bloodstain vote down only bomb blast rock pakistan as a country hold its milestone democratic election continuing the violence which has marred the whole campaign. but more ballots than bullets in this historic vote here and pakistan a live update from islam about in just a few moments. space station repairs astronaut get ready for an emergency spacewalk to try to fix a leaking coaling system onboard the orbiting laboratory. and the seas on high alert the u.s. and u.k. are polling nonessential diplomatic staff out of libya with security fears fueling after militants besieged two ministries last month.

at four pm in the russian capital you're watching r t with me marina joshie welcome to the program. dabney explosions and gunfire in cities and towns across the nation as pakistan holds a milestone general election marking the country's first power transition through the ballot box polling stations have just closed but some are paying a high price to vote for the national assembly well as we know at least eleven people have been killed in the dozens more injured in what's been reported as a series of bomb blasts in caracas more people have died in pakistan's biggest province of illogic were explosions and gunmen targeted voters outside polling stations also others fell victim to shoot outs between rival political factions well violence has erupted in pakistan's volatile north as well where

a roadside bomb caused further casualties in the city of peshawar now we can cross live to our correspondent who is in pakistan's capital with the very latest for us well you see the country's been left in tatters on that such an important day for the nation what more can you tell us about how the elections company and going on there. no one has claimed responsibility for the violence that has been our poor cross the country today there are a number of armed groups who operate in pakistan as well as the pakistani taliban which has waged a bloody and temptation campaign in the run up to the vote claiming the lives of more than one hundred thirty people they view these elections as being on islamic and have largely targeted secular leaning parties but these elections are more about the ballot box than bullets i have to say as millions of pakistanis turned out equally eagerly in droves despite the threat of violence there have been some reports of vote rigging allegations in bochy and several parties have withdrawn

their candidates in a boycott of the vote but by and large all signs point to a successful a democratic election here and prop a stand which is really quite critical for a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half of its a. distance as an independent state the big question now is of course who will win these elections marina back to you wise we are hearing the polling stations have just closed so what is the latest what is the latest latest on how the elections elections going there. well it's going to be a few hours before the preliminary results are released but i have to say just from speaking to the voters some of the stations here and as a lot of support for emraan khan the former cricket star turned politician who has really been able to seize on the youth vote look here in pakistan he seized his gun the empathy in the sympathy of millions of pakistanis who feel disillusioned with the established political parties that have really run the country for decades and

he's been pushing a platform of change anti-corruption anti u.s. drone strikes and i western aid of course the kind of candidate that many experts expect to do quite well is now was sharif he has served as prime minister twice before he is running yet again here and he's running on a platform of free market policies he thinks that economic solutions will really help pull papa stan out of its economic nightmare and it really has seen the economic problems under the ruling coalition headed by the papas down peoples party that is benazir bhutto the late prime minister's party which has been accused of sort of festering an atmosphere of corruption and we've seen a massive unemployment power outages still plague that country and of course a growing sectarian violence as well and that as an islamist resurgence here so a lot of problems for whoever wins will be a few hours before we find out but certainly a lot of enthusiasm for emraan khan here in pakistan in islamabad and all across

the country. thanks very much indeed for of this. so the latest from pakistan on how the voting is taking place there. well you can also have to our web site. for the latest updates on the developments in pakistan of the chooses its next parliament amid the bloodshed and that's at r.t. dot com. international security specialist patricia says the people of pakistan are so fed up with conditions in their country that they are courageous enough to have to polls despite the danger. these things are very tough though you know we saw the same thing in afghanistan with the taliban threatening and you know as we're seeing they're very very serious about these threats and and it's difficult for people that don't have a lot of of ability maneuverability around with so many threats going on of around that goes a long way particularly when you don't know when it's going to happen and you're

looking around at every corner. but you know people who really take risks to get out there and exercise their right and their voice are becoming victims from an ex turn over power and they're becoming victims by their own internal struggles so yeah people become very very tired you know remember when you're so traumatized and and you become absolutely exhausted with this continuous type of reflection in your reality it's sometimes it's hard to to be so courageous when we want to know why your verdict on the outcome of pakistan historic first democratic transition and this hour we're let's take a look as how the voting is panning out so far well half of you think that it won't change a thing and is just a spectacle for the benefit of the west just over a quarter as we can see here on the chart believe the election will trigger

