it's midnight thirty here in moscow you're watching our take on our top stories the most significant poll for decades in syria is over as people voted on a new constitution which could put an end to fifty years of single party rule there was reportedly a high turnout and the results are expected on monday. you know top stories from the week thousands of people joined hands in a massive flash mob for fair elections in russia the activists made a sixteen kilometer ring around moscow's city center a week before the country chooses its next president. the un's atomic agency

struggling to reach a conclusion about iran's nuclear weapons but the u.s. intelligence agencies agree there is no evidence that iran is building a bomb but it's not stopping israel from threatening a military attack on iran's nuclear sites. also thousands of students and teachers again march in anger at education cuts in spain as the euro crisis tightens its grip around the med but greece is breathing a sigh of relief for a while after e.u. leaders finally approved an eleventh hour bailout to stave off default. while the syrians vote on their future than earlier on today america's continuing to pressure the assad regime an american veteran politician and former presidential advisor pat buchanan now tells us why he thinks washington should stay away. i'm sitting down with patrick buchanan senior adviser to presidents which are next in gerald ford and ronald reagan he ran for the presidency three times he wrote

many books and some of his books have really manage seeing titles his latest book is called suicide of a superpower a will america survive to twenty twenty five very pessimistic sir first of all thank you very much for joining me thank you with regards to foreign policy you're saying one of the ways to prevent that suicide from happening is to dismantle the empire first of all what do you mean by empire or you might call it the american imperium or the american empire. the united states has military bases dating back to the cold war in europe and asia the middle east africa all over the world and we're running a deficit of ten percent of our gross national product and quite frankly we can't afford any longer in my judgment to continue to carry this enormous burden of defending forty or fifty countries around the world and so i think we're going to have to dismantle these bases we're going to have to return back from asia come

back from up the middle east and south asia and i think we'll have to bring the troops home from europe you were writing and speaking out extensively about the bush era in iraq crusade under the banner of ending terror name in the world do you think that crusade is still long or the idea that we're going to end tyranny in the world is utterly utopian we never are we've had tyrants from time immemorial and what the united states should do in my judgment in its foreign policies is build a defense establishment strong enough to protect our vital interests and our vital allies and when problems arise whether it's in zimbabwe or somewhere else the people there have got to deal with their own problems. there's no doubt about it that throughout history tyrants have arisen and seized power in one place or another and as long as they don't threaten our vital interests or threaten and kill our people the fact that they rule and or misrule certain countries is none of our

business while some of bin laden successor said he supports the war against syria and al-qaeda was reportedly behind the four suicide bombings which killed scores of syrian officials and soldiers seen damascus and aleppo aleppo doesn't it seem strange that the us is on the same side with the whole kiting syria well it did it does indeed listen the the outside government has been has been ruthless and brutal and suppressing the uprising and the insurgency against it not as brutal as this father was tough as a last sod who slaughtered twenty thousand people in hama in one nine hundred eighty two when they rose up and it would probably be a good thing if he departed and they had a more democratic government but your point is well taken the united states should ask itself not only what is the character of this regime but the first question

should be do we have a vital interest in who rule syria my answer to that is no secondly if the incumbent government is overthrown who comes to power and syria you have the muslim brotherhood is trying to overthrow assad you have al-qaeda apparently which is moving in trying to overthrow assad so we've got to ask ourselves is the devil we know preferable to the devil we don't know but in the syrian situation i think the very fact that al qaida has been involved apparently indeed for suicide attacks should tell us that we ought to be wary about overthrowing or. participating in a movement to overthrow assad before we know what's going to replace him as you said it's very hard to tell what's going to happen to syria if more radical forces seize power do you think the u.s.

foreign policy might be helping terrorists indirectly i think the united states. american strategists would have to be fools not to see what al-qaeda is doing not to ask the question if it's good for al qaeda can it be good for us and not to look at saddam say he may be a ruthless dictator and what he's doing but what comes after him when he falls i think al qaeda does its best work or it works best when it finds a country that is fundamentally a failed state in yemen somalia afghanistan under the taliban and i think in those conditions that's where al qaida can plan and recruit far better than it can when you have a a regime which is a hard line regime running the situation whether it's secular or whether syria torn apart by civil war at that that's seems like

a good environment for that i think i think that seriously. syria is really a potential disaster in that we could have there a proxy war between the sunni and shia all over that region there already have sunni coming in from iraq they already have al qaida in there apparently. you could have also a conflict ethnic conflict with the druze in there and the kurds in there as well as arabs and there i think this is why i'm against plunge putting weapons in and aiding the anti assad resistance because an all out war there could be a disaster which leaves a failed state in syria so what about this strategy that the u.s. is now pursuing putting pressure on assad alone. and not addressing the armed groups the fighting armed groups among the opposition as well well i think that's basically the united states has taken sides in this war we've taken sides

