abdullah is half pashtun, hav -- half tagic the. abdullah abdullah will need to attract broad-based support. >> a reminder that you can keep up to date with all the news all the time on the website, aljazeera.com. a company that you bailed out with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. i'll give you my take. g.m. is not the huge company that it used to be, but it's still a part of our economy. i'll tell you how big. money, power and an old fashioned alarm clock. ariana huffington with her three-prong idea for success. m

unnecessarily a reflection of the support for dr abdullah abdullah in herat, it shows the enthusiasm and interest in the process in afghanistan. abdullahullah crisscrossed the country on a mission to right a wrong he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009, when he lost the election to hamid karzai. it was a poll marred by widespread ballot stuffing. >> this time around the citizens will monitor the elections better. the voters are more aware of their rights. it's much better conscious decision than it used to be. and they are asking about the outcome. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get more than 50% of the vote to win outright. to help his chances he has chosen two runnirun mates he fought against, the parties they belonged too destroyed kabul. without a winner the election goes to a run-off between the top two candidates. abdullah abdullah has a warning for the election organizers. >> if it goes to a run-off, it's on the boots of the people. if it goes to the run-off. that will be difficult. it will be an uncertain situation. i hope that is not the case. >> ethnicity matters in afghanistan, and abdullah abdullah is half pashtun, h

abdullah abdullah, and ashraf ghani. the state is set for a second-round ballot. abdullah abdullah, the front runner, is calling for an investigation into fraud. stefanie dekker has the details. >> we are satisfied with the result. >> reporter: there is not a new president yet. he will be chosen from one of two men. former minister abdullah abdullah came first with 44.9% of the vote, just missing out on the 50% needed to win outright. he'll face a run-off with a former world bank economist ashraf ghani, in second had 41.5% of the ballot. not everyone thinks a second round is a good idea. >> translation: the election problems affected the economy for the past several months. business has gone down. it's not good to have a second round. people will not come out to the vote because they are afraid. >> translation: it's normal if a candidate doesn't win in the first round we should go to a second round. we want it to be fair and transparent. >> there has been complaints of fraud. hundreds of thousands of votes are being investigated by the independent electoral commission. >>

abdullah abdullah. we joined him on his campaign trail in western afghanistan. >> it was chaotic, crowded and almost out of control, but that seems to be just how abdullah abdullah likes it. tens of thousands of people turned out to see abdullah rally support in his second attempt to win the presidency. >> now the size of this crowd is not necessarily of abdalluh, but shows the enthusiasm in afghanistan. abdalluh has crisscrossed on his mission to right a wrong that he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009 when he lost the election to hamid karzai. >> the citizen also monitor the voting much better. they're much more aware of their rights, it's much better. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get 50% of the vote. he has chosen two running mates who he once fought against during the civil war. the parties they belonged to ended up destroying kabul. without an outright winner it goes to the run off of top two candidates. here abdullah has a warning for the organizers. >> if there is a run off we are prepared. in a run off, it may become difficult. it will create a very uncertain situation, and i hope that's not the case. >> reporter: ethnicity matters in afghanist

abdullah abdullah the two presidential election but not by enough to avoid a runoff promising to help russia says it will do what it can to secure the release of the team's national observance held by pro moscow rebels in ukraine. still building supplements and release of prisoners the palestinian president gives israel the us conditions. resumption of peace talks. welcome back once we get news are going to loose balls. thank you to join us. the deal with the latest on the afghan presidential election when full preliminary results were released by the independent election commission the north side today. and as expected the former foreign minister abdullah abdullah is in the lead with just under forty five percent all the facts but that's not the fifty percent needed in order to avoid a runoff and second places the ex world bank economists in the form of finance them is that i shot crimea on the inside with around thirty one point five percent of the bible those results will be finalized in mid may will be followed by a rival fifteen days off to travel from all we can speak not to honey pack emu is a need for such on afghanistan it awesome house. he joins us now from london. thank you for speaking does the very lengthy and actual price is the site into a runoff is there any way that could be avoided for assault with a power sharing deal. they cite is the longer procedure i think from a legal perspective. as i understand that the candidates costs the fall collection at this point that because it is this the sad result is announced as being bounded by the electro complaints commission ecc which the body that looks at the results up to the

abdullah abdullah. who was the man who lost the 2009 election to hamid karzai. even though, apparently, the reports are that he's doing better than anyone else, especially in kabul where more votes had been counted. what do you say - actually, abdullah abdullah has not talked about fraud, but his running mate has. >> i think what you will see, the way the afghan election works, if no one gets 6% of the vote, it goes to a run off. >> if the two leading candidates are faced with a run off, they'll be happy, and the issue of fraud will not be too big. >> the other top candidate, zalmai rassoul, hamid karzai's favourite candidate - he will probably not be happy. his strong hold, the pashtun areas, there may have been issues there. >> yes, some of the areas that were more likely to support him. but russell's funny. there has been a lot of speculation that he didn't want to be in the election. he ran an enthusiastic campaign. i don't think he had a fight in him to try to contest if a count is in favour of abdullah abdullah. >> what kind of difference will it make depending on who wins for the united states. >> both candidates have said that they'll sign the bilateral security agreement to keep american forces in the country. >> hamid karz

abdullah abdullah likes it. tens of thousands people turned out to rally support in his second attempt to win presidency. >> now the size of this crowd is not necessarily the reflection for the support of abdullah abdullah, but what it does show is the enthusiasm and interest in the election process in afghanistan. abdullah has crisscrossed the country on his mission to right a wrong he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009 when he lost the election to hamid karzai. it was a poll marred by widespread ballot stuffing. >> the voters understand the election much better. the voters are much more aware of their rights. it's much better than it used to be. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get more that 5% of the vote. to help his chances he has chosen two running mates he ran against during the civil war. the parties they belonged to ended up destroying kabul. the election goes to the run off between the top two candidates. here abdullah has a warning for the election arguers. arguers--election organizers. >> based on the votes of the people. >> ethnicity matters in afghanistan, and abdullah abdullah's rallies do seem to have drawn a cross section of ethnicities. he'll have to draw a strong base s

