it's judgment day for georgia's ruling party challenge by a popularity slump in the united opposition as voting closes on for a day of parliamentary elections with exit polls do shortly we've got the latest for you coming up. nine medics in bahrain lose an appeal to have their prison sentences overturned in a case that's been slammed as politically motivated. and hundreds of people staged demos at a u.s. military base on the japanese island of okinawa washington again props up its presence in the asia pacific again we've got the latest for you this half hour of news.

live from moscow eight pm warm welcome to you this is our names kevin now and first tonight polls are closing in georgia where the ruling party and the united opposition alliance have gone head to head in crucial parliamentary elections president psycho's philly's party is desperate to hold onto its majority in the chamber of his popularity plummeted in the wake of a prison abuse scandal. in the georgian capital now with the latest for you see i know it's pretty noisy behind you it's a busy night there ok first off or are there any indications so far about how the voting is going any word on turnout and exit polls at this stage. well we understand the voting that's just finished. across georgia it's all starting to to come out in a minute now we're certainly waiting for the first exit poll results to come out but we already know that voter turnout you know. four percent. told of all just

this problem hyper georgette definitely the fact that this election are a seen as a very crucial want to actually play golf and people who have very active in their voting this hearts match against up to five percent leaves that vote saying it's a place of the ballot we have heard of any irregularities on the international and domestic observers by clearly we understand. their ballots and. well. you know the answer because france which will win the majority in parliament will then be able to white prime minister and given the amendments to the boss to. take force next year when star six times down the prime minister will have more powers than the president so definitely the party which gains the majority will have georgists to trinidad so that's why definitely the so much interest about this election is not going to be smooth running though is it both parties are already trading on his nation's of electoral fraud violations is anyone likely to accept defeat without a fine do you think. it doesn't seem so really because georgia has

a very interesting and rather dark record of violent protests and right now i'm standing in one of the central squares and police where supporters of the opposition are already gathering i'd say like maybe. two thousand here dispersed across the street and just by it regardless of the result there's a feeling that there might be some subtle that might be something from stations with the police even if the opposition wins this election which is still possible this election is unpredictable could go anywhere but we've heard some accusations already from the part about irregularities and different for so big a sense though it has not yet been confirmed by any international more domestic servants legs who want to be just a bit it's been a bad few weeks for president cycles really lend his ruling party took a big hit didn't they in the weeks leading up to the vote and remind us a little bit more about what that was all about. well definitely this it's been a very turbulent campaign ahead of this election and before. the head of the georgia green party the multi billionaire with his with his. money basically making

up all of the country's budget because he decided he would run for his party and one hope all of it the opposition had basically no chance of making its parliament now all surveys showing that they are pretty much close and it's a very close race nobody knows when it's specially how certain. number went to. prison torture and sexual abuse and torture for instance but was released definitely this hits of the ruling party great you know forty thousand forces stopped by as much as twenty percent so. meanwhile it's getting more and more louder. and we'll see whether this. will be the story if. you had. correspondent on the scene live in the georgian capital thanks so much for much. bahrain's highest court rejected

appeals by nine medics who were handed prison terms for their alleged role in the pro-democracy uprising there the original case true criticism from the u.n. and outrage from international rights groups with many calling the verdict politically motivated now the medics treated demonstrators wounded in clashes with police who brutally cracked down on peaceful rallies last year a military court earlier from the defendants guilty of attempting to overthrow the government one of the medics will serve five years the rest between a month and three years you're going protests in bahrain i'm seeing dozens killed in clashes with police as demonstrators continue to call for democratic reform as well as the resignation of going to elected prime minister and so bahraini political activists be told us the country's rulers are using a pressure to stay in power. all of the secular. you can figure as who may have given orders or carried out the actual physical torture from within the members of their own little family has been brought to justice so. this

fire is a continuing only last night. amount of chemicals that were sprayed on the people and also showed the guns where i was using extensively three days ago a young boy of seventeen years over. was killed by a shotgun it was very the police this is under one of the officers who was appointed a member of the consultative council on the your rights council so i think this is your issue now that people are continually bit cynical the human rights violations are continuing and also the killing why did it seem has not stopped. this used to be that if you is not going to hold anyone accountable for those for torture or for. the judicial giving because it depends on killing

