of the former soviet republics first female president near final results show sort of really won fifty nine point six percent of the vote the former foreign minister is backed by the ruling party favors balancing georgia's relations with russia and the west. speaking of russia president vladimir putin has accused ukraine of orchestrating sunday's naval standoff russia sees three craney and vessels and has detained their crews pending trial in turkey has condemned the black sea off the coast of crimea as a russian act of aggression ukraine's president has declared martial law in the border regions he says is preparing for war. putting on a show of readiness ukrainian troops trenches near the russian border have been put on alert as martial law comes into effect. ukraine's president petro poroshenko visited a military training center urging his troops to get prepared for action many of them. will give them no chance to invade into ukraine. that's why today we are doing everything possible to provide extra financing of the armed forces. not to be outdone russia's defense ministry also rel

with nearly all the votes counted she will be the first woman to hold the office in the former soviet republic it's the last direct election of a head of state in georgia as the presidency will be diminished by a new parliamentary democracy the vote has been tainted by allegations of fraud and intimidation robin forestier walker joining us from georgia's capital tbilisi what are you hearing about the latest results. yes most of them are in now i think ninety nine percent of the counts is done and celebrated to be severely picked up basically sixty percent compared. with just forty percent more or less and that is an extraordinary turn around considering that in the first round the two candidates were absolutely neck in neck and. popularity really was not looking at all. looking good at all so this is really quite an accomplishment and quite unexpected how did you manage to make such a turnaround. i think two things mainly for her first of all the government went into overdrive supporters went into overdrive and they brought out a p.r. campaign that basically painted the opposition as criminal

for nearly 70 years, it was a soviet republic, and since independence in 1991, georgia has been on ad ride as it struggles to obtain and maintain democracy. there has been a civil war, regional strife, and numerous provocations and invasions by russia. geopolitically, it's located in a hot spot, a strategic crossroads surrounded by russia, turkey, armenia, oil-producing azerbaijan and just a short distance away syria and iran. i wanted very much to see georgia, but in november of 2015 i was having a very tough time getting there. the hard realities of a television production schedule required me to be in georgia's shinny new version of vegas on the sea, batumi, but here i was stuck in istanbul. hurricane-like weather conditions grounded my flight on the other side of the sea. it's an unforgiving medium, television. and a first principle is that one minute you're on top of the world, next minute replaced by a younger, prettier face. somebody hungrier with fire in their belly. ♪ >> zamir: to, to, to, to, to bah live from batumi. >> anthony: i knew just such a person. someone who'd been

ruling party well explained what they're angry about georgia is on course to elect the former soviet republics first female president. hello winter is creeping out again even by satellite you can get that hint when cold air comes off the land and over the water you get these shower clouds building up in the stream of the wind because it's cold enough you get snow that's exactly getting in the car day for the next day or so versus friday's picture support and they don't get the snow but it's still called a plus one seems that they were stuck as a snow head sayas and his lower granite tended to write in heavy rain for normal home shoot snow for the mountain sendai about eleven in tokyo is probably in the fine with that fifty it is cold further west but not as cold it could be beijing still at seven well i'm a tall man as for a month ago we're going to talk it about minus eleven as a day max was the cold hasn't really come any further science or east yet nor has it reached central or southern china you can see the northeast monsoon is in such fine looking weather occasional big showers develop in

with nearly all the votes counted she will be the first woman to hold the office in the former soviet republic it's the direct election of a head of state in georgia because the country is turning into a parliamentary democracy the vote has been tainted by allegations of fraud and intimidation robin forster walker has more from the capital tbilisi. really received sixty percent of the votes in yesterday's turnout now that is an extraordinary turnaround when you consider that in the first round of these elections she and her rival rick overshadowed they were practically like an egg i think then she had just a percentage point over here in the first round poll and the reason for that was that she has been very struggled let's say two to resonate with voters because of remarks she made about georgia's war with russia where she said georgia should shoulder some of the responsibility there was a new p.r. campaign that so want to patrol the opposition. as criminal as dangerous step backwards for georgian politics because they her rival had promised to pardon members of the former government who had

