become the most transparent election in russia's history with both international and independent observers as well as web cameras long story every single polling station across the country join me beside the red brick walls of the kremlin for all the latest information in just one minute. on another news this week more than one hundred suspected mercenaries are caught fleeing. this is a foreign interference in syria escalates. and sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts to save the single currency. this is r.t. if you welcome to the program but first a russians are going to the polls to choose the next president thousands of observers. tens of thousands of newly installed cameras trained on the ballot boxes across the country. well putting stations across russia have now opened so let's now talk to our t's and. see how has the turnout been so far. the latest information we have received from russia's sensualist election commission is that twelve percent of the russia's population has already cast their ballots indeed wender stand in some region

as well and those observers that you mentioned how did they assess the process. well there have been violations certainly reported and irregularities in the course of this voting process we understand according to the central election commission that eighty nine violations were registered by the authorities the opposition at the sense on the independent observers claim that there were more than three thousand violations all across russia in the course of this election we understand that the main concern that the main warry of the observers and among the opposition was the so-called carousel style voting that means when a large group of people votes at different polling stations that is certainly and large of the number of votes for a certain candidate but the central election commission believes that when the trucks and when the buses with the people came at the polling stations to cast their ballots this was simply explained that officially and legitimately those people were bringing in the votes for those who were absent at the polling stations for the for thos

international and independent observer mean were named possible to conduct a vote of observers from european monitoring bodies say the regularities and other people immediately. while the opposition face serious electoral violations saying they'll be bringing people out into the streets once again to protest the results. three pm in moscow i match reza good to have you with us as we continue our official election coverage here on r t right here putin has won the presidential race to become russia's leader for a third term official results have given him almost sixty four percent of the vote let's go now live show skeet live for us in central moscow there so let's say putin has finished well ahead of his opponents give us the figures. yes we can say officially that russia has its president elect led even if we can has managed to go on a sixty three point six percent of the votes that is around forty five million people voting for the current prime minister for him to become president we also have the figure of the ninety's who got his closest rival who managed to go on a seventeen point two p

at every polling station in fact every russian citizen could become an observer at a polling station the only had to register with a certain party to be able to be an observer at the at the polling stations that is hundreds of thousands of people more than eighty thousand people in moscow alone are observing as international observers at the polling stations as well certainly as more than seven almost seven hundred international observers from all over the world who have come here we've already had reports of irregularities during the voting process but we understand that due to the tremendous number of observers at the polling stations these irregularities have been sorted out right at the sport you know and most of the eyes out our on the front runner of white here putin but what about the four other candidates how do their chances look ahead of today. nobody has any illusions about the fact that even a question will eventually win this presidential race you support is still strong despite just by diminishing from what compared to two thousand and four and two thousand and five and

any russian citizen who had the wish to be an observer could register with a political party and be observed as a sort of a polling station across the country whether or not this election did indeed become the most transparent in russia's history we are yet to learn but now of course all the focus is on what lies ahead of russia with which it is set to become its president for the third time and to talk about it we're joined live in moscow and as you from the central post industrial post-industrial studies many thanks for joining us this hour in freezing moscow and question to you we see that putin has gained victory with a rather overwhelming result what makes the russians elect him again why do you think he'd become became become president of the country again through the. elections for another month or for. this is no doubt the new one and the first maybe not just sixty four but fifty plus the plate and made it easier for the russian. goal to keep the peace and the support because this is a visit question of that with which is why right here you have. the majority of those with r

this might well become the most transparent voting in russia's history with so media observers and live web cameras observing every single polling station across the country join me live from outside the kremlin in just a minute for all the latest information. and looking back at the week's other news china calls for an immediate cease fire in syria and warns against the use of humanitarian aid as a pretext to interfere in the country's internal affairs. of any use state sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending while europeans rally against harsh cuts imposed to say the single currency. two pm in moscow i mattress or bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t the biggest story of the day russians heading to the polls to choose their next president hundreds of thousands of observers monitoring the vote thousands of newly installed web cameras trained on the ballot boxes across the country. we've got our own argues alexei or she was keeping his eye on the ballot for us how alexei. so how has the know there how's the turnout and so far. the turno

