as the main presidential candidates in the u.s. make their last ditch attempts to curry favor in crucial swing states our team prepares to give the floor to those also running for the top job by being left out of the squad like. syria is certainly desiring to bring the situation in create a basis for regime change russia accuses western and arab states of encouraging the syrian opposition to step up their five stead of looking for ways to stop the bloodshed. tear gas is fired at thousands of protesters in kuwait as the crackdown on the opposition intensifies and the gulf monarchies which enjoy a close friendship with the u.s. .

this is r.t. coming to live from moscow i'm marina joshie welcome to the program we start with the u.s. presidential race where barack obama and mitt romney are in their last gasp dash to win votes in the so-called battleground states polls show the two rivals are still level was roughly forty eight percent and support each in the heat of an extremely tough campaign most americans forget they actually have a bigger choice than just a candidates and our team has been reminding them of all the alternatives. here it is the venue for the next presidential debate with the alternative candidates in this election our studio in washington d.c. though it's not very big as you can see will make sure there is lots of room for discussion on issues that somehow don't fit into the mainstream media discourse

here alternatives to obama and romney have effectively been pushed out of the major national debates we ask how and why. pushed out and quite literally jule styne presidential nominee from the green party was arrested on the day of the second presidential debate between mitt romney and barack obama in mid october right outside the venue where it took place she was there protesting her exclusion from the debate we were tightly bound with plastic restraints and tied to chairs for eight hours for daring to stand up and demand open debates will turn out if presidential candidates had their own debate in chicago they brought up issues which the big party candidates never came close to discussing like the legislation signed by president obama which allows the government to indefinitely detain american citizens without charge or due process it's an incredible the trail of our civil liberties on foreign policy the alternative candidates argue there's

practically no difference between mitt romney and barack obama regardless of whether or not romney gets elected or obama gets elected three things are going to happen we're going to find ourselves with a continued heightened police state in this country we're going to find ourselves continuing to militarily intervene in the world which results has resulted in hundreds of millions of enemies to this country that wouldn't otherwise exist the similarity of views that president obama and mitt romney showed during their foreign policy debate became a matter of numerous jokes on foreign policy it appears that all that's left for the presidential race is this one model. i mean at least we still get our choice of color but. the us mainstream media are entirely focused on the two party race the majority of americans know very little if anything about alternatives jule styne of the green party why sit down with before her arrest is not going to be

represented on ballot papers in every state the american system is designed to eliminate political opposition like some of the you know dictatorships that we criticize that have rigged political systems in many ways the american system is also rigged but in ways that are not as straightforward and with the like of interest from the mainstream media small the party see the deck stacked against them in a national vote but not only are americans stuck with a two horse race but they're also not guaranteed to get the president to the majority cast their votes for in a us presidential election a candidate can win the majority of the popular vote and still lose the election because it's not the popular vote but the electoral college that decides the outcome of the presidential election here so how does it work every state but made in nebraska gives the candidate a certain number of points and the winner has to collect the magic number two

hundred seventy points even if a candidate loses a state by just say three votes they get zero points that's how george w. bush won the election in the year two thousand although he lost in the popular vote he won due to the tricky state to stay score system according to gallup poll a record forty percent of americans now identify themselves as independents the chief of the federal election commission under george w. bush michael toner told me in the us electoral system they don't have much choice if you moved away from a winner take all electoral system and once or proportional representation i think you would have far more successful political parties here in the states because there are a large number of americans actually the most. most of the biggest share biggest increase in voter registration today in america is not democrats it's not republicans it's independents if you look at the states large numbers of people now are identifying it as an independent now they often will vote pretty reliably

republican or democrat but that's a pretty good indication that there's a million tens of millions of people who if they had their choice by pick another party but one group that stands to win from the lack of choice spurred the corporations that contribute lavishly to political campaigns trying to buy support for their companies what we have in this country in many respects is covert corruption legalise corruption in the political system itself being held hostage by special interests is a form of corruption each candidate on the republican and democratic side now spend nearly a billion dollars each in order to get to the white house i mean i think our founding fathers would be spinning it in their graves if they could see this while in office mr toner oversaw a campaign finance of the elections the most sophisticated companies what they do is they're in good shape no matter who wins right they hire lobbyists on both sides