with nearly all of the votes counted she'll be the first woman to hold that office in the former soviet republic south korea's supreme court has ordered japanese industrial giant mitsubishi to compensate twenty south koreans for forced labor during the second world war the decision follows the court's ruling in october in favor of those seeking damages from another japanese company for its use of forced wartime labor those are the headlines keep it on al-jazeera much more to come witness is that next. question economy but i was on a hitch is that i'm not sure that i can hang on and that this and. must plan i can manage going on but i was ten and i went down the. street and get the first step make them again let me have a hug. but i'm going there at the five and i thought they got. through it before it goes there fortunately it was the holy mother church for. the service that's. really in. it wouldn't. be best able. to get little. good news from. the north has just. moved on into florida one of those are two cities. with. the death toll to. come out and become a little too good to continue. to ke

hold the office in the former soviet republic it's the last direct election of a head of state in georgia because the country is turning into a parliamentary democracy supporters of. prime minister rudd no worker missing a push through a vote in parliament to cut funding for the man who replaced him the former president mahinda rajapaksa took over after the president removed her missing up plunging the country into a political crisis there's been violence in parliament when those loyal to rajapaksa rejected two no confidence votes against him. south korea's supreme court has ordered a japanese industrial giant mitsubishi to compensate twenty eight south koreans for forced labor during the second world war the decision follows the court's ruling in october in favor of those seeking damages from another japanese company for its use of forced wartime labor those are the headlines on al-jazeera people and power rendition revisited is up next. china could be facing a debt i suppose that's according to s. and p. global trumpet ministration just been insisting towards the saudis and other uses t

moments we will have weather with rob here on al-jazeera also georgia is set to elect the former soviet republics first ever female president. here's a busy with thousands of central american asylum seekers stuck at a camp in mexico. a fire and fury a brawl breaks out as time heavyweight boxer is face off for the final time before their big alto about details and sports. by the spring time flowers of a mountain lake. to the first snowfall on the winter. out of the spring rains in south america are pretty active so far this year some big downpours a could just recently in this week it perri causing pretty widespread flooding cutting off some roads this one here for example which is a typical thing every spring news is developing these could be greater depths because of that school still has to go on the site but this is peru i'm talking about and the showers of course do exist further east they've moved into paraguayan and brazil that's for one hundred one reason twenty four hours again this week flash flooding territory however that's where the rain is more or less stayed as you can see this big

nine hundred thirty nine eastern poland awoke to be western ukraine and a part of the family of soviet republics and the u.s.s.r. . but even this bold dividing of lands and nations only delayed the inevitable germany broke its promise to the u.s.s.r. . on june twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty one germany invaded the u.s.s.r. launching barber rossa the largest military operation in world history. barbara was aiming for st petersburg moscow and kiev ukraine three destinations of major significance ukraine with its rich lands and resources was an important industrial and economic source for the u.s.s.r. to cut it off from the soviet union would strike a big blow indeed. for most of the soviet union the second world war was about fighting the invaders of the land. but it wasn't quite so simple for ukraine the truth is ukraine has never been a united country. when world war two broke out a large part of western ukraine's population welcomed the german soldiers as liberators from the reese. certainly forced upon them soviet rule and openly collaborated with the germans. the real scale of

when a stonier was still a soviet republic he developed an experimental almost mystical style often described as holy minimalism the communist leadership didn't approve an awful parent emigrated in one thousand nine hundred. after a brief spell in vienna he moved to berlin where he and his family lived for the next thirty years it was here that he developed his signature little bells sound the so-called tintin the bully his distinctive musical language has earned him a loyal following. september all part of the past means a lot to us he's like a global ambassador first donia minus. the building has a common pleasant atmosphere the architecture works very well it's a fabulous building it matches the music perfectly. an orthodox christian i will parrot wanted the building to include a chapel and a tower with a view of the baltic sea the center is a fitting tribute to the composer. in a kind of the cause one could say that we've come full circle. it's vital that there is a place where his legacy can be preserved and upheld as a. fairness for this album and unfitted so can. it is a day on which r

public's former soviet republics such as. georgia whether. it was simply it would be. number two number one number two it was also the reason for. over. turkey's membership it made a lot to do with its decision to buy. weapons. many other countries in nato even including power. with united states for leading it. fortunately i'm going to have to because we are running out of time. this is a subject i think that you and i could talk about for quite a long time as it is very important sounder bruno senior analyst at lombardi a lot of thanks for being on the scene r.t. international. thank you. recent decision to pull out of a nuclear missile treaty with russia has sparked a concern in europe last month the u.s. scrapped the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty with russia which had been in force for more than thirty years required both countries to eliminate their stockpiles of mid range ground based nuclear missiles meters across the european union condemned the move but political analyst mark macaulay believes europe has very little leverage over washington when it