abdullah abdullah in the lead. it's described as africa's first narco state - we are in guinea passau for the presidential election. >> we are off to nigeria, where traditional healers say they can treat you as well as main stream doctors. >> last august when chemical weapons were used in syria there was worldwide outrage and condemnation. the men president talking of -- american president talking of red lines being crossed. it's been quieter, with new allegations of the use of chemical weapons, the government and opposition accusing one another of having fired poison gas on a village in hama province. we'll have an expert on the use of weapons on whether this really has happened and we'll economic how much of the chemical stockpile is left. after this report. >> it looks like the usual bombing campaign. according to activists these barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, containing toxic chemicals. according to witness account, the chemicals went airborne after the bombs fell. as people were ferried in ambulances, the person recording the video is coughing, and others are covering their mouths. we cannot independently verify the videos but it's been said there was an attack, and opposition fighters were blamed. >> translation: in the hamas suburb two have been killed and 100 injured by a terrorist group. they attacked the village using chlorine gas. we are aware they were preparing to carried out more attacks. >> many decide in the hospital. >> children and adults appeared to have difficulty breathing, as if they had inhaled something toxic. the opposition says poison gas and concentrated pesticides were dropped on the outskirts of damascus. syrian national coalition says several similar attacks happened in the last few months and wants the world to take action. is a statement by the fnc says. >> the asaad regime missed a series of up deadline to destroying the chemical weapons stockpile. it agreed to destroy weapons after hundred were killed in an attack. syria has more than 550 tonnes of weapons, after half of its arsenal has been destroyed. >> the asaad government says rebels possess the chemicals, and in the cross-hair are millions of civilians caught between a fractured opposition and a beleaguered government sent to ex-other its authority. >> according to the organization for the prohibition of keptians, the personnel of chemicals remove tore destroyed from inside syria is about 54%. it's believed the syria government has about 550 tonnes of chemical weapons, almost all of them have reportedly been packed up, and are located at a few sites near the city of whom. >> the government says it will remove all kep yops by april the -- chemical weapons, by april the 13th, except those in presently inaction able -- inactionable areas. it has until june 30th to eradicate his program. >> let's bring in a chemical weapons specialist from the u.k. can you tell from the picture - the foaming at the mouth, the respiratory problem, that chemical wemens were probably used or not? >> you can't tell for certain, however, the evidence we have seen is similar to the evidence we saw after the attacks earlier, and some of the symptoms we see are those you would expect from chemical weapons, and in this particular case the regime stated that chlorine was used, and pesticide. now, chlorine is an agent and there is compelling evidence not just that the regime produced, but brian noses, which unequivocally showed that chlorine is in the area and has been used. it would lead you to believe that perhaps chlorine is and was used. it was the first chemical weapons used in the first war, killing tens of thousands of people. i think also what is compelling in tom coughlan's pass in the "london times", on friday, the british foreign office were quoted, suggesting that there might be something to these attacks. usually they provide bland statement. i think locking at it all together, yes it would appear that some form of chemical weapons would appear. >> who is responsible, and, of course, it would be difficult. the deliver would suggest that the regime is responsible, these barrels of chlorine pulling out. al qaeda did a lot of research into chemical weapons, and it is not impossible that al qaeda groups, such as alnews ra could have obtained chlorine which is available and used it themselves. >> i was simply going to ask you if it is claur each, and news ra able to get hold of it and the other groups said to have access to chemical weapons some months ago, would this be part of the stockpile that would have been listed by the syrian government, or would it have been obtained by other means, do you think? i think it would have been obtained by other means. the dollars in november didn't include clhlorinchlorine. being stark, chlorine is a low grade weapon. sarin is about 4,000 times more toxic. chlorine was available in syria, they were a large manufacture of chlorine for commercial and domestic purposes. there is an issue whether all of the stockpile was declared, and some analysts, including myself would suggest one or 200 tonnes of chemical weapons missing, that were underdeclared. i do not think chlorine is part of it. i suspect if it is chlorine, it has gotten hold of from commercial sources which the regime could have use. >> hamish talking to us. thank you. appreciate your time. >> ukraine's interior minister says an anti-terrorist operation has been launched to clear armed pro-russian protesters. gunmen are said to have seized hundreds of weapons after taking over police headquarters. there have been reports about fighting near an abandoned airport outside the city. in another eastern ukrainian city, luhansk protesters are holding the security services building, and they are demanding a referendum on autonomy. in the capital kiev, christians gathered at a cathedral to celebrate palm sunday. worshippers prayed for a peaceful way out. back to events on the ground. confrontation. we go live to slovyansk, or were told that action was going to be taken by the ukrainian authorities, the interior minister saying there would be some kind of battle. no evidence from what you have seen. >> well, not here in slovyansk. i'm standing outside of the police building that was seized yesterday. as you see behind me, the residents of slovyansk, here, supporting the pro-russian men who have taken over the police building, and they have a barricade. you probably see the man standing high up. that's the barricade. in fror that police building, and i have to tell you there was no sense of tension here. certainly if there was an intention to carry out the operation, it did not happen. >> possible confrontations, difficult to know where it might go. not just where you were, but in a number of different pockets in eastern ukraine. >> certainly there has been, over the last 24 hours, one after the other, either city council buildings or local police takes have been seized. the latest is in a town here in eastern ukraine. as you said earlier. we heard about some sort of gun battle. until now we are getting conflicting reports. if we are to listen to the ukrainian government, or of the donetsk region, there would have been a gun battle leading from the border with russia all the way to donetsk. that's where the battle would have happened. it's a fortified military check point that we drove through this morning. if we are to listen to reports coming out of russia, they say that the gun battle happened as you said earlier, on the abandoned military base. as special forces were landing. >> hoda abdel-hamid, thank you very much. >> in afghanistan the preliminary results from the election show that the former foreign minister abdullah abdullah is leading. he showed nearly 42% of the vote. his nearest rival by nearly 8%. if noorth of candidates -- neither of the candidates gain 50% of the result in may, there'll be a run off. >> does this tell us anything about the overall end game that was seen. there are three candidates. there are votes in favour of two. >> the election commission - the way they tell it, they tried to give an re-examination of how they think the final vote will look. this is why you have got this so% of the vote in from 26% of the polling. the election commission hopes that a representative sample, it isn't a final number, more results will be in next weeks. the indication is that the frontrunners are abdullah abdullah and ashraf ghani could be headed to a run off. unless they get enough votes to tip them over the 50% plus one threshold. >> are you able to garner from where the results come in whether support for one candidate is because he has support in a particular area, or whether that is rep

abdullah, abdullah came first, he'll face a run off against akhgav gany. but not everyone thinks a second round is a good idea. >> the election problems have affected the economy for the past several months. business has gone down. it's not good to have a second round. people will not come out to vote because they are afraid. >> it's normal if a candidate doesn't win in the first round, whether we like it or not it should go to a second round. we want it to be fair. and the elections should be transparent. >> there have been complaints of fraud. hundreds of thousands of votes and then the final numbers are expected on may 14th. >> there are also irregularities with the way the commission handled itself, and we're calling on them to make sure that transparency is increased, for the candidates to trust and respect the bunt. >> abdullah abdullah believes the ballots were cast in his favor. but some say the run off between the two men are investable because the--inevitable becausey don't think an investigation of the ballots will give him the win. there is concern of another round of elections at another huge financial cost. >> we're going to live to rome, in fact, the vatican city where hundreds of thousands of roman catholics are assembling for an unprecedented double canonization ceremony. that's the scene among some cardinals among the crowd. over a million people gathering there, a first, a first time that two popes have been canonized. there to recognize the historical event, jonah, it must be amazing to be surrounded by so many devoted people. some of whom have been camping out for days. >> joyful anticipation and 45 minutes to go. hymns being song, prayers being said and perhaps hundreds of thousands of pilgrims crowded into st. peter's square all wanting to bear witness to be a part of what will be an unique

abdullah. he was a right hand man of massued. dr abdullah abdullah, among other things helped to translate what was being said to me. he is a dignified, smart, educated man, i think he would be great for that country. >> as you know, we were told by our leaders after 9/11 that the goal was to wipe out al qaeda and the taliban in afghanistan. is that still a possibility? or has the taliban going to come back into power? >> well, being in afghanistan gave us a platform to really pummel al qaeda. betty june binnicker is dead, a lot -- osama bin laden is dead, a lot of his top developers are dead. we mould them, we couldn't have down that. the taliban - interesting thing about the taliban is while we were there, we were an object of dislike potentially by the locals. now that we are gone, when the taliban attack a government post, they are not attacking americans any more. they are attacking fellow muslims who elected the government. the taliban are saying "you don't get to choose who leads you", it makes it hard for the taliban to attack the elected gov

with 10% of the ballot taken, abdullah abdullah has a lead over ghan. >> the situation is deteriorating in ukraine. pro-russian demonstrators who occupied several government buildings and police stations are reversing to leave. the ukraine -- refusing to leave. the ukrainian president is promising to fight back. >> translation: the national security and defense council made a decision to start a full-scale anti-terrorist provision, engaging the armed forces of ukraine, we will not allow russia to repeat the crimean matter in the east of ukraine. >> at russia's request the security council meets in a couple of hours to discuss the situation in ukraine. united states also believes russia is behind the escalation of event. tom ackerman is in washington. we heard from samantha powell, but do we expect more sanctions from the united states. >> she did not specify what sanctions might happen. a short time ago the state department spokesman said the world will not tolerate russian provocations and support for violence separatists in ukraine. costs will be imposed. >> now, the u.s., of course,