there was increased focus on election observations. despite the challenge of organizing elections of many people, they took preparations and it proceeded at efficiently. there was however a general lack of confidence of election officials at all levels. voting was assessed positively overall on election day. however, procedural some limitedsan and instances of illegal activity were observed. the process deteriorated during the count, which was assessed negatively in nearly one-third of the polling stations observed due to procedural irregularities. during the tabulation, observers reported that in some cases the data entry process was poorly organized and black transparency. let me conclude by saying this. the russian presidential elections showed a clear winner with an absolute majority. avoiding a second round. but electoral competition lack of fairness and an impartial referee was missing. due to increased citizen awareness and involvement, elections were better managed and more seriously observed, but structural improvement and not

signed up to be observers at the polling stations as well as international observers are there at the polling stations to make sure no philosophy patients take place and my colleague actually did a report just explaining the run up to the selection and how transparent it could be. the first few years. we won't forget and we won't forgive this is what the opposition promised the kremlin after december's parliamentary elections they claimed the vote had been raked in response the authorities decided web cameras at all ninety eight thousand polling stations would solve that problem it's cost russian taxpayers over three hundred million dollars doubling the initial cost of the vote now it's officially the most transparent and the most expensive in the nation's history but not everyone's convinced. cameras won't change anything there will always be discontent it was on is the for it without cameras. i don't think it would make a vote more transparent it's only made to please the opposition. so there was no sense installing them too many people are voting and there are too many polling stat

makings of the most transparent voting in russia's history both international and independent domestic observers as well as cameras and more it's henri every single polling station across the country in just a minute i'll be live with all the latest details from the place the white presidential candidates are fighting for the kremlin states you. and in other news this week more than one hundred suspected mercenaries are caught fleeing war torn homes as fears of foreign interference in syria escalate. and e states sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending by europeans value against cuts imposed to save the single currency. forecasting live from moscow this is our tease we can use it here but first russians are going to the polls to choose their next president thousands of observers are monitoring the vote and thousands of newly installed web cameras are trained on the ballot boxes across the country. yes polling stations across all of russia's nine times and so open toilets no totalities. lexy yeah how has the turnout been so. well it's a relatively high turnout compared even to the prev

observers from england observers from finland observers project and they all say the same in all the planning stage. we observers from the u. come from of europe made our. mission there was ok and fair and on a really high also if we could stand so what is the motivation from the heart of the organization the o.s.c. which is of course the organization for security cooperation in europe why would they say it was a different outcome but what's the motivation. their motivation is maybe. that. they made a big mistake letting go they mix the campaign before the election day and we have to criticize that that you still didn't lead up to seventy percent of the state t.v. . news the splits not in the right balance but what's happened since the demonstration in december in january it's a kleinman of free opinions. do you use the internet do news new media develop bloggers. but. always see me the mistake only may only have a look on the campaign for not be freer to say what's happened on their lection they let me quickly ask me if they're equally ignorant about the way the election though the

could register at the parties to become an independent observer those hundreds of thousands of observers managed to more or less regulate all those all those irregularities right at the polling station so there haven't been many eighty major faults if you cations any major regulated is reported so far apart from the independent observers which are in hundreds of thousands as i've said there are also around seven hundred international observers working at the polling stations across russia and we also haven't received any. reports from them for the moment so definitely this election is new whether or not it would become the most transparent in russia's history will certainly see in a very very short future now a lot of fear putin's been grabbing most of the headlines in this race and polls set him as the clear front runner but there are four other candidates running tell us more about that. indeed not even putin support has diminished by almost two fold since the last time he ran for president in back in two thousand and four back then it was about seventy percent now it's hard to say how

