on hamid karzai. >> indesuggests. hamid karzai's face is not fixed. >> farmer french president nicholas sar cosy. >> sour. >> angela merkel. >> bitter. >> likely the most telling - take a look at how he sees russian president vladimir putin, whose soul bush once said he could see. >> it's not a friendly painting. he seems to have changed his mind. wherever he saw, he was wrong. >> started with a self-portrait. >> he turned the art op himself. >> is that confidence. >> i think so. >> neck fat. >> neck fat - will dot date >> there's a big proportion of neck fat. >> it's real. >> takes confidence for any artist to expose work to the crit. this is a former president who has more than a few of those, and could be seen as bush responding. >> he's been reluctant to make a statement about his administration. like the rest of the world he's wrestling with what it meant. >> is he painting or sending a message. people will likely be polarized in their opinions. >> now, a salvadorian fisherman who claimed to be lost at sea for 13

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 -- l

millions turned out to choose a successor for president hamid karzai. he's been in power for 13 years. for whoever wins, they need to decide whether to sign an agreement to allow 10,000 u.s. soldiers to stay in afghanistan. >> the queue started forming well before the polling stations opened. despite the threats to tart the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000-year history, this election marks the first democratic transfer of power. people here have been eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the threat, you can see everyone coming here. for me, i don't have any kind of work. 12 million people were eligible to vote. in parts of the country where the taliban held sway polling stations were sold. >> this is the scene, people queueing up after going through a security check. they dip their finger in ink, they pick up the ballot papers, go into the privacy of the booth, cast their vote and cast the ballot in the box. the blue one is for the presidential election, the clean from the provincial. there are eight canned dats. the p

hamid mir was shot six times as he left the karachi airport in his car. the case has turned into a showdown between his employer, gotv and the pakistani intelligence service, the is -- isi. they have implicated the isi in the shooting. the agency has complained to pakistan's broadcast regulator which has the power to shut geo down. several other news outlets, rather than backing geo have criticized the channel for incriminating the intelligence service without providing proof. mir, whom we have interviewed is one of the most prominent journalists in pakistan. this is not the first time that the isi has been accused of going after someone who has reported critically on it. the isi and the taliban are the rock and the hardplace of pakistani. doll too much digging on either organization and you can get squeezed. our starting point this week is karachi. >> in a country where almost 70 people were killed in suicide bombings last year, another 199 were killed in drone strikes and there were 14,000 cases of murder, an attack on a single journalist who happened t

hoda abdel-hamid is live in donetsk. given that the separatist refuse to recognise the 4-way agreement between russia, ukraine, u.s. and the e.u., what options does the mediator have to convince them? >> these are tough negotiations. the people we spoke to, the pro-russian activists in some of these buildings said that they were surprised at the outcome of geneva, especially that russia had joined in the call for them to arm and evacuated the buildings. they say they'll listen to their commanders, and so far they have told them to stay put, and they say, well you know, we have demands and none have been concretely met at this point. negotiators are going around the region, we have negotiators from kiev, we have the team from the organisation for security in europe. but there's no real concrete outcome of all that. there won't be until the government in kiev turns into legislation all their promises. they talk about anamnesty law, decriminalization. they were promises. there's no law. setting a date for the referendum on

his way to work. >> the gunman opened fire as hamid mir got off a plane. his brother said hamid mir told close friends if he was attacked spy masters and a top intelligence agency would be responsible. >> translation: a man opened fire first. another was following him on a motorbike, he came up behind him. at the same time the driver in mr hamid mir's car, with the guard, sped away. they chased after him, but the driver was not hit, praise be to god, otherwise the damage would have been worst. >> hamid mir is a blogger and editor-in-chief of the the pakistani first paper. he accused pakistani administration to use violence. >> the attack takes us back to the attacks in 120 and 20 -- 2010 and 2011, attacks on journalists. in both occasions intelligence occurred. the government took no action. in the first place you encourage the human rights abusers, and give them a blank check. we are left with no authority to question them the second time. that happened in pakistan. in pakistan they had the authority to take action against people in the abduction and tort