abdullah had 41.9. ghani 37.6. results are still coming in, some released next week. the final tally, announcement will be mid may. but at this stage, while the figures could change, it looks like abdullah abdullah, and ashraf ghani are looking for a second-round run off. both saying they'll take part if they consider that the first round was conducted fairly. the election complaints commission said while there has been fraud, it's not at a significant enough level as affecting the outcome of the poll. therefore there'll almost certainly be a run off, but afghans may not know who the new president will be until, well the end of the october when the final results are in and counted and disputes dealt with. >> it's election time in the country known as africa's narco sit. guinea passau is a major trafficking point for drugs out of south america. it's spreading to countries, a haul picked up in neighbouring guinea. guinea passau is a poor nation with a history of coups since gaining independence from portugal in 1974. the last two years ago. there's a corrupt and centralized leadership and inadequate and underfunded justice system. katherine soi is at a polling station. >> people here are hopeful t

abdullah abdullah, the fourth al jazeera journalist in detention has been prisoned without trial since august. after 77 days on hunger strike his health is deteriorating. media companies around the world talked with al jazeera, standing in unison, holding signs that reads journalism is not a crime. al jazeera rejects all the charges against its journalists and demands their release. >> coming up, violence in venezuela gets uglier as officials ask for application after pro-government vigilantes attack students on campus. >> a polio case in iraq following an outbreak in syria sparks fears of an epidemic. >> and harmeli aregawi is tracking the stop store joys yn the web. >> a grand honey maker got comments over an ad featuring gay and lesbian couples and they reacted in a non-traditional way. what do you think? join the conversation: >> this is my country, and we have to protect it. al jazeera america presents a breakthrough television event. borderland a first hand look at the crisis on the border. >> i'm trying to finish this journey for her. >> six strangers with different points of vi

abdullah abdullah should stress that this is based on preliminary an official tallies by news organizations here the former world bank executive who has picked an extremely controversial running mate in and even he described as a known killer with a militia commander general joseph was accused of brutal killings in the civil war the nineteen nineties dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate has been branded as a war like the other links to eat i went in search of mr karzai's former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite cake appears to be running behind again it will take time to get the official count this is just east of the preliminary results i was what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority. this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go to this whole process again. of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway one but talabani deal it happens and whether security holes. if the debt run up to. i was artsy course on at least half a knot. as western forces prepare to pull out of afghanistan thousands of innocent child victims remain according to the un five hundred and sixty one children were killed in afghanistan's war in twenty thirteen. nearly twelve hundred were wounded when a man is an afghan girl ha

abdullah abdullah should stress that this is based on preliminary an official tallies by news organizations here. he's a former world bank executive who has become extremely controversial running meet him and even if he described as a known killer with a militia commander general joseph was accused of brutal killings in the civil war the nineteen nineties dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate has been branded as a warlord. the other links to a violent insurgent group mr karzai's former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite cake appears to be running behind again it will take time to get the official count this is just east of the preliminary results i was what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority. this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go through this whole process again. of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway. what will that olive unto you if that happens whether security behold. if the debt run up to us. one of the main cause next the deck is pinching security pact with washington which young calming presence cause i have had hanging in there and the us is now winding down its combat mission on the proposed deal could lead to fifteen thousand troops on the ground for decades. cause i was reluc

abdullah, who proves the ran against hamid karzai for president, the form -- four minister?eign >> abdullah abdullah karzai's main rival and in that election he got close to one third of the vote. he represents a network associated with the north of the country as opposed to ashraf ghani who is more strongly associated with pashtuns who predominate in the south. along with the finance minister, they are respected technocrats, seem to be personally honest, but they have survived out of necessity with much more dubious figures, people you could frankly call warlords. in that respect, they don't really -- they're not dissimilar from president karzai himself. it speaks to the nature of the political system itch won't change regardless of who is elected. >> i want to ask you about anja niedringhaus, the veteran associated press photographer who was shot dead an afghan police officer just before the elections. she died instantly in the attack to the pakistani border. her funeral service was held saturday in germany will stop she was 48 years old. this is ap senior vice president kathleen carroll. >> she s

abdullah abdullah, the former foreign minister, who was a close ally of the northern alliance, or part of the northern alliance associated with thetagic movement, that fought with u.s. troops to get rid of the taliban, going back to 2001. the candidate who got -- who lost the election, he felt it was cheated during the last election in 2009. then ashgaf ghani, a prickly personality, can be explosive personally, a former finance minister. and then karzai's candidate, and it seems that the two -- the finance minister and the former foreign minister are ahead of the -- karzai's -- what appear to be karzai's anointed successor. >> and that should be viewed as a rebuke of karzai, or no? . >> reporter: i think it's partly a rebuke of karzai, but also a rebuke of him. zelmay rasoul, didn't speak very often at all, barely held any rallies. was not well-known. if you ask people on the street, they know who the first two candidates are but if you ask who rassoul is, they say wasn't he karzai's guy. so didn't get a very enthusiastic campaign. >> well, interesting you're pointing out -- he didn't

abdullah abdullah, ashraf ghani ahmadzai, and zalmai rassoul. we probably won't know who has won for several weeks. as bernard smith reports, this is a proud day for many afghans. >> the queue started forming well before kabul's polling stations opened. despite the taliban threats to target the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000-year history it marks the first democratic transfer of power. people here are eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the threat from the taliban. i don't have a threat from taliban. >> 12 million people were eligible to vote. in parts of the country polling stations were closed, where the taliban held sway. this is the scene across the country, people queue up after going through a security check. they dip their finger in indelible ink, go in to the booth to cast their vote and ballot. the blue one is for the presidential election, the green for the provincial election. the presidential vote is easy. the provincial elections, they get six pages, each like this. there are 400 candidates in kabul. each person has to choose one. it is not a quick process. >> president hamid karzai was one of the first to vote. this election bringing to an end his 12 years of rule since the taliban was forced out of power in 2001. >> translation: i cast my vote today as a citizens of this country. i'm glad and proud that i have voted. i'm certain that today's event, and people's participation will take the taliban towards security and better lives. >> there are eight candidates for president. abdullah abdullah is one of a front runner, ashraf ghani ahmadzai another, and zalmai rassoul. kabul was locked down as part of an unweres dented nation-wide security operation mobilizing 4,000 security personnel, bringing the number of attacks below the daily average in afghanistan, according to security forces. ballot counting started as polls closed. there are allegations of fraud being made that will tst the independence of the let ral commission. >> -- electoral commission. >> i'm not sure if the complaint will be handled fairly, we don't know how they will act. during past experiences with the two commission, they have not been desirable. this time around it remains to be seen whether they'll act sincerely or in favour of one of the candidate. >> the commission is not expected to announce preliminary results for four to five days. this was never expected to be a poll free of fraud, but how much there is will determine whether afghans accept the time condition on the winner. >> the chief

