it's judgment day for georgia's ruling party challenge by a popularity slump and a united opposition boaters have their say and parliamentary elections. nine medics involved brain moves an appeal to have their prison sentences overturned in a case that's been worm to us politically motivated. and hundreds of people staged demo's out a us military base on the japanese island of okinawa as washington again its presence and asian pacific.

hello and thank you for joining our team it is monday and seven o'clock here in moscow and. well georgia's ruling party and the united oppositional lawns are going head to head as the nation votes for its next parliament president saakashvili his party is desperate to hold onto its majority in the chamber after its popularity plummeted in the wave of a prison abuse scandal artie's alexander shot skiis in the georgian capital. voting continues into what promises to be a crucial election for george and it's more than a history this election will show whether the people are happy with the current political regime with business really and his united national movement party but more wider picture of the party which wins this election will be able to then appoint a prime minister and when the constitutional amendments take place next year when the stage down which will allow other prime minister to have just about the same powers as the president had then this party would be able to appoint the prime

minister and basically have the georgists future in its hands fourteen parties are running in this election but the main battle will be between the united national movement party the ruling party of the president saakashvili and the party georgian dream run by a tycoon whose fortune makes up almost half of the country's national budget mr even as severely according to all the surveys the ruling party is in the slight lead with about forty percent but the party georgian dream still has a very good chance of winning this election on saturday we saw nearly the largest political rally in the history of georgia with over one hundred thousand people in the streets basically voicing their discontent against the current political regime but what really concerns many in georgia and many in the opposition is that a geisha is that the country is gradually turning into a police state now many have been accusing the current president of the of cracking down freedoms of speech and basically suppressing all kinds of opposition on

television the judicial system is being pretty much under the thumb of the current president of the current ruling party his former allies many politicians who are now in opposition have been describing him as a totalitarian ruler and they are there in the opposition to oust the present saakashvili and to change the system this is something mr undercity the leader of the georgian dream party is destined to do as he said in politics in georgia my colleague he got the skin off found out what georgian image. it's really like now at the moment. brand new will decrease banks restaurants and a western style facelift in general is definitely something georgian authorities can be proud of glass was in police stations and many other new government buildings aimed at creating an image of a completely transparent state system but is it merely an image that recent footage of alleged torture and sexual abuse of inmates in prisons has shocked the georgian public many are comparing it to cases from guantanamo except it contains

suspected terrorists and these are ordinary georgian inmates. you moreover the former senior staff member of one of the prisons who leaked the footage claims president saakashvili is perfectly aware of the torture. thousands took to the streets in protest demanding the arrest and prosecution of all those responsible while a burning broom has become a symbol of the opposition since this is what the authorities are accused of using for torture in some of the videos this will not be tolerated opposition activists dachas i go to the claims over six hundred people have been tortured in prisons in nationwide many died he says are to know our goal is to make sure the election is without provocations and the people who committed these crimes are punished especially mikhail saakashvili duchy was arrested by traffic police the day after we met officially for resisting orders he was given ten days in prison meanwhile to

save face president saakashvili was busy sacking the police chief arresting all the officers shown in the video footage and substituting the staff in all prisons with the police but both his and the ruling parties readings still dropped when you least twenty percent. a large portion of the government supporters used to come from civil servants now many of them are resigning in a crossing over to the opposition with an average salary. around four hundred u.s. dollars per month poverty is another issue sparking public disapproval in shiny new buildings. here in georgia a change is going to happen first the question is how bad the georgians want them to go to school of the. bahrain's highest court has rejected appeals by nine medics who were handed prison terms for their alleged role in the pro-democracy uprising they originally criticism from the u.n. and the outrage from international rights groups with many calling the verdict

politically motivated the medics treated demonstrators wounded in clashes with police the brutally crackdown on peaceful rallies last year and military court earlier found the defendants guilty of attempting to overthrow the government one of the medics was or five years and rest between a mother and three years the ongoing protests in bahrain have seen dozens killed in clashes with police as demonstrators continue to call for democratic reform as well as the resignation of the other elected prime minister exile bahraini political activist saeed sheikh harby says the country's rulers are using oppression to stay in power. so far none of the significant figures who may have given or does all are getting the actual physical torture from within the members of their own military has ever been brought to justice so. this fire isn't