a muslim rage across the country sixteen percent of those who participate in our online poll are convinced that the elections will provide the basis for a functional democracy while the rest say it will only bring more dysfunction and the government will get also let us know what you think on the issue by looking on turkey dot com now to neighboring afghanistan were the u.s. seems reluctant to give up on its mission keeping some of its military there past the twenty four thousand foreign troop withdrawal date. we examine why america looks out on a continued military presence there after the. twelve years of bloody conflict costing billions of dollars. download the official application to yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television just doesn't matter

now with your mobile device you can watch our t.v. any time anywhere. welcome back you're watching r t coming to you live from the russian capital well very shortly to nasa astronauts will be conducting a fix on the international space station that has spotted a leak there well we can now talk to our teams tom barton is got all the very latest on this for us will tom tell us a bit more about this leak i mean what it's all about and what will be happening there well as we can see right here live this is pictures from both from mission control of nasa and also on the i assess live footage of them preparing for this very short notice emergency repair operation i should say that the status of it as a moment is a serious leak but not a dangerous one according to sources from nasa and the crew we heard

a little earlier from chris hadfield you can see him there commander of the i assess he spoke earlier to nasa about what the problem is actually putting. on a very steady stream of. course it's got out of common carrier of a rotating towards the florida. trust rotating surface later to i think they're always getting a few out of the channel. so you know chris hadfield there just explaining that the coolant system that helps to cool all of the electrics there has failed it's just part of the overall system no immediate danger but this is the result a very complex operation are going to six hours probably of those guys out there trying to fix it well we can tell by looking at the equipment that they are looking at right now in trying to just you know push the buttons there and kinetic abel's from what i can say is a woman looking at this picture there as you said this fix will be taking place for

six hours do you think that will be enough and how exactly are they going to tackle that problem yes i mean obviously that's going to be going through and developing in real time not a situation i think as far as the mission goes this is just another problem they've been well trained for these kind of problems it's one of the the big possible problems that they've been trained to deal with i think it's as far as we can understand from nasa comments it's not going to stop three of the crew coming back on monday as far as far as they've planned and they're going to try and go out there first of all assess exactly where this leak is coming from these little parts of ammonia that is spitting out into space from the space station and then to try and replace some of the parts to quickly get it fixed so that they can get that coolant system operating that affects the power of the space station but they can run on the rest of the power sources ok for the moment all right well speaking more general terms what sort of consequences with a spill my dispel how for either missions then i think it overall i think you have

to bear in mind that the some people call it a bit too old a bit a bit that it's getting on a bit but i think it's far as it reflects this mission and on other missions i think you've got to bear in mind that there's always replacement processes going on there's always new crews coming up with new equipment for example they're going to probably try and bring up new ammonia to replace that coolant that's been lost so it's a constantly evolving. as far as this goes as well with this mission after they've replaced this they're going to try and get back on schedule with all the experiments that are going on there the hope that it won't affect any of those experiments and then having adjusted all of their schedules life will go on on the take so as we can see i mean everything is very complex there in the equipment that is used also is pretty complex there and like you said the station has been used nonstop for twelve years and each and every crew that comes there replaces it and patches up things if necessary so it doesn't mean that twelve years is sort of it's

really all divinity all year for the station yeah i think i think in some respects you know there are older newer parts it has been said that this part that malfunction was one of the oldest parts on that particular solar panel ready so you know they're looking at it as would many machines this part is getting a bit old it's getting a bit dodgy and in fact this leak had already leaked out already been identified in this approximate place in two thousand and seven this leak itself had been sort of like a slow puncture on a bicycle for many years and it had just started to speed up now so they thought well now's the time we have to address seven years is a bit too long really than what it is that but nonetheless time thanks very much indeed and we are watching this very very closely and of course we'll be bringing you the updates on how this fix is going on and taken place it will take six hours for these astronauts to fix a problem and we'll be bringing you the latest here in our stay with us for that.

