ron continues to top the austrian open leaderboard englishman down the len downie will it seizing the lead heading into the final run to the karting ego and seven birdies apiece to go thirteen under par after day three there is a trio tied for second chris cain pelly ed burke and u.s. open champion graeme mcdowell all two strokes behind the leaders. i'm not as all your sport fell see you soon the world weather is coming up in just a tick.

violence and irregularities. the elections all signs that the political process

here is fading. for an update. one of russia's most wanted men and terror suspect awaits a court decision on his extradition from poland. and the deadly secrets down below r t looks at the efforts to rid the baltic sea of world war two munitions which still pose a danger. broadcasting live from our studios in the center of moscow this is r t certainly glad to have you with us polls have closed in afghanistan's parliamentary elections after a day marred by reports of voting irregularities and a deadly militant attacks across the country and with the u.s. pledging to pull its troops out of afghanistan by next summer many fear the elections show the country is far from stable and still plagued by corruption. is

in the afghan capital for us. by and large this was certainly not a successful day for afghan democracy there was an extremely ill voter turnout with some polling stations reporting that less than a quarter the number of people turned out today compared to the number of people casting their ballot last year during the presidential elections the first results will come in next week wednesday with the final tape telling been tabled at the end of october but these certainly will be elections associated with violence more than a thousand polling stations where i'm able to open the doors particularly in far flung rule communities where the taliban has strong control we've also heard some of the electoral complaints commission and it says that while the course of the day it received numerous reports on irregularities some of the complaints were by people saying that they saw election officials accepting bribes some of the reports were about the fate of those two cards and also reports about the so-called

indelible ink which was supposed to last more than four days and that was supposed to indicate that a person had voted and prevent them from voting a second time but we've heard many stories of people being able to rush off the same in just a matter of minutes the afghan parliament is meant to be installed early next year but if reports of a vote rigging in the coming weeks materialize and in fact become larger and if many of the two hundred and forty nine candidates who take up seats in the parliament turn out to be the preferred candidates of president hamid karzai people here will feel even listen to me she asked him about the political process one of the main reasons for such a low turnout today was violence but the other reason was a lack of enthusiasm and support for an administration that many people feel is corrupt by and large people also feel that this is an administration backed by western governments that has not listened to the will of the people the cause my administration will be for that deal it gets revised by these reports of

irregularities and violence it certainly seems as if they haven't been able to stem the violence throughout the course of the day. this will soon is being touted by many on this as a missed opportunity by kamikaze and his sponsors to actually win support from the afghan people and also to win support for a political process here in afghanistan the bonus troops mean to leave this country by july next year they said that they will only do so if there is a security system in place that can ensure political stability and security would suit me based on what we saw today this does not seem to be the case. afghanistan can only avoid becoming a failed state if it learns from past mistakes that's the view of dr abdullah abdullah an afghan opposition leader who was the main challenger in the two thousand and nine presidential election. as i had predicted before the presidential elections last year but that if if the same situation frontin you the situation can

only tell you date this is exactly what we are witness to in terms of governance issues of corruption rule of law and justice and security and as a whole so this is the these sort of sliding down all the the downward trend. to an absolute failure i list a list we look into the mistakes of the past we draw lessons from the mistakes of the past and we give the people of afghanistan back their sense of direction so this is stage the afghan leadership their administrations by mr karzai it in itself is a misled leadership and then last sense of direction of the failures of the national government cannot decide to do to put more troops from outside more resources from outside more energy and more support from outside this is a situation that afghans are to start with and the international community is also stuck with. and if afghanistan does fail to become

a stable nation it will have serious consequences for other countries in the region that's according to matthew hoh head of the afghan study group i think it's in. every other nation's interest to see a negotiated settlement in afghanistan it's been a proxy war or. a real war in one way or another for the last thirty thirty five years in afghanistan and it has improved nobody's economy as a prove nobody's way of life. i think for nations like the central asian states or russia for china that have issues with their own ethnic minorities or muslim minorities i think it's important for what's happening in afghanistan not to spread across boundaries and here with r t still to come this hour calls for a change in priorities in u.s. politics. despite an all time high poverty of more than fifty years that these