communist activists established a soviet republic and hungary from march to war guess nine hundred nineteen during that time a group of communist paramilitaries known as the lenin boys executed several hundred people suspected of counter-revolutionary activity. in august nine hundred nineteen french and remaining in troops occupied budapest and put an end to the uprising. revolution was spreading throughout europe now it was germany's turn. in january nineteen nineteen an armed revolt led by the german communist party schock berlin a week later the rebellion was put down by paramilitary troops known as the fi cause. they arrested and executed the communist party leader whores and luxembourg and. some germans may have continued to idealize the early days of the war but now the majority of them simply wanted the country to return to peace and prosperity. none could have imagined that twenty five years later germany would be involved in yet another major conflict. nor could these people have foreseen that the same regime that started that conflict would also organize the murder of six million

today salomé sort of this really has won george's presidential election becoming the former soviet republicsfirst female president near final results show zora bush really won fifty nine point six percent of the vote the former foreign minister is backed by the ruling party and favors balancing georgia's relations with russia and the west. thousands of colombian students marched through the streets of bogota on thursday they're demanding the government increased funding for higher education students and teachers at the nation's universities have been on strike since oct eleventh accusing the right wing government of undermining their institutions. of united states senate has voted to advance a bill that would end u.s. involvement in the saudi led war in the yemen the vote is being seen as a rejection of president support for the saudis after the join the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi senators will debate the bill again before casting a final. a peace settlement with taliban extremists in afghanistan is possible that's according to afghan president musharraf's ghani as he presented a

backed candidate salome will win it's the last direct election of a head of states in the former soviet republic as the presidency will be diminished by a new parliamentary democracy the votes been tainted by allegations of fraud and intimidation at the ballot box several thousand supporters of macedonia as conservative opposition are protesting against a proposed deal to change the country's name macedonia social democratic government reached an agreement with greece to rename it the republic of north macedonia the move would resolve the decades old dispute with greece and clear obstacles for macedonia to join nato. greenpeace activists occupying poland's biggest coal plant ahead of un climate talks on sunday nine protesters climb to the top of the main chimney and are staying overnight the state run power plant in their step towards central city of belchertown of is the biggest producer in europe and one of the largest coal power plants in the world. this kind of action should encourage everybody to law demands from political and business leaders to. just try to do a just transition from coal

candidate salome is barely well when it's the last direct election of a head of state in the former soviet republic has the presidency will be diminished by new parliamentary democracy the vote has been tainted by allegations of fraud and intimidation at the ballot box. britain's economy will be worse off outside the european union no matter how the country leaves that's the upshot of a report from the bank of england looking at prospects at scenarios in the west case where britain crashes out of the block with no deal the central bank says the economy would contract by as much as eight percent in a year while under the agreement being pushed by prime minister trees in may the economy will be about four percent smaller over fifteen is. the bank of england is ready for bracks it whatever form it takes the analysis released today confirms that the core of the u.k. financial system is resilient to worst case scenarios we have contingency plans in place to support market functioning if necessary but to be clear the bank being ready for brics it is not sufficient to guarantee a particular economic outco

candidate salome fairly well when it's the last direct election of a head of state in the former soviet republic as the presidency will be diminished by a new parliamentary democracy the vote has been tainted by allegations of fraud and intimidation at the ballot box greenpeace activists occupying poland's biggest coal plant ahead of un climate talks on sunday nine protesters climbed to the top of the main chimney and are staying overnight the state run power plant in the central city of bell to talk of is the biggest producer in europe and one of the largest coal power plants in the wild protecting the world's water has been the focus of thousands of entrepreneurs and environmental experts at a conference in kenya the so-called blue economy is valued at six trillion dollars catherine sawyer has more from nairobi. on the sidelines of the world's first blue economy conference delegates are treated to a shoe of clothes and bags crafted from fish skin all the way from the shores of lake turkana in nothing kenya to that. and other side regions designers he has say the future of fashion can include f

