the presidential election is underway in russia with voters in the eastern half of the country already casting their ballots in fact here's some live pictures of that happening as we speak a record number of observers are also at the polling stations with almost two hundred thousand web cameras set up to monitor the voting process online in fact as mentioned here we have a stream from one of those polling stations on air live right now. seven people were killed in that garage southern syria when a suicide bomber targeted government supporters this as the opposition and syrian national council vows to escalate the fighting. plus tension over a possible military strike on iran amounts in washington ahead of president obama's

meeting with a pro israel lobby group and a visit by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and broadcasting live from our studios here in some from moscow this is r t glad to have you along let's get right to our top story which is the president presidential election is just kicked off in russia and with almost one hundred eight million eligible voters turnout is expected to be the highest in decades polling stations here in moscow are set to open in about an hour but the eastern half of the country is already casting ballots it will take twenty one hours for the whole country to complete the poll as he's eager to please get off from ports this year's election has been marked by unprecedented public activity. every hour more polling stations

open in russia as the country stretches through nine time zones which means that the voting began in the most eastern portion of the country when it was still midnight in moscow and spilling right region in the most western parts of russia will be the last to join the vote it's happening at a very interesting time in a spike in social and political activity among the public we've seen massive rallies for and against the candidates we've also seen scores of people taking to the street after the problem and she election in december amid accusations of ballot fraud and a massive social campaign for a transparent presidential poll is underway and indeed a lot has been done in that sense over ninety thousand polling stations have been equipped with cameras to feed videos including close up shots of boxes on portals so that internet users can watch online how the vote is conducted right there at these polling stations see through ballot boxes have been introduced and

several hundred thousand observers have been invited now. just to remind you five candidates are taking part in this race the winner will need to secure fifty percent plus one vote if neither candidate manages to achieve a second round that will be introduced in which the two most popular candidates will compete for a simple majority of votes the high voter turnout is expected as well over seventy percent according to. a record number of observers at the polling stations and almost two hundred thousand. process online he's elections are billed as russia's most transparent yet. before the. first few years here. we won't forget and we won't forget. this is what the opposition promised the crown and after december's parliamentary elections

they claimed the vote had been raked in response the authorities decided web cameras at all ninety eight thousand polling stations would solve that problem it's cost russian taxpayers over three hundred million dollars doubling the nischelle cost of the vote now it's officially the most transparent and the most expensive in the nation's history but not everyone's convinced. cameras won't change anything there will always be discontent it was honest before even without cameras. i don't think it will make a vote on which inspire and it's only made to please the opposition. there was no sense installing them too many people are voting and there are too many polling stations who will make things more complicated. one of the main concerns about the c.c.t.v. system is whether it can serve a country as vast as russia hacker attacks on the website in charge of broadcasting

shortly before the vote only added to concerns but these young people claim they came up with a strong alternative the phone and tablet application older geale was created mostly for observers it allows them to upload pictures report on the turnout to give the final results and register any violations the data would be recessed and published on the website immediately them when we realise our website might be attacked on day x. by hackers but we're ready for any attack our reserves are capable of dealing with serious traffic they're based in data centers in europe so will cope with processing information from observers and regular users to. ok geo is independent from the central election committee and its founders promise to come up with reports just as independent need a while and all five candidates have quarters it's been mostly about training observers this election also has set a record number of watchdogs almost

a million including seven hundred international observers. i was invited to this election doors open day it was good training for everyone we could see firsthand how c.c.t.v. systems work to see transparent ballot boxes it will be the first presidential election in russia which not only will be filmed on hundreds of thousands of web cameras but which has been rehearsed to a couple of days before the actual both those who wish to take part were invited to cast their ballots not for candidates of today but from history including alexander mccall downs peter the great winston churchill and. your eternal great twenty six year olds it's only hours before russia's next peter the great is named but even before the ballots have been counted many warned of the new wave of protests to the protesters in december demonstrated not against the

results of the vote but the fact an advantage when putin was swapping seats were irritated them was that putin was trying to return to the top job so regardless of how transparent the vote is if putin gets slightly more than fifty percent protesters who claim he added that up and self to avoid a second round seventy no one will believe the result but if he hears fifty five to sixty percent there will be no rallies or to the figure would look realistic. the first exit polls will do at least one voting in the westernmost city off kaliningrad konstanz the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round it's exceedingly grandchildren r t will stand and stand with our election coverage the first of russia's presidential contenders has cast his ballot . prokhorov cast his ballot in the siberian city of krasnoyarsk tycoon it turned politician is the only one out of the five candidates with no previous experience

