state despite that claim security and sectarian tensions have been major issues we'll take you to baghdad for the latest also on the program. the cattle and parliament is selecting a new leader but is the likely winner interested in ending the feud in spain central government. and i'm going to sligo football hamburg had been relegated for the first time in the club's history after yet another season of draws and defeats fans' fears of controversy wishing the genes of record uninterrupted top flight run calms to an end. and welcome to the program in iraq at least three people have reportedly been killed in a bomb attack the explosion happened just south of the oil rich city of kirkuk this comes just hours after polls close in iraq's first parliamentary elections since the government declared victory over islamic state militants security forces in the area say the blast is linked to the election. iraqi voters cast their ballots amid tight security but turnout was lower than expected partly because islamic state militants had threatened attacks at polling places because if you own cars in th

abdul karim in baghdad thank you. let's start take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world syrian human rights observers say at least nineteen iranians were amongst more than forty killed in israeli strikes on syria this week israel's army says it struck iranian military targets south of damascus following a rocket attack on the israeli controlled golan heights which israel believes was carried out by iran. because of the sets of protein i knew the leader pro independence parties in the region are packing torah has promised to fight these to continue the fight against madrid catalonia has been without a government since late last year when madrid sacked colors proved the most prominent supporter of the us president donald trump has declared a major disaster as it can away a volcano continues to erupt on hawaii's big island scientists are warning of new eruptions and more destructive lava flows dozens of homes have been destroyed since going away erupted more than a week ago. it's a they could

message group despite this security and sectarian tensions have been big issues take you live to baghdad for the latest also on the program. it's really might finally be about to get a new government after months of deadlock the leaders of the five star movement on the northern league that had a deadline for a deal to be done. and europe gears up for its annual festival of kitsch. the euro vision song contest takes place in the portuguese capital lisbon time nights guide you through the fight. i'm still going to welcome to the program the polls have just closed in iraq which has been holding its first parliamentary election since the government declared victory over these nomic states that militant group on the eve of today's polling at least a four people were shot dead in a suspected i asked attack in northern iraq but today's vote proceeded without any major incidents. iraqis have gone to the polls i cited strict security controls and border fencing insite though a high priority for the voting public and the candidates in the ballot the influence of neighboring iran. several mean runn

abdul karim in baghdad thank you. the parliament of spain's catalonia region has been voting for a new leader a step that could and months of deadlock pro independence parties are backing kim torah who has vowed to continue the independence fight against madrid cuts alone it has been without a government since that late last year when ridge removed college food to most cabinet which involves allies then one regional elections in december and have been trying to form a government ever since if the regime is still without a government by the twenty second of may catalonia will face fresh elections. are journalists on a yahoo affair is in the catalan capital boss of the news a welcome called aspersion one has dominated kim torah to succeed him as lead the following spent today debating that nomination what happens next. well i will do something a problem of us have an answer that we always saw the first around in the parliament in torah didn't get an absolute majority in the first round because sixty six m. is voted to s

military group despite their security and sectarian tensions are still big aces will take you to baghdad also on the program. it's a late night finally be about to get a new government and lots of the leaders of the five star movement in the north and the deadline for a deal to be done. and europe gears up for its annual festival of catch and dance. the eurovision song contest takes place in the portuguese capitalist will guide you through the five boroughs. i'm phil gal welcome to the program iraq is holding its first fall of entry election since the government declared the defeat of the islamic state millicent group despite their security still a problem as jihad they saw still active in some pockets of the country a leave of today's vote at least four people were shot dead in a suspected i asked attack in northern iraq. iraqis are going to the polls site strict security controls and border fencing in sight though the high priority for voters and those on the ballot is the influence of iran. several mean runners have close ties with turan wins from them and gains from shia muslim candi

