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 be

. >> 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 e

. >> i'm bernard smith in afghanistan on the campaign trail with dr abdullah abdullah, a front runner in the election. >> and how marijuana is becoming big business, and it's all legal. [ male announcer ] it's here -- xfinity watchathon week, your chance to watch full seasons of tv's hottest shows for free with xfinity on demand. there's romance, face slaps, whatever that is, pirates, helicopters, pirate-copters... argh! hmm. it's so huge, it's being broadcast on mars. heroes...bad guys... asteroids. available only on mars. there's watching. then there's watchathoning. ♪ your chance to watch full seasons of tv's hottest shows for free with xfinity on demand. there's romance, face slaps, whatever that is, pirates, helicopters, pirate-copters... argh! hmm. it's so huge, it's being broadcast on mars. heroes...bad guys... asteroids. available only on mars. there's watching. then there's watchathoning. ♪ >> welcome back. a reminder of the top stories - the u.s. secretary of state cancelled his trip to the middle east to mediate talks after the palestine president signed treaties pushing fo

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.

bernard smith is kaboul. how did this happen, bernard?is was at supposedly one of the most well defending buildings right in the center of kaboul. we're told a suicide bomber joined a queue of police officers in a place where you go to get patted down before you get into the building, that's where this attacker blew himself up. kaboul is very quiet at the moment. a lot of the ministries have closed down as a security precaution ahead of the election and there is an awful lot more check points in the city, and yet the suicide bomber was still able to get through. this happened on the last day of official campaigning ahead of saturday's vote. and during the campaign three front runners have emerged, and i went out on tuesday with one of those front runners. he was the man who was the runner up in 2009 and that was a very controversial election. he is determined to make sure it doesn't happen this time. >> reporter: it was chaotic, crowded, and almost out of control, but that seems to be just how this man likes it. tens of thousands of peopl

bernard smith reports. >> reporter: a last-minute rush to register in saturday's presidential election these people are involved in a process that will end with the first democratic transfer of power in this country's 5,000 year history. despite the security threats there is clearly widespread enthusiasm to vote. these people have been cueing to register since before dawn. the pressure is on the election commission to stop the widespread fraud. then ballot box stuffing was widespread. this time it won't. >> the timeline legislative and other provisions and also the delivery of ballot papers with sensitive and non-sensitive material with the 6,000 odd centers. >> reporter: in kabul security has rarely been tighter. there are check points every few hundred meters. the taliban cast a long shadow over this election. the capital has enjoyed a series of attacks as the group carries out it's promise, and there will pockets where there will be no voting because of the taliban threat. >> does the threat of the attack put you off? >> i'm enthusiastic to vote. it does not put me off. you cannot l

. >> bernard smith in kabul. at least 23 people were killed on election day. afghan officials say it was mostly soldiers and police officers. >> two decades ago nearly a million people were butchered. now the country is holding vige ills and ceremony in 1994. the bloodshed began 20 years ago when the president of rwanda's plane was shot down. it triggered one of the worst genocides in history. i'll ask god to thank him and ask him that genocide never happiness again. >> services will be held on thursday to honour those killed from the tutsis and hutus. >> a film-maker is free after spending three months under house arrest after being found guilty of sexually harassing women. he resigned as san diego's mayor after less than a year in office. >> hundreds are rallying for the albuquerque police department. it comes after a week of protests against the police department and their use of force. >> supporters of albuquerque's law enforcement gathered outside of police headquarters on sunday. >> the job that these guys do each and every day proves that at times they

