the golf course candidates for the american presidency prepared to make their last pitch to voters here on. a long standing media embargo. british prime minister david cameron courts in an effort to sell them over one hundred fighter jets shrugging off criticism of human rights abuses and pointing to decades of friendship. a string of deadly explosions rock syria has a suicide bomber detonated himself in the flashpoint hama province of children the reportedly among those killed by a fresh blast in damascus. and greece is set for a week's freeze as workers across the board kick off strikes against austerity while lawmakers vote on new cuts to satisfy international lenders.

international news and comment live from the new center here in moscow this is r.t. almost thirty eight million americans have already cast their votes for president for hours at early polling stations across the country although too soon to tell which way the vote is swinging barack obama or mitt romney a lot together according to most polls but lost in the rivalry between republican and democrat all the alternatives that many americans are full. 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 it will make sure there is lots of room for discussion on the 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 and. 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 without 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 betrayal of our civil liberties and 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 word phrase 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 maine and nebraska give 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 a 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 these states large numbers of people now are down a following as a 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 are 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 spending 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 they often make political contributions both sides of the aisle just

called hedging your bets here in america as you would say in los vegas. and in vegas as they say no matter how you play the house always wins speaking of us elections one could say no matter how you vote business as usual wins it won't be business as usual during the alternative can of this 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 broadcast that debate life no mainstream us news channel did 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 well from our debate ready or almost ready studio here in washington i'm going to check out. well more perspective now on what a third party could bring to the table was one of the challenges to barack obama or

mitt romney i'm joined now by jerome white presidential candidate for the socialist equality party joining me live in detroit now you are from a socialist party yet the very word socialism it carries with it a stigma in the u.s. the media ridicules it politicians shy away from it so what do you hope to achieve by running. well thanks for having me bill the social sequela the party entered this race precisely because the masses of working class people are totally disenfranchise within eight to big business party system as you said in your opening some three billion dollars in corporate cash behind obama and romney completely vacuous debates completely scripted and the most essential questions confronting the american people that is the danger of new wars massive cuts in social programs that have already been agreed to by both big business parties and

the trampling of basic democratic rights including a president obama who declares his right to assassinate anyone including american citizens without the slightest pretense of due process these great issues have been completely excluded from the elections as you mention foreign policy there and the potential of new war is now i know that you spoke in favor of coming military expenditure but of course in these harsh economic times millions of americans actually rely on military spending so that's a bit of an issue isn't it point. well look in the essential question in the united states like all over the world is massive social inequality we've had specific it particularly since the collapse in two thousand and eight and enormous redistribution of wealth to the top five percent multi-trillion dollar bailouts are now being you are being pointed at to justify trillions of

dollars in cuts in social programs i mean you're in you know for instance in new york which is just been hit by this terrible hurricane sandy where you see how social inequality affects society as a whole wall street is immediately put fact. online the luxury apartments in lower manhattan have their electricity back quit working class families in it in staten island in brooklyn in queens in the public housing projects still have no electricity no heat under conditions of a threat of another storm and of course you know one about social inequality in detroit it seemed devastating economic changes that now you can see it from firsthand so how do you as a third party candidate get your message across when the mainstream media seem to be just interested in what the two dominant parties have to say well that's the issue millions of workers know that regardless of who wins this election obama or

romney that their lives will not improve there is a general sense that the entire political system is stacked against the working class so we ended this race to fight for a socialist program that is for genuine social equality instead of society's resources being monopolized by the as i said the richest five percent of society trillions of dollars has to be poor to meet social needs in detroit yes there is mass unemployment in this city which has been deliberately kept high so their wages could be cut in the auto industry that was carried out by the obama administration and that's what he calls it in source that is the lowering of wages in the united states so low that you can entice corporations to come to detroit or los angeles for cheap labor instead of going overseas zap me and let me quickly ask you to go to my your fortune and do persistence we're going to miss because i understand

you've been on the ballot multiple times since one thousand nine hundred ninety six what about being a third party candidate has the landscape changed a tool for you over the last few years. oh i think isn't been an enormous discrediting of the capitalist system particularly since two thousand and eight the financial crash the belle out of wall street i think the whole experience with the obama administration is also undermined what has been promoted so long in american politics that is identity apollo's it can buy into the claim that black politicians will somehow be more sympathetic to that of ordinary people so i think there's a profound change in to the left in the right we'll have to leave it there thank you very much indeed for your thoughts to run wide joining me live there from detroit thank you thank you bill just to remind you we're hosting the party kind of the bait here in our ted nine pm in s.t. or two am g.m.t. .

