:00:14. > :00:18.first polls since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. First steps on
:00:18. > :00:23.the road to democracy, the Muslim Brotherhood starts off with the
:00:23. > :00:33.best organised campaign. This is the beginning of a new era in Egypt,
:00:33. > :00:42.
:00:42. > :00:47.democracy in action. Not in theory, Welcome to GMT, I'm George Alagiah
:00:47. > :00:51.with the world of news and opinion. Also in the programme: Thousands of
:00:51. > :00:56.Syrians show their support for President Assad a day after the
:00:56. > :01:01.Arab League approved sweeping sanctions against the country.
:01:01. > :01:06.Floodwaters in Australia cut off thousands of homes. The search is
:01:06. > :01:11.on for a missing three-year-old. It is lunchtime in London, early
:01:12. > :01:17.morning in Washington at 2:30pm in Cairo where voters are taking part
:01:17. > :01:20.in the first polls since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February. The
:01:20. > :01:22.election pitches the organisational prowess of the Muslim Brotherhood
:01:22. > :01:28.with the newer parties and candidates from the pro-democracy
:01:28. > :01:33.movement. Will the election a share in the New era at that the Tahrir
:01:33. > :01:38.Square generation hoped for. We will be like in Cairo, but first
:01:38. > :01:43.this report. It has turned into a chaotic
:01:43. > :01:47.celebration of democracy. At this polling station in Cairo we found
:01:47. > :01:53.Egyptians fighting to have their voices heard, determined to have a
:01:53. > :01:58.say in how their country is rebuilt. Many more are queuing patiently,
:01:58. > :02:01.waiting for hours to get into the polling stations. After years of
:02:01. > :02:07.virtual one-party rule almost everyone here is voting for the
:02:07. > :02:13.first time. My first parliament and I am so happy to see something like
:02:14. > :02:21.that and all people are connecting with us. I want to save my country,
:02:21. > :02:24.so I have to vote because I have a voice, I have to use it. Some of
:02:24. > :02:29.the queues had been caused by mislaid ballots and polling
:02:29. > :02:34.stations opening late. But no one here seems to care too much. The
:02:34. > :02:40.last election I covered a year ago under Hosni Mubarak the polling
:02:40. > :02:44.stations were deserted. Now they are having to fight them off.
:02:44. > :02:48.Follow me around the corner and you can see that you goes on and on
:02:49. > :02:51.down the street and around the block and merges with acute in the
:02:51. > :02:56.neighbouring police station. People are seizing the opportunity with
:02:56. > :03:01.both hands. Once they get inside they are faced with a bewildering
:03:01. > :03:07.choice. In this polling station voters have to select from 146
:03:07. > :03:10.candidates. Then they have a second ballot paper on which to choose
:03:10. > :03:16.from 15 party lists. The whole process will take more than three
:03:16. > :03:20.months. The heavy turnout appears to be a snub to the protesters
:03:20. > :03:26.still in Tahrir Square. Many of the demonstrators are Boycott and what
:03:26. > :03:32.they believe is a flawed process. But many, perhaps most, Egyptians
:03:32. > :03:37.are saying they prefer an election however flawed to none at all.
:03:37. > :03:42.I'm joined from outside the polling station in Cairo by Khaled
:03:42. > :03:47.Ezzelarab, the BBC Arabic correspondent. We have just heard
:03:47. > :03:51.in that report that perhaps the voters are snubbing the pro-
:03:51. > :03:57.democracy activists because they did not want his election to take
:03:57. > :04:02.place and yet people have been voting. Yes, definitely, a lot of
:04:02. > :04:08.people have been voting. Some observers say the Internet has
:04:08. > :04:14.exceeded expectations. Word is that the turnout will be huge on this
:04:14. > :04:20.day. The Tahrir Square demonstrations have not affected
:04:20. > :04:25.negatively the turnout for these elections. We are here at a polling
:04:25. > :04:30.station a few hundred yards away from Tahrir Square. The security
:04:30. > :04:36.situation has been fine, but turnout has been hired. There have
:04:36. > :04:39.been some irregularities, but so far the general picture is fine.
