a front runner is abdullah abdullah. bernard smith joined him on the campaign trail in western afghanistan. >> it was chaotic, crowded and almost out of control. it seems to be how abdullah abdullah likes it. tens of thousands of people turned out in harr at to see him rally support in his second attempt to win the presidency. >> now, the size of the crowd is unnecessarily a reflection of the support for dr abdullah abdullah in herat, it shows the enthusiasm and interest in the process in afghanistan. abdullah abdullah crisscrossed the country on a mission to right a wrong he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009, when he lost the election to hamid karzai. it was a poll marred by widespread ballot stuffing. >> this time around the citizens will monitor the elections better. the voters are more aware of their rights. it's much better conscious decision than it used to be. and they are asking about the outcome. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get more than 50% of the vote to win outright. to help his chances he has cho

a front runner is abdullah abdullah. bernard smith joined him on the campaign trail in western afl g afghanistan. >> it was chaotic, crowded. that seems to be how abdullah abdullah likes it. thousands turned out to see abdullah abdullah rally support in his second attempt at the presidency. >> the size of the crowd is not necessarily indicative of the support for abdullah abdullah, but it shows the enthusiasm for the election process in afghanistan. >> abdullah crisscrossed the country on a mission to right the wrongs that many felt was committed in 2009. it was a poll marred by widespread ballot stuffing. >> this time around the citizens will monitor the elections. voters are much more aware of air rights, it's better conscious decision than it used to be. they are asking about the outcome. abdullah abdullah needs to get 50% of the vote to wib outright. to help his chances he's chosen two running mates once fought against. the parties they belonged to ended up destroying kabul. without a winner the election goes to a ru

abdullah a win. the challenge is to prepare the county where security is concerned for another round of elections at another huge financial cost. >>> staying in afghanistan - 180 people have been killed in flooding caused by three days of heavy rain. thousands have been forced from their homes. snifors are in -- survivors are in need of medicine and drinking water. many say they received no help from the government. >>> five n.a.t.o. soldiers have been culled in a helicopter -- killed in a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan, in kandahar province. it's understood it came down because of a technical fault. the crash is being investigated. >>> at least 15 people have been kld in a series of -- killed in a series of sectarian attacks in baghdad. the killings came after bombings at a shia political rally killed at least 37 people. al qaeda-linked group islamic state of iraq and levant says it was behind that attack. and said an event for the asaad allal-hack movement before the election. they are ac

one of the front runners to succeed him is foreign minister abdullah abdullah. we joined him on his campaign trail in western afghanistan. >> it was chaotic, crowded and almost out of control, but that seems to be just how abdullah abdullah likes it. tens of thousands of people turned out to see abdullah rally support in his second attempt to win the presidency. >> now the size of this crowd is not necessarily of abdalluh, but shows the enthusiasm in afghanistan. abdalluh has crisscrossed on his mission to right a wrong that he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009 when he lost the election to hamid karzai. >> the citizen also monitor the voting much better. they're much more aware of their rights, it's much better. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get 50% of the vote. he has chosen two running mates who he once fought against during the civil war. the parties they belonged to ended up destroying kabul. without an outright winner it goes to the run off of top two candidates. here abdullah has a warning for the organizers. >> if there is a run off we are prepa

chandler decisive victory the full afghan foreign minister abdullah abdullah the two presidential election but not by enough to avoid a runoff promising to help russia says it will do what it can to secure the release of the team's national observance held by pro moscow rebels in ukraine. still building supplements and release of prisoners the palestinian president gives israel the us conditions. resumption of peace talks. welcome back once we get news are going to loose balls. thank you to join us. the deal with the latest on the afghan presidential election when full preliminary results were released by the independent election commission the north side today. and as expected the former foreign minister abdullah abdullah is in the lead with just under forty five percent all the facts but that's not the fifty percent needed in order to avoid a runoff and second places the ex world bank economists in the form of finance them is that i shot crimea on the inside with around thirty one point five percent of the bible those results will be finalized in mid may will be followed by a rival fifte

already virtually all the main candidates are talking about fraud, including abdullah abdullah. who was the man who lost the 2009 election to hamid karzai. even though, apparently, the reports are that he's doing better than anyone else, especially in kabul where more votes had been counted. what do you say - actually, abdullah abdullah has not talked about fraud, but his running mate has. >> i think what you will see, the way the afghan election works, if no one gets 6% of the vote, it goes to a run off. >> if the two leading candidates are faced with a run off, they'll be happy, and the issue of fraud will not be too big. >> the other top candidate, zalmai rassoul, hamid karzai's favourite candidate - he will probably not be happy. his strong hold, the pashtun areas, there may have been issues there. >> yes, some of the areas that were more likely to support him. but russell's funny. there has been a lot of speculation that he didn't want to be in the election. he ran an enthusiastic campaign. i don't think he had a fight in him to try to contest if a count is in favour of abd

