these are the images the world seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations or. russians go to the polls to choose their next president to govern the country for six years. this may become the most transparent election in russia's history with both international and independent observers as well as web cameras long story every single polling station across the country join me beside the red brick walls of the kremlin for all the latest information in just one minute. on another news this week more than one hundred suspected mercenaries are caught fleeing. this is a foreign interference in syria escalates. and sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts to save the single

currency. this is r.t. if you welcome to the program but first a russians are going to the polls to choose the next president thousands of observers. tens of thousands of newly installed cameras trained on the ballot boxes across the country. well putting stations across russia have now opened so let's now talk to our t's and. see how has the turnout been so far. the latest information we have received from russia's sensualist election commission is that twelve percent of the russia's

population has already cast their ballots indeed wender stand in some regions the turnout is higher than four years ago during the previous presidential election in some regions especially in the far east the turnout has been higher than fifty percent of the region's population now some of the presidential candidates have already placed their votes that is certainly the first one was who voted in his whole region across the us region early in the morning before flying back to moscow . very eccentric presidential candidate leader of the little liberal democratic party has just voted with a little bit of an eccentricity about he's voting as usual criticizing the polling booths for the other people being able to see what the person is doing inside and we are expecting the voting to stop at nine o'clock pm mosco time that's when the first exit polls will come out and certainly we'll update you with the latest

numbers as we get them and we've seen a number of rallies both against and in support of the current russian leadership in the run up to next and a lot of people been voicing their opinions on this. the last three or four months since the election on december the fourth have been very turbulent for russia with tens of thousands of people hitting the streets and national guard protests against what they believe to be rigged election against directly against the prime minister urging him to step down certainly the. this was the this is in fact the civic society in its purest form people are not only protesting in the streets against the current power against falsified elections they are also signing up to be observers during this today's vote and to end it in fact hundreds of thousands of people are taking part in the country's political life being independent observers at this election certainly many people both online and offline have been

criticizing the prime minister for falsifying the election something of course the authorities could not have not taken taken care off or taken their attention off certainly this whole election process which we've been witnessing today and the complaint itself is pretty much different from what it used to be before that and this is certainly some sign that there is a certain dialogue between those in power and those in the streets protesting against it but of course a lot has been done to make the most transparent to date doesn't it. well it has certainly all the makings to become the most transparent voting in russia's history but it's already definitely the most expensive vote because installing the web cameras in every single. station across the country has already cost health a billion u.s. dollars also the ballot boxes themselves are made of see through glass so there's absolutely no chance of anything getting inside these battle boxes without the

observers noticing it certainly as i mentioned the independent observers anyone any russian citizen can become an independent observer can receive proper documents and be at a polling station making sure that no forces occasions take place as well as certainly seven hundred almost seven hundred international observers also there at the polling stations making sure that the election on smoothly i believe we can see the pictures off from the web cameras what exactly happening at the polling stations across the country so this is definitely something you for russia which we have not seen during all previous campaigns and it's also a very interesting thing that there is an organization responsible for observing the observer actions so it's it's even serious as serious as it gets here but it's widely seen that putin will win the election better but more about the candidates their shot injuring him. well it is certainly seen that

prime minister putin will eventually gain victory in this presidential race it is widely seen by the experts and and generally and the general public the fact is that his support is now small it's not like seventy percent used to be before but still there is an intrigue went out there will be a second round runoff or not it has to gain fifty percent plus one vote to gain the victory in the very first round if you doesn't manage to get such a high percentage then there will be a second round run off to be held on march twenty fifth there are other four candidates running for presidency the most likely candidates to challenge but even putting in a second round runoff is going to he's a veteran of the election campaigns in russia running for every every president's what unity ever since the collapse of the soviet union he's the leader of the communist party of course the other person who also can be there. challenging what he would win in the second round one of the potential second one runoff he is

the dark horse of the selections the russian tycoon mikhail prokhorov. he's a newcomer to politics and now he's never run before for the presidency also very interesting many experts have been trying to guess what he is running for president is all about the other two candidates have little chance of making to the second round still they're running the very eccentric leader the leader of the liberal democratic party but even as you know steve known for his very harsh nationalists and somewhat nationalist rhetoric and very eccentric. actions during his election campaigns and the other candidate is the leader of the player russia party so given all of who used to be head of the upper house of the russian parliament also running for presidency for the third time. ok we'll leave it there for our correspondent thank you for that. so a five candidates are in the running for russia's top topic or about them but i want to come they will find their election from the. says that political