:04:39. > :04:46.you think the Tahrir Square generation are out of touch with
:04:46. > :04:50.the rest of Egypt? Well, the demonstrators in Tahrir Square are
:04:50. > :04:56.divided, but many of them have said they will participate in this
:04:56. > :05:00.election. Some have boycotted, but others said the protest in Tahrir
:05:00. > :05:05.Square is one line of political action, participating in the
:05:05. > :05:10.elections is another part of guaranteeing the military council's
:05:11. > :05:17.rule will come to an end quite soon. All the indications are that the
:05:17. > :05:24.Muslim Brotherhood, the justice and democracy Party, is going into this
:05:24. > :05:31.election the best organised. Yes, it seems so. Events in displays
:05:31. > :05:36.which is one of the elite suburbs of Cairo and it is not considered
:05:36. > :05:40.to be one of that strong points of the Muslim Brotherhood. The only
:05:40. > :05:44.organised group at the polling stations have been the Muslim
:05:44. > :05:49.Brotherhood and other Islamic groups. They have been telling
:05:49. > :05:53.people where their names are in the polling stations. They haven't been
:05:53. > :05:57.facilitating the traffic in front of the polling stations to ensure
:05:57. > :06:02.that the turnout is high. This is in a part of Cairo where they are
:06:02. > :06:07.not that strong, so you can imagine how they are in other parts.
:06:07. > :06:14.mention some of the hit is around the country. Give us a round-up of
:06:14. > :06:18.as far as you know how it is going around the country. Well, we have
:06:18. > :06:22.been receiving reports from very early in the morning that there are
:06:22. > :06:29.a lot of polling stations which have failed to open on time. Some
:06:29. > :06:34.of them have been hours late. Some judges have not appear at the
:06:34. > :06:38.polling stations where they are supposed to supervise the process.
:06:38. > :06:44.There have been irregularities, we are getting reports of incidents of
:06:44. > :06:49.violence between people going to the elections in front of their
:06:49. > :06:53.stations, but nothing as bad as what people feared. We are still at
:06:53. > :06:59.midday and things could develop and another way, but so far the general
:06:59. > :07:06.picture seems to be fine. Khaled Ezzelarab, thank you very much.
:07:06. > :07:11.More on the elections and you can head to the website. You can get
:07:11. > :07:16.all the latest information and analysis. Lyse Doucet also speaks
:07:16. > :07:21.to Egyptian youth about what elections mean to them.
:07:21. > :07:25.Some of the other stories making headlines: Iran's Guardian Council
:07:25. > :07:30.has given its final approval to a decision to downgrade ties with
:07:30. > :07:35.Britain. Iran's parliament approved the measures on Sunday in
:07:35. > :07:40.retaliation for fresh British sanctions. They are accusing the
:07:40. > :07:46.Iranian banks of facilitating the nuclear programme.
:07:46. > :07:51.The main Pakistani Association that delivers fuel to NATO forces in
:07:51. > :07:57.Afghanistan says it has no plans to resume supplies. Many shipments to
:07:57. > :08:00.NATO forces in Afghanistan arrive via Pakistan, but they came to a
:08:00. > :08:04.halt after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed at a border post on
:08:04. > :08:08.Saturday in what appears to have been an 80 air strike.
:08:08. > :08:15.Three people have been killed and more than 20 injured after a
:08:15. > :08:18.suspected bomb explosion at a hotel in that Philippines. It started at
:08:18. > :08:25.the fire in Zamboanga which was full with guests from a wedding
:08:25. > :08:29.party. Police suspect Islamic militants are to blame.
:08:30. > :08:34.Averting is under way in the Democratic Republic of Congo for
:08:34. > :08:38.president and parliament. It is the central African's country's second
:08:38. > :08:42.election since the Civil War ended eight years ago. The run-up to the
:08:42. > :08:45.election has been marred by violence and concerned the
:08:45. > :08:49.Electoral Commission is not ready to hold the event.
:08:49. > :08:54.In a country that is nearly the size of Western Europe this is an
:08:54. > :08:59.election on a huge scale. Even the ballot papers are like small
:08:59. > :09:03.newspapers. There are 11 presidential candidates and more
:09:03. > :09:11.than 18,000 people running for seats in the National Assembly. It
:09:11. > :09:16.is thought it could take the average voter seven minutes to vote.
