We first begin with the story of the syrian elections with syrians are broad abroad begin counting their votes this wednesday and a boat that is widely expected to return Bashar Alassad to power. Lebanon in particular held voting amid allegations syrian officials may have pressured refugees into voting. An estimated 200,000 of the 3 million syrians living abroad are eligible to vote, but the Syrian Opposition and its allies declared the election to be a sham. The rest of syria will be going to the polls next tuesday. For more on the story, lets. Ross what was the turnout like today in lebanon where there are many Syrian Refugees about . It was pretty tumultuous. Thousands of Syrian Refugees and the embassyed up at today. It was the only polling station in the whole country. Ashas been extended tomorrow an emergency measure because. Here were so many people schoolchildren had to cancel exams in the area because they said they could not get to their schools. The traffic was intense, and also people were queuing and walking for many kilometers to get there. There was a scuffle that the embassy. At one point, the Lebanese Army closed off the in the sea, thinking they could try to process the people that were inside, and some of them danced then stormed the embassy, some of the people who were waiting outside to vote, and they were beaten back with sticks and in some cases metal bars. Very chaotic scenes today, and as i said, voting will continue tomorrow because so many people were unable to vote today. Given the large numbers of people turned out to vote, has this been viewed as a show of support for the alassad regime . I think undoubtedly there is a lot of support, but we were must remember that about 40,000 to vote,re registered so lines may be longer tomorrow, but there were a million refugees in lebanon and also some workers that do not count in that sticker, so it is hard to measure the real degree of support. There were also some people perhaps feared that they were being monitored, feared they would not be able to return to syria if they were not able to vote. The majority of people seemed to genuinely support the regime. As far as you could tell. There were some allegations of intimidation and former refugee camps around lebanon. Those cannot be confirmed, but i withpeak to a lebanese mp the ruling party in syria, and he confirmed laying on 40 buses to take people to the polling station. He said that did not constitute pressure. They were poor, and they needed a way to get there, but many opposition refugees sought that as pressure, and sausage measures and attempts to register them and take their names as pressure because these are people who have fled the regime and atrocities committed by the regime. Is also very genuine support for the regime, even though as you say, most people believe the results of this election next tuesday are a foregone conclusion. Thank you. In other news, u. S. President barack obama has outlined his Foreign Policy vision, arguing for a restrained approach. Pointeech at the west military Academy Comes as the american leader is under criticism for being far too passive on the world stage. The president argued america could still play a vital role without resorting to force. It is absolutely true that in the 21st century, american isolationism is not an option. We dont have a choice to ignore what happens beyond our borders. If Nuclear Materials are not secure, that poses a danger to american citizens. As the Syrian Civil War spills across borders, the capacity of battle hardened extremists to come after us only increases. Regional aggression that goes unchecked, whether in southern ukraine or the South China Sea or anywhere else in the world will ultimately impact our allies and could draw in our military. In an interview with france the afghan president ial candidate Abdullah Abdullah talks about the need for a responsible exit strategy by the americans. We are stressing upon as responsiblesue of exit. That is important because nobody would like to leave behind a can have thet potential to lead to the earlier. Ituations still, there is time for working together and addressing these. Hallenges what is expected is a responsible exit strategy. U. S. Secretary of state john kerry has challenged whistleblower Edward Snowden to man up and come back to the united states. These comments come in the wake of an American Television interview with snowden who described himself as a trained specializing in electronic surveillance. The 30yearold now living in exile in russia reiterated that he had worked undercover for and National Security agency. Snowden handed over secret nsa documents to news outlets including Washington Post and the guardian, and in another therview with france 24, journalist who worked with snowden says questions need to be asked as to why such a high level surveillance is required. One of the questions people have is toward what ends is the whatillance being put, and is being done with the communications they are collecting. There, of course, have been significant scandals in the u. S. And other countries in the past about political abuse, of surveillance targeting political opponents, so one of the questions we are working on answering is exactly who is it specifically in the u. S. That they target for the most invasive forms of surveillance, and are these people we really think of as terrorist vets, or are they instead foreignpolicy critics, scholars, professors, and civil rights leaders, and i think the answers to those questions will help shape how the story is remembered. You can see that interview in full at 3 45 a. M. Paris time, 940 9 45 p. M. New york time, and can also find it on our website, www. France24. Com. An uneasy calm has returned to the streets of donetsk, following the biggest clashes seen in Eastern Ukraine since the conflict began. Government forces killed dozens of rebel fighters in the last two days as they fought to retake the citys airport. Prorussian rebels have seized the terminal the morning after ukrainians overwhelmingly poroshenkoro their president. The rebel leader has reiterated a call for help from russia. We are here, and we will stay put here, not just until the end, but until the moment we are victorious. Russians always win. More strongmen are signing up to be part of our ranks and militia. We are defending our territory and our home. Front French National leader struggled to gain support for a Parliamentary Coalition in the European Parliament. This despite unprecedented