bernard smith joined him on the campaign trail in western afl g afghanistan. >> it was chaotic, crowded. that seems to be how abdullah abdullah likes it. thousands turned out to see abdullah abdullah rally support in his second attempt at the presidency. >> the size of the crowd is not necessarily indicative of the support for abdullah abdullah, but it shows the enthusiasm for the election process in afghanistan. >> abdullah crisscrossed the country on a mission to right the wrongs that many felt was committed in 2009. it was a poll marred by widespread ballot stuffing. >> this time around the citizens will monitor the elections. voters are much more aware of air rights, it's better conscious decision than it used to be. they are asking about the outcome. abdullah abdullah needs to get 50% of the vote to wib outright. to help his chances he's chosen two running mates once fought against. the parties they belonged to ended up destroying kabul. without a winner the election goes to a run off between the candidates. here abdullah abdullah has a warning for the election organizers. >> if it

bernard smith has the latest the tensions in that country. >> reporter: these people are involved in are process that will end with the first democratic transfer of power in this country's 5,000-year history. despite the security threats there is clearly still widespread enthusiasm to vote. these people have been queueing to register sin before dawn. the pressure is on the election commission to stop the fraud that marred the last election. this time should be different but it won't be perfect. >> everything has been dlied according to time line, both in regard to brood legislative and other provisions but also the delivery of the ballot papers, sensitive and nonsensetive material to the 7,000-odd, or 6,000-odd voting centers. >> reporter: in kaboul there are check points every few hundred meters. the taliban casts a long shadow over this election. the capitol has endured a series of attacks. and there are pockets of the country where there will be no voting because of the taliban threat. does the threat of an attack put you off? >> i'm enthusiastic about the candidate ip want to vot

bernard smith has more. >> the queues formed before the polling stations open. 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. the people here have been eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the taliban. you can see everyone coming here. i don't have a threat from the taliban, for me. >> 12 million were eligible to vote. in parts of the country polling stations are closed. this is repeated at polling sessions. people dip their finger in indelible ink to stop them voting twice, pick up their papers and cast their ballots in the boxes here. blue for presidential, green for provincial. the presidential vote is easy, there's eight candidates. for the provincial there's six pages like this, 400 can't tats in -- candidates in kabul. and each voting has to choose one. it's not a quick process. >> president hamid karzai was one of the first to vote. the election bringing to an end 12 years of rule since the taliban was forced out of power in 2001.

bernard smith, afghanistan. >> an afghan analyst joins us live from washington. will these elections on saturday be free and fair? >> well, not completely but to a certain extent there will be fraud. there will be fraud. there is no doubt about that. >> to what extent, though. five months ago we found fake voter cards on sale in information for as little as $5 a piece. election officials said that they could not tell the fakes from the real thing. there were millions of them. will this poll suffer from vote rigging to the extent of 2009's election suffered vote rigging? >> i have no doubt that it will because there are three front runners. they've got lots of money, and i'm sure they'll try to buy votes, print papers and to ensure which ever way possible they come to become one of the two in the end. >> we heard the reports i in the electoral process. what about violence. will voters be put off from casting their ballot. >> in the countryside especially in the south and east there would be many polls tha--poll stations that will be closed, and no one will go ther

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 1

bernard smith has more. >> to win afghanistan's presidential election outright, the leading contender would need to get more than 50% of the vote. results coming in, some released next week. the final tally, the final announcement will be mid may. but at this change, it looks like abdalla abdalla and ashraf ghani, are headed for a runoff vote. both have said they will take part of that runoff if they consider the election was been carried off fairly. while there has been fraud there hasn't been as significant enough a level for the outcome of the poll. in that case there might surely be a runoff but the afghans will not know until their new president will be until well into the end of october and the results are all in. >> report warns the planet is warming faster than some have expected and urged the world's governments to act fast. >> this is the third and final chapter of the panel's report on climb climate change. the world must are cut its reliance on coal and oil. and change to wind power. some call it a clash of interests between politics and science. it offers reasons for hope