:09:16. > :09:21.President Joseph Kabila, who is seeking another term, cast his vote
:09:21. > :09:24.in Kinshasa. Analysts say his track record over the last five years has
:09:24. > :09:30.been relatively poor, but he has benefited from greater resources
:09:30. > :09:34.than any of his opponents, including the main challenger. In
:09:34. > :09:39.the past few days there has been a frantic scramble to get all the
:09:40. > :09:44.voting materials distributed around the country. This was the scene in
:09:44. > :09:50.an Eastern city soon after the polling stations opened. All is
:09:50. > :09:53.well, said this man, even though we started with a bit of a delay a
:09:53. > :09:58.process is transparent. But hundreds of observers, including
:09:58. > :10:02.many from abroad, are watching with anxiety. There have been outbreaks
:10:02. > :10:07.of violence. The Democratic Republic of Congo has so often
:10:07. > :10:11.proved to be a country that is not governable. This will be an
:10:11. > :10:15.important test of her stable it really is.
:10:15. > :10:20.In Australia thousands of people have been stranded by floodwaters
:10:20. > :10:23.in the northern part of New South Wales. Many of them could be
:10:23. > :10:28.isolated for up to a week and the Government has been flying
:10:28. > :10:32.emergency supplies to the area. The flooding has claimed the lives of a
:10:32. > :10:37.three-year-old boy as Duncan Kennedy in Sydney reports.
:10:37. > :10:42.Australia is entering its summer season, but look at this. Vast
:10:42. > :10:46.areas of north-west New South Wales under water. The flooding has been
:10:46. > :10:50.building over the past few days and thousands of acres of land have
:10:50. > :10:55.been deluged. Some of the major routes through the region have been
:10:55. > :11:01.cut off and whilst bigger vehicles have made it through, others reveal
:11:01. > :11:06.the depth of the rising waters. Towns and settlements like these
:11:06. > :11:11.have faced the worst flooding. But it is Wee Waa when nearly 2000
:11:11. > :11:16.residents have been stranded. Only Ariel drops are keeping it
:11:16. > :11:20.connected to the outside world. do not expect further evacuations,
:11:20. > :11:23.however those floodwaters can remain in the area for up to 10
:11:23. > :11:28.days and there is more rain predicted in the middle of this
:11:28. > :11:33.week. Rescue teams have been searching for a three-year-old boy
:11:33. > :11:38.who was swept away by the powerful waters. Other people are trying to
:11:38. > :11:43.get out themselves. Emergency services have received 900 calls
:11:43. > :11:48.for help. As everybody in this community what is the weather and
:11:48. > :11:53.the water. The French foreign minister Alain
:11:53. > :11:57.Juppe has said time is running out for the Syrian President after the
:11:57. > :12:00.Arab League agreed sanctions against Damascus. In an
:12:00. > :12:05.unprecedented move unsung day including an asset freeze and an
:12:05. > :12:10.investment embargo work approved over Syria's crackdown on pro-
:12:10. > :12:16.democracy protests. Jim Muir is watching the events in Syria from
:12:16. > :12:22.neighbouring Lebanon. We are expecting to hear the foreign
:12:22. > :12:27.minister any minute now, are we? The line broke up. That was my
:12:27. > :12:33.fault. We are expecting to hear the foreign ministers speaking any
:12:33. > :12:37.minute now. That is right. We are waiting for that. It was supposed
:12:37. > :12:40.to have happen some time ago, but in the meantime the Syrian
:12:40. > :12:44.television screens are four of the thousands and thousands of people
:12:44. > :12:51.who are out in the squares in Damascus and other cities around
:12:51. > :12:56.Syria. It is hardly spontaneous, but it is a very big state-
:12:56. > :12:59.supported demonstration denouncing the Arab League moves. The they
:13:00. > :13:04.want to show this is a very unpopular thing as far as many
:13:04. > :13:10.Syrians are concerned, certainly as far as the regime's supporters are
:13:10. > :13:14.concerned. The people are being quoted as saying it is all the
:13:14. > :13:18.Syrian people of all classes throughout the country who are
:13:18. > :13:23.targeted by these moves. Of course, the Arab League is trying to be at
:13:23. > :13:29.pains not to hurt ordinary people, but to isolate and pressurise the
:13:30. > :13:34.regime. We are looking at some of these protests, stage managed or
:13:34. > :13:41.not, tell me how unprecedented visit for an organisation like the
:13:41. > :13:44.Arab League to move in this way against a country like Syria?
