This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Paul Moss and in the early hours of Sunday the 17th of March,

these are our main stories.

Russia's elections are not going entirely according to plan, with polling stations

facing sabotage attempts and the country suffering yet more attacks from Ukraine.

We'll be hearing how Russians are voting in neighboring Latvia and Estonia.

I voted for Putin. He's closer to my viewpoint. I understand him. I have no doubts about him.

India has announced the date of its general election, and the Iranian scholar and political

activists arrested, no reason given. Also in this podcast, Egypt's vast film and television industry has suffered a blow with the country's biggest studio destroyed by a fire.

This is a cinematography studio that studio is always active and nobody knows what happened.

And why the French banquet has become a more frugal feast.

It was supposed to be a demonstration of how smoothly things are running in Russia, despite its war with Ukraine.

But this weekend's election is not going entirely according to plan.

There have been attempts to sabotage polling

stations, one of them even catching fire. Russia's former president Dimitri Mediadev

said those responsible were traitors. Then there are the ongoing attacks from Ukraine a cross-border

raid and continuing missile attacks on targets inside Russia. That was the air-aid siren going off in Belgrade, a region of Russia which borders Ukraine.

A missile attack there killed two people. Russia said Ukraine was engaged

in terrorist activities. Meanwhile the Belgrade governor of Yashislev Gladkov

ordered that children remain at home?

We will poll all parents who bring their children to the duty groups in

kindergartens.

...