vote counting is almost over in russia's parliamentary election the united russia party is in the lead winning the majority of seats in the lower house but still losing a big share of its previous popular support. as global players meet to decide the future of afghanistan pakistan his role is key to stability in the region boy because the event even eighty's recent deadly air raid on one of its border posts. gyptian is a back at polling stations for the second round of the country's parliament reelection after an opening stage which saw an overwhelming win by the islamists.

and online with international news twenty four hours a day this is our city. now russians have had their say in who they want to see in parliament with almost all ballots counted after sunday's election four parties have made it into the country's no house the state duma the ruling united russia party remains by far the largest group but has been dealt a significant setback with a sharp fall in support. of his intent from moscow for us with the latest piece is a with a vote counting almost complete hour what does the makeup of the new parliament

like. for just about all the votes counted we can now get a pretty clear picture of what the duma will look like for the next few years though united russia took the majority of the seats they picked up two hundred thirty eight places in the duma the communists came in next with ninety two and there russia coming in third with sixty four seats in fourth place the liberal democrats with fifty six now all the parties didn't make the required three point five percent of the votes threshold in order to take a seat in the in the duma know what this means is that the seats that would have been won by them get shared out between the four parties that did get over dusts threshold what this means is that united russia although they didn't get fifty percent of the vote over fifty percent of the seats in the duma meaning that they can now pass just about any law without having to go into a coalition with other groups they have that majority they can pass through the

policies which they want to get see into into law though also they don't have to make those coalitions but we have heard from party leadership of united russia is that they are willing to discuss and negotiate coalitions on a lot of two to issues with various political parties depending on the city. the time issue us hand so we could see potential coalitions and more discussion amongst the parties coming to work together than we have done over the previous duma. there's been reports of violations what more do we know about. well there's been allegations of electoral fraud from all parties including united russia who took the majority now these range from people voting more than once to allegations of invisible ink being used to its own polling stations and we also saw rallies from both sides those that were in favor of one political party or another all

those that were opposed not only to the political parties but the elections themselves these rallies taking place in moscow and st petersburg and they resulted in a well several hundred arrests on polling day. now what we are hearing from international observers is that so mr jesting that there were violations when it came to the poll that they were there have been allegations of vote rigging from them there are also those that say that the the election was free and fair now and some of those international observers saying that the claims that there was a vote rigging are not well grounded at all. the o.e.c.d. has a long record of highly politicized election observations and of making politically inflammatory statements it would be very interesting to ask the o.e.c.d. when the two are the draft report you mentioned you did it as it usually goes to draw up a draft report of before the election even took place because that is the usual practice in other words at least this statement that we have now on monday morning

may not therefore be based on actual observations by its observers. so mixed messages really over the transparency all of the election what we are hearing for sure though is present to me to be made to get it has said this the law enforcement here in russia will be investigating all allegations of electoral fraud and anybody found to have tampered with the vote will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. many times that housing's pays for all of our reporting on the latest developments in the elections from such mosque or. office gallus to mean that about digital mossie that despite an apparent plunge in popularity united russia will still be able to carry out its reforms which will most likely be liberal ones. if you can't divorce in two thousand and seven forty five million voters almost forty five million voted for you know the trasher now it is a least ten or eleven million less not all the boards are counted so maybe that

figure will reach twelve media so there are twelve million disillusioned people that i'm not sure they've ordered for either party so all of them are probably just didn't come to a halt it's one of the paradox of people who. actually ended up supporting united russia but i don't view it as very absurd because actually the economic suggestions of liberals are fulfilled by you know that russia will get at the people who and why is united russia on economy all of them are diehard. economists not to patrick followed the founder of capital five connections says the new parliament will have to forge a new party compartment common challenges russia faces modernization is really key for the russian economy is as we go forward over the next ten or fifteen years as oil and gas revenues decline you have to ask yourself what what is going to move in to plug the gap so building an economy that's able to capitalize on the

intellectual strengths of russia which is where i see the important changes taking place is is really key and my questions are really about things like the skulker innovation project and so on is that which was mr medvedev project is that going to continue to prosper if we see. the decline in the one russia ruling party this is a really crucial issue i think for russia to grapple with together with perhaps some kind of feeling of stagnation in russian politics and a feeling that some kind of change is necessary. well we're helping you to keep your finger on the pulse of developments the counting continues in the russian parliament elections later in the day we expect the announcement of the official preliminary results and comments from international observers but you can of course keep track of the latest figures all our website yourself. home.