t w correspondent you're far too old karim is covering these elections from baghdad in cooperation with a rocky channel all rashid t.v. just far welcome what are you hearing about the bomb attack near the city of kirkuk at the moment is that what i heard so far what happened in korea coop that three people where there were clues through that that's happened there were the two voters not one. but two no there's nothing. and that's the only what we know. ok now with regard to the election the prime minister partially lifted a curfew to encourage more people to vote this appeared to have made any difference from what you could tell. well what i can tell i wasn't blacked out and i going to one of the polls and voting stations you could see that the streets were empty and the curfew was there and you see people walking maybe three to four kilometers in order to reach the voting stations and off today so the turnout is very low even at the afternoon day a body decided to change it but according to what i saw on my impression because i came back the streets were still almost empty and when i t

state is underway but security and six marion tensions are still big issues on polling day we go to baghdad to find out what the feeling is on the street but also coming up could italy finally be getting a new government after months of deadlock the leaders of the five star movement and the northern league set a deadline to make a deal. and it's an action packed final day in the bundesliga with hoffenheim dortmund and deliver coups and among the teams chasing champions league qualification meanwhile for hamburg was poor and freiburg its survival by any means necessary. welcome to the program i married and stay in iraq is holding its first parliamentary elections since the defeat of the so-called islamic state last year as the country seeks to rebuild after years of conflict the vote is not expected to yield any real surprises most of the main candidates are well known they have dominated iraqi politics since the u.s. led invasion toppled dictator saddam hussein back in two thousand and three security forces are on high alert as the nation heads to the polls borders and airports will remain

correspondent kareen is covering these elections from baghdad in cooperation with iraqi channel al rashid the t.v. welcome to the prime minister partially a security curfew to encourage more people to vote or did this work yes well according to my impression of what i saw today it didn't work because on our way to a voting station you saw a lot of people walking and some of them complained because they had to walk for on forty five kilometers to reach the voting stations but after that after the curfew was set then it didn't change too because we were on our way back and it was the same amount of people who were in the streets and not even more i'm talking to the people they have a big question about the whole election date and what's going on let's talk about that i really do do people expect that yesterday's election to change anything. i talk to people in baghdad i talk to people in the north and north of iraq in mosul i talk to the people in erbil and according to my impression you know they don't believe there's going to be any change because they say how could change happen if the g

inside story baghdad. if the recount does go ahead it would impact about ten percent of votes cast overall but that could prove decisive in an election that produced no clear winner here's where things stand now she of the southers set your own bloc won the most parliamentary seats fifty four souther though is not putting himself forward as prime minister. fattah party came a close second with forty seven seas he's known to have close ties with iran and had a coalition of groups i guess i still the incumbent prime minister hate that all about his victory alliance trailed in third place with forty two seats the elections in iraq were marked by a record low turnout but were free from serious violence. let's now go over fast of our guests joining us in but. the director of the house of iraqi expertise beyond asian and senior foreign policy adviser to the speaker of the iraqi parliament in erbil judith nearing afirm journalist and founder of the independent media center in kurdistan in washington d.c. christin

schwarzkopf were not responsible for us going to baghdad. we never had a mandate to go to baghdad. the u.n. resolution was to get out of kuwait. sometimes victory is not total. sir? >> i was always under the impression that because we were beaten over the head by video on tv newscast of the highway of death, where the warthogs -- and i mean, it was a slaughter. >> i was there. it was not a slaughter. they would take vehicles out, let the iraqis run, then blow up the vehicles that remained. >> but they were saying something to the effect that president bush could not even handle this. >> no. bush said in the afternoon that powell called schwarzkopf, you can have 24 hours if you want it. my sympathy for what happened on the highway of death, my unit covered the highway of death. soldierntered an iraqi who lived long enough to have someone hold his hand when he died. horrible things happen. if you have been in kuwait and see what the iraqis had done, your sympathy may have been watered down a little bit. it was a video problem. there was a compelling narrative we needed to stop. presi

yalda hakim is in baghdad. what is the expectation? security is incredibly tight here in baghdad. there is a steady stream of people coming here and they have been coming since the early hours of the morning. this is the first national referendum since the fall of the islamic state and that is what makes it so significant and historic. the whole country is on high alert. airports and borders we re high alert. airports and borders were closed and movement of vehicles throughout the provinces has been limited because of the concerns and threat from the so—called islamic state. there had been assassinations of candidates and also other threats on polling stations. as yet we have not heard any direct threats on any of the polling stations. but there isa of the polling stations. but there is a crowded field, about 7000 candidates and 329 seats. almost 40% of the candidates are women, which is quite incredible especially because a lot of them come from places like mosel and fully java we re places like mosel and fully java were “— places like mosel and fully java were —— and falluja wer