including 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 tali

hoda abdel-hamid saying a volatile situation indeed. thank you, hoda abdel-hamid. >> now, syria's government and rebel fighters are accusing each other of launching chemical attacks. bashar al-assad is pointing the finger at what it calls terrorists. the opposition is denying it's responsible and demands the international community investigates. >> it looks like the usual bombing campaign in syria. according to activists the barrel bombs dropped from helicopters contained toxic chemicals. according to witness accounts those chemicals went airborne after the bombs fell. as people were ferried in ambulances, the person recording this video is coughing and others are covering their mounteds. we cannot independently verify the videos, but syrian tv said there was an attack and blamed the fighters. >> trial judge in the -- >> translation: in the hamad suburbs a group was attacked using gas we are aware that the group are prepared to carry out more attacks. >> act visits said many -- activists said many died. children and adults appeared to h

previously foreign minister was seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. the support 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 would you do differently? >> i think first of all i have not been involved in anticorruption issues. i repeat myself, that the fact that i have been involved, i know it's happening. i know which kind of thing we should do correct that. >> i want to put the experience that i got and the achievement and lack of achievement in the service of the afghan people. whilst he was foreign minister, hamid karzai refused to sign a bilateral security agreement with the u.s., allowing some foreign troops to remain in the country, throwing relations with the u.s. into crisis. >> the fundamental of relation with the taliban. we are province, it happened with the friends. i was involved on drafting it from the afghan side with my other colleague. i believe that the national intere

-- donetsk, hoda abdel-hamid. thank you very much. >> the deposit in south sudan -- government in south sudan, said it sent soldiers across the country to secure bases belonging to the united nations. 58 people were killed at the site, where the displaced people have taken shelter. violence began four months ago, when fighting broke outs between government soldiers and rebel troops loyal to the former vice president. >> these are some of the survivors on a u.s. base in bor. among them women and children. some have bullet wounds, others attacked by people with machetes. this boy was beaten with sticks, by a group numbering in the hun deds. >> this wall yn was told to -- woman was told it lay on the ground. she refused and ran away. >> translation: they caught up with me. i tried to jump over a wall. a man caught up with me, hitting me in the head with a machete. i lay still because i didn't want them to come back and finish me. >> another woman described being shot in the arm as she, too, tried to run away from her

hamid karzai said the same thing in the past, in the distant past. how are we convenienced that the candidates will sign the deal? >> whoever comes in will need american help no matter what, no matter how much they like it. if they want to sustain the capabilities of security forces they cannot do that with the economy. the afghan economy can't afford to pay the salaries of security forces. we are on the hook going forward just with a security capability. when the incoming president comes in, and he surveys the lay of the land and understands what is at stake, whether they want to return to the taliban, whether they want to give up everything that they have achieved so far, we'll be looking at signing the agreement quickly. >> let's talk about the numbers of american men and women over there. throughout the bush presidency the number was constant, around 30,000 american troops. by september of 2010 it was boosted to 98,000 in 2010. two years ago the u.s. began to scale back and the numbers of u.s. troops in afghanistan is 38,000 people. do you agree

hamid karzai is unable to stand for this election.rnalists -- let's now go to lyse doucet, chief international correspondent who asked the afghan interior minister. >> security is very tight. and the guys responsible for the security of this place may have had a wrong conclusion -- wrong calculation of the place or the person who was approaching them. but he is in custody. we were going to fully investigate what was the main reason this unfortunately incident happened. >> you seem to suggest that it wasn't a targeted killing, that it was a a case of mistaken identity. >> all the signs show it could have been mistaken identity or mistake -- or bad conclusion or calculation by a police officer who was responsible for the security of that area. but he's in custody. he's alive. so we are going to investigate to find out what went wrong on that particular moment. >> we understand that the journalists were traveling with a member of the independent election commission. can you tell us more about how they would have looked as they approached

let's go live to hoda abdel-hamid. what are you seeing there? >> i have to say, if, indeed, the anti-terror operation has started, so far it's a discrete one. we are in the city center. the building - the police building that has been taken over by the pro-rush protesters, 300m down the road to my right. we went there, had a little look. you don't see armed men on the streets. you have this usual barricade of rubber tyres blocking access to the building. that barricade is manned by some men wearing minor helmets or biker helmets, they are holding shoes. in front of them is a group of people presumably some of their supporters. that group of people is not more than between 500 to 1,000 people. i have to say, if the government has issued that warning to the resident of the city center to leave the city center, where no one has heeded that call, you see people on the street. families and some shops are open. we also have seen a lot of people go to church. what i have seen of government presence so far is a fortified checkpoint on the road, just at

