of people are skeptical about this election and its authenticity and all the . whether it's legitimate or not but on the whole it does seem to to appear from the voter turnout that the people do still have a say in the institute of voting and of course in their chosen candidate because

here we have seen some pretty impressive anti-government demonstrations in the capital the opposition now has promised to stage protests once the voting is over they're saying that the whole election process has been rigged how likely do you think the protests are and you're getting the feeling that the situation there is quite tense. at the moment or it's anything but tense where in the heart of the capital where those protests are set to take place a little earlier a little later today when polling stations will close at eight pm local time opposition leaders have promised to bring thousands of people to this very square at savva square square where the there's an ice skating rink for a citizens and tourists that come to men's opposition candidates have urged everybody who comes to the square to bring sand and salt in order to cover the surface of the ice rink so that people will be able to stand on it now we've also know have also personally seen some. out of response on social networks where

various groups have been set up with already around two thousand and three and three hundred people confirming their attendance at these rallies the government of course has said that none of these meetings have been sanctioned and police will use it all and every necessary measure to disperse those protests opposition candidates have so far said that they're not planning to throw themselves at the barricades that they simply want to peacefully us state their protest and voice their concerns about the legitimacy of this election everybody here of course to really waiting to see how that will turn out because of course last presidential election there were serious clashes between protesters and police officers here and the capitol police breaking down a lot of protests quite seriously upright a heavy police presence too of course nobody wants to see a rerun of that event and everybody here waiting to see what will happen tonight after polling stations closed who will of course be monitoring everything that takes place here in men's and bringing all the details right if you've got

a rebels out of a reporting on sunday's presidential vote in belarus we'll check in with you soon thanks. well coming up for you later in the program here on r.t. the links to secret detention centers and all been taking justice some of the accusations against kosovo's prime minister find out who is behind them what he has to say about them and why some say the revelations are not surprising. moscow is on a security alert following a recent wave of clashes between russian nationalist groups and ethnic minorities and the police more than two thousand people have been detained this week to prevent new riots tensions are boiled over at an unsanctioned meeting eight days ago following the death of a football fan in a brawl with a native north. the gathering turned into a riot with ethnic minorities and police attacked there was a repeat of the clashes on wednesday when the extremist russian youths and migrants from the north caucasus had been gathering for

a rumored confrontation police reported isolated clashes in various parts of the city but no large scale violence or serious injuries a man suspected of leading unrest and killing a migrant from critical stand is now in jail president dmitri medvedev already said not to hesitate in using force to quell hate riots. but get all that out clashes fighting in vandalism and not just administrative violations but crimes and those who commit these crimes should be locked up rather than just told off the police should be using their legal authority to prevent extremism and incitement to listening kate should what happened in moscow and in some of the russian cities has shown that although requires very efficient management i'd like to draw attention to the fact that inciting violence in our country is a crime to. us republicans have failed in their attempts to reverse

one of president obama's key foreign policy achievements senator john mccain called for a new arms reduction treaty between moscow and washed. to go back to the drawing board but his motion was voted down by the senate about the start treaty to be ratified as soon as possible in its current form which the president says will benefit national security however the likelihood the deal will be ratified in the senate before the end of the year looks slim and the republicans take will claim a majority in january the strategic arms reduction treaty was signed by him to be barack obama in april and should slash the country's nuclear arsenals by a but it won't come into force until ratified by both sides something must go says it's been ready to do for months democratic strategist robert we told t. that failure to pass the treaty puts global security at stake. we're talking about terrorists that could get at the nuclear weapons because we're not doing sufficient

inspections on the security in the safety of the facilities when you have twenty thousand nuclear weapons and all over the world anybody can get at them but that's just too darn many to be honest and how can we persuade iran to go to zero when we have twenty thousand and won't reduce them that would be a ridiculous statement of immoral proportions so we have got to take the proper steps to rid the world of nuclear weapons and this treaty is a small step toward that wonderful goal. coming up for you here on r.t. the white house under siege americans had enough of the costly war in afghanistan calling for peace on obama's doorstep but is the president listening stay with us for more on that. this week saw another spate of unrest and street protests across europe and made government attempts to tackle the economic worries at an e.u.

