:00:09. > :00:13.Exit polls suggest a big victory for Vladimir Putin as the polls
:00:13. > :00:18.close in Russia's presidential election. Thousands of supporters
:00:18. > :00:20.are already celebrating on the streets of Moscow. His return to
:00:20. > :00:24.the Kremlin looks assured, but opponents accuse his party of
:00:24. > :00:30.intimidation and election fraud. The leader of the Catholic Church
:00:30. > :00:32.in Scotland says plans to permit gay marriage are "grotesque." No
:00:32. > :00:38.more excuses, Chelsea's manager is sacked after just nine months in
:00:38. > :00:48.the job. And thousands saw it, but what was
:00:48. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:06.that great ball of fire in the Good evening. Vladimir Putin looks
:01:06. > :01:08.set to return to the Kremlin as Russia's new President. Exit polls
:01:08. > :01:12.and early results following a weekend of voting suggest he's on
:01:12. > :01:16.course to win around 60 percent of the vote. Thousands of his
:01:16. > :01:18.supporters are already celebrating in Moscow's Red Square. However
:01:18. > :01:22.opposition groups have accused Mr Putin's party of widespread
:01:22. > :01:28.intimidation and election violations. Our Moscow
:01:28. > :01:34.Correspondent Daniel Sandford reports.
:01:34. > :01:37.As soon as the polls closed the party began. Thousands of
:01:37. > :01:42.supporters of Vladimir Putin took to the streets outside the Kremlin
:01:42. > :01:48.walls as he proved once more his total dominance of a Russian
:01:49. > :01:52.politics. For 12 years he has wielded almost absolute power and
:01:52. > :01:57.when Vladimir Putin voted today, he knew he would be president again,
:01:57. > :02:03.long before the results were announced. He has muscled all
:02:03. > :02:08.credible opposition figures out of mainstream politics. He is rarely
:02:08. > :02:15.seen wife was brought back into the Spotlight today. His critics said
:02:15. > :02:20.he was a misunderstood liberal. This is the problem with Western
:02:20. > :02:24.politicians, bear to O'Gara minded to understand he is a liberal.
:02:24. > :02:30.campaign has been dominated by protest and even his visit to the
:02:30. > :02:35.polling station ended with three women being led away shouting,
:02:35. > :02:39.Teuton is a thief. Much of central Moscow looked as if it was on a war
:02:39. > :02:44.footing as the security forces prepared for what could be a week
:02:44. > :02:48.of angry protest. By the end of the day that Raman was surrounded by
:02:48. > :02:53.trucks full of Interior Ministry troops and riot police. No one is
:02:53. > :02:58.quite sure what trouble the next few days will bring. The protests
:02:58. > :03:02.first started after widespread concerns about cheating in the
:03:02. > :03:06.parliamentary poll in December. This time tens of thousands of
:03:06. > :03:13.ordinary people volunteered to be election observers in an attempt to
:03:13. > :03:19.make it more honest. What we want to do is at least to make voting
:03:19. > :03:23.date Fareham, to control how people vote and here the observers may
:03:23. > :03:28.bring change. But they have already been thousands of allegations of
:03:28. > :03:32.fraud including this footage apparently showing a man feeding
:03:33. > :03:39.ballot paper after a ballot paper into an automatic voting machine.
:03:39. > :03:46.It was recorded on the Web cam in the polling station. These have not
:03:46. > :03:52.been fair elections, said Mikhail Gorbachev, but we must not relent.
:03:52. > :03:55.People should not be forced to go out out onto the streets. Vladimir
:03:55. > :03:59.Putin's third inauguration as president will be made but he and
:03:59. > :04:09.his supporters know that if he retains his grip on the country and
:04:09. > :04:11.wins another election, he could still be president in the year 2024.
