these are the images. seeing from the streets of canada. today. russians go to the polls to choose the next president to govern the country for six years. this may become the most transparent vote in russia's history with both international and independent observers as well as the web cameras monitoring every single polling station across the country join me live from the heart of moscow with all the latest details in just one minute. one hundred suspected court. of pardons of parents in syria escalate. tough budget rules to stop spending. cuts imposed to save the single currency.

the very latest developments welcome to the program well russians are going to the polls to choose their next president. monitoring the thousands of newly installed well trained on the ballot boxes across the country. well the polling stations across russia have now opened the most westerly mentioned in grab a final place to start voting let's now talk to r.t.c. let's see let's see how has the turnout been so far. well the turnout so far has been higher than four years ago during the previous presidential election in some

regions especially in the far east now that several russian has been voting for several hours or really from the give us talk to go out and we in some regions there already have been more than fifty percent of the voters turning up at the polling stations to cast their ballots some of one of the presidential candidates mikhail prokhorov has already cast their ballot early in the morning in his hometown in the region of course they asked region and we certainly expect the other presidential hopefuls to cast their ballot throughout the day in moscow certainly a very interesting day ahead of us we'll be bringing you the first exit poll results when the polling stations close across the country around nine pm more school time and please follow our extensive coverage to have all the latest details on how russia is electing its new president or indeed and we've seen a number of rallies though both against out in support of the current russian leadership in the run up to the election how of people been voicing their opinions on that front. well there is certainly have been very turbulent three or four

months for russia ever since the election in december the fourth something deemed by many bloggers by many people just on the streets as falsified tens of thousands of people hit to the streets something unprecedented for russia in fact such large protests have been seen for the first time ever since the collapse of the soviet union ever since the turbulent events of the one thousand nine hundred the early one thousand nine hundred definitely all the makings of a civil society have been here with many people criticizing the authorities criticizing prime minister putin directly both online and offline in the protests in the streets and in different blogs many bloggers have been very critical i mean those protests were some of them were directed for the fair elections in russia but most of them were directed directly against the country's prime minister vladimir putin with people urging him to step down to change the power in the country something certainly could not have gone unnoticed by the authorities and the

demands made by the protesters have certainly been heard by the ruling powers in moscow and definitely this election process itself is very much different to what we have been seeing for the last twenty years ever since the collapse of the soviet union but it's very interesting here is that even before this election started on sunday today some opposition forces have had already started preparing for a protest action on march the fifth monday and that is certainly in their opinion they would protest anyway even despite the makings of a very transparent election that is we've been seeing we've been promised and what we've been seeing in the run up to this vote today on sunday yes you mentioned transparency has been done to make. it. certainly the web cameras which have been installed at every single polling station across the country is a major breakthrough the ballot boxes themselves. see through so we can see what

exactly falls into those ballot boxes this is something also very new for russia and this election is definitely the most expensive one because the installing web cameras alone cost around health a billion u.s. dollars and this initiative was put forward personally by also we understand that every single russian citizen may become an observer at the election and in fact a very good friend of mine have been tweeting already observing election at several polling stations across the russian capital also seven hundred international observers are across the country monitoring the election and it is very interesting because there is even an organization which was created to money for the observers actions during this election process so definitely unprecedented things in the election mechanism in russia mostly thanks to the protest action which we've been seeing for the last three or four months across the country now it's it's widely seen that vladimir putin will win the election tell us

a bit more about the candidates that are challenging him. despite his support diminishing largely it's not seventy percent as it used to be before letting it go it is certainly is widely seen as you mentioned as the most likely winner of this presidential race though there is some serious competition from of four other candidates the first well certainly he's a veteran of the presidential campaigns in russia tonight he's a grant of the leader of the communist party he's been running in every single presidential election ever since the collapse of the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred one so he knows what this whole story is about he according to some opinions he has the second rating following the reports in russia also of the flamboyant the eccentric leader of the liberal liberal democratic party he also a veteran of the complaints also running in every single presidential election ever since the collapse of the soviet union he's eccentric certainly and he certainly

has some chance of making it into the second round runoff should it happen another candidate is the leader of the fair russia party something that all of also quite frequent he has been running in every single election but still he participated in the two thousand and four election as far as i can remember and he used to be head of the upper house of the russian parliament and also we have russian tycoon mikhail prokhorov somewhat of a dark horse in this particular presidential campaign he's a newcomer to politics and it's the first time he's running as president also seen by many experts says the most as one of the likely candidates to make it into the second round runoff should it happen in fact it's the main intrigue of this presidential race whether it would be able to garner more than fifty percent of the votes that is in fact fifty percent plus one vote and thus gain a victory in the first round or there would have been there would be a second round run off with the second place candidate challenging like middleton at the end of may on the end of march march twentieth twenty fifth. ok.

