A more laws like a welcome to the program polish president and jay duda may be heading for a 2nd 5 year term following sundays election the latest projection shows the conservative incumbent who is backed by the ruling Lauren Justice party has a slight lead of 51 percent of the vote his rival the warsaw mayor. Secured 49 percent due to has already claimed victory but official results are not expected until monday at the earliest has more. A lot was at stake in this president ial election in poland but at the end of election day it was still unclear what direction the country will take early exit polls showed incumbent president do it out ahead of his challenger with a wafer thin majority but even though the final vote count isnt in yet due to a ready began celebrating his victory for the president here within the president ial elections with nearly 70 percent voter turnout this is fabulous im very touched thank you very much. But some of his followers prefer to wait for certainty. Coming up which isnt is what were waiting for confirmation of the Election Results im very excited its been really close all day. Given the close results the current mayor of warsaw rafaat cesc of ski was not yet inclined to admit defeat him up through gibbs i have absolutely certain that once all the votes are counted we will win for sure because i am of the right youre not have no fears yet his followers echoed we will win. Then you get going youre the result as promising so far in the night to so young we hope to wake up tomorrow to president has kosky. Both candidates led polarizing election campaigns today continued the course of the ruling National Conservative law and Justice Party by promising to preserve a Strong Economy and maintain social benefits such as child allowances and early retirement. In contrast his challengers and i has been all about changing course cesc offkey promise to make improvements to the Health Care System and strengthen ties with the European Union. During the campaign do they choose the l g b t Rights Movement of promoting an ideology that was more harmful than communism he also accused german owned newspapers of trying to influence the election but for european observers media manipulation was an issue in a different respect. The programming itself was often used as a complaint for the president based on your last but over the final vote count will not be in before monday but regardless of who ends up winning the race the close results already reflect a deeply divided country yes it is. For more on this im joined by d w correspondent simon whos been following this story now both candidates have led polarizing campaigns can either of them unites a divided country well the 2 men are more similar than you might think theyre both 48 years old they both represent right of center parties that were founded around about the same time and have been. If you can say that at all historical rivals if were talking about the past 15 years. Or so they do have a certain amount of Common Ground that they could emphasize. If they want to reconcile the rest of the population to them. Already president has apologized for rhetoric on the campaign the campaign trail and in fact during his term of office suggesting that he hopes to have a more conciliatory approach in his 2nd term and indeed. He has also said that he would Work Together with the law and Justice Party if elected and so there is an all of french being being offered there but there are deep divides as well and these go back a long way much further than 15 years ago with the foundation of the 2 parties you have these cities which typically have a much more. Open outlook toward to the world to the European Union and then especially the southeast of the country the rural areas which are tend to hold on more closely to catholicism and a more conservative outlook and they may agree on a number of issues there are a lot of very strong differences you mentioned the European Union there how does this national divide relates to potence relationship to the e. U. Well poland us have very poor relationship with the e. U. In the past few years probably beginning in 2015 when and it should be said that it was the outgoing. Civic Platform Party the party of. Attempted to essentially to. The supreme court. When law and justice won the election or they did this after a long justice won the election they came in and tried to try to rid to change it and pass new laws to to increase their control of the court and thats been a major dispute because the e. U. Is concerned about the independence of the jews or judiciary in poland but there are other issues like logging in a prime evil forest and indeed. The rights which were quite a feature of this campaign. If. Indeed when this was to be a boost for the interest yes it will because that will mean his party will have the majority in the same the parliament the presidency which can essentially veto legislation. And its only 2 votes short of a majority in the senate the upper house of parliament so they are well positioned to push through their their platform if they if they wish and of course they may want to look at the longer term view that that people may have tired already somewhat and again like you say perhaps take a more conciliatory approach some and thank you for your insights. To syria now and aid agencies are warning that millions of civilians are at risk in the north west of the country because of his decision by the u. N. The Security Council voted to extend relief to live areas for another year but only through one authorized crossing point on the border with turkey millions rely on the aid and relief workers say the humanitarian safe situation is getting worse. Showdown at the u. N. Security council syrias backa russia with the help of china forced through a compromise that none of the other members had wanted only the babble how a crossing point on the turkish Syrian Border will remain open aid organizations now fear that around half a 1000000 children will no longer have access to foreign aid while tensions run high at the Security Council the German Foreign minister also criticized russia and china. We have always agreed