:04:11. > :04:17.And we can speak now to our World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, who's
:04:17. > :04:24.been following events in Moscow. How far to these allegations of
:04:24. > :04:29.fraud taint his victory? Well they have and they have not, to be
:04:29. > :04:38.honest. The fact is that the official version will show that he
:04:38. > :04:43.has somewhere around 60% or perhaps the High 50s, depending on how the
:04:43. > :04:49.figures were out. If this election is anything like the parliamentary
:04:49. > :04:54.elections of last December, then you can say that something like 10%
:04:54. > :05:00.of the boat will have been ripped in some way or another. Now that
:05:00. > :05:06.would have given Vladimir Putin a victory anyway, he only had to get
:05:06. > :05:10.50% or slightly more. But the fact is he wanted a lot more. There is
:05:10. > :05:15.growing opposition to him here and I think he wanted a really big
:05:15. > :05:19.result. But the fact is that a lot of people are saying that they may
:05:19. > :05:24.not like him but the other candidates were so pathetic,
:05:24. > :05:28.frankly, but there was no alternative to him. When I saw him
:05:28. > :05:34.today he looked pretty confident anyway so I do not think there's
:05:34. > :05:36.any doubt he will get the kind of figure that he wants.
:05:36. > :05:39.The government's plans to change the law to allow gay marriages have
:05:39. > :05:41.been strongly criticised by the leader of the Catholic Church in
:05:41. > :05:46.Scotland. Cardinal Keith O'Brien said the proposals were "grotesque"
:05:46. > :05:49.and would shame the UK in the eyes of the world. Supporters of gay
:05:49. > :05:58.marriage said his remarks risked increasing prejudice. Our Religious
:05:58. > :06:02.Affairs correspondent Robert Pigott reports.
:06:02. > :06:07.Cardinal O'Brien has set himself on a collision course with the
:06:07. > :06:10.government. His Sunday Telegraph article reveals anger and alarm. He
:06:10. > :06:16.said of the government, their attempt to redefine reality is
:06:16. > :06:19.given a polite hearing, their madness is indulged. Their proposal
:06:19. > :06:24.represents a grotesque some version of a universally accepted human
:06:24. > :06:31.right. But Christians are divided about the issue. Progress of
:06:31. > :06:35.Anglicans say it is time to rethink the fundamental purpose of marriage.
:06:35. > :06:41.Marriage is a strong institution and has been around for thousands
:06:41. > :06:47.of years and has changed many times. Marriage is not really about gender
:06:47. > :06:50.but it is about love between two people. The government says that
:06:50. > :06:54.full marriage should be open to loving and committed couples
:06:54. > :07:02.whatever their sexuality. David Cameron has given the policy
:07:02. > :07:07.explicit backing. I do not support gay marriage in spite of being a
:07:07. > :07:10.Conservative, I support it because I am a Conservative. The government
:07:10. > :07:16.will launch a consultation on the issue later this month and says it
:07:16. > :07:21.is committed to introducing gay marriage. It is about allowing
:07:21. > :07:26.civil marriage to take place for same-sex couples, not to try to in
:07:26. > :07:32.some way changed the religious terminology of marriage.
:07:32. > :07:35.Cardinal O'Brien has determined allies amongst MPs. It is just
:07:35. > :07:41.really the definition, I am in favour of civil partnerships and
:07:41. > :07:45.equality, but you cannot redefined marriage on a whim. Cardinal
:07:45. > :07:49.O'Brien has shown himself before to be ready to mobilise Catholics in
:07:49. > :07:53.what amounts to a political battle but the stakes are high enough. His
:07:54. > :07:57.latest remarks show that he regards traditional marriage as critical
:07:57. > :08:03.amongst a diminishing number of Christian principles that underpin
:08:03. > :08:07.it everyday life in Britain. It could be one that he is prepared to
:08:07. > :08:09.take to the government in an outright fight to preserve for.