but the capital, baghdad, is more secure and stable thanit has been in years.alda hakim reports. it is almost midnight in this middle—class neighbourhood of baghdad. but this restaurant is full. a new—found security has brought this city back to life. 18—year—old izra says she is out on her own to light. translation: in the last few years, it has been say. i can go to the mall alone and have my own freedom. my mall alone and have my own freedom. my parents to worry about me like they used to. today's baghdad is unrecognisable compared to the daily violence that the residents of this city in due for almost 15 years. these days some cafes are even open for 21 out —— pretty 3a hours. —— pretty for hours. —— 24. this —— pretty 34 hours. —— pretty for hours. —— 24. this city is now the safest it has been since 2003. this is the before the if: killed ere! ede-“51:25“ hafiz; §~5§~5 555.92 555—53; to sz fe"~ahzf hafiz; §~a~a ha‘jh ;’f—sz; wigs?- " those sz fe"~ahzf hafiz; §~a~a ha‘jh ;’f—sz; first; " those 555 but is hard to imagine those easier. but it is still on high

is underway but security and sectarian tensions are still the big issues on polling day we go to baghdad to find out what the feeling is on the street also coming up the cattle on parliament is set to vote in a new leader from bug is the favorite interested in ending the feud with madrid. and it's an action packed final day in the going to sleep with a champions league showdown between hoffenheim and dortmund later goosen are also in the hunt for europe one from hamburg a blood sport in freiburg it's survival by any means necessary. thanks for joining us i'm marian evans to iraq is holding its first parliamentary elections since the government declared the defeat of the so-called islamic state by the government's victory has not made iraqis feel more secure i s's still present in some pockets of iraq at least four people were shot dead in the suspected aietes attack in northern iraq on the eve of the vote. iraqis are going to the polls say strict security controls and border fencing in sight though the high priority for of course voters and those on the ballot is the influence of iran se

or for the latest on the iraqi vote to karim joins us on the line now from baghdad so far we've just heard in our report lots of issues on the minds of voters but do they expect this election to change anything seem to have be having some difficulty with our line to jeffard to far in baghdad do we have you with us. all right looks like we have lost our connection with our correspondent in baghdad we will try to get back to him later in the program now turn to some other news that world leaders are stepping up their efforts to save the iran nuclear deal with the foreign ministers of germany france and britain due to meet their iranian counterpart next week the diplomatic scramble comes after israel attacked iran's position in syria early on thursday in response to allegedly raining attacks on israeli outposts on the golan heights. two days after the attacks tensions in the middle east continue to saw off heating prayers in the iranian capital a senior cleric threatened israel with destruction. of all if there's anything foolish rule raised to the heights or to the ground of. israel is

militant group despite their security and sectarian tensions are still big issues we'll take you to baghdad to find out how iraqis feel about who's also on the program it's a late night finally be about to get a new government after months of deadlock the leaders of the five star movement on the northern league i sense a deadline to make a deal. and it's an action packed final day in the bundesliga for the champions league showdown between hoffenheim and dortmund leverkusen are also in the hunt for europe while. just looking to so. i'm phil gal welcome to the program iraq is holding its first follow entry elections since the government declared the defeat of the islamic state militant group despite this security still a problem as jihad is still active in some pockets of the country on the eve of today's votes at least four people were shot dead in a suspected i asked attack in northern iraq. iraqis are going to the polls say strict security controls and border fencing in sight though the high priority for of course voters and those on the ballot is the influence of iran several mean runner

talk today about backed out of the observers told me only twenty five percent of the population in baghdad participated today in the election and population of black that is almost more than five million so all over when you talk to the people it wasn't a big surprise for them that the turnout was low because at the beginning they didn't have enough trust in this elections because they're criticizing the government because they're doing this elections in times where you have daily attacks and daily blasts and also criticizing the government and a bloody himself for corruption. jeff eyes you just mentioned you've been speaking to iraqis there cut the country faces major economic challenges after battling the so-called islamic state for the past several years so do voters there expect this election to bring about the change that they need when i talk to them and especially when not see here only in bucket but in north of iraq in mosul where d.s. one year ago was still there and a body always says like we're defeated today the the the i asked talk to the people there day know that these elect