abdullah is leading. he showed nearly 42% of the vote. his nearest rival by nearly 8%. if noorth of candidates -- neither of the candidates gain 50% of the result in may, there'll be a run off. >> does this tell us anything about the overall end game that was seen. there are three candidates. there are votes in favour of two. >> the election commission - the way they tell it, they tried to give an re-examination of how they think the final vote will look. this is why you have got this so% of the vote in from 26% of the polling. the election commission hopes that a representative sample, it isn't a final number, more results will be in next weeks. the indication is that the frontrunners are abdullah abdullah and ashraf ghani could be headed to a run off. unless they get enough votes to tip them over the 50% plus one threshold. >> are you able to garner from where the results come in whether support for one candidate is because he has support in a particular area, or whether that is representative again of

it's much better than it used to be. >> abdullah abdullah needs to get more that 5% of the vote. to help his chances he has chosen two running mates he ran against during the civil war. the parties they belonged to ended up destroying kabul. the election goes to the run off between the top two candidates. here abdullah has a warning for the election arguers. arguers--election organizers. >> based on the votes of the people. >> ethnicity matters in afghanistan, and abdullah abdullah's rallies do seem to have drawn a cross section of ethnicities. he'll have to draw a strong base support if he's to have any chance at presidency. al jazeera, afghanistan. >> in libya, rebels have controlled the main economic resource for the past eight months. it could create greater revenue sharing between tripoli and the militias. morning glory had broken through international boundaries and taken over by u.s. navy seals. >>> in egypt seven people were wounded. this attack comes after a series of attacks. >> the scene just after a third explosion outside of cairo university. security forces say the

former foreign minister abdullah, abdullah came first, he'll face a run off against akhgav gany. but not everyone thinks a second round is a good idea. >> the election problems have affected the economy for the past several months. business has gone down. it's not good to have a second round. people will not come out to vote because they are afraid. >> it's normal if a candidate doesn't win in the first round, whether we like it or not it should go to a second round. we want it to be fair. and the elections should be transparent. >> there have been complaints of fraud. hundreds of thousands of votes and then the final numbers are expected on may 14th. >> there are also irregularities with the way the commission handled itself, and we're calling on them to make sure that transparency is increased, for the candidates to trust and respect the bunt. >> abdullah abdullah believes the ballots were cast in his favor. but some say the run off between the two men are investable because the--inevitable becausey don't think an investigation of the ballots will give him the win. there is con

i knew very well dr abdullah abdullah. he was a right hand man of massued. dr abdullah abdullah, among other things helped to translate what was being said to me. he is a dignified, smart, educated man, i think he would be great for that country. >> as you know, we were told by our leaders after 9/11 that the goal was to wipe out al qaeda and the taliban in afghanistan. is that still a possibility? or has the taliban going to come back into power? >> well, being in afghanistan gave us a platform to really pummel al qaeda. betty june binnicker is dead, a lot -- osama bin laden is dead, a lot of his top developers are dead. we mould them, we couldn't have down that. the taliban - interesting thing about the taliban is while we were there, we were an object of dislike potentially by the locals. now that we are gone, when the taliban attack a government post, they are not attacking americans any more. they are attacking fellow muslims who elected the government. the taliban are saying "you don't get to choose who leads you", it makes it hard for the taliban to a

former foreign minister abdullah abdullah has secured 40% of the vote with ashraf ghani on 38%. a run off might be likely next month. once elected, the country democratically would have transferred power. >> to win the afghanistan presidential election, the leading contender needs to get more than 50% of the vote. there are results coming in, some being released next week. the final tally, announcement will be mid may. at this stage, while the figures could change, it looks like abdullah abdullah, and ghani will be headed for a run off. they will take part if it looks like the election was conducted fairly . whilst it looks like there has been fraud, not enough to affect the outcome. afghanistan may not know who their next president will be until the end of october when the final results are in and counted and disputes dealt with. >> christians are celebrating the beginning of holy week. thousands filling st. peter's square, celebrating mass with the pope. jess us went to the jerusalem, seven days later he died. pilgrims re traced the steps that jesus is alleged to have walked s