continuing only last night. a great amount of gimmickry. sprayed on the people and also showed guns where i was using extensively three days ago i young boy of seventeen years over. there was killed by a shotgun used by the police this is on the day when one of the regime's of research was appointed a member. who says that the cars will all be organized council so i think this is doing is that the people are going to be really bizarre it will leave you wondering if the issues are continuing and also the keeping in mind that a g.m. has not stopped. this used to be that it is not going to hold anyone accountable for those. who are. doing it because it depends on giving people its things that it will only remain arises when i. get

more on the ongoing protests in bahrain at r t dot com where you can read up on the background of this notorious case of the jailed medics. also online make use of breaking the commandment thou shalt not steal hold former butler awaiting the session on charges of theft after vatican letters clearly. a moscow court has imposed a ban on me and taurus anti islam movie innocence of muslim muslims defining it as extremists a controversial u.s. made film is often blamed for sparking huge protests across the middle east and north africa that began with massive protests in cairo and an armed assault on america's consulate in benghazi libya on september eleventh parties acts on a boycott has details. this decision doesn't really change that much because even before this court's ruling access to this movie in russia was very limited if not

blocked altogether only into a previous decision by a court in church now it's found a content of this movie extremist and inciting ethnic and religious hatred now even before that's ruling in number of internet providers in russia to their own initiative block access to these movies for their own users. under some pressure from the russian minister of communication which threatens to suspend the entire you tube side in russia if it would choose to carry on with this movie now what's interesting about the reaction to this film in russia is that despite the fairly large percentage of muslims in this country according to some ask them as they count up to the sun we're talking about many millions of people russia hasn't seen any. of the stories that build onto the streets and some arab countries and some asian countries and the plaintiffs in both cases both in moscow in in chechnya

cited this cure of that violence as one of the key arguments in trying to persuade the court to ban access to this movie in this country. the u.s. has deployed six all sprit hybrid planes to its base on japan southern island of okinawa with six more aircraft due to be transferred there japanese police had to forcibly remove hundreds of people would gathered outside the american base to protest the deployment of the jets demonstrator say the aircraft's safety record is not up to standard following a series of crashes in the past they were also calling for the marine base which is in a densely populated area to be shut down he's campaigner and human rights activist ryan dawson says their calls are unlikely to be met. these bases cause a lot of problems not only for safety but noise issues and a lot of conflicts with the servicemen themselves in the local areas but the u.s.

isn't going to budge in that position they've been dragging their feet now for six years so i think it's highly unlikely bases will close nobody wants any of their bases there but for them to be bringing these in the twenty two osprey from boeing is very dangerous they crashed as recently as june in florida that could fall on someone's head but that's not an exaggeration of these seeing they're a hybrid helicopter airplane and they haven't got the bugs out of them yet they always say they're building up a presence because of north korea and maybe part of that is true but i think a lot of it's about circling china as well it's like world war two never ended and there's still bases in germany as well there are necessary the residents don't want them but this is u.s. geopolitics they are never somewhere temporarily once the u.s. comes somewhere with one exception is saudi arabia and they put a base they never ever leave. so i have the sour reading it's all bad publicity.

have been a number of cases where the government has tried to shut down court hearings these proposals if their policy will sweep away hundreds of millions of british legal tradition we look at how the british government is considering new legislation which critics say is simply to hide its involvement in wrongdoing such as present torture that's coming your way after the spring. looking at some drugs you simply do not believe they come speak and good news how they can wrong oh. it's an international sled dog race with those driving the dogs. coming from as far away as a strength in canada and the us i come to russia and everybody is so very friendly

they welcomed me with open arms and the scenery is so beautiful it's very much like a laska and so i felt at home the first sled dog was brought here from australia now astray and come to this remote ration village to take part in the race it's not surprising they love it this trail are amazing but even more amazing is the story of how racing first started here atoll it wasn't the top. grazing who set the trail ablaze but a nun and for all phones who brought that idea to life. five years ago mother put us care about bill to dog kennel in the village kids from the local open age came around to take care of the dogs and one day they state their life might seem extreme to some the boys wake up at six to feed the dogs before school in the evening they spend up to three hours training their four legged friends but mother

per square also encourages her kids to become dab hands on the computer and internet the boys regularly updated their website and they're in touch with their busy mother twenty four seven on the phone. but children are the most important thing my only interests not play any rule any more and regardless of whether parsky has huskies window race or not she hopes the competition will take place in the village next year. but called these dogs and the children it really is not the weaning but truly just the taking part that counts. back your right r.t. coming to you live from moscow karen tara well in