hoda abdel-hamid joins us from donetsk. moscow clearly fewerious over the attacks that have taken place near slovyansk. do you know more about what happened? >> well there are very conflicting reports here. one thing we know is that there was a shoot-out at a check point, on a dirt road, on the outskirts of the town of slovyansk, leading towards a village in that area. now, according to kiev and moscow, the story differs. moscow says that it suspects that it is some elements of the right sector, which is the ultra national group in ukraine that had a big role in the process in kiev, and certainly in rappelling the attack by -- rappelling the attack by security forces. the ministry of defense in kiev, in his statement said that there was a shoot-out, and confirm one death, not three or four like the reports that came out of the moscow, but hinted that it could have been a fight between different pro-russian groups on the ground, or maybe even some criminal gangs, or some sort of local score settling. that's the point at this

president hamid karzai was the person to vote. it brings to an end 12 years of rule since the taliban came into power. >> i cast my vote, i'm glad and proud that i voted. i'm certain the event and our people's participation would take afghanistan towards stability and better lives for the people. >> kabul was locked down as part of an unprecedented security operation that mobilized 4-00,000 security personnel, bricking the numbers of attacks below the hevering in afghanistan. -- average in afghanistan. >> ballot counting started. there are allegations of fraud made already, testing the undepends of the election commission. >> i am not very 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 - the past experiences that we had with the two commissions have not been desirable. this time around it remains to be seen whether they will act sin seriously or act in -- sincerely or in favour of one of the candidates. >> the commission is

journalist, hamid meirs.inic cain reports today. >> for the past 25 years, hamid mier has reported on pakistani news and current affairs. the talk show on geo t.v. gets a large audience. but now, he is in hospital with three bullet wounds put there by unknown gunmen. he was attacked in a car as he was leaving karachi airport. police described what happened. >> a man covered opened fire first. another man was following him on motor bike. he came up behind him. at the same time, the driver, who was in mr. mier's car along with the guard sped away. they chased after them. thank god the driver was not hit, otherwise the damage would have been far worse. this is not the first time somebody has targeted hamid mier. it's less than 18 months since the taliban was blamed for a bomb attached to his car that failed to explode. hamid mier has been outspoken about the policy of drone attacks used by the isi, pakistani government. the government reacted angrily to his coverage. saturday's attack on hamid mier is a time whe

it's february, 2014, and the trainee is hamid. weeks later, he would again be in the right hand seat this time as first officer of malaysia airlines flight 370. >> in kuala lumpur, malaysia, millions of people are on the move. thousands of miles away in beijing, the day begins as usual for his partner, sara bejack. >> i get up early, i drink coffee in front of the window next to the sunrise. we live next to an apple orchard. i do yoga every morning and eat my oatmeal and go to work. >> in the early morning hours, phil will take the red eye home to sara in beijing. the airport, paul meeks needs to make it thousands of miles inland to mongolia. >> it was his dream job. >> weeks is an engineer, husband and a father to two young boys. >> he spends so much time with his kids, take them to the zoo, lincoln was his little shadow. >> in fact, preparing the boys was a major issue before paul left for his 28-day assignment abroad. >> we cried when he left. i mean, this is a big change for the family. we prepared lincoln, you know, paul had

>> then we have: who will lead afghanistan as they begin a new era, eight men are vying to replace hamid karzai. representing the first democratic transfer of power in the country since 2001 when taliban. in the decade since the u.s. invested money, mann power and sacrificed more than 2,000 lives, helping to build the foundation for a new way to govern. while the election brings hope. it brings concerns, rumours of voter fraud and election rigging that plagued afghan politics. every surface along with the taliban carrying out high-profile attacks in the hopes of scaring away voters from the polls and undermining the election. it highlights concerns about security to keep u.s. forces past year's end. could corruption and violence doom afghanistan's young democracy, undo the progress made with u.s. investment and create national security concerns. the conversation we are joined by a former advisor to afghan president hamid karzai, and the author of" walking in the footsteps of lions," and tony schafer who served two combat tours in afghanistan and awarded the bronze star, and david, a defe