people it's things that it would only mean if there arises. what just once you get one of the ongoing protests in bahrain dot com where you can read up on the background of this new tories case of the jailed medics red cross that for you also online to if you get a moment accused of breaking we have language not to steal the pope's former butler awaits a court decision on charges of theft of the private vatican letters were leaked. a moscow court imposed a ban on the tories and his law movie the innocence of muslims defining it as extremist the controversial u.s. made films often blamed for sparking those huge demonstrations across the middle east and north africa it began with massive protests in cairo on an armed assault on america's consulate in benghazi libya on september the eleventh that is upon a boy has got the details tonight. this decision doesn't really change that much because even before this court ruling access to this movie in russia was very

limited if not blocked altogether only into a previous decision by a court in kitchen now it's found a content of this movie extremist and inciting ethnic and religious hatred now even before that throwing in chechnya a number of internet providers in russia to their own initiative blocked access to these movie for their own users as the you tube under some pressure from the russian minister of communication which threatened to suspend the entire you tube side in russia if it would choose to carry on with this movie now what's interesting about the reaction to this film in russia is that despite the fairly large percentage of muslims in this country according to some asked him is the account for up to fourteen percent we're talking about many millions of people russia hasn't seen any violence of the sword that build on to the streets in some arab countries and some asian countries and the plaintiffs in both cases both in

moscow in in chechnya cited this cure of that violence as one of their key arguments in trying to persuade the court to ban access to this movie in this country. or more on our top story we're just talking about voting officially over georgia's crucial parliamentary elections what we're getting so far according to the same selections committee is that fifty four percent of the population voted in the first polls this that the georgian dream parties receive fifty one percent of the vote with the ruling united national movement forty one percent so far so georgia dream fifty one united national movement forty one says we will update you . the u.s. has deployed six military aircraft. of our spy. protests among locals there are opposed to the base demonstrators say the safety record of the

plane helicopter hybrid known as the all spray puts them at risk of christie is a crash isn't a japanese police have to forcibly remove hundreds of people gathered outside the american base there to protest activists called for the marine base which is a densely populated area in a densely populated area to be shut. in and he would write side as well and often says their wishes though on likely to be made. these bases cause a lot of problems not only for safety even noise issues and a lot of conflicts with the servicemen themselves in the local areas but the u.s. isn't going to budge in that position they've been dragging their feet now for six years so i think it's highly unlikely bases will close nobody wants any of the bases there but for them to be bringing these in the twenty two osprey from boeing is very dangerous a crash just recently is june in florida that could fall on someone's head that's not an exaggeration as the seeing there

a hybrid helicopter airplane and they haven't got the bugs out of them yet they always say they're building up a presence because of north korea and maybe part of that is true but i think a lot of it's about and circling china as well it's like world war two never ended and there's still bases in germany as well there are necessary the residents don't want them but this is u.s. geopolitics they are never somewhere temporarily once the u.s. comes somewhere with the one exception is saudi arabia and they put a base they never ever leave. still ahead this hour on r.t. ridding itself of bad publicity have the number of cases where the government has tried to shut down court hearings these proposals past will sweep away hundreds of pretty slick attorneys look at how the british government is considering new legislation which critics say is simply to hide its involvement in wrong doing such

as prison toward she got the full story and much more after this. if you're passing through rushes to be a regent you really can walk on the wild side thousands of kilometers of unspoilt countryside make up an area where it's still possible to live off the land such spectacular scenery makes it a paradise for fisherman and provides a business opportunity for hunters there are defined hunting seasons in russian but lax enforcement means many animals are killed out of the a lot of times which can leave young animals orphaned and unable to survive the heart of just u.s. forest provides a sanctuary for the most famous beast in russia it's home to a group who rescue often bear cubs and raise them when they're old enough to fend for themselves the cubs a target taken to a remote location and released back into the wild but it's not just bears who find

a haven here this is wolf island here wolf pups have been captured by hunters or bought from zoos have a second chance at life and conservationists have a unique opportunity to observe them these walls are all around four months old and they'll stay in this area for up to three years then most will go back to the wild for good just viewing them from the car was an experience in itself but then after a bit of a bumpy ride came an opportunity i just couldn't pass up. this is what i was hoping for when i heard i was coming to a place called wolf island a chance to get up close and personal with the locals and it's these guys are going to act as pasta parents for the next generation of wolves who come here using the old awards as surrogate parents has already proved a successful technique originally worked every year i place in front walls with one year old wolf cubs his parental instinct is totally shaped and they take them as their own cubs it's going to continue to take time and money to rehabilitate the

wolfs reputation in russia but the keepers here hope their research and dedication will mean that wolf island remains a place where visitors can truly understand the call of the wild. hello giver good ever company this monday evening here in moscow at r.t. next than an appeal by the russian punk band pussy riot against their prison terms been adjourned after one of the group members told the court she'd sacked her lawyer they were jailed for two years back in august for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred of they staged an infamous anti putin stunt at russia's make the drill official thomas has got the details. court has wrapped up for the day and this is coming after you got that you know somewhat so you have it's the oldest of

