from heads to polls in a runoff world which will define whether nicolas sarkozy will with the latest lead to swept from his post why the crippling debt crisis. the presidential campaign is marred by escalating violence as protests against the military rulers turn from being peaceful and and and deadly clash it's. also in other news the trains this week russia's north caucasus is wrong by twin towers attacks in the republic of dagestan that left thirteen people dead and more than a hundred injured. plus an anti-government rally is expected in moscow a day before bloody immigration returns to the ground and the trim it that it needs will take

a look at the neck you see all the outgoing president. hello and welcome to our c twenty four hour news live from moscow. with the natives news on the review of the week's events plus polls have opened and france says millions choose between the two candidates in their runoff vote the defending president nicolas sarkozy has a right to claim as the election is on a nice age as he closed in on why the francois landed the final polls saying that visited the headquarters of candidate. as the french prepare to choose a 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 ballot hopefully agencies or

the full schedule cope with disposable income that nicolas sarkozy is still trailing behind along by between four and seven points in the laws final pitch he presented himself as a president who will unite the country blaming sarkozy for having been a divisive president alluding to his anti immigration rhetoric for instance a lot also says he will be the want to bring back equality to the country to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor essentially by heavily taxing big companies and rich individuals a lot it's 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 is called the silent majority of people who he says would not want to see france go in the direction that greece went on criticizing the socialist plan sarkozy 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 friends body depend as well as a centrist bayrou 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 is taking a backseat 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 so you're r t paris. stay with r.c. for constant updates from france as millions that are as the next president. the syrian government has granted amnesty to two hundred and sixty five rebels ahead of monday's not a party parliamentary vote the first such election in decades meanwhile the series

of blasts rocked syria's capital damascus and the northern city of aleppo saturday killing at least three civilians understand further reports now as blood is continuing to bit split by both the regime's forces and the opposition hopes rest on the growing u.n. observer mission there. in the house of damascus thousands come out to. the funerals of people killed during clashes in the capital once again drew to focus the very top terrorist situation the country now finds itself before the bodies of the that they carried through the streets of damascus a few rolls the people who were killed under the station they just the story you've got the military the security watching this is at the same time as the un observers are supposed to be here overseeing the peace plan not only in the day we've joined the u.n. observers one of the daily two is to flashpoint areas. of the sitting traveling to

some of the areas where the this is by things being breaking out and you can see on the ground smooth slow steps are being taken in the observers are really going to be one thing over the coming period the building on the observers are also based full time in some cities like homs and 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 being quiet they don't know how long that will last in a situation as much there's not much happening to. them about people brown. people shooting bread away i don't know exactly what was happening we're here at the checkpoints on the device the other day you know the u.n. has 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 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 some small in rights situation in the country is far from so. tension in the capital of damascus is palpable explosions a regular occurrence now and security everywhere tight firefighters rushed to the scene after a demonstration servers themselves have admitted a resolution to happen even night and it will have to come in large parts from the syrian people themselves but with parliamentary elections next week and with the if the mission under close scrutiny seems like this would do anything to raise tapes that this mission will be a success but they will say show the very real and urgent need for it to be say so . damascus. next hour we speak to all sound correspondent chris

headdress his sayings there's no point in pushing for the ouster of syria's president on 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. that 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 shop surge in violence this week as mosques run is against the military rulers and and deadly clashes tension between the interim authorities and protesters has intensified 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 internet timed assailants while staging a sit in against that town today being barred from the braes most rush to blame the military for some locals and accident said the protesters were armed and provides the situation on friday there that this time was predominantly islamist also resulted in deadly clashes and hundreds of arrests police used water cannon tear gas and live ammunition to despise the protesters who tried to break through the bob while the defense ministry and one of the military people saying that they will hand over power after the election when he actually doubts that that will bring

with the desire. the military wants to crush this revolution in every way possible and they're using every tool be have including the government which is not adhering to any of the demands that have been put forward since the first day of the revolution many believe that even if. this transfer of power could be a new government. that won't change anything because in the end of the day i believe that. to him power. they want to hand over power without being prosecuted for any of the crimes that they have been committed. that they have committed in the past year and a half any outcome that will come out of this presidential process even the any election process will only favor scouts. to another country not being seeing anti-government protests for more than a year a prominent bahrain's human rights activists has been arrested in the capitals and

have fought and incidents many say could saw that escalate unrest they had a grain. human rights center job was detained upon returning to the country and had come back for a sunday court hearing where he faces charges of participating in the protests police have not given a reason for their arrest but there's speculation it could billings to a recent interview has given to the world's most famous whistleblower jude an astonishing and you have a chance to see this latest edition of the we collect founders own show on tuesday right here on out. as speak to two leading revolutionaries one from bahrain where the revolution failed was really egypt where the revolution is now in turmoil what makes a revolution and where is the arab spring going to go. has been held at guantanamo bay since two thousand and six yet he stood in front of a military tribunal for the first time in three years only yesterday the confessed

mastermind of the nine eleven attacks khalid shaikh mohammed and his four accomplices refused to answer questions or enter a plea during their seven hour hearing and they're charged with almost three thousand counts of murder and could be sentenced to death as the trial is being held by a military tribunal afghan town of a after an attempt to try the men in the u.s. failed three years ago because of a public backlash and american military one tarver believes the timing and 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 most of the three years later on the eve of another lecture and 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 simple deal and people will be able to see through it does a tremendous injustice to the memory of those victims who are not a liberal and 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 deal with r.c. and still ahead here the south should expect from two cents a return to the top job on the eve of the president elect you know here a show that will bring you an expert's opinion from the west on cross specs placed the time in office. does u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton places a recent talks with china relations between the two sides that still clock is in doubt. so present dmitri medvedev has just one more day to enjoy