of the aisle right they often make political contributions both sides of the aisle this is called hedging your bets here in america as you would say in las vegas. and in vegas as they say no matter how you play the house always wins speaking of us alexion one could say no matter how you vote business as usual wins it won't be business as usual during the alternative candidates debate this monday night the candidates will be here in this studio were chosen by online voters as the winners of the last third party debate held in chicago about two weeks ago we block has that debate life no mainstream us news channel that so an important point to make here is that by giving a media platform to these candidates does not mean that we're indorsing their views it's an honor for us to host the event. we're trying to show what others don't and we also think it's going to get a lot of viewers you're welcome to be one of them i certainly will from our debate ready or almost ready studio here in washington i'm going to check out. well don't miss this special and watch the third party candidates debate live on our team this

monday evening at nine pm asti will two parties keep us politics a one way street. or will new voices disrupt power power and. what is america changes. with election please go right monday november fifth on our team. from ben man to band clerks greece is set to come to a standstill as a week of strikes and protests has started in the debt ridden country it comes as the government plans to vote for a fresh staring package of cost cuts and tax hikes in order to get another cash injection from its international creditors well you know let's live to our correspondent peter oliver whose efforts for a slow heater well people from all walks of life so it seems will take part today so how is the greek capital gearing up for a week of strikes. well it's been rather ominous lee called the devil's week in

some parts of the greek media not stoop to the fact that nobody really knows what state greece is going to emerge from the coming days worth of protests strikes and potentially crippling austerity measures now the first strike is have walked we've seen taxi drivers some journalists and others walking out on monday the main strikes though taking place on tuesday and wednesday that's when the main labor unions get involved taking industrial action and be out on the streets of athens as well as other cities around greece to protest against what they see as unfair measures being taken by the greece covered greek government as the government looks to save point five billion. in euros now the way they're going to make those savings is through well we're going to cut public spending again and also going to raise taxes it seems now it will be put to the greek parliament on monday and will be voted for on wednesday. but the reason that greece is having to do this is that

they've been told to do this by their main creditors the so-called troika now they've been told if they don't make these cuts then they don't get the next round of bailout money that is over thirty billion euros now without that thirty billion euro cash injection thirty billion euro plus cash injection then greece is essentially facing a crippling and very painful the fault it's almost certainly gone from the euro zone now. on wednesday on sunday opposition politicians put it to mr samaras the greek president why didn't you negotiate the terms of this next round of austerity measures with our creditors and he said well we didn't negotiate because it wasn't for negotiation this was dictated to him by greece's lenders this prompted the opposition to say that they wanted to see new elections in greece and they called on the greek people to use the demonstrations coming up over the

next few days to rise up peacefully and take back their country. all right peter thanks very much for bringing us up to date there are reporting from athens. and while governments struggle to plug holes in their finances british m.p.'s are choosing the most exotic and expensive destinations for luxury business trips we report on that later this hour. russia's foreign minister says western efforts over syria are so we aimed at inflaming the situation on the ground and caring our regime change sergey lavrov also said such opposition is only leading to further a bloodshed in the rest of country while it's now join our correspondent and use it often knows god smore on this so loosely you want actually prompted such accusations and how does russia see the resolution of the syrian conflict. well good morning there sergey lavrov is on a middle east tour after

a tenuous cease fire in syria broke down during a tragically so during the holiday of. the sergey lavrov had flown to egypt to meet with his counterparts to meet with the head of the arab leave as well as the international envoy on the syrian crisis lakhdar brahimi but on the very same day as russia is trying to restart diplomatic efforts to come to some sort of diplomatic solution to the syria crisis members of the fractured syrian opposition groups are meeting in qatar under u.s. backed efforts to bring together a new opposition leadership a government this is something that people have interpreted to mean a splintering of the international community on how to resolve the syrian crisis and has earned quite harsh remarks from the foreign minister he had said he had urged and comments to the press for popes to stick together to the agreements that