when i talk to the people here in iraq if it's here in baghdad or in mosul or in erbil they don't expect big changes they are some kind of confused and don't feel well about the whole elections they see it more as a show because they are they ask themselves having now an election in times where you face terrorism where unemployment is very high and if you look like to the north in parts of iraq in mosul which is like a year ago was under control of the i as i know was defeated according what the government here says there's no infrastructure in the city half of the city is destroyed and the people don't have a place to live you have a lot of internally displaced people around one million who are not being able to go back to their homes because their homes are destroyed and high corruption and all this together makes a big question by the voters and a lot of people you talk here on the streets i talk to them and they said i'm not going to vote because it's not going to change anything the same people the same game and that's why i don't want to be part of it. well this is though it is bei

a lot of people said should have gone on to baghdad. i was in the peace party today the cease-fire happened. stan was in the party too. he wrote in his diary, " i'm going to live," or something to that effect. i learned everything i needed to know about combat the first time i got shot at. you don't need any postdoctoral study in getting shot at. you get fired at one time and you learn everything you need to know. it is scary, and it is permanent. diverse coalition. the arabs were never going to let us go to baghdad, never. we didn't need to do it, so we weren't going to go. i love colin powell. i would have voted for him for president, but he enjoyed way too much influence. the war termination effort and one of between powell and schwarzkopf is the way things ended the way they did. it's an opinion. you can read what i wrote about it and see if you believe it but i think colin powell and norm schwarzkopf screwed up the end of the war. military factors. saddam's army was war-weary. he was beat up, he was tired. we captured guys who had

that is a polling station in the capital, baghdad.hite house aide who joked that his opposition to president trump's choice for cia director didn't matter because "he's dying anyway." mr mccain is battling terminal brain cancer. his daughter meghan had this to say. and whatever you want to say, in this kind of environment, the thing that surprises me most is, i was talking about this with you, joy, i don't understand what kind of environment you are working in where that would be acceptable and then you could come to work the next day and still have a job and that is all i have to say. 0ur north america reporter anthony zurcher has more from washington. what we know is that it was kelly sadler who reportedly said this. she is a white house aide, came over to the trump white house from a local washington conservative newspaper. she was responding to the criticism ofjohn mccain blocking gina haspel, the cia nominee, said, "it does not matter, he's going to die anyway." this was a closed—door meeting but i think it is reflective of the a

the biggest, vast party membership was in sadr city, baghdad. this is history now, making me feel a little bit old but sadr city was where moktadr, this was a very large shia population in baghdad. it's in the eastern part of baghdad and probably 95 percent of the population of that city was she off but there were they were the largest party that was essentially in charge of during his reign over iraq. >> there is a microphone on this side too. i'll ask one more question and we godirectly to the students and my question is this . why has nobody ever been held to account for these unending wars as they are called without results? why isn't anybody ever held to account?let me start with mister bacevich to answer that and then the other two, miss skyand mister king can join in .>> i don't believe i have an adequate answer. i think the closest i can come is to say that within the policy elite, republican, democrat, in your professional military officers, the other people who make their living within the beltway, there is a common mindset. and the co

bob is that if baghdad bob didn't say what saddam hussein wanted him to say baghdad bob would have been shot. sarah sanders stands up there a willful participant. lying of her own volition. baghdad bob was a hostage. sarah sanders is an accomplice. as is the entirety of the political operation of the white house. they're all in it together. they serve in a debased administration that's dividing the country, hurting america, pitting americans against each other because obviously that's what they believe is the right thing to do for them to maintain the prerequisites and perks of their powerful positions. that's what the difference is. >> kristen welker, we applaud, i watched the whole briefing. we applaud your valiant efforts. we appreciate you spending time with us. steve schmidt, thank you, the one and only steve schmidt. thank you for spending time with us. when we come back, what's wrong with these people? that's the question being asked by the trump white house. we'll try to answer it. also ahead, behind the curtain on the michael cohen expose. we go inside the new details about mic