abdullah abdullah had 41.9. ghani 37.6. results are still coming in, some released next week. the final tally, announcement will be mid may. but at this stage, while the figures could change, it looks like abdullah abdullah, and ashraf ghani are looking for a second-round run off. both saying they'll take part if they consider that the first round was conducted fairly. the election complaints commission said while there has been fraud, it's not at a significant enough level as affecting the outcome of the poll. therefore there'll almost certainly be a run off, but afghans may not know who the new president will be until, well the end of the october when the final results are in and counted and disputes dealt with. >> it's election time in the country known as africa's narco sit. guinea passau is a major trafficking point for drugs out of south america. it's spreading to countries, a haul picked up in neighbouring guinea. guinea passau is a poor nation with a history of coups since gaining independence from portugal in 1974. the last two years ago. there's a corrupt and central

first, abdullah abdullah wants an investigation into alleged fraud. stefanie dekker has this. >> we are satisfied with it, with the result >> reporter: there isn't a new president just yet. but he will be chosen from one of two men. former for en minister abdullah abdullah had 44.9% of the vote just missing out on the 50% needed to win outright. he will face a run-off with a former world bank economist who came in second with 31.5% of the ballot. but not everyone thinks the second round is a good idea. >> translator: the election problems have affected the economy for the past several months. business has gone down. it's not good to have a second round. people will not come out to vote because they are afraid. >> translator: it's normal that if a candidate doesn't win in the first round, if we like it or not, it should go to a second round. we want it to be fair, and the election complaints commission should be transparent. >> reporter: there have been complaints of fraud, hundreds of thousands of votes are due to be investigated by the independent el

abdullah. i should stress that this is based on preliminary an official tallies by news organizations here. i shot the money is a former world bank executive who has picked an extremely controversial running mate in and eating. he described as a known killer with a militia commander general joseph was accused of brutal killings in the civil war the nineteen nineties dr abdullah abdullah also has a running mate has been branded as the war alert the other links to a violent insurgent group. mr karzai's former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite cake appears to be running behind again. it will take time to get the official count this is just east of the preliminary results i was what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority. this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go through this whole process again. of course the big concern would be but the fighting season underway what will that ol

abdullah also has a running mate has been branded as a warlord. the other links to a violent insurgent group mr karzai's former foreign minister who is believed to be his favorite cake appears to be running behind again it will take time to get the official count this is just east of the preliminary results i was what all this means is that if no one candidate has a clear majority. this paves the way for a runoff election likely sometime in may or early june and that means that afghanistan could go through this whole process again. of course the big concern would be with the fighting season underway. what will that olive unto you if that happens whether security behold. if the debt run up to us. one of the main cause next the deck is pinching security pact with washington which young calming presence cause i have had hanging in there and the us is now winding down its combat mission on the proposed deal could lead to fifteen thousand troops on the ground for decades. cause i was reluctant to sign a deal with the continued killing of afghan civilia

eign >> abdullah abdullah was karzai's main rival and in that election he got close to one third of the vote. he represents a network associated with the north of the country as opposed to ashraf ghani who is more strongly associated with pashtuns who predominate in the south. along with the finance minister, they are respected technocrats, seem to be personally honest, but they have survived out of necessity with much more dubious figures, people you could frankly call warlords. in that respect, they don't really -- they're not dissimilar from president karzai himself. it speaks to the nature of the political system itch won't change regardless of who is elected. >> i want to ask you about anja niedringhaus, the veteran associated press photographer who was shot dead an afghan police officer just before the elections. she died instantly in the attack to the pakistani border. her funeral service was held saturday in germany will stop she was 48 years old. this is ap senior vice president kathleen carroll. >> she showed calm while all around was chaos. and i believe that is why her pictu

abdullah abdullah who ran last time and lost to karzai and rasual. if none of the candidates receive 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff may 20th between the top two. the u.s. says it's ready to work with them to determine what if any the u.s. mission will be in place in afghanistan beyond 2014. in many ways, the election will go a long way in determining the legacy of america's longest war. so it's not surprising that former president george w. bush who launched the war himself also released a statement about the election, saying, people in afghanistan deserve to live in liberty and are demonstrating their commitment to building a democratic society. joining me now, nbc's richard engel in kabul. richard, are we being too enthusiastic about how this election went? i mean, it seemed to go about as well as anybody could have imagined. >> reporter: well, i think the government here is absolutely putting the best face on it, and is very enthusiastic. we haven't quite -- i think it's too early to declare it a success, because the votes haven't even be