a pill the russian punk band pussy riot against their present harm has been a jarring to after one of the group members told the court she had fired her lawyer they were jailed for two years in august for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after this station infamous stunt at russia's main cathedral artist john thomas has the details. court has wrapped up for the day and this is coming after you got that you know some would say you have it's the oldest of the three women requested a new lawyer and the court has granted that request which means she needs time to prepare the appropriate documents in the papers in order to let this specific hearing go through a new court date has been set for that hearing that is october tenth now again today many people here to see inside the courtroom it was packed in fact it spilled out into the corridors of the courtroom so that people could watch on television to see what was happening inside the courtroom outside the courthouse itself and many more people both pro and against suppose he rioted coming to let their voices be

heard showing that this case specifically still has wait a minute still resonates inside russia a little bit about the details on february twenty first pussy riot performed what they called a punk prayer at christ the savior cathedral in central moscow they were arrested in march a trial during the summer and then in mid august they were sentenced to two years and this is part of the appeals process today which has now been delayed until october tenth well certainly this incident has sparked a lot of international attention support for the group of media frenzy as well as calls for leniency for the group major artists like bjork madonna and the red hot chili peppers have called for the government to be lenient as well as other western governments have said that they need to find a punishment that is more fitting to the crime of what they say is more fitting to the crime now prime minister may get it has said that he doesn't see any reason for this group to spend any more time in jail that the time that they have served is already punishment enough for the crime president putin has said that he is

completely staying out of this he does not want to interfere at all but it's also been many copycat incidents around russia as well as in other countries as well in ukraine one woman took a chainsaw to a crucifix and destroyed it in cologne germany in a cathedral there three people got up in the middle of a service and had a protest there they were arrested their trial starts this week as well in russia this country is very divided about the subject as seen here today this country is a very religious country and many people were offended by what happened in the country's main church. let's check on some other news from around the world heavy gunfire followed by several explosions has been reported on the outskirts of damascus a syrian government troops but rebels meanwhile the fighting continues the country's border with turkey where at least twenty one people have been killed this comes a day after syrian state t.v. claimed government forces have carried out

a successful operation in the country's commercial hub aleppo. euro zone unemployment has had a record high of eleven point four percent according to the e.u. statistics agency it means over eighteen million people are effectively out of work with the number of jobless knowing a cause for alarm for european governments meanwhile protest against raging unemployment time growing spending cuts continue throughout europe with frustration turning to violent clashes with police. bangladeshi government has accused the opposition of orchestrating in a time that resulted in the torching of ten buddhist temples and that least forty homes the unrest which saw dozens injured erupted after a photo of a burnt koran was posted on the teenager's facebook page the boy says the photo appeared on his account by mistake his parents have been arrested and an investigation of march. well the issue of religious conflict and freedom of speech

is also a hot topic at our to dot com where we're asking for your opinions and our paul right now the majority say that nothing should stifle free speech almost a third of voters think there should be a compromise between religion and freedom of expression thirteen percent believe that the country's culture is what matters arms around the same says that religious beliefs are sacrosanct dot com is where to go to cast your vote. a suicide attack on a joint afghan nato foot patrol in eastern afghanistan has killed at least fourteen people and injured dozens of taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the blast a man on a motorcycle kept with explosives ran into the security patrol in the city of call it's been one hundred thousand strong coalition forces are due to pull out of the country by the end of twenty fourteen political analyst ahmed kwara she thinks the ongoing violence in afghanistan is on surprising given the years of foreign

presence and flawed policy there. it's quite obvious that the united states military is leaving behind a new our faction or a new militia in afghanistan in addition to the dozens that already exist in a move into the of gun national army at least parts of that are well trained by the us military and this national army is now turning against its benefactors as mentors of gun national army is is one of the blunders of the u.s. military in afghanistan in addition to. the midst of created in that country over the past decade three thousand american citizens died on nine eleven the u.s. military blunders resulted in an additional two thousand americans dying out of monies done over the past decade and these are the american soldiers and of months to this mess basically belongs purely to the u.s. military to pentagon to the cia because of none has done has been their baby. well plans for a new justice and security bill in the u.k. has sparked criticism that the country could expand the system of secret courts

it's climbed the move could help the government dodge allegations of complicity in the abuse of detainees have brought parties or smith looks into how westminster is trying to take political advantage of the proposed legislation. nipping charges of complicity in the bud that's what the u.k. government admits it's trying to do with its plans to secret courts ministers have more secret courts the need is to protect sensitive information and the workings of security agencies but in documents seen by the guardian newspaper the government acknowledges it would benefit politically able to defend itself from allegations like complicity and torture without the details ever becoming public there have been a number of cases where the government has been government lawyers have tried to shut down court hearings and have been heard in private a minute has transpired through the judicial process that what they were really