baghdad. members of the iraqi parliament called an open special session on monday following more allegations of fraud during parliamentary elections earlier this month they called the votes in the predominately sunni provinces of. nineveh and all ballots cast by iraqis living abroad to be manually recounted the demand was supported by many sunni politicians and others who opposed the election results which source successful outcome for three main shia led blocs in iraq's first election since the defeat of eisel. there are frauds and problems that took place and that is seeing into the made by parliament today i personally support the. interest of the political and the book attic process in iraq and they must be implemented. prime minister hyderabadi warned in his weekly news conference a potential political instability if demands for recounts continued and had them shape we're checking all violations and complaints i must say that the political process is important we can't get into a politica

martin patience, bbc news, baghdad. than a week could be heading for a series of explosive eruptions.p through the ground. with the acrid air. andrew plant reports. thick streams of lava still flowing, still advancing here. this is the new fissure, seen from a helicopter. lush, green landscape. in the hope they won't be needed. for whatever reason. we're going to have to hoist them out. for a release. but the toxic gases, a real danger. warming up for a series of even more explosive eruptions. another political comeback? prime ministerfrom holding public office. for tax fraud. 0ur rome correspondent james reynolds reports. been decided before — in court. to hold public office, ending his years in the cold. he spent a portion of his ban volunteering at a care home. this did not, perhaps, take up all of his attention. as a candidate. but his movement performed badly. now, he is able to put himself forward again. which have severely damaged us. increasingly decisive in our country. but the party may have missed its moment. their own coalition government. ban or no ban, berlusconi is not

sides they all face internal divisions and disagree on how to deal with the federal government in baghdad the k d p says that any lack of unity will hurt kurdish interests only are we ready united we were stronger in baghdad but after of the. after what happened inside the. when mr president jalal talabani became sick there were normal main. powerful pair of that you can talk to or you can get the decisions from the second reason of course it was already what happened between baghdad and. p.k. leaders deny they've broken into factions and hope kurds can unite after saturday's election if not they say they'll form other alliances in the. it's unfortunate that we are divided but they pay you cait easy knighted and we're hoping after the elections all of the kurds will unite if we dined with will form alliances with others to make sure the kurdish voice is heard. concern about the division is all over social media here in the kurdish region but it's not just the electorate are worried even political experts wonder what happens next we can see actually two dilutions one of them there in franc

our middle east correspondent, martin patience, reports from baghdad. iraq is at a turning point. people here hope that this election will represent a fresh start. but the fear is the country could slip back into violence. despite the islamic state group being pushed out of most of iraq, the threat of attacks remains. translation: we hope that new politicians will be elected who will change things for young people. we have got university degrees but we are sitting at home unemployed. translation: god willing, the situation will improve, the younger generation will get jobs, electricity will get better, and most importantly we'll have security. prime minister haider al—abadi won praise for his fight against the islamist militants. translation: today, iraq is powerful and unified

my colleague yalda hakim is also in baghdad.airports and borders have been closed. and the movement of vehicles from one province to the other has been limited, and in baghdad there has been a curfew since last night. people have been trying to come and cast their vote. however flawed the county might be, this is one of the few democracies in the region and its future and its stability is incredibly important for the rest of the region. especially as there are increased concerns that iran and the us could be on the path to war. both of these countries have been incredibly important for iraq, its stability and its politics, so whoever becomes the next leader of this country will have to play the very difficult balancing act of trying to maintain good relations with both the united states and iran. and for iraqis this is now a turning point, the first election since the fall of the so—called islamic state. they hope they will be able to look forward to theirfuture here in iraq. a court in italy has overturned a ban which prevented