the international community had come to in june that in the geneva declaration which had called among other things the creation of a transitional governing body he also interfering to this u.s. . effort especially accuse the west for giving up on their commitments by refusing to work with the syrian government on this issue working only with the opposition which he says is a path quote a path to a very dire situation that let's take a listen to what the foreign minister said in his own words. in geneva four months ago we all agreed that power was we'll say the same to the warring sides in syria. this is exactly what russia is doing saying this to both the government and opposition groups choose some other nations both western and regional telling the opposition go game for your cause is right you will win it's up to you to decide whose position is creating the danger of more and more deaths

in syria. well there you have it survey last lobstering out of western efforts to essentially create a government and the exiled russian position has the force been to come to some sort of a diplomatic non military solution to this tragic crisis which unfortunately continues to unfold day by day with the more tragedies more casualties reported on a nearly daily basis. all right lizzie thanks for the. reporting there outside of the foreign minister here in moscow. now the israeli army is on alert after the fighting in neighboring syria raged closer to its border as well as increasingly concerned the conflict in the arab nation could become its business as well as a ridiculous go now explains there are fears that a change in syrian power could lead to another war in the region. remember this. this. is a generation of young people and the number to some friends trying. to get back to

school to their country in just under two years the rage against dictators seems to have turned. in a new direction similar to the capital of the caliphate capital of the united states the arabs who will be. the arab spring uprisings primarily sought to do away with their own regimes they now own creasing we seem to turn against israel with the old leaders out of the pictures the first new government's little to do with the old ways of tacit compliance if not friendship with israel's existence a pattern that didn't escape israel should get used to a different little east for all means and. i think that the most important thing is the barak. coming to the fore of the muslim brothers it is definitely

definitely much more difficult middle east for as well sprouts of the revolutionary spirits which took over the region appear to have shot up even in places considered its own by israel here in the golan heights some twenty thousand troops consider themselves syrian their home country is just across the road has a daily reminder of the home they have lost and though it may be in the grips of a civil war many of them with gladly make their home in a stable syria rather than in israel golan heights were annexed by israel during the six day war with syria forty five years ago though the current unrest in syria is viewed differently by residents of this village they are united why one thought . israel is a stable country but we in our historic you are part of the syrian nation and it's our culture we want to be on the syrian authority even under this oppressive regime we want to be part of syria before the civil war took over damascus was said to be involved in talks over

a peace accord with israel clinton's time ones to power in syria be transferred to the opposition the result will hardly mean peace and stability for televisa of course when assad was in full control. the assad family in syria is a new what it's going to get from the us and family so to speak i mean the notion was what you see is what you what you see is what you get. although for residents of the golan heights the future of territory is much clearer in this period of the arab spring the two are prepared to burn bridges which you learned so far would. go and we'll go back to syria what was taken and we'll have to come back and wore. it we go scolari t. golan heights. and more to come including the recent police crackdown on protesters and kuwait right here on our t.v. after a quick break. usually

the police and occupy protesters are like oil and water but in atlanta they've come together to save the house of a former detective jacqueline barber unfortunately ms barber lost a lot of money battling cancer and was facing eviction which she turned to occupy homes for help so far she's managed to stay in her home despite it being sold out from under her feet but the main thing is that her fight to stay in her home has become like a bridge between two groups who are usually at each other's throats the police and occupiers the thing is the cruel economic practices can affect us all even retired police like ms barber i know there are some irresponsible people who buy things they can't pay for a year the police have to do something about them but they shouldn't throw you out of your home that you've paid for for years just for getting cancer no one should

have to live with the constant fear that their home will be taken away after years and years of payment just because they got sick and america i thought we believed in private property not eternally renting from big banks but that's just my opinion . lines. would be soon which brightened if you knew about songs from phones to christians. whose friends stuck totty dot com. we speak your language any time of the war not a day of. school news programs and documentaries and spanish more matters to you

breaking news a little tonnage of angles kidneys stories. you hear just so that choice i'll teach spanish find out more visit i to our. wealthy british style seinfeld's that's not on my list. of. markets financed scandals find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tonight in two cars a report on our. culture is that so much of a given to each musician a person finding the market democracy promotion the export of a universal set of values or the means to change and control the global order twenty years after the. coup.