thanks for that update. so five candidates are in the running for russia's top job or about them at r.t. dot com. their election promises little background and analysis of their experience so far. is special election page. has been saying where cameras are monitoring every polling station r.t. dot com is sharing the votes cast as a web site streams and i think the way. to look at the installation of cameras and other preparations and making the voters transparent as possible. for a student is a big. we won't forget and we won't forgive if this is what the opposition

promised acromion after december's parliamentary elections they claimed the vote had been raked in response the authorities decided what 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 vote now it's officially the most transparent and the most expensive in the nation's history but not everyone's convinced. the 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. that 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 aldridge deal 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 precise and published on the website immediately them when we realize our website might be attacked on the 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 in europe so will cope with processing information from observers and regular users to alter 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 watch talks 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 first hand 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 vote those who wish to take part were invited to cast their ballots not for candidates up to date but from history including alexander mcqueen gonski peter the great winston churchill and the indus khan. he 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 the 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 that the self to avoid a second round seventy no one will believe the result the president adds of polls will be released one voting in the westernmost city of kaliningrad konstanz the question then will any of the candidates have bet much needed fifty percent to avoid a second round if the democrats are t. scale they can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday as we bring the latest figures and a variety of opinions across the political spectrum here in r.t. .

or some other top stories of the week fears of outside interference in the syrian conflict have resurfaced one hundred suspected westerners many of them french quarter while trying to flee the city of homs a senior rebel leader also playing his militia group had been supplied with french and american weapons and even across myself as national reports. the borders those and we do estate 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 wholesale destruction and death that's how marshall kind of will pay to smugglers usually iraqi all lebanese

drivers according to ziad ismail chief of the customs service on the border with lebanon. these people will here to destroy our nation to try to kill syrian people on the syrian territory enemies. syria has more than two thousand kilometers of front year with five states a stray iraq jordan turkey and never known the syrian cities where the most violent clashes have taken place homes and there are all over the in an hour of the borders a fact that some believe has determined 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 times to smuggle weapons across the offices confiscated thousands of bullets dozens of guns and hundreds of closed rooms i have little metal pieces like this one used to maybe put

your horses main concern and make little clothes like this one but parts of the border where there isn't any security at all like 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 lebanon on. and further 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 going to his only flow through it that are has become one of the witnesses points and the country's security. the city has become for scene of fierce and bloody clashes at least twice in the conflicts twelve months of history the authorities have claimed that many of the so-called free syrian army have in fact come from across the border. they appear 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 their weapons allegedly seized in military operations now. 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 confiscated was killing innocent people and kill even more. while the international community condemns the regime and supports its opponents many believe all sides in the conflict should be held responsible violence across syria and with so many foreign ruffles involved it's clear that the crisis thresh is far beyond these borders regional reporting from syria but meanwhile troops loyal to the regime are thought to be continuing to imbalance in

the city of homs seen as the main stronghold of the opposition against president the government says it's aiming to tackle armed gangs and terrorists but the red cross. was prevented from reaching the worst areas of the city people that have been left without water or electricity this fighting rebels by government forces and i witnessed told r.t. that i think there was hearing violence from insurgents troops. being killed on the streets. firsthand account of the horrors of crimes is available online. well nancy i cited rhetoric from the u.s. and its allies regularly companies like the images supposedly showing the results of a such thing over years like ones a few have joined similarities with other conflicts with future iraq which salinas troops fighting against insurgents it was seven years ago he's sick of expose the probe those differences between the two conflicts they find some of the images in

this report disturbing but they now call homes the capital of the revolution just as they once called pollution of the capital of terror different conflicts that share more in common than actually me through i now each has the third largest city and its country in each the site of a bloody urban war one of them now in history books the other still raging as we speak now in homes as in fallujah poorly armed insurgents faced off against the superior military well equipped soldiers armed with mortar snipers tanks and airpower and in both cases officials claims that only heavy handed force could bring peace in the violence on criminals and terrorists here's the chief military spokesman for the us forces in iraq we will hunt down the criminals we will kill them we will capture them if we will pass or for a future and here is syrian president bashar al assad. what kind of priority now is to rejoin security which our country has enjoyed for it ok this can only be

achieved by using the terrorists with an iron hand and you can see it for those who are using weapons to q.o.l. civilians now in both countries that hired hands targeted a sunni muslim opposition in wars that took on increasingly sectarian tones illusia u.s. forces and the shia iraqi troops were seen as infidels in syria their religious wrath is aimed at assad's alawite forces according to some disparaging you to common salad right monkeys satanic troops those are just some of the many slurs now amid the violent clashes gut wrenching images like these showing the human toll of war streets littered with bodies of the wounded not to mention those of the dead but this is where the similarities and civilians did suffer most in both wars and yet the stories of collusion innocents remain largely untold those reporters in two

