majority. position to demand a recount. the electoral uncertainty foreign players are keeping a close. look at who's eyeing up the nation's energy riches. celebrations of the founding fathers. north korea proving fiz the occasion a missile test misguided. a turkish court gives a renowned pianist a ten month suspended sentence over a series of tweets mocking. claims sectarianism is taking hold of the country our top stories this hour. online on screen around the world twenty four hours a day this is the live from moscow in unexpectedly close race venezuelans look to

have voted for his handpicked successor as the next president and nicolas maduro suggests his socialist policies will live on after his death from cancer whoever rival. is refusing to concede demanding a recount because figures show he's only two hundred thousand votes behind. in the capital caracas with the latest. if you talk about the reaction coming from the supporters of it was almost instant as soon as the results were announced the 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 in that 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. 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 with little came out saying that the fight will continue the revolution work will continue alluding very much to google child this is a very and revolution and us had come out though. being quite negative he came out saying that there were allegations of voting fraud and he wanted a recount you know that had a campaign really on a platform invoking hugo chavez really it was at the core and you have to want something new wanted a change in direction and it's a 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 to solve and without

a charismatic character like this 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 one of the choices of great interest abroad as the country sits on one of the world's biggest oil reserves according to researchers because it a ortiz business analyst to tell you 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 i'm 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 they 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 that 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 left as governments in latin america continue to receive support now with caprice as 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 the previous has a lot of support not only with it as well but also outside of the country and of course you know u.s. energy companies cannot wait to get back into the country after being kicked out of there where you talk about u.s. companies are now 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 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 my daughter is inaugurated as president of venezuela is likely to continue its strong ties with latin american allies while pursuing an anti u.s. sentiment well that's the view of professor of latin american history we will think of solace. 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 we'll see i think

a continuity within that that's been part of the strength promoted by the chavez administration and my little we should recall was the foreign minister in charge of chavez's foreign policy why i think the opposition will definitely be emboldened by the room 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 in two thousand and four whenever dot com our website we're asking what's next for venezuela under chafee studied or nicolas maduro let's see how you've been voting so far we can see that on screen most of you think there will be chaos caused by the u.s. interfering because it's not satisfied with that election result a fifth believe that chavez is planned will succeed and twenty first century socialism will be established only some of you agree that the team will not be able

to handle the job and the economy will stagnate and even less the opposition rallies and protests in the near future at our website have your say good to hear from you r.t. dot com. north korean celebrations commemorating its founding father's birthday are over and fears of a missile launch to mark the occasion have proven unfounded and the fact pyongyang didn't even hold a military parade showing off its military might something that's become a tradition of. reports 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 created 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 let's take a look now at the figures involved according to some estimates at least twelve billion dollars are spent every year in what the u.s. calls maintaining peace on the peninsula and some of that money goes towards keeping almost thirty thousand american troops in south korea and 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 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 the 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 covertly shoot a documentary a network imbedded undercover journalist with a group of students visiting pyongyang without the university's consent the general secretary of the elysees students' union alex peter days told me earlier why the situation of course so much anger. the group was just told that 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 document which they be appearing on it wasn't until they arrived in beijing to

fly over to north korea that they were joined by the journalists and when we're talking about a trip like this with a risk their own gold i think it's so important that students would have been briefed all stages and would be made aware and they just went in this case to b.b.c. deliberately mis held information from them i mean they could have been detained a couple of years ago and to an american journalist were found to have been doing undercover journalism in north korea sentenced to nine years of hard labor obviously right now as we just head to 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 and she didn't after returning home they received threatening letters from the north korean government and now we're in a situation where not only is the wealth of our students at risk but also alice is working academic work in researching places like north korea and other political sense of areas which is so important and that's been jeopardized because alice is now associated with undercover illegal activities the b.b.c.

gambled with students' lives and i think that's not ok and for the b.b.c. to go out publicly and say deceit is ok and that and the length they will get that thirty minute documentary i think that sends such a negative message especially at this time when the b.b.c.'s reputation isn't perfect and i think they should make sure they have enough trust in their viewers. we're going to some breaking news here on our t.v. that two explosions have occurred at the finish line of the boston marathon in the u.s. resulting in injuries we don't have any other details at this stage but just to say that we are hearing of injuries indeed multiple injuries i'm reading on the was reported at the boston globe as the end of the boston marathon run so we should find out more about that in the next twenty minutes we hope here on r.t. and still ahead for you this hour israel commemorates its fallen heroes we'll be finding out about that in the next hour so stay with us as our three live here in

moscow.

the book about international landlords in the very heart of moscow. live here in moscow and we return to our breaking news this hour we're getting reports from u.s. media that there have been some of explosions at the finishing line of the boston marathon there was a telling us that more than fifty people have been seriously hurt we don't have any other details at this stage but we are getting reports that two explosions have occurred at the finish line of the boston marathon which is taking place today resulting in more than fifty injured and we can see there that there are some pictures there at the finishing line of the marathon there and clearly the areas

being completely evacuated but we see the emergency services there along with medical crews and at this stage all we can tell you is that over fifty people have been injured after two explosions there in boston at the end of the marathon and that was taking place today and as you can see there the stadium is at the finishing line the finishing post of the marathon and all we know at this stage is that two blasts went off and clearly a number of injuries over fifty now we're discovering have now occurred and we're are seeing those pictures live there at the moment from boston and these are reports there from u.s. media now the boston police are confirming now at this stage that the explosions did occur and that they are still unsure of the number of injured but they are speculating that certainly fifty or more have seriously been hurt that is the

breaking news this hour here on r.t. with that picture there from c.c.t.v. at the finishing line of the boston marathon in the states and that's all we can bring you the moment of course we'll bring you up to date with more details as soon as we get them. other news now israel is marking memorial day for its fallen 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 larry derfner he's from the independent plus one seventeen magazine website thinks ignoring problems has become a whole mark of israel's policy people are not celebrating you know the absence of peace talks or 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 every everything that's

sort of a new style in israel to simply forget about all of this isn't 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. for the moment civilian deaths justified and punished in the fischel report into a missile strike that killed twelve palestinians including four children during last year's gaza war finds the israeli military acted with opp most professionalism details of that story and comments from human rights organizations. don't come.

