At noon on sunday to protest the election. Shes urged the west not to recognise what will be putins fifth term as president. Our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is in moscow with more. Russias democracy is the best in the world, the kremlin says. And at Polling Station 38 in moscow, we found a choice of candidates and plenty of voters. Democracy in action, right . Not quite. Realistically, only one man can win this. Vladimir putin the man whos been on russias political stage for the last quarter of a century. Vladimir putin faces no serious challenger. His fiercest rivals are in exile or in prison. Not that this woman, whose son is fighting in ukraine, wants any change at the top. Of course i voted for putin, she says. I trust him. But not everyone who came out today was actually voting. This, one of a string of attacks on Polling Stations across russia. They are unprecedented. After chaotic scenes here. An arsonist is detained. And green ink poured into a ballot box. The authorities called the attackers scum. Some voters were greeted with a show. Well, its one way to bang the drum for russian elections. There is voting, too, in parts of ukraine, which are under Russian Occupation what russia calls its new territories. The Ukrainian Government called the election here illegal. Polls close on sunday night. Expect a putin landslide. Unpredictability is very much a feature of life now in russia, but that does not apply to elections. The political system here is built around one man Vladimir Putin and the kremlin tightly controls that system, including elections. So mr putins re election is not in doubt. And neither is the message the kremlin will be sending after this. That Vladimir Putin has the full support of his people. Steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. Leaders of germany, france and poland met in berlin to ease tensions over support for ukraine. The french president , emmanuel macron, called on kyiv� s allies not to be cowards, and said he would not rule out deploying western troops on the ground in ukraine. That suggestion was rejected by the german chancellor, olaf scholz. Now european allies have agreed a mechanism to supply kyiv with long range artillery. A shortage of weapons, including ammunition, has been blamed for russian advances in the war. Meanwhile, russia and ukraine continue to Exchange Fire in the battlefield. Officials in the ukrainian city of odesa say at least 20 people were killed in a double Missile Attack on a residential area. More than 70 people were wounded. Earlier, the kremlin said ukraine carried out attacks in the region of belgorod in southern russia, and accused kyiv of attempting to disrupt russias president ial election. Our correspondent, sarah rainsford, is in kyiv with the latest. This is the deadliest attack in some time on odesa. And it is the details that are particularly grim, because ukrainian officials are saying two missiles were fired by russia from Crimea The First One landed on the city, and it was when emergency teams rushed to the spot that a second missile was fired from crimea and hit exactly the same place. Now we know that a medic was killed, a young firefighter was also amongst those killed and injured. Many dozens of people are in hospital. Now we are being told that those missiles were fired from crimea we are saying we dont know exactly what russia was targeting, but we do know there were some interior Ministry Personnel amongst the casualties. Now president zelensky has called this a vile attack, saying ukraines military will respond, but i do think it is a stark reminder of what that vote in russia means for here in ukraine. Because of course, more Vladimir Putin in the kremlin means more war here in ukraine, more Missile Attacks, and more days like today in odesa, with dozens dead and injured. The white house says they are cautiously optimistic after a new truce proposalfrom hamas. The us says that it is within the bounds of a deal they have been working on for the last few months. Israels Prime Minister has downplayed any chances of a truce in gaza, however, saying that hamas is making unrealistic demands. Despite that, an israeli team is heading to qatar for new talks about a possible ceasefire and hostage deal. Meanwhile, mr netanyahus office has approved a plan for an offensive against hamas in gazas crowded rafah city, where almost 1. 5 million palestinians are currently sheltering. Israel says they are preparing to evacuate people to other parts of gaza. It comes amid emerging signs of discontent within the Biden Administration about a lack of progress towards a resolution between the two sides. Us Secretary Of StateAntony Blinken said the United States needs to see a clear plan for israels proposed assault on rafah, including how civilians will be moved out harms way. And on friday, President Biden praised a speech made by Us Senate Leader chuck schumer, in which he said the israeli Prime Minister was a threat to peace and called for new elections. Do you have any comments around Senator Schumer� s speech on israel yesterday . Senator schumer contacted my staff, my senior staff he was going to make that speech. And he. Im not going to elaborate on the speech. He made a good speech and i think he expressed a serious concern shared notjust by him but by many americans. Ive been speaking to Michael Singh hes the Managing Director at the Washington Institute for near east policy. We saw a gradual and they were more marked shift. In the language coming from the Biden Administration about israels offensive in gaza and those i comments from Senator Schumer today which President Biden praised. Is this a deliberate and co ordinated strategy, do you think . It certainly seems like it. President biden was ready to volunteer that he approved of Senator Schumer� s speed without getting into the details was ready to volunteer that the speech had been reviewed by senior staff. So i think it is clear a signal of approval and it does seem to be part of a strategy to, on one hand, show that while President Biden is close to israel and supporting israel he does not necessarily agree with the Prime Minister of israel and the decisions he is making. There is also perhaps effort by Senator Schumer and by the president to use this criticism to also help diffuse some of the calls within the Democratic Caucus for things like placing conditions on aid to israel. Maybe defending those and delaying those a bit by using this criticism. Is it unusual to give Military Support with one hand and then arranging airdrops and criticise the approach on the other . Ive heard this many times but this is a dilemma that the United States is facing many times. You give military aid or you sell military armoury to governments like egypt and saudi arabia and have found ourselves in this position. I would say what makes this unique for President Biden is that israel has strong support within the United States and yet this war has been more controversial than other past israeli actions. So it makes it much more difficult for him to walk this political tight rope. It would appear that Prime Minister netanyahu was not paying much attention to those warnings and the Strong Language that is coming from the Biden Administration. Does the president still have a level of influence over the israeli Prime Minister . The curious thing here is that both men are almost making a political virtue of opposing the other. President biden is showing distance from israel by criticising Prime Minister netanyahu and i think he is sensitive to the political feelings especially in places like michigan which are important for the president ial election. Prime minister netanyahu on the other hand is trying to shore up his own political support, especially the support of the right wing, showing that he is willing to stand up to american demands for things like working with the Palestinian Authority or acquiescing to a two state solution. And in a strange sense, the friction in the combat may help both men, to some extent, politically. President biden has described the offence into rafah as a red line but Prime Minister netanyahu said he has the plans ready and he will do that. How do you see that playing up between the two . It is a conundrum. Even the rhetoric on the side of israel is a conundrum. Israel feels as though it has to go into rafah, it feels that that is where the hostages are in the leadership is and those are two of the big war aims freeing the hostages and eliminating the leadership. Yet there are also 1. 