March vote also coming up in liberia prepares for its first democratic transition of power in more than seven tactics the president ial runoff pits a former soccer strong against the countrys current Vice President. Welcome to the show my name sara harmon thanks for joining us russian president Vladimir Putin is on another six year term in office and now he has been formally endorsed to participate in next years vote for his fourth term for in society to run as an independent to make the most of his personal popularity amongst russians one of the six hundred supporters including prominent lawmakers and actors gathered in moscow for the endorsement their support allows putin to take part in the march election as an independent candidate. These Young Russians came to see the kremlin new years tree but were treated to a surprise appearance by Vladimir Putin. One of the children had the courage to ask the president how he feels about the opposition. I got that as you know which is. Positively. Good old country by. The opposition has little chance of victory after the countrys Election Commission barred alexina volley from taking part in the vote. The Opposition Leader is considered the biggest potential threat to putin and he has called for a boycott of the election. But theres still plenty of support for putin more than six hundred prominent russians including lawmakers actors and athletes gathered in moscow to officially endorse him as their candidate. But he would feel this is. Our country has changed from a devastated one without future prospects into a powerful country soon that this will. Lead to mere putin is the only leader who said our health care isnt good and under him maternity clinics and cardiological and other medical centers where both. Of you live it is good you see how the army has grown and grown stronger it now has powerful new weapons at its disposal and the person now are doing well but its. Now putin can submit his documents to the Election Commission after his bid is approved hell also need to gather three hundred thousand signatures to take part in the race. With polls showing more than an eighty percent Approval Rating putin is expected to cruise to victory in the march eighteenth vote. For more data and link showing joins us now from moscow emily why is futile running as an independent candidate and not for his own party. Well put in the fishley announced the decision to run as an independent at his yearly press conference in december and he actually gave no official reason there could be several reasons the first one could be the polls. More people trust putin than they trust the government for example more people in the polls trust putin than they trust me who heads the government so he may be trying to distance himself from the United Russia Party and from the government and this could also be a way of keeping up Public Interest after all this is his hes running to have a fourth term in office and its important for the kremlin to have a high turnout to show that these votes these elections are legitimate and so perhaps experts here are talking about the fact that maybe putin is trying to present himself in a new light as a new putin and independent candidate. The most outspoken food and critical lexing of only not being permitted to run against him what he has been a threat to putin. Well yes and no recent polls show that putin wouldve probably won anyway according to those recent polls. Independent and government polls put him at around sixty to eighty percent of public support so hes not really a threat in that sense but he has been campaigning all over the country and there have been big crowds coming out for him to support his bid for the president president ial election ahead of this decision and and hes also had hes also called for big protests and organized big protests this year and it seems that that is what the government is really afraid of a repeat of the mass protests that happened after duma elections in two thousand and eleven and this call for a boycott seems to have maybe spooked the kremlin theyre now calling to check whether that call to boycott the elections that came from the viney is legitimate and according to the law or case an evolving is out briefly emily is there any other credible contender who can challenge putin. Well credible is the key word here there is saying yes up shock who has positioned herself as a vehement critic of putin she has also now said that he could join her campaign which seems unlikely because now viney has been rather scathing about her but people are have also been saying that she might be herself an instrument of the kremlin her family her father was very close to putin and this may be an attempt people say by the kremlin to legitimize these votes by putting forward a real authorization candidate as she seems to be so far opposition candidates are polling in the low Single Digits however so there isnt really. A candidate that could really threatened putin all right no competition in sight thats emily sure win in moscow thank you. Heres a look now some other news in brief from around the world syrian rebel groups have rejected russian sponsored peace talks planned for january they say moscow is trying to bypass the u. N. Sponsored Peace Process rebels have also accused russia of committing war crimes in syria and failing to put pressure on the syrian government. A british vessel has a scored a russian warship as it passed near u. K. Territorial waters over christmas thats according to the British DefenseMinistry Officials say theyve noticed an increase in Russian Naval activity in the area and said they would not tolerate any form of aggression. Morals are being held across thailand to mark the anniversary of the two thousand and four indian ocean tsunami which killed more than two hundred thousand people in tunisia was the country hardest hit by the Natural Disaster considered one of the worst in modern history. Polls have now closed in the west african nation of liberia this president ial runoff follows an earlier vote or neither of the top two candidates