big name they're going to be there and say what america needs ban gay marriage to bring god back and. we hit the campaign trail for the u.s. midterm elections and discover what values some think are the most important to least arctic anomic times. also in the program find out what dangers and work in the depths of the baltic sea that's coming up in just a few minutes. a polish court is due to decide whether to extradite one of russia's most wanted terror suspects. was detained in warsaw on friday and later released russia is demanding his extradition in connection with atrocities in the north caucasus artie's alexy airshaft he is in the polish capital now. it's like i have left this building was district court late on friday night feeling almost like a free man it is hard to say whether he is a free man now as the court as you said is still to decide whether extradite to russia or anywhere else or not we heard comments from the officials working in this

court that according to the country's largest lation that's a kind of has a political refugee status in the u.k. this applies to the whole of the european union and that's why he had to be set free immediately i'd like to remind two of us that he was detained early on friday morning in the polish capital warsaw on charges that he is on the international wanted list by the interpol and that's why the polish authorities had to detain one of russia's most wanted terrorist suspects now many experts in poland have already been very surprised at the decision by this court saying that usually the fact that a person is on an international wanted least is more important than a rescue political refugee status and that's why it is still unclear what fate lies ahead of all in all physic used eleven criminal acts russia believes

moscow believes that he. militant group in the northern caucasus which was involved in a lot of different crimes from brutal killings to kidnappings in the northern caucasus region also mosco believes that as a kind of was somehow involved in a terrorist attack in most infamous theater siege the north in in moscow which was one of the most painful pages in modern russian history. is definitely one of the most wanted man in russia he was granted political asylum in the u.k. in two thousand and three and ever since most school has been asking london to extradite but so far all attempts have been futile this detention in warsaw which happened on friday morning. is the closest mosco got so far to actually get things that drive back to russia for a trial but so far it is as i've said unclear whether he will be extradited to all the comments we've heard from the local politicians and authorities say that this

decision will not be politicized that poland will act in full accordance with its own law and international legislation and we of course are waiting to hear any developments on the story and the future fate of one of the most wanted men in russia said against a political analyst from the commerce newspaper told us why he thinks poland won't extradite sic i have to russia. i think that despite current approach mint and russian poles relations and despite russia's strong pledge pledges to extradite him i don't think that we expect him to come back to russia i personally would be very surprised if he's extradited for simple reason that still this is a very politically charged issue and as you understand the ruling elite they also have the only mitigations they have all on domestic agenda and they can go to fry and so i said this as a sort of get in my old game he sees all the north i think he would not go to

russia they were conflicting reports some said that he was not informed that he might be arrested but i think the reason is that he simply understood that polish authorities had no guts just to arrest him and percent can russia and in fact it was proved yes to do and polish prime minister said that russia should not go to fly needs expectations definitely i think this is. a moment of truth for our relations at a moment just to see how mature this relations are of course what he's facing this those are very serious accusations but definitely he would be intitled the best lawyers and the case would be fully transparent and it would come under close scrutiny of international community of international human rights activists so i don't understand why such a big fuss or what that's why he can go to russia can be extradited. there's more in many of the stories we're covering on our website r t v dot com here's a quick look at what else is there for you right now. set for space the crew of the

next mission to the i assess has been confirmed find out who's going and what they'll be doing in orbit after the launch in october. and the writing retro style the russian and ukrainian presidents get behind the wheels of soviet made cars in an international rally. the u.s. is preparing for midterm elections against a background of grim news this week about the countries of poverty rate but on the campaign trail some parties say it's not finance but family values that should be the priority christine has been following the conservative values voter summit. they say they came to take america back it isn't our values our shared tireless

values that have changed has it it's our leaders that have changed. in campaign like speeches they criticized among other things president obama the white house tries to argue that their stimulus has helped. that's a bit like saying that squirting water from a garden hose helps put up a forest fire one day after staggering numbers were released from the u.s. census bureau showing a more than fourteen percent increase of those living below the poverty line powerful organizations and big name politicians came out to spread this message you cannot divorce the social issues from the fiscal and financial issues so just what are these pressing social issues like anything else everything's great help yourself on your. first one organization says marriage in america is under attack but marriage is a fundamental right but there is not