bernard smith reports. >> reporter: on the outskirts of the afghan capitol, a new town is emerging.here will be 10,000 modern apartments, a mixture of private and government subsidized. >> translator: we're proud that we are able to provide affordable accomodations. we can give employment and provide a source of investment for money that would otherwise leave the country. we have stopped illegal land grabbing as well. >> reporter: the land grabbing is happening outside this vast scheme. war lords are building buildings. but inside the project, an apartment can be bought for $26,000. >> there's more demand because of [ inaudible ] the people are trying to have house here, because [ inaudible ] just we are giving service to people. >> reporter: the apartments are sold only to those who fulfill strict government criteria, which includes not already owning property. they are about 40% cheaper than flats sold privately. but there's also a healthy demand for full price properties within the project. the outside world views afghan has totally reliant on foreign aid. here they want to show

we start with bernard smith, with an update from kabul. >> in the end the afghanistan election passedff comparatively peacefully for the country. the deployment of security personnel would have helped with that. there has been few allegations of fraud. the votes are being counted. it will be weeks before there's an official declaration of the winner. but the winner needs to win more than 50% of the vote to be declared winner outright. without that there'll be a run-off. the run-off will not be held until the end of may. once the votes are counted and allegations dealt with, it may not be until the end of the summer after afghanistan knows who the new president will be, and waiting to be signed is a bilateral security agreement with the u.s. government. all the cann dates standing for president said they'll sign it. the u.s. government wants the afghans to sign it because it wants to maintain a u.s. troop presence for training and keeping the pressure on al qaeda remnants in the country. the problem is largistics. because the agreement has not been signed the u.s. government doesn't kn

let's go to bernard smith who is live in kabul. how is the process going so far?the polls have been open for about an hour, it is unfortunately a very wet, dreary, cold day here in kabul, but karzai himself has voted in the last ten minutes or so, and has urged afghans despite the poor weather and the security situation to get out and vote. and we have seen people queueing up to vote. there is tense security -- high security in kabul. i have never seen so many check points in this city. but there does seem to be an enthusiasm to get out and vote. >> tell us about the significance of this election. put it in some perspective for us. >> well, i lost a little bit of your question there, but i can tell you that imagine this is the first time in the 5,000 year history of this country that that will be a democratic transfer of power. that really is an historic event. so that is why there is enthusiasm amongst afghans. in 2009 when karzai retained the presidency, that was widely seen as a fraudulent vote. this time afghans are much more conscious of the risks of fraud. t

we start with bernard smith with an update from kabul. >> afghan's election past off comparatively peacefully and deployment of security personnel would have helped with that. there has been few allegations of fraud. so the votes are being counted. it will be weeks before there's an official declaration of the winner. the winner needs to win more than 50% of the vote to be declared winner outright. without that it will be a run off. that seems to be the conventional wisdom. it will not be held until the end of may. once the votes have been counted it may not be until the end of the summer before afghanistan knows who the president will be and waiting to decide it is the bilateral security grement with the u.s. -- agreement with the u.s. government. all will sign and u.s. government wants the afghans to sign it. it wants to maintain a u.s. troop presence for training or keeping the pressure on al-qaeda rem nants in the country. the problem is logistics. because the agreement has not been signed the u.s. government doesn't know if the troops will be able to stay here. time is running out. the a

bernard smith reports. >> with ballot papers coming in to kabul across the country it will be many weeks before the independent election commission delivers its verdict on who will be the next president. the three front runners are expressing their chances. abdullah abdullah says his team's calculations give him 62% of the vote, which will be reflected as long as the voting is transparent. >> it's a huge responsibility of a nation scope and dim engss and hopefully everyone is aware of the burden that is on everyone's alcoholeders. ashraf ghani ahmadzai's team thinks their man is heading to the palace with more than 60%. only zalmai rassoul is suggesting no one got more than 50%, meaning a run off is necessary, and he says he has enough votes to be one of the two. >> when the polls closed, ballots counted and results published on the wall. only when the election commission has 5% of the vote, will it announce the initial estimation of who won the presidential election. >> that provisional calculation should be released within the next few days. >> seb aftion younger is an author and war c

