razor thin majority prompting his opposition rival to demand a recount. and amid the electoral uncertainty foreign players are keeping a close eye on venezuela's huge oil reserves look at who's eyeing up the nation's energy riches. the celebrations of the founding fathers birthday passed by peacefully in north korea proving fears the occasion could be a missile test misguided. turkish court gives a renowned pianist a ten month suspended sentence over a series of tweets mocking islam. claims sectarianism is taking hold of the country the top stories this hour. online on screen around the world twenty four hours a day this is live from moscow in an unexpectedly close race venezuelans look to

have voted for hugo chavez's hand-picked successor as the next president nicolas maduro suggests chavez's socialist policies will live on after his death from cancer rival and he is refusing to concede demanding a recount because the figures show he's only two hundred thousand votes behind. in the capital caracas with the latest. talk about the reaction coming from the supporters of mother roy it was almost instant as soon as the results were announced fireworks were going off cars were honking and people his supporters on the street very excited very happy of course about the results but there were there was a lot of waiting really hours of of anticipation people holding their breath because the margin really has been very very narrow let me just read to you the latest figures that we have it's fifty point sixty six percent for forty nine point zero

seven percent this is out of a seventy eight point seventy one percent participation and this is about ninety nine percent of the votes counted already at this point initial reaction came out saying that the fight will continue the revolution work will continue alluding very much to google child mrs beauly very and revolution and had come out though. being very quite negative he came out saying that he there were allegations of voting fraud and he wanted a recount we know that had a campaign really on a platform evoking this really it was at the core and you have to want something new wanted a change in direction and it's evident you know that the diverse opinion of the two men is evident among the people we've spoken to a lot of them in the past few days are very enthusiastic very passionate about their belief the different direction they want to take a venezuela however what's clear though is that all the citizens regardless of who they voted for a recount was all the problems that they want solved and without

a charismatic character like us to ask assuage the fears of the concerns of citizens it will be a very very tough challenge for. first of all to unite a very divided country a second of all to address the problems. that is what his choice is of great interest abroad is the country sits on one of the world's biggest oil reserves my colleague spoke earlier to ortiz business analysts tell you and it's got about what is at stake. basically trying to sort out the presidential election in venezuela but as they are sorting out the ballots and trying to get a possible recount oil thirsty nations around the world are keeping a very close watch absolutely and of course for a good reason as well is actually a very juicy morsel what on comes to oil and gas especially oil it has a whopping two hundred ninety seven billion barrels of oil reserves comparable only to saudi arabia and actually even higher than saudi arabia which is the world's

leading or energy exporter now when it comes to exporting oil it's actually ninety five percent of its export revenues come from energy so that really makes russia's energy dependency pale in comparison so essentially it's a dime in the rough relatively low production levels but a huge potential there huge potential there we just need to get i suppose of the labor working there and also the infrastructure to get the oil out from underneath the ground but there regardless of what we understand that my daughter has won the election in venezuela his rival cup really is calling for a recount regardless natasha of who actually takes the top job in venezuela politics how could that affect the energy policy very well the fact could actually be dramatic would do it's more or less clear a lot of policy continuity and of course we're probably going to see the leftist governments in latin america continue to receive support now with capri that is it's not as clear we could see a complete about face when it comes to energy policies but even if. we see

that at the moment that. everything stays as it is it's really a signal that previous has a lot of support not only with venezuela but also outside of the country and of course you know u.s. energy companies cannot wait to get back into the country have to being kicked out of there where you talk about u.s. companies or not as you were saying earlier with venezuela having such a huge reserve of oil for the world there must be some major global players who are keeping an extraordinarily close watch on venezuela right well essentially it's a fight between russia and the united states with china also being a major player they are not markets u.s. companies as i mentioned were kicked out starting in the seventy's when the oil and gas sector was nationalized but really that policy was cemented during charges ironically it's still the biggest consumer of venezuelan oil but it's really trying to get back into the country now russia has

a major presence there all of the country's oil and gas companies have long term contracts in that as well and of course china is a huge investor in just several years ago china's state owned bank agreed to lend venezuela a whopping forty billion dollars against future crude sales so there you go interesting stuff indeed we'll have to see if his pour all pans out r.t.o. business analyst. a pleasure thanks for coming on today. so is inaugurated as president of venezuela is likely to continue its strong ties with latin american allies while pursuing u.s. sentiment that's the view of a professor of latin american history. well i think we're going to see a continuation of venezuelans foreign policy i think there's a difference between criticizing us and being anti american i think will see a promotion of latin american policy the promotion of a multi-polar world that is the u.s. is not the dominant issue on their agenda they have relations with russia with china with europe with with latin american countries and will see i think