there just like we've taken sides in libya and what should or what should not the u.s. do here in syria. my policy would if i were and if i were in the white house would be by and large you know hands off syria in one of your articles you argue that the obama administration doesn't want to war with you and the pentagon u.s. intelligence community they're saying iran does not having a clear bomb and hasn't decided whether or not to build a nuclear bomb iran is obviously getting nothing from a war if nobody wants it then why the drums of war why are they so loud there are people that want to war. i mean i do not think no one wants a war you don't have wars unless someone wants it and quite clearly the israeli government would like to see the united states smash iran's nuclear program which they think is creating the conditions where iran could with one leap forward

get a bomb the israeli lobby in the united states would like to see a war they support is really the neoconservatives do many republicans do there are many americans who genuinely believe that if iran they believe iran is moving toward a weapon and if it is they would favor military action to prevent it there are a number of people that want a war and if there are really vital threat coming from you i don't you see i don't know i don't look iran is not iraq i mean during the cold war with due respect soviet union had thousands of weapons they could have destroyed us in an afternoon and we could have done the same thing i was around during the cuban missile crisis that was genuinely term fine but iran doesn't frighten me and i don't think it should frighten the american people they don't have a bomb they don't have they haven't made a decision to bill one didn't have the means to deliver one and the israelis have

three hundred atomic bombs i mean who presents the existential threat to whom when else they would rise i visited one of my doctors and we were talking about i hope we don't have a war in iran but now they're talking about an intervention in syria and he said thank god for the russians they've got some ships out there and the americans won't fool around with the russian ships so the russians are keeping us out and that's wonderful. that's one of my doctors but i think that's that's what the american public thinks at the state leaves us out of the out of this it has a lot i don't think the americans that i don't think any american wants to intervene in syria they don't understand. anything about it iran though they got the ayatollah and they got a mounting a job and he will always help out the hawks with some insane statement every couple of months he's going to destroy somebody or other and then the americans say we have to get him what is the danger of such rhetoric the danger of such rhetoric is

that it leads to another war in the middle east which i think would be a disaster for my country and i think it would be a disaster for the world economy and i think it be a disaster for the world you know i oppose desert storm back in one thousand nine hundred one i opposed even going in and clean and saddam hussein out of kuwait because i said this will only be the first arab american war. and i was right i mean if you talk about islamic wars you had the war desert storm you had the war against afghanistan that got the war in iraq the war in libya now they're talking about syria now they're talking about iran. of what benefit has this been to the united states when you see where we were in one thousand nine hundred and where we are today and where china was in one thousand nine hundred and where china is today and i'm going into any of these countries haven't invaded anybody and they're

moving upward as is brazil and as our india and what do we do on in all these places i don't think we can you can't replicate the middle west in the middle east. thank you thank you. we have a global war lords will give him a note so we have a lot of illegal call groups of the called citizens who sues all our views in the whole movie right enough to stop my mouth it was like many of that marriage that wasn't forced marriages was muddy when i was fourteen years old you can liberate other women and you certainly can do it through the barrel of a gun salute effective social change you can be the afghans themselves

ask dan many women we believe i'm going to stun him not to across part of. the part of the patient it's chemical pollution and that it comes to actually stop people in the obama administration talking about how much they care about the women of afghanistan it's not true they don't care about the women of afghanistan. download the official anti up location giuliani phone pulled touch from the jumps to. watch on t.v. life on the go. video on demand cheese minefield comes in the russian streets now in the palm of your. question on all t.v. dot com. an issue free cretaceous free

in-store charges free. range month free risk free. to turn a free. download. three broadcast quality video for your media project a free video done to r.t. dot com. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

the headlines from r.t. the most significant poll for decades in syria is over as people voted on a new constitution which could put an end to fifty years of single party rule that was reportedly a high turnout and the results are expected on monday. thousands of people joined hands in a chain of protests calling for fair elections in russia the activists made a sixteen kilometer ring around moscow city center a week before the country chooses its next president. the u.s. atomic agency struggling to reach a conclusion about iran's nuclear weapons but u.s. intelligence agencies agree there's no evidence that iran is building a bomb but it's not stopping israel from threatening a military attack on iran's nuclear sites. and thousands of students and teachers

again march should anger education cuts in spades as the euro crisis tightens its grip around the med but greece is breathing a sigh of relief meantime after e.u. leaders finally approved an eleventh hour bailout to stave off default in. their headlines now the latest sport with dmitri. hello the sportin are to good to have a company again very solid coming up in the bullets a. playoff victory american angela stanford wins the p.g.a. singapore event in style to clinch the fifth title of her career. paolo's the part of nashville the last of poland wins for a title after a straight sets win over their gold is in dubai. and welcomed by

a goose we speak to the new appointed high coach about his job in the biggest article and charlie. but first boxing w.b. a heavyweight. by their can admits he may have underestimated opponent mark a heart after retaining his title with a narrow point victory in germany the judges' decision went into the can stave off to twelve grueling rounds to get the russian has to a very hard and was even on the ropes in round four and seven puts part. cruiserweight world champion failed to land the knockout punch the decision was made which is with booze by fans ringside with afterwards he didn't take the fight seriously enough it's the second successful defense of the title who want it all with last year. the city remain top of the english premier league that's after a three male win against struggling goldstraw mario balotelli and

