One of the biggest names in the u.s. Television industry Also we'll go live to Cambodia head to tomorrow's election in which the world's longest serving prime minister is expected to triumph again people were excited before the 2013 election it was just you know set to be the most competitive in years ahead of this election there's nothing like that and here with me for the whole program are my 2 guests Dee Burkett writer filmmaker and former circus performer based in London and at his pain writer and global fellow in the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington d.c. That's here on Weekend. But 1st the World News b.b.c. News I'm John Shea the directors of c.b.s. One of the major u.s. Television networks say they will investigate claims of sexual misconduct and intimidation against its chairman and chief executive Leslie Moonves 6 women have told The New Yorker magazine that Mr Moonves sexually harassed them has crossed Buchla Leslie Moonves has been a leading figure at the American network c.b.s. For almost 25 years with a track record for finding staus and developing his programs the New Yorker magazine says the 6 women claim among other things that Mr Moonves physically intimidated them forcibly touched him kissed them or threatened to wreck their careers the c.b.s. Boss has denied us a Louis has apologized for making some women uncomfortable in the way he made advances decades ago. The winner in Pakistan's general election Imran Khan has started preparations to form a coalition government after his p.t.i. Or Movement for Justice Party won the most seats in the National Assembly the p.t.i. Says it has the support of smaller coalition partners and independent parliamentarians a group of opposing political parties have rejected the election results leader of the group Maulana Fazlullah rather than called for demonstrations to prompt new elections the law and the hub are gonna gaily we will run a movement to hold new elections there will be protests a committee will be set up immediately which will chalk out a shed you'll going to workers and invite people to join in the Supreme Court in Ivory Coast has overturned a ruling which acquitted of the former 1st lady Simone bad both of crimes against humanity in the aftermath of political violence following the presidential election 80 years ago Richard Hell's reports Simone Bagwell was Ivory Coast's 1st lady for 11 years then a bitterly fought presidential election in 2010 between her husband Laurel and Allison Ouattara who won the vote plunged Ivory Coast into post-election violence which saw 3000 people killed in Abidjan alone she was accused of organizing death squads buying arms and shelling a market place in a pro Ouattara neighborhood of Abidjan and later she was jailed for 20 years for attacking state security the Supreme Court ruling now means Mrs backbone will face a retrial for crimes against humanity at a date to be announced. Big rallies are expected in Zimbabwe today on the last day of campaigning before Monday's presidential elections the 1st since Robert Mugabe was ousted from power last November his successor and former close colleague the Zanu p.f. Leader. Is hoping to legitimize his rule but he may be hampered by perceptions that he was too close to the Mugabe regime the leader of the main opposition m.d.c. Nelson Chamisa has expressed fears that the election like past ones may be rigged. This is the latest world news from the b.b.c. a Judge in California has urged the u.s. Immigration authorities to focus on finding the deported parents of 400 children separated from their families as they illegally crossed the border from Mexico judge Dana sub brought spoke out a day after it emerged that more than $700.00 children remain in custody despite the expiry of his own deadline for families to be reunited Mongolia is reported to have thwarted an attempt by Turkey to kidnap a Turkish citizen who's accused of having links with the u.s. Based cleric fettle argue learn them blames for a failed coup 2 years ago reports say the Mongolian authorizes grounded a suspected Turkish air force jet that had landers to pick up vessel x. Child who had been kidnapped on Friday morning. British members of parliament say the u.k. Is facing a Democratic crisis because of the spread of fake news a parliamentary committee report says voters are being systematically manipulated by campaigns which rely on hate and misinformation the report examines the use of data by pro Bracks of groups including vote leave during the e.u. Referendum campaign 2 years ago it follows the scandal ever Cambridge and a letter goes harvesting a Facebook data Laurie Catlin Jones has more details during the week the committee actually published a whole range of adverts produced by vote leave and believe cheering that home pay in which they said had not been visible before Facebook after a lot of prodding handed these adverts over to the committee they were going out of the time they were reaching millions of people the way the e.c. a Billboard on the street and it says Vote x. And you know it's Rob it's less clear online and that was their concern that there's no clarity there's no transparency and briefly millions of people have witnessed the longest lunar eclipse this century as the moon passed through shadow it's natural satellites turned a striking shade of red already brown b.b.c. News. It's 7 it was 60 Mt this is weekend from the b.b.c. World Service with me Celia Hatton coming up later how a black circus performer and owner in 1000 century England inspired one of the Beatles' most memorable songs. Benefit. From tell you more about the story behind for the benefit of Mr Kite and with us for the rest of the program until 730 g.m.t. Our our guests Dee Burkett She's a writer filmmaker and former circus performer based in London and he's saying he's a writer and global fellow in the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington we'll hear more from them later but 1st following Harvey Weinstein and others in the u.s. Television and film industry new claims of sexual misconduct have surfaced this time against the chairman and chief executive of c.b.s. Leslie Moonves a New Yorker magazine article by Ronan Farrow details how the dozen women who say Mr Moonves acted inappropriately this came from Friday night's edition of the c.b.s. Evening news in news just out to night the New Yorker magazine is reporting that 6 women have accused c.b.s. Chairman and c.e.o. Leslie Moonves of sexual harassment there are also allegations that former c.b.s. News chairman and current 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager allowed harassments. Chris buckler is our correspondent in Washington and I asked him What are the allegations against Les Mendes. He's one of the leading executives in u.s. Television he is an incredibly powerful incredibly influential man and he's been at c.b.s. Itself. Almost a quarter of a century about time he's created a huge number of hits he is very very well respected but these allegations that have been published by The New Yorker magazine they are very serious and they did back in some cases far as the 1980 s. Some go up to the limits to thaw isms an really some of the questions in them are very very serious religious men best answer so you have 6 women who've spoken to ruin and Pharo has been one of the leading journalist who's looked at the whole me to question he for example did that expose in Harvey Weinstein and he says of the 6 women that he spoke to for Describe forcible touching or kissing during business meetings and to say they physically intimidated them or threatened to try and wreck their careers in response Leslie Moonves has released a statement which he denies this but he does also say I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances those were mistakes and I regret the moments Lee but I always understood and respected and abided by the principle that no means no and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career this does put Leslie Moonves in an uncomfortable position doesn't it because he was involved he's been involved in the Miti a movement as the movement really picked up steam after allegations against Harvey Weinstein came to light yet he's been one of the leading supporters in terms of the industry in fact helped find one of the one of the groups which is called the Commission on eliminating sexual harassment and advancing a quality in the workplace and of course that's what makes these accusations so par full and so difficult for him personally there's also some issues as well as far as c.b.s. Is concerned because c.b.s. Has found itself with a number of situations that it's having to deal with because these accusations don't just go to Leslie Moonves they also go to a number of other people within the. Organization they also make accusations within this this piece in The New Yorker against Jeff Fager who's the chairman of c.b.s. News they question the way c.b.s. News and c.b.s. Itself has handle some allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct and there are serious questions for c.b.s. As an organization here Bates who released a statement they say that all a geisha is of personal misconduct are to be taken seriously and the independent directors of c.b.s. Have committed to investigating claims that violate the company's clear policies in that regard it's worth noting that c.b.s. Is she has dropped notably on the talk about this New Yorker article being published it was before it was actually published and of course will be someone c.b.s. Will be concerned because Leslie Moonves is seen as such a big figure a such a big leader within that organization Chris Buckley speaking to me from Washington d.c. It's 710 g.m.t. You're listening to Weekend on the b.b.c. World Service a national election will take place in Cambodia tomorrow but the outcome is almost a certainty the current prime minister who can stand has done away with almost all credible opposition so he's running in a defacto one horse race one cent is the world's longest serving prime minister having been in office for 33 years on Friday he celebrated the outlawing of Kemba as the largest opposition party the c.n.r. P a large rally saying traitors had been eliminated several former see an r.p. Members inside Cambodia who urged a boycott of the vote on Sunday had been fined more than $2000.00 each Julia Wallace is the New York Times correspondent in Cambodia and she joins us now from stung Treng a province in northern Cambodia Juliet What's the mood like do you think is going to be a large turnout on Sunday. That's the question everybody's wondering about it's certainly it's very quiet and it's one of the most quiet elections I've seen here people are really just very nervous very afraid about what might happen if they tried to try to not go and vote and boycott the election the government has made it clear that that want these and that especially in rural areas where everyone knows you know they're told they must go and have purple ink on their finger which is the sign of voting here in Cambodia so there's a huge amount of pressure for people to go to drum up the turnout I don't get a sense that a lot of people are actually keen to go vote you know of their own accord so it's a really big open question you know what exactly if turnout will be last election one year ago the record turnout of 90 percent there was huge excitement I'm not really sensing that kind of excitement this time around is it possible to go and vote and spoil the ballot or vote for one of the very very small opposition parties or is that not really an option it is an option and that's something that we're going to be looking really closely at tomorrow you know how many ballots are spoiled and how many people are voting for some of the really small parties that have popped up but one fear that a lot of people have is that there are really no independent electoral monitors right now by far the biggest group of monitors come from the major youth groups in Cambodia which is run by a Prime Minister Hun Sen's son and many other directly from the ruling party so people might you know see who's counting the ballots can be nervous even to try that or there might you know there might be some shenanigans surrounding what exactly is counted as a split vote so that's also very up in the air truly you know referenced fear and anxiety when you travel around Cambodia and you speak to ordinary people do you feel that they they feel that they can really speak to you openly about what's going on. Sometimes but this is very striking because in terror from began his crackdown late last year I felt that Kennedy ns were very free and open with how they would speak about politics I never got a sense that anyone was afraid and that's really changed in the last 10 months and now you know it's very hard for me to find people to just give different women their opinion and very simple things like are you going to vote and have it be printed which has never happened before so people are still talking but in caged in coded way is the kind of openness and trust that was a hallmark of society here for a little while very fading away and