helping to shape the conversation we are joined by a former advisor to afghan president hamid karzai, and the author of" walking in the footsteps of lions," and tony schafer who served two combat tours in afghanistan and awarded the bronze star, and david, a defense department official on afghanistan and pakistan. welcome to "the stream." >> tony, americans have invested $700 billion, endless amounts of resources, 2,000 lives lost. how much of that hinges are on the election coming up this weekend. >> it comes down to selection, to be blunt. we talked before the opening of the show about the zero option. it is something that would leave afghanistan in a huge lurch. there's two reasons why. so much of what afghanistan depends upon right now is foreign aid coming in. about 30% of the economy is fuelled by illegal drug sales, and i don't think it's the way to go. what you need to look at is economic sovereignty. pentagon has been working on this. my friend who was working on this was trying to find a way to have afghanistan become economically soft. n.a.t.o. has done, they have left pret

with hamid karzai constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office, eight candidates are in the running to become afghanistan's next president. time finance minister and two democrats are considered the front-runners. officials have issued voter cuts to two thirds of the population. campaign rallies have attracted tens of thousands of afghans. talk amongstots of ordinary people about who is going to win. there has been huge media coverage. >> security is a prime concern for organizers. the taliban has stepped up attacks over the last few weeks. steered clear of disrupting the campaign. rallyacking an election the have chosen not to do. they realized that killing large numbers of afghan civilians is politically damaging to their reputation. >> still, nearly 200,000 troops are being deployed across the country. with the clear winner in the first rounds unlikely, afghanistan have to wait until the summer before the final results are known. talks areeast peace in jeopardy. let a response to the palestinians ratification of 15 international dimensions earlier this week. israel's

something that hamid karzai refused to sign. >> this is the big question. all the presidential candidates, the three frontrunners said they'll sign the agreement when they get into power. the problem is there may not be a final decision on who will be president until october. although we have the election today. there'll be no announcement in a couple of weeks. there'll be a run off. probably not until the end of may. it could be until the end of summer. the problem is u.s. troops are beginning to draw down. the u.s. government needs to know how many they'll leave behind. the candidatesly be the next president, but it will be a tight schedule. it will be a tight schedule whether the agreement can be signed before they leave. >> joining us now to discuss the presidential election in afghanistan as well, is scott smith. the director of afghanistan. director of the central asian program at the u.s. gellens of piece. >> how do you expect the vote to impact u.s. foreign policy inside afghanistan? >> i think that the high turn out is - the crucial element of the

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 depe

abdel hamid said that poultry reflects much of what she has seen in eastern ukraine? >> it might be slightly disappointed for the protesters hold holed up against the southeast. it's revealed only about 25% of the population of this region actually wants a federal system, and that's one of the main demands of the pro-russian protesters. what people favor is a decentralized system in ukraine, one by which they can deal with their own local governance without always referring back to kiev. >> poultry views minority, about 7% believe that the russian language is any kind of threat in this region and the protesters keep on saying that why they are taking up buildings and why they are making their voices heard is that they feel that the russian identity is being muzzled by kiev. so insurgent results that don't really agree with what they are demanding or the point of view they are putting forward, but i think results that are in tune with what we have witnessed underground, yes, these protesters have a group of sympathizers who come here, who help them out on a daily basis

eight candidates were on the ballot, hoping to take over from outgoing president hamid karzai. he has been in 2001. >> vote counting is underway and election workers are busy. that was contrary to analyst protections. some polling centers stayed open longer because so many people were still in line. millions of afghans to find the threats of terrorist attacks. eager to do their part in choosing the next president. and men voted separately, everyone turning out expressed their longing for a democratic and secure afghanistan. i voted to guarantee the future of my country. the ballot box is a way to build our nation and show participation in these elections. we have come here to vote for an honest president who will work for this country. we are not frightened of anyone. >> outgoing president hamid karzai is not's nash said he was satisfied with the polls. >> despite the cold and rainy weather and threats of terrorist attacks, our sisters and brothers nationwide took part. your participation is a step forward and a success for afghanistan. three candidates are considered to have a

