russians go to the polls to choose their next president who will govern the country for six years. it promises to be the most transparent election in russia's history with international observers and web cameras monitoring every single call the station life details with me in just several moments. but in other news this week more than one hundred suspected mercenaries report fleeing water homes fears of foreign interference in syria escalate. and eve states signed up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts imposed to

save the single currency. you're watching artie's weekly news if you're on the very latest developments welcome to the program russians are going to the polls to choose their next president thousands of observers a monitoring of thousands of newly installed web cameras trained on the ballot boxes across the country. well all the polling stations across russia have now opened their voting just on the way in the west embrace teachin of kaliningrad let's now talk to our t's alexy . let's see well the whole country is now voting so who have been the most high

profile voters so far. indeed from. all polling stations have opened across the country with high turnout already reported in the eastern region some russian in the far east and siberia and central russia as well already we understand that you have a block of one of the presidential candidates or has already cast his ballot in his whole region of krasnoyarsk and he returned from moscow we also expect and of course all other presidential candidates will be voting in moscow all throughout the day indeed we're in for some interesting thirteen hours or so until nine pm moscow time when all polling stations close across the country and we will be expecting the first exit polls exit poll results to come out there will certainly be covering all the latest information will be bringing all the latest details right this very interesting and crucial fateful day for russia and let's see what we've seen a number of rallies both against and in support of

a current russian leadership in the run up to the election how people voicing their opinions. well off the lead parliamentary election on december the fourth the people took to the streets unsatisfied with election results believing the result was falsified certainly this is it was something unprecedented for russia the protest movement gathering tens of thousands of people in the streets of the russian cities something which has never happened in this country ever since the collapse of the soviet union basically this outcry of the civil society was did not go unnoticed and that definitely made the authorities think and definitely this particular voting we having today is something different you know has the protest movement across russia has changed the election process itself certainly the december fourth column into the vote was discussed widely only internet with many bloggers describing the election as unsatisfied free and this whole protest movement definitely made some changes in two of the countries

a civil society in general and the interesting thing here is that despite this election started only just several hours ago some opposition movements in russia some political forces have already started preparing for a protest action on monday march fifth so we're definitely in for some very interesting and troubling times come monday and we'll be certainly monitoring what's happening in going across from. election sent us a bit more about the candidates running for the top topics here. well the most. candid which is seen by many experts says the most likely winner of this presidential race is certainly the current prime minister. who despite having some full touring support for him it's not seventy percent as it used to be some six years ago now of course lower but still he's seen as the likely candidate only in three is whether there will be a second round runoff and who will make it along with what he would do the second

round run up to challenge him that the other candidates are certainly the veteran of the presidential campaigns in washington he's got a leader of the communist party who's been running in every election ever since the collapse of the soviet union just as well as you know steve a leader of the liberal democratic party also a frequent rather in these complaints also suquamish on the leader of the fair russia party the former speaker of the house of russian parliament so and also we have the russian tycoon something some some kind of a dark horse in this race and also being seen by some of the experts as one of the likely candidates to make it into the second round run up along with you know he's going to so this is basically the main intrigue whether there will be a second round and what they do now he's going to. make it there. and then the voting itself in a lot of times been done to make the most transparent today doesn't it. certainly

this voting is very crucial it is the first time that russia elects its president for the six year term and definitely as i mentioned those protests which have been happening in russia for the last three months of change the election process itself with. all the indications there that this would probably become the most transparent election in more than russian history we can probably see now live pictures from the polling stations where cameras have been installed at every single polling stations across russia costing almost half a billion u.s. dollars to the russian budget this was something initiated by vladimir putin personally after the protest movement of the streets demanding fair elections to take place and my colleague got over did a report on how russia came to this election and how transparent it would be i believe we can have a look at this report right now and you want to hear a student yes i think. we won't forget and we won't forgive this is what the opposition promised the kremlin 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 initial cost of the boat now it's officially the most transparent and the most expensive in the nation's history but not everyone is convinced. there's cameras won't change anything there will always be discontent it was almost before it without cameras. i don't think it will make the vote more transparent 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 it 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 deal was created mostly for observers it allows them to upload pictures reports on the turnout to give the final results and register any violations the data would be recessed and published on the website immediately than when we realized our web site might be attacked on day x. by hackers but we're ready for any attack on our servers are capable of dealing with serious traffic they are based in data centers and europe so will cope with processing information from observers and regular users to. altered geo is independent from the central election committee and its founders promise to come up with reports just as independent meanwhile that all five candidates had 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 as she transferred ballot boxes it will be the first presidential election in russia which not only will be filmed on hundreds of thousands of cameras but which has been rehearsed to a couple of days before the actual vote those who wish to take part were invited to cast their ballots not for candidates to day but from history including oleksandr and we could owns a piece of the great winston churchill and. you will be a truly 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 a new wave of protests. protesters in december demonstrated not against the results