but science does not adddess questions like, who's the observer? where is the observer? who am i?hat do i want? how do i imprrve the quality of my relationships? do i have a soul? what does death mean? how do i deal with it? is there a god? do we have a soul? what happens to us after we die? these areequestions science, at the moment, does not address. and yet, science is based on the fact that we have a consccousness. all -- and by consciousness i mean, spirit, you know.i use the words synonymously. so science is based on observation, theories, experiments. well, theories are conceived in consciousness, experiments are designed in consciousness, observations are made in consciousness, science is a product of our consciousness. and, therefore, it behooves us to address that part of ourselves, too. >> smith: well, speak on behalf of spirituality, then, becaase there are people who may have hostility to science at the moment who believe that science is somehow in conflict with spiriiuality, notwithstanding. >>>chopra: yes, i don'' think so. i thinn science is not at all against a le

alone and hundreds of thousands across the country as well certainly as the international observers which also have a quite a large representation here of around seven hundred people across the country morning tory their election election no reports of major violations have been received so far certainly we are waiting for a news to come within the next five six hours and what amir putin's been grabbing most of the headlines in this race then most pre-election polls if you set him as a front runner but who is he up against today four other candidates tell us more about that. this quite obvious that support has diminished almost two fold since two thousand and four when he ran for presidency back then it was about seventy percent now it is smaller but still everyone realizes that everyone pretty much sure that we can will win this presidential campaign it is the matter of whether there will be a second round runoff which will be held on march twenty fifth if it happens in three weeks from now or this will be if you are a complete victory in the very first round in order to get that v

free not unprecedented measures are taken to ensure transparency including hundreds of thousands of observers and a network of webcam supposin stations across russia. but the opposition claims serious violations saying they'll be bringing people out onto the streets once again to protest against the results. live from the heart of the russian capital this is r.t.s. russian presidential election coverage welcome to the program well it's official putin has won the presidential race to become russia's leader for a third term the show results have given him almost sixty four percent of the vote but it's now talk to our. people this let's see putin has finished want to have his opponents what all of the official figures you have. well yes we have we have it confirmed has become the country's president elect at sixty three point seven five percent of the votes in his favor that's an impressive forty five million people voting for him his closest rival the communist party leader gennady zyuganov stands at seventeen point nineteen percent that is around twelve million people voting for to go out of t

since then, thousands of russians have undergone training as observers. hours in role playing sessions. their aim has been to prevent fraud, or at the very least to document it. though putin order polling stations to be equipped with security cameras, he is relieved that he saw firsthand what happened in his neighborhood. >> i am going home tonight with the feeling that i did my duty. that brings satisfaction of sorts. but now there's the question of how the country and moscow will react to putin's reelection. i hope this situation will not escalate into violence. >> even before the votes were counted, he heard the first projections handing putin a clear victory. on monday, he will no longer be an observer. he will be held on industry protesting. he is now shore of one thing, free and fair elections are not part of vladimir putin's russia. >> in china, the national people's congress is taking place at a time when the premier wen jiabao says the nation is facing many difficulties and challenges. >> the regime says it has to throttle back on growth to focus

i think our observations were. unanimous there was no evidence of any. problems with the conduct of the elections i think that in a very responsible way and. present fashion so far it seems the new technology has worked very well and i commend. the government for bringing this name because it may lay to rest a particular focus on the process of the presidential election rather than the policies of the. central asian commissioner said that over eighty five. fishley reports i go to be investigated. in the russian republic of dagestan in the north caucuses there are videos be uploaded on the internet which is to show ballot stuffing. taken place since the central asian commission have reacted the same it's the voting take place in that conversation has to be the old white house the head so. taken most of the reaction been from the opposition to the measures put in place to enable a fair and transparent election. but really that's in direct contrast what we've heard from some of the international observers the mystical so as to keep those affiliated with the

are the changes for the students shifts i can tell you that's in the latest three months we have observed the rice and supports all opposition leaders some of them running for the elections this time some of them which were to claim the right so it's wrong for the elections. supports both sides candidate is michael progress for example has a reason. to run a slightly went down well but in general we see much bigger interest always the elections right now especially on the younger completion usually a youth has been staying at home thinking well they have other things to do they didn't have much interest in participating in the elections in these times this year two thousand and twelve you see the young population growth in the big cities and in the villages and the small little areas willing to pursue peace much more actively both coaching and observing the elections well it's not a secret to anyone that has been a massive rise in public awareness political awareness that activity is ever since . jane in december do you think this is just connected to this particular election or will this

