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
From the outside and you say its all inside, his supporters are saying, these people in the political establishment have been screwing us over for decades. Political establishment have been screwing us overfor decades. And this is the one guy who is going after the media, the one guy establishment cant stand, the one guy that even people like mitt romney and the Republican Party go against, he is part of the deep state and if truly, you have a large part of the american electorate that is mobilised and motivated by the absence of grievance that is utterly court to Donald Trumps campaign, it should not suppression at all that is Approval Ratings are only going north among the gop base since all his indictments are being levied against them. These levees are proof of the power of the deep state to take out donald trump who they love. The question of course is always what happens to the independence the middle and which way they go in a general election, not in the primary. Lots of people
from the 20th century by a master piece. hello i m frankie mccanley. welcome to the programme. sweden s act loreen has won the 2023 eurovision song contest with her pop anthem tattoo. the favourite going into the competition, she s only the second person to win the competition twice. the ukrainian electronic duo tvorchi with their song heart of steel came sixth. their home town in ukraine was hit by russian missiles moments before the band took to the stage in liverpool. the mayor of ternopil said warehouses were damaged. the uk s entry, mae muller, came second from last in the final standings but said she would never forget this journey. for the first time, fans from around the world were allowed to vote in the competition. our arts correspondent, david sillito, reports from liverpool. the public has given you. it was, for a moment, the public has given you. it was, fora moment, rather was, for a moment, rather tense. sweden versus finland. 243 tense. sweden versus finland.
millions of brazilians before sunday s run off vote. now on bbc news, click. this week we are guarding against danger and disaster. shona is in sweden to put the first average female crash test dummies through their paces. 0k. dummies through their paces. ok. i am dummies through their paces. 0k. iam ready dummies through their paces. ok. i am ready to be rescued right ok. i am ready to be rescued right now ok. i am ready to be rescued right nova right now. that looks cold. certainly- right now. that looks cold. certainly. but right now. that looks cold. certainly. but how - right now. that looks cold. certainly. but how could i right now. that looks cold. - certainly. but how could drones help rescue swimmers in distress? help rescue swimmers in distress? ., distress? and then from cold and wet to distress? and then from cold and wet to hot distress? and then from cold and wet to hot and distress? and then from cold and wet to hot and dry. - distress? and th
celebrate christmas. hello and welcome to bbc news. an icy blast is affecting nearly 250 million people in the united states and canada, as one of the most severe winter storms in living memory takes hold, bringing with it snow blizzards, strong winds, and freezing temperatures. at least 19 people have died, hundreds of thousands of american households and businesses are without electricity and thousands of flights have been cancelled. the us state of montana registered a record breaking low of 45 celsius. from washington, nomia iqbal reports. the bomb cyclone has plunged more than half of the bomb cyclone has plunged more than half of this the bomb cyclone has plunged more than half of this country into sub zero temperatures. from coast to coast it has brought blistering storms, blinding snow, power outages, and can turn boiling hot water into a snow in seconds. the western state of montana is bearing the brunt, temperatures here at the lowest of 50 degrees. residents have