5 million civilians densely packed into rafah. It would be a potential disaster on a humanitarian level to go in. So israel has a dilemma that it needs to go in but it cannot go in without moving those civilians and then you see this long delay in implementing any kind of plan to go into rafah. Most of the world including the white house would prefer that israel simply not do it, would prefer that israel simply refrain from going into rafah and find another method to achieve its aims. And just briefly, one final question, an israeli delegation is on the way to qatar. Do you see that is something positive, the deal may be imminent . It is a promising sign. The fact they feel that feel this deal is not good enough by hamas that it is something that is promising enough to negotiate over. You hear similar noises from the white house. Maybe we are closer now than we were in the last few weeks to getting that hostage deal. Leaving on the positive note. Michael singh, Managing Director at the Washington Institute and middle east affairs at the National Security council, thanks for joining us. Security council, thanks for joining m talks are under way to try to establish a Transitional Council in haiti, but gang leaders have warned they may not accept any new leadership. The news comes as the carribbean nation continues to face a political and humanitarian crisis. Heavily armed gangs have taken over much of the capital. Violence in the region was initially quieter following Prime Minister ariel henrys announcement that he would step down on monday. But violence appeared to be flaring up again as of wednesday. The United Nations estimates that more than 360,000 people are internally displaced. 0ur Central America and carribbean correspondent, will grant, was recently allowed access into the country, and sent this report. After a couple get a few days at the border, we are now among the First International journalists to make it into haiti since the current wave of violence began. And we have driven to the coastal city of cap haitien. Now, haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and this Current Crisis is creating so much more humanitarian need and what was already an extremely complex picture. Some statistics lay outjust how difficult and grim that picture is 360,000 people are internally displaced in haiti at present, some 3,000 women due to give birth may receive no Maternity Care whatsoever, with so many hospitals closed, particularly in the capital Port Au Prince. Now, the government has promised promised millions more in aid and in truth, some is now trickling in, some aid has made it into the country. Yet it is nowhere near sufficient to cope with the scale of this emergency. In the political realm, the Transitional Council has been agreed however, the gangs that control the capital Port Au Prince dont recognise the council and have threatened its members in very, very stark language. So haiti remains stuck in a complex and dangerous situation, and the civilian population caught between the politicians and the gangs. Here in washington President Biden met the irish Prime Minister taoiseach leo varadkar. Public fury has grown in ireland over president joe bidens handling of the israel gaza war. Although mr varadkar complimented the Biden Administrations efforts in trying to broker a truce between israel and hamas, he also pressed mr biden for a permanent ceasefire in gaza. Joe biden is proud of his Irish Heritage and todays events marked st patricks day, this sunday. Mr varadkar invoked the saint in discussing the ongoing conflict. When i reflect on the catastrophe that is unfolding in the middle east, the savage attacks of october 7 on israel and the terrible violence and loss of human life in gaza which has followed and continues and we very much want that to end. These are global challenges that demand our courage, our empathy and our action. We pray for the wisdom of Saint Patrick in facing them. This years annual visit of the Irish Taoiseach follows the recent restoration of Power Sharing in Northern Ireland, after two years of political stalemate. Last month Sinn Fein Deputy leader michelle 0neill became the first nationalist First Minister with emma little pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party taking the role of deputy First Minister. Both have vowed to continue their positive partnership despite their contrasting political backgrounds. They were also here at the capitol at a lunch hosted by speakerjohnson and attended by the president to mark st patricks day. Us Special Envoy to Northern IrelandJoe Kennedy Iii was also in attendence at that gathering and i spoke to him earlier about the Us Ireland Relations and the recent return to stormont. Us Special Envoyjoe kennedy to Northern Ireland, thank you forjoining us. We might begin by looking at the special relationship between the United States and Northern Ireland. So many engagements over this weekend between the president , the taoiseach and ministers. What is special about the relationship . Thank you for the opportunity. The United States has no better friend in the world than the people of the island of ireland and the united kingdom. This is our origin story. This is were so many people from the United States, where our families emigrated from. Where have ties to. And they go back, the history, theirfamily and cultural business, tourism, these places are as close to us as they can be so the opportunity this week to celebrate Saint Patricks week, month, as the holiday seems to expand, but it is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the connections that we have and to strengthen those relationships and really see how together we continue to prosper afresh. Is there more to it than just Photo Opportunities . We saw the taoiseach, leo varadkar, bring up the us position on israel and the war on gaza today. Does that sort of political intervention have any influence . Without question, there is more to this than just the toasts and the celebratory meals and whatnot. There is real engagement taking place and there has been deep engagement with members of business and members of the political system here in the United States at the highest levels between the taoiseach and the president but also over lunch today we introduced the president to the First Minister and deputy First Minister and he will see them again later this week. Building these relationships are talking about areas of cooperation and collaboration is important and that is what this week is for. You mentioned the Sp