this promises to be the most transparent election in russia's history with russian international observers as well this. morning tory every polling station every detail all the latest information live with me just several minutes. more than a hundred suspected mercenaries caught being war torn homes as fears of foreign interference in syria escalates. and e.u. states sign up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts imposed to save the single currency. you're watching artes with the news your view on the latest developments welcome to the program well russians are going to the polls to choose their next president thousands of observers are monitoring the tens of thousands of newly installed web cameras trained on the ballot boxes across the country. polling stations have just opened across moscow. to see how the vote is going alexia who've been casting their ballots so far. well probably most of russia has already started to vote from the far east to the regions and now as we speak polling stations have opened in the russian capital moscow and all the ci

may become the most transparent vote in russia's history with both international and independent observers as well as the web cameras monitoring every single polling station across the country join me live from the heart of moscow with all the latest details in just one minute. one hundred suspected court. of pardons of parents in syria escalate. tough budget rules to stop spending. cuts imposed to save the single currency. the very latest developments welcome to the program well russians are going to the polls to choose their next president. monitoring the thousands of newly installed well trained on the ballot boxes across the country. well the polling stations across russia have now opened the most westerly mentioned in grab a final place to start voting let's now talk to r.t.c. let's see let's see how has the turnout been so far. well the turnout so far has been higher than four years ago during the previous presidential election in some regions especially in the far east now that several russian has been voting for several hours or really from the give us talk to go out and we in some

independent observers basically any russian citizen who had the wish to become an observer were working there at the polling stations also making sure that the election run smoothly as law along with seven hundred international observers who were also present at the stations and also declared that they will know for situations recorded certainly we are as i said yet to learn whether any of these claims violations and irregularities could prove to be detrimental for the outcome of the vote. ok we'll leave it there can our correspondent thank you. live by the way hooten spokesperson told r.t. that his campaign team had not been expecting so big a margin of victory. it's a very high result. we were thinking about about a positive result we were hoping for a definite victory and a first for we would never think of such a high result and it shows once again actually proves putin is a political figure number one and vince country and there is potential. here too is yet to be zero. and he will be able to prove it through his. presidency our public society is growing very fast. this growth grow

along with seven hundred international observers working at the polling stations making sure that this election would become transparent and it is being promised as the most transparent election in the history of mourning in russia whether that will be so certainly we will know soon enough as i said the polling stations are closing in just two hours from now finally alexei most eyes are on the front runner vladimir putin of course but for other candidates in the running against him one of their chances as head of today and what happens if they capture a large percentage of the vote. it is widely believed and a nobody has any illusions about the fact that lenin put in will win this election definitely he's the front runner despite having his support diminished by almost two fold as. something suggest that anyway he is the front runner if you will when it's the question is how he will win it in order to get a straight victory he must get fifty percent of the votes plus one vote and that will give him a straight victory in the first round if he gets less than that then he will have a seco

this election it was overseen by tens of thousands of observers and the results as the results sink in their reporting back with their findings or he could greaves as on top of the story live with what they're saying from pushkin square in central moscow so jacob break it down for us what is the assessment of the observers. well starting with the promise of enemy who should has just said on the situation it comes to allegations over let's. he said that they will be investigated fully hailed found of any wrongdoing moves you be pursued according to the law now we have had announcements from certain bodies european observer missions including pace the parliament parliamentary assembly of the council of europe now what they have stressed has been a real marts improvement in terms of the presidential elections compared to that of the do more elections that occurred in december of course these rules with allegations of electoral who are slightly more critical inspired is that of the oas see the organization for security cooperation in europe and they said the happy some real positive noises