trying to cover out was a lot of government embarrassment about wrongdoing. within the agencies these proposals if their past will sweep away hundreds of years of the british legal tradition the proposals follow a law suit brought by binyam mohamed who was held in guantanamo and all gude the british government was complicit in his rendition and torture mohammed won the case to the deep you military shouldn't of the government and now they're trying to change the law so that government often a party in these matters would decide if a case should be heard in secret it wouldn't just be kept from the public if the proposals go ahead neither the defendant nor the defendant's legal team would be able to hear the evidence against the human rights lawyers are concerned it would trample on the principle of a fair trial in effect a large children. very important chunk of the keys you're trying to run on behalf of your client you're going to be. there are going to be behind closed doors closed

sessions you're not allowed access to so if there isn't and on furnace there is a huge scope for. future miscarriages of justice evidence and my five and m i six knew that britons were being tortured in guantanamo for m i six helping to deliver libyan dissidents into the hands of gadhafi secret police critics say that's the kind of information the bill is designed to suppress so beg who was held here alleges tortured in by graham and guantanamo has a special interest in making sure there are no more secrets i remember the discussions that were taking place at the time it was very all the former guantanamo prisoners on one side sixteen of us and a whole bunch of government officials on the other side having a discussion negotiating a settlement we would have been able to do that basically we would have been able to certainly try to take the government to court but we would have to do it with

our hands tied behind their back even the government admits that black and asian muslim men will be disproportionately affected as if they were most often involved in cases where sensitive information is being considered and still the bill rolls on the plans for so-called secret justice proven so deeply. it's like a bad penny they keep turning up and every time they do it gives human rights groups another opportunity to rail against proposed legislation goes against one of the founding principles of the british legal system not only that justice is done but that it seemed to be done laura smith forty. meters that our business starts with a quick update for us on how did the russian market turn today only ended on a very very positive note was circulated the obvious. my sexpert going more than two percent that's on the back of elsewhere around the world now outstanding game

as burbank up one percent of finalize the acquisition of turkey's denise bank and gazprom up two percent of truth secured a twenty year contract to supply elegy said india has moved over to the united states where manufacturing has come in on with an increase in the first increase in four months of basically this is driving the markets forward over in europe despite the fact that euro zone unemployment is up at eighteen point two million people which is a record high we're seeing a very positive day with extracts it gave him more than three percent up to the mine accepted a merger deal with. four which is the trading company the deal could be worth thirty three billion dollars and now let's move over to spain the debt levels there will increase further next year despite the state's efforts to cut spending the nation's dead to expected to reach eighty five percent of spring's g.d.p. this year ninety one percent two thousand and thirteen that's a free fold increase since two thousand and eight experts say it's just

a matter of time before spain asks for a official bailout. and finally in currencies we're seeing the euro very barely changed against the door towards the positive dynamic and the russian ruble managed to strengthen at the final minutes of the trading session is what i have for you but i have more as of course more in around fifty five minutes time and i'll tell you why mom. got a facebook isn't our only look far to thank you dimitri charlie peter lavelle in his gas crawl style whether we're going to see an arab winter. the. line. would be soon which brightened if you knew about sun move from phones to

freshen some of. his food stocks on t.v. dot com. there are those who desperately need it to survive. misspoken is the time to give money to on lookout to follow on goldman the fish out on the suppresses the prize the rights of the two for. new clothes and. those who don't get their share of the trades. by downloading gobs forty cultivates new old dos but look the one not us that people need to know about it i mean not look at it it from the company from. those who suck it out to prosper.

inside the seas instead. of you know. it's. nice licensed and. no one can live without it's in one of the largest blood banks in the world. blood of nigeria. on our t.v. . and you can. stand.

alone and welcome to crossfire but i'm curious about from the arab spring to the arab winter where does this great liberation project stand in the arab middle east and where's it going are the forces of reaction including the western powers again in control of the pace of political change and is it inevitable that we will have to accept the idea of islamic democracy. power to. say. to cross that the winds of change i'm joined by the idea are used in washington he's a research director at the such a foundation in berkeley we have shapiro he is a freelance journalist and contributor to salon dot com and in london we crossed to naseem he is a senior researcher at the palestine return center all right gentlemen cross-like roles in effect you can jump anytime you want and i'll see if i can go with go to you first i mean where is the arab spring going we're literally in the fall right now is there a winter approaches.