sealed the victory while chelsea went forth in the standings following a confident free over bolton for rain wolves manager again with it to all draw at newcastle. striker. not scored his second goal in this matter much one one at q.p.r. peter netted a brace in west brom's cornell freshman of sunderland but as for the current league leaders speculations growing day and when that first started in forty four years. there's a belief that we can go into football matches and we're going to. because that's what we've done all season for two thirds of the season it's it's what we've done and that's what's goes where we are we have to show consistency for the final third of the susan and if you do so there will be lower order. but it's just important to

concentrate on our own game through. what on sunday much sooner to close the gap all the leaders back to two points after winning that inform norwich two one run games celebrated his one hundredth. for them here instead with a winning goal their paul scholes also on the scoreboard for. in the meantime fifth place are still playing to a comeback victory against the place tottenham in the north london darby five to finish in favor of the gunners while in their late game of the day so scored two unanswered goals against swansea. top division sides are preparing to get down to the final part of their premier league action artie's richard not portrayed talk to the new appointed head coach jim had to collect those hearing about the job and the team's most recent signing christopher somebody. what i heard from from the president through my coaching go that it was only the

latest hours in the ladies' minutes before the deadline of friday night yesterday and also a couple of his coming in so we have two two people coming in extra it was a latests latest call of course he is an experienced player is playing really quite a lot of games in the premier league and this is one of the or maybe the best league in the world so you've got a lot of experience i think also a lot of of dynamic and personality and character to the team as well because we are of course looking for the balance. here let's say the mental power tactical power and he's experienced i mean with under a shot and you make an attempt to try and sign him finally well under him we have frequent contact and well he he can he was welcome in but we have to see what will happen with him in the future was going like there's a need for the remainder of this season to bring us

a good move from well he says it's his home and he did very well in the first part of his staying in london i met him several times also over the years it was good to see him and give also good name to russian football in general brought yeah it was always good to see good players in russia and one sees come back on it's a level yeah then he can be very useful for us in the what went wrong to think over the last year or so with underachieving i don't know if a lot of things went wrong but he started very well in the premier league and it's too far away to give a proper judgment about that when it's obviously in a team he was in and out then maybe it didn't work out as well as it should be in the last month. we've been named head coach when i make it easier to bring in top name players specifically world class training like. this was hitting at the helm turnabout will help to attract. might help it might help but at the end the players

must be convinced that it's a serious i'm a serious person but the club also is a serious club now i think that's that that helps of course we have a lot of contacts worldwide but i just don't want to have just on bringing foreign of foreigners foreigners for me for russia and for now and for the future the world cup is coming up and more progress in football we have to emphasize also on the youth education and so i'm not focusing with my name worldwide on big players of course but also in saying slipstream also young promising russian players. let's move to the. time in the kontinental hockey league or the last sixteen players have been defined and there's one attracting the most attention so against bars the defending champions will go face to face with the two

time garren cup holders in the first round of the. other lawsuits if it suits regular season when his truck to take on you grew up in western conference champions it is vert plate more school for the other fixtures you can see on your screen first games will take place on the twenty ninth of february. school will move to a career high or fifth in the world ranking stats after winning the tennis championships with a straight sets victory over germany as your logo goes with the pole came into the final as a favorite despite the fact poland had beaten world number four. in the semifinals but it looked like. german one hundred one broke in the first game of the match eventually taking the opener seven five i also play in the second set six four two eight type of career i am

very happy that you know a person more than i can play my best tennis from the beginning of the year and you know i was playing great tennis today so i'm just very happy that you know i could close this mess into. staying with the winter sports where martyrs do cause of lot to claim gold at the world championships colton competition in lake placid do reigning world champion dominated the completion of all four heats and to the final attempt with more than a second half advantage of the chase impact so the question could have prevented it from winning the trophy but that didn't happen. as kempley to the fifty four. point six seconds germany's bank took silver losing two seconds to the when it was set foot of new zealand completed the poor do. well. and on to show of canada has won the last big competition of the twenty twelve snowboard

world cup by claiming his first career international victory on snow the twenty one year old scored the most number of points with some spectacular displays of skill in both time and defending tempered play to finland finished in second while another canadian metz clearly sick was. lifted to fulfil the the final world stand. and funnily goal for american enjoy stanford has won the l.p.g. singapore than dramatic frowned against three other opponents clinching the faith title of her career alongside koreans and choice that was trying. to compete against the american in the playoffs. became the only one to avoid serious mistakes in the final round and after a short extra i'm settled for

a bogey the american goal for needed to execute part properly the same how job was well down though on the day when everyone equal chances to win. i felt for because you know we've all been in that position and you know i i didn't think i would be there either i say park quite a bit today and i was kind of all over the map so you know i when we started i said you know i'm happy to be here too so then just played from there. well it's all from me and this sport for the moment more into as time have an r.t. whether zax goodbye. culture is that so much i know in which of course you might want to talk to them so here it is the price of crude remains stubbornly high and consumers feel the pinch but why are energy prices so high because of the lack of supply and security.

wealthy british style is on hold so it's not on the telephone. markets finance scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two causes a report on our. line. would be soon which brightened if you mean about someone from funds to impressions. whose friends don't totty don't come. fifty.

fifty fifty fifty. fifty.