of the vote but a fact made very different putin was swapping seats 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 will claim he added data and self to avoid a second round to get seventy no one will believe the result the first exit polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad comes to an end the question then will any of the candidates have that much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round exit in the direction of r r t more scale. well you can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday as we bring you the latest figures on a variety of opinions across the political spectrum. of course r.t. dot com is sharing you the votes actually being cast as our web site streams live feeds from cameras installed at polling stations. on our

web site you can learn more about the candidates running for office top promising that are much more in our special election pages at r.t. dot com. the other top stories of the week fears of outside interference in the syrian conflict have resurfaced one hundred suspected mercenaries and even the french have been caught one trying to flee the city of homs and senior rebel leader also claims his militia group had been supplied with french and american weapons and even aircraft missiles from russian reports need bloodshed. the borders doors and windows just hate despite international isolation syria's borders have remained opened and easy to pass through and that may have played

a crucial role in the militarization of the country's conflict almost immediately after the crisis began here last march they were reports of lapham's been smuggled through to arm president al assad's opponents one thousand dollars for a truck full of weapons capable of delivering house sale destruction and death that's how much al qaeda will pay to smugglers usually iraqi a lebanese driver is according to ziad ismail chief of the customs service on the border with lebanon. these people bring we were here to destroy our nation to try to kill syrian people on the syrian territory to enemies. we can see it says that in just a few weeks stopping has been doubled in border zones throughout syria now with other countries allegedly supporting and arming the opposition fighters in the term all to even greater militarization this is more than just

a precaution. we are on high alert. we are not against people of these countries governments were between us syria has more than two thousand kilometers of fronts here with five states israel iraq jordan turkey and lebanon the syrian cities where the most violent clashes have taken place homes and there are all over the in our of the border is a fact that some believe has determine their fate or destiny is. this is one of three checkpoints on the three hundred fifty kilometer syrian lebanese border in the last year as we've been told here there were only three attempts to smuggle weapons across you know this is confiscated thousands of bullets dozens of guns and hundreds of kilograms i have little metal pieces like this one used to may well put your source's main concern and that political pros like this one but parts of the border where there isn't any security at all but here look at this in the middle of

nowhere there is nothing only one road across the road right now and at the same time are crossing the border and i'm already in love and on. and for the south she remains extremely vulnerable the city of cairo the cradle of the syrian uprising it all started here and it continues to play a role in the country's crisis with the border with jordan just several kilometers away from here and numerous reports suggesting that foreign weapons and troops can easily flow through it better has become one of the witness points and the country's security city has become for scene of fierce and bloody clashes at least twice in the complex twelve month history the authorities have claimed that many of the so-called free syrian army have in fact come from across the border. they shoot and kill and then they disappear immediately they arrive from abroad but they are not from jordan they use this country's border many of them are from africa. we

are showing the weapons allegedly seized in military operations now usually in the army we don't have weapons from israel and america sniper guns and night vision binoculars advanced developed weapons we don't have it in syria. this what we carpet skated is killing innocent people and kill even more. the u.s. is making every effort to please the israeli government that's why the u.s. is reinforcing its own groups and its suppressing their rivals so the groups could act instead of america's anyway we believe that washington support for terrorists will produce a negative impact for the united states itself and also those who support these terrorists. while the international community condemns the regime and supports its opponents many believe all sides in the conflict should be held responsible for violence across syria and with so many foreign rafa's involved it's clear that the