abdullah abdullah, who ran in 2009 but lost in outgoing hamid karzai. now let's go live to bernard smith who is in kabul. turn out seems to have been high. there has been a turn of bad weather, but has the voting gone smoothly. >> to answer that question, yes. in fact, security told us that the number of attacks that there have been today are less than the daily o average. security personnel have been stationed around the country to make sure that votes go smoothly. it will stay open another two hours if people are still queuing. that is showing a very high turn out. people want to vote fo vote fore first democratically voted in president in this country's 5,000 year history. the capitol has been effectively sealed off from the rest of the country security forces imposing some of the strictist control of movement this country has ever seen. >> we have the right to vote. we have always had to endure these attacks from the taliban. for how long does this have to go on? we have to elect our next government and president. >> yes, we are afraid of taliban. they will get theimany cannot vn areas they will get their fingers cut off if they do. >> the 14-year rule when the taliban was ousted in 2001. >> i cast my vote today as a citizen of this country. i'm so glad and proud that i voted today. i'm certain of today's events and our people's participation will take afghanistan towards stability and best the lives of people. >> there are presidential candidates. abdullah abdullah are one of the three frontrunners. >> the taliban said that they will be target first degree they plan to vote. but they are ignoring that ruwarning. each voter dips their finger in indelible ink to prevent them from voting more than once. afghan needs a fraud-free vote to convert legitimacy on the next president. >> we know some polling stations have been closed due to the security situation there in afghanistan. will that actually affect the electoral process? >> we think not. the commission thinks not. in one in ten polling stations were closed ultimately. a lot of that in province where is the taliban still holds sway in kandahar. but by far the majority of polling stations were open. they have closed and the election commissioner has just told us that voting has now counted. the votes will be counted at those polling station where is people cast their votes and they'll transfer ultimately to kabul. and it will be another four or five days before we get a preliminary resu

former leader abdullah abdullah is in the lead. second place, the prime minister ashrafgani with 37%. the polls say that could change. this is based on half of the ballots cast. the final results won't be available for several weeks. to sports now, and the latest. worshippers in st. peter's square. people left palms to commem rate the biblical account of geeous' arrival in jeruslem. christians took part in the special day. >> thank you for watching "the journal." i hope you will see it at the top of the hour for more. >> concern grew about the situation in eastern ukraine this week. pro russian separatists announced they would hold a ref ref ren dumb on russia. it wasn't an isolated event. they also took part in the region and made similar eclarations. >> the referendum is inevitable. it will take place even if we all die here. there will be a referendum. i give you my word. >> the interim government in doing cused russian of this as a pretext to send in ussian troops. russia said the images were eight months old. and kiev offered

abdullah abdullah ran for president back in 2009. he finished a distant second, a former eye doctor. he has served as afghanistan's foreign minister. there's a lot of focus an zalmai rassoul, the one most like hamid karzai. we look at what his victory could mean. >> even those hoping to run the country can't run the roads. this is a spot which is a 2 hour drive from the capital, a journey too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruption linked to this government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. you were part of that government. what will you do differently? >> i think i - first of all i have not been involved in corruption issues. i repeat myself, that the fact that i have been involved, i know what is happening. i know which kind of thing we should do correct that. i want to put this experience that i got, achievement and lack of achievement in the service of the afghan people. >> while zalmai rassoul was foreign minister, hamid karzai refused to sign a bilateral agreement with the u.s., allowing foreign troops to remain in the country, throwing it into cries si. >> the fundamental of the relationship with afghanistan and the united states is solid. we have problems, problems happen with friend. i was involved in drafting it from the afghan side. i believe that the national interests of afghanistan has been respected in that. it is in that interest of afghanistan, and the united states and i am hopeful that it will be signed soon. >> in jalalabad city speeches are herd by locals, including supports of warlords. of the eight men running for president, zalmai rassoul is one of three to have a female vice-president. like political cam pawns the world over, image and protocol mould themselves to campaign locations. >> when in the capital, candidates want to present themselves as the forward of a modern afghan state. in reality, when they travel out of the provinces, 13 years sips the fall of the taliban, there's not a single woman in this crowd. he was educated in the finest schools and worked as a techknow grad. his legacies as a descendant of the royal family is seen as an asset in the eye of afghans. he will be seen as a vote for continuity. if afghans decide they want more of the same style of government, he stands a strong chance of leading it. >> u.s. forces have been in afghanistan since october of 2001 when president bush launched operation enduring freedom after 9/11. it was aimed at dismantling the taliban and destroying al qaeda. mr bush kept 30,000 troops in afghanistan. by 2010 president obama increased the number to 98,000. two years ago he scaled back, and 38,000 american soldiers remain in that country. more than 2300 u.s. servicemen and women died in the afghan war. >> joining us to discuss the election is juan combe, our international affairs contributor and a professor. does it seem to you, this election, as successful as many are claiming tonight? >> it's a real success in the sense that you had a substantial turn out, bigger than the last presidential election, and the afghanistan army and security forces appear to have succeeded in preventing taliban attacks on any scale, so you have to consider that a success. >> do you consider it a clean election that some have pulled out, or is there concern of fraud and corruption in 2009. >> a clean election is tough to pull off. there's not proper sensises, lots of false inside floating around. how you monitor that is difficult. but i suppose that to some extent people will be looking for anomalies, outcomes that don't make any sense in judging that the election was fair. >> if you look at the candidates, then agreed to sign a long-term security deal with the united states to keep forces in afghanistan. do you think they are going to live up to their word and sign the deal? >> well, it's a big mystery as to why outgoing president hamid karzai refused to sign the bit lateral security agreement. he organised a lawyer jerga, a convention of afghan note ability who approved of it, he then declined to sign it and said he would leave it to a successor. if zalmai rassoul wins, who is close to hamid karzai, if hamid karzai is against this for principled reasons, he may try to pressure zalmai rassoul not to sign it. i think it's up in the air. >> how much influence does hamid karzai have in politics? >> a lot of afghans believe he'll try to remain influential, he's backing zalmai rassoul in the hopes of playing a putin role to medvedev. in russia the prime minister and president kind of switched for a while. so i think the evidence is that hamid karzai wants to continue to have a great deal of influence. >> you think he will continue, for lack of a better issue, pull the strings in afghanistan? >> well, it depends on who wins. if it's someone close to him, certainly i think he'll make the attempt. >> is he close to all the leading candidate at this point. >> all the leading candidates served with him. he is not close to abdullah abdullah, or to ashraf ghani ahmadzai. if zalmai rassoul gets in it would be a continuity of the hamid karzai administration. >> let's talk about the taliban. the fact that they did not laux a large-scale -- launch a large-scale attack today, despite launching successful attacks in recent weeks - what do you make of that? >> the afghan security forces were doing their job well. you know, the kind of thing they would do is try to preposition car bombs near polling stations. well, if the security forcers are good, they'll make is sweep and make sure there isn't anything like that. the taliban were prevented from successful attacks. on the whole. there were some. >> is this a sign that the afghan security forces are becoming increasingly more ready to take over security for the country? >> yes, i think it's certainly got to be taken as a sign. today has to be taken as a sign that the security forces are getting better. i don't think they could have provided this kind of security by thems

chandler decisive victory the full afghan foreign minister abdullah abdullah the two presidential election but not by enough to avoid a runoff promising to help russia says it will do what it can to secure the release of the team's national observance held by pro moscow rebels in ukraine. still building supplements and release of prisoners the palestinian president gives israel the us conditions. resumption of peace talks. welcome back owe

abdullah abdullah former foreign minister is the front-runner. and no sign of vetting at all and jane harman, director and ceo of the wilson center in washington. why should u.s. troops stay past this year given the hostility still there, longest war in u.s. history and still so many folks over there hate americans. >> that's true, wolf and they shouldn't. by the way, where's the outrage of the killing of the three doctors, two doctors and one of their sons? where's president karzai's apology after a trillion u.s. dollars and thousands of u.s. lives have been lost trying to save his country? i think it is despicable. where is the outrage of our government at a higher level than a spokesperson? i understand the president is in asia. this is absolutely abhorrent. the risk is if we leave, it is surely possible it goes back to a training ground for the taliban and then we are stuck with the same threats to our -- >> so what was done for the last 12 years, 13 years or so was for naught? >> i help the answer to that is no. abdullahullah the front-runner in this election. by the way, why does it take two weeks to count votes? we saw a hugely corrupt election in 2009 and i'm worried this could repeat and seeing warlords among these candidates, despicable people and this fellow doston uzbek, who has blood on his hands. i don't know yet. if there's a more competent transparent government surely the bar is very low, there is a chance afghanistan turns around and our efforts were for something real and we went against the people who attacked us on 9/11. >> from one horrible situation in afghanistan to another bad one unfolding in ukraine, looks like that situation could escalate. not only ukrainians very nervous about what they're up to, latvia and others. what does putin want? >> putin is a bully. he has aspirations to restore greater russia. i don't think it's the communist empire. i don't think he's a communist. i think he needs to be -- his effort -- we need to push back more effectively. our strength is our econo