after unprecedented measures are taken to ensure transparency including hundreds of thousands of observers and a network of web cameras polling stations across russia. but the opposition claims serious the electoral violations saying they'll be bringing people out on the streets once again to protest against the results. this is our teaser russian presidential election coverage live from moscow welcome well it's official putin has won the presidential race to become russia's leader for a third term official results have even had almost sixty four percent of the vote let's not talk so much he's alexy our chef speak more on this and let's see putin is finished what ahead of his appearance was over the official figures that. yes it is absolutely official but even a question is the country's new president elect with almost sixty four percent of the vote sixty three point six in fact in his favor that's about forty five million people choosing him to be the country's president with his closest rival the leader of the communist party united you've got of the man who's been running in just about

the election we do have we do have an observer from here. and let's hear what this man had to say about the election. i saw two groups involved in multiple voting they arrived and left in the same bus i managed to take pictures of one group but i scared them and i glued disintegrated when it reached not a precinct but the second group of farm here we tracked them down and the police detained them and to diminish it on. i'm sorry to say it's impossible to find out who they voted for well this was the guy who controlled the russians on the part of the communists so to then do you do you believe that we'll hear a lot more of such accusations of regularity while our unfortunate think that we will i mean i've been watching the process all day today in business looking at media reports and videos online and you have to say that the pattern looks pretty much like the december elections now of course it's one thing. making accusations it's nothing proven but i think that i think that the main problem for the authorities is that as we've talked about

the different articles on how the foreign observers are very happy with the elections and other peopleare writing about how everything was terrible so we're sort of looking at both sides here other people are writing about how now does the protester concern a break people are starting to go home there are you know writing about their experiences in the metro some people are doing just fine a lot of people saying that they were pushed and shoved by the police and that they are going to put all this stuff online and world to see it on youtube very soon so action a couple hours of people get all get home and they throw everything on you tube we should see a lot of interesting videos because a lot of these single frame photos are just really blurry to be honest. so be very interesting to see war is online a very good cheer for you good tunes of your seats night and i'm certain this will keep coming in over the next couple of days until be analyzing everything that's happening obviously i hope you're enjoying our coverage of the international observers have been having their say about the o

made every effort to make the poll as transparent as possible hundreds of thousands of independent observers are spread nationwide and every box is under the watchful eye of live webcams which anyone can shoot into to watch but it's not when our teams are standing by for us on a red square to mike good to see you so as i was saying the clock is ticking very little time left now for western russia to finish the votes you know what is the latest we're hearing right now as to how it's all going. certainly the polling stations have closed already in moscow and only one hour remaining until the voting stops everywhere across russia it's only the western region of russia the route which is yet to vote for another hour or so we know that the voter turnout has been somewhat a little less than during the previous presidential election back in two thousand and eight but still the turnout has been very high we understand that at least fifty six percent of that will just have turned out that the polling stations to cast their ballots now we heard of some irregularities in the course in the course of the

thank you very much alex richardson observance national observant was working at several polling stations here in moscow on sunday for the tale of the presidential vote. because of the thanks worth of all of us are courses overseas in the six presidential election since the fall of the soviet union it's a very new country a lot of people forget that indeed the folks at the polling station the course close at eight o'clock last night it is coming up to. one of the morning i know you said ten to twenty more twenty one of the morning joining us live here just outside the criticism from also it's a chilly night didn't stop one hundred thousand people turning out behind those temperatures we've heard about minus five it was snowing heavily a lot of people turned out earlier a huge turnout in support of votes in europe looks to be very clearly the winner of this election just outside the kremlin here tens of thousands of people cheering the candidate who gave an emotional speech earlier to his g.p. aggrieved among the crowd. already docked a victory rally and based on those latest exit polls it

people are expected to gather in central moscow for a thing elections rally as some of european observers praise russia's electoral progress following a last december's controversial poll join me in a few moments for all the latest on this. the opposition playing serious our electoral violations balin to bring people back to the streets to protest against the results. six pm in moscow i mattress or bring you our special election coverage here on r t right here is putin heading back to the kremlin with nearly all the votes now when they confirm a landslide victory for the new president elect but what happens next we'll go live to money or square with our correspondent alexei or ships be standing by just outside the kremlin walls so what is putin getting set up to do now a day after his win. there is very little time to celebrate for the idea that we can celebrate his achievement his victory in the very first round of the presidential vote in russia we understand that he is indeed gratian when he will be officially sworn in as russia's president will take place on may the seventh in two mon