welcome back you're watching our view live from moscow now local activists in kuwait say security forces detained dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators and another clampdown on unrest in the gulf nation protesters defied kuwait's ban on public gatherings that was imposed last month as thousands demonstrated against new voting rules it was a peaceful rally but police still resorted to stun grenades and smoke bombs the opposition claims changes in the light rail system of hand and advantage to the pro-government candidates in next month's election geo political analyst eric draitser says golf marquees confidently take on democratic measure most comfortable in the knowledge they have the support of the us. government is terrified they look

at protest movement developing in saudi arabia one that's continued to go on in bahrain we see the same around the arab world more generally and kuwait looks at itself or rather the government does and they see that they really stand no chance at maintaining our maintaining control of that country unless they are able to successfully suppress the end repress the opposition these are client states of the united states bahrain as is the u.s. fifth fleet the navy kuwait as we all know the role that it played in both wars against iraq kuwait is very much dependent on saudi arabia and the united states and so all of this is part of the geo political calculus of us that germany u.s. does not want to see its control over the region slip away by something as piddling as the democratic aspirations of the people of the region. as a just mentioned the bahraini regime continues to mute anti-government slogans on the street on our website r.t.

dot com find out the latest on the protests which have been ongoing for more than twenty months now. that was the u.k. is set to set for a clash where the e.u. partners over how much britain pays for its membership it seems there is still a chance to save taxpayers money back at home it's been revealed that m.p.'s there are spending tens of thousands of pounds flying to exotic destinations on so-called fact finding missions or to surface reports. china miami we might all dream of just thing off to some exotic destination but unfortunately in the middle of a double dip recession with thirty measures. we're being kept to ground. for some lucky and peace even just think of the some of those fall flying destinations of fact finding missions one fact that has been found is that these trips costing millions in taxpayers' pounds so take

a look at the figures they regularly come in at more than forty thousand pounds per trip one chip singapore in china cost a whopping seventy two thousand pounds something has clearly gone wrong when you have a coach trip costing eight to ten thousand pounds per member of parliament on the trip there either either staying in luxury hotels when they could look at more modest accommodation or they're using business class travel when they could travel most of the rest of us not surprisingly the public's not impressed i certainly think it's excessive and i think they can say taking the piss but they're taking advantage there's absolutely no question can spend their way. there because i find a good place if you have the patience to look at the right sites and if the m.p.'s need some advice. on how to say the pennies the public has a symbol for the advice. and the chinese and jack. said to me. ok guys ok

thank you that was we'd all love to just fall into the sunset to help us with the economic crisis those excessive expenditure is going to leave many m.p.'s looking like they simply got their heads in the clouds so see london a more stories are available on our website r t v dot com including big and business baking game online a way of god a story of one supermodel after a billion her husband planning to stage an elephant pole match to mark the tycoons fiftieth birthday plus pam black and orange had to argue no com where we've lined up a story of one creepy crustacean perfectly colored for halloween. and

in just a couple of minutes the latest have a soda crossed oxer stay with us for that if you can. in the glow of russia's no from away from civilization and is to me all one helicopter treat from the nearest village. so they still one family have been living here through time in tents made of reindeer skins.

lodging runs in ada signal on minutes they also grew up in the two but left it at the age of six and never returned they now live in the city in a park in bending but still around and they are regions. was planted here as a dancing teacher. was. next to his den says he tells the stories about his motherland. laws in europe to now has a one thousand strong reindeer had when the enemy only saw the light can and most around it is gather the tens and move to another pole sure they travel hundreds of kilometers in winter we men and children for them. but the two families have less

of a chance to come across each other they belong to different worlds even though there's sometimes a similar. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for way 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 harkin welcome to the big picture.

mission to teach. democracy promotion of a universal set of values or change. twenty years after the end of the united states and many continue to support individuals and groups. as a.