backgrounds analysis of their careers so far. this special election page. as well as a web cameras are monitoring every polling station r.t. dot com is sharing the votes actually cast. streams life feeds from the web cams. parties including the trover went to look at the installation of web cameras and other preparations and making about as transparent as possible. first to yes. 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 boat 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 vote now it's officially

the most transparent and the most expensive in the nation's history but not everyone's convinced. cameras will change anything there will always be discontent it was on his before it without cameras. i don't think it will make the vote more transparent it's only made to please the opposition. it 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 had a tax 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 get beyond the results and register any violations the data would be recessed and

published on the website immediately when we realized our web site 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 due to senators and europe so we'll 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 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 and she transparent 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 goat those who wish to take part were invited to cast their ballots not for candidates today but from history including alexander mccall dolls peter 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 worn out the new wave of protests. protesters in december demonstrated not against the results of the vote but the fact an advantage when 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 if the democrats are t. more skilled. well you can watch our special election coverage throughout sunday and monday nights are bringing the latest figures on a variety of opinions across the political spectrum here in r.t. . about this and other top stories of the week fears of outside interference in the syrian conflict have resurfaced more than a hundred suspected mercenaries and french court trying to flee the city a senior rebel leader also claims that this group had been supplied with french and american weapons even id aircraft missiles and it's refreshing reports almost could

mean much. the borders those and to a state despite international isolation syria's borders have remained opened and easy to pass through and that may have played a crucial role in the military as asian of the country's conflict almost immediately after the crisis began here last march there were reports of graphic has been smuggled through to on president al assad's opponents one thousand dollars for a truck full of reference capable of delivering house destruction and that's how marshall kind of paid to smugglers usually iraqi or lebanese drivers according to ziad ismail chief of the customs service on the border with lebanon. these people bring him here to destroy our nation to try to get syrian people on the syrian territory enemies. syria has more than two thousand kilometers of front

year with five states israel iraq jordan turkey and never known the syrian cities where the most violent clashes have taken place homes it live and there are all over the in an hour of the borders a fact that some believe has determine their fate or destiny is this is one of three take points 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 dollars dozens of clowns and hundreds of club rooms i have little metal pieces like this one used to make your source's name concern and make little clothes 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 at the same time across 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 what it was jordan just several kilometers away from here and numerous reports suggesting that foreign weapons and troops got his only flow through it that are has become one of the weakest points in the country's security the city has become for scene of fierce and bloody clashes at least twice in the conflicts twelve months 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 and legibly 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 is killing innocent people and kill even more. while the international community condemns the other side machine and supports its opponents many believe all sides in the conflict should be held responsible for violence across syria and with so many foreign weapons involved it's clear that the crisis threshers far beyond these borders region ocean r.t. reporting from syria. but meanwhile the troops a lot of the regime are thought to be continuing to advance to the city of homs since the main stronghold of the opposition against present us our government says it's aiming to tackle armed gangs and terrorists and the red cross said that it aid was prevented from reaching the worst hit areas of the city people have been left without water you see this frightened by rebels and bombardment by government forces and eyewitness told r.t. that people have been hiding in was very unbalanced from the insurgents as well as

troops with people of all ages been killed on the streets more of her first panic out of the horrors of homs available online a lot in common. than on the diplomatic front u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has compared syrian president bashar assad to war criminals the latest rhetoric comes despite a referendum on a new draft constitution a week ago but a civil unrest in which the u.n. says more than seven thousand have died political analyst an activist runs off in chicago says the u.s. isn't helping to find a peaceful resolution. rescuers are or were of no interest or peaceful resolution per. worker in syria are they want to one side of her opposition forces on the deposing of a government they want to ensure regime shipments so that only her were made by the government and that i was close to her to see a certain degree of power of her. own party no coercion for example or to

reach an agreement with nonviolent opposition figures for a number of islands in the country not some sort of national reconciliation is a person in the world that was one for the prospects for resolving the u.s. will be disciplined and for bringing about a reconciliation in syria where you are not going to be aided by the sort of gregory eater on the right on the circuits our government called for nor three years around she in syria your pattern has been as there was pretty clearly has been some work there whereas your movie of the summer syria and the world community were better i was nervous going to the who is going to be tomorrow and less. about her and some of the words are not in the words. while still ahead at this hour joining the elite said there is given the green lights here for the block and for all their financial troubles and benefit for the take place in the. presence of

dollars between those for and against a victory attack on iran needs straight up it's ready for action. now after months of talks and confrontation are less than united the european union signed a deal to prevent that from i was spending a so-called fiscal pact was supposed to force tough new budget rules that the czech republic that they are to have too much to take a chance that's also the reports. it's been talked about for months claimed as a solution to europe's crisis. it's called. this kind of talk to new fiscal rules after another two day summit this fiscal stability compact is signed sealed and delivered. 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 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 enshrined the balanced budget rule international legislation within one year firmly 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 it's a good start and he's going to police all the bridges all the member states and these member states will rule sovereignty in the field of budgetary policy now is the population going to accept this. a population that's already been forced to accept one tough austerity measure after another group of them is the levels that if you are doing austerity everywhere you go towards crisis everybody is no