hamid karzai was one of the first to vote. the election brings to an end one of 13 years of rule beginning it 2001. >> i cast my vote as a citizen of this country. i'm certain of the event and participation takes afghanistan towards stability and better lies. >> there are eight presidential candidates. the other two are zalmai rassoul, and ashraf ghani ahmadzai. one will have to win 50% of the vote to avoid the run-off. the taliban told civilians they'll be targeted if they try to vote. there are plenty ignoring the warning. there's effort to minimise the risk of fraud. ballot boxes are sealed and coded and tracked. eat voter dips their finger in ink so they don't vote again. >> four weeks after malaysian airlines flight mh370 vanished. there's new hope that the jot may be found. a chinese ship reportedly detected a signal matching the frequency of the black box. it was found off the coast of az's west coast. the signal or a ping was detected this morning. three members of the ship's crew heard it but did not have time to reco

let's go back to zalmai rassoul, hamid karzai's top pick.is campaign was hit by allegations of fraud. he's calling on afghans to pout their faith in the electoral process. >> we put our request to the commission. it's up to them to decide. i'm confident they will look to that carefully. any president elected will not be legitimate for afghanistan. >> president obama offered his congratulations to the afghan people. in a statement the president said: >> people in india go the the polls starting on monday to cast ballots in the biggest elections. voting for the next prime minister will be held in nine stages over the next six weeks, we have this report from the north-east of ibdia -- india. >> the shreeking noise you here is the voting machines being tested. hundreds of officials gathered to collect and test the machines before taking them to their home constituencies. all votes will be cast by the machine, there'll be no paper ballots. it will be first of had time voting for half a million voters. it sounds like a lot. it's a fraction of the

voting is winding down in afghanistan, where people have been electing a successor to president hamid karzai. 13has been in office for years, since the u.s.-led invasion in 2001. tell them and have urged supporters to attack polling stations. >> voters lined up to cast ballots in the early morning. thece kept a close watch at polling stations, on the look for weapons. despite the threat of violence, many were determined to take part in the first ever democratic change of power. to participate, the process will put an end to the corrupt system. >> security forces are protecting us, so we are happy to come here to cast our votes. eight candidates are standing, but just three have a good chance of winning. abdallah abdullah came second in the last election in 2000 and third the former finance 2000 -- 2000.sh -- former prime minister finance minister is also running. is who hamid karzai is naming as his own successor. >> i'm asking you to come out and vote for a presidential candidate despite threats from our enemy. come out and vote for the success of our afghanistan. >> a runoff is expe

hoda abdel-hamid, a similar situation there as well. what are the activists demanding? >> well, they are actually demanding, first of all, that the words of the acting president, the promise of an amnesty turns into an official decree or, indeed, a bill voted by the parliament in kiev. they say at that stage they would really believe that promise, and they would feel safe to go home. after that, what they want is a referendum, and they point out over and over again that they don't want to separate from ukraine. they want a federal system, a system in which they could deal with their own regional issues as they please. they are scared of the idea of ukraine coming closer to the e.u. and western general. some of the e.u. regulations could bring out the life of the city, which is basically centered around the mining industry. that is what they want at the moment. we asked them about the deadline. they said they weren't worried too much because negotiations are ongoing directly with the government. they wouldn't tell us who, but they have been talking. in about an hour or s

president hamid karzai has been against it.hy are we so convinced these an dates will live up to their word and sign it? >> yeah, well, look. you know, you never know. it's something that has had widespread support, though. in fact, the afghan parliament has asked that the bsa be signed. >> there is really a lot of steam behind it. and really, once we get through the election, a lot of other things will no longer be so up in the air as far as the future of the country. and it will be a time to really start putting, you know, filling in the outlines of what have this country is going to look like in the next few years. i think it will be an easier time to sign the bsa. you are right. we never know until it's actually done. >> it's still not done. it's not a guarantee yet. a lot of encouraging news by today's election. there were not a lot of taliban attacks although they had been promised. the turnout was high. do you think, though, it's too early to claim a giant step forward for democracy for afghanistan? sc ? >> i think it is