news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. showing corporations rule the day. welcome back you're watching r.t. coming to live from the russian capital now mounting unrest in libya has prompted the u.s. to put its troops on heightened alert and pole diplomatic staff from assam a-c. the u.k. has also recall all non-essential staff from exam a c. in tripoli armed gunmen have been laying siege to libya's ministries and foreign embassies for over two weeks on end on saturday and time militia demonstration in the capital came under attack leaving his government recently granted the militants demand for gadhafi or officials to be banned from senior government roles now they are calling for the country's prime minister to resign international relations

professor mark almond says western powers are responsible for the instability and the surge of violence that sweeping the country. we're seeing is deep divisions among the libyan revolutionaries who britain and other nato countries supported there's a power struggle over who should control the libyan state and put it in who should control libya's oil and gas if colonel gadhafi had suppressed still positions him. in the streets of last two thousand of them possibly hundreds of people would have died or perhaps as many as thirty thousand have died since and the country is in in this state to disorder uncertainty life for most libyans is worse than it was under commodore her of course kind of about his regime was supposed on the western countries to be the second bad regime anything must be russia we were told well i'm afraid say we see that it's not necessarily so clear after all they all mean libya which creates a choice groups came to power and certainly have local nomination and there are of

course. groups who may have been welcoming nato bombers but our inherent quite serious and he wants to muslim fundamentalist groups who have been sending parts also to syria so they don't necessarily the continued presence of western embassies the british french all the americans as well as the holy something about seeing a liberal to do as they would see libya and some news just in here on r.t. officials say at least four people are dead and eight hundred injured after explosions along turkey's border with syria reports say there have been at least two blasts in the town of great hundley one explosion hit a municipal building according to the town's mayor well the circumstances remain unclear so far we'll be bringing you more as we get it. so it come for you here on r t this hour israel's building on controversy tel aviv again gives the go ahead to the construction of hundreds of new homes in the west bank the spy being branded is

illegal under international law that's half of the break to stay with us. well. technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm target market is a big issue. download

the official publication yourself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television in the car it just doesn't matter how would your mobile device if you could watch your t.v. any time anyway. welcome back to watching r t coming to you live from the russian capital now israel has given a green light for the construction of a further three hundred homes in a west bank settlement it's fear the move could swaret recent attempts by u.s. secretary of state john kerry to rekindle peace talks between palestinian authorities and israel so far this year israel's army has a victim almost four hundred palestinians from the west bank and dismantled over two hundred houses the number of such incidents has risen sharply since the new israeli government will even stronger opposition to

a two state solution to the office in march as r.t. as policy or now reports the israeli defense forces are ready to use almost anything to back their government's orders. first it was the bullets then the tickets and now it's probably the worst smelling substance you will ever smell in your entire life. you stink you bad people i don't have a home it stinks you made it smell i have nowhere to go i can even see my son you sprayed him. developed by israeli security forces this foul smelling liquid is used to disperse palestinian demonstrations and it's proving to be pretty effective if it hits you in the eyes it could be painful and it could cause redness and if swallowed it can cause stomach problems it's important to. state that this material has never been used against israeli jews in only jewish demonstrations it's the on

thirty years old search by the israeli military for an alternative to tear gas to control crowds the skunk is an anti-riot means that we employ in order to live up to our philosophy of containing rights at a safe distance while also ensuring the safety of everyone involved but those on the receiving end claim it's being used as collective punishment it's sprayed not at stone throwers but generally simply people participating in nonviolent marches and very often is that the skunk a spray that homes gardens at people who are not participating at all in any demonstration take a tele to me for example he shows me the damage to his house from the so-called skunk his wife was forced to throw the two old daughter from an absolute safety below after the windows of her bedroom shattered if the israeli forces come from this side and the sewage car stops the it starts spraying while at the same time the soldiers throw the tear gas on their houses. if we find

a it's usual to see clashes here in the west bank village of not the cellar between israeli soldiers and palestinian demonstrators villages came a nearby israeli settlement is being built on their land as you enter not be silent this is the sign that welcomes you dozens of tear gas canisters that have been collected just over the past few months a stark reminder of the excessive force the israeli army uses against the small village it remains unclear what's actually inside the liquid i. mean this water is very dirty and has a very bad smell once we left the house for three weeks because of it it's water based and has various ingredients that create a very pungent smell but it is household in credence as well whatever it is one thing both sides agree on you would not want to be sprayed with there's. not be suddenly in the west bank. party dot com fighting fire with fire we

report how the u.s. government is taking a page out of hackers book and the relentless battle against online attacks. and another quick away on our t.v. you tube channel windows are blown out and cars battered check police released c.c.t.v. footage of the gas explosion that ripped open an office building in the heart of prague. now slovenia is rushing to reform its economy and the mounting concern it's next in line for the action plan includes the sale of fifteen state companies tax hikes and public sector wage cuts comes ahead of a european commission report do you add the aunt of the month and even arabs over the situation in slovenia well it's tiny economy with a g.d.p. of about forty five billion euros and in debt a banking system burdened with about a seven billion euros of bad loans slovenia is now trying to profit off by transfer