of running for president the billionaire promises of reforms to the country's electoral system in order to reflect the interests of all religious groups parties who was rules you're going to preach is going through and of course we'll be bringing you special coverage of the election here on archie starting at five pm g.m.t. on sunday tune in for the latest results analysis and candidates reaction and already you can find additional information on our website or to dot com there you will find content or profiles a retrospective of previous ballots and answers to questions such as what makes an ideal leader and the opinion of russians plus you can watch and vote online all this and much more at archie got. a suicide car bomber has struck in the southern syrian city of tehran killing at least seven people and wounding several others it is the latest in a series of bombings targeting pro-government neighborhoods this comes amid reports that over one hundred mercenaries many of them french have been caught as they fled

the city of holmes parties many financial know as the latest from syria. two days after the rebel forces pulled out from above our neighborhood and homes faiza grow you know free range attacks by the rebels the chief of the free syrian army has signed that's thursday's withdrawal was a tactical one your position syrian national council who was recognized by european union as legitimate representative of the syrian people has warned of massacres claiming they would provide leadership that is a good guys fighters and give them weapons the opposition group already formed a military council to call tonight they were up and supplies these reports call the free syrian army claims that it's already received weapons and anti aircraft missiles from u.s. and french sources arming the rebels has been considered as an excellent idea by qatar and saudi arabia earlier with a twenty two nation arab league also viewing this as an option if the violence doesn't stop here in syria humanitarian organizations have been accused to president bashar al assad to agree on

a daily hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to be brought to the areas where fighting so continues but the raw concerns that the opposition supporters abroad may use these to bring weapons to the rebels meanwhile it seems that the poorer nations involvement in this crisis in syria stretches far beyond weapon supplies local and regional media has been have been reported involves more than one hundred foreign offices the tains include homes most of them reportedly french paratroopers meanwhile humanitarian situation in the city that suffered from an almost month long siege is deteriorating the international red cross and syrian red crescent are both working on the ground they've brought seven trucks of food water medical supplies and all the emergency aid they're also expected to ever create injured people and to take away the bodies of those many who were killed during the clashes in homes or consumer information reporting for us there now sticking with a story to recall the author a filmmaker and

a middle east expert says the only option for syria is the negotiation table as any alternative would be disastrous. keys thing is where the intermediaries not aligned with either side are capable of pushing both sides to a conference table to agree on a solution to this crisis it seems to me the fisa court very hard on both sides. the assad regime carries on as if it doesn't realize how heated it is by some say comfortable to be very good and the opposition which is now increasingly by the west turning nasty and this does not help anyone in syria if it goes on like this it's becoming more and more sectarian minorities christians where bios are being targeted by the so-called liberation from forces of the country so i

think what it suggests is the negotiated settlement and for people to push both sides to sit on their rounded character well still to come this hour no more rhythm but plenty of blues as an r. and b. file sharing site hits the rough u.k. users of the website have been threatened with jail terms normally reserved for motorists just for downloading music as another portal falls victim to the internet crackdown. and child a traitor flourishes in nepal as a new adoption laws aimed at improving the situation opened a darker door to organizing. the debate over a possible military strike on iran's nuclear facilities is intensifying in the united states more so ahead of president obama's meeting with a pro israel lobby group and israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu he's going to church again has more from washington. president obama's walking on

a razor's edge on one hand members of his administration keep saying a war with iran would be a mistake to us nor to i think or elements of the united states believe. on iran not only would be premature but crazy on the other hand president obama keeps saying a war with iran is still an option and that he is not quote unquote blocking the powerful israeli lobby which president obama will be addressing shortly expects to hear a blunt answer to the question is the u.s. ready for war with iran and will washington back israel should it decide to attack first the only way to stop the. release to. a very very clear message within a week from. the war. and we say president obama's failure to go along with this really plans on iran might hurt him in the a large since the president carried you know the overwhelming majority of the