summit in brussels a permanent fund was agreed upon to bail out eurozone countries that are at risk of bankruptcy thousands of people continue to take to the streets all over europe protesting tough spending cuts and other general strike in greece caused public transport disruptions and closed schools banks and courts demonstrations were staged by trade unions all across the continent in france luxembourg belgium the czech republic and spain danish member of the european parliament more than a messerschmitt believes the current crisis shows the euro is a failed concept. the euro for construction has created this problem because it has destroyed the southern europeans countries competitiveness and the bailout now is just prolonging and thereby creating an even bigger problem because the debt will just to grow and grow and we see now that the eurozone is reacting we're desperately introducing the euro bonds of course we need to be in the european

union but we also need to be economically realistic and the realism of the euro zone is that it doesn't work it hasn't been working for for years and there are at least several non harmonious regions within the euro which makes it impossible to maintain a common currency so i think that even the strongest federalist will have to either recognize that we need to have one hundred percent of governance from brussels and since the europeans don't want to have to go with the second lie which is to admit that the euro is a failed currency while spain is going to most likely going to be the next big topic either spain or. portugal in spain the unemployment rates are right now around twenty percent which is the future which puts a huge pressure to the finances in spain in the depths rises just getting bigger and bigger if portugal falls which is on the lip of everybody here in strasburg that will be a disaster strikes the spanish economy because those those two countries are interlinked so severely in economical terms so when i don't know whether portugal

or spain falls first but when the one falls the other one will do as well. he is coming to you live from moscow now let's get to some other world news this hour and a suicide attack. military bases in two afghan cities leaving thirteen members of the security forces dead in the northern city of those shoot up again when gunmen stormed an army recruitment center and army brass outside another recruitment center the main one in the country and ambushed in a separate incident on the outskirts of kabul the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks in which five assailants were also killed. but you want to get your general ban ki moon has rejected a demand from the disputed ivory coast government the u.n. peacekeepers should leave the country incumbent president. she was the u.n. over his rival. both candidates claim victory in last month's election sparking fears of another civil war after scores died in clashes among supporters the u.s.

france and the african union are backing you what tara refuses to step down. thousands are stranded at airports across europe severe winter weather continues to disrupt travel hundreds of flights are canceled at london's international airports heathrow and gatwick due to the amount of snow france italy the netherlands are also reporting problems in germany at least two people were killed in traffic accidents caused by the conditions forecasters say the arctic temperatures are predicted to last beyond christmas. all earlier this week prime minister vladimir putin set the record straight on a number of issues as he held his annual q. and a session with the russian public over a million questions were sent in and putin spent four and a half hours during the live t.v. broadcast to answer as many as possible to use the tell you follow the nationwide event. not quite truth are there in his annual q.

and a session the russian prime minister wasn't given a choice and some of the questions were rather daring like the one about former oil tycoon mikhail who that core ski who is currently serving an eight year term in prison for fraud and tax evasion it was a question that got put in going so we should be just like a character in a famous russian movie i'm sure that the thief place is in prison because he's accused of stealing tax evasion and fraud with the new charges he faces is about stealing hundreds of billions for his company security chief is in prison for murder they didn't like the mayor of new if the guns so they killed him then there was another woman in moscow who refused to sell her little store to them and they killed her when they didn't like the hitman they hired he's dead as well. another store spot was the issue of recent ethnic clashes between russian vaticanus and people from the north caucasus that the government failed to prevent the prime minister said nationalism is a common disease. radicalism is like

a virus if society weakens it we mean system goes down diseases start to spread but if society is mature in these bugs of radicalism and extremism simply lie dormant we can cause any damage but you. russians domestic worries you can everything from social security and police reform to real estate prices and if you foreign policy issues were touched upon as well such as the recent spying many that has spread across the atlantic over set a bit and then yes i was i don't know we don't need to use special squads to punish traitors i can assure you all of them will fall off the perch themselves they can take their thirty pieces of silver but it will stick in their throats the video conference was held in the other charities and a big matter the format was introduced by britain when he was still president back in two thousand and one and then become a prime minister he's continued the tradition of the annual informal discussion