in the kremlin before handing out that have led to a person has rushed into all the credit for his liberal views and to push for reforms as well as steering ever set of relations with the u.s. but about his presidency also saw some of the largest protests in modern russian history also has an isa now it takes a look back at his time at the top. but easy. for a season gave you get out. to meet not believe me the video. one term in the kremlin was it too little time to make a dent 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 to here by the media and much of the world community blamed russia destroy goes in this case that only

but he did the actions on the georgian side led to deficit among them a russian peacekeepers children women the elderly a dying in south setting most of them are citizens of the russian federation those responsible for the deaths of our citizens will be punished mr got. them right in the misconception that russia attacked georgia put serious strain on international ties into an independent council of europe report up out 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 they were the russian president at the time the reset button press the u.s. and russian relations devoutly 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 u.s. back home medvedev wants reforms focusing on the justice system and rule of law you want the less people behind bars. less persecution. businesspeople. just special justified persecution. less 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 ski precious 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. 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 who hoped he would run for a second term but the secrecy and surprise of the smart added to the negative sentiment prior to the biggest protests russia has seen hears. in december after claims of vote fraud in the parliamentary election medvedev came back on line in 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 it

can. be 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. as it will continue on the present all initiatives all the strategy has been discussed. hume here you proved all the things the government was a key vehicle to implement all the initiatives put forth by prison conveyed 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 him back in the family that made it through this move this president would have only seen real results during or even after a second term in office leaving the question of how do you draw the line between

what we did as president what he might do. and used to now wait our team. and a day before a military person returns to the kremlin antigovernment protesters or takes to moscow streets opposition activists initially promised a march of millions but now say they expect only around five thousand people to turn up and mohsin mccauley a russian specialist at the university of london believes putin will have to prove he has a new strategy to reach out to those who feel neglected. putin challenge is to define himself as a new leader to provide a vision for the future because he's coming in the third term president and many young people would say why a third term why not somebody new we need something new in the new challenges and so on and we'd like to see a new vision and a new face so his challenge is really to say to people i've got a new vision. and this is the way we're going to go forward and the key to it of

course is the economy the distribution of wealth rejection of corruption and he has to look at the established elites in a very powerful economic elites which don't want anything to change they want to keep their wealth and so on but the the new rising middle class the professionals and so on would like to participate and his challenge is really to reach out to the people outside the elites we must diversify the infrastructure has to be rebuilt china's ratio ahead russia has to compete with china he's got to be if you like very dominating but also a charismatic leader and of course while they're bringing you live reports on the anti-government rally in the central moscow as it's set to begin at noon g.m.t. today and on monday join us fall special coverage of listen if it is integration from seven thirty g.m.t. in the morning.

the relations between china and the u.s. two nations many see as rivals have been described as the most. consequential of the century by hillary clinton their remarks came after the u.s. secretary of state today high stakes talks and they changed but despite the praise the visit was overshadowed by a number of disagreements china teased washington of meddling in its international affairs internal rather fears by sheltering a chinese dissident activist though later beijing has agreed to that and it's also

very early for the u.s. military buildup in the asia pacific and what looks like an apparent effort to contain china's growing regional clout dr kahn hellenic from the foreign policy in focus think time believes the u.s. china ration has been forced upon them join me now or not it's very bipolar kind of relationship because in many ways or china is our number one trade partner. and again a whole trillions of dollars in u.s. bonds we are all kind of locked into international markets so on one level the cooperation is kind of forced on us by the fact that we're so interesting 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 those truth that 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 do not forget all the stories we're covering here also lined up on our website and he dot com there's always plenty more there online if your neighbors threatened to boycott the euro two thousand and twelve championship in ukraine now with a treatment of the country's x. premier needed to show the claims it has been beaten by prison guards and that's amid controversy over a video reportedly showing the former pm. striding around her cell despite saying she's bedridden all that entails at r.c. dot com. plus the world with this is the dawning of the super moon an event which sees our celeste on a bit turned much bigger and brighter to scour the details on our website.

to interact talks rocks russia's republic of dagestan on thursday nights killing thirteen people and injuring more than a hundred or so car bombs went off in the capital within twenty minutes of each other maria talks to the relatives of some of the victims as they mourn their loved ones. national mourning. under muslim tradition three days after the funerals of family and friends come to the symmetry twice a day to pray and to paris practice to their loved ones or we're going to go. to massive car bombs hit the capital 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 here. jimmy 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 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 get here cries and 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 to his children little became well through. the symmetry skipper 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 and just on a merely the latest incident in a long running history of violence in russia's volatile says region but thursday's

tragedy has already become the most devastating once the first explosion took off here when officers from this police post stopped the car for documents checked 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 can 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 home after another as a tactic commonly used by international terrorist organizations such as and qaeda in places like iraq and afghanistan is designed to kill as many people as possible if their right you have the networks around the region is hosting is training 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 the mother along with the wife or the article say he never liked cameras and they have to console themselves with a few pictures they have. left in the morning and then came back you forgot something i told him this is a bad luck will be fine mom if you try to calm me but. i don't know how long i'm gonna love you but i'll leave the value and. leaves behind two little girls. where you will i'll tell them to be google's their father is watching us and will tell them to be 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 them. in russia's dagestan.

aba back with a recap of this week's main headlines very shortly. join me on a journey to the heart of the kremlin to a place is hidden from the tourists you're going to meet some real criminal

insiders although they may not be the usual news makers you see on t.v. . is it.

they've escaped this is psyche to carry the room. too close spinach. make tofu. looks. civilization will you notice their absence. but is there life outside civilization possible.