thousand and four were embedded with the u.s. troops today the few who do sneak into syria often stick with the rebels the difference in the coverage as well self evident. americans hit the military me and murders even. more of them i'm sure i mean during the the main. key keep proving they need help from the outside world medicine the most basic supplies so goodness that's so uncommon valor in the us soldiers are always with protesters fearless protesters really. now those who dared show images of the civilian casualties in palooza were often dismissed as propaganda their viewers even got the following advice from the pentagon. change the channel to a legitimate authoritative cornish news station the accusations from the syrian government are eerily similar today lies in the media have gone beyond common sense

some television channels have lost all shame and professionalism. now it is often said that perception forms reality and nowhere does this ring more true than in syria and iraq in one battle the press told the story of the besiegers and the other that of the besieged and in both cases it would seem it's the truth that suffered most was the captain of our russian. russell had to strike or not destroy present the bombers of course it was for them against a military attack on a. beat it's really no b.s. gunning for action. now after months of talks and confrontation and yes the united european union has signed a deal to prevent that from overspending the so-called fiscal pact is supposed to force tough new budget rules written in the czech republic from the idea too much to take what seems to us are silly reports. it's been talked about for months

claimed as a solution to europe's crisis fiscal compact for sky park the new fiscal rules after another two day summit this fiscal stability compact is signed sealed and delivered. and most e.u. leaders have agreed to give it the go ahead and it's expected to be ratified by at least twelve years old nations this pact comes with type budgetary rules that must be strictly adhere to a else face automatic sanctions a member states must maintain a balanced budget or have a surplus keep a budget deficit of three percent or less enshrined the balanced budget rule of the national legislation within one year firmly within the constitution if 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 stock and he's going to police all the budget is on the member states and these member states will rule sovereignty in the field of budgetary policy now is the population going to accept this. population that's already been forced to accept one tough austerity measure after another all in good economies the ones that if you were doing was thirteen if you were to go towards crisis everybody is no tackling people because if we're cutting expenses everywhere then you crush it with nobody's consuming nobody's investing but the point of this truth is a continuation of true liberal orthodoxy. so we are exactly going back to what we haven't done in years. e.u. leaders see the budgetary discipline the sobriety 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 that has some worried about the impact it could have on healthier economies and could lead to huge fiscal consolidation by us. even those countries that had serious fiscal situation did go. to school accounts which can the press coming. at a time banks peace problems and they want to you want to lend not a desirable scenario when the new buzzwords are growth and employment class are still your artsy brussels. but ahead of the e.u. summit are people in europe opposed to fiscal union and the deep was there he cuts imposed on them hold rallies and go to france and greece greek unions stopped work for three hours and marched in athens testing at the government cutting pensions benefits and wages scuffles broke out the side and building as one unit member

tried to force his way inside and severe austerity measures were ordered by brussels international monetary fund to secure a second bailout with one hundred thirty billion euro. look at some other news making headlines around the world head on collision between two express trains in suddenly really wanting people to head for the sixteenth and they can see workers are trying to free passengers still trapped in the wreckage authorities say one train was traveling on the wrong track position has already been described as one of the country's worst ever train crashes. the muslim brotherhood in libya has created its own political party is a good place to be led by eight years in jail the regime. last decades an extremism. is expected to be a leading political force in the election shadow for june is the best one but it's in the wake of the arab spring also tunisia egypt morocco. north korea's

leader has emerged troops on the heavily on the border with the south to stay on high alert during a frontline visit the un's trip comes as the country increased threats against south korea over its ongoing military exercises with the u.s. long island says there are her stalls for invasion the north koreans also gathered on sunday massive rally in a civil. debate over a possible military strike on iran is mounting in the u.s. ahead of president obama's meeting with the pro israel lobby and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu don't live in washington suspect tehran developing weapons but the islamic republic says its nuclear program is purely peaceful. after they insist visit rolling wins the inspectors to iran international atomic energy agency says it can't tell god it's trying to build a nuclear bomb because tehran has failed to cooperate countries envoy to the.

internet told r.t. exclusively believes the agency is not impartial. we are warning that a couple of countries including united states are trying to run the 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 expect all countries including russia and others and i'm very proud please that last meeting in fact russia and china ambassadors along with hundred countries of none and i movement all together questioned what has to happen in fact namely the release of confidential information that that we need mobilization of member states to prevent something happening in vienna which way

this agency from me says actually. well you can read this interview with iran's envoys from here at nuclear watchdog in full on our website l.t. dot com. and a recap of the latest on the presidential votes currently underway in russia that makes other made news if you.

question is that so much money which of course you write on it comes ability of voting for the future in today's time russians will go to the polls to elect their next president what is the nature of russia's political system how is it changed.