as more from baghdad. close to a million security personnel from iraq's federal police the army the counterterrorism is in the unit and all across the spectrum of what makes the forces who are defending iraq are casting their ballots in the special vote at just forty eight hours ahead of the general vote on saturday officers here have been telling us that there will be no pressure on these soldiers to choose who they would vote for and soldiers who we've been speaking to say many of them are voting for candidates who are involved in the fight against i see people who've actually taken part in this fight and many of them come from the popular mobilization units or shia militias who are not part of this security forces vote will be taking part in the ballot saturday the shia militias are also looking for a political say in iraq's politics and of the they're hoping that in be part of the future government as well we've been talking to various security analysts who say that the expectation from this vote is th

baghdad.se? that is a big problem here in basra as well. it is three in the morning. the swat tea m it is three in the morning. the swat team are honing in on theirfinal target in jumhouria. meth addiction is fuelling crime in the city. and it is young man most league who are the perpetrators. —— and it is young men mostly who are the perpetrators. 15 years after the fall of saddam hussein, iraq is in a fragile and perilous state. with all the attention on the fight against isis in the north, basra and the predominantly shia south feels forgotten. and it is the young who are paying the price. another iraqi generation at risk of being lost. hello again. we are expecting to have the hottest early bank holiday monday on record. it should be a cracking weekend just about everywhere. we've got some stronger winds in the north—west and every now and again, the north—west of scotland may well see a little rain at times. 0therwise, it'll be dry on saturday. spells of sunshine elsewhere in scotland, no

my colleague yalda hakim is in baghdad and has been following developments in today's election.nd the movement of vehicles from one province to the other has been limited, and in baghdad there has been a curfew since last night and people have been trying to come and people have been trying to come and cast their vote, and however flawed the county might be this is one of the few democracies in the region and its future and its stability is incredibly important for the rest of the region. especially as they are increased concerns that iran and the us could be on the path to war, both of these countries have been incredibly important for iraq, its stability and its politics, so whoever becomes the next leader of this country will have to play the very difficult balancing act of trying to maintain good relations with both the united states and iran. and for accies this isa states and iran. and for accies this is a turning point, the first election since the fall of the so—called islamic state —— and for iraqis for the they hope they will be able to look forward to their future her

and i'm now joined by journalist oppression majeed who is in baghdad and has been following this story for us pressure this is a surprise result no one expected to win the parliamentary elections what does this now mean for the country. it is a big surprise i think everybody is dealing with the fall out right now people largely expected former prime minister head of the body to come in first and instead he came in third. i think that the next few months will really determine what this actually means for the country to turn it depends a lot on who said there decides he wants to be in a coalition and he will end up being you know the ruling coalition for the government as he said he didn't win and that's used to create a ruling coalition by himself he wanted to force the no fall in him in the thought the party who are largely associated with iran and with the former popular mobilization forces and then after then came the nasr coalition from baghdad there but so it depends. on. the future. and the pressure what about the u.s. backed iraqi prime minister. is he completely out of the pictu

our correspondent martin patience reports, from baghdad. iraq is at a turning point. will represent a fresh start. but the fear is the country could slip back into violence. despite the islamic state group being pushed out of most of iraq, the threat of attacks remains. translation: we hope that new politicians will be elected who will change things for young people. we have got university degrees but we are sitting at home unemployed. translation: god willing, the situation will improve, the younger generation will getjobs, electricity will get better, and most importantly we'll have security. prime minister haider al—abadi needs all the votes he can get. he's facing unexpectedly tough competition from other shia politicians. the iraqi leader won praise for his fight against the islamist extremists, but whoever wins this election will need to rebuild the country's shattered cities and gain the trust of sunni muslims, whose marginalisation in the first place led to the rise of is. this is a critical moment for iraq. security has vastly improved here, and there's an op

>> i was in baghdad. i went to different polling stations in different parts of the city, an turnout was very low. you know, there is a general mood here of just utter exhaustion. there was enormous amount of battle, a lot sacrifice, a lot of lives lost over the last three and a half years. people are exhausted. and security is soood now that everyone is concerned again with quality-of-life issues-- a lang of infrastructure, a lack ofsc ols, a lack of jobs. and so you have all of these routine problems that appear overwhelming, but, also, there's a lack of trust in the political adership about how these things can get solved. so the mood on the street is-- is pretty subdued. >> sreenivasan: let's talk a little bit about kind of the bigger picture, things that aren happeninhe background here. what is the role of perhaps iran in the influence that iran wields in iraq right now, or how long the united states will stay inaraq and in kind of w capacity? >> yeah, so, one of the amazing things about last fall an

