issued voters have cast their ballots and 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 i'm in school 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 alexander lukashenko is already receiving nearly eighty percent of the votes with that of the highest ranking of his opposition up competitors receiving just over six percent of the votes of course a huge gap that would certainly seem to prove almost everybody right because we most of course people believe that alex other who question will win this presidential election has guys seen a number of firsts 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 the mass media outlets are they were also some sanction to an 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 real question poll 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 men's kit very hard by the global financial crisis this incentive is definitely worth a lot at eight pm local time opposition leaders have promised to bring thousands of people to this very square at savva square square also personally seen some relative response on social networks where various groups have been set up with.

already around two thousand and three and three hundred people confirmed 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 state their protest his voice their concerns about the legitimacy of this election everybody here of course eerily waiting to see how that will turn out because of course the last presidential election there were serious clashes between protesters and police officers here and the capitol police breaking down right a lot of protests quite seriously upright a heavy police presence 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 will of course be monitoring everything that takes place here in men's and we bring you all the details now and for more on the election joined in the studio by

a political expert thanks for joining me today so at this point in the exit polls look at shanghai is leading by seventy percent tell me after sixteen years is that it really is so much support for him now the key word here is exit polls because it's the vote in part of the population that is very supportive of mr lucas shanker the people of the working class and so on not those who don't vote for him simply don't go to the polls so i think anyway he's supported by a plurality of the population maybe not ninety to ninety five percent i think as he claims or as his supporters claim but even if the election was totally free and fair even by the most strict western standards he would have gained more than fifty percent anyway ok so at this point seventy percent of the vote is going to look at shankar but tell me this there ought members of the opposition who are also running for the seat of the presidency is it possible because there are so many of them that is actually helping. in the end sure it is possible especially as several

members of the so-called opposition who were running for president this time told openly they were there to for the people to vote to look so there is no one candidate from the opposition there is a dispersal of candidates and people cannot find an alternative nothing that the opposition has already said that whatever whatever the outcome is odds are they are going to be staging some protests in the capital of mints is it possible they will stage a protest and could it get barghouti could we see a repeat of what what happened in two thousand and six actually what happened in two thousand and six where rallies by the young people by the opposition that took place every day in minsk and were very fast this first in a matter of hours so i think the time looking shown could prove that he has a security force that he can rule out. whatever opposition tries to stage this time there will be a repeat right now russia's relations with belarus have kind of been on the rocks as of late where do you see the standing now how is the relationship going to be

between russia and belarus first i would say the relations has been the relationship has been complicated since look at a look at. appearance at the helm of this country but they the look to it yes you know just russia seems to be more supportive of these two look less and every time looking to get out so i think after a period of kind of you know a freeze in the relationship now look is more able to rely on russia a look at your has already said that if indeed he wins he will the stage or change you know over an overhaul of the political system is that likely and what kind of changes could we expect we could expect a cosmetic change does he make his political system look more open by co-opting some opposition members by making it a kind of he's manageable opposition. even in the parliament but he's not

interested in changing the system reticular because he depends on it i'm running low on time here but the opposition leaders have been saying recently that this election has been rigged that it shouldn't be taken as authentic what do you think is a real democratic election here well it's election which is not where you know the western standards of fairness and freedom are not quite applique able but as we love the people it shows that we should be supported by a majority of the population so it's the population that we're dealing with and that elects this man every time and on political expert thank you. moscow has been on a security alert following a recent wave of clashes between russian nationalist groups ethnic minorities and police more than two thousand people have been detained this week to prevent new riots tensions are bowled over at an un sanctioned meeting eight days ago following

the death of a football fan in a brawl with native north cajuns the gathering turned into a rife with ethnic minorities and police there was a repeat of the clashes on wednesday when an extremist russian youths and migrants from the north caucuses gathered 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 rest and killing a migrant from critical stand is now in jail president dmitri medvedev already was and not to hesitate in using force when it comes to acquiring hate rights. but good to get out clashes fighting in venda lism are 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 this nick hatred what happened in moscow and in some other russian cities has shown that although requires very efficient management i'd like to draw

attention to the fact that inciting ethnic violence in our country is a crime to cheat. us republicans have failed in their attempts to reverse one of president obama's key foreign policy achievements sen john mccain called for a new arms reduction treaty between moscow and washington to go back to the drawing board but his motion was voted down by the senate obama urging 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 when the republicans. more seats looks slim the strategic arms reduction treaty was signed by to me and barack obama in april and should slash the country's nuclear arsenals by a third but it won't come into force until ratified by both sides something moscow said it's been ready to do for months political analyst joel rubin says fairly it's