passed the fifty percent mark its needed to win outright the vote is expected to be followed by the first democratic transfer of power in liberia in more than seven decades. The day after christmas voting got off to a slow start but the election appears to have been largely peaceful an impressive achievement in itself for a country thats known decades of war its a runoff vote between former International Footballer george way and Vice President joseph. Both of whom joined voters and casting their ballots just as an experienced long time politician having served in government for the past twelve years hes found it harder to convince voters that he will bring change. Because. We went in one there were two or three works i would reduce it cool. We have. Process theres a process. Were willing to live with. The small country of just over four Million People posts twenty six Political Parties state institutions remain weak and corruption is deeply entrenched. Born in a slum in the capital of monrovia george way has won the hearts of mostly young liberians through star performances for europes biggest football teams in the ninetys this is the second attempt at becoming president. To do this. They said i am going to win. It all he was an. Outgoing president Ellen Johnson sirleaf ruled cemented peace in the west african country after civil war ended in two thousand and three but the majority of liberians still live in dire poverty and she did little to improve that. Whoever wins this election will be faced with that difficult heritage and will have to prove that he can govern in a way that will benefit the country and its citizens. For more im joined now by maria of a nationals the chief observer for the European UnionElection Mission in liberia she joins us from the capital monrovia thanks for being with us its liberias first democratic transition since one thousand nine hundred forty four just how important is this election for the countrys future its really important because its so they will try to transition our its importance for lengthier in people and so on and have to have a credible election. Credible election process to sure not only for libya it looks or sort what all the regions you know you know are there will election the next in a few months and other kinds of in the region so its really important to assure that democratic transition with an election process credible election process is doubt able to manage it youre there to ensure fair play in the country so how free and fair has the process been so far. We are here for the European Observation Mission we have been here till. September and were still here till january so its a very long term observation mission. We hope served the first round and that its the second round earth for diesel actually we can see it at all the process even if we have had so i inserted the different complaint that had between the first and second run we can say that all of the institution but also all the Political Party and the citizen deliberate citizen. They have to do it responsibly to have this credible process so we have to wait now did yand of the process because we have had his election date now but we also have this process by certain days and saw at the end of this we can see if these elections are credible but more of that is we have to make some recommendations on top of the. Ok just too soon to say if the election has been framed fair but we know you and your team will be on the ground observing the election thank you very much maria raina shes the chief of server for the European UnionElection Mission in life very. Well for centuries dogs have been not only mans best friend but theyve also been trained to carry out of rye the of tasks for humans their newest job is helping kids learn to read an usual idea involves Children Reading out loud to dogs at animal shelters its a win win situation for both the kids and their furry friends. When jonathan reads a story the jackie comes down visibly the canine has been in the shelter for years and is normally highly suspicious of people. But with jonathan its different the eight year old comes here once a week to read aloud and its clear that jackie likes it. He lies down like that for example. When exactly does he do that. When he likes what im doing and feels relaxed. Children who find reading a challenge practice on dogs in an animal sanctuary. Its an idea that originated in the United States and it might sound strange but it seems to work. Being read to has a relaxing effect on the animals im found himself at first they get excited and curious and they bark even more but then after about fifteen minutes they calm down and it gets very quiet all you can hear the gentle voices of the children the dogs sit or lie down listening sometimes they even fall asleep the dogs stay in their compounds just in case. But the kids are allowed to decide Everything Else like which dog they read to and what they read many of the children have had bad experiences with reading out loud but having someone listen patiently to them can be transformative. And miss if they get more confident because theyre not being judged on what theyve read or how they read it instead they have a creature that visibly enjoys listening to them they can make heaps of mistakes or invent words or sentences none of that matters to the dogs in inverted its worth being said so thats within one hundred twenty three words. The children read for forty five minutes and afterwards the dogs get a treat for being such great listeners. Many kids now come regularly much to their canine friends delight. We hear it each of you thought we would put that to a little test and see if lots of our newsroom dog would enjoy a story lots of what do you think are you a good listener. Shes a good girl shes a good girl thats a give me a kiss. Maybe not we tried things are being with us here on day eight of the news falsely again at the top of the hour for more fiver now. Images from an isolated tree images from north korea. Tell me its a target for captured fascinating shots of everyday life regimented society