this fit a pattern of the russian president who is impressed with the former soviet republic that he. >> putin is obsessed with crew y ukraine because it works. it prevents them from moving over from being something other than a post-soviet basket case. 150 million russians will look to the west and say why not us. that would be a very big problem for putin. >> reporter: experts say ukraine move toward joining the eu and nato are a threat to putin who still grregrets the day the sovt empire collapsed. >> having this influence is critical to on the path to restoring russia's great power status. >> reporter: president trump's u.n. ambassador made it clear who she is siding with. the united states will continue to stand with the people against the ukraine. >> reporter: the president is beingless forceful. >> we don't know what's happening. europe is not thrilled. we're working on it together. >> reporter: analysts say this puts more pressure on president trump to hold putin accountable when they likely meet at the g20 summit this week. >> russia has a long track record of probing and te

candidate salome zurabishvili will win as the last direct election of a head of state in the former soviet republic as the presidency will be diminished by a new parliamentary democracy the votes been tainted by fraud allegations greenpeace activists are occupying a polish coal fired power plant ahead of un climate talks on sunday nine protest has climbed to the top of the main chimney the state run power plant in the central city of black stalled is the biggest polluter in europe. this kind of action should encourage everybody to your demands from political and business leaders who are. just trying to do is just transition from call towards renewable energy and energy efficiency that's the only solution for humankind because science is clear there is only a couple of years basically twelve years left for developed countries to quit call in order to prevent climate catastrophe now protecting the world's water has been the focus for thousands of entrepreneurs and environmental experts at a conference in kenya the so-called blue economy is valued at six trillion dollars conference or reports from nai

melania trump is from the former yugoslavia, from one of the former soviet republics. some time ago when the three leaders of the baltic states, estonia, latvia, and lithuania met in paris, they told amazing stories about their interaction with trump. president trump said before the press conference in washington, he said, you know, he said, i blame you for the wars in yugoslavia. what he was referring to was the balkans, having no understanding that these three leaders were actually from the baltics rather than the balkans. and they were flabbergasted. macron has never forgotten this. he told one of the journalists from le monde who was interviewing him for a package on the 100th anniversary, told them the story, and le monde is featured in this morning's newspapers. so it's very -- by the way, he said this is the territory that my wife came from, the balkans. talking to the leaders of the baltic republics, estonia, latvia alithuania. really, most of the europeans have a great deal of difficulty understanding how a person like that could be running the united states a

choose their next president set to be the last direct election of the head of state in the former soviet republic as the president he will be diminished in the country's new parliamentary democracy the elections still been highly contested robyn forestay a walker brings us more now from the capital tbilisi. so miserably severely hopes to be george's next president she has the backing of the governing party exit polls suggest she now has the backing of the electorate because she did be on the my choices for a peaceful georgia united georgia. so amazing really struggle to connect with them afterwards in votes in the first round the question is whether she's got enough this time to turn her fortunes around. this was always going to be a close race between her and her rival. because philip morris of children lives in hope people who believe honesty democracy and development will come to vote because georgia has not time to waste a when full version would say would have boosted the opposition he promised to pardon billy george's former president charged with abuse of power now lives in exile. it's bee

the former soviet republic of ukraine. we can speak now to ta ras berezovets.ity and defence advisor and is now a political analyst. thank you for being with us. what to make of the flare—up? how worrying is it? —— what do you make? make of the flare—up? how worrying is it? -- what do you make? the situation has been degenerating since 2014 when the russians illegally annexed the crimean peninsular. obviously, was this situation predictable? absolutely. one reason why these naval vessels have been deployed was because of actions which russian government and the russian fleet had been taking over the last months. they have been blocking both ukrainian and international vessels which were going to ukrainian ports. for that reason, losses of the ukrainian government and international companies have been huge. basically the ukrainian government, according to an official statement, warned the russian side that these three vessels would be removed. what we see now today at 4pm kiev time, i would say 100% they would declare martial law for the next 60 days which would

with nearly all those counted which will be the first woman to hold the office in the former soviet republic it's the last direct election of a head of state in georgia because the country is turning into a parliamentary democracy that has been tainted by allegations of fraud and temptation and forced a walker has more from the capital tbilisi. really received sixty percent of the vote in yesterday's turnout now that is an extraordinary turnaround when you consider that in the first round of these elections she and her rival rick overshadowed they were practically neck and neck i think then she had just a percentage point over here in the first round poll and the reason for that was that she has been very struggled let's say to resonate with voters because of remarks she made about georgia's war with russia where she said georgia should shoulder some of the responsibility there was a new p.r. campaign that so what's the opposition. as criminal as a dangerous step backwards for georgian politics because greg overshadows a her rival had promised to pardon members of the former government who h