:13:44. > :13:48.completely unprecedented and has not happened before. The Arab
:13:48. > :13:54.League has been synonymous with lethargy and apathy and not doing
:13:54. > :13:57.anything, but now it seems under its new Secretary General to have
:13:57. > :14:01.decided it wants to be in the forefront of change in the Arab
:14:01. > :14:06.world, not lagging behind or even a obstructing it as it was in the
:14:06. > :14:11.past. They have rather startlingly taken this move against a fellow
:14:11. > :14:15.member of the Arab League, isolated it and pressurising its and it has
:14:15. > :14:19.not been done before. From the Syrian perspective what they are
:14:19. > :14:25.saying is the Arab League has simply fallen into the hands of the
:14:25. > :14:28.West and has become an instrument for carrying out a Western-backed
:14:28. > :14:33.conspiracy and slinking back with the situation on the ground which
:14:33. > :14:43.they say is also the work of outside forces, manipulating local
:14:43. > :14:45.
:14:45. > :14:48.Still to come... A wake-up call as delegates gathered for the UN
:14:48. > :14:58.Climate Conference. The stakes are high, but will they manage to kick
:14:58. > :15:00.
:15:00. > :15:04.that talks on a global deal back Now let's get the business news.
:15:04. > :15:09.Lots of reports on the situation and the economic crisis in Europe.
:15:09. > :15:12.The latest one is from the OECD. The organisation of co-operation
:15:12. > :15:17.and Development, they released their biannual global economic
:15:17. > :15:20.outlook. Surprise, surprise, it makes for pretty gloomy reading. It
:15:20. > :15:26.is a very stark warning for governments and policy makers
:15:26. > :15:29.around the world to be prepared for the worst. The eurozone crisis...
:15:29. > :15:34.That's a quote from the board. Absolutely. The eurozone crisis is
:15:34. > :15:38.at the centre of their worries. They say but have a very big and
:15:38. > :15:43.negative impact. It will hit the US economy harder than expected. It
:15:43. > :15:51.will even hit China. Let's listen to the chief economist from the
:15:51. > :15:56.OECD. Confidence is weakening. Confidence both in households and
:15:56. > :16:03.in companies. Business and consumer confidence is dropping. And why is
:16:03. > :16:08.that happening? We think that most of the cause of that confidence
:16:08. > :16:13.drop, of which turns into low activity, is itself the result of
:16:13. > :16:18.what is seen as to be an inadequate policy response. Inadequate policy
:16:18. > :16:22.response. He's not only talking about European politicians, he also
:16:22. > :16:26.mentions US politicians. I should also throw-in that the OECD is
:16:26. > :16:30.predicting the British economy will slip back into recession in the
:16:30. > :16:33.next coming few months. Maybe George Osborne got a sneak preview
:16:34. > :16:40.because he is due to announce some big spending on infrastructure.
:16:40. > :16:43.Very ambitious plan. �30 billion to push into the economy. It's really
:16:43. > :16:47.about big infrastructure projects to get people back to work and to
:16:47. > :16:51.get growth in the economy. Rail and road schemes, about 40 projects
:16:51. > :16:56.which have been earmarked. The question is, how do we pay for it?
:16:56. > :16:59.A lot of money coming from big British pension funds, Chinese
:16:59. > :17:03.investments, 5 billion coming from areas where the government have
:17:03. > :17:09.already cut budgets. Given a serious state of our finances, can
:17:09. > :17:13.we really afford it? We are finding the resources in difficult times to
:17:13. > :17:17.build the roads and railways. Here, we are talking about an extension
:17:18. > :17:22.of the tube line which could create 25,000 jobs on this side. We are
:17:22. > :17:25.doing the scenes -- these things because Britain has got to get away
:17:25. > :17:29.from the quick fix of debt solutions that got us into this
:17:29. > :17:32.mess. We got to lay the foundations for a stronger economic future.
:17:32. > :17:36.We've got to make sure that British savings and things like pension
:17:36. > :17:42.funds are deployed here and the British taxpayer's money is well
:17:42. > :17:45.used. The markets, a bumper of a day at the moment. They are all
:17:45. > :17:49.high off the back of the swimmers at the weekend that the IMF was in
:17:50. > :17:54.talks with Italy to bail it out. The IMF deny it but the markets are
:17:54. > :18:04.still hoping. Do we know what's happening here? The FTSE is up as
:18:04. > :18:13.