:08:09. > :08:12.The Foreign Office says the desecration of British war graves
:08:12. > :08:14.in an attack on cemeteries in the Libyan city of Benghazi, is
:08:14. > :08:17.appalling. The War Graves Commission says it's deeply
:08:17. > :08:20.saddened by what's happened, and will do everything it can to repair
:08:20. > :08:23.around 200 headstones. The Libyan authorities have
:08:23. > :08:30.apologised and pledged to catch those responsible. From Tripoli,
:08:30. > :08:36.Gabriel Gatehouse reports. The attackers film themselves as
:08:36. > :08:42.they set to work. More than 200 headstones were damaged, smashed to
:08:42. > :08:46.the ground by a group of several dozen armed men. Break the cross of
:08:46. > :08:52.the dogs, one is heard to say on the video. There's Hebrew writing
:08:52. > :08:57.on this one, says another, as he up breeds a headstone. Later the men
:08:57. > :09:01.take a hammer and chisel to the cross of remembrance. Aside from
:09:01. > :09:07.the religious references, the motive for the attack is not clear.
:09:07. > :09:13.The Foreign Office today said it did not believe British gay --
:09:13. > :09:19.British graves were being singled out. This is one of two sides in
:09:19. > :09:22.Benghazi that were attacked over the weekend. A spokesman for the
:09:22. > :09:26.Commonwealth War Graves Commission said there were deeply saddened by
:09:26. > :09:30.the attacks and the cemeteries would be restored to a standard
:09:30. > :09:33.befitting the sacrifice of those commemorated in Benghazi. The
:09:33. > :09:37.Libyan foreign ministry condemned the attacks and says it will step
:09:37. > :09:41.up protection around the cemeteries. But these incidents highlight a
:09:41. > :09:47.wider problem of lawlessness here in post revolutionary Libya. Large
:09:47. > :09:51.parts of the country are in effect controlled by armed militia groups
:09:51. > :09:53.will operate outside government control.
:09:53. > :09:58.A series of massive explosions at an arms dump in The Republic of
:09:58. > :09:59.Congo have killed at least 200 people and injured many more.
:09:59. > :10:01.Numerous buildings in densely populated parts of the capital
:10:01. > :10:06.Brazzaville were destroyed and thousands of people fled their
:10:06. > :10:11.homes. The authorities say a fire at a military depot caused the
:10:11. > :10:13.explosions. The Independent Police Complaints
:10:13. > :10:18.Commission is investigating the fatal shooting of a man by officers
:10:18. > :10:21.in Cheshire last night. Residents in Culcheth have described how they
:10:21. > :10:29.heard gunfire and ran for cover, after police stopped a car in the
:10:29. > :10:32.village. From Culcheth, Danny Savage reports.
:10:32. > :10:37.The car park in the centre of culture village where the man was
:10:37. > :10:41.shot dead remains sealed off. The vehicles involved still exactly
:10:41. > :10:46.where they were when police opened fire. A red Audi was left with a
:10:46. > :10:52.bullet hole in the windscreen after being blocked in by unmarked police
:10:52. > :10:57.cars. At least one shot was fired at about 7:20pm yesterday evening.
:10:57. > :11:03.15 year-old Jessica Brown was near by at the time and says it was a
:11:03. > :11:08.frighten ink and chaotic scene. heard a gunshot being fired at. It
:11:08. > :11:12.did not seem real at all. It sounded like something from a film.
:11:12. > :11:19.I sort lots of police cars driving past and then I saw three men
:11:19. > :11:23.manning passed. They had gas masks on and guns. Officers from Greater
:11:23. > :11:29.Manchester police were involved in what they describe as a pre-planned
:11:29. > :11:32.operation. Now the Independent Police Complaints Commission is
:11:32. > :11:38.overseeing the inquiry, investigating why an officer had to
:11:38. > :11:43.open fire. Now with all the sports news here's
:11:43. > :11:45.Karthi Gnanasegaram. Who would be a Chelsea manager? The
:11:45. > :11:51.club's owner Roman Abramovich has decided enough is enough after just
:11:51. > :11:53.nine months and he's ended Andre Villas-Boas' reign. He's the 7th
:11:54. > :12:01.manager of the Russian's tenure. Joe Wilson has been following
:12:01. > :12:07.developments. UN Drake Villas-Boas was more than just another manager,
:12:07. > :12:11.he was a project. Recruited at vast expense to create a new era. And so
:12:11. > :12:17.quickly it came to this. Chelsea beaten at West Brom yesterday, 5th
:12:17. > :12:27.in the Premier League and the fire in the eyes of Villas-Boas
:12:27. > :12:29.