to other news now and russia's foreign ministry has downgraded relations with qatar following an incident in which the russian ambassador to the country was assaulted by border security guards. at the country scene. tells. down graded relations with qatar this comes after an incident in the doha airport on the twenty ninth of november when the ambassador with two of his colleagues were trying to pass through security with a parcel of diplomatic mail now that partial is expected to go through without any problems but they tried to x. rated which is against diplomatic normalcy the security forces tried to take this package of way from the diplomats which caused harm to the diplomats the ambassador and two of the people traveling with him now the ambassador is in hospital and is

expected to make it back to here and soon as he has recovered from the attack it is no secret that moscow is not happy with what they believe are actions in instigating and in antagonizing efforts in the arab spring in fact if you go back at libya it is along been the position of sergey lavrov the foreign minister here in russia saying that guitar is responsible in helping to arm the rebels in libya which is antagonize that situation further currently in syria it's a long been the position of russia that if there are going to be diplomatic sanctions they have to be across the board to both the government and the rebels so there's been a long tension between russia and qatar this latest development is just furthering those tensions. and while syria may have become a corner of. the country it's been

a key demand of the arab which has repeatedly said deadlines been met and. sunday well the failure to meet the previous deadline truth is a. process that is include a battle operations with syria central bank and a freeze of government officials. the u.n. claims at least four thousand people have been saying ten months of progress with. international intervention those who is professor. jordan says the arab league position is a long way from. the way i understand this is that syria has no other option but to accept those terms as humiliating as they may be the arab league has basically said that if syria doesn't accept this plan. this would pave the way for an international intervention the way that the arab league paved the

way for an international intervention and libya and we know what happened without so i think syria has grudgingly accepted those terms but that does not necessarily mean that the crisis in syria will be resolved i think the recipe for the solution is going to create a bigger problem because it's going to encourage more and more attacks on the regime and it's going to cause more violence within syria it's going to give the impression that the syrian regime has caved in under the pressure of the arab league which is and fuck pressure from nato what's taking place is in fact an attempt by the arab league to be used by the united states and nato against one of the few remaining states in the arab world that saying no the united states influence the arab league is not about peaceful resolutions it simply wants to topple the syrian regime and replace it with

a pro-american regime. that is heading back to the polls for the second round of the post revolution parliamentary election islam is to take it out a well may need to be playing around with the muslim brotherhood's freedom and justice party brutally winning some forty percent of the faith but the poll he still has more hurdles to clear according to dr dollop of spy after the center for global research in international. the muslim brothers even if they control the parliament together with the salafist perhaps or whoever they choose to ally with won't be able to impact on foreign policy for a while yet we'll have to wait till the presidential elections which of course do in the summer of next year into two thousand and twelve at that point should the islamists the muslim brothers when those elections to shoot an islamist president come to power in egypt then i think we could be looking at a very new situation and then i generally think from israeli point of view we could be into a whole new situation having said that even a muslim brothers president even wisdom brothers parliament will still be faced with a very key and deep economic problems of egypt which may well preclude

a complete turnaround. i still have you this hour here on r.t. british m.p.'s are teaming up to make extradition policy with the u.s. and level playing field. we need to make sure that we are being equal and we are being fair to our citizens and that is not the case about. our way to the controversial truth allows washington to them on the u.k. hundred anyways this isn't a bill. allowing the british public and politicians. and watched a business program in about ten minutes to find out how russia's pollin mantra election results may affect the country's economy. the future of afghanistan is at stake at a conference in germany with delegates from key countries attending except one crucial one pakistan is boycotting in the latest sign of

a deepening crisis in its relations with the us it follows the recent deadly nato air raid on a pakistani border post which killed twenty four of its soldiers cannot reports. some of the key political figures like u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton and russia's foreign minister said go after all are taking part this is the second such conference being held in germany the first one happened exactly ten years ago back then the delegates were working on the rebuilding of afghanistan we storing peace in the country building democratic institutions and so on and unfortunately ten years later some of these issues still remain and probably one of the most troubling ones is still security especially in light of the alliance's plans to start pulling its forces out in twenty fourteen it's widely believed that afghanistan on its own can provide security to straighten and ganesan in general is still very complicated there's the taliban threat there