eight candidates are standing for the presidency, including abdullah abdullah, who ran in 2009 but lost in outgoing hamid karzai. now let's go live to bernard smith who is in kabul. turn out seems to have been high. there has been a turn of bad weather, but has the voting gone smoothly. >> to answer that question, yes. in fact, security told us that the number of attacks that there have been today are less than the daily o average. security personnel have been stationed around the country to make sure that votes go smoothly. it will stay open another two hours if people are still queuing. that is showing a very high turn out. people want to vote fo vote fore first democratically voted in president in this country's 5,000 year history. the capitol has been effectively sealed off from the rest of the country security forces imposing some of the strictist control of movement this country has ever seen. >> we have the right to vote. we have always had to endure these attacks from the taliban. for how long does this have to go on? we have to elect our next government and president. >> yes, w

afghans had three main voices, abdullah abdullah, ashraf ghani ahmadzai, and zalmai rassoul. we probably won't know who has won for several weeks. as bernard smith reports, this is a proud day for many afghans. >> the queue started forming well before kabul's polling stations opened. despite the taliban threats to target the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000-year history it marks the first democratic transfer of power. people here are eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the threat from the taliban. i don't have a threat from taliban. >> 12 million people were eligible to vote. in parts of the country polling stations were closed, where the taliban held sway. this is the scene across the country, people queue up after going through a security check. they dip their finger in indelible ink, go in to the booth to cast their vote and ballot. the blue one is for the presidential election, the green for the provincial election. the presidential vote is easy. the provincial elections, they get six pages, each like this. there are 400 candidates in

former leader abdullah abdullah is in the lead. second place, the prime minister ashrafgani with 37%. the polls say that could change. this is based on half of the ballots cast. the final results won't be available for several weeks. to sports now, and the latest. worshippers in st. peter's square. people left palms to commem rate the biblical account of geeous' arrival in jeruslem. christians took part in the special day. >> thank you for watching "the journal." i hope you will see it at the top of the hour for more. >> concern grew about the situation in eastern ukraine this week. pro russian separatists announced they would hold a ref ref ren dumb on russia. it wasn't an isolated event. they also took part in the region and made similar eclarations. >> the referendum is inevitable. it will take place even if we all die here. there will be a referendum. i give you my word. >> the interim government in doing cused russian of this as a pretext to send in ussian troops. russia said the images were eight months old. and kiev offered

chandler decisive victory the full afghan foreign minister abdullah abdullah the two presidential election but not by enough to avoid a runoff promising to help russia says it will do what it can to secure the release of the team's national observance held by pro moscow rebels in ukraine. still building supplements and release of prisoners the palestinian president gives israel the us conditions. resumption of peace talks. welcome back owe

. >> abdullah abdullah ran for president back in 2009. he finished a distant second, a former eye doctor. he has served as afghanistan's foreign minister. there's a lot of focus an zalmai rassoul, the one most like hamid karzai. we look at what his victory could mean. >> even those hoping to run the country can't run the roads. this is a spot which is a 2 hour drive from the capital, a journey too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruption linked to this government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. you were part of that government. what will you do differently? >> i think i - first of all i have not been involved in corruption issues. i repeat myself, that the fact that i have been involved, i know what is happening. i know which kind of thing we should do correct that. i want to put this experience that i got, achievement and lack of achieve

abdullah abdullah the front-runner in this election. by the way, why does it take two weeks to count votes? we saw a hugely corrupt election in 2009 and i'm worried this could repeat and seeing warlords among these candidates, despicable people and this fellow doston uzbek, who has blood on his hands. i don't know yet. if there's a more competent transparent government surely the bar is very low, there is a chance afghanistan turns around and our efforts were for something real and we went against the people who attacked us on 9/11. >> from one horrible situation in afghanistan to another bad one unfolding in ukraine, looks like that situation could escalate. not only ukrainians very nervous about what they're up to, latvia and others. what does putin want? >> putin is a bully. he has aspirations to restore greater russia. i don't think it's the communist empire. i don't think he's a communist. i think he needs to be -- his effort -- we need to push back more effectively. our strength is our economy against his weak economy. john mccain

former foreign minister abdullah abdullah has secured 42%. ashraf gardeny with 8%. >> the leading contender would need to debt 50% of the vote. there are as a result scamming in. some will be released next week the the time tally, announcement will be mid may. at this stage, while the figures could change, it looks like abdullah abdullah and ashraf gardeny a lookihani a looking t run off. both will take part if the first round is conducted fairly. the election commission says while there has been fraud, it's not been at a significant enough level to affect the outcome of the poll. there'll certainly be a run off, but afghans may not know who the new president will be until the end of october when the final results are in and counted and disputes dealt with. >> the united nations panel for climate change is calling global warming a critical problem and is urging governments around the world to act fast. harry smith has details on the newly released report. >> this was the third and final chapter in the panel's report on climate change, the mes