abdullah abdullah has secured 42%. ashraf gardeny with 8%. >> the leading contender would need to debt 50% of the vote. there are as a result scamming in. some will be released next week the the time tally, announcement will be mid may. at this stage, while the figures could change, it looks like abdullah abdullah and ashraf gardeny a lookihani a looking t run off. both will take part if the first round is conducted fairly. the election commission says while there has been fraud, it's not been at a significant enough level to affect the outcome of the poll. there'll certainly be a run off, but afghans may not know who the new president will be until the end of october when the final results are in and counted and disputes dealt with. >> the united nations panel for climate change is calling global warming a critical problem and is urging governments around the world to act fast. harry smith has details on the newly released report. >> this was the third and final chapter in the panel's report on climate change, the message is clear. the world must cut its reliance on coal and oil and make a switch to renewable energy. the report is a result of intense negotiations - some call it a clash of interests. it offers reasons for hope and some stark warnings. >> the longer we delay, the higher

abdullah abdullah came first with 44.9% of the vote just missing out on a 50% needed to win outright. he will face a run-off with a former world bake economist who came in second with 31.5% of the ballots but not everyone thinks the second round is a good idea. >> the election problems have affected the economy for the past several months. business has gone down. it's not good to have a second round. people will not come out to vote because they are afraid. >> it's normal for if a candidate doesn't win in the first round, if we like it or not, did should go to a second round. we want it to be fair and the election complaints commission should be transparent. >> there have been complaints of fraud, hundreds of thousands of votes are due to be investigated by the independent election complaints commission and then the final numbers are expected on may the 14th. >> there are also irregularities in the way the commission handled itself and we have been calling on them to make sure that transparency is increased for the candidates to trust and to accept the rut of the count -- result of the count >> abdullahbdullah says he believes most of the ballots suspected of being tampered with were cast in his favor. man say a run-off between the two men is inevitable because they don't think the results of the investigation will give abdullah a clear win. the champ can is preparing the country where security is a major concern for another round of elections at another huge financial cost. stefanie dekker, al jazeera. >> in ethiopia, 6 bloggers and a journalist have been arrested. they are known to be critical of the country's government. mohammed adel has their story >> six of the arrested journalists are said to be bloggers who call themselves the zone 9. they have big on social media. 7th where journalists have about writing for a newspaper, taken by armed security and taken to the central prison. the government has yet to say what will happen to these journalists. lawyers acting for them have told journalists that they might be arraigned in court on monday. now, this is not the first time ethio

abdullah abdullah is one of three frontrunners. >> it's a proud day for this proud nation. we have proven that there are people at the ballot, not of the bullet. the public, appreciates dem oblige rahsy, believes in it and is willing to make it work. the constitution is work. this is a day of celebration. kabul was locked down as part of an unprets dented nation-wide security operation that mobilized 400,000 security personal, helping to bring the number of attacks below the daily average in afghanistan. pallet counting started as polls closed. already there are allegations of fraud being made that will test the independence of the election commission. >> i'm not confident that the complaints would be handled fairly because we don't know how the elections commission and the complaints commission will act during the past experiences that we had with the two commegss. they have not been desirable. this time around it remains to be seen whether they act sincerely or in favour of one of the candidates. >> the commission is not expected to announce preliminary results from four to five days. it's never expected to be a poll free offed fraud. >> voting has begun in hungary's parliamentary elections. the current prime minister and the ultra conservative party is on course to retain power. lee barker reports from budapest. >> prime minister victor orban ran a carefully choreographed campaign. he commands devout support. the biggest political majority of any leader. his party is almost certain to win an election land sly d slide. >> when victor orban was elected prime minister it signalled a change. he's a conservative and a traditional list and left a message here with voters. his critics accused him of introducing right wing policies of making hungry an autogratic state. among his critics, the leader of the left-wing coalition. >> you have to decide whether you want to make the people be free or the government. i vote for people. government has to be controlled, not the people. >> the increased sway over the media revote the constitution to strengthen power. brussels accused hungary failing to respect democratic standards. the ruling party is accused of bringing down artificial rates, forcing people into communal labour. this man is a sound engineer. the whole money is 50,000, which is not really enough for a living. he sweeps the streets for $220 a month. victor orban may have his critics, but he's valued for keepi keeping aneye op reforms. hungary's future in europe depends on finding a delicate middle ground. >> still to come on al jazeera - the polls that could be from the missing malaysia plane. the search conditions, but there's no verification. plus - breathing new life into the eastern pacific grey whales. the mammals on the mexican coast. >> good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera - france pulled out of commemorations to mark the 20th anniversary of the rwandan genocide over allegations of complicity. 8,000 mainly tutsis were killed in the massacre. president obama congratulated afghanistan on the landmark presidential elections. 7 million people braved threats from the taliban to cast their votes. voting began in hungary's elections. the current prime minister and the ultra conservative party appeared on course. >> now, india starts to vote on monday in what will be the largest election in the world. polling is being divided into nine stages. it will take six weeks in the north-eastern state where final preparations are under way. >> that shreeky noise, the electronic voting machines are tested. this is where the journey began. hundreds gathered from different areas to collect the machines. the election commission is saying this will be the first election in india where the polling votes will be cast by the machines, there'll be no paper ballots. it will be the first time voting for half a million in this area. it sounds like a lot. it's a fraction of the million voters around the country. over 800 voters in all. the election commission hired vidiographers to make sure the election model code of conduct is followed. they are making sure no illegal activity is happening. they are there to make sure everything stays on budget. monday's vote is only the first. then a few days later on may 16th, the votes on this machine will be counted in india's election. >> there's no confirmation that the signals heard by a chinese ship are connected to the malaysia airlines jet. mh370 disappeared four weeks ago with 239 on board. >> this morning we were contacted by the chinese authorities and advised that "haixun 01"had late yesterday afternoon redetected the signals for 90 seconds within just 2km of the original detection. this is an important and encouraging lead. one which i urge you to continue to treat carefully. obviously we take any reported leads in the search seriously. that's why today royal australian air force assets will deploy to assist in further examining the acoustic signals in the vicinity of where the chinese ship has detected the sounds. >> al jazeera is demanding the release of its journalists who have been imprisoned for 91 days, the trial of mohamed fadel fahmy, mohammed badr, and peter greste's trial has been adjourned until april 10th. a fourth journalist abdullah al-shami has been detained without trial until august. his health is deteriorating. >> al jazeera detects all the charges against the journalists. >> the gruelling mass is about to start in morocco's sahara desert. where runners take on the mountains. the route is so top secret that competitors only find out on the eve of the event. temperatures reach up to 50 degrees celsius. the terrain is sand flats to sand dunes. the fourth statement is the toughest, 80km that must be completed in 34 hours. runners compete at their own peril. an italian competitor got lost in a sandstorm, discovered nine days later, 300km off course. he lost 20% of his body weight. al jazeera's andry richardson is live at the start line in the more okay jp sahara. maybe you or your guests there can shed some light on why on earth people do this. it's a good question. i've asked this for a number of people. och you get an inspiring story and a worried story. no one has got lost as yet. there's two gentlemen here. t