well there is cautious optimism on the streets of baghdad at least people are seeing that now that the fight against isis is over we need to look inwards and try and fight the bigger menace is that beleaguered the political spectrum of iraq one of them being corruption people are very angry saying that their politicians have been looting iraq and not paying back to the actual people who voted them in who've been demanding these changes who've been demanding electricity for instance for years and years but yes it is a much safer iraq but the threat is not over as we were going to the polling stations the security across the city and across various centers where people are allowed to vote has been tight and we saw sniffer dogs going through vehicles people had to leave their cars so there is definitely there is that there is this intelligence reports about ice and sleeper cells and the threat remains but it is a much safer country which is now looking towards trying to build it as a nation and move away from the sectarian and political divisions that have been dividing this country for f

set to make a surprise political comeback supporters cheered the news in baghdad where the cleric and his communist political allies took the highest number of votes a victory would put all solder in a strong position to choose the next prime minister but he will have to overcome opposition from iran which is bound to prevent his bloc from taking power the current prime minister hider body is lagging behind in third place. i'll talk about the shia cleric mcconnell sautter taking a surprise lead i'm joined now by the. karim he's just returned from iraq covering these elections good morning to thanks for being with us. what's the latest on the vote count where is that at this point to ten or fifteen provinces has been counted to know the lead is from looked at us another deal we're seeing now in the picture and when you talk to these supporters of looked at sutter's coalition they're telling you he's going to be the winner when you talk to the supporters of the because a provinces should be counted then they tell you it's going to be a turning point in concerning mosul because the major

people in iraq about this election what did they say to you if you talk to the people if it's in baghdad on their bill or and most so there's a big mistrust in the political system today and i think that explains the low turnout which happened for this elections our own forty four percent to know is now the number who people who participated so i think whoever wins who have if there is a winner of for this election's he has a lot to do because there's a big mithra mistrust and people think nothing's going to change same people same system there's a big big job for the winner ok you're all over mosul baghdad you were talking to a lot of people and it looks like right now when you look at the the returns coming in the shia cleric in an upset with total sagar is poised to take power in iraq a little background about this man he's a former commander of the mehdi army if this is a force that killed american and iraqi soldiers. what's his draw with voters i think what he was able to do. he's giving himself and presenting himself as the voice of the people but gear ago he's the one who was in f

the locals call this the slums of thought it directs the name of this area in northeastern baghdad. it's one giant rubbish tip nestled into the polls of garbage lives some of iraq's poorest poverty rates are on the rise to the extent the politicians and are paying attention some turning it into a campaign issue ahead of the general election in may. according to the ministry of planning poverty now takes thirty five percent of the population. the alley family lives amongst the rubbish. they try and sell what recyclable goods they can find. them used to be the main income earner but he was injured in a bomb blast in a local market in two thousand and six and suffers from brain trauma and partial paralysis the family lives in constant fear of being thrown out of the slum. was found about how the fishermen then there's no future for the children living like this we all wish to have a decent house even if the government would give us land and we'd build it we would make ends meet we don't know when or if the authorities will kick us out when going to. despite election fever gripping the

sea further south it's down to try and it is generally hot be getting up to forty one celsius in baghdad or thirty therefore to run twenty six in kabul you might catch one or two showers and couple some a temperature for twenty six twenty seven degrees here over the next few days here it should stay dry fine and sunny baghdad picks up on the heat forty three degrees by the time we do come to sunday off enough in karate around thirty five celsius let's take a look at our sights lying there this is keeping major cause because very close to salon now making landfall pushing further north which is rico on through the next twenty four to thirty six hours easing lot of on the border with yemen pushing up towards southern parts of saudi arabia now the winds will fall out pretty quickly the rain will not in some parts could see maybe two hundred maybe three hundred millimeters of rain over the next couple of days flash flooding is inevitable and we are going to see major problems coming in here that wessel weather will not just way further north as for sunday brought us guys come in behind with