abdullah abdullah is one of three frontrunners. >> it's a proud day for this proud nation. we have proven that there are people at the ballot, not of the bullet. the public, appreciates dem oblige rahsy, believes in it and is willing to make it work. the constitution is work. this is a day of celebration. kabul was locked down as part of an unprets dented nation-wide security operation that mobilized 400,000 security personal, helping to bring the number of attacks below the daily average in afghanistan. pallet counting started as polls closed. already there are allegations of fraud being made that will test the independence of the election commission. >> i'm not confident that the complaints would be handled fairly because we don't know how the elections commission and the complaints commission will act during the past experiences that we had with the two commegss. they have not been desirable. this time around it remains to be seen whether they act sincerely or in favour of one of the candidates. >> the commission is not expected to announce preliminary results from four

former foreign minister abdullah abdullah came first with 44.9% of the vote just missing out on a 50% needed to win outright. he will face a run-off with a former world bake economist who came in second with 31.5% of the ballots but not everyone thinks the second round is a good idea. >> the election problems have affected the economy for the past several months. business has gone down. it's not good to have a second round. people will not come out to vote because they are afraid. >> it's normal for if a candidate doesn't win in the first round, if we like it or not, did should go to a second round. we want it to be fair and the election complaints commission should be transparent. >> there have been complaints of fraud, hundreds of thousands of votes are due to be investigated by the independent election complaints commission and then the final numbers are expected on may the 14th. >> there are also irregularities in the way the commission handled itself and we have been calling on them to make sure that transparency is increased for the candidates to trust and to accept the rut of t

. >> abdullah abdullah was runner-up in the last presidential election. he wants international troops to stay in the country. abdulla says -- abdullah says there is uncertainty because karzai refused to sign a security agreement with the u.s. zalmai rassoul was a close confidant of karzai. despite the range of candidates, mohammed has no plans to vote because he fears there could be repercussions. his mosque received a threatening level -- letter for registering people to vote. >> i had my voter card in my pocket, but the taliban have threatened us. if we go to vote, they will burn down my house. >> not far from his village, the taliban gather in front of our camera. the warning is clear. whoever votes puts their life in danger. >> we are not interested in elections. democracy has brought nothing good to our people. that is why we will not allow elections to be held in our country. >> but these threads are not going to determine the afghans, who are determined to vote. they are hoping for a peaceful election day. and a choice that is as free and fair as p

one of those thought likely to succeed him, foreign minister abdullah abdullah, believes it will go well. >> is expected in the elections. the outcome of the elections will be accepted by the people of afghanistan. >> but most observers doubt any candidate will receive a majority in the first round. whoever emerges of afghanistan from next leader will have to decide whether to engage the taliban and on peace talks and whether to sign a security pact with the united states. >> hands-on science for you now. they call them high-tech eyes in the sky. in about one and a half hours from now, i knew you're a in observation will be lost. >> the rocket carrying the first in a string of satellites will blast off from french guiana in south america. it is a joint project worth about 4 billion euros. >> the program could prove invaluable, saving countless lives from environmental catastrophes. >> sentinel one will circle the earth. it is the first of six satellites that will make up the global monitoring system copernicus. using radar to scan the surface far below, it will survey the entire globe. i

that seems to be just but abdullah abdullah likes it. it is his second attempt to win the presidency. >> the size of this crowd isn't necessarily a reflection of the support for abdullah, but does show the enthusiasm and interest in the election process in afghanistan. >> abdullah has crisscrossed the country on his mission. to right or wrong, he and many afghans felt was committed in 2009 when he lost the election to hamid karzai. it was a poll with widespread ballot stuffing. >> the voters are much more aware of their rights. it's much better conscious decision than it used to be. they are asking about the outcome. >> abdullah abdullah needs more than 50% of the vote to win outright. to help his chances, he's chosen two running mates he once fought against during the civil war. the parties they belong to ended up destroying kabul. without an outright winner, the election goes to a run off between the top two candidates. here abdullah has a warning for the election organizers. >> if it goes to a runoff, we are prepared. that will become

