hello and welcome to our see twenty four hour news life from moscow. with the latest news and a review of the week's events first polls have opened in france as millions choose between the two candidates in the runoff vote the defending president nicolas sarkozy has already claimed the election is on a knife's edge as he closed in on rival francois hollande in the final polls his test visited the headquarters of both candidates. as the french prepare to choose the future of their country word on the street here in paris is that they're likely to get a socialist president the first in seventeen years in the form of now here in front of the socialist party's headquarters there's certainly high hopes for that but of course nothing is certain until the french cast their ballots if polling agencies are the closest gauge of the public's polls incumbent nicolas sarkozy is still trailing behind a long by between four and seven points now in the last final pitch he presented himself as a president who will unite the country blaming cycle for having been

a divisive president alluding to his anti immigration rhetoric for instance now a lot also says he will be the want to bring back equality to the country narrow the gap between the rich and the poor especially by heavily taxing big companies and rich individuals a lot has also been one of the loudest voices calling for more growth in the euro zone criticizing the a sturdy driven measures imposed so far by the e.u. now some say that a vote for a launch is essentially a vote for change but others would point out that only in the sense that they've had enough of nicolas sarkozy now on sarkozy side there's a sense of cautious optimism the president's re-election bid has been an uphill battle but the fight is not over for him yet he has appealed to what he has called the silent majority of people who he says do not want to see france go in the direction that greece went on criticizing the socialist plan saku's he said he does not want to see more spending deficits higher debt and risk and indeed the markets have been jittery at the prospect of a no longer victory especially since there is a potential for a franco german deadlock on the fiscal pact that was agreed upon and what sarkozy

is hoping for now is to get the voters of the national pen as well as a centrist a roof finish fifth in the race now at a time when unemployment is a top priority of french people it's not surprising that foreign policy has taken a back seat however it will be soon enough that the next president will have to deal with these matters so as the french go out and vote and choose the france that they want the rest of the world is watching and waiting to see what kind of france they will have to deal with. tesser cilia r t paris. and just without the four constant updates from france as millions that choose their next president. the syrian government has granted amnesty to two hundred sixty five rebels ahead of monday's multi-party pollen true vote the first such election in decades meanwhile a series of blasts rocked c. rist capital damascus and the northern city of aleppo today killing at least three civilians reports now as blood is continuing to misfired by the regime's forces on

the opposition hopes rest on the growing u.n. observer mission. in the heart of damascus thousands come out the day the funerals of people killed during clashes in the capital once again drew into focus the very precarious situation the country now finds itself in because the body said that they carried through the streets of damascus as the funerals for the people who were killed under the station they just want the story you've got the military the security watching that that this is at the same time as the un observers are supposed to be here overseeing the peace plan and not only in the day we've joined the un observers one of the daily too is to flash point areas. this have been traveling to some of the areas where the this is by things being breaking out and you can see on the ground small slow steps are being taken and the observers are really going to be wanting over the coming period to be building all

night observers are also based full time in some cities like homs and it led many have felt that their presence there has bought some. we have little time between stops to speak to the people who live here those we do talk to tell us that the last few days of being quiet they don't know how long that will last in a situation that much damage there's not much happening to. them about people. people shooting and i ran away i don't know. exactly what was happening we're here at the checkpoints on the device you know the u.n. have just done a tour through the area it's been a very very fast trip they've literally driven through stopping at some of the military checkpoints around here to speak to some of the people but no more than five ten minutes at a time to give you barely enough time to speak to some of the people in the area and get a feel for exactly what's been happening here was the observers presence here does

seem to have made. the situation in the country is far from stable tension in the capital of damascus is palpable explosions here a regular occurrence now and security everywhere is tight firefighters rushed to the scene after a demonstration service themselves admitted a resolution won't happen overnight and it will have to come in large parts of the syrian people themselves but with parliamentary elections next week and with the observer mission under close scrutiny the scenes like this will do anything to raise hopes that this mission will be a success but they also show the very real and urgent need for it. so. damascus. the syrian opposition is reportedly sending its missions to kosovo to be trying to oust the assad regime thought to be going to the same guerrilla comes built for the alan to serve kosovo liberation army a group that we did seen as terrorised by the u.s. the u.k.