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 and here 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. it is easy to. see. all of the six america votes for its next president. who takes the wheel as

the us drives into the feature. get the news the mainstream missives with up close election coverage the us election up close. and. you know 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 realize that everything you thought you knew. welcome to the big picture.

party live here in moscow the news continues now british prime minister david cameron has kicked off his middle east arms sales tour pitching it to sell more than one hundred fighter jets to gulf monex faced with criticism about his client's human rights record the prime minister replied by saying it took them about it because pony boy reports there's history between britain and the kings. in the past the british prime minister has spoken about how britain's interests line up holding the country's values but it was all interest no talk of values this morning when david cameron touched down in dubai he's going to be trying to sell over one

hundred u.k. typhoon fighter jets to the leaders of the united arab emirates and saudi arabia that's despite concerns about person pedaling fighter jets to regimes with questionable human rights records david cameron says he's happy to discuss human rights as well as lucrative on contracts with countries that he calls old partners but it looks like talk about human rights is familiar rhetoric to justify a long standing tradition of polis the lessons we keep clean gulf state contest military academy behind me last year accepted as three million pound donation from the kingdom of bahrain inside the state contest officers trained in the new bahrain for hold even though the bahraini government launched a brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protesters last yam contest even said the

bahraini government insulting lesser thanking them for their generosity the three million pound yes it was hardly a break with tradition the fact that it was a longstanding relationship of reciprocal favors between the bahraini monarchy and strains within the british establishment so it looks like talk of british values is good p.r. when it comes to defending trade links and good relations with countries whose human rights record some would call into question. because there were let's get more opinion on this from george eaton he's editor of the blog the new statesman and joining us live in london is george if the deals work out how valuable could it be for the british economy. when. the deals could be around six billion pounds which is not in significance of course at a time when the u.k. has only recently strong recessions you can see why. the economic incentives are

strong why would the gulf states need these high end fighter jets. possibly. hold that position. saudi arabia or is there a sound about iran nuclear weapons program and it's a reminder of that to remind that this she thrives i mean if you strip her of course the concern that some of these weapons could be used against against their own people as there as they have been of course in the rain well you raise a point the britain has been very reluctant to voice criticism over human rights violations in the gulf states is that all because all its business dealings. yes logically. i actually made a rather good speech to the. national assembly back in two thousand and eleven at the arab spring was iraq saying making a point that in the pos british governments present

a very good interests. values such as democracy human rights and it's been a speech and he argued that was a false choice because in the long run our interests lie from anything our values you've seen a real shift away from lots of rhetoric today downing street made token reference to encouraging school and economic reform but it's really the axis was on. a strong nation. saudi arabia operates in so-called stability which unfortunately for the people of saudi arabia means a lot of freedom and it's all toxic so you don't think carol we're taking a tough position at all and being quite harsh about the humans rights issue when he gets there mentions these issues along with the trade deals. but i would i would be very surprised if. any tough words exchanged he may he may make god token reference to it but i think the prior is here is really strong business

and. the downing street actually has made no secret of. canada's claims there are no no go areas on human rights but i think anything you just say will be very tepid george thank you for your thoughts george eaton editor of the studies blog at the new statesman joining me live there not. at least fifty syrian soldiers are reportedly being killed in a suicide bombing in the flashpoint from a province while civilians including children reported dead after a new terrible austin the capital damascus middle east correspondent has more details. three major attacks have taken place across syria on monday in the first a suicide car bomb that killed more than fifty seven soldiers as well as pro-government gunmen now it happened in the central syrian province of hama and according to reports the attack was carried out by an al qaida inspired islamic