abdullah, and others have made it clear they are prepared to sign a bilateral security agreement with the united states and condition the partnership and friendship. i'm very optimistic. >> let's make predictions about the election. michael says the only thing we can confidently predict is that it will happen:. >> you have been to afghanistan - corruption, will we see this. >> you'll see everything you mentioned. the question is what is the outgrowth of the results. because this is such a wide number of - it will be hard for one guy to stuff all the ballot boxes. there's patronage, people paying up and down the chain of command so to speak. everyone benefits, it doesn't change the fact they'll go to the polls. the taliban is trying to disrupt this. they have been successful getting rid of international observers. part of the problem is we have only secured the urban areas. most of the afghan people do not read or write. they are completely outside the sphere of where we set up the security zone. they are effective in setting up the government. will we be able to maintain the bilateral

including abdullah abdullah, who ran in 2009 but lost. another is ashraf ghani ahmadzai, a formier finance minister and world bank figures. and zalmai rassoul, serving as foreign minister, and has been one of hamid karzai's closestal lies. >> well, many afghan came out to vote, despite the threat of violence. here is what some had to say? >> i voted for the welfare of my country, the future and the rebuilding. i'm happy, and now i'm going back. >> as an afghan woman, i've come to cast my vote. i ask all afghan women to come and vote. >> the police are providing us with security. happily we have dom cast our votes. >> if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round must be held between the two top contenders. results will not be known until mid may. the new president is unlikely to be in place before july and august. there are an estimated 12 million voters, and around 12 million voter registration cards are in circulation, raising concerns about fraud. there's 6,800 centres. for many casting a vote, it was hours travelling.

then there's abdullah abdullah. he ran for president back in 2009, finishing is distant second to hamid karzai. he is a former eye doctor. >> let's talk about zalmai rassoul, he's believed to be hamid karzai's top pick. jane ferguson takes a look at what his victory could mean. >> even those hoping to run this country can't travel its roads. this presidential candidate's helicopter lands at a spot which is a 2-hour drive from the capital, a journey considered too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruption linked to the government. >> the hamid karzai government will be very well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption. >> you were part of the government. what will you do differently? >> first of all, i have not been involved in corruption issues. the fact that i have been involved - i know what is happening. i know which kind of thing we should do to correct that. i want to p

including abdullah abdullah, but lost to hamid karzai in 2009. another is ghani, a warmer world bank official and afghan finance minister. he contested the vote in 2009. and a previously serving foreign minister, one of hamid karzai's closest allies. >> let's cross to our correspondent bernard smith, in kabul for us. how is the day shaping up? >> well, despite the cold, rainy damp weather, there is a significant turn out to vote as far as we under. we have been around - my colleagues have been around looking at polling stations. lots of people turning out to vote. the weather is better. $12 million, 12.5 million afghan residents to vote. this is the first time in the history informant 5,000-year history of the country that there'll be a democratic transfer of power. many afghans, despite the threat from the taliban are keen to take part. i'm drawn by haroon who will be with us watching the election. what will be the decider on whether the election will be free. >> 7 o'clock people have come out of your homes to go and vote. we are not seeing tali

abdullah and the exfinance minister are heading the field. the april 5th poll is to choose a successor to outgoing president hamid karzai. the election commission announced the portion results on sunday based on 10% of the votes counted from 26 of 34 provinces. it says abdullah has nearly 42% of the vote, while ghani has about 38%. abdullah was an influential figure in the now defunct northern alliance which cooperated with u.s. forces to topple the taliban government in 2001. and ghani has international recognition as a former world bank official. another former foreign minister rasul is trailing with 9.8%. he's reportedly close to karzai. a clearer picture of the outcome is expected by late april, if no candidate securities the majority required for an outright win, the top two finishers will enter a runoff on may 2th. the taliban had tried to disrupt the election. it denounced the major candidates as u.s. puppets and is pledging to launch more attacks. >>> some japanese owners, business owners in japan are trying to largely untapped market

abdullah abdullah; he served as foreign minister after the ouster of the taliban. >> ( translated ): today's event can be the beginning of the democratic process in the history of afghanistan and one step ahead toward a better future. >> warner: abdullah got nearly 30% against karzai in 2009 in an election marred by fraud, ballot-box stuffing and official corruption; by some accounts, more than a million of the 4.5 million votes cast were deemed fraudulent. at a dramatic gathering of his supporters in november that year, abdullah withdrew from the run-off against karzai, saying the fix was in. now some early unofficial estimates from this election show abdullah with a lead. others show ghani ahead. so far, there aren't reports of the sort-of brazen fraud that marred 2009's vote, though all three leading campaigns have leveled some charges of improprieties. in washington today, white house spokesman jay carney insisted the u.s. doesn't have a favorite. >> we don't have a preferred candidate because the future of afghanistan is up to the afghans to decide. we look forward to a producti

