hello and welcome to our see twenty four hour news live from moscow. our with the latest news on the review of the week's events sports 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 the knife edge as it closed in on rival francois landed the final paul's. business at the headquarters of both candidates. 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 are the closest help with disposable income that nicolas sarkozy is still trailing behind along by between four and seven points 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 poland also says he will be the want to bring back equality to the country 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 be 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 and also 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 the direction that greece went on criticizing the socialist plan. 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 for the pen as well as a centrist francois bayrou who finished 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 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. to. paris. and to stay with all c. for constant updates from france's minister trees the next president. the syrian government has granted amnesty to two hundred and sixty five rebels ahead of monday's not a possible entry vote the first such election in decades meanwhile a series of blasts in iraq serious conversation damascus and the northern city of aleppo saturday killing at least three civilians on the sound first reports now as blood is continuing to split by both the regime's forces and the opposition hopes

rest on the growing u.n. observer mission. in the heart of damascus thousands come out to. the funerals of people killed during clashes in the capital once again drew into focus the very precarious situation the country now finds itself before the bodies of that they carried through the streets of damascus as heroes the people who were killed on the station day here's the story you've got the military the security watching this is 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 u.n. 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 in the observers are really going to be

one thing over the coming period to be building on. observers are also based full time in some cities like homs and it led many have felt that their presence there has bought some car or 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 have been quiet they don't know how long that will last in a situation that much there's not much happening to. them about people. people shooting every breath away i don't know. exactly what was happening we're here at the checkpoints on the device you know the un 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 some small inroads 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 have admitted a resolution won't 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 observer mission under close scrutiny scenes 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 also on the war correspondent chris her dress her sayings 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 base 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 as maass run is against the military has ended

in 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 islamist were a target by an unknown assailants while staging a sit in against that town today being barred from the braised most rush to blame the military but is an accident said the protesters were armed and provides a situation on friday the rioting 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 disperse the protesters who tried to break through the bob while the defense ministry and one of the military people they will hand over power after the election let me ask so they doubt that will bring with the desire to change. their military want 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 forth since the first day of the revolution many believe that even if. the scout transferred power he should be a new government. that won't change anything because in the end of the day i believe that staff wants to him power today before to morrow but the thing is that they want to hand over power and without being prosecuted for any of the crimes that they have been committed for the they have that they have committed in the past year and a half any outcome that will come out of this presidential process order that even the any election process will only favor scouse. to another country nada it's been seeing anti-government protests for more than a year a prominent bahrain's human rights activists has been arrested in the capital's i have thought and incidents many say could saw that escalate unrest they had a brain human rights center billboard job was detained upon returning to the country that 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 founder's own show on tuesday right here on out. speak to two leading revolutionaries one from bahrain where the revolution 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 muhammad and his four accomplices refused to answer questions or enter a plea seven hour hearing and they're charged with almost three thousand counts of

murder and could be sentenced to death the trial is being held by a military tribunal afghan town of a after an attempt to try the man in the u.s. failed three years ago because of a public backlash and american law every 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 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 book and what 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 bill and people will be able to see through it does a tremendous injustice to the memory of those victims are not a little bit 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 you know with our c.n.n. still ahead for you this out let's watch what 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 all across specs place said time and author. does address secretary of state hillary clinton crazes recent talks with china relations between the to science that still clock is in doubt. so present dimitri medvedev has just one more day to enjoy in the kremlin before handing over to 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 and modern russian

history all season he said now it takes a look back at his time at the top. but easy. but i c's gave you get out see dimitri that don't leave each. 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 here by the media and much of the world community blamed russia. who was in this case that only but he did the actions on the georgian side led to deaths among them a russian peacekeepers children women the elderly a dying in south

a settler 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 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 the words the russian president at the time the reset button press and 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. with the year 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. one less people behind bars. less persecution for businesspeople or 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 presses 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 who hoped 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 hears. 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 no doubt. the poorest 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 key vehicle to implement all the initiatives you put forward by by prison from to defy the critics aren't convinced debates are buzzing over what mitt did its legacy will be and how his policies might be implemented with jim back in the can with. me it's pretty good if moved as president would have only seen real results during or even after a second term in office even the question mark at the top of my between what we did as president what he might do i mean he's now a 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. put in challenge is to define himself as a new leader to provide a vision for the future because it's coming in the third term president and many young people will say why a third term why not something new we need something new 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 reduction 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 professionals and so on would like to participate and his challenge is really to reach out to the people outside the elites who 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 let's have his inauguration 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 states today high stakes talks in beijing 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 over 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 her letter from the foreign policy

in focus think tank believes the u.s. china ration has been forced upon them so. it's very bipolar kind of relationship because in many ways our china is our number one trade partner. and they hold the trillions of dollars in u.s. bonds 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 interesting at the same time you get this growing military tension and 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 to 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 a chinese nervous. do not forget all the stories we're covering for you are also

lined up on our web site and he dot com there's always plenty more there online if your nation's threatened to boycott the euro twenty two hours championship in ukraine are with a treatment of the country's x. premier units and i shall go to claims that she's been beaten by prison guards and that's amid controversy over a video reportedly showing the form of pm striding around her cell despite saying she is bed ridden all the details that are see the. last the world with this is the dawning of the super moon an event which sees our celestial in a bit turn much bigger and brighter discover the details on our website. to interact talks rocks russia's republic of dagestan on thursday nights killing thirteen people and injuring more than one 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 packed to their loved one. or two massive car bombs hit the capital much collateral close straight claiming more than a dozen lives these freshly dug grave is the final resting place of twenty nine year old police officer. back of his name is hendrik here. says he feels lost without his brother who'd acted as the head of the family since their dad passed away years ago. the first blast happened i tried to call him. that he called me back saying he was around to go into the sea he said all this

find with him but the scene is a mess and he has to stay out to help i get here 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 have been places around it did his children became ill through. the symmetries 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 darkest on a merely the latest incident in a long running history of violence in russia's volatile says region of 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 in t.n.t. coolant 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 in qaeda in places like iraq and afghanistan is designed to kill as many people as possible if their rival jihadi networks around the region is hosting is dreaming is even. funding some of the activities of these 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 the

few pictures they have been north of the shooting left in the morning and then came back and you forgot something i told him his garage this is a bad luck will be fine mom if you try to calm me but. she do there's a lot of e-mail home long i'm gonna love but i'll leave it for value and. leaves behind two little girls school 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 and he ran to help and died he was the best father in the world i'll tell them. an option r t in russia's dagestan. i'll be back with a recap of this week's main headlines very shortly. to

. 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 kremlin insiders although they may not be the usual newsmakers you see on t.v. .

it. is going to be a an. look .

this inside. the room. with. me. civilization. is their life science losing possible.

welcome back this is the headlines. cross-head supposed to run off but which will define what the nicolas sarkozy will be the latest in the latest swept caucus posed by the crippling debt crisis and. the egyptian presidential campaign is modify escalating violence as protests against the military really it's turned from being peaceful and deadly clashes. also russia's north caucasus is appalled by to claim teletypes in the republic of dagestan that left thirteen people dead and the more than a hundred injured. plus an anti government rally is expected in moscow a day the forwarding my patient takes over from dmitri medvedev as russia's president. those are the headlines.