and sons and trick of the foreign affairs editor for the us based chronicles magazine believes little good can come from. the colonel a singularly unsuccessful in its rebellion against the serbian security forces on two millimeter bombing and even then they were not engaging they were going to use my goal is complete cleansing normal brain needs now and this should be a huge wake up call those syrians who are. of the opposition especially the minorities even the syrian rebels. are on the tail that means there will be a bloodbath propped up the the fall of assad and there will be no room for anyone but the majority group which should survive. its extremist credo whether it is there to greet her old raynier in kosovo all or. muslim brotherhood offshoot syria . next hour we'll speak with war correspondent chris hedges things there's no

point in pushing for the ouster of syria's president when there's no organized opposition in the country. i don't think anyone in the muslim world thinks that we care much about human rights or democracy we have since the first gulf war planted military bases some the size of small cities i think there is at this point absolutely no credibility i'm talking about within the middle east when the united states claims that it would like to bring liberty or democracy to syria my feeling is that everything should be pushed through to create some kind of a ceasefire rather than pass a resolution that calls for assad removal or resolution. calls for intervention or anything else there is no real formal opposition you know it's a sort of a mess and they just went through this in libya.

egypt has seen a sharp surge in violence this week against the military group has ended in deadly clashes tension between the interim authorities and protesters hasn't testified less than three weeks before the country's first post revolution presidential election on wednesday at least nine people were killed when a group of ultra conservative islamist were tied by an unknown assailants while staging an assistant against the candidates being barred from the race most rush to blame the military about time but some locals on the docks of it said the protesters were armed and provides the situation on sunday the week that this time was predominantly islamic stall so resulted in the clashes and hundreds of arrests police used want to count tear gas and live at the mission to disperse the protesters who tried to break through there bob while the defense ministry and while the military keep rates rates will go up particular action many activists doubt going. the design of. the military wants to crush this revolution in every

way possible and they're using every tool they have including the government which is not adhering to any of the demands that have been put forth since the first day of the revolution many believe that even if. this calf transferred power the civilian government when. that won't change anything because in the end of the day i believe that gaff wants to hand power today before to morrow but the thing is that they want to hand over power without being prosecuted for any of the crimes that they have been committed for that they have that they have committed in the past year and a half any outcome that will come out of this presidential process even though any election process will only be favor scouts. to another country that's been seeing government for more than a year a prominent bahrain supervisor has been arrested and the competence and incident

many say could further escalate and arrest the head of bahrain's human rights center the bill read job was detained upon returning to the country to come back for sunday a court hearing where he faces charges of participating in the protests but he's have not given a reason for the rest of the speculation it could be linked to a recent interview you had given to the world's most famous whistleblower julian assange i didn't have a chance to see this latest edition of that we can make fun of does she stay right here. to speak to two leading revolutionaries one from bahrain where the revolution failed was in egypt where the revolution is now in turmoil what makes a revolution and where is the arab spring going to go. twin tower attacks rocked russia's republic of dagestan on thursday night killing thirteen people and injuring more than one hundred two car bombs went off in the

capital in logical hour within twenty minutes of a child that maria the notion of talk to the relatives of some of the victims as they mourned their loved ones. national mourning. under muslim tradition three days after the funerals family and friends come to the symmetry twice a day to pray and to paris pact to their loved ones over. to massive car bombs hit the capital on thursday claiming more than a dozen lives this freshly dug grave is the final resting place of twenty nine year old police officer. back of his name is hendrik and here. says he feels lost without his brother who'd acted as the head of the family since their dad passed away years ago. when the first blast happened i tried to call him but it very true that he called me back saying he was around to go into the sea to help he said all those fine with him but the scene is a mess and he has to stay out to help i could hear cries of sobbing through his

phone he said i'm going to call you in five to ten minutes ok. but he never called back the next time she would see his brother would be in a morgue. piece of metal that the big places around it did his change came through. the cemeteries keeper says at least this family had a body many others received only body parts in plastic bags it's a sad fact that the recent attacks on the police and authorities in douglas town a merely the latest incident in a long running history of violence in russia's volatile focuses region but thursday's tragedy has already become the most devastating in months the first explosion took off here when officers from this police post stopped the car for documents apparently the driver was a suicide bomber minutes later as many police cars and i'm real ones teams and