presidential candidate abdullah abdullah remains caution. he lost the last election in 2009 to president karzai in a vote that was widely considered fraudulent. >> the people this time around are very serious that their votes should be counted rightly and fairly. >> reporter: there are still 33,000 american troops here but today they were nowhere to be seen. earlier this week, we toured eastern afghanistan with major general steven townsend who said his forces were on standby. what are american troops doing to help with this election? >> that's a good question. actually, very much behind the scenes. the afghans truly are in the lead for this election. >> reporter: this was the first election afghans secured themselves. it was violent. the government nonetheless called it a huge success. but there is still a lot of time to manipulate results in the two weeks it will take the count the votes. it's unlikely that any of the candidates will win an outright majority. there will probably be a runoff so there might not be a new afghan government in

abdullah abdullah, a former foreign minister who ran in presidential elections in 2009. he believes he was cheated in that presidential election by president karzai. many people, including the united nations, accuse president karzai of stuffing ballot boxes and of his campaign manipulating the votes in order to secure his victory. abdullah abdullah is coming back again, and he hopes to have a much better showing this time. the other main candidate is well-known to the international donor community. he is an economist. he taught in the united states. he is taking somewhat of a hard line nationalist position. the last candidate is much more of the leading candidates is much less known. he's close to karzai. he is one of the last foreign ministers that karzai has had. and critics say that he is quite close to karzai, and some people say that if he wins, that it would really be a vote for kay psi, who doesn't necessarily want to step away from politics completely. back to you. >> nbc's richard engel. thank you so much. march marked the first time in 11 years that no american

abdullah abdullah is one of the three front runners. this is another. along with ashraf ghani. kabul was knocked down as part of a security operation that mobilized 400 security personnel. that helped to bring the attacks below average, according to security forces. ballot counting started as polls closed. already there are allegations of fraud being made that will test the independence of the election commission. >> i am not confident that the complaints would be handled fairly, because we don't know how the elections commission and the complaints commission will act during the past experiences that we have had with the two commissions have not been desirable, and this time around it remains to be seen whether they will act sincerely or they will act in favour of one of the candidates. >> the mission is not expected to announce blirm results for four to five days. it was never expected to be a poll free of fraud, but how much there is will determine whether afghans accept the commission's decision on the winner. >> four weeks after malaysia airlines flight mh370 completely van

former foreign minister abdullah abdullah got the majority. afghan election law requires a run-off between the top two candidates if no one candidate gets a majority. the next round of voting should be held some time in the next two weeks. >>> the nba now investigating racist remarks on tape allegedly made by the owner of the l.a. clippers, donald sterling. sterling purportedly tells his girlfriend on the recording not to bring black people to games. nba spokesman mike bass issuing a statement saying, the league is in the process of authenticating the reporting spoesed on tmz's website. bass also calling the comments, quote, disturbing and offensive and says the league will have no further comment. >>> the connecticut teenager accused of fatally stabbing a fellow student in a school hallway will face the murder charge as an adult. the teen is currently in the custody of police in a medical facility under mental evaluation. the victim, 16-year-old marin sanchez, was stabbed to death the day of her school's junior prom. nearly 200 community memb

they say former foreign minister abdullah abdullah is ahead. but they're looking into allegations of vote rigging. people across afghanistan went to the polls on april 5th. members of the election commission have released their midterm results. abdullah has received about 44% of the vote. he was a senior member of the northern alliance. that was a group that cooperated with international forces to bring down the taliban government. former finance minister ash rat ghani has 33% of the vote. he's a former world bank official. zalman rassoul got 10% of the vote and is reportedly close to outgoing president hamid karzai. administration officials are recounting some of the ballots. they expect boat rigging in about 7% of the tolling stations. on thursday they plan to make a preliminary announcement about the final election results but the investigation into the alleged vote rigging might cause delays. >>> now the people who run malaysia airlines are dealing with new problems in the air. aviation officials in kuala lumpur say a jet has made an emerge

abdullah abdullah leads with about 43%, and followed by the e finance minister. >>> south sudan threw out charges against four political prisoners accused of threatening to overthrow riek machar. we have this update from juva. . >> reporter: two significant event suggesting there's a lot of activity going on behind the scenes of government. the first is four political detainees in kust since december had charges against them dismissed, along with seven others released earlier into the year into the custody of kenya. this suggests that the government were attempting to improve the situation when they go to talks in ethiopia. the first major-general hofmi was removed and general matt bol. the head of military intelligence. we are not sure what the reason is. the government told us it's a routine procedure. these people have been in the positions for a long time and it was the right moment for them to move. others suggest the government is not happy with the way things have been going militarily. the rebels have taken major gains, and this is looked at as a possible means of removal of t