the three women requested a new lawyer and the court has granted that request which means she needs time to prepare the appropriate documents in the papers in order to let this specific hearing go through new court date has been set for that hearing that is october tenth now again today many people here to see inside the courtroom it was packed in fact it spilled out into the corridors of the courtroom so that people could watch on television to see what was happening inside the courtroom outside the courthouse itself as many more people both pro and against suppose he rioted coming to let their voices be heard showing that this case specifically still has wait a minute still resonates inside russia a little bit about the details on february twenty first pussy riot performed what they called a punk prayer at christ the savior cathedral in central moscow they were arrested in march a trial during the summer and then in mid august they were sentenced to two years and this is part of the appeals process today which has now been delayed until

october tenth well certainly this incident has sparked a lot of international attention support for the group of media frenzy as well as calls for leniency for the group major artists like bjork at madonna and the red hot chili peppers have called for the government to be lenient as well as other western governments have said that they need to find a punishment that is more fitting to the crime of what they say is more fitting to the crime now prime minister medvedev has said that he doesn't see any reason for this group to spend any more time in jail that the time that they have served is already punishment enough for the crime president putin has said that he is completely staying out of this he does not want to interfere at all but it's also been many copycat incidents around russia as well as in other countries as well in ukraine one woman took a chainsaw to a crucifix and destroyed it in cologne germany in a cathedral there three people got up in the middle of a service and had a protest there they were arrested at their trial starts this week as well in russia this country is very divided about the subject as seen here today this

country is a very religious country and many people were offended by what happened in the country's main church. heavy gunfire followed by several explosions has been reported on the outskirts of damascus is syrian government troops clashed with rebels meantime the final years of the country's border to turkey were at least twenty one people are being it comes a day after syrian state t.v. claimed government forces had carried out this as successful operation in the country's commercial hub aleppo more news from around the world tonight eurozone unemployment has hit a record high of eleven point four percent according to the e.u. statistics agency it means then over eighty million people are effectively now out of work with a number of jobless a cause of alarm for european governments meantime protests against raging unemployment and growing spending cuts continue throughout europe with restraint turning to violent clashes with police. lines for mass bangladeshi government

secures the opposition of orchestrating an attack that resulted in the torching of ten buddhist temples and at least forty homes the unrest which saw dozens injured erupted after a photo of a burned qur'an is posted on a teenager's facebook page boys says the photo appeared of account by mistake his parents are going to arrested under investigation has been launched now. while the issue of religious conflict and freedom of speech is also hot topic at r.t. dot com plenty of votes going on there right now we're asking for your opinions in our web poll thanks for voting if you have so far this is what you're telling us. well right now the majority say that nothing should stifle free speech but a third of you think that there should be a compromise between religion and freedom of expression as you can see there thirteen percent believe that the country's culture is more modern is most the same movie about twelve percent said that religious beliefs are sacrosanct r.t. dot com is the place of your vote on this important subject.

a suicide attack on a joint afghan and nato foot patrol in eastern afghanistan killed at least fourteen people and injured dozens taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the blast man on a motor. with explosives ran into the security patrol of a city of course the one hundred thousand strong coalition forces are due to pull out of the country by the end of twenty fourteen political analysts awkward cray she thinks the ongoing violence in afghanistan and surprising given is a foreign presence and flawed policy that. it's quite obvious that the united states military is leaving behind a new war faction or a new militia in afghanistan in addition to the dozens that already exist and i'm referring to the of gun national army at least parts of that are well trained by the us military and this national army is now turning against its benefactors its mentors afghan national army is is one of the blunders of the u.s. military in afghanistan in addition to. the mess that created in that country over the past decade three thousand american citizens died on nine eleven the u.s.