with the public and as ever he likes a good joke politics mixed with a little ironic humor. in the country when you and president medvedev are sleeping . do you worry everything is under control. now that explains why morse code is a city that never sleeps after an exhausting q. and a session of four and a half hours russian prime minister vladimir putin can now go in rest as russians now know they will still have their backs covered that they look at r t. well the fate of mikhail khodorkovsky was also touched upon in the q. and a session this week moscow court delayed its verdict in the second trial of the former oil tycoon the decision had been due to be announced on wednesday but was perspiring by the court until the twenty seventh of december the former due course c.e.o. was arrested in two thousand and three and is currently serving an eight year jail term for fraud and tax evasion in the latest trial he faces charges over the theft

of billions of barrels of oil from his company and also laundering the proceeds if found guilty will face a prison sentence of up to fourteen years but if the court clears the latest charges he will be released next year the forty seven year old made his fortune during the turbulent one nine hundred ninety s. through the privatization of state assets which made him russia's richest man u.s. officials claim that the war effort in afghanistan is on track and making progress but back on american soil it's a message fewer people are willing to believe he's a guy in a church a candidate some who say that the war's costing the u.s. to do. at the same time as obama was trying to put a good face on the war in afghanistan we are on track to achieve our goals hundreds of people were marching outside the white house calling those announced ghouls lives which benefit just selected few years ago not of well think of the overall

giants of the defense launch not know if they were going in the only language they understand and shutting down. whenever we're doing here today we're going to continue to do it will be warned. the u.s. says it will take its forces out of afghanistan by twenty fourteen but many people believe that their line could be stretched indefinitely it will take time to ultimately defeat al qaida it's been a year since obama stepped up efforts in afghanistan by adding thirty thousand troops to the existing contingent there it's also been the deadliest year for the u.s. forces there with casualties almost doubled in many places the gains we've made are still fragile and reversible but there is no question we are clearing more areas from solid bond control and more reclaiming their communities you hear a different message from veterans like man who fought in afghanistan having been there myself i can tell you the u.s. army is not a liberating force it is not a nation building force it is

a destructive force the mission statement is to engage and destroy the enemies of the us and in close combat period there's nothing in there about bringing food to poor people a record sixty percent of americans say the almost ten year old war in afghanistan is not being worth fighting both in terms of lives and dollars a new price tag was announced for the war this year one point two trillion dollars we could have universal health care for every working person in this country if one tenth of what has been spent on the war was spent on working people you know we could do it we could have saved their infrastructure in iraq and afghanistan if one tenth of what we spent on destruction had been spent on. construction. what about security people here don't seem to feel safer either i believe that our presence there and in all the interventions that we've had across time in other countries only serves to make the world a lot less stable i think we're creating

a lot more violence i think there are more if you would check this year compared to last year the number of taliban for example i think is increased. knowingly getting arrested in front of the white house could hardly help end wars but these protesters hope if they shout louder no he wanted to hear that the wars that america has been fighting have taken trillions of dollars out of u.s. taxpayers pockets and apparently they will continue to do so when people who came here protesting outside the white house and hoping the president will see them from his windows are saying they don't buy into the argument the war on terror anymore than a check on our team washington d.c. . tension on the korean peninsula is reaching boiling point south korea says it will go ahead with military exercises on the border with the north this despite a promise from pyongyang to retaliate the drills are to take place in the coming few days on a disputed south korean island that was shelled by the north

a month ago four people were killed in november assault but this time she warns it will strike with even deadly force russia says it's deeply worried about the situation and has called an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council to take place later on sunday china's joined russian call to restrain south korea but the u.s. maintains a soul has the right to hold the military drill political analyst to ridicule frank says russia is best placed to act as a mediator in the korean conflict. russia is the only country that does have a stake box no specific interest. which actually is a difference between russia and the european union so russia can actually be a trustworthy and reliable mediator a neutral broker though the one interest that russia does and how concerned you crew is stability there's a situation emerging markets trigger a major war will inevitably not only involve both careers but also china us