emergency crews and fire brigades reach the area the second last occurred it was much more powerful you could. see the crater is huge one some reports say the second last had a force of one hundred kilos into intake roland and it claimed the most victims of the double attack one wal-mart or another as a tactic commonly used by international terrorist organizations such as a qaeda in places like iraq and afghanistan is designed to kill as many people as possible if they arrive jihadi networks around the region is hosting dreaming is even funding some of the activities of you know terrorist in russia in an instant lives were snuffed out families left devastated. women again under the rules of islam don't go to cemeteries they grieve at home in the modern along with the wife to say he never liked cameras and they have to console themselves with

a few pictures they have their new faces and left in the morning and then came back you forgot something i told him this is a bad luck oh will be fine mom he tried to calm me but. i don't know how long i'm gonna live but i'll live for value it. leaves behind two little girls stay where you will i'll tell them to be google's their father is watching us and will tell them to proud of him because he was a brave man he ran to help and died he was the best father in the world i'll tell than. an option artie in russia's dagestan. still ahead for you on all see on his father's day in office u.s. president barack obama made america promise a trial to keep away from u.s. soil is set to highlight obama's unfulfilled. as u.s.

secretary of state hillary clinton praises recent talks with china relations between the two sides are still clouded in doubt. present dimitri read out of her just one more day to enjoy in the kremlin before handing over to vladimir putin as russia's leader also credited for his liberal views and push for reforms as well as steering a reset in relations with the u.s. made about his presidency also saw some of the largest protests in modern russian history he's a nice and now it takes on the back of his time at the top. but he didn't but i c's gave you get out see the meet the other story that should be the video of one term in the kremlin was it too little time to make a dent in mr medvedev is going to be remembered as someone who had genuine reform intentions and who was impeded on achieving all of those reforms through the political process through the structure of the political system.

at the dawn of his presidency georgia attacked south is said here by the media and much of the world community blamed russia. but even the actions on the georgian side led to deaths among them a russian peacekeepers children women the elderly are dying in south acetyl most of them are citizens of the russian federation those responsible for the deaths of our citizens will be punished missed. them the misconception that russia attacked georgia put serious strain on international ties into an independent council of europe report up held that georgia launched the attack for months madrid of foreign policy was overshadowed by the war but it wasn't long before a warming in u.s. relations something many argue is his foreign policy legacy the words of the russian president at the time the reset button press u.s.

and russian relations dramatically improved over the next few years by twenty ten medvedev and obama signed a new start and cut both country's nuclear arsenals by a third. as a result of hard work we've created a treaty that fully complies with the interests of both russia and the us back home medvedev wants reforms focusing on the justice. system and rule of law. one the people behind bars. this persecution. business people for justice special justified persecution. corruption and i think that he has managed to start some cases jump start the process. but little changed on high profile cases like me. press his former richest man still

serving his sentence for economic crimes madrid has pushed for modernization and diversification could have been a highlight of his presidency and he still has a chance to if he presses on as prime minister and we can be sure that without modernization the russian economy has no future it may be based on vast natural resources but we cannot rely only on them the job swap with putin was the last straw for medvedev supporters to cope he would run for a second term the secrecy and surprise of the smart added to the negative sentiment prior to the biggest protests russia has seen in years. in december after claims of vote fraud in the parliamentary election medvedev came back on line and laid out changes but his response was too little too late yet but

if i propose complex reforms to our political system. i don't discuss that i hear the people who are demanding changes and i understand. he outlined a series of measures including the easy registration for political parties and direct polls for regional leaders maybe it is administration continues to strasse how much work is left as he prepares to step aside as president and take over as prime minister i have loved. so that will be continued under president bush and all initiatives all the strategy has been discussed with him here you proved all the things the government was a key vehicle to implement all the initiatives put forth by the by president can evade if the critics aren't convinced debates are buzzing over what make it it's like it will be and how his policies might be implemented with goujet back in the

family but that made me think it's moved as president would have only seen real results during or even after a second term in office even the press should not be a problem by between what my day did as president what he might do. and he's now a r t. a day before leisure person returns to the krugman antigovernment protesters will take to moscow streets opposition activists initially promised a march of millions but have later said they expect around five thousand people to turn up for bringing you live reports from that rally and on monday join us fast coverage of the presidential inauguration from seven says it james.