my name is tommy lamar shall not meet them i was born a citizen of the union of soviet socialist republics. the u.s.s.r. . people think that when the hammer and sickle flag came down on the kremlin in december one thousand ninety one the world changed but things are never that simple. i was too young to remember soviet rule but i have lived my whole life in its shadow. as a georgian i cannot forget the fact that my family members where executed in the soviet purges. as a daughter i cannot forgive the fact that the soviet system crushed my parents' aspirations. as a reporter i have witnessed the wars and revolutions that are its legacy. in my own country i saw russian tanks reasserting soviet borders and axing toward land. after almost thirty years of independence the u.s.s.r. is still with us and i believe we cannot have a future until we have dealt with this passed. i've lived away from georgia for almost ten years. every time i come back i remember why i left because i feel that the history is weighing down on my country. and it will take many years to transform it into the country that

my name is tommy lamar shall not meet them i was born a citizen of the union of soviet socialist republics. the u.s.s.r. . people think that when the hammer and sickle flag came down on the kremlin in december one thousand ninety one the world changed but things are never that simple. i was too young to remember soviet rule but i have lived my whole life in its shadow. as a georgian i cannot forget the fact that my family members where executed in the soviet purges. as a daughter i cannot forgive the fact that the soviet system crushed my parents' aspirations. as a reporter i have witnessed the wars and revolutions that are its legacy. in my own country i saw russian tanks reasserting soviet borders and axing toward land. after almost thirty years of independence the u.s.s.r. is still with us and i believe we cannot have the future until we have dealt with this passed. i've lived away from georgia for almost ten years. every time i come back i remember why i left because i feel that the history is weighing down on my country. and it will take many years to transform it into the country tha

my name is tommy lamar shall not meet them i was born a citizen of the union of soviet socialist republics. the u.s.s.r. . people think that when the hammer and sickle flag came down on the kremlin in december one thousand ninety one the world changed but things are never that simple. i was too young to remember soviet rule but i have lived my whole life in its shadow. as a georgian i cannot forget the fact that my family members where executed in the soviet purges. as a daughter i cannot forgive the fact that the soviet system crushed my parents' aspirations. as a reporter i have witnessed the wars and revolutions that are its legacy. in my own country i saw russian tanks reasserting soviet borders and axing toward land. after almost thirty years of independence the u.s.s.r. is still with us and i believe we cannot have a future until we have dealt with this passed. i've lived away from georgia for almost ten years. every time i come back i remember why i left because i feel that the history is weighing down on my country. and it will take many years to transform it into the country that

the union of soviet socialist republics was officially declared on december the twenty second nineteen twenty two the new states now covered nearly one sixth of the us land surface. there was a major famine from one nine hundred twenty one to twenty two one major cause the authorities seized commodities from peasants to feed the cities and the military. an estimated five million people died in the famine. food supplies donated by your tip of the united states soon started arriving. will shout for also an american relief worker describes a situation in one region. people hit we smack stuart ground balls tree bark and clay they also eat meat from horses dogs cats and rats and they eat straw. there are macey and dozens die every day. the stench is appalling. by the end of the civil war an estimated one point five million russians had left the country. many of them settled in france often in paris only just. wealthy emigres continued to lead lives of luxury. among them was prince felix you support who had coordinated the murder of russ putin in nine hundred sixteen. how can you not feel co

my name is tommy lamar shall not meet them i was born a citizen of the union of soviet socialist republics. the u.s.s.r. . people think that when the hammer and sickle flag came down on the kremlin in december one thousand ninety one the world changed but things are never that simple. i was too young to remember soviet rule but i have lived my whole life in its shadow. as a georgian i cannot forget the fact that my family members where executed in the soviet purges. as a daughter i cannot forgive the fact that the soviet system crushed my parents' aspirations. as a reporter i have witnessed wars and revolutions that are its legacy. in my own country i saw russian tanks reasserting soviet borders and axing toward land. after almost thirty years of independence the u.s.s.r. is still with us and i believe we cannot have the future until we have dealt with this passed. i've lived away from georgia for almost ten years. every time i come back i remember why i left because i feel that the history is weighing down on my country. and it will take many years to transform it into the country that i