crisis trash is far beyond these borders relief nationality reporting from syria. troops loyal to the regime are thought to be continuing to advance of the city of homs seen as the main stronghold of the opposition against the present government the says it's aiming to tackle armed gangs and terrorists and the red cross claims an aide was prevented from reaching the worst hit areas of the city. left with no water or electricity the fierce fighting rebels. forces an eyewitness told r.t. that people have been hiding indoors fearing apartments were insurgents as well as troops people killed on the streets. first account of the horrors of. time. on the diplomatic front u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has compared the syrian president bashar assad to war criminals but its rhetoric comes despite recent reforms adopted by syria and

a referendum on a new draft constitution we can go now to civil unrest in which the u.n. says more than seven thousand have been killed by government forces a journalist and contributor to britain's guardian newspaper and your clarke says a clinton statements confirm that the u.s. and europe aren't interested in democratic reforms in syria it's a great day for democracy in syria and yet what's the reaction of the western readers well hillary clinton denounced it as a cynical ploy. rest of the german. he said it was a sham what is a sham is the west approach could because their reaction to this referendum shows they're not really keen on real democracy in syria it's the last thing they actually want. five percent of syrians and want president assad to stay. demonstrations in favor of president because we could be reporting the western media the reality is serious support. for the west these along their views.

so we have this ludicrous musician where we have the west which claims to be supporting democracy is discounting the syrians. that's ahead for you this hour to strike zone not to strike president obama is caught between those foreign i'm against a military attack on iran it's. coming for action. after months of talks and the confrontation a less than united european union has signed a deal to rent the block from overspending and so-called fiscal pact is supposed to force tough new budget rules britain and the czech republic but the idea too much to take also reports. it's been talked about for months quaint as a solution to europe's crisis fiscal compact for sky park new fiscal rules after another two day summit this fiscal stability compact is signed sealed and delivered . mostly leaders have agreed to give it the go ahead it's expected to be ratified

by at least twelve euro zone nations this pact comes with tight budgetary rules that must be strictly adhered to or else face automatic sanctions member states must maintain a balanced budget or have a surplus people budget deficit of three percent or less. and schreiber balanced budget rule of national legislation within one year prefer oblique within the constitution it budgetary targets are not met the guilty nation could be brought to the european court of justice and be obliged to make penalty payments the reins of strict budgetary oversight will be in brussels hands now we've in europe in brussels we've got our first saw and there's a budget. and he's going to police all the dodgers all the member states and these member states will lose sovereignty in the field of budgetary policy. is the population going to accept this. population this already been forced to

accept tough a steady measure after another good could in the sniffles or if you were doing was thirteen if you were your group the worst crisis everybody is no tackling people because if we're keeping everything spence's everywhere then you crash and read nobody's consuming nobody's investing but there's a point of this trip is a continuation. of books and so we are exactly going back to what we have done in the last fifteen years. in the us your readers see the budgetary discipline discuss the stability pact is expected to bring as a step closer to solving the eurozone structural imbalances and help crisis hit countries ease their way out of their predicament but it's a one size fits all approach sub worried about the impact it could have on healthier economies and could lead to huge fiscal consolidation by us so even those countries the public has your fiscal situation the. course with their

fiscal accounts which can depress comical. at a time banks face problems and they're going to be one two and not a desirable scenario when the new buzzwords are growth and employment class are still your artsy brussels. well ahead of the e.u. summit people in europe opposed to school you know on the deep austerity cuts imposed on them held rallies in belgium france and greece greek union stopped work for three hours and marched in athens protesting at government cutting pensions benefits and wages scuffles broke out building as one unit trying to force its way inside. the measures were ordered by brussels the international monetary fund to secure a second bailout. in europe. and now look at some other news making headlines around the world this hour. head on collision between two express trains in southern