bernard smith, al jazeera, kabul. >> a reminder of how dangerous afghanistan we mains the associatedpress reports that one of its photographers and another jur injured while prepag to cover the elections. one journalist was killed instant len when the taliban open fired on a car that she was in. her photographers is reportedly in stable condition. last month a journalist along with eight other people were killed when the taliban attacked a luxury hotel in kabul. >>> one presidential candidate has openly said the international military force that is there now which includes more than 30,000 u.s. troops is crucial to keeping taliban fighters from seizing power. we found the front line that the taliban is closer to the presidential candidate is closer than you might think. >> reporter: we were met by a taliban fighter who drove hea ad of us on a motorbike. >> i was taken to meet two of the commanders. it's obvious that they were planning something big. >> i've been told that we're going to take me to a place where they plan to attack early this morning. >> i'm sitting in the back of a m

bernard smith has an update from kabul. >> to win the afghanistan election the leading candidate needs more than 50% of the vote. with the partial results released by the election commission, none of frontrunners managed that. abdullah 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 sprea

bernard smith, al jazeera, kabul. >> china is looking to raise the retirement age by five years for theirst time since the 1950's as millions of citizens approach 60. it's been prompted by shrinking workforce which a looks to dampen economic growth. >> reporter: when he turns 60 in a few months here. he will say good buy to his job as a company driver but he isn't ready to say good buy entirely. with retirement set at 60 for men and 55 for women in government service, he still feels he has more to contribute than sitting at home. >> i think most people of my generation think we can work a few more years because physically we are still fine, but the government has this regulation that you have to retire at a specific age, so that's the reality. >> for employees in private enterprises retirement ages are lower, 60 for men and 50 for women. retirement agencies were sent in the aftermath of the country's civil war. then the average life expectancy was below 45. with many people living to 75 and beyond, those retirement ages are looking younger all the time. china will have 500 million peopl

bernard smith with al jazeera in kabul. >> hundreds of millions of chinese will soon join the banks ofs and that is forcing the government to consider raising the retirement age. and rob mcbride reports from beijing. >> reporter: when he turns 60 in a few months from now he will say good-bye to his job as a driver but not ready to say good-bye to work entirely. with retirement set at 60 for men and 55 for women in government service, he still feels he has more to contribute than sitting at home. >> translator: i think most people of my generation think we can work for a few more years because physically we are still fine. >> reporter: we will cut out of that to go straight to kiev and ukraine where u.s. vice president biden is holding a conference with the prime minist minister yatsenyuk. >> we celebrated easter and easter is supposed to be a season of peace, of family, at a time when we all come together. but today there are some who are trying to pull ukraine apart. ukraine is in a struggle for its very future. when i left the hotel this morning, the hotel management asked me to sign

bernard smith, al jazeera, kabul. >>> aid workers in the solomon islands are worried there could be an outbreak of disease. people are struggling to get clean water after what's being described as the worst flooding in the island's history. around 50,000 people have been left homeless. 23 people have been killed and that death toll is expected to rise and dozens are still missing. andrew thomas is in the capital. >> reporter: this is the river that divides the city in half. this was one of the two places to cross the river, a strong, concrete bridge. as you can see, it was totally washed away. as for the houses next to the river, well, there's a huge amount of damage being done over there. this is the first dry day here for more than a week, and it's where the people have an opportunity to come down and see the extent of the damage. some of them were here last thursday to see the roaring water come through, and they've benninen telling me entire hous rush past and there was little they can do to help. >> we stand here and watch people shouting for help and all this. we can help because