abdullah abdullah was runner-up in the last presidential election. he wants international troops to stay in the country. abdulla says -- abdullah says there is uncertainty because karzai refused to sign a security agreement with the u.s. zalmai rassoul was a close confidant of karzai. despite the range of candidates, mohammed has no plans to vote because he fears there could be repercussions. his mosque received a threatening level -- letter for registering people to vote. >> i had my voter card in my pocket, but the taliban have threatened us. if we go to vote, they will burn down my house. >> not far from his village, the taliban gather in front of our camera. the warning is clear. whoever votes puts their life in danger. >> we are not interested in elections. democracy has brought nothing good to our people. that is why we will not allow elections to be held in our country. >> but these threads are not going to determine the afghans, who are determined to vote. they are hoping for a peaceful election day. and a choice that is as free and fair as possible, under the circumstances. >> time for a reality check. john kerry says

i hope that's not the case. >> ethnicity matters in afghanistan and abdullah abdullah knows that. abdullahill need to attract broad based support if he's to have any chance of being propelled to the presidency. bernard smith, aljazeera, afghanistan. >> mark jake con send is a senior advisor at the truman project. how much does it matter to use foreign policy at this point who wins the afghan presidency? >> i think that we are at a pivotal moment. this is a real transition, the first real transition of political power in afghanistan in decades. we are talking about a new leader who most importantly is not hamid karzai and secondly a leader that is going to take afghanistan into a period where it is largely self reliant, without the sort of military support and without the sort of development and international aid it's relied on in the past. >> let's compare this election to the 2009 election when you saw u.s. troops helping to guard voters and polling stations. we're not expecting to see that this time around. why not? >> i think if you look at 2009 presidential elections, the 2010 parliame

one of those thought likely to succeed him, foreign minister abdullah abdullah, believes it will go well> is expected in the elections. the outcome of the elections will be accepted by the people of afghanistan. >> but most observers doubt any candidate will receive a majority in the first round. whoever emerges of afghanistan from next leader will have to decide whether to engage the taliban and on peace talks and whether to sign a security pact with the united states. >> hands-on science for you now. they call them high-tech eyes in the sky. in about one and a half hours from now, i knew you're a in observation will be lost. >> the rocket carrying the first in a string of satellites will blast off from french guiana in south america. it is a joint project worth about 4 billion euros. >> the program could prove invaluable, saving countless lives from environmental catastrophes. >> sentinel one will circle the earth. it is the first of six satellites that will make up the global monitoring system copernicus. using radar to scan the surface far below, it will survey the entire globe. its

abdullah abdullah, who ran in 2009 but lost. another is ashraf ghani ahmadzai, a formier finance minister and world bank figures. and zalmai rassoul, serving as foreign minister, and has been one of hamid karzai's closestal lies. >> well, many afghan came out to vote, despite the threat of violence. here is what some had to say? >> i voted for the welfare of my country, the future and the rebuilding. i'm happy, and now i'm going back. >> as an afghan woman, i've come to cast my vote. i ask all afghan women to come and vote. >> the police are providing us with security. happily we have dom cast our votes. >> if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round must be held between the two top contenders. results will not be known until mid may. the new president is unlikely to be in place before july and august. there are an estimated 12 million voters, and around 12 million voter registration cards are in circulation, raising concerns about fraud. there's 6,800 centres. for many casting a vote, it was hours travelling. >> let's go bernard smith, standing by in kabul. how is the big day shaping up? >> elizabeth, it's pouring with rain, we've had thunter and light -- thunder and lightening and the threat of taliban violence. kabul is almost locked down by security forces. despite all of that there seems an enthusiasm to vote. there has been long lines at polling stations. people getting drenched. taking a turn to vote. the first time in 5,000 years there'll be a democratic transfer of power. many afghans want to be part of that, despite the taliban's threat to target those taking part in the election. joined by a mayor monitoring the vote. haroon, indications are that there has been a good turn out. how important is that? >> it is important for us. it will help to improve the legitimacy of the election. we face challenges and deadlock. this is a good indication that participation will remove doubt that existed in 2014. also, there's the pressure on the independent election commission, because the voter turn out will make sure that all the fraudulent votes will be discounted and everything xble will be down. >> also, the government is under pressure. this time the government will not be prim tifs to favour a candidate. all is good for us. now the challenge is the rain rather than the taliban. we are happy that by the end of this day, the voting process will have scopd and a majority participating in the process. give us n indication of the challenges of the next president. >> i think in 2014 there'll be challenges, political because of whoever win, the country may be divid divided. the election decision will be made based on ethnicity. the level of international assistance will be reduced and we are facing challenges because in 2013 the growth rate has fallen from 10% to 4%. we see already a number without jobs. challenges are tremendous. we hope the next government will be inclusive. this is what we have heard. it will be an incruisive government that everyone should be part of. hopefully the taliban will accept the olive branch extended by hamid karzai, and the peace process. >> thank you for joining you. >> polls close at 4:00 pm local time. i've been reminded that in this normally dry country rain is a blessing, although it doesn't feel like it when you have to stand out in it. >> that's bernard smith covering the afghan election for us from the capital, kabul. >> to other news. the number of people killed by flash flooding in the solomon islands is expected to rise. 10,000 are homeless. 16 are known to have died in the capital honiara. aid agencies described it as the worst flooding in the pacific nation history. heavy rain is threatening more flood damage. >> a number of my staff witnessed dead people and particularly children have been washed away by flash floods. the water has come up so quickly at times. >> mohamed morsi is back in court. mohamed morsi and several other muslim brotherhood members are accused of in sitting the murder of -- inciting the murder. 11 were killed in the protests, triggered when mohamed morsi decreed himself above the law. >> al jazeera is demanding the immediate release of journalists who have been in prison in egypt for 98 days. the trial of peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and mohammed badr, has been adjourned until 10 april. they are falsely accused of providing a platform for the outlawed muslim brotherhood. a fourth journalist, al jazeera arabic's abdullah al-shami has been detained without trial since last august. after 75 days on hunger strike his health is deteriorating. al jazeera is rejecting all charges against its journalists. >> thousands have been demonstrating in bahrain where the formula 1 was held. the mass rally coincided with the practice session. protesters marched in the capital, demanding political reforms and the release of prisoners. many belonging to the shia muslim majority want more say in the country. >> syrian activists report an air strike in aleppo. more than 45 have been killed. al jazeera cannot independently verify the pictures. activists posted video showing what they say are rebel attacks on forces in latakia and idlib. >> 13 protestors have been injured, demonstrating against israel's refusal to release prisoners as had been promised. it was part of an agreement aimed at kick starting peace talks. >> stefanie dekker reports from outside a prison near ramallah. >> before the protests had a chance to start.

