If no candidate wins more than 50 in the first round. But with many of mr putins opponents unable to run, it seems inevitable that Vladimir Putin will be re elected without the need for that second ballot. Our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is following developments in moscow. Vladimir putin has been in power a long time, right, 25 years almost as president or Prime Minister. And hes expected to win a fifth president ial term. Now, this whole event, this three day event, which starts today, is being presented by the russian authorities almost as a celebration of democracy. The kremlin just a few days ago described russian democracy as the best democracy in the world. Critics of the kremlin would disagree and would say that this poll is neither free nor fair nor transparent. Vladimir putin does not face a major challenge. There are three other candidates on the ballot paper, but his most vocal critics, his fiercest opponents, are either in exile or in prison, which kind of helps you to
Substances over a relatively short period of time is just inexcusable and frankly those around her, if they have broken any rules or mistreated and abused her in this process, they absolutely need to be held accountable. To football and the last eight teams remaining in this seasons European Champions League now know their route to the final with the Quarter Final and semi final draws made earlier today. The tie of the last eight sees 14 time european champions real madrid against the defending champions Manchester City with the the winner facing either arsenal or Bayern Munich in the finalfour. The other two ties see Paris Saint Germain take on barcelona, with the winner taking on either Atletico Madrid or borussia dortmund. In the Europa League the favourites liverpool will take on italian side atalanta with the winner coming up against either benfica or marseille in the final four whilst theres an all italian Quarter Final as ac milan take on roma, and bundesliga leaders Bayer Lever
historical responsibility. a jury in washington finds four members of the far right group the proud boys guilty of seditious conspiracy for plotting the january 6th attack on the us capitol. welcome to bbc news. here in the uk, preparations are well under way for the coronation of king charles. not long to go now. joining me live covering every moment of the lead up to the coronation is our correspondent christian fraser. enjoying the sunshine here on a lovely day in front of buckingham palace. the royal standard flying above the palace which tells you the king is in residence and the lucky ones who were here a little earlier would have seen him drive down the mall to westminster abbey, where they went through a short dress rehearsal. and going through the final preparations ahead of the big event on saturday. you will see the seats are here, the amphitheatre has been set up for the veterans and nhs workers on saturday, so the stage is set really ahead of the big ceremony. of
with just two days to go into the coronation, excitement is building on the mall where the clouds are camped out. hello, welcome to bbc news. i am lewis vaughan jones. we are starting in russia where president vladimir putin has made his first tv appearance since an alleged attempt on his life. we have got these pictures in the last couple of hours. here he is in these pictures released by the kremlin in a routine meeting with economic development minister maxim reshetnikov. presumably projecting an image of business as usual. russia claims ukraine was targeting putin in this drone atack on the kremlin on wednesday following orders from the united states. both kyiv and washington have denied any involvement. russia launched a series of air raids on kyiv overnight, in apparent retaliation. but authorities say all the strikes were intercepted by air defences which you can see working here. strikes were also reported in zaporizhizhia and odessa. our russia editor, st