. >> hamid karzai is said to be the first man in the entry's history to voluntarily cede power based a constitution and the will of the people. >> that does not necessarily mean the ballot will run smoothly. >> afghan election workers have begun distributing ballot boxes and say everything is on schedule for saturday's presidential vote. some 20,000 polling stations have been set up. once they arrive by truck, materials will be delivered by donkeys. taliban militants are threatening attacks on election day. kabul and other cities are on lockdown. some voters have not made up their minds whether to show up at polling stations. >> if there are threats of violence and people are afraid, then nobody will vote. i myself won't turn out to vote under those conditions. but security is very tight, so we will have to wait and see. >> president hamid karzai, who has led the country since the us-led invasion to topple the taliban in 2001, is constitutionally barred from a third term. one of those thought likely to succeed him, foreign minister abdullah abdullah, believes it will go well. >> is e

hamid karzai's fas is not fixed. indecision. >> german chancellor angela merkel. >> perhaps a bit bitter. >> likely the most telling - take a look at how he sees russian president vladimir putin, whose soul bush once said he could see. >> it's not a friendly painting. he seems to have changed his mind. whatever he saw he was wrong. >> started with a self-portrait. >> the former president turned the art on himself. do you think that's confidence? >> yes. >> there's neck fat. >> well... >> there's a big proportion of the net fat. >> it's very real. >> this is a former president with a few more of those, and could be seep as bush responding to critics, in a way. >> he's so reluctant to make a statement about his administration. he's wrestling with what it meant. is he painting or sending a message? much like his presidency people will likely be polarized in their opinions. >> interesting stuff. essel love et is an art critic and lecturer and told my colleague that the former president should be applauded. >> a lot of pe

in a few days we'll know who will succeed current president hamid karzai. there has been an increase in deadly violence as the deadline loms for n.a.t.o. -- looms for n.a.t.o. troop withdrawal. 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 h

. >> on the phone outside of slovyansk is hoda abdel-hamid. our correspondent. the second deadline has come and gone. have you seen any signs of a military operation about to be launched? >> absolutely nun. yesterday on the road we saw a limited military present, military hardware moving along the road, today there's none of that whatsoever. earlier i had gone to the barricade in the center of luhansk, in front of the security building that has been taken over by protesters more than a week ago. they said overnight they were wary that something would happen. they said that they didn't think that actually ukraine reporters would want to participate in such a raid or attack g. what they were fearing more than anything else is that there would be some sort of provocation that would have them or would show that they are the ones who started a fight, and then if that is so the ukrainian forces would step in. they are thinking certainly of more security measures than those coming in and out the barricade is being checked. that is the thing that may be happening at thi

. >>> pakistan military has denied being behind the shooting of a renown journalist ha hamid mir. he was attack pakistan's spy master and top intelligence agency would be responsible. >> the man wearing a shaul open fired first. another man was following him on a motorbike. he came up behind him. a driver in with mr. mir's car sped away. they chased after him but the driver was not hit. otherwise the damage would have been far worse. >> he said that the pakistani military uses violence to silence journalists. >> there have been attacks in 2010 and 2011, and in both cases the intelligence was involved. that's what happened in pakistan, the head of the--the pakistan authorities were involved, and in the killing or abduction and torture of journalists. >>> gunmen open fired in the egyptian cairo. >>> egyptian left wing politician who has popular alliance as the main rifl main o general al sisi. >>> and egypt's famous has been taken off until after the election. it has been temporarily shut down to avoid influencing voters. they often poke fun at egyptian nationalism and general al si

the ballot will replace president hamid karzai.you can see pulling off this vote is complicated by the taliban and it's threat of violence. >> reporter: the last-minute rush to register to vote 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 queuing to register since before dawn. then ballot box stuffing was widespread. this time it should be different but it won't be perfect. >> really, everything has been delivered according to timeline, both in regard to broad legislative and other provisions, but also the delivery of the ballot papers sensitive as non-sensitive material to the 7,000, 6,000 o 0 odd centered. centers. >> the capitol has endured a series of attacks. as there are pockets of the country where there will be no voting because of the taliban threat. does the threat of the attack put you off. >> it d