militant group states also say that only two people were killed but we have no way of independently verifying this information there are suggestions that he's one ton of explosives was used in the attack in a separate incident in the capital city of damascus last there has killed several people and injured many more among them children it is thought that the cause of that attack was a car bomb and then also on monday a bus attack also in damascus so five people killed three of them children as well as a woman there many bats in which there were traveling was hit by a mortar shell and that caused this explosion now we do not know who is behind these attacks that certainly in the past rebel groups have claimed responsibility for similar such attacks what we have seen as monday a bloody day of violence in syria where the situation on the ground is intensifying london based journalist and write a new clock says the latest attacks will join the many previous ones that have been ignored by the international players. the trouble is being caused by groups that

are being brought by outside forces with weapons arms coming in from outside these are terrorist attacks by any objective assessment but of course they're not being condemned as such by the western powers the hypocrisy is grabbing just imagine things sort of bomb attacks were going off in reality saudi rarity here in tel aviv in israel and we have really hate hillary clinton in seconds coming out condemning them they're not doing this we had a form outside a nursery school a few weeks ago we had the appalling murder this weekend of a famous syrian actor who was killed he only crime was of course supporting the government in syria and so we've got terrorist attacks taking place on a daily basis and not by the west and i think we all know why five homemade devices go off in bahrain's capital wreaking havoc and reaping later we bring you one expert's opinion on to profit from further destabilizing a country that's been engulfed in opposition protests for more than twenty months now. based on the times of recession british and peace accord spending falls and

a lot sure is business trips ball around the world stories and plenty of others after the break. looking at some dogs you simply do not believe they come speak and goodness how they can run oh. it's an international sled dog race with those driving the dogs. coming from as far away as a strand in canada and the us they 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 alaska and so i felt at home the first black dog was brought here from australia now astray as come to this remote russian village to take part in the race it's not surprising they love it this trail ira may see. but even more amazing is the

story of how racing first started here a toll it wasn't the tough mushers of sled dog racing who set the trail ablaze but a nun and for all friends who brought their idea to life. five years ago care of a bill to dock 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 smother her scare also encourages her kids to become depth hands on the computer and internet the boys who regularly update their website and they're in touch with the busy mother twenty four seven on the phone itself. but children are the most important thing my only interests not play any role anymore 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 winning but actually just the taking part that counts. as giving me going to be where you share with me this is played by stuart i don't agree on agree real problem. is married i don't know what is crap we are going to try before you fair. share of your country. with a country peerage. to cross the border in hope to help you through me. you find in so many old says war. some stress.

sigrid laboratory tim curry was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot which on. typically doesn't give a darn about any tunes mission to teach creation and why you should care about. this is why you should care only. news continues now wave of at least five explosions a sweat bahrain's capital manama the bombs which exploded in different parts of the city were all homemade at least two people were killed in what the government says were terrorist attacks it comes amid the kind of reform opposition marches that often end up with police resorting to violence well for deeper insight into the story i'm not joined by. keys and official from bahrain's largest opposition party

well the government has been quick to blame the terrorists some would say suspiciously. should we be skeptical about these claims. well first start we're clear on the notion turner sort of finance we are against violence on the part and this is not a lot of them especially when it comes to a plus let me answer your question so if you're going to minister just has said that there is not dialogue. there is no dialogue while there is violence which i think capsulated and put big question why this relation from six weeks now from the secu it is starting to creep well people. and know that very quickly that he is saying this some are not. worked out of this and not dialogue what is violence i think this in capsule a and clearly the

what is the m. or the is acts confirmation that we are against last year's warning we don't need the coach at all for me going back and i was not that in back then but i think there are as you said lots of suspicions ok are you saying they're using this now as an excuse to say look there's going to be no dialogue between us and terrorists is that in a way reiterating the fact the government is not responding in any way to the protesters demands being intransigent and the fact that they're not talking which is what the opposition wants is making the situation worse you know i think it's not just not responding to the people demand they are not responding to go they're not you know they're not if you just see you know as before no. minister. not. a trick i was saying that immediately there should be at the.