victory of gains by the far right in last weeks european election. They had secured initial backing from representatives of right wing parties. Theyre still lacking support from two countries, but remains confident she will find other allies. Surrounded by kindred spirits, smiling for the cameras , she said she is not far from founding a new antieu group. Ithin the European Parliament we just come out of a meeting together, and i can say that we have no worries about upcoming creation of our group. On the back of a historic win in european elections, her National Front has won support from parties and for other countries. Among them, the Italian Northern League, austrian freedom party, belgium flemish interest, and the dutch party for freedom. It is a group of parties that fight for sovereignty, for the nationstates, for national sovereignty, and against the parties of the euro. She still eats to find two more allies. The leader of Britains United Kingdom Independence Party has ruled out teaming up with the National Front. She argues the parties can still Work Together against what she calls the totalitarian eu. Its easy to toss accusations around against people. Since the elections, i have heard him speak in a less violent manner and suggested particular that our group and his will probably be led to Work Together to create a united front. The Italian Northern League has already abandoned the Parliamentary Group to join her. Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the Brussels Parliament building in protest against the French National front. And france, riot police have started cleaning out three immigrant camps from the Northern City of calais. The camps housed hundreds of immigrants from asia, the middle east, and africa. The evictions, ordered a week ago by the local government, comes just days after the antiimmigration party, the National Front, triumphed in european elections. More than 1000 wouldbe immigrants tried to force their way over razor wire barriers into spains north african enclave. Spanish Officials Say about 500 managed to successfully breached the border. The enclave is officially part of spain, albeit located on. Oroccan territory numbers are now so high that the towns mayor fears it has become impossible to stop. They braved razor wire and a series of hyphens is. Once they arrived on spanish soil, these african migrants hit the ground. He scaled a dangerous barrier between morocco and spain in a perilous bid to reach european territory. Arrived and a tiny spanish exclave in north africa. Spanish security has been beefed up in recent months as waves of wouldbe migrants have tried to get to the town as well as to alsoerritory which is accessible by boat. Many of those who arrived on wednesday headed to a temporary Immigration Center where they joined other migrants detained in recent months. To holder is designed 500 people but is currently home to 2000. This comes after 500 people breached the 12kilometer barrier in march, and in february, spanish authorities shot rubber bullets and a warning. Spain and italy have been calling on Northern European countries for more support in dealing with these waves of immigration. Polling stations in egypt have reopened for an unscheduled third day of voting in the president ial elections. Authorities have declared today a National Holiday in a bid to get more people out to vote after a disappointing turnout. More time to cast their ballots, yet very few voters in this cairo polling station. With a low turnout so far, authorities have extended egypts president ial election. On wednesday, polls reopened for a third day in an effort to encourage more egyptians to vote. The absence of a strong Party Candidate means people are staying away. Ofegyptians have lost a lot confidence since president Hosni Mubarak was ousted as well as the isolation of mohamed morsi. A lot of young people are boycotting the election because of all the promises all the promises they received have been fake. Sources put the first todays turnout at 37 , far lower than the nearly 52 who voted in the last president ial election in 2012, which was won by Islamist Mohamed morsi. Organizers said they were extending the pole because a heat wave cap voters at home. A retired army chief is all but certain to win with the support of a military backed interim government, but a low turnout would be seen to put a dent in his credibility. As a general, he ousted morsi and started a crackdown on the former president s muslim brotherhood. There are lots of young people in prison for political reasons, so some would argue that young voters are not participating in the elections out of solidarity with their jailed friends. Is only rival in the election has criticized the extension is raising questions over the integrity of the pole. Some 124 people have now been released after they were taken into custody after the coup, but conditions for their release agreeing toinclude avoid political activity and informing the army of their movements. Thomas waterhouse has more. The military government continues to face angry demonstrations. On wednesday, around 300 people around soldiers in peace and bangkok. I dont want the military version of democracy. I want the people i choose. I have a brain. I can choose on my own. Away from the violence, 124 people were arrested by the army after last weeks coup and were released. They find that they do something against their commitment given with us, we are planning to invite them to come and have a conversation again. But of 124 Political Prisoners were released, those trying to logon to the social networking site found it was blocked for one hour. Speculation was rife after the reasons as to the recent behind the blackout, coming just a day after the military announced infinite censorship measures. As users rushed to express their anger, the army interrupted programming to broadcast this official line. Regarding the disruption on facebook, i would like to note that the problem was a technical one. In their fervor to show that things were getting back to but also relaxed a nighttime curfew introduced last week after seizing power. Its time for a look at the business news. There have been hopes in the past few months or so that the labor market and france will be healing soon. Those hopes took a hit this wednesday as the latest figures showed that the number of people who are looking for jobs when. Igher last month there are still no sign, in other words, that the french labor market is healing with jobless queues still growing. After a pretty stable month of march, the number of jobseekers increased by around 15,000 in april. Lets take a closer look at the figures. The higher april figure means there are nearly 3. 