tackling people because if we are cutting expenses everywhere then you crush it where nobody's consuming nobody's investing but the growth is the point of this trip is a continuation of liberal orthodoxy. so we are exactly going back to what we have done in the last fifteen years. in the us e.u. leaders see the budgetary discipline the civility pact is expected to bring as a step closer to solving the eurozone structural imbalances and help crisis here countries ease their way out of their predicament but it's a one size fits all approach worried about the impact it could have on healthier economies and could lead to huge fiscal consolidation. so even those countries that had a healthier fiscal situation in the. course with their fiscal accounts which can depress comicon. at a time when banks face problems and they do not tell you want to land not

a desirable scenario where the new buzzwords are growth and employment thus are cilia archie brussels but ahead of the e.u. summit people in europe are opposed to fiscal union and the people stare he cuts imposed on them held rallies in belgium france and greece unions don't work for three hours and watched enough innsbruck testing at their government saying pensions benefits wages snuffles broke out suddenly buildings that the forces were inside severe austerity measures were ordered by brussels an international entry fund to secure a second bailout of the hundred thirty billion euros of financial writer and to build it as a question direction is more likely to save greece. people are of course talking about the probable need for a bailout and uncle americal herself a transfer she is not guaranteeing anything as a result of this bailout you saying i can't guarantee we hope that it's going to

work because the opposition are saying you know it's her own policy her own lack of drive or a lot of leadership that has left europe in this position people don't deny here that of course greece shouldn't have been invited to join to adopt the euro when it did because it didn't meet the criteria and nobody denies that probably greece would be better out of the eurozone unit that is not the issue the issue is how do you get from within to outside. despite a deepening financial woes in the e.u. countries are still running up to join the club after three years of talks serbia has become an official candidate for the membership but syrian history expected by shanghai which says the benefits will be one sided and in favor of brussels well great. they will not get any sort of. treaty to advantages and even if it did it doesn't have much of an economy to take advantage of them anymore because over the

past four years under a militant lee prove your government assuming economy is pretty much been dismantled completely its last journey there is pretty much been forced to surrender its claim to the problems of kosovo it is currently stakeout only on paper it has been forced to and basically subordinated storm policy to brussels and to a lesser extent washington and now i've heard that there is talk from brussels about the necessity for serbia to revoke russia's most favored nation status with trade agreements and only just government supporters which are few and far between actually speak of the e.u. and yes we had don't think anybody in serbia honestly expects their problems resolved by joining the e.u. especially after seeing the rights and and we accept about the euro. well look at some other news making headlines around the world this hour a head on collision between two express trains in southern poland is there fifteen people dead and more than fifty injured some three hundred fifty passengers were on

the trains which were traveling from one to emergency workers in helicopters with the oil to help those trapped in the wreckage condition ready to describe the country's one standby train crash it's. the muslim brotherhood in libya has created its own political party isn't a screw place to be led by a man who spent eight years in jail and the gadhafi regime the movement harshly suppressed for decades macuser extremism clinton's expected to be a leading political force in elections shaping from june as the mists of one ballots in the wake of that arab spring revolts egypt morocco. north korea's leader has emerged troops from a heavily on border with the south to stay on high alert for the frontline visit image on un's trip comes as the country increased threats against south korea with some very military exercises with us young says their personal support invasion the north koreans also gathered on something for us a rally in the city. debate over

a possible military strike on iran there's mounting in the us ahead of president obama's meeting with the pro israel lobby and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and washington suspect iran of developing nuclear weapons with islamic republic says its program is purely peaceful was off the latest visit by the iran's nuclear inspectors to iran international atomic energy agency says it can't tell whether it's trying to build a nuclear bomb that's her own is found to cooperate with the country's envoys and i may i ask on some time it told r.t. exclusively these the agency is not impartial. we are warning that a couple of countries including united states is trying to run the d.n.c. 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 has

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 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 a hundred countries of nonaligned movement all together questioned what had to happen in fact namely deal east of confidential information that that we need the mobilization of member states to prevent something happening in vienna which did give away these agency from a section where you can read this interview with iran's envoy to the u.n. nuclear watchdog in full on a website called recap of the latest on the presidential vote currently underway in russia and the week's other majors in a few moments stay with us here in. the

. it's technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've dumped a few jerks coverage. limits

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