jewish vote and for going back in two thousand and eight and if he is perceived as an enemy of. enemy of israel or. the issues. for the community here in this country it could have. adverse impact on the funding of votes. israeli prime minister netanyahu speech in the u.s. congress last year was greeted with innovation many u.s. lawmakers slammed the rhetoric of the obama administration which suggested there is still room for diplomacy with iran many in israel believe that if we wait too long we'll be at the point of no return it seems to me to be painfully obvious that this administration's policy is not only the same that it's failed to achieve the core objective but both those who would back a strike against iran and. those who wouldn't seem to be tired of the administration's ambiguity and. it could very very badly

need to go to war and we have to make that very clear to our israeli friends are not going to go to war and they're not going to go to war by flying over our airspace over iraq. and they do it they will be on their own the consequences will be theirs because the price paid they started a massive war. interpret. the disastrous for us in afghanistan in iraq into terms of. this post that was paid for by the emergency committee for israel you. see in washington the campaign very obviously pushes for a more informative response from president obama on his readiness to go to war with iraq in the run up to this year's elections he might want to be the powerful the three lobby and make the statement but for many it would make

a mockery of diplomacy and efforts then president obama's nobel peace prize as well for that matter i'm reporting from washington. and if you want to stay up to date on everything that is happening around the world go to our website archie dot com some of what is waiting for you there right now. tracking the trackers. big brother at all allows users to monitor their online activity is tracked and shared by various websites plus. as an. earth experts agree on a way to alter its trajectory in two thousand and thirteen find out more about this celestial body. file sharing website r. and b.

exclusive dot com has been shut down by britain's organized crime police for alleged copyright violations anyone who downloaded music from there has been threatened with jail terms equivalent to the punishment for rapists or murders tease that laura smith reports on what this could mean for the world. if you downloaded this song through the website or and be exclusive it's not just the prisoner of love you got to be afraid of instead of finding the usual blog comment tree and links to r. and b. and hip hop music recent uses of the site were shocked to find their online activity was under police scrutiny and they could be jailed for ten years more than the usual penalty for many violent crimes and a ten year prison sentence you would expect that to be handed to him for very serious offenses serious sexual assault rape manslaughter very

violent offenses. and you would normally expect it to be and they don't and respective don't want musically the u.k. government serious organized crime agency or soka confirmed it arrested this site but wouldn't talk to us about why it's threatening users with a decade behind bars instead they sent this statement. it's organized criminal enterprises profiting from the exploitation of the u.k. public and legitimate businesses much of the music offered for download by the r. and b. exclusive dog home website was illegally obtained from artists leading the industry to attribute losses of approximately fifteen million pounds per year to this site activity that's raised questions about how the police became the personal in for three of the recording industry standing guard to protect corporate profits and it's also given those concerned with internet freedoms and unpleasant glimpse into

a more regulated if the treaty to protect against online copyright infringement and piracy goes ahead they claimed your ip address monitored so you could nominate them tracts again this was. a move which seems quite unprecedented in the united kingdom i'm afraid that we can see this kind of abuse on the real scale if actor comes to us after a short response from internet campaigners the government agency has now taken down the harsh message and replaced it with this simpler one which just taking control of the domain but it's already caused much worry and distress on twitter many users the pair not even to have known they were visiting a dodgy site and certainly didn't think they'd be liable to time for it internet campaigners say the notice was meant to frighten and in reality severe penalties

couldn't be applied to casual downloaded they also say there's nothing to link r. and b. exclusive with criminal gangs so why even involved if this is what they're illegal in serious organized crime or to traditional serious organised crime as people understand them all. drug dealing as far as i think the public are concerned the crime still happening on our streets opposition to act out in force around europe this month centers on fears that cyberspace will fall under strict government control and while the serious organized crime agency focuses its efforts on r. and b. and hip hop fans many worry that serious organized criminals are getting away with it laura smith r.t. london and some other news making headlines around the world. two suicide bombers have struck an army base in southern yemen killing two soldiers they drove

a truck packed with explosives into the reportedly getting past guards by saying get help for the commander it's the latest in a string of blood struggling government forces al-qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack. the search for survivors begins after a severe storms that ravaged midwestern and some. in the united states leaving at least thirty seven dead indiana ohio kentucky georgia and alabama were devastated by ninety tornadoes with hundreds of freak weather events reported as well such as giant hail storms president obama has offered federal assistance while the governor of ohio has declared a state of emergency. a head on collision between two express trains in southern poland has left at least six dead and a further sixty injured emergency workers are trying to free some passengers who are still trapped in the wreckage authorities say one train was traveling on the wrong track the polish prime minister is on his way to the scene which has already