a ratify the start treaty will tarnish america's political reputation. if it doesn't get passed actually fails there could be serious consequences for american leadership on arms control fallout for the american reputation around the world would be significant if it doesn't pass but it is not turned down but just delayed that too will also signal that president obama is weak at home that's why advocates for the treaty are saying it needs to get passed now. this is r.t. live from moscow and up ahead blasting off for the holiday. dominoes. is the start. of the cosmodrome in kazakhstan. the action in a couple of minutes right here on r.t. . this week so another spate of unrest and street protests across europe amid government attempts to tackle their economic woes at an

e.u. summit in brussels a permanent fund was agreed upon to bail out euro zone 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 disruption and closed schools banks and courts demonstrations were staged by trade unions all across the continent from the czech republic to spain. the director of the euro skeptic bridger's group says the new fund if the euro zone's problems. it's a short term measure to for the markets but it will not solve the underlying problems that are causing these massive debts within these countries which is the euro they hoped that attempting to solve the greek debt crisis would stave off contagion that still spread to arlon and it's now spreading to portugal and spain and will also spread to italy their debts are just too great the eurozone bailout

package isn't big enough and it doesn't address the underlying problems and part partly that the euro zone's policies of forcing us devotee on the nations that are in these debt we have these massive debt crisis isn't helping because it's creating these massive austerity it's destroying their economies for generations what they need is economic growth to get their way out of the depressions we can call them that depressions that they have in stimulate recovery and then they can pay off the debts at the moment they can't because their economies are just too badly damaged because they're in the euro. ok let's get to some other world news this hour now suicide attacks have targeted military bases in two afghan cities leaving thirteen members of the security forces dead in the northern city of condo's shootout began when gunmen stormed an army recruitment center and army bus outside another recruitment center the main one in the country was then ambushed in a separate incident on the outskirts of kabul the taliban has claimed

responsibility responsibility for the attacks which five assailants were also killed. the u.n. secretary general ban ki moon has rejected a demand from the disputed ivory coast a government that un peacekeepers should leave the country incumbent president laurent gbagbo accused the u.n. of arming his rival. both candidates claimed a victory in last month's election sparking fears of another civil war after scores died in clashes among their supporters the u.s. france and the african union are backing or tighter but by both refuses to step down. thousands of stranded at airports across europe as severe winter weather continues to disrupt travel hundreds of flights canceled at london's international airports heathrow and gatwick due to the amount of snow france italy and the netherlands are also reporting problems in germany at least two people were killed in traffic accidents caused by the conditions forecasters do say that the arctic

temperatures are predicted to last beyond christmas. well 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 talent of a cover followed nationwide event. not quite truth are there and 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 to 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 a thief places in prison because he's accused of stealing tax evasion and fraud but

with a new charges he faces is about stealing hundreds of billions from his company security chief is in prison for murder they didn't like the mayor of nifty so they killed him then there was another woman in moscow who refused to sell her little stool to them and they killed her when they didn't like the hitman they hired he's dead as well. another sore 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 and there's no sort of radicalism is like a virus if society weakens the main system goes down diseases start to spread but if societies mature in these bugs of radicalism and extremism simply lie dormant it can cause any damage but you were going to go. 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 of

that has spread across the atlantic to reset it and then use them as we don't need to use special squads to. punish traitors i can assure you all of them will full of 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 marriage in the form it was introduced by bush and 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 discussions with the public and as ever he likes a good joke politics mixed with a little ironic humor boys door but i will tell you the country when you imprisonment did oversleeping. we sleep in turns they worry everything is under control. now that explains why war sco 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 and rest as russians now know they will still have their backs covered up i look at r.t.

moscow where the fate of michelle ski was touched down upon in the q. and a session this week our moscow court delayed its verdict in the second trial of the former oil tycoon the decision had been due to be announced on a wednesday but was postponed by the court until the twenty seventh of december before you course see it was arrested in two thousand and three 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 laundering the proceeds if found guilty will face a prison sentence of up to fourteen years but if the court clears had a coffee or the latest charges he will be released next year the forty seven year old made his fortune during the turbulent nine hundred ninety s. through the privatization of state assets which made him russia's richest man. well coming up for you a little bit later in the program links to secret detention centers and traffic

just some of the accusations against because of us prime minister find out who's behind them what he has to say about them and why some say the revelations are not surprising. tension on the korean peninsula is reaching borning point south korea says it will go ahead with military exercises on the border with the north 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 that november assault but this time john yang warns it will strike with even deadlier 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 it joined the russian call to restrain south korea but the u.s. maintains seoul has the right to hold the military drill political analyst frank says russia is best placed to act as

a mediator in this conflict russia is the only country that does have a 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 the russian. crew is stability there is a situation emerging market move toward the not only in both careers but also china us will have a negative impact on the ability in the region and on russia and hands russia's major preoccupation is if you maintain peace. just now it's twenty minutes past the hour here in moscow you with r.t. now julian assange the founder of the anti secrecy website wiki leaks was released on bail from a british jail on thursday he's now under house arrest wearing an electronic tag

