hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. italians have just one hour left to vote in a general election that could see the country choose its most right wing government since the second world war and pave the way for giorgia meloni to become italy s first woman prime minister. a right wing alliance led by her brothers of italy party appeared set for a clear victory when the last opinion polls were published two weeks ago. let s cross live now to rome and mark lowen. thank you very much indeed. the last hour of voting before polls close and an exit poll will come out which will suggest whether or not she has done it, all the opinion polls up until the election suggested giorgia meloni was absolutely in first place, a leading contender to win this election with her right wing coalition poised to take power. she has the largest party in the coalition could therefore become italy s first female prime minister and its first far right leader since mussoli
even as his legal problems are mounting his hold on the republican party is tightening. i m phil mattingly in washington. pamela brown has the night off, and you are in the cnn newsroom. we begin this hour in ukraine as it wrestles with a terrifying fear of a nuclear disaster. it is now almost six months to the day since russia launched its unprovoked invasion. new video from ukraine s ministry of defense right here says this is a successful strike destroying a rare russian radar complex in south eastern ukraine. ukraine is about to get more u.s. help in its fight against russia. the pentagon saying it ll now send another $775 million in aid. including ammunition for the high promobility artillery ro rockets, howwitzers and other ammunition plus dozens of drones and different vehicles. a lot of the fighting right now is centered in zaporizhzhia, right around the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. ukraine says russia is launching attacks from there because ukraine wouldn t risk
20 dead. security forces are still trying to take control of the situation at this hour. also tonight, new data on long term covid and the increased risk of brain disorders. dr. leana wen is here to discuss. and actor gary busey in trouble with the law again. you re in the cnn newsroom. it is 2:00 a.m. in the capital of somalia and a terrorist attack is still playing out, more than 24 hours later. [ screaming ] harrowing images. at least 20 people are confirmed dead in the attack on the upscale hotel. dozens more injured. and an unknown number of people are being held hostage. [ sound of gunfire ] the al qaeda linked terrorist group al shabaab is claiming responsibility for the siege. cnn has not been able to verify that claim. police say the attackers and their hostages are now trapped in the middle two floors of the hotel. and they warn the death toll is likely to rise. a short time ago, this statement from the u.s. embassy there. the united states strongly condemns t
russians have got gun implacements and rocked implacements close to that nuclear facility. they ve got military vehicles inside, which is no great surprise, because they captured it on march 4th. and they have been, because we ve seen the evidence with our own eyes, firing rockets outside of that facility. on top of that, we ve got their claim that the ukrainians are shelling back. that has been undermind not only by our own analysis of satellite imagery, but i ve spoken in the last few hours to people who have been working and one who has been working in that plant, close to that plant, and this is something we hear repeatedly from witnesses, who repeats that the russians are firing mortars to make it look as though the ukrainians are involved in some kind of threat to their own nuclear power station. all of this is set against a backdrop of very serious combat along a long front and very keep concerns in the international community that the international community could be
obtained by cnn suggest otherwise. cnn s sam kiley has more on a potential diplomatic breakthrough in an attempt to avoid a nuclear disaster. here s more from sam. yes, it could be seen as some kind of diplomatic breakthrough that the russian president has endorsed the idea that the international atomic energy authority, the body responsible for inindividuallating, if you like, nuclear power stations around the world, should be allowed to go to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and check it out, and install and reinstall the monitoring systems. the fact of the matter, though, is that this is a repeated russian offer and amidst a russian rejection of the international community s demands that they demilitarize the nuclear power station and the town around it. the reason the international community wants to see that is that this has been the locus of fighting. it s effectively on the front line. we know for an absolute fact, jim, that there are missiles being fired out o