bernard smith has more. >> we've had thunder, lightening, it's poring with rain and there's the threat of violence. kabul, the city is on lockdown. there are checkpoints every 200m. >> despite all of that we are seeing long queues at polling stations with kav gans determined to take part in an historic poll. this will be the first time in a 5,000 year history that there has been a democratic transfer of power. the taliban say they'll target all those taking part in the vote. there has been attempts around the country by the taliban to disrupt the vote, but they are not having much of an impact. there's a concern about fraud and the rest of a police officer and an nds security chief after they were found stuffing five ballot boxes with voting papers. despite that we are told that the turn out is high, and nobody is expecting a perfect election. nobody is expecting a fraud-free election, but if there's a high turn out, that should help to negate suggestions or any implications or impact of ballot box stuffing. >> at least three of the top contenders in the election promised to sign an ex

bernard smith followed one of the leading candidates, the runner up from the 2009 election. >> it washaotic, crowded and almost out of control. that seems to be just but abdullah abdullah likes it. it is his second attempt to win the presidency. >> the size of this crowd isn't necessarily a reflection of the support for abdullah, but does show the enthusiasm and interest in the election process in afghanistan. >> abdullah has crisscrossed the country on his mission. to right or wrong, he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009 when he lost the election to hamid karzai. it was a poll with widespread ballot stuffing. >> the voters are much more aware of their rights. it's much better conscious decision than it used to be. they are asking about the outcome. >> abdullah abdullah needs more than 50% of the vote to win outright. to help his chances, he's chosen two running mates he once fought against during the civil war. the parties they belong to ended up destroying kabul. without an outright winner, the election goes to a run off between the top two candidates. here abdullah has a w

bernard smith has that story from kabul. the queue started forming well behaviour. despite the taliban threats, people wanted to vote. afghanistan's 5 nouz year history - the election marks the first democratic transfer of power. the people here have been eager to seize the chance. >> we are not skater of the taliban. for me, i don't have any kind of threat from the taliban. >> 12 million people were eligible to vote. in parts of the country where the taliban held sway. polling stations were closed. this is the scenery, people clear up after going through a security check. they'll pick up ballot papers, go into the privacy of the booth to cast their ballot. the blue one is for the presidential election and the green for the provincial. the presidential election has eight candidates, for the provincial there are six pages like this, 400 candidates, just in kaboom. each voting has to choose one, it's not a quick process. >> president hamid karzai is one of the first to vote. the election bringing to an end the 12 years of rule since the taliban was forced out of power

as bernard smith reports, candidates are coming outs with their numbers. >> with ballot papers comingn from across the country, it will be many weeks before the independent election commission delivers a verdict on who will be the next president of afghanistan. the three front runners are expressing confidence in their victory. a relaxed abdullah abdullah told us that his team gives himself 50% of the votes, and as long as the voting is transparent those figures will be reflected. >> it's a huge responsibility of a national scope and dimension, and hopefully everybody is aware of the burden that is - that is on everybody's shoulders. >> ghani's team thinks their man is heading for the palace, again with more than 60% of the vote. only zalmai rassoul's team is suggesting no one gets more than 50". zalmai rassoul says he has enough votes to be one of the two. when the polls closed, ballots counselled and results published. only when the election commission got in 5% of the vote, from 27 of afghanistan's 34 prove since will it announce a new estimation of who won the president cal vote.

million people have signed up for coverage so far abc news reporter cornell bernard has more now on the last minute rush. if smiths of berkeley to get the word out. today is the deadline to enroll for obama care. >> people have forgotten that this is the last day so we have to remind them and make it address for them. >> smith directing uninsured folk to this enrollment at berkeley city clem. >> how can i enroll. >> bird says out reach group enrolled more than 100 people who covered california since sat. amy tried completing the application on line but got stuck. >> toward the end seemed like so many people were trying to contact some for help that i could never get through. >>reporter: mary says she is healthy but know that is could change instantly. >> i know that anything could happen at any moment i know how important it is and able to find a plan that work force me. >> call center like this one in concord have been swamped with questions from the public and there are reports covering california web site running slow today. as more people try to enroll. if you miss the enrollment deadline could you pay an ind