4 Million People looking for work in france, another record high for the country since records began. Unemployment was still higher , but thehe 1990s population has grown since. Meanwhile, the french government is facing difficult questions over its ability to balance the books. A budget watchdog has found a hole of war. 16 billion euros in the budget for 2013. Frances court of auditors is also questioning the red ability of this years budget. Awkward exit for frances thatce minister, showing the Government Faces a huge deficit from 2013 revenues. Tax revenues have been increasing, but at a much smaller rate than expected, leaving a gap of almost 15 billion euros between projected government figures and reality. If there is a gap, its because the growth we had anticipated was not met. The government originally projected the French Economy to grow by. 8 in 2013, but it ended the year with only. 3 growth. Lower taxes on businesses have been blamed by the socialist for less than expected on a less than expected figure. The oppositions as proof that too much tax kills revenues. The more you raise tax, the more you send a signal to household misses is that you have to save money. The french court of auditors have reprimanded the government, calling their projections wildly inaccurate. Internationally, the deficit could move embarrassing, especially after promises to europe and creditors that france would take important steps toward reducing the countrys debt. We are going to look at stock markets next. In the united states, the indices are trading in a pretty linew band around the flat in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial average and nasdaq a slightly below the flat line, whereas the s p 500 is in positive territory. Mcdonalds is weighing on the Dow Jones Industrial average, this even as the fast food chain hand backed to billions of dollars to shareholders over the next few years. Lets also talk you through the european close. We saw indices on the side of the atlantic closed mixed. The dax in frankfurt fell back somewhat, only marginally. It was weighed down by weaker than expected unemployment figures from germany. We have not seen any dramatic moves here really. Lets talk you through some other stories we are watching for you. General electric managed to create 1000 new jobs in france if they win the race. Ges chief executive made that promise meeting with the french president on wednesday. Said the extra jobs would be created over the next three years. Ge is trying to push the merits of a 12. 3 billion euro offer for all stomp off Energy Business stoms energyal business. Gas from says ukraines gas bill is growing. Picking at a russian cabinet meeting, the chief executive of the Russian Gas Company said the bill will hit 5. 2 billion by june 7. They are threatening to cut supplies without a payment by the second of june. Ukraine says the debt is not as big, disputing russian price hikes from april onwards. Shares in glaxosmithkline came under pressure during wednesdays after britain said it had launched a formal investigation into the british bankers business practices. The sso is not providing further details at the stage. This comes two weeks after them withlice charged corruption. And we finish up with a question mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most marketable Football Player of the mall yack up the answer according to the Sports Marketing firm rep you calm is portugals cristiano ronaldo. The real madrid player is the most recognizable face in the. Port picking up facebook and twitter followers, lets look at what the top three actually looks like. The fourtime winner from argentina is in second place. Gerard pique is in third place. He may have had some help from shakirlfriend, pop star ra. I could have told them that. Do you agree . I do. Thanks for that. Now it is time for a change of pace and to see what has been making waves out there in cyberspace. Time for web news. And welcome to todays web news where we take a look at some of the stories making the online headlines. Coming up on todays show, thousands take to streets of macau to protest a controversial bill. Female web users react to fridays shooting in Santa Barbara, and some Curious Creatures brought to life using transparent sheep. As we can see from these images posted to the all about macau facebook page, thousands took to on sunday, of macau may 25. Demonstrators were protesting a bill that would see the head of government granted immunity from criminal charges during his time in office, and also, generous retirement packages for principal officials and ministers. Many in macau oppose these proposed measures and responded to the online calls to protest launched by the Citizen Group which was behind sundays Mass Mobilization against the controversial bill and have been busy campaigning online over the past few weeks to ensure the greatest possible turnout. People participated in the protest, which represents about 5 of the territorys total population. Has not seen this level of mobilization since it was handed back to china in 1999. As the macau business daily reports on its website, it seems the protesting has paid off. Macaus chief executive has called on the Legislative Assembly to drop the item. Social networks have hailed the news and warmly welcome the successful outcome of the citizen movement. In this video, the young man believed to be responsible for the Santa Barbara shooting in the u. S. Threatens what he calls a retribution or amongst other things a lifetime of social and sexual isolation. He posted the clip to youtube just a few hours before embarking on fridays deadly rampage, which left six people dead. Elliott roger, who had been treated for mental illness, had also posted a socalled manifesto online describing his hatred for women, in which he blames women for his suffering and loneliness, talking about 05 28 14 05 28 14 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] from pacifica, this is democracy now i think americans have learned it is harder to end wars than to begin them. In the 20thwars end century, not through signing ceremonies, but through decisive blows through our adversaries, transitions elected governments, Security Forces are trained to take lead and ultimately, full responsibility. President oba