a continuity within that that's been part of the strength promoted by the chavez administration and my little recall was the foreign minister in charge of chalices foreign policy why i think the opposition will definitely be emboldened by the may have a small window to operate the venezuelan constitution permits a recall within three years i wouldn't doubt that unless my little gets traction and addresses these issues significantly and quickly the opposition may mount a challenge again in three years that's what they did to us in two thousand and four both korean celebrations commemorating its founding fathers birthday and fears of a missile launch to mark the occasion a proven unfounded in fact pyongyang didn't even hold a military parade showing off its military might something that's become a tradition. reports now from russia's far east. the birthday of the late leader the founder of the country kim il sung could have seen missile test launches coming from the country as all the most of the world media has been reporting the

day has now finished here in the far east and we have seen no missiles flying above us in the sky moreover new slow coming from north korea has been practically nonexistent on this day there has been no reports whatsoever even on diplomatic level apart from the fact that north koreans were celebrating their biggest holiday the id it on the day of the sun now such developments have led many experts especially online to believe that this is just another example of how north korea was turned into a media target for the western world for the western media everyone was so excited so crazily reporting about the possible missile test missile launch date that everyone just basically neglected the fact that north korea wasn't really willing to conduct of those test launches but at the same time the recent history of media coverage of events happening in north korea have great that some concerns whether

the threat which is being portrayed by the western media is really having anything to do with the reality let it be some war mongering rhetoric coming from pyongyang or even a visit by the former n.b.a. player dennis rodman or google officials to pyongyang everything which relates to north korea creates something of a big scandal in the western media anywhere across the world. well north korea's lack of action is once again leading to questions over the billions of u.s. dollars spent on the military in the region something some experts believe is provoking pyongyang even further well let's take a look now at the figures well according to some estimates at least twelve billion dollars is spent annually on what the u.s. calls maintaining peace on the peninsula some of that money goes towards keeping almost thirty thousand american troops in south korea to give an example of how much the joint drills that have angered the north could have cost dispatching two stealth bombers to drop dummy bombs during recent exercises but of course as much

as five and a half million dollars. well with the attention focused on the korean crisis the b.b.c. is under fire for pushing the boundaries of ethics in pursuit of a good story u.k.'s top financial school the london school of economics is accusing the broadcaster of endangered the lives of its students by using them to convert the shoot a documentary the network imbedded undercover journalists with a group of students visiting pyongyang without the university's consent but as discussed the story with the general secretary of the l.s.e. students' union and its peter's day there in london was there any danger for these students the b.b.c. claims there wasn't. i think the b.b.c. doesn't know that for a fact the students to know that as a fact a couple of years ago and ten american journalists were found to have been doing undercover journalism in north korea they're both sentenced to nine years of hard labor obviously right now as we just head the climate north korea is even more

heightened than it was back then but students should have the right to make that decision for themself whether or not they're going to face danger and the problem for us is that the b.b.c. made that decision for them but the group did know that it was going to be accompanied by journalists and then in fact two more journalists turned up on this visit what difference does it make that fact there were three and not just the one . i think it makes quite a lot different especially because the group was just told that their one journalist would be a print journalist only it wasn't until they actually arrived in north korea did they find out that they'll be a documentary of which there be appearing on it wasn't until they arrived in beijing to fly over to north korea that they were joined by the journalist and when we're talking about a trip like this where the rest found old i think it's important now since when i've been briefed on stages and would have been made aware and they just went in this case the b.b.c. deliberately mis held information from them but alex some students say yes they knew all about it and others say they didn't so the seems to be a big lack of communication here how would that happen. i mean exactly and i think

that proves the point that there should have been standardized information. told every student all the information was told very late people so no one had a chance to actually look at anything to sign the consent forms and conversations were had in hotel lobbies in many valance on the way beijing at heart to flame it whereas you know if you're going to put students in a such a way out of situation you'd hope that the b.b.c. would have had enough care to brief them awfully and they just didn't in this they do well and this whole exercise went apparently to the very top levels of the b.b.c. to sanction it but we know that north korea is really highly relevant topic at the moment it's a huge concern to everybody it's a great story some will say this is brilliant investigative journalism doesn't that justify the fact that they did this. i don't think so i think it's really difficult argument to say that the ends justify the means when and that means we're talking about are the lives of innocent students i mean i suppose the question of be out