and awaiting a court decision whether he'll be extradited to sweden where he's wanted on sex crime charges a song has denied any wrongdoing and calls the case a conspiracy against him the charges against him were dropped in august but later reopened which many believe is a politically motivated move pull ashleigh an investigative journalist based at london's brunello university believes that the u.s. is desperate to find a way to prosecute. regarded in the swedish problem that he's got he's just going to have to wait until such time as the extradition process to seats so that could take any time between a few months in the year i would think however he's also got a problem with one of the american is going to catch up with him and what are they going to catch up with him in the u.k. or sweden the fact is the americans are very very angry about this and they are out for revenge and they all going through every step they can to find something they can charge you with because really you know why he's position is more like that of

a journalist he's being given documents that he is then released he didn't actually still the documents he didn't go behind you know he didn't go into the computer itself but they're so angry they're so embarrassed by the whole thing that somebody has to pay for it and at the moment it does look rather than going to go off the judean assange without cause if i was prime minister husham toci is facing questions over a report from the council of europe which claims he was involved with a group that killed prisoners in the late ninety's to sell their organs there are also reports that western governments knew about the allegations but refused to really examine them. honestly but reports. this ellen has never spoken to the media before he's been to angry his brother went missing in the summer of one thousand nine hundred ninety eight and no one has helped to find him while 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 there's so many serbs are still missing now after twelve years i've lost all the international officials who didn't do anything when they 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 to be touchy and a council of europe report oil will not help to ease the minds of men like this one in the report claims mr tutt she's links to organized crime dates back to when his the needs the 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 pillow 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 so the only. other was in charge here interests the use rule of law mission in kosovo says it will now launch its own probe into the allegations in general. on war crimes and crimes very serious. should be sufficient evidence. should 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 say it's another shocking twist in the history of this already troubled region naysay randi you peacekeeping in police cars stun god twenty four hours

a day each side of this bridge that divides the serbian and albanian parts of the town of me three said ten years after the end of the concert been in war an ethnic divisions he is still run very deep bass with the release of this report people are now saying that they feel about indians and let down by the international community has the pens again charged with protecting them all these he is less a bit. of a. now twenty five minutes past the hour here in moscow this is r.t. still ahead for you in the program father frost the kremlin bringing a century old christmas trees are lighting up the heart of moscow getting a festive mood here on our t.v. and just a few minutes. while the new crew members of the international space station are making themselves at home for the state lost in about six months the soyuz craft carrying three astronauts successfully docked with the i asked us on friday

the crew brought seasonal gifts to those currently on board the station peter all of it was at baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan for the blast. over my shoulder you'll be able to see these so yes t.n.a. twenty rockets that will be blasting off sending cosmonaut the meat recall that you have and astronauts apollo nespoli from the european space agency and katherine coleman from nasa into space now this is the product of two years of very intense training in the trio of the spending six months on board the international space station while they're up there they'll be carrying out a number of experiments and continuing the work in space that the international space station carries out now i think you're seeing. the stuff behind me i'll let you get on with the. domino theory by you know as the story steve twenty rocket blasts off from the

cosmodrome in kazakhstan sending them a to become the once you have paolo nespoli and katherine coleman off to the international space station. i forgot to look on to our website where there are always many more stories for you here are some of them that my catch your eye right now is a single. iranian born. international routes. and. sometimes feel like galleries but this time the street is going to real exhibition going on here in its own right. at the detail.

it takes pride of place at the heart of russia's capital over the festive season a century old christmas tree was delivered this week to the kremlin's cathedral square where i will stand tall for the next three weeks this year the tree was blessed by a russian orthodox priest for the first time it will be decorated with thousands of russian. christmas trees have been brought back into use at the kremlin for nearly fifteen years now when president boris yeltsin revived the revolutionary tradition . was accompanied by. including a visit from father. the symbol. according to the chinese. and i'll be back with a recap of our top stories in just a few moments to stay with us.

we'll. bring you the latest in science and technology from around the world. we've got the future of coverage. in india oh she's available in the movie going to join the hotel rooms. the gateway hotel the grand imperial trying to talk western coast coromandel let her tell the

close mission hotel says don't need to go. run the same the kennel was her job as a treat. the latest headlines on the week's top stories here on now just a few hours remain before polls close in this presidential election the country's incumbent leader is the clear favorite so when i found out a look at our house already so three consecutive tops adding up to sixteen years in power he's been dubbed europe's last dictator. russian authorities a step up security off the anger spilled out onto the streets of moscow as ethnic tension escalated between russian nationalists and groups from the caucuses. clashes in various parts of the city. prime minister vladimir

putin addresses nationalism and justice as he hosts his annual q. and a session with the public with no topic off limits other issues include. the e.u. has been asked to declare the west bank and gaza strip an independent palestinian state even without a peace deal with israel this comes on the back of stalled negotiations after the jewish settlement expansion. who said no solution regarding a palestinian state can exclude israel.