:18:13. > :18:17.This is GMT. On main stories this hour. Egyptians of voting at
:18:17. > :18:20.polling stations and their first elections since the fall of Hosni
:18:20. > :18:26.Mubarak in February. It follows a week of mass protest against
:18:26. > :18:33.military rule in the country. Syria is shunned by its allies. Flights
:18:33. > :18:37.from Arab capitals to Damascus are halted under sweeping sanctions.
:18:37. > :18:40.The annual UN Conference on Climate Change has opened in the South
:18:40. > :18:45.African city of Durban. Sharp differences between governments
:18:45. > :18:48.expected to frustrate efforts to agree a new global treaty. Europe
:18:48. > :18:52.and poorer countries are already affected by the impact of climate
:18:52. > :18:55.change are pressing for a new deal to reduce emissions as soon as
:18:55. > :19:04.possible, other rich countries, including Japan and Russia, they
:19:04. > :19:09.There is plenty of passion for tackling climate change amongst
:19:09. > :19:12.those directly threatened by it. Activists in Durban say only swift
:19:12. > :19:17.action now can prevent the Earth's temperature is rising to dangerous
:19:17. > :19:22.levels. They are trying to persuade delegates to promise more money to
:19:22. > :19:27.help the poorest nations Cup. Ladies and gentlemen, this
:19:27. > :19:31.conference needs to reassure the Honourable, all those who have
:19:31. > :19:36.already suffered and all those who will continue to suffer from
:19:36. > :19:41.climate change, that tangible action is being taken for a safer
:19:41. > :19:46.future. Both in adaptation and in mitigation. At the core of the
:19:46. > :19:51.summit is a new climate agreement that the UN wants to have finalised
:19:51. > :19:56.by 2015. But India and Brazil are joining rich nations, such as the
:19:56. > :20:00.US and Japan, in delaying a legally binding deal. Poorer countries want
:20:00. > :20:06.a binding deal as soon as possible. That is because they are affected
:20:06. > :20:10.most by the more extreme weather provoked by climate change. They
:20:10. > :20:15.say voluntary agreement just aren't enough to get the necessary de cuts
:20:15. > :20:18.and carbon dioxide emissions. Adding urgency to the need for
:20:18. > :20:23.action, a new UN report shows that a quarter of the world's farmland
:20:23. > :20:26.is now highly degraded. South Africa's President, Jacob Zuma,
:20:26. > :20:33.arrived with the message that a deal was vital and should be
:20:33. > :20:40.possible with sound leadership. most people in the developing world
:20:40. > :20:44.and Africa, climate change is a matter of life and death. Europe is
:20:44. > :20:49.pressing for firm action, but there are major doubts over whether other
:20:49. > :20:57.rich nations, with their economies struggling, can summon up and a
:20:57. > :21:00.political and financial world. -- financial world. Joining the is
:21:00. > :21:05.Richard Black. Emily picked up on this, India and Brazil dragging
:21:05. > :21:09.their feet. They are basically behaving in the way, for the same
:21:09. > :21:13.reasons they used to criticise the big countries, America, Japan and
:21:14. > :21:17.so on. There is this concern that they share with those countries
:21:17. > :21:20.like the US and Japan that constraining carbon emissions will
:21:20. > :21:26.Compact their economic growth. They are going up against a number of
:21:26. > :21:29.blocks, like the EU for example, which see an economic future in
:21:29. > :21:33.developing green and clean. And against some of the small island
:21:33. > :21:36.states who can't really afford to ask that question. They simply see
:21:36. > :21:41.in 20 to 30 years' time the waters lapping over their shores.