drug trafficking very poor living conditions for the locals who are also increasingly tired and often even angered by foreign military presence by this town is a very important country in the region is the key port of washington or at least it used to be it's also right there next to afghanistan and it's not taking part in this conference after an attack by the allied forces on its military post on the pakistani afghani border for more on the situation here's a report by my colleague. on the. supplies are would keep a war running nato actions have put all operations in afghanistan in danger after attack that killed twenty four pakistani soldiers islamic law cut off one of the alliances major supply routes to a gamester. i would like to extend my most sincere condolences. but pakistan washington's condolences were not enough to repeated incursions by the

u.s. military in pakistan really left no choice and also the humiliation that the pakistani military faced in front of its own soldiers and the pakistani people left no choice . before the government this time but you cut off the supply line good relations between the u.s. and pakistan as unstable as ever in order to keep the warring of ghana's stand running mate who relies more on its other major supply route coming from the more. here it is the northern distribution network you see all these blue lines and here is the route that pakistan shut down now the northern supply network was started when russia agreed to provide its territory and air space for transit of non-lethal supplies to nato troops in afghanistan it proved to be a very reliable route more reliable than pakistan now it accounts for half of nato as non-lethal supplies and trucks railroads and by air supplies travel through russian territory from europe and from russia's far east all the way to afghanistan

and the reliance on this route is set to expand in the last three years russia's cooperation on of ganesan as being key to nato operations that. i sit down with professor michael lee hans who stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity the u.s. has a very tenuous kind of placement. afghanistan and it is highly vulnerable it's highly vulnerable to pakistanis but it's more vulnerable to russia i mean if russia were to withdraw its permission for us to use of surveillance we would be in a very difficult position in afghanistan the northern supply now work could now be in danger because of a failure in diplomacy moscow says because washington turned down all of its proposals on the missile defense issue russia might have to resort to other arguments including its cooperation with nato on afghanistan. their processes which

are critically important for russia which are about russia's national security one of them is nato expansion into russian borders and the fact that washington goes ahead with a robust missile shield program in europe without taking into consideration russia's concerns gives moscow the right to use any leverage it has to be heard by its partner but even the mere possibility that russia could cut off the northern supply route threatens the viability of all western operations in afghanistan nato risks leaving almost one hundred forty thousand of its troops in afghanistan without vital supplies if diplomacy doesn't win the day with pakistan it's about people there being fed up with russia its about their national security if washington does not seriously address the concerns of its partners even the best partnerships can fade i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. and we have our own debate hall afghanistan here on aussie laid to say will the ten years american presence there has achieved i was ahead when they say least since

the fake cross talk show has a pretty. on the most any. parameter you want to charge it things have got worse for the afghan people over the last ten years the infrastructure is on the differences and so got to justify it if you're if your metrics have to. what increasing to or not according to the reuters poll which shows that afghanistan is the most dangerous country in the world for women. of them sort of logical problems that paul encounters in countries with poor infrastructure but the objective was very exactly though that exactly exactly it's very hard to find it's true you're right it's very hard to get any facts in afghanistan because the country's too dangerous for anyone to go out of kabul. and b. the infrastructure is indeed destroyed. british

m.p.'s are staging a debate seeking the urgent renegotiation of what they see as a biased extradition treaty with the us agreed in the chaotic aftermath of nine eleven it allows washington to demand the extradition of any u.k. citizen without evidence of any crime and britain is bound to comply but as his other bennett reports now from london patience is running away. all take and no give that's the growing feeling in britain's parliament against america's controversial extradition treaty it was signed in two thousand and three in the post nine eleven tannic and makes it far easier for the u.s. to take people from the u.k. from the other way around now forty five m.p.'s from the three main parties have crossed the political divide and joined forces they finally forced a debate and parliamentary vote and what they called an injustice was a mistake in the first place to some history i think it was a mistake it's not

a level playing field even with a partner like america we need to make sure that we of being equal and we are being fair to our citizens and that is not the case of the moment britain must present evidence for any extradition but america doesn't need to a long awaited independent inquiry recently ruled this relationship was balanced but the numbers suggest otherwise one hundred twenty three people have been surrendered to america under the treaty since two thousand and four only fifty four have gone the other way america's ambassador to the u.k. is branded these figures myths and in accuracies where they were figures he's embassy refused to reveal he's even accused m.p.'s of willfully distorting the facts in the run up to this crunch vote in parliament that could shift the balance but m.p.'s aren't backing down joining a battle some have fought since the treaty was signed i think you know the scene