a fundamental right to marry whoever you want our government our policies have always regulated who you marry or who you may not know the national organization of marriage wants to keep it that way in other words no gay marriage and speaking of gays tradition family and property works to keep them out of the military when you fight for freedom shouldn't you also want to have freedom. obviously we have and we have to for it for freedom and freedom does not mean license to do whatever you want these issues so important to the masses here a new lobbying group has been formed its name is that republican elected officials to get them to put social issues back at the top of their agenda these are elected officials they were sent to washington to represent the people in their district in their states many of these people the bottom line is they can't pay their mortgage they don't have a job shouldn't that be the number one focus the thing is is that the issue of the middle. yes that's the main issue at stake here the middle class has

a number of priorities it's the main class that is the emphasis for social issues well you heard it here first the middle class cares most about social issues a month there is one issue even more important to the participants here god hala emanates from an almighty god and then god confers upon the individual power and then the individual in turn confirms up portion of that power on the government reserving all the remainder of the power to themselves for the last two years the most down to the conservative movement have come from the tea party key which stands for enough already here in the voters' values that i'm in a turning point that things are changing that despite an all time high in poverty in more than fifteen years at these big name conservative leaders say what america needs to ban gay marriage to bring god back into. reporting in washington christine

right now are. coming up later on our team is a special report we travel to one of russia's natural wonders the nature reserve that's home to more than three hundred species of birds as well as a rare fish and plant life. discover it. with the wild. west yourself and become. dangerous work is underway at the bottom of the baltic sea to remove world war two munitions it is expected to take at least two years to dispose of thousands of mines and mortar shells piled up on a sunken german ship there are reports of. cold

weather but determined they do want is a man on a mission and that mission is to monitor the state of all german munitions through everything with no she's got visibility is low just a couple of metres their missiles every web somewhere in boxes in tightly packed together the boat could be from world war two it's wrecked some shells actually laying on the seabed but. one and a half kilometers of shore seventeen meters underwater and ten suddenly sile still on board this german shape is just one of the many reminders a world war two in the baltics the russian emergences ministry lissome was ninety underwater hotspots in this area alone but only a few have been checked several in little which you know personally these missiles are very dangerous there are none that have rusted away and become homeless on the contrary some that we take out here in very good working condition when. they some

can ship is on the russian emergences minister to do list but with money tight and bureaucracy alone and complicated it's not something that can be done quickly and while they wait local fishermen feel the weapons will still get their chance to fulfill their deadly role boats have been known to return to port with all to. paedos invents captain valarie emotion knows only too well the dangers he says the d.p. and that goes the bigger the trouble it can bring out. once a fisherman from our village at thirty six missiles in his net he was fishing near it's i don't keep the multiple t's they put all the missiles right on the deck what else could you do the relatively small in size to baltics is the most densely mined area with around one hundred fifty. two bearing down the clock is ticking louder now less time and seawater are against the president's own policies but really it could be helped by a sudden explosion unless the innocent masses i take it sound like

a true on our feet. let's have a quick look at some other international news now thousands have gathered to protest against pope benedict's visit to the u.k. they slander the church over the sexual abuse of children by priests and other issues the pontiff met with five victims of the clerical abuse and expressed his deep sorrow he said the scandal had heaped shame and humiliation upon the catholic church is being seen as their strongest apology yet. b.p. is waiting for just one more pressure test before its ruptured well in the gulf of mexico can finally be declared sealed for good the cement has been poured into the wellhead after a relief drill reached it on friday the oil leak has been plugged by a temporary cap since mid july the explosion at the deepwater horizon rig in april killed eleven workers leading to the worst offshore oil spill in u.s. history. tens of thousands have been protesting in berlin against of the