what stage of the worth it. do you set limits lives i mean the really their lives at risk or whether it's a case of them being deported and not allowed back into the country what why would their lives actually be at risk. while they were in they could have been detained for as i said of one hundred in the past for up to nine years i think that's a significant portion of someone's life especially when from this you talk about we're eighteen years old but the point is this you should have the option to make that decision for themself they didn't have that opportunity and now the b.b.c. made messages on their behalf and students after returning home they received threatening letters from the north korean government and now we're in a situation where not only is the welfare of our students at risk also elysees were academic work in researching places like north korea and other politically sensitive areas which is so important and that's been jeopardized because alice is now associated and he has also jeopardize other universities work on the student visits not just north korea but other countries as well what's the greater impact

do you believe this is having. yeah this is the problem so i mean undercover journalism investigative journalism. has a huge part to play in our world and i'm really excited that we can have these opportunities but i don't think at any stage it's justified using students and also jeopardizing potentially all academic work i know university u.k. which represent over one hundred universities in britain have come out and condemn the b.b.c. for doing that because it places that jeopardy huge amounts of different academic research and and the problem as i see academics and i'm not a rocket demick steelworker regimes like north korea which is really really insightful whereas this is a trip this is a tourist trip so i'm pretty t. i'm pretty certain that the information in the photo delegates will have been the same sort of footage of of tourist monuments and statues of kim jong un when actually the important work that is done by universities in uncovering authoritarian regimes is now at risk in jeopardy just briefly and finally the program is due to be out tonight in the u.k. your university you're saying the b.b.c. should pull the plug but the fact is everybody's returned safely now would it make

any difference by not showing this program. i think so because i think otherwise it's sends a message that it's ok to take these risks and to essentially gamble because the b.b.c. didn't know what risks were involved in the students and now the b.b.c. gambled with students' lives and i think that's not ok for the b.b.c. to go out publicly and say deceit is ok and that and the length they will get their thirty minute documentary i think that's and such a negative message especially at this time when the b.b.c. is reputation isn't perfect and i think they should make sure they have enough trust in their viewers and it's a busy day for you thank you very much indeed for talking to us live here in or to alex peter general secretary economic students union live there in london thank you . well still ahead this hour here in israel commemorates its fallen soldiers and celebrates its hard for independence six decades ago but the shadow of the present palestinian conflict looms large as it ever hurts more on that's after a short break stay with us.

the international airport in the very heart of moscow. continues here naughty israel is marking memorial day for its foreign soldiers which will be followed by celebrations for the forming of the state over sixty years ago ceremonies will be held at a time when peace with the neighboring palestinian territories seems as far away as ever blog he's from the independent plus nine seven two magazine website things ignoring problems has become a whole malk of israel's policy. people are not celebrating you know the absence of peace talks of the presence of or absence of hope there are those celebrating everything but that basically they're forgetting about you know politics they're forgetting about relations with the palestinians or syria everything everything

that's sort of a new style in israel to simply forget about all this has been going on for several years most of the public doesn't want to think about it doesn't want to deal with doesn't see anything that can be done so it's basically a country living in denial and that's what that's what's going to be happening after this evening and tomorrow and the on independence day celebrations people forget about all the things that are not happening all the things that are not going well and enjoy have a good day there's a lot of things to celebrate in israel that have nothing to do politics and online for you at the moment civilian deaths justified and punished and official reporting to a missile strike killed twelve palestinians including four children during last year's girls a war finds the israeli military acted with utmost professionalism details on that story coming from human rights organizations right now on the call. plus saying in cyprus if at least three million euros has disappeared from your account to pay for

the plane out or does not last you can claim citizenship as compensation the full story on a website called. a ten month suspended prison sentence has been handed down in turkey to a renowned composer and pianist over a series of tweets mocking islam fazul say was first charged with denigrating religion in june last year facing up to eighteen months behind bars at the time the musician once a cultural ambassador to the e.u. is a high profile critic of the islamic led government of prime minister. and says his punishment is purely political parties really financial explains once rejected