how many injustices have been caused because of it it was meant to be for terrorists offenses it wasn't meant to be for the ken things they use in genesis son is gary mckinnon a mainstay on america's extradition wish list he was arrested ten years ago after hacking into pentagon files he says he was merely searching for u.f.o.'s gary has asperger's syndrome and according to. mother should be tried in the u.k. on medical grounds but america's not giving up on one of the most it is so vengeful . you think uses some of the large and it is so over the top they left him one has internet for three and a half years after the arrest if gary was the slightest threat that wouldn't have been done but it's very much i think him barris them and because of that they were very angry at him there were nine cases currently fighting extradition to america richard o'dwyer is the latest he's wanted on copyright charges for creating

a search engine for pirated content it's not even considered a crime in the u.k. but at the moment that doesn't matter the us can still get. the coalition government promise to change this while in opposition there was their chance to deliver on the bennett r t london. was take a look now what else is making news around the world this hour and a wiki leaks founder julian our farm has won the right to have his case against extradition to sweden heard by the u.k. supreme court he lost a high court battle last month to hold his removal for questioning over alleged sex offenses darters have now ruled can make an application to the case highest court if the appeal have been denied that we can expound it would have been on the way to stockholm within ten days. at least of all the five tons of heavily radioactive water happened poorly leaked from japan's fukushima nuclear power plant

some may have reached the pacific ocean according to the station's operator it given that given rise rather fresh concerns of the facility still poses an enormous threat to the environment nine months after it was struck by an earthquake and tsunami. eleven people are dead after a concrete wall collapsed in indonesia barring several homes and a housing complex people are still. investigating water cools the twenty three foot high wall to come crashing down which occurred during a heavy rain storm eight other victims suffered broken bones in a head when they need hadn't been. headline our special report on our obsession with all their lives taking priority of the people just a few minutes away after the business but. thanks celeste a very warm welcome and of course the focus of the business program is parliamentary election rush as we've been reporting the united russia will face

a beefed up opposition in the new parliament this may lead to changes in economic policy as charles robertson from renesas capital explains that depends on how they interpret these results you had the big shift in communist support around twenty percent a mere doubling this two ways to interpret that one it's a protest vote it's a vote for an opposition party that's always been against the kremlin through the ninety's and the two thousands. if they interpret it that way then the government should continue reform should be trying to do its best to boost growth and money would best spent then by putting it into infrastructure projects for example and reining back some of the huge increases they've already done on pensions and social spending if however they see this is a positive vote for the communist party a positive vote for more social spending and the threat. from the markets perception the threat will be higher spending by the government will start to raise

interest rates for what the government has to pay. time to have a look at how the markets are performing this our oil is trading high on speculation that tension in the middle east will curb supplies iran says oil could reach two hundred fifty dollars a barrel if it sees more pressure on its nuclear program and another boost is coming from europe where useless prime minister mario monti plans to spend thirty billion years on a sweeping austerity package. european markets are on the rise as the italian government agreed a new package of budgetary measures something french and german leaders are set to meet to later this week for debt crisis talks. moving all the russian markets up posting more against the sour the mice at some of the r.t.s. a high a point four percent let's not have a check on some of the individual moves in the minds it's most oil majors are on the rise supported by stronger crude with liquid gaining point six percent from

this flatboat the company has finalized its acquisition of better russian gas pipeline operate a beltran's gas nickel is gaining point eight percent the solid. economic news the services sector in russia is growing at the fastest pace for five months h.s.b.c.'s purchasing managers index came in at fifty four point eight in november expansion is maybe being driven by news orders. but russia is the largest country in the world and is home to the second biggest railway system after that of the united states but the lack of high speed trains means the railways is no alternative to flying speaking in france the head of russian railways let me couldn't has invited foreign railway giants to help change the situation. we're going to hold a tender in building the country's first high speed rail road the next year but it's an absolutely new project for russia we foresee a lot of problems and that's why we're interested in cooperating with companies who

know how to build and manage high speed rail ways but we offer opportunities which are not found anywhere in the world is the plan to build thousands of kilometers of high speed routes ragini of. us all have time for now but foremost or as you can always log onto a website that's r.t. dot com slash business. culture is that so much now is a fundamental i think a form of them to give

a real and credible continuity change united russia is long gone and so to the countries of coral politics is said to undergo significant transformation once. in two thousand and ten especially konami exulted for industrial production was established in russia somalia region with a total area of six hundred sixty ect as. its investors are granted exclusive tax and customs benefits which includes a five year exemption from property lands and transport taxes as well as an income tax reduction to fifteen point five percent. the special economic zone operates as a free customs own which enables manufacturers to market their products in russia free of in four g.'s the some are region as he said his.