will have negative effects on the baluchi in the region and on russia and hands russia's major preoccupation is actually maintaining peace. coming to you live from the russian capital don't forget to log on to our website that's dot com there you will always find many more stories and here are some of the stories that might actually right now he's a singer and entertainer iranian born has told r.t. about his international roots and skyrocketing. and louis stores can sometimes feel like galleries but this time passion house is a real exhibition here in moscow it's on right up until christmas. but if you ever feel you need to know more about russia just go to the all of your section on our website and you'll get an insight into everything you need to know all that and much more to dot com.

kosovo as prime minister. is facing questions over a report for the council of europe the claims that he was involved with the group that killed prisoners in the late ninety's to sell their organs there are also reports that western governments knew about the allegations that had been turning a blind eye to them for years alice habit has more. this ellen has never spoken to the media before he's been too angry his brother went missing in the summer of one thousand nine hundred ninety eight and no one has helped to find him. he went to work as usual with his friends to the barrage of it's mine and that was it i never saw him again we went to the police and everyone else we can think of after the war i thought there'd be an exchange of prisoners and hundreds of our binion's were

freed but so many serbs are still missing now after twelve years i've lost all the international officials who didn't do anything when the easily could have his brother is one of the near two thousand four hundred people who went missing both during and after the late ninety's kosovo war and is still unaccounted for and allegations leveled against senior members of the kosovo liberation army including the prime minister has since had she and a council of europe report it will not help to ease the minds of men like this one in the report claims mr attaches links to organized crime date back to when his the needs of group became the dominant factor within the k.l.a. and the alleged decision of western powers to largely ignore its activity in the hope of establishing some form of short term stability in the region allow tetchy and his followers to assume positions of political power within kosovo in the years

following the war. everybody including western countries knew all about these allegations for years but he wanted to keep them hidden the only. other was in charge here interest the use rule of law mission in kosovo says it will now launch its own probe into the allegations in general a legal actions on war crimes and obviously with crimes very serious. should be sufficient evidence. should we be responsible for dealing with them we will certainly look into the issue. mr hashem times she has dismissed the reports is baseless and defamatory and is threaten to sue it's another shocking twist in the history of this already troubled region. peacekeeping in police cars steingart twenty four hours a day each side of this bridge the divides the serbian and albanian parts of the town of meet the ten years after the end of the cost of unworn ethnic divisions

here still run very deep bass with the release of this report people are now saying that they feel about a let down by the international community he has supposedly charged with protecting them all these he is less a bit. live from moscow this is twenty seven minutes past the hour it's good if you join us today well it takes pride of place at the heart of russia's capital over the festive season a century old christmas tree was delivered just this week to the kremlin's cathedral square it's going to stand tall for the next three weeks that this year the tree was a blessed by a russian orthodox priest. decorated with thousands of russian. christmas trees have been back in use of the kremlin nearly fifteen years when president boris yeltsin revived the revolutionary tradition the event was accompanied by a theatrical show including a visit from the frost rabbit as the symbol of the coming year according to the

chinese calendar. with top stories in just a few moments. observe

nature and discover its beauty. communicate with the wild and. test yourself and become free. see what nature can give you. hungry for the full story we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice ceased to face with the news makers.

the latest headlines on the week's top stories here on our team and it just a few hours remain for polls close in presidential election the country's incumbent leader is currently the clear favorite to win a likes on that it looks has already served three consecutive adding up to sixteen years in power he has been dubbed by the west as it europe's last dictator. russian authorities a step up security spilled onto the streets of moscow as ethnic tensions escalated between russian nationalists and groups from the caucasus isolated clashes in various parts of the same.

with the public. issues. of police reform. with many blaming membership. in the first place. to rescue failing. while the e.u. has been asked to declare the west bank and gaza strip as an independent palestinian state even without a peace deal with israel this comes on the back of stalled negotiations after the jewish state resumed settlement expansion spoke to a rabbi. who said no solution regarding a palestinian state can exclude israel that. is on the rise to stay with us.