abdullah abdullah, came in second to karzai. and abdullah is the most prominent tajc candidate at this point. and it will do very well in the first round. the question is, in a country where the majority of the population are ethnic posh tunes, will abdullah and tajc be able to win the election. that seems unlikely. >> so you have one candidate favored by karzai, the one trailing in the polls, and a vice presidential candidate that's a woman. >> reporter: yeah, karzai has not publicly articulated any preference. there is widespread perception that he's favoring dr. sewell, his former foreign minister. but it's unclear exactly what that preference would mean, if it, in fact, is true. but rasual is a french educated physician, would be an historic thing in afghanistan. according to the polls, which, of course, aren't precise in afghanistan. he is in a distant third. >> if one of these candidates comes into power, is there a difference in policy likely that will keep u.s. troops on the ground longer? >> you know, it's been a bit of

abdullah abdullah has 41.9%. gani, 37%. some will be released next week. the final tally, the final announcement will be mid may, but if this stage, if figures could change, it looks like abdullah abdul & garni are headed for a run-off vote. >> could be held at the earliest at the end of may. both said they will take part in a run-off if they consider the first run round was conducted failure. the election complaints commission they haven't been at a significant enough level that would affect the outcome of the poll. so, therefore, they will almost certainly be a run-off. they might not know who the president is going to be. the new president is going to be. the final results were all in and count cowed and disputes dealt with. the country that's known as africa's narco state. it has become a major trafficking point out of south america. the trafficking is set to be spreading to nearby countries. a recently haul was picked up in anything thatting agabegiguinea it has a history of coups since gaining independence from portugal. the last coup was two years a

abdullah abdullah will need to attract broad-based support. >> a reminder that you can keep up to date with all the news all the time on the website, aljazeera.com. a company that you bailed out with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. i'll give you my take. g.m. is not the huge company that it used to be, but it's still a part of our economy. i'll tell you how big. money, power and an old fashioned alarm clock. ariana huffington with her three-prong idea for success. i'm ali velshi, than is "real money." >> this is real money. you are the most important part of the show. join our live conversation for the next half hour on twitter and also facebook. 6,226,000. that's the total number of vehicles general motors has recalled this year alone. today america demanded answers from g.m. over ignition switches linked to 13 traffic deaths over a decade. and america got virtually nothing. when members of the house panel one after another pressed g.m. ceo mary barra over what g.m. knew and when, she simply repeated we're reviewing that. she later told reporters we hired tony velucas. tony vel uca

the latest presidential election results out of afghanistan showed the foreign minister abdullah abdullah in the lead with 45%, followed by exworld bank economist with 31%. the two will compete in a runoff election six weeks from now. both candidates have said they will findsign a security pact w theted states. the agreement would put about 10,000 american troops in afghanistan beyond the end of this year. less than 24 hours after a tornado swept through north carolina, other parts of the nation could face severe storms tonight and tomorrow. this is the weather channel forecast for to fight, then this is what could be in store tomorrow. that twister in north carolina last eveng damaged hundreds of homes and left thousands without power, at least 30 people were reported injured. word that the scientists whose work in the 1960s helped establish the link between genetics and obesity has died. the canadian born douglas coleman was 82. he discovered that a blood-born substance could curb hunger. that discovery helped a team in rockefeller university working in the 1990s identified gene lepti n

it will be between abdullah abdullah and the former world bank official. >>> at least 15 people have died in a series of apparent sectarian murders in the iraqi capit capital baghdad after bombings of at a rally killed at least 37 people. >>> al jazeera continues to call for the immediate release of its journalists being held in egypt. the trial is being adjourned until may the 3rd. they have now been in jail for 119 days. peter guesta, mohammed setbi and mohammed mohatma. shami, the fourth in detention has been held without trial since last august. he's been on hunger strike for the last 96 days. al jazeera rejects all charges and continues to demand the immediate release of its staff. >>> the syrian army has regained control of the alamun region west of damascus. opposition rebels surrendered after intense fighting. it was their last major stronghold along lebanon's border and as azana had you hods >> reporter: their last stronghold in the region west of damascus, iran's t.v. broadcast pictures of dozens of opposition fighters handing themselves over to the syrian authorities. >> t