so holding elton olive branch to foreign investors who lost at least three million euros each thanks to a deal in the citizenship investors are angry after their bank accounts were raided last month so the country could secure a rescue package and some are worried that with billions still left to pay it could happen again experts in financial markets and investment patrick young believes that cyprus is european partners are unlikely to welcome its decision to hand out e.u. passports. of course it comes with completely new citizenship which in some ways it's a little bit ironic because of course one of the reasons why so for example germany was so keyed up these particular kind of holders lose all this money was because they thought that perhaps some of the money was rather shifting so therefore

they've given the people citizenship instead it's a it's a master stroke right cyprus actually i think they're doing very well and trying to resurrect the banking system as best they can the european union really treated cyprus fairly not in any way cyprus has been made a scapegoat because essentially there is a german election coming and what the germans want to do is demonstrate that mrs merkel is being very very strong and bold against all those people in the southern mediterranean who the german tabloids love to hear and regard as being leaves the people who don't do enough work. returning to our breaking news this hour here in r t we're learning that about three hours after the winners crossed the line in the boston marathon there was a loud explosion on the north side of boylston street and that's just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line we've got to live c.c.t.v. footage of the scene here on r.t. right now according to eyewitnesses another explosion could be heard

a few seconds later now as i say this happened three hours after the winners crossed the line and according to eyewitnesses they are saying that perhaps more than fifty people have been seriously hurt also witness is reporting via twitter that victims have lost limbs and those injured are being wheeled from the scene on stretchers and to ambulances where we can see that the scene has been cleared of all the spectators and the emergency services are in attendance there at the finishing line of the boston marathon that's our breaking news this hour here on r.t. will get more details and possible to you as soon as we can. now some international news in brief at least fifty five people have been killed and over two hundred fifty injured in the spate of bomb explosions across iraq is thought most of the blasts were car bombs with one attack carried out by a suicide bomber the explosions happened just days before provincial elections fourteen candidates have now been killed in the lead up to the poll. forty seven

people have been arrested outside the naval base in scotland housing the u.k.'s nuclear deterrent a submarine mounted trident missiles a group called scrap trident is running to demand the weapons are disarmed and funds spent instead on disability benefits education and welfare the earlier stage a similar protest in the center of glasgow with trade union members scottish m.p.'s and activists taking part. a ten month suspended prison sentence has been handed down in turkey to a renowned composer and pianist every series of tweets mocking islam fossil say was first charged with denigrating religion in june last year facing up to eighteen months behind bars at the time the musician was a cultural ambassador to the e.u. is a high profile critic of the islamic led government of prime minister erdogan and says his polish mood is purely political one is autism or if an ocean 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 i thought murder was a sin then i got new instructions from the good lord himself in his favorite 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. more liberal. 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 broadcast it thirty thousand u.s. 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 up to showing oliver stone's alexander 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 of to 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 on me. 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 place former greek also books church on the turkish plexi coast is currently emusic you know 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 the dearth of miscue 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 to date 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 a long captain's skirts below the knee and autumn on style fans' caps or two months to develop ultra religious so. you know laws on sharia and there are many secular people in turkey a thing that you know we don't want such a rule and that's changing changing as turks that our troops way of life the secular way of 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. or to live here in moscow returning now to our breaking news this getting reports that two explosions have gone off during the boston marathon about three hours

after the winners crossed the line there was a loud explosion on the north side of boston street in boston in the u.s. just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line another explosion could be heard a few seconds later we're getting reports from u.s. media that more than fifty people have been seriously injured and boston police are now confirming those injuries were from the incident itself at the end of the boston marathon and we're also receiving eyewitness reports on twitter and various other social media with descriptions of blood being everywhere after powerful explosions near the finishing line we've got some live pictures now aerial photos live footage there from the scene itself in boston as i say we're getting witnesses reports via twitter and other social media with other descriptions concerning the loss of limbs with victims being wheeled to. crews at the scene and i'm just

reading now on the lines that one eyewitness describes two people who had been hit with people with the foreheads and people being taken to the emergency crews now we're seeing the scenes there at the end of the bottom out and this was obviously taking place today and many from what we can understand a lot of speculation that the blast could have come from a nearby sports store and the two bombs happened very close together about twenty seconds apart a great number of people reportedly hurt. and we're also getting more eyewitness accounts saying just one big boom and then glass everywhere followed by another so these are the pictures now at the moment of one of those bombs detonating there in boston right as you can imagine in the heart of the city an extremely busy day thousands of people crowding around the end of the finishing line of the boston

marathon and of course those runners still taking part despite the fact that the when it got through there were the leaders i should say had passed the finishing line three hours before it was still hundreds and hundreds of people obviously passing through that finishing line when those two bombs went off so this is our breaking news. with eyewitness reports suggesting many many injured no news at this stage of any fatalities but obviously we're getting sketchy reports and speculation from the scene at the moment and that is the live footage there the aerial footage of the finishing line of the boston marathon with the emergency crews in attendance that is our breaking news this hour we'll bring you more details as soon as we get them here live on r.t. . own.