here, now it's a fortified barrier, a symbol of a growing divide. >> we can go live to hoda abdel-hamidwho is now in donetsk. so you have been off to the border region as your report showed us. it seems as though the tensions are building there, reflecting the strength of language that is now being volleyed back and forth between moscow and washington. >> absolutely. when we were there, there were prorps of russian -- reports of russian troops and convoys. you could feel the tension among the border guards, the ukrainian paratroopers who had been deployed to that area. i have to say, when you see the amount of troops that the russians have on the other side of the borders, and the pictures of long convoys, you do wonder what could the ukrainians do, and how long would they withstand, if, indeed, the russians cross that border. you know, a little down the road, leading to the official crossing there are several checkpoints by the pro-russian sprautists. so -- separatists, they are isolated there. i don't know how the ukrainian government could send reinforcements on the road, unless ther

and the trainee is fariq hamid.ks later, hamid would again in the right-hand seat this time as first officer of malaysia airlines flight 370. march 7, 2014, kuala lumpur, malaysia. millions of people are on the move, including philip wood, a 51-year-old ibm executive. in beijing the day begins as usual for his partner. >> i drink coffee and look over the sunrise. we live next to an apple orchard. i do yoga and eat my eat meal and -- oatmeal. >> reporter: phil will take a red eye home to sarah in beijing. paul weeks needs to make it thousands of miles inland, all the way to mongolia. >> he was doing this for the right reason. >> he is an engine, husband and father of two young boys. >> he spends so much time with his kids. takes them to the zoo. >> in fact, preparing the boys was a major issue before paul left for his 28-day assignment abroad. >> this is a big change for the family. we prepared lincoln. paul had bought him a painting pad to skype him and a map with where daddy was going to be. >> when weeks left home

the election marks the end of hamid karzai's 12 years in power. whoever replaces him has to decide whether to keep troops in afghanistan beyond this year. >> joining us now is a former chief of staff. thank you for being with us today. >> thank you for having me. >> let me get your thought. how big a hotel was it for afghanistan. >> it was huge. it was history rick. the afghan -- historic. the afghan people rose to hope and expectation. a major challenge lies ahead. that's the political outcome. the investment of international community has been vindicated by the resilience of the afghan people that fight taliban and terrorism lay down their life. it is now up to the political leaders to accept the outcome of the election. >> you say the investment has been vindicated. do you worry it's early. there's concerns of fraud and corruption and the taliban. >> i agree with you, it's premature to have a victory lap. by the same token, the major challenge is the political outcome, and that will be among the leaders, the person that win, and the person that

karzai and considered as the person probably closest to hamid karzai and probably someone who has his blessing. i think the preliminary assessments made over the past 48 hours show that they seem to be heading the pack. that mesul is trailing, that he may not be able to go into the second round. i am speculating, but this is based on preliminary results that we see. either there will be a runoff all the way to the end, or that in between there will be a political arrangement. a coalition would be built, a government of national unity would be formed, and they will agree on sharing power. the other question is with president karzai leaving office and seeming to want to exercise some level of influence in the future and have a say about afghan policy in the future, whether he will be given -- how much space will he be given, and in what area, and whether he will be satisfied or not, but regardless of whether karzai is satisfied or not, what is important is we had a first round. the afghan people had a chance to go to the polling stations and deliver their ballots, and there is no moment

we talked about the momentum hoda abdel-hamid, that the government have. what are they doing and what can they do? >> that's what they are discusses at a cabinet meeting. we heard from the interior minister who said within 48 hours, this situation in the east will be solved either by peace or by nurse. he went further by saying both options are on the table. both are a challenge for the government here. if we look up over the past days. they have sent many invoice to the east to quell the situation. there has been some success in carr kif, and that's probably because the interior minister is from there. and he managed to have the demonstrators evacuate that government building that has seized. but in the rest of theees the situation is at a standoff. if we look at the military option from the outside, it seems that the government is showing that it's prepared. people have been drafted. it's showing that forces are prepared. if anything happens, but really, as you said earlier, russian forces are on the other side of the borders, inside russia. according to