he's been held at gun time a basis to thousand and six yet he stood in front of a military tribunal for the first time in three years only yesterday they confessed to mastermind of the nine eleven attacks khalid shaikh mohammed and his four accomplices refused to answer questions or enter a plea during the seven hour hammering that charged with almost three thousand counts of murder and could be sentenced to death the trial is being held by a net military tribunals going tanana after an attempt to try them out in the last failed three geza because of a public backlash and american oil eric montalvo believes the timing of planning of the trial is questionable one has to wonder why now you know within twenty

four hours of president obama taking office issued an executive order to close guantanamo bay as the most powerful leader in the world and that did not occur for what reason i have no idea how this of three years later on that you've got another election i think what they're trying to do is take that issue off the table and say well we're at least trying to proceed in an orderly fashion but i think it's a fairly thin veil and people will be able to see through it does a tremendous injustice to the memory of those victims are not leben i think it does a tremendous injustice to the thing that we call the justice system in america they have no plan and it's taken three years to get to this particular point and this is going to be another tremendous and sad waste of us resources on a matter that can be resolved in a number of different ways and they just said not to do so. don't forget all the stories about covering are also lined up on our website for you there's always

plenty more online he made from the absence of one call to the euro two thousand to twelve championship in ukraine over the treatment of the country's x. premier you lead to machine who claims it has been these and by the prison gods it's a major controversy over at the zia reportedly showing that it's still working and striving everyone has a cell despite saying his bed reading of the details are false he don't call. on the world witnesses the dawning of this super moon and event which sees our celeste own a but i'm not trying to get rights at discover that he has on our websites. the relations between china and the u.s. to nations many see as rivals have been described as the most consequential of the

century by hillary clinton the remarks came after the u.s. secretary of states today high stakes talks in beijing but despite the praise the visit was overshadowed by a number of disagreements china accused washington of meddling in its internal affairs by sheltering a chinese dissident out of its there later beijing has agreed to let him go but it's also wary over the u.s. military buildup and the interest i think it's right proud to spend time trying to drive a truck route and talk to a prominent from the foreign policy in focus think time believes the u.s. china corporation is being forced upon them. it's very bipolar kind of relationship because in many ways like china is our number one trade partner. and they hold trillions of dollars in u.s. funds we are all kind of locked into an international market so on one level the cooperation is kind of forced on us by the fact that we're so interested think at

the same time you get this growing military tension and look chinese are also very uncomfortable about the fact that about eighty percent of their energy suppliers arrive by sea generally through the yellow sea so should the energy supplies are basically controlled those waters are controlled by the u.s. fifth fleet and the u.s. seventh fleet and that makes the chinese nervous. and our back with the headlines short late i'm going. to move.

to a substantial degree and one form or another socialism has spread the shadow of human regimentation over most of the nations of europe and the shadow is a protein of the from. the early twenty first century military bases the network of military bases all around the world forms leaving the empire that the united states is trying to build it's astonishing most americans have no idea there are more than a quarter of a million or more than two hundred fifty thousand u.s. troops stationed on these bases all around the world. we don't have a foreign bases on america we don't have any british base we don't have any korean

base we don't have any french bases or you know we just all american bases in our bases of. noises our norms of those bother us at all because they're all bases but for other people it's almost like a cancer here for the speech. since the in the world war two spaces i've been. working here to provide a safe and secure environment for everybody. the questions you think else you get everything you need to join me on a journey to the heart of the place is hidden from the terrorists you going to meet some real crime insiders although they may not be the usual news makers you see on t.v. . look

. night fifty two meters. more than a thousand tons of. skin thickness thirty centimeters. the guinness record. commemorating the battle of stalingrad. the motherland call oceans on our teeth.

this is all see coming to life and also the headline. prime's head super bowls in a ground which will define whether to pull out of the ne to speak you need to sweat the problems caused by the crippling debt crisis as a. major presidential campaign is not by escalating violence says protests against the military this time from big peaceful and end and deadly clashes and. also russia's north caucuses as well by twin tower time of the republic of dagestan that's that's what people dead and more than a hundred injured. plus an anti-government rally is expected in moscow a day before for the team of britain takes us on to maturity that as much as president.