art or media almost every form of expression has a sectarian or political tone and many here in baghdad's cultural hub are hoping that a resurgence of art and culture will bring change to the national dialogue. but a writer criticizes issues in society that his views and his artistic projection will be reflected that makes people interact with different forms of expression and that has an effect in molding people's stands for or against issues young people argue social media also needs to be included in traditional modes of communication and expression are to the powerful tool that is used to guide and influence the pulse of the iraqi street and that is apparent through many works which lead to the correction of crucial issues on the political spectrum. negative rahim uses his caricature to reflect on the shortcomings of those in power destroying depicts the hypocrisy of politicians who fight in public and are friends in private since the election is to weeks ago there's been a flurry of meetings between the same politicians who are calling each of their names before the vote his play on

winning walk led by shiite cleric that a sudden are still going on trial stratford's joining us from baghdad to tell us more about how this decision came about charlie. well you have worrying times here in what can really be described certainly in the weeks since the election as being a bit of a celebration in terms of the security of this country and how smoothly those elections went we understand that this all started yesterday a group of parliamentarians coming together and putting pressure on the government here on the independent electoral commission to make these recounts in certain areas of the country areas including baghdad bill unbias a lot had been an in of the majority of these areas interest in the sunni areas and it's also worth pointing out that many of these parliamentarians as soon as he didn't do very well in the recent elections now today a parliamentary session has continued and that pressure has seemingly had results now on the independent electoral commission these parliamentarians now saying that they are putting a draft law together in which they are asking for the en

sea further south it's generally try and it is generally hot be getting up to forty one celsius in baghdad or thirty therefore to run twenty six in kabul you might catch one of two showers in couple similar temperature for twenty six twenty seven degrees here over the next few days here it should stagefright fine and sunny baghdad picks up on the heat forty three degrees by the time we do come to sunday horse enough in karate around thirty five celsius let's take a look at our site this is killing major cause because very close to salonen now making landfall pushing further north which is rico on through the next twenty four to thirty six hours easing lot along the border with yemen pushing up towards southern parts of saudi arabia now the winds will fall out pretty quickly the rain will not in some parts could see maybe two hundred maybe three hundred millimeters of rain over the next couple of days flash flooding is inevitable and we are going to see major problems coming in here that worse weather will not just way further north was for sunday but as guys come in behind we still want to

media for serving only their own interests fighting that perception will be a challenge iran can baghdad. the united nations and the afghan government to giving conflicting accounts of who was killed in a helicopter gunship attack last month the u.n. says one hundred seven people died most of them children jennifer glass reports from kabul. until last month yousef cardia taught at a school in the village of dusty archie sixty five kilometers from could do is where he now works he says a graduation ceremony at his former religious school was attacked on april second by helicopter gunships. him on the scene it was a dark tragic day in our village for hours helicopters were above as far as if you machine guns later they dropped bombs we could not approach to help the people when . i see this as a very brutal attack after two hours i went to the area children were killed and wounded i saw firstly two dead bodies of my own on my family members were also killed and injured from an afghan government leader said the air attack targeted a taliban gathering but it was mostly children who ride to t

state is underway but security and sectarian tensions are still big issues on polling day to go to baghdad to find out what the feeling is on the street but also coming up could only finally be getting a new government after months of deadlock the leaders of the five star movement in the northern league set a deadline to make a deal. and it is an action packed final day in the.

so baghdad is our next stop.ice of next prime minister is to some extent between degrees of iranian influence. apart from fatah, there is previous prime minister nouri al—maliki, who is also pro—iranian. current leader haider al—abadi is seen as more open to washington. but groups openly sympathetic to the united states have all but disappeared. 15 years after the us invaded iraq i think most americans would be surprised today atjust how little influence the us has in the country. all the american forces are isolated on their bases, their embassy is in the green zone cut off from the rest of the city. there is no visible signs of american culture or influence on the streets. unlike iran whose influence and tentacles can be seen everywhere in iraq. but there is a growing bloc opposed to iranian influence. this woman is a liberal, a campaigner for women's rights and leads one of iraq's centrist, secular parties. campaigning is in full swing. she thinks younger voters are beginning to resist the siren calls of secta