If no candidate wins more than 50 in the first round. But with many of mr putins opponents unable to run, it seems inevitable that Vladimir Putin will be re elected without the need for that second ballot. Our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is following developments in moscow. Vladimir putin has been in power a long time, right, 25 years almost as president or Prime Minister. And hes expected to win a fifth president ial term. Now, this whole event, this three day event, which starts today, is being presented by the russian authorities almost as a celebration of democracy. The kremlin just a few days ago described russian democracy as the best democracy in the world. Critics of the kremlin would disagree and would say that this poll is neither free nor fair nor transparent. Vladimir putin does not face a major challenge. There are three other candidates on the ballot paper, but his most vocal critics, his fiercest opponents, are either in exile or in prison, which kind of helps you to win what we expect to be a landslide. There have been reports that Public Service workers have been strongly encouraged to come out today, on day one of this election, to cast their votes. I mean, there are so many things to say about this election. Vladimir putin dominates the airwaves, dominates the screens, on russian television, much more than any other candidate. So it will be no surprise, i think, when he is eventually declared the winner. I spoke to natasha lindstaedt, professor in the department of government at the University Of Essex and i asked what work has been done to project legitimacy to these elections. They changed the rules of the constitution to make it more difficult for any candidate who has lived in the west to run. So their constitution is that you have to be over 35 years, that didnt change, but you cant have lived somewhere else, have a Residency Permit in a foreign country or citizenship in a foreign country, and you have to have been a resident of russia for at least 25 years. So that is a big change. It has also been difficult for anyone to run because of the vetting process, the way they vet candidates. They can decide, the kremlin can decide who can run and who cannot run, and you have to gain a certain amount of signatures if you are not in a party that is within the duma, which has to be vetted by the kremlin. It is incredibly difficult for anyone to run, but particularly anyone who putin views as a credible member of the opposition, some sort of threat. On top of that, there has been a huge amount of propaganda about1 billion euros spent on propaganda in the lead up. You have studied the russian landscape very closely, what image is Vladimir Putin trying to project here, and is it resonating with russians . For putin, it is important to project an image of strength and that he is the defender of greater russia, a russia that would include parts of ukraine. And that the break up of the soviet union was the greatest catastrophe, of course, in their history. And that russians need a strong president and he is the man for thejob and he really should be in power indefinitely. He has changed the constitution in order to do that. The amount of propaganda that russians receive, i have already mentioned the amount that has been spent but the speed and intensity of the propaganda that they receive is something we havent seen in some time now. It will either confuse russians or it will mobilise them to be nationalistic, more nationalistic than ever. It is moving in a more totalitarian direction. We are talking about a potential six more years in power. When you look at history and compare him to former leaders, how strong is his grip on power . He has a huge grip on power in russia, he is a personalist dictator, he has the Power Centralised in his hands, and there isnt any other actor that can challenge him, he has weakened the military, the legislature and the judiciary, it is all under his thumb. If we can compare him to other leaders in history, hes moving towardsjoseph stalin. Including building the personality cult. That seems to be the direction hes moving in. Lets take you to the middle east now, and for all the latest, heres my colleague anna foster. Good morning. We just wejust had we just had the first friday prayers of ramadan. This adopt any time when violent clashes happen, particularly around this area but it has been relatively peaceful, there is a secure Ring Of Steel around here, you might notice as you look down at the crowds, it is only elderly people who are allowed into prey. Children under the age of ten as well because everything was being done, we were told to try and keep this area peaceful because friday prayers at a time of war, there were real concerns that there had been ages today. Just to show you what that looks like. Look over my shoulder. This is a Regularfeature Of Damascus Gate start you can see Israeli Security forces with their weapons ready, the same at the amphitheatre steps. Similar inside the old city as people try to get in. I put to a few worshippers who came out who said they had been glad to pray this morning but talked about seeing the large numbers of Security Forces inside. We will hear in a few minutes from an imam i have been speaking to the of this mask to explain a little more, particularly about the signal can some friday prayers, but i wanted to bring you up to date with a few other lines we have been looking at today. Israel has rejected the latest hamas proposals on a ceasefire in gaza, this saying the group is still making unrealistic demands. Hamas described the deal it presented to mediators on thursday as a comprehensive vision. These really trimester� s