poland fourteen people dead and a further sixteen measures the workers are trying to free price interesting trapped in the wreckage well to say one train is traveling. because it has already been described as of the country's worst ever train crashes. it was written brotherhood in libya has created its own political party islamist group place to be led by a man who spent eight years in jail under the party regime. roughly suppressed for decades because an extremism. expected to be a leading political force election should unify june was a missed one of the arab spring votes in. north korea's leader troops on the heavily on border with the south to stay on high alert street a frontline visit. trip comes as the country increased threats against south korea over its ongoing military exercises with us. says the lessons for invasion the

north koreans also gathering some great for a massive rally in the city. i debate over a possible military strike on iran mounts in the us head of president obama's meeting with approved. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu sort of even washington suspect tehran of the. weapons islamic republic says its programs purely peaceful. the latest visit by the un's inspectors to iran the international atomic energy agency says it can tell whether it's trying to build a nuclear bomb iran has failed to cooperate countries. so their. exclusive thing with these agency is not impartial. we are warning that a couple of countries including united states are trying to randy agency so that they can dictate from washington what d.n.r. should do and that is why we don't not permit such

a thing to occur and that is the whole issue that the agency as a professional technical organization should do its work and that is why you see they make meet so many noses here and there they do not let the agency to do its work and that is why we want all countries including russia and others and i'm very pleased that last meeting in fact russia and china ambassadors along with hundred countries of nonaligned movement all together questioned what had happened in fact namely the release of confidential information that that we need mobilization of member states to prevent something happening in vienna. way this agency from me says actually. where you can read this interview with iran's envoy to the u.n. nuclear watchdog in full on our website r.t. dot com. israel is now threatening to attack iran's nuclear sites but danger could look much closer israeli government is building

a security barrier. it says is to keep militants and migrants out. reports that's just one concern. love their neighbors as the biblical saying goes but in the case of israel there is not much love lost between the jewish state and the countries close to do it by the authorities in jerusalem in fierce and feyerick is ations that iran some wonder even their empty tehran frenzy they may have overlooked other troubles brewing much closer to home the very. concern my euphoria in israel the result. there is no water or a cooking. other than the hamas. because the strip. in fact the palestinian conflict has long been a source of problems for the israeli government which recently seems the issue has all but forgotten some believe this blinkered approach may end up having dire and

explosive consequences for israel with the rise of islamic tendencies in the wake of the arab spring states which until now have been south of the benevolent radio a turnaround in fact such changes already evidence of egypt's muslim brotherhood which holds the majority of seats in the parliament has already threatened to break peace accord with israel as a response to pressure from the u.s. to crack down and stop believing what he says when he says make it's even worse egypt want to go tremendous changes egypt will stand behind us one day hamas may attack israel as it did in december of two thousand and eight the question is how would egypt react to such a conflict that i think is an imminent threat iran is not an imminent threat. but could also be an imminent threat some believe is the situation in syria which seems to go from bad to worse with every passing day. by centralism in

the mescal means the. presence of terrorist groups that may operate a good steve israel meanwhile israel's most placid neighbor jordan may seem to be better off stability but experts say that isn't so it's israel's immediate neighbor to be used it's a country that israel has a peace relationship with it also has the longest border with and i think it is most vulnerable to. these stabilizing influences from almost everywhere else well over from sirius and all over from iraq there are very serious problems and one look at the map is enough to show that israel's position in the real. could be described as potentially problematic at best however israeli authorities seem to be less concerned with reinforcing good relations with neighbors or preparing for those relations to worsen instead they absolutely continue to confront iran with the world's words for now in tel aviv. r.t.

. i recapped with a test on the presidential votes currently underway in russia and the week's other make news in just a few stay with us here on thing. as

russia votes for president archie looks at the five running for the kremlin top job the candidate guillory zyuganov sixty seven turns the achievements of communism from before his time on the record second in all presidential elections since the end of the u.s.s.r. to two thousand and twelve both will be his fourth plan for presidency free education as housing punish illegal immigration and introduce ethnicity stops in ta sports controversy juggalos communists usually vote with putin's forty on the big issues known abroad for exploiting soviet nostalgia with pensioners the discontented and just real working class. presidential election two thousand and twelve on party.