then there's abdullah abdullah. he ran for president back in 2009, finishing is distant second to hamid karzai. he is a former eye doctor. >> let's talk about zalmai rassoul, he's believed to be hamid karzai's top pick. jane ferguson takes a look at what his victory could mean. >> even those hoping to run this country can't travel its roads. this presidential candidate's helicopter lands at a spot which is a 2-hour drive from the capital, a journey considered too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruption linked to the government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. >> you were part of the government. what will you do differently? >> first of all, i have not been involved in corruption issues. the fact that i have been involved - i know what is happening. i know which kind of thing we should do to correct that. i want to p

is where the american people can be proud of their progress, and the leading candidates, dr abdullah abdullah, and others have made it clear they are prepared to sign a bilateral security agreement with the united states and condition the partnership and friendship. i'm very optimistic. >> let's make predictions about the election. michael says the only thing we can confidently predict is that it will happen:. >> you have been to afghanistan - corruption, will we see this. >> you'll see everything you mentioned. the question is what is the outgrowth of the results. because this is such a wide number of - it will be hard for one guy to stuff all the ballot boxes. there's patronage, people paying up and down the chain of command so to speak. everyone benefits, it doesn't change the fact they'll go to the polls. the taliban is trying to disrupt this. they have been successful getting rid of international observers. part of the problem is we have only secured the urban areas. most of the afghan people do not read or write. they are completely outside the sphere of where we set up the security zon

abdullah abdullah, but lost to hamid karzai in 2009. another is ghani, a warmer world bank official and afghan finance minister. he contested the vote in 2009. and a previously serving foreign minister, one of hamid karzai's closest allies. >> let's cross to our correspondent bernard smith, in kabul for us. how is the day shaping up? >> well, despite the cold, rainy damp weather, there is a significant turn out to vote as far as we under. we have been around - my colleagues have been around looking at polling stations. lots of people turning out to vote. the weather is better. $12 million, 12.5 million afghan residents to vote. this is the first time in the history informant 5,000-year history of the country that there'll be a democratic transfer of power. many afghans, despite the threat from the taliban are keen to take part. i'm drawn by haroon who will be with us watching the election. what will be the decider on whether the election will be free. >> 7 o'clock people have come out of your homes to go and vote. we are not seeing taliban attacks. there are sporadic attacks. but it's not impacting people's participation. this is a good indication that this time the election is different from the previous elections and people are willing to vote because they will pick a new leader, and that will be the first time you have a peaceful transfer of power. to continue the political process, it is important for us to have a peaceful transfer of power in this country. >> what makes the elections different. it's a consciousness. people know that it's important. they are aware of their rights. >> they know 2014 is critical. n.a.t.o. is the end of this year, the international community's commitment will not be like the previous year. we need to rely on our own. this is why people are taking the pain to go out, despite the rain and serious threat from the taliban, making sure the political process will continue, otherwise we fall back to what is witnessed. we know our enemies are still strong. the taliban, al qaeda and other elements. they don't want stability, and i think this is a good message, that the people want to make an important decision and pick the next leader peacefully and democratically. it's important to us. >> significant attempts made in the election to prevent fraud, ballot boxes are sealed, ballots barcoded. already from one province we had a senior police officers and security official arrested after they were found with five stuffed ballot boxes, and the interior ministry has been given a briefing. there has been a few, but nothing too significant at the moment. back to you. >> thank you for that. that's bernard smith joining us from kabul. >> to other news. the death toll from flash demruding in the so'oialo -- flooding in the solomons islands is expected to rise. dozens have been killed many are missing. it's been described as the worst flooding. whole communities were washed away. >> a number of my staff have witnessed dead people particularly children washed away by the flash floods. the water came up so quickly at times. >> syrian opposition activists report a major government air strike in aleppo. more than 45 people have been killed in the alshabbier neighbourhood. pictures have been posted online on government forces in latakia. >> thousands of anti-government protesters have been demonstrating where this weekend's formula 1 grand prix has been held. the mass rally coincided with the practice session. many in the shia muslim majority say they want more say. >> al jazeera is demanding the release of its journalists who have been in prison in egypt for 98 days. the trial of peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and mohammed badr has been adjourned until 10 april, they are falsely accused of providing a platform to the muslim brotherhood. a forth journalist abdullah al-shami has been detained without trial since last august, and he has been on hunger strike for the past three months. al jazeera rejects all the charges. >> 13 protesters have been injured in a confrontation with israeli forces. the palestinians were demonstrating againstst rail's decision -- against israel's decision to cancel a prisoner release program. it was aimed at kick starting peace talks, which appear on the verge of col ams. stefanie dekker -- collapse. stefanie dekker reports from outside a prison near ramallah. >> before the protest had a chance to get started. israeli forces made sure it didn't get out of hand. 13 were injured outside the prison. they were supposed to release a final batch of prisoners. >> translation: israel wants to use the prisoners as a blackmail card, forcing the leadership to extend the talks and framework. we don't accept it. >> israelis insist palestinians are not being honest, and not a serious partner for peace. >> palestinians do not agree, a

abdullah abdullah and the exfinance minister are heading the field. the april 5th poll is to choose a successor to outgoing president hamid karzai. the election commission announced the portion results on sunday based on 10% of the votes counted from 26 of 34 provinces. it says abdullah has nearly 42% of the vote, while ghani has about 38%. abdullah was an influential figure in the now defunct northern alliance which cooperated with u.s. forces to topple the taliban government in 2001. and ghani has international recognition as a former world bank official. another former foreign minister rasul is trailing with 9.8%. he's reportedly close to karzai. a clearer picture of the outcome is expected by late april, if no candidate securities the majority required for an outright win, the top two finishers will enter a runoff on may 2th. the taliban had tried to disrupt the election. it denounced the major candidates as u.s. puppets and is pledging to launch more attacks. >>> some japanese owners, business owners in japan are trying to largely untapped market. they're eyeing a largely untapped market, the country's aging population. they've showed off their newest products at a trade show aimed at seniors. nhk visited the event to find out more. >> reporter: it's a trade far

abdullah abdullah; he served as foreign minister after the ouster of the taliban. >> ( translated ): today's event can be the beginning of the democratic process in the history of afghanistan and one step ahead toward a better future. >> warner: abdullah got nearly 30% against karzai in 2009 in an election marred by fraud, ballot-box stuffing and official corruption; by some accounts, more than a million of the 4.5 million votes cast were deemed fraudulent. at a dramatic gathering of his supporters in november that year, abdullah withdrew from the run-off against karzai, saying the fix was in. now some early unofficial estimates from this election show abdullah with a lead. others show ghani ahead. so far, there aren't reports of the sort-of brazen fraud that marred 2009's vote, though all three leading campaigns have leveled some charges of improprieties. in washington today, white house spokesman jay carney insisted the u.s. doesn't have a favorite. >> we don't have a preferred candidate because the future of afghanistan is up to the afghans to decide. we look forward to a productive relationship with president karzai's successor, whomever that may be. >> warner: the obama administration's relations with karzai, rocky at best, took

abdullah abdullah, a former foreign minister who ran in presidential elections in 2009. he believes he was cheated in that presidential election by president karzai. many people, including the united nations, accuse president karzai of stuffing ballot boxes and of his campaign manipulating the votes in order to secure his victory. abdullahh is coming back again, and he hopes to have a much better showing this time. the other main candidate is well-known to the international donor community. he is an economist. he taught in the united states. he is taking somewhat of a hard line nationalist position. the last candidate is much more of the leading candidates is much less known. he's close to karzai. he is one of the last foreign ministers that karzai has had. and critics say that he is quite close to karzai, and some people say that if he wins, that it would really be a vote for kay psi, who doesn't necessarily want to step away from politics completely. back to you. >> nbc's richard engel. thank you so much. march marked the first time in 11 years that no american troops were killed in afghanistan or iraq. while that's promising news as the mission winds down, the question of what america leaves behind in afghanistan is still yet to be answered. this week's "time" magazine cover story "return of the taliban" details the

presidential candidate abdullah abdullah remains caution. he lost the last election in 2009 to president karzai in a vote that was widely considered fraudulent. >> the people this time around are very serious that their votes should be counted rightly and fairly. >> reporter: there are still 33,000 american troops here but today they were nowhere to be seen. earlier this week, we toured eastern afghanistan with major general steven townsend who said his forces were on standby. what are american troops doing to help with this election? >> that's a good question. actually, very much behind the scenes. the afghans truly are in the lead for this election. >> reporter: this was the first election afghans secured themselves. it was violent. the government nonetheless called it a huge success. but there is still a lot of time to manipulate results in the two weeks it will take the count the votes. it's unlikely that any of the candidates will win an outright majority. there will probably be a runoff so there might not be a new afghan government in