the region is divided as we see from hoda abdel-hamid's report from donetsk. >> they are uniformed and well equipped. they were at the forefront of a building seizure in kramatorsk, and the taking of an airfield in slovyansk. it prompted the mayor of the town to draw parallels with the take over of crimea by russia. she said. >> translation: the city is besieged by them at the moment. the men in green are there. they don't hide they are from crimea and russia. >> moscow denied involvement on the ground in eastern ukraine. these men don't hide their allegian allegiance. that has people questioning their movements. >> i'm scared of the crimean scenario being repeated. i saw the military cars without numbers on it, and from it people in uniform with guns. they have weapons, they can use it to injure the people not just us. >> the protesters say they are demanding their rights as ethnic russians. >> the protesters inside the building deny russian involvement as of yet. they say they were promised military backup if they came under attack. ask anyone here, and they'll tell you if the russia

and president hamid karzai has .sfused to sign a security agreement that would allow u.s. troops to remain in afghanistan fst 2014. many fear the taliban will return in full force if american troops leave. presidential candidate abdullah abdullah told us his first priority would be to restore u.s. relations. you feel there is a need for a continued u.s. military presence here? >> absolutely. es.olutely. we need support from the united states. ightt will be-- it will be put, once again, on the right oroting. >> reporter: the taliban can already claim victory in some parts of the country, scott. election officials told us they had to close down around 10% of polling stations throughout afghanistan because they're in areas that are just too dangerous to protect. >> pelley: election day on saturday. charlie, thanks. the u.s. government hopes a new her husband was on flight 370, and she tells us about her agonizing wait. and the queen meets the pope when the wetern cbs evening news continues. i'm j-a-n-e and i have copd. i'm d-a-v-e and i have copd. i'm k-a-t-e and i have copd,

and president hamid karzai is the reason for that. to sign the bilateral security agreement which would ensure an enduring u.s. presence here with the withdrawal at the end of 2014. so, yes, hamid karzai, he has built a residence very close to the presidential palace. and from what everybody is saying certainly here in afghanistan, he does not want to give up power. he wants to influence whoever is the next president. he has to step down. he's done his two terms. and it is, you know, quite well known that he -- he does have his favorite, and he has certainly thrown his support behind one of the candidates, dr. razul. but whether he has that influence on him, whether he certainly has influence on the other candidates, the top candidates, is yet to be seen. but certainly these three presidential candidates have said they will all sign that bilateral security agreement to ensure that, you know, america stays here and make sure that this doesn't become a safe haven for terrorists once again, wolf. >> please be careful over there. anna, on

but i have to say that even people in the administration who don't care for hamid karzai and can hardly wade to have him gone do give limb credit for apparently not meddling heavily in this election. de have a favorite candidate, as we said. but he did not-- if there wasn't massive, massive fraud it's because karzai didn't feel the need to do it last time he thought dic holbrook who was running policy and the u.s. were out to get him this time he is comfortable with the three front-runners, i'm told. so he didn't have a huge incentive to do it and he has told a lot of people, and again we don't know whether to believe this, that he sees it as part of his legacy his first peaceful ever transition of power. so i think that yes, the u.s. is looking forward to karzai's success, also pleasantly surprised that there has been -- >> and the other thing karzai has done is repeatedly refused to sign the security agreement which everybody is kind of waiting for. and u.s. officials said should have been done before this election so now there has been a election, do you assume there is going to be a

in afghanistan, heightened security as millions of people, including current president hamid karzai go to the polls. voting in the presidential election is underway, and the election marks the first democratic transition of power in the country's history. >> secretary of state secretary of state john kerry says it's time for reality check in the middle east peace process. israel has refused to free more palestine prisoners without an extension of the negotiation. palestine protesters calling for their release clashed with

the expectation is that that was an issue for hamid karzai, and who have was finally elected in this process will be more open to signing the agreement and keeping american and n.a.t.o. forces there. >> we are hoping, and as the presidential candidates clearly announced during the campaigns, that one of the first things they will do, at least for the frontrunners to sign the bilateral security agreement. we hope they keep their promise. signing of the bsa does not only help in terms of planning for security, but also the bigger message it gives to the neighbouring countries, to those who would like to influence the situation, particularly to the women of afghanistan, the bigger message it gives is that afghanistan will not be abandoned by the international security. it will help the situation of every citizen in afghanistan, and the wolan that connected with international community presence. >> and do you think the election will end up helping or hurting women, because as we have seen over the past 10 years, hamid karzai is married to someone that used to be a practicing gynecologist