sitting australian prime minister to march in sydney s gay and lesbian mardi gras. he has described it as a celebration of modern australia. hello to you in the uk and around the world. votes are being counted in nigeria s tightest presidential election since military rule ended in 1999. the elections are the biggest democratic exercise in africa, with 87 million people eligible to vote. but many polling stations opened late and some not at all, with some incidents of violence. our correspondent mayeni jones reports from lagos. shouting. frustration and anger. many nigerians want to take part in this election but have been disappointed by the lack of organisation. gang violence and threats by militant islamists have made voting difficult in some regions. and in this polling station on the mainland of lagos, electoral officials never even showed up. they will tell us that the area is dead. there is no one here for this election. most people passing through this place were tell
and tearful families saying good-bye to loved ones departing for training. putin wants 300,000 new fighters to help turn the tide as the russian military suffers setbacks in ukraine. russia is saying the call up would be limited to those with military experience but reports say civilians also now are being conscripted. the new york times tells the story of a husband and father of five who received a summons at a 4:00 a.m. meeting where a train had been organized to take him to a military center. many men are fleeing russia to avoid the forced enlistment. this is traffic as people escape to nearby georgia. russian airporting have been packed with people trying to get out of the country. one human rights group said more than 1,300 people have been arrested in anti-car protests in moscow and st. petersburg over the past few days. also today, voting begins in four regions of russian-occupied ukraine, in a sham referendum that could lead to the annexation of 15% of ukrainian ter
Us President Joe Biden spoke with the two women after their release on friday, telling them that their government will fully support them as they recover and heal. And Secretary Of State Antony Blinken said hes relieved the women have been released, but reminded reporters that many others are still being held. Theres still ten additional americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. We know that some of them are being held hostage by hamas, along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in gaza. They include men, women, young boys, young girls, elderly people from many nations. Every single one of them should be released. Our correspondent Barbara Plett usher brings us more from inside the State Department. The release of the hostages disrupted the day here at the State Department. We were sitting down for the Daily Briefing and then we were told that it would be delayed for two hours because of Breaking News. Now, they didnt say what the Breaking News was, but we knew what i
Militants have continued to fire rockets into israel, towards tel aviv and other areas in the south. The World Health Organization has condemned israels evacuation order; it says forcing Hospital Patients to relocate would be a Death Sentence. President biden has spoken with the israeli Prime Minister, benjamin netanyahu, and urged him to provide safety for civilians amid the bombardment. Diplomatic efforts to prevent the violence from spreading have been stepped up, with mr biden s secretary of state, antony blinken, visiting cairo. Hes expected to press egyptian officials to restart talks on getting aid into gaza through the Border Crossing. The us is sending a second Aircraft Carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean near israel. The Uss Eisenhower will lead a group of ships aimed at deterring further attacks against israel in particularfrom iran or the lebanese militant group, hezbollah. We start the hour with this report from our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. Sirens wail. R