almost a million watchdogs closely monitoring the selection seven hundred of them international observers so this election definitely goes down in history as the most closely money toward or if you want the most transparent one and by far the most expensive now equipping all almost ninety eight thousand polling stations across the country. almost doubled the initial post on the book and that was three hundred thirty million dollars at least correspond on a massive web can not work and so these day alone on the fourth of march the election day they filmed almost five years of video materials now that video was a way it was available on several hundred websites across the country so everyone sitting at home good morning tore the election process at polling stations in the countries nine times those now russia's most recent nationwide election the december for parliament free vote was married with accusations that there have been multiple violations and those accusations were behind the government's decision to make this election as transparent as possible allowing as many observers in as po

about seven network of web cameras were installed at polling stations across russia thousands of observers monitoring the voting. the opposition claims serious electoral violations saying they'll be bringing people out onto the streets once again to protest against the results that's a visit to an independent observer some started irregularities such as people turning up to vote at different polling stations several times. but in depth look at the presidential election results and the efforts of the opposition that's in our interview show spotlight next here r.t. . world. science technology innovation all these developments from around russia we've got the future covered. hello again to welcome troops across the into the shallow part i'll bring our friends today we're talking about the presidential election in the show so this is it the voting is over and just moments ago we heard the latest alie fullam early results this election was a very special it's the first time after a constitutional reform that russians elected a president for six years instead of the model of or is being the most

if there were no observers, a free disappeared from the scene and there are no longer any observers, the universe anymore. a very interesting question, but it does pose the same way of thinking, this top-down way of thinking. now, whenever i finish a draft of a book i have my has been treated because my husband steal this global studies he is a very good example of the target audience he claims that if he can understand it anybody can. he is not really that. but he read the close of the book. quoted stephen hawking as saying something about he's still a child, never grown up who. still asking how and why questions and occasionally finding an answer dissatisfied. my husband occasionally finding an answer to satisfy some. his opinion flow. i thought, yes. that is exactly right. that is the nature of his adventure. find the answer that satisfies him. mr. hawkins legacy. what will -- young enough to be alive maybe 30 or 50 years from now. yes. will he be saying that? i know what he would like. he would like to be remembered. if everyone could forget about the fact that he had been disabl

casting their ballots in fact you can look at live pictures right here right now a record number of observers are also our polling stations is almost two hundred thousand the web cameras set up to monitor the voting process online right here we have a stream of from one of those polling stations on the air for you right. seven people are killed in the ross southern syria one a suicide bomber targeted government this as the opposition syrian council council national council excuse me pounds to escalate the fight. plus tension over a possible military strike on iran the mounts in washington ahead of president obama's meeting with a cold israel lobbyist and a visit by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and you are watching artemia live from moscow glad to have you with us let's get right to your top stories the presidential election has kicked off in russia with almost one hundred eight million eligible voters turnout is expected to be the highest in decades and the eastern half of the country is already casting their votes it will take twenty one hours for the whole country to complete

with voters in the eastern part of the country already casting their ballots a record number of observers are also at the polling stations with almost two hundred thousand web cameras set up to monitor the voting process some like. seven people are killed in that garage southern syria when the suicide bomber targeted the government supporters of this as the opposition the syrian national council downstream has quit the fighting. plus tension over a possible military strike on iran the clowns in washington ahead of president obama's meeting with the pro israel lobby and a visit by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and broadcasting live direct from our studios in central moscow this is r.t. certainly glad to have you with us. presidential elections have been kicked off in russia with almost one hundred eight million eligible voters and turnout is expected to be the highest in decades the easternmost part of the country has already started casting their votes it will take twenty one hours for the whole country to complete the poll with the first results expected when the final polli