government's plans to keep the nation's nuclear power stations running for another twelve years the plant's seventeen. excuse me the country's seventeen plants were to be shut by a twenty twenty one german chancellor angela merkel wants to extend their lifespan polls suggest the majority of germans are against the. move and favor the use of renewable energies. torrential rains have caused rivers across slovenia in that central europe to burst their banks flooding in some areas has forced residents to flee their homes several roads are closed to traffic in the capital we've done a more heavy rain is expected overnight. and the next hour join. shows us how to enjoy the far east in the russian capital with this weekend's entertainment guide. caustic to see the explosion of. strong started by for example. sergio remarks about. the

subject of israel in the sweet spot story. bud before moscow out when you return to a story we've been following closely here at r t the nuclear arms reduction treaty between russia and the us in washington it is still unclear whether there will be enough republican support for the ratification of the agreement former u.s. senator gary hart is among those who call for president obama's opponents to put political grudges aside for the safety of the world are. caught up with gary hart.

it's time for the senate to start that's the title of the letter signed by some top former u.s. officials former senators including gary hart thank you so much for joining her pleasure a few days ago i heard ambassador richard byrd say that if it had been a republican president said. mading this treaty the strategic arms reduction treaty for ratification it would have already been ratified i mean no doubt it's been a bumpy ride for the for the trade in the senate but in your opinion how much of it

was about the actual treaty and how much about republicans trying to make a point to the democrats well over the course of my active lifetime involved in arms control issues the pattern has been the republican presidents get much quicker ratification easier ratification of arms control treaties for example president reagan then democratic presidents and one would have hoped after the end of the cold war fifteen or more years ago that partisan approach to arms control would not still prevail but i'm afraid it still does. the questions about the treaty or all coming or virtually all coming from the republican party so i think those of us who signed the letter in the opinion piece or hoping former secretary of state george shultz and senator hagel are hoping that we can

encourage bipartisan support for this treaty and hopefully at least some republican senators will support it mr hart american officials have more than once told the senate that the treaty in no way limits the ability of the united states to deploy missile defenses and you know when it wants and where it was the senate foreign relations committee include at that point in their resolution but the russians seem to understand this type between offensive and defensive weapons in the treaty as in the binding are we lost in translation or is it just me well i hope not treaties can never be. ironclad in the sense of. absolutely eliminating ambiguity languages language and people from with starting with different language base have different meaning for words but the order of diplomacy

in the skill of home was diplomacy is to overcome those languages differences and to have a common understanding of exactly what crucial terms mean and i think of the time with the ratification is completed here in the united states hopefully successfully there will be a clear understanding on our part and on the part of the russian government as to what those terms mean and that's the best we can hope for mr hardee let me explain this a couple of days ago i went i went up to rose go to motive there the key u.s. negotiator on start after the press conference and i asked her about this whole debate on the connection between offensive and therefore weapons there in the train she said yes but the treaty acknowledges that time as a fact and not as an obligation so it is supposed to make sense in legal speak but i honestly don't understand because russians do seem to see it as that's legally binding as something the binding which americans don't see it such what do you make of it the skill of both teams is such that they would have.

had a negotiating record that clarified this issue so you think they do have an understanding is that the outsiders they have to or or they have to agree to disagree that is to say you interpret this way will interpret it that way but that's a very. shaky way to approach these things because it just leads to ambiguity slater i have to believe not having participated that there is a common understanding on this apart from that any real concerns about the treaty among senators. touch upon well clearly the republicans. have. concerns some of them genuine i think others less genuine. there is still i think for many of us not the kind of. understanding. by americans of

russia russian's government and where it's headed that we would like. but and i think from the russian side there is still confusion as to why. we have not developed stronger ties in the last fifteen or twenty years i'm not clear clear on that myself i think we should of but. as time goes on hopefully the questions that are being raised again primarily on the republican side will be satisfied at the end of the day there will be a vote on the treaty people will have to vote for it or against it and those who vote against it are going to have to justify why they voted against it and why it makes us more secure not to have a treaty then if we have the treaty and it's a very hard burden to carry may start even with this treaty in place we're obviously very far from the global zero they call a nuclear free world you know with new force.