:21:41. > :21:44.Maldives. Absolutely. We should be hearing from some of those later in
:21:44. > :21:50.the conference. It will be interesting to see whether they
:21:50. > :21:53.openly criticise countries such as India and Brazil. And some of the
:21:53. > :21:56.small island states said if they are going to name and shame the
:21:56. > :22:01.likes of India and Brazil, who was supposed to be in many ways
:22:01. > :22:06.countries that lead the developing world. That's right. This whole
:22:07. > :22:10.mass of developing world Block, the G77 China, it now has 131 countries
:22:10. > :22:14.in it. They tend to behave as a monolith of for all sorts of
:22:14. > :22:17.reasons. They do share common interests, but it will be
:22:17. > :22:20.interesting to see whether world leaders from the small island
:22:20. > :22:23.states do name and shame. That is what is being set behind the scenes
:22:23. > :22:26.but we will wait to see if it materialises. One of the enduring
:22:27. > :22:30.means of this is some of the rich countries of the West putting
:22:30. > :22:34.pressure on the smaller countries. But some of that pressure is coming
:22:34. > :22:39.from the big, developing world players as well. It is his right,
:22:39. > :22:42.Brazil and India dragging their feet, America, Japan and Russia and
:22:42. > :22:46.so on, more or less where they've always been, a reluctant partners,
:22:46. > :22:49.this thing is dead in the water, isn't it? It's difficult to see how
:22:49. > :22:53.it can develop anything that goes anywhere near meeting the goals set
:22:53. > :22:58.out by scientists, who say that in order to have a reasonable chance
:22:58. > :23:02.of keeping the global temperature rise below two Celsius, you need to
:23:03. > :23:06.be peaking emissions and having them decline around about 2020,
:23:06. > :23:10.certainly no later. You can do it later than that but it becomes much
:23:10. > :23:14.more expensive. If you don't have even talks on a new global deal
:23:14. > :23:20.beginning until 2015 or later, it's difficult to see and you can meet
:23:20. > :23:24.that target of beginning to curb emissions by 2020. Rapidly growing
:23:24. > :23:28.economies mean many Asian countries have encouraged their young workers
:23:28. > :23:32.to abandon the field and prop to the city's in search of their
:23:32. > :23:37.fortunes. In Japan, the bloom in the migration took place decades
:23:37. > :23:40.ago. But for the past 20 years the economy has been in stagnation. As
:23:40. > :23:47.Roland Buerk reports, some younger people are now leaving the cities
:23:47. > :23:52.behind to return to the countryside. Bright Lights, Big City. For
:23:52. > :23:57.decades Tokyo has been a draw. Bringing in people from the
:23:57. > :24:01.countryside. Now other Asian nations are following suit, a race
:24:01. > :24:08.to urbanisation. But for some young Japanese the city is losing its
:24:08. > :24:12.appeal. Like millions of others, this woman can't find a permanent
:24:12. > :24:21.job. The salary man lifestyle enjoyed by earlier generations has
:24:21. > :24:25.passed her by. TRANSLATION: I never know if I'm
:24:25. > :24:32.going to lose my job. Financially my anxiety levels are very height.
:24:32. > :24:39.I wouldn't know what to do. That's why some young Japanese are looking
:24:39. > :24:43.for an alternative. This is no ordinary bus trip. These are not
:24:43. > :24:48.tourists. Instead, they are city dwelling people who've come to the
:24:48. > :24:58.countryside for the day to see what life would be like as farmers. They
:24:58. > :24:59.
:24:59. > :25:03.are all considering a radical change of career. This woman has
:25:03. > :25:06.joined the tour. It's organised by local officials. The average
:25:06. > :25:12.Japanese farmer is now more than 65, so they are looking for new
:25:12. > :25:17.recruits. TRANSLATION: There are more people
:25:17. > :25:27.that want to be farmers now. The numbers are increasing. More people
:25:27. > :25:28.
:25:28. > :25:33.from the city want a rural life. Here, we want to help them. At 86
:25:33. > :25:39.years old, this man needs help to look after his cucumbers. And now
:25:39. > :25:47.he has an apprentice. A young man who gave up his office job in
:25:47. > :25:51.Yokohama. TRANSLATION: I was really fed up
:25:51. > :25:58.with my life in the city. I was too busy working every day. I wanted to
:25:58. > :26:05.change, so I had a slower life. I wanted to become a farmer. His farm
:26:05. > :26:10.is on the tour. This woman has decided it's what she wants to do,
:26:10. > :26:19.too. Joining other young Japanese who are rediscovering the way of
:26:19. > :26:24.life their grandparents left behind. We are coming to the end of GMT.
:26:24. > :26:28.Before we go, a reminder of our main story. Egyptians are voting in
:26:28. > :26:32.the first parliamentary elections since the toppling of President
:26:32. > :26:36.Mubarak in February. Long queues formed at polling stations around
:26:36. > :26:41.the country. That despite calls from some of the pro-democracy
:26:41. > :26:44.activists that these elections should be boycotted which, as our
:26:44. > :26:48.correspondent pointed out when we spoke to him, raises a question
:26:48. > :26:51.about the extent to which the pro- democracy activists that we've