you just briefly why have you decided to go to stem training in northern Cambodia's are something special in that province to do with the election. Not for the flooding here from allow stem that broke a few days ago so we had to check that out. Talk to people affected by the flooding and also see how that might impact the voting in the elections and how people are getting to the polls here Ok Well thank you that was Julia well as she's the New York Times correspondent in Cambodia she was speaking to us from Stone training in northern Cambodia where the last election to be held in Cambodia was in 2013 and in that year the now banned c.n.r. P opposition when a large portion of the vote giving them a sizeable $55.00 seats in parliament the B.B.C.'s Kevin put Naya covered that vote in Cambodia people were excited before the 2013 election it was set to be the most competitive in years 2 major opposition parties had united to form one united front to take on the ruling c.p.p. Of Hunston the opposition leader a man called Sam Rainsy had been in exile in France to avoid a conviction in Cambodia he was given a royal pardon and he flew back into the country a few days before the election and massive crowds were that agreed and they lined the road in Phnom Penh from the center. Of town to the airport ahead of this election there's nothing like that his party the sea an r.p. Which came close to winning the election is not a take part so that kind of excitement and feeling that there might be a real competition and you know the government might change or at least there's some debate over which way the country is going and that there might be some you know some real changes and you know issues it's at stake that's not there this time there are some who say that the last election before this one was actually really really close and the opposition came very very close to to winning that election and that's why one sen really panicked a bit shut down the main opposition party shut down some of the more outspoken newspapers and really kind of made himself the only candidate do you think there's any any truth to that so the last major election were sort of local elections are called Common Council elections in the middle of last year and those elections are for whoever will run the thousands of local communes around the country and the see an r.p. The opposition party did really well that they want to about 44 percent of the vote and Cambodian observers will say that that was a clear turning point and one sen clearly decided or perhaps realised that he was going to have a real fight in his hands in the national elections this year and so we've seen a real crackdown over the last year since that vote on a wider sort of regional scale Some say that really Cambodia is caught in between 2 huge regional giants China and Japan how is this playing out in Cambodian politics . So Japan is a historic part of Cambodia after the Camero era in the 1970 s. And the ongoing war in the 1980 s. Japan was one of the key international players that helped to bring democracy to Cambodia and it has given a lot of aid billions of dollars over the over the years have been given has been given to Cambodia from Japan obviously Japan it is a vibrant democracy and professes to stand up for democracy with its partners overseas in Cambodia it sent a slightly different message to some of its Western allies the u.s. In the e.u. Have refused to recognize this election whereas Japan has still been offering some help they've been offering some money and analysts say that's because Cambodia now receives hundreds of millions of dollars from the Chinese investment every other Chinese are by far the biggest investors and so analysts look at this situation they say Japan does not want to lose influence in Cambodia and in wider Southeast Asia and therefore it's staying in gage where the u.s. And the e.u. And so if the u.s. And the e.u. Don't recognize the results of this Sunday's election what would the consequences be for Cambodia Well they've already said that they view this this election as illegitimate but what they'll actually do to punish unsent is unclear so the e.u. Sent a mission to Cambodia earlier this month to analyze the situation and they threaten basically to take away the benefit that Cambodia gets at the moment which is that it can export its goods to the e.u. Without having to pay tariffs that is a huge boon to the Cambodian economy if they would it take that benefit away it would hurt normal people so they're reluctant to do it on the u.s. Side they've threatened to sanction individuals from traveling to the United States so far they've only targeted a few people but some lawmakers in the u.s. Congress a calling for one cent himself to be banned from entering the u.s. It seems unlikely that they do that but if they've already said the election is illegitimate they may decide it's worth it. That was Kevin Well let's open up the discussion on Cambodia to my 2 guests deeper kit and his saying let's look at elections in general I mean do you think it's worth participating in an election if the outcome is all but certain is it worth going through that process yes as a general principle yes I say that because we make the mistake of looking at elections. And in themselves and they're not elections are process democracy is a process what matters more are the values that underpin a democratic culture and what elections provide us with. Is an opportunity to debate and discuss what an open society means what gender equality looks like what the freedom of press ought to be what the rule of law should be and when elections are rigs in the way that the Combating election clearly is it allows for the opposition movement and the global media to zoom in on that and have that conversation and I think as a general principle even if it's not a free and fair election it's bright for the opposition party to be engaged in the way that we saw in the elections in Pakistan and I think it's interesting that the u.k. That the European and the u.s. Position is to disengage from Cambodia where the Japanese position is much more nuanced and Japan's a democracy in Japan's taken the view that engagement and slow reform is better than the kind of. Revolutionary it's all free and fair and democratic or it's not the kind of binary that we often wish to impose on the rest of the world it's interesting that you bring up the elections and in Pakistan I know that one analyst in Pakistan said this week you know the solution to flawed democracy is more and more and more democracy that's we we just continually try to