in the far east the first in the country's nine time zones to go to the polls a record number of observers are also at the polling stations with almost two hundred thousand web cameras set up to monitor the voting process online. seven people are killed in iraq it's southern syria when a suicide bomber targeted government supporters this as the opposition syrian national council valves to escalate the fighting. plus tension over a possible military strike on iran mounts into washington ahead of president obama's meeting with the pro israel lobby and a visit by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and broadcasting all live from our studios in central moscow this is r.t. certainly glad to have you with us now the presidential election has kicked off in russia with voters in the eastern most part of the country already casting their votes it will take twenty one hours for the whole country to complete the poll artie's you've got peace in office more. every hour more polling stations open in russia as the country stretches through nine time zones which means that the voting began in the

we have a number of member states who are already today of service permanent observers in the arctic and since the e.u. which its policies has having an impact into the arctic we don't make sense to involve it also as a permanent observer as well as we talk there the canadian hunters continue to hunt the seals. and they are. and they are regularly criticized sharply by the e.u. since liar and. hunkies by the canadian government to who. allows that well do you think that because of this sharp criticism canada may block the admission of the e.u. to the articles. well it's no doubt the seal hunting issue is it's a major issue between the e.u. and canada and also with greenland. legislation was passed on a on a trade ban on seal skins. with the exemption actually actually of indigenous. tribes they seal skin that was hunted by indigenous. and that's obviously had a devastating effect on certain communities at least in the arctic and particularly in greenland and so on in canada but we should not forget that the legislation which is very much the same regulation was passed by the u.s. in

would work with the other observers from asean. washington is closely watching the vote to judge myanmar's commitment to democratization. myanmar's government apparently hopes that by accepting foreign observers it will encourage the international community to take a positive stance and eventually lift economic sanctions. myanmar's steps towards political reform are already changing the way the international community sees the country. they now think of myanmar as the place to invest. foreign companies are scrambling to secure their piece of the pie. nhk world's jun kobayashi reports. >> reporter: the first exhibition of japanese products was held in early march in myanmar's largest city. some 45 japanese companies showcased products, including motorcycles, household appliances and cosmetics. >> translator: japanese products are a lot better than those from other countries. >> reporter: until now, few western brands have been able to secure a foothold in this market of 60 million consums. but myanmar's moves towards democratization

a record number of observers at the polling stations and almost two hundred thousand. process online he's elections are billed as russia's most transparent yet. before the. first few years here. we won't forget and we won't forget. this is what the opposition promised the crown and after december's parliamentary elections they claimed the vote had been raked in response the authorities decided web cameras at all ninety eight thousand polling stations would solve that problem it's cost russian taxpayers over three hundred million dollars doubling the nischelle cost of the vote now it's officially the most transparent and the most expensive in the nation's history but not everyone's convinced. cameras won't change anything there will always be discontent it was honest before even without cameras. i don't think it will make a vote on which inspire and it's only made to please the opposition. there was no sense installing them too many people are voting and there are too many polling stations who will make things more complicated. one of the main concerns about the c.c.t.v

already casting their ballots in fact right now you're looking at live pictures a record number of observers are also at the polling stations with almost two hundred thousand web cameras set up to monitor the voting process on monday he'll be have a streamed from one of those polling stations on air for you right now and take a look at. seven people are killed in the southern syria when a suicide bomber targeted government supporters as the opposition syrian national council vows to escalate the fighting. plus tension over a possible military strike on a brand now it's in the washington the head of president obama's meeting with a pro israel lobby group the visit by the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu . and with a top news headlines from around the world this is our team direct from our studios in central moscow on election day to write your top stories which of course this is the presidential election and it has kicked off here in russia with almost one hundred eight million eligible voters turnout is expected to be the highest in decades polling stations here in moscow are set to

fair after unprecedented steps were taken to ensure transparency including hundreds of thousands of observers and a network of webcams at polling stations across russia. but the opposition claims serious electoral violations saying they'll be bringing people out to the streets once again to protest against the results. two pm in moscow good to have you with us here on r t it's official vladimir putin has won the presidential race to become russia's leader for a third term official results have given him almost sixty four percent of the vote that's turnout artie's alexei or shoves joining us live from out in moscow good to have you with us again so who has finished well ahead of his opponents show us the figures. it is matt it is official absolutely we have the new president elect like even if it has managed to gone almost forty sixty four sixty percent of the vote that is sixty three point six that is forty five million people voting for the current prime minister for him to be russia's next president he's the main rival the closest person in terms of percentage to putin is denied he's got of