:12:29. > :12:37.extinguished. Since Roman Ibrahimovic bought Chelsea he has
:12:37. > :12:46.kept revolving the door for managers. Jose Mourinho left after
:12:46. > :12:54.three years and is still missed. Guus Hiddink was a successful
:12:54. > :13:00.caretaker. And then the Youth Project, and Villas-Boas. Through
:13:00. > :13:07.this a core of senior players has grown at Chelsea. The likes of John
:13:07. > :13:12.Cherry and Frank Lampard. Some wonder if they hounded Villas-Boas.
:13:12. > :13:16.He has been naive but I think the senior players have dictated what
:13:17. > :13:26.happens. Chelsea have to realise that maybe now they are not good
:13:26. > :13:33.enough. Villas-Boas cost �13 million to recruit. His departure
:13:33. > :13:36.will so -- presumably cost even more.
:13:36. > :13:43.Let's go live to Stamford Bridge and our sports news correspondent
:13:43. > :13:47.James Pearce. James, what's next for Chelsea? I think it is
:13:47. > :13:55.significant that Roberto di Matteo has been appointed as the caretaker
:13:55. > :13:58.manager. He will not be available until the end of the season. Jose
:13:58. > :14:02.Mourinho has been spotted house- hunting in London. He has been
:14:02. > :14:09.sacked once by a moment a Ibrahimovic, can the men really
:14:09. > :14:11.work together again? It is a possibility.
:14:11. > :14:15.Manchester United reminded league leaders Manchester City that they
:14:15. > :14:17.are still very much in the race for the Premier League title. United
:14:17. > :14:22.now just two points behind City after a 3-1 victory over Spurs at
:14:22. > :14:25.White Hart Lane. Wayne Rooney scored United's first goal on the
:14:25. > :14:32.stroke of half time. Ashley Young volleyed in their second before
:14:32. > :14:34.adding a stunning third goal. Ireland and France drew 17-all in
:14:34. > :14:37.their rearranged Six Nations Match in Paris today. A great start from
:14:37. > :14:39.the Irish saw them take a half time lead through two tries from Tommy
:14:39. > :14:43.Bowe but the French staged a comeback after the break, Wesley
:14:43. > :14:46.Fofana with the try and Morgan Parra kicking 12 points for a draw.
:14:46. > :14:48.And that's the sport. Police switchboards lit up across
:14:48. > :14:58.Scotland and northern England last night, as worried callers reported
:14:58. > :15:04.seeing bright lights and an orange glow in the sky. Philippa Thomas
:15:04. > :15:10.reports. There it goes and there it goes
:15:10. > :15:16.again. A fire ball streaking across the evening sky. Amazing observers
:15:16. > :15:20.from the Scottish Highlands to the south-west coast. The sighting had
:15:20. > :15:29.some rushing to call the police. Others racing to get their images
:15:29. > :15:34.online. That is crazy. Is it a shooting star? This was filmed by
:15:34. > :15:39.an unmanned cameras over of Whitley Bay, set up last night on the off-
:15:39. > :15:45.chance of something special coming by. What you can hear is the streak
:15:45. > :15:49.of light as the object burns up in the atmosphere. An astronomer or
:15:49. > :15:54.for the Royal Observatory in Greenwich explained how such
:15:54. > :15:59.firework effects can happen. When you get a fireball like these you
:15:59. > :16:02.can get some spectacular colours. Different chemical elements in the
:16:02. > :16:08.rock as they burn off give out different colours which produces