military blunders resulted in an additional two thousand americans dying in a plane is done over the past decade and these are the american soldiers in afghanistan this mess basically belongs purely to the u.s. military to pentagon to the cia because understand has been their baby. plans for a new justice security bill in the u.k. of spot criticism of the country could expand its system of secret courts it's claimed the move could help with government dog gelug ations of complicity in the abuse of detainees abroad what is the risk with looks into how westminster is trying to take political advantage of the proposed legislation. nipping charges of complicity in the bud that's what the u.k. government admits it's trying to do with its plans for secret courts ministers have argued that more secret courts a need is to protect sensitive information and the workings of security agencies but in documents seen by the guardian newspaper the government acknowledges it

would benefit politically able to defend itself from allegations like complicity and torture without the details ever becoming public there have been a number of cases where the government has the government's lawyers have tried to shut down court hearings and have been heard in private a minute has transpired through the judicial process that what they were really trying to cover out was a lot of government embarrassment about wrongdoing our main will be in the agencies that these proposals if they're passed will sweep away hundreds of years of the british legal tradition the proposals follow a law suit brought by binyam mohamed who was held in guantanamo and all good the british government was complicit in his rendition and torture mohammed won the case to the d.p. miliary sion of the government and now they're trying to change the law so the government often a party in these matters would decide if a case should be heard in secret it wouldn't just be kept from the public if the

proposals go ahead neither the defendant nor the defendants legal team would be able to hear the evidence against them human rights lawyers are concerned it would trample on the principle of a fair trial in effect a large chunk and presumably a very important chunk of the case that you're trying to run about are fewer client you're going to be. there are going to be behind closed doors closed sessions you're not allowed access to so if there is an inherent on furnace there is a huge scope for. a future miscarriage of justice evident. m i five and m i six knew that britons were being tortured in guantanamo and my six helping to deliver libyan dissidents into the hands of gadhafi secret police critics say that's the kind of information the bill is designed to suppress so big he was held and here alleges tortured in background and guantanamo has

a special interest in making sure there are no more secrets i remember the discussions that were taking place at the time it was very old former guantanamo prisoners on one side sixteen of us and a whole bunch of government officials on the other side having a discussion negotiating a settlement we would have been able to do that basically we would have been able to certainly try to take the government to court but we would have to do it with our hands tied behind their back even the government admits that black and asian muslim men will be disproportionately affected as it stay who are most often involved in cases where sensitive information is being considered and still the bill rolls on the plans for so-called secret justice are proven so deeply controversial that they've been delayed but like a bad penny they keep turning up and every time they do it gives human rights groups another opportunity to propose legislation goes against one of the founding principles of the british legal system not only that justice is done but that it's

seen to be done laura smith r.t. london. bring a bit more about our top story the voting officially over georgia's crucial parliamentary elections according to the sun for elections committee stands at fifty four percent exit polls now so the opposition bloc georgian dreams will see fifty one percent of the vote present cycles but his ruling united national movement at forty one percent somewhat of a surprise those results this early stage will have the full details from our correspondent from the capital tbilisi next pretty moment for the night as coachable business now just a bit after twenty four minutes past eight o'clock about moscow time dimitri on the business of the russian markets and the very them dreamer. mission and free accreditation free zones for charges free to make

amends free. free studio time free. download free broadcast plug in video for your media projects and free media oh don the r t dot com. overcoming a barrier like this seems possible. but then you crave something higher. and when you reach stuff you.

know do whatever it takes to get on the top of the world on r t.

oh and welcome to the business updates on our team we start with facebook has had mark zuckerberg has come to moscow he's been on red square got some burgers and mcdonald's but also visited the residency of russia's prime minister dmitry medvedev they had a personal meeting and they talked about different business issues such as some may be organizing a tech center for facebook in russia but other media speculate there could be different reasons behind this move of mark zuckerberg to moscow let's listen to tom bot. there are few names better known in the world of social media and technology than mark zuckerberg and he is today indeed in the russian capital facebook is not

in fact the number one social network in russia it's another social network called contact which means in contact and he may well be here i'm sure part of the reason for his visit is to try and boost facebook's p.r. in russia and its market share but there has been another idea floated by the russian media quoting russian computer companies who say that he may well in fact be here to try and headhunt talented russians programmers and they're not happy about that prospect they point to going to ninety eight when russia was in a financial crisis and microsoft received similar accusations of poaching talented russian programmers and taking them back to the us the real reason that he was here he still managed to find time to pose for photos in red square in his trademark red hoody and to go into mcdonald's for a bite to eat so it seems that although the main message is technology it's not all

about business. let's move over to the markets and we start with the united states where manufacturing has come in with an improvement the first one in the past four months so this is a key thing and this is pretty happy as you can see the dow is up more than one percent over in the euro for also seeing a similar picture with the year for the end of x. up one half percent by the fact that the number of unemployed in the euro zone has come to a record high of eighteen point two million people it's been also driven this growth by mining shares xstrata was up more than three percent of the close as it's accepted a merger bid from a core international. take a look at spain now it's the debt levels will increase further next year despite the state's efforts to cut spending now it's expected to reach eighty five percent this year ninety one percent of g.d.p. in two thousand and thirteen.