former foreign minister abdullah abdullah got the majority. afghan election law requires a run-off between the top two candidates if no one candidate gets a majority. the next round of voting should be held some time in the next two weeks. >>> the nba now investigating racist remarks on tape allegedly made by the owner of the l.a. clippers, donald sterling. sterling purportedly tells his girlfriend on the recording not to bring black people to games. nba spokesman mike bass issuing a statement saying, the league is in the process of authenticating the reporting spoesed on tmz's website. bass also calling the comments, quote, disturbing and offensive and says the league will have no further comment. >>> the connecticut teenager accused of fatally stabbing a fellow student in a school hallway will face the murder charge as an adult. the teen is currently in the custody of police in a medical facility under mental evaluation. the victim, 16-year-old marin sanchez, was stabbed to death the day of her school's junior prom. nearly 200 community memb

abdullah abdullah is one of the three front runners. this is another. along with ashraf ghani. kabul was knocked down as part of a security operation that mobilized 400 security personnel. that helped to bring the attacks below average, according to security forces. ballot counting started as polls closed. already there are allegations of fraud being made that will test the independence of the election commission. >> i am not confident that the complaints would be handled fairly, because we don't know how the elections commission and the complaints commission will act during the past experiences that we have had with the two commissions have not been desirable, and this time around it remains to be seen whether they will act sincerely or they will act in favour of one of the candidates. >> the mission is not expected to announce blirm results for four to five days. it was never expected to be a poll free of fraud, but how much there is will determine whether afghans accept the commission's decision on the winner. >> four weeks after malaysia airlines flight mh370 completely van

abdullah abdullah leads with about 43%, and followed by the e finance minister. >>> south sudan threwut charges against four political prisoners accused of threatening to overthrow riek machar. we have this update from juva. . >> reporter: two significant event suggesting there's a lot of activity going on behind the scenes of government. the first is four political detainees in kust since december had charges against them dismissed, along with seven others released earlier into the year into the custody of kenya. this suggests that the government were attempting to improve the situation when they go to talks in ethiopia. the first major-general hofmi was removed and general matt bol. the head of military intelligence. we are not sure what the reason is. the government told us it's a routine procedure. these people have been in the positions for a long time and it was the right moment for them to move. others suggest the government is not happy with the way things have been going militarily. the rebels have taken major gains, and this is looked at as a possible means of removal of two

abdullah abdullah, came in second to karzai. and abdullahs the most prominent tajc candidate at this point. and it will do very well in the first round. the question is, in a country where the majority of the population are ethnic posh tunes, will abdullah and tajc be able to win the election. that seems unlikely. >> so you have one candidate favored by karzai, the one trailing in the polls, and a vice presidential candidate that's a woman. >> reporter: yeah, karzai has not publicly articulated any preference. there is widespread perception that he's favoring dr. sewell, his former foreign minister. but it's unclear exactly what that preference would mean, if it, in fact, is true. but rasual is a french educated physician, would be an historic thing in afghanistan. according to the polls, which, of course, aren't precise in afghanistan. he is in a distant third. >> if one of these candidates comes into power, is there a difference in policy likely that will keep u.s. troops on the ground longer? >> you know, it's been a bit of a guessing gam

abdullah abdullah is ahead. but they're looking into allegations of vote rigging. people across afghanistan went to the polls on april 5th. members of the election commission have released their midterm results. abdullah has received about 44% of the vote. he was a senior member of the northern alliance. that was a group that cooperated with international forces to bring down the taliban government. former finance minister ash rat ghani has 33% of the vote. he's a former world bank official. zalman rassoul got 10% of the vote and is reportedly close to outgoing president hamid karzai. administration officials are recounting some of the ballots. they expect boat rigging in about 7% of the tolling stations. on thursday they plan to make a preliminary announcement about the final election results but the investigation into the alleged vote rigging might cause delays. >>> now the people who run malaysia airlines are dealing with new problems in the air. aviation officials in kuala lumpur say a jet has made an emergency landing. no one on board was hurt. the boeing 737 was carrying 159 passengers and 7 crew members. it took off from kuala lumpur airport bound for bangalore in southern india. but the plane

abdullah abdullah has 41.9%. gani, 37%. some will be released next week. the final tally, the final announcement will be mid may, but if this stage, if figures could change, it looks like abdullahul & garni are headed for a run-off vote. >> could be held at the earliest at the end of may. both said they will take part in a run-off if they consider the first run round was conducted failure. the election complaints commission they haven't been at a significant enough level that would affect the outcome of the poll. so, therefore, they will almost certainly be a run-off. they might not know who the president is going to be. the new president is going to be. the final results were all in and count cowed and disputes dealt with. the country that's known as africa's narco state. it has become a major trafficking point out of south america. the trafficking is set to be spreading to nearby countries. a recently haul was picked up in anything thatting agabegiguinea it has a history of coups since gaining independence from portugal. the last coup was two years ago. now an inflewential report says there is a corrupt and centralized leadership and an inadequate and underfunded justice syst

abdullah abdullah will need to attract broad-based support. >> a reminder that you can keep up to date with all the news all the time on the website, aljazeera.com. a company that you bailed out with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. i'll give you my take. g.m. is not the huge company that it used to be, but it's still a part of our economy. i'll tell you how big. money, power and an old fashioned alarm clock. ariana huffington with her three-prong idea for success. i'm ali velshi, than is "real money." >> this is real money. you are the most important part of the show. join our live conversation for the next half hour on twitter and also facebook. 6,226,000. that's the total number of vehicles general motors has recalled this year alone. today america demanded answers from g.m. over ignition switches linked to 13 traffic deaths over a decade. and america got virtually nothing. when members of the house panel one after another pressed g.m. ceo mary barra over what g.m. knew and when, she simply repeated we're reviewing that. she later told reporters we hired tony velucas. tony vel uca

the latest presidential election results out of afghanistan showed the foreign minister abdullah abdullah in the lead with 45%, followed by exworld bank economist with 31%. the two will compete in a runoff election six weeks from now. both candidates have said they will findsign a security pact w theted states. the agreement would put about 10,000 american troops in afghanistan beyond the end of this year. less than 24 hours after a tornado swept through north carolina, other parts of the nation could face severe storms tonight and tomorrow. this is the weather channel forecast for to fight, then this is what could be in store tomorrow. that twister in north carolina last eveng damaged hundreds of homes and left thousands without power, at least 30 people were reported injured. word that the scientists whose work in the 1960s helped establish the link between genetics and obesity has died. the canadian born douglas coleman was 82. he discovered that a blood-born substance could curb hunger. that discovery helped a team in rockefeller university working in the 1990s identified gene lepti n

it will be between abdullah abdullah and the former world bank official. >>> at least 15 people have died in a series of apparent sectarian murders in the iraqi capit capital baghdad after bombings of at a rally killed at least 37 people. >>> al jazeera continues to call for the immediate release of its journalists being held in egypt. the trial is being adjourned until may the 3rd. they have now been in jail for 119 days. peter guesta, mohammed setbi and mohammed mohatma. shami, the fourth in detention has been held without trial since last august. he's been on hunger strike for the last 96 days. al jazeera rejects all charges and continues to demand the immediate release of its staff. >>> the syrian army has regained control of the alamun region west of damascus. opposition rebels surrendered after intense fighting. it was their last major stronghold along lebanon's border and as azana had you hods >> reporter: their last stronghold in the region west of damascus, iran's t.v. broadcast pictures of dozens of opposition fighters handing themselves over to the syrian authorities. >> t