that humanitarian aid should be accessible regardless of political and military conflicts russia and china have now revoked this consensus this is very cynical 3 years russia wants its ally Bashar Al Assad to decide what happens inside his country and who receives the aid without any foreign interference these issues should not be politicized so what we have to do now discussions today is not about humanitarian deliveries to syria we also want this oh discussion is about politics if you need serious concern about hypocrisy he probably should not use the words that he is very name should not be politicized because that is exactly what russia has done throughout his presidency and shamefully continues to be a disappointing result for the u. N. And the people of syria. And now to some other stories making news around the world. Firefighters are tackling a huge blaze on board a u. S. Navy vessel in the port of san diego thick smoke billowed hundreds of meters into the air from the u. S. S. Bonhomme richard at least 21 people have been taking to hospital. South african president s several from a post has reimposed the National Curfew and suspended alcohol sales corona virus infections have increased shopping in recent weeks from a post i warned that drink related injuries could overwhelm clinics and hospitals that are already under strain. In the spanish region of catalonia have ordered residents in in and around the town of back into lockdown after a spike in corona virus infections citizens are only allowed to leave their homes for necessary shopping. Its often called europes last dictator Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the former soviet republic of belarus for more than a quarter of a century elections have not been free and fair since he came to power and 99. Is once again expected to win that the next president ial election on the 9th of august frustration over his rule is growing demonstrators have been taking to the streets of the capital minsk and all the cities to protest against his handling of the economy and the current pandemic. For the 1st time in her life and this. Has a feeling that change is possible in belarus thats why shes out collecting signatures for opposition politicians in the capital minsk applicants require 100000 signatures to qualify a bit of these new shit like those who are in power now have to be replaced and the direction of our country needs radical change because everything is falling apart here in the culture education and health care. Of me. In belarus critics of the regime face persecution it takes a lot of courage to talk openly. Through a dictatorship its pure dictatorship or to put it another way laws are ignored one man has the say over what happens and the laws are adjusted accordingly. The people are fed up and you can see that in the previous elections there was a lot of apathy most people did not even bother voting because they knew it wouldnt change anything. In many places it looks like apathy is a thing of the past there was a one kilometer line to vote stretching through minsk recently people waited for hours to support the opposition candidate the president was compared to a cockroach that needed to be squashed by a slipper which has become a symbol of the protests. President look out shango then appeared to give the chief of his Security Services a new order. The 2 students want to warn you and everyone else listening in general or they will not be a my dad. A revolution like the one in ukraine is not what anastasia and her fellow campaigners are aiming for they want free and Fair Elections a peaceful transition of power. This is a test for our nation i hope we can get through it and come out stronger and wiser. She was concerned to hear that president has appointed a new Prime Minister in particular the fact that he is from the military does not bode well. Sports now and in formula one the miss avies team has roared to victory at the story and grand prix in austria defending champion Lewis Hamilton won his 1st race of the season his teammates Valtteri Bottas finished 2nd. Lewis hamilton used his pole position to the utmost to quickly take the lead and keeping meanwhile the nightmare shes in of would be champion for our driver said boston public continued when he and his teammate Charla Claire collided during the 1st lap of the race to force an early retirement for both. Red bull driver max 1st happened began in the front row on the starting grid with hamilton kept up the pressure on the brits pushed in past in the latter stage of the race by Hamiltons Team mate terry us. And thats how it ended with hamilton winning it followed by his teammate bought us for a mercedes 12 with her stop in a red bull taking 3rd. What a weird year it is but its great to be back up here and to be driving and to be driving at the at that point of this kind of performance its hamiltons 85th career win edging ever closer to me Kyle Schumacher is record of 91. 00 grand prix victories but the Biggest Record hamilton is after is trying schumacher World Champion 7 titles the bridge has won 6 so far and so far both are still leads this season but hamilton is right behind. Mongolia has staged a festival of traditional sports without spectators for the 1st time in the events 800 year history it included a colorful show of ceremonial dress complete with modern day and sea virus face coverings and some hot for sporting contests the festival features 3 traditional tests of warre a skills horsemanship archery and wrestling the 2 day games usually attract tens of thousands of spectators to travel restrictions have kept the crowds away this year. This is news and heres a reminder of the top story at this hour a late poet and polands president ial runoff shows incumbent pocket is to president on jay do. Theyre receiving 51 percent of the vote his rival walsall is proteome a rough out of trust economy 49 percent today has already claimed victory but official results on tilt expected until monday later monday at the latest. Thanks be something that. Has a virus spread. Why do we panic and when will all this and. Just through the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever