i am sarah harmon. afghans vote for a new resident -- we will talk to our correspondent in kabul. chancellor angela merkel's conservatives are drying up for the elections. amber takes a huge step in the battle to avoid relegation -- amberg takes a huge step in the battle to avoid relegation. 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 200

i am sarah harmon. in eastern ukraine, pro-russian activists sees more public buildings. we will go live to our corresponding in donetsk. the funeral of award-winning german photographer anja niedringhaus, who was shot dead covering last week osh afghan election. -- last week's afghan election. the crisis in ukraine is escalating by the hour. gunmen have seized more government and security buildings in the east of the country in donetsk. now there are reports of gunfights between probe russian militants and police. officials in kiev are threatening to use force against what they call terrorists. >> in the early morning hours around 20 heavily armed, masked man's storm the police station in slaviansk. ukraine'she blame on new government. >> i would like to say hello to the residence of kiev. do you see what you have done? how could you allow this junta to roll? -- rule? >> those views have support among protesters. themayor of slaviansk says demonstrators are residents of s -- of eastern ukraine. >> we should not be afraid. the people that came to us are our people. they a