it promises to be the most transparent election in russia's history with international observers and web cameras monitoring every single call the station life details with me in just several moments. but in other news this week more than one hundred suspected mercenaries report fleeing water homes fears of foreign interference in syria escalate. and eve states signed up to tough budget rules to stop overspending europeans rally against harsh cuts imposed to save the single currency. you're watching artie's weekly news if you're on the very latest developments welcome to the program russians are going to the polls to choose their next president thousands of observers a monitoring of thousands of newly installed web cameras trained on the ballot boxes across the country. well all the polling stations across russia have now opened their voting just on the way in the west embrace teachin of kaliningrad let's now talk to our t's alexy . let's see well the whole country is now voting so who have been the most high profile voters so far. indeed from. all polling stations have opened across

in a sense we create the history of the universe by being here and by observing it.take for example the fact that we have four dimensions or for observable dimensions in our universe, three of space and one of time. in m theory there is no overall ruled that the universe would have three dimensions of space and one of time. the range of possibilities include any number from zero to do 10 based emissions and even in some versions with more than one time dimension. are dimensions of space and one of time may not be the most probable situation, but nevermind that in top-down thinking. three dimensions of space and one of time is the only situation that is of interest to us. now considering the universe the old way from the bottom up, there seems to be no discoverable reason why the laws of nature are what they are and not something different. but we do observe the laws of nature to be what they are, and we are here, so hawking says why not start with that? our presence is hugely significant. and as he restates the anthropic rentable, obviously when the beings on the pla

if there were no observers, if we disappear from the scene there are no longer any observers will there be a history of the universe anymore? and interesting question. the same way of thinking, this top-down way of thinking. when i finished the draft of a book i have my husband read it because my husband fielded global studies. he is not a scientist but is a very good example of the target audience. intelligent people. he claims if he can understand it anybody can. but he read the close of the book, i quoted stephen hawking saying he is still a child who had never grown up asking how and why questions, occasionally finding an answer that satisfied him. occasionally finding an answer that satisfies him and and in for while. and i thought i met that in the book. that is exactly right. that is the nature of his adventure. find a nature that satisfies him but soon he loses direction. sometimes undermining what he said previously. what will be stephen hawking's legacy? young enough to be alive, yes, what will we be saying about him than? i know what he would like. he would like to be remembe

in terms of a number of watchdogs almost a million observers including seven hundred international observers have been closely monitoring the votes now the most recent nationwide ballot the december for a problem for elections in russia where america by accusations the boat had been rigged to all those accusations were behind the government's decision to equate old polling stations with. cameras with transparent ballot boxes which and allowed more observe us and that was also. a record number of volunteers who signed up to money toward this process on this single day the fourth of march congress across the country reporters almost five years of media which has been available on the websites of several hundred websites on the internet so we see if there is a strange thing about him or question outstanding leaders sixty one point eight percent both. sides who got the biggest party also came in second in the december or parliamentary elections ease this number to their seventeen point eight percent oppose and coming of age thirty is like the measure in all skewed by far the most flamboyant poli

now we have had announcements from certain bodies european observers missions including hasty. holiday tree assembly of the council of europe all day has stressed there's been a real marked improvement in terms of the presidential elections compared to that of the dewar issues that occurred in december of course these rules of allegations alecto who are slightly more critical inspired is that of the o.e.c.d. the old eyes a ship security cooperation in europe now they said the happy some real positive noise including me a great taishan of cameras we see this is still in over ninety thousand polling stations around the country allowing people blow streaming out. exist to be election day proceed and also the implementation of the ballot boxes see through ballot boxes to allow for more or less illegal activities or allegation left for villa to fraud to take place but he has stressed despite this he's quote insufficient now these are all the opinions of two point three bodies and we've spoken to another independent observer but he still. we have seen several irregularities several m