office described it as unrealistic but it has been discussed today. Israel said qatar and egypt, the brokers here, they said that qatar had put pressure on hamas for the first time, as they describe it. We will wait to hear what happened in those meetings and if they are furthered in anyway the Ceasefire Talks. Meanwhile the first ship carrying aid for gaza, using a new Maritime Corridor announced by president biden, has been seen off the coast of the territory. It is pulling 200 tonnes worth of food which will. It is no substitute, aid groups, World Leaders say this is no substitute for aid coming leaders say this is no substitute foraid coming in leaders say this is no substitute for aid coming in by road. But this will be heading straight for north gaza where around 300,000 or so people are still waiting. They have built a jetty on the coast because gaza doesnt have ports or anything like that, it doesnt have a dog, so there is a jetty that has been built, as you can see how temporary it is. The difficulties will be unloading that aid when it arrives and actually safely and securely distributing it. It will be the first time during this war that aid has come into gaza from the sea, and they are hoping that will open up a new channel. But the need for aid, humanitarian aid in gaza remains significant. We were also reporting earlier about an incident overnight, the Hamas Run Health Ministry said 20 people had been killed and 150 injured in a aid convoy, they said there was attack on gas city. The Israel Defence forces said those reports were false and they have conducted a preliminary investigation, they said it was palestinian gunman who fired on the convoy. They said they would continue to investigate but they said that their preliminary view on this was that there was no israeli gunfire or air strikes. I did say i would tell you more about this area, friday prayers and ramadan, the history of this place. Particularly the history of tensions around here, particularly at a time of war. I spokein particularly at a time of war. I spoke in bethlehem to the former imam of the mosque, and he explained a little more about the significance of the place. All muslims all over the world, they are called from muhammad to go to Al Aqsa Mosque. They are reading in koran that there is a mosque called Al Aqsa Mosque under israeli occupation. So we hope to go. I was imam in Al Aqsa Mosque, and i was arrested from there several times, and i am prevented from going there. So, from bethlehem, if you go to a hill, you can see Al Aqsa Mosque from the hill. Here to the border. Our border of bethlehem, only one kilometre you will be injerusalem, if you can. But the walls stop you, the checkpoints stop you, the soldiers stop you, you need special permission. Special permission only from the Israeli Security. The Israeli Security doesnt give anyone. Are you concerned that on friday, when we have the first friday prayers, that we might see again violence around al aqsa 7 the violence coming from the other side. The israelis, when the soldiers stop in front prayers, soldiers with their weapons stand against and in front of prayers, who are going to pray. This is the violence. People may be very sad, and theyre staying back, but the violence, when they stop you from your worshipping, this very bad kind of violence to stop you from going to pray. This is the real violence. When you are seeing whats happening in gaza at the moment to palestinians there, what is in your thoughts . What is your message to people in gaza now . No message to gaza. The message is to the uk government, because it is a great government. They can do. Its shame for the great governments to allow this massacre to continue. They must stop it soon. We cant say anything to gaza. The imami the imam i spoke to earlier. About the significance of the mosque, al aqsa, and ramadan prayers, but also as you head reflecting on the situation in gaza. As we said, that bout which is carrying humanitarian aid, and want to show you like pictures from the shoreline of gaza. The Ship Set Sail on tuesday from cyprus, it has been a slowjourney because it is pulling the Barge Carrying 200 tonnes of food for gaza. We can see now it is visible on the pictures, you can see, very small, but finally visible from the shoreline. It will make its way to that temporary jetty that has been created. There is every chance that wont happen before tomorrow because that operation they are going to do to unload it, there are only a few more hours of daylight today, they will probably want a full day of daylight before they start doing that work. We will continue to follow that line for you are those discussions about the Ceasefire Talks as well, much more to come from here in eastjerusalem through the day. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making the news. Prime minister rishi sunak rules out holding a general election on the 2nd of may, when voters will go to the polls for local elections in england. The Prime Minister had previously refused to rule out the possibility of a spring election, but said his Working Assumption is that an election would be held in the second half of the year. Mps will get a 5. 