conservative islamic ideals are returning to the country which has long been trying to become a member of the european union. all these years at that murder was a sin then i got new instructions from the good lord himself in his favor language english the simpsons has kept its humor close to the bone for many years but for turkey's radio and television a supreme council in charge of monitoring media content it's now gone too far in for more liberal you can say that it's not an insult it's a joke but those who are more conservative may feel it and then we'll go on to other of the protection of their beliefs this episode cost a company that broadcasted thirty thousand us dollars the council dominated by the prime minister's party has fined the same media group for promoting smoking through allianz in america and violence against women after showing oliver stone's alexander without discovered. imagine how celtic

broadcasting world will be created for many turkish women real life is far more insulting to them than western movies at first glance they are free to wear and do what they want but the head of the group of women of the republic says there is a lot of pressure on them. the reformed education system is split into three parts of four years it's the result thousands of girls leave school before the end encouraging young marriages the state promotes heaven at least five kids only three out of ten women today go to work it's far from a democratic model of society. turkish opposition says there is a dangerous tendency here nine decades after turkey broke with islamic rule of the ottoman empire in favor of a ninety clerical pro western vision the ideas and values that were jacked it appear to some to be making a comeback becoming only. tells you what to do what to do what

not to do. what not to eat what to eat with islamic ideas comes islamic symbols they form a greek also books church on the turkish plexi coast is currently a museum no service has been held here for fifty years but so on its walls will once again reign with the sound of prayer this time not led by priests but any mom it's quite a religious conversion a seven century old christian heritage site is about to become a mosque and from that point on will only be open to muslim men access for women will be restricted and we don't want to. close visitors we are coming here for breakfast tourists come here it is good for travelers on earth often with. around there i think there are enough i guess sophia has already been used as a mosque durance long history after the ottoman sultan conquered turkey today it seems the country's given itself up voluntarily one example could be the leaks

drafts for new uniforms for flight attendants on turkish airlines they show the nation's image will be represented by long captains skirts below the knee and autumn in style fast caps or two months to develop altro religious so. you know laws on sharia and there are. people in turkey a thing that you know we don't want such a rule and that's changing changing as. life. did not work in turkey turkey and every gun has made impressive progress it's economy's booming and its role in the region and internationally is increasing but other things are happening too which could put societies journey into reverse. from turkey. thirty seven people have been killed and over two hundred and fifty injured in the spate of bomb explosions across iraq thought most

of the blast or car bombs with one attack carried out by a suicide bomb explosions happened just days before provincial elections fourteen candidates have now been killed in the lead up to the poll. the deadline passes today for thirty eight french ministers to publicly declare their assets the register would include a list of bank deposits and property held by the officials present for all and came up with the idea to calm a scandal over the budget minister who was forced to resign last month he's been charged with tax fraud linked to a secret bank account. forty seven people have been arrested outside the naval base in scotland housing the u.k.'s nuclear deterrent the submarine mounted trident missiles the group called scrap trident is rallying to demand the weapons of disarmed and funds spent instead on disability benefits education and welfare the early stages of protest in the center of glasgow with trade union members scottish m.p.'s and activists taking part. that's it for me the news team for the moment

will be back with more in about thirty five minutes from the mean time it's all report on the ancient kasian region of chechnya in russia that's coming your way after this short break stay with us if you can't. oh no who lazy bureaucratic and trivial censorship strikes again but this time in russia a bill has been signed into law that will put fines on individuals and legal entities for using vulgar already in the media one major flaw of many with this is that they really don't know which words are going to be considered vulgar i guess these words are so awful that they cannot even write them down i'm not naïve there has always been and will always be censorship but this where word list is just silly there is

a common expression on the russian internet that russian mainstream media connects up more and i was ation of society russian t.v. does have all the bloody violent action movies as well as scandalous talk shows which are kind of more like freak shows and plenty of reality t.v. where young people pretty much act like subhuman animals in a cage they've got all that so the government is basically saying that if some guy on t.v. there are twenty people blooded limbs flying that that is totally ok for television unless they come out for bid swear while doing it you can show brainless materialistic dimwits sleeping and fighting with everything that moves on a reality show but if they say that one magic three letter russian word then it is over the line this is not a logical way to conduct censorship but that's just my opinion. we speak your language i mean some of the you are not advanced. well. news programs

and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little turn to angles the stories. that i'll teach spanish find out more visit. play. live. live. live. live live. live.

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