been described as one of the country's worst train crashes do religion and politics mix that's a major part of the debate raging in america's presidential campaign so our resident reporter hit the streets of new york to ask people if the government or the media should be behind certain ideology. when is it ok for a government or the media to support an ideology this week let's talk about that i don't think it could ever should. i think that the government is that a serve the people of the media is there to report the news not make it a tauriel direction on any of the record i don't think it's right that they can come out and say they support it. different ways though if you support morris it's a burst of ways. that's probably what they do anyway right. probably if

you think people are choosy about who is supporting their cause. absolutely their. people are too easily swayed from a propaganda is the people that want you to believe something bad one else follows like sheep peels out their own personality and look at the own facts in the details make their own opinion that's what they should do and not just follow their body else there's a pretty great principle in psychology that you you start and finish where you are so you like what you like and you don't like the other guy for liking something different but that's just human nature but i mean that the principle of democracy it's unusual it's a kind of a crazy idea that you can get wacky people like your answer your crazy sister and you just a line them up by the millions and you somehow assume that all these crazy people acting together will have a wisdom greater than the key do you think the government's trying to impose will through propaganda without a doubt yes so why do some people when they hear their point of view out it think

it's justice being time but then if they don't agree with it they call it propaganda. well. that's it's the nature of this is the nature of rhetoric in general your your opinion is always. right and everyone else's opinion is always propaganda and that's are. since whether or not you believe it's ever ok for a government or the media to support an ideology the bottom line is we should all remember it's all too easy to become hypocritical when it comes to the support of our own beliefs. orphans in nepal are being sold at a huge profit by human traffickers and it is also alleged illegal orphanages are acting as suppliers to people who want to make a fortune from often abused children or to his prayers for other reports. today

fifteen year old chen mohan child areas all smiles but it wasn't that long ago that the teenager with living in an illegal orphanage in nepal the capital katmandu. is that the homes would be given rations for the children but the caretakers would take half the food for themselves well giving i was only a small portion of it but they would also get drunk. well when is now living in a home run by the umbrella foundation and irish angio working with nepal's government to keep track of kathmandu after needed it teen thousand children living in orphanages. investigations have uncovered that around eighty percent of these kids actually have parents often times living in rural parts of nepal will sell their children to traffickers who they believe will give them a better life if you have a trafficker who says very poor people people literacy your space who.

can give us your children you will receive a small amount of money from an international family or in return we will bring them to help when do we want an excellent education. traffickers are known to buy in a poly child per around eighteen dollars and then sell them to orphanages that are not monitored by the government they are then sold on for up to twenty five thousand dollars to families from. while they're living in the orphanages many of the children are reportedly abused and forced to work some are even sexually assaulted who forced to work in the fields and have been woken up early every morning to clean the house and also to look after the cats because infant child the nepali government admitted that almost half of the country's orphanages were involved in illegal international adoptions but since then things have changed. now paul has been an international adoption wild child advocates believe that this will help prevent the trafficking of children organizers of orphanages are worried about how they're going to continue to ride without money from abroad. komi work spring

and paul children's organization which runs eleven legal orphanages across the country he says that before the ban on international adoption has orphanage in katmandu made five thousand dollars for every child that got adopted by a foreign family. which has been difficult for us to run the home after the suspension of international adoption because we still have to provide for the daily necessities of every child in the home to care of the medical bills or to today many organisers are trying to reunite trafficked children with their family but many lection mohanned barely remember their real siblings and parents anymore korea surely there are ci kathmandu nepal. that brings up to date for it i'll be back with headlines after a short break. as

russia votes for president r.t. looks at the five running for the kremlin top job picture in today's. money mirror to see if the two time presidents now during prime minister the face of united russia party. the record clinton points to stability he secured after the chaos a g.l.c. mir's praised for overseeing a booming economy the establishing russia's presence on the world stage play the

presidency modernization fighting corruption maximizing russia's impact in international affairs control the city criticized for centralizing power in russia and staying at the helm too long. for personifying the problems positions and aspirations of modern russia. presidential election two thousand and twelve r.t. . move.