5 pay rise from april, meaning their annual salary will increase to over £91,000. The independent Parliamentary Standards Authority says the decision was in line with the award recently agreed for senior civil servants, adding that it aims to be fair, both for mps and the public. Food Delivery FirmHellofresh Deniesw Taking subscriptions from customers who say they had cancelled their accounts. Some customers say their accounts reactivated with money taken for orders they had not made. They believe thatjust logging on to the app reactivated their accounts, but hellofresh says money was taken only when customers made a, quote, Proactive Decision to do so. Youre live with bbc news. The United Nations says Russian Forces continue to commit extensive violations in ukraine. It details accounts of the widespread and systematic torture of ukrainian Prisoners Of War as well as the indiscriminate shelling of ukrainian civilians. Lets hear now from the un team thats been Interviewing Hundreds of people in ukraine to gather evidence. The commission investigated incidents of rape and other sexual violence, committed against women in circumstances which also amount to torture. The commission is concerned by the continued use of explosive weapons in populated areas. 0ften Russian Armed forces failed to take feasible precautions to verify that the affected objects are not civilian. Lets speak to our un correspondent imogen foulkes. Thank you for your time. Tell us more about what was in the report. fix, more about what was in the report. Lot of very serious, credible evidence of very serious violations of international law, war crimes, possible crimes against humanity. 0ne possible crimes against humanity. One that stood out for me was the real detail around the abuse and torture of ukrainian Prisoners Of War. In russian detention centres. Notjust war. In russian detention centres. Not just that they were beaten, given the electric shocks with tasers, not treated for wounds they had, but that the investigative team, the un team has got evidence from russian deserters who are saying, i heard Senior Officers saying, i heard Senior Officers saying things like, you have got the green light to destroy them, or, you are going to have to deal very harshly and with no pity with these prisoners. This is a key thing in investigative report about possible war crimes, Tracing A Line of command. This is something that is, the un team is quite forensic, some of this evidence could still be shared with the International Criminal court or another tribunal. How did they gather all of this evidence, because the report also details things like the Illegal Transfer of ukrainian children, for example. Transfer of ukrainian children, for examle. V transfer of ukrainian children, for examle. � ,. , example. Thats right. The team can no to example. Thats right. The team can go to ukraine. Example. Thats right. The team can go to ukraine, it example. Thats right. The team can go to ukraine, it has example. Thats right. The team can go to ukraine, it has made example. Thats right. The team can| go to ukraine, it has made multiple, more than a dozen trips to ukraine. It can interview people, it has interviewed, Notjust Ukrainians but also russian deserters, it has satellite imagery, so there is also said different ways. It is pretty difficult in todays world, even if the offending country, in this case russia, wont let the investigated then, it is difficult to hide war crimes and crimes against humanity. There is now evidence of looting of Ukrainian Museums and galleries and libraries, and they are treasures being taken to russia. That is a war crime. Not so much about the transfer of children but what the report does say is that they can verify that children, ukrainian children from a home in qihao sun were transferred to a russian orphanage any relevant russian town, their precedents for children in the line of fire in a war zone to be taken by one warring party back into their territory for safety. That is arguable is ok, but what is not ok, that is what the report says, is that this appears to have been done without informing the ukrainian authorities, without trying to find these childrens parents, and with no real effort to send them back home. That would be Illegal Transfer, which is a war crime. � ,. ,. , crime. Briefly, they have reported similar instances crime. Briefly, they have reported similar instances and crime. Briefly, they have reported similar instances and reports crime. Briefly, they have reported similar instances and reports like | similar instances and reports like this before, has there been any response from russia so far . We know russia these response from russia so far . We know russia these days, response from russia so far . We know russia these days, it response from russia so far . We know russia these days, it does response from russia so far . We know russia these days, it does not russia these days, it does not cooperate with the report, it views it as western bias. Dinner, it doesnt like nato, doesnt like the west, and increasingly it wants to suggest that the un is also in the league, but the investigators are independent and they do their work. They are International Lawyers and you cannot. This is the nature of the un, you cannot criticise a reportjust because it looks bad when you are in the spotlight but then demand about another country like venezuela or syria, sometimes the us or uk, and say they need scrutiny. Scrutiny has to be equal for all. Scrutiny. Scrutiny has to be equal forall. If scrutiny. Scrutiny has to be equal for all. If russia doesnt cooperate, the report is still there and the evidence. Fast food chain mcdonalds is experiencing technical problems in some of its restaurants across the world, leaving customers unable to order food. The company said they are aware of a Technology Outage impacting their venues. In the last 30 minutes, a mcdonalds spokeswoman said, the issue has now been resolved in the uk and ireland. Theyve also added that, the issue is not related to a cybersecurity event. I don also not specified what caused the outage. Mcdonalds have not. Lets speak to bryan glick, who is the editor in chief