. in the non-performing loans of its largest banks to a newly established bad bank meanwhile its credit rating was recently cut to junk by moody's one of the lowest investment grade and the same say happens to cyprus in twenty twelve a year before it faced punishing bailout terms well despite warnings its on the verge of a meltdown slovenia has been insisting it doesn't need help from international landers john van overtveldt editor in chief of economic trends magazine says that sounds very familiar everybody who has been in trouble in the eurozone in the last year is as in the first phase of the crisis always refused to admit that they are really in trouble and that of course is first of all some kind of psychological game they're trying to play with the markets and with the public at large. but that . being said. it's also been quite clear that all the

countries that came into the danger zone eventually had to ask for help which is something national governments don't like because then obviously to at least a certain degree death to hansard to and to date to foreign powers be the european central bank the european the european commission the i.m.f. or the treaty together in the famous trachea. foreign troops are sent to leave afghanistan next year but it won't be the end of the road for america's armed forces there the u.s. says it will keep nine military bases open while thousands of private security contractors are also staying on middle east and un issues activist phyllis bennis believes that's because of ghana strategic location allows washington to keep a foothold in the region we know that the agreement signed between the u.s. and afghanistan allows for some number of u.s.

troops to remain after the end of two thousand and fourteen the numbers have varied there's been estimates of as low as eight thousand and as many as twenty two thousand that the obama administration would like to keep in afghanistan after the the withdrawal of so-called combat troops this has everything to do with the neighborhood where afghanistan is located afghanistan doesn't have on its own but it has a large territory in the midst of a very crucial neighborhood in terms of oil and in terms of the expansion of power the u.s. wanted for example to keep permanent bases in iraq that it could use as a base from which it could attack iran the iraqis said no the afghans will be asked the same thing will they allow those bases even if it's only nine of them to be used potentially to attack other countries in the neighborhood that's one of the things the u.s. is very eager for on a permanent basis it's not so much about the immediacy of the taliban everyone knows that the presence of u.s. troops in afghanistan is making it much more difficult not easier for there to be

serious peace negotiations between the various factions in afghanistan whether it be the taliban whether it be the afghan government whether it be a host of other factions that are all competing for power. artie's every margin exam in american presence in afghanistan beyond twenty four teams in her breaking with that show what correspondent eric margolis who's covered a fourteen different armed conflict compared u.s. military operations there to the british colonial forces in one thousand century here's a quick preview of their discussion. you've written article titled all colonial wars are like where you state that the u.s. is reconfigured its army for colonial forces and warfare how did they do this the pentagon has had to train its troops for guerilla warfare the cold counterinsurgency it's got a more helicopters less heavy equipment less tanks with heavy artillery and it has to develop all kinds of or reconnaissance techniques and tactics dr and they call

it in the military how to use this thing to have small groups of lightly armed combatants but the quick question that bothers me is the british army in the late eighteenth hundreds was similarly trained and equipped to fight its colonial wars on the northwest frontier of india plays in zulu wars when the british ran into real soldiers at the some in one thousand nine hundred fourteen sixteen in the in the western front the britons were horribly massacred because they were trained from our war of the united states is now announced that it's pivoting towards asia and u.s. military development will have to take trying to into account how do you do that with an army trained to fight drugs and on the northwest frontier.

or get a full story a much more in r.t.f. fifteen thirty g.m.t. the full episode is also available on our website r.t. dot com. and up next next guys are put the big bankers and global finance is on the ropes it is latest reporting.

is he. welcome to the kaiser report on max kaiser scottish independence no not the

adult diapers the real people of scotland they want their freedom from english rule or at least some of them do offer the bloodless way toward independence it seems some of the good people of scotland aren't so sure they want it stacy yes max this has been a big topic here and it appears that it's difficult to determine whether or not they're going to vote for independence because apparently some of them only like to dress in blue and run down hills the spear is that's the sort of independence they want to win but the other issue is george osborne has been visiting scotland and warning them that if you leave the union then you will not be able to use the pound sterling so this is a problem because alex semin with a scottish national party he wants to stay in sterling now alex semin refuses to rule out separate currency alex salmond has refused to rule out a separate scotland adopting a new currency and faced accusations of be.