well commuters joined us just after eight pm now friday night here in moscow you're watching r t and i'm kevin i'm going with the top stories for you and russia's unprecedented heat wave rages on friday saying another record breaking temperatures here in moscow forecasters say was no immediate end in sight either to the hive mercury readings let's get more on the impact of the heat from artie's tom hi there now tom as we saw you are in the center of moscow now when i was driving in just a few hours ago in that traffic my car was telling me it was between thirty seven and thirty nine degrees there so what's it like now this friday evening and this is putting people in a weekend relaxed kind of mood. here a park in the center of moscow people are enjoying the sun there strolling around the temperature here is still about thirty six degrees centigrade celsius so

separate here is about the same as inside my body now it's about a quarter not totally comfortable the people here might be enjoying it but others not so much the temperatures have been ruling so far have been truly record breaking this is the fourth time in july that the temperature of a bad day was the highest ever recorded it was up in four times now it's an absolutely monstrous heat wave and inside moscow some of the effect is that it's been the asphalt on the roads is melting trucks are having to go with water tanks on the back trying to stop the roads mostly melting under the other people's time the air quality has been steadily declining over the course of this heat wave because whereas rain dissolves the pollution from people's exhaust pipes and things it's not going up but it has been a gray so the amount of particulates in the amount of pollution in the air has been going up and up making it difficult breathing difficult especially that people really respond to problems. in the outskirts of the city people have actually seen

and smelled smoke and that's that's been coming from large forest fires that have been raging not very far really outside moscow and there's those fires all over russia sort of white in the picture out and send it to russia as a whole experience twenty thousand fires though so far this season the forest floors are as dry as a tin dog and any spark so they are ignite a forest fire this is supposed to be about one hundred seventy raging are still as we speak and firefighters still trying to control them farmers have experienced unprecedented drought part of the worst for a century they think and it's thought that huge millions of tons of grain will be lost in this year's the yields those farmers just having to watch their crops die in the fields and the last term rather more serious more the more tragic consequences the huge numbers of people to be trying to get away from the heat by going to lakes and rivers to cool off in the last week alone three hundred people

have unfortunately drowned so there is many consequences of the heat some of them are more humorous some of them definitely not all however people been coping with this hate that we're all. putting up with at the moment i'm told what you got for us on that side of the story. well here in moscow i think people it's interesting it's it's seen as a great irony really the whole through the cold winter russia has longed for to feel summer they always wished they always talk about wanting there to be the summer sun and now it's here they're realizing maybe they wished a bit too hard because this is this heat is absolutely crippling the city really so people are trying to enjoy it and people are making light of the situation as much as they can many muscovites saying. thirty six thirty seven degrees the temperature here is already greater than the exchange rates of her between the ruble and the dollar and it's approaching the exchange rate between the ruble and the euro.

people also say why on earth do i need to go on holiday to the mediterranean we've got everything we need here in terms of terms of heat so a lot of muscovites and russians making light of the situation despite some very difficult circumstances somewhere or other places or other ways that russians are trying to get out of the heat or explored by my colleague peter oliver in his report. when temperatures soar everyone has to find their own way to keep cool in the sweltering city summer two brothers in moscow have come up with a plan to beat the heat as well as make a bit of cash on the site and the dalai and boris rent out their apartment in the summer months and set up camp on a small island in the state one kilometer outside of the city center a camp here in one nine hundred sixty s. when i was in my second year at school we came here in a car and we saw the place was vacant we bought a boat right away and brought it here it's a paradise there's good fishing under you it might seem like a strange choice but it's all perfectly legal anyone can pitch their tent and start

their own camp as long as the base certain rules it's not that it's a loser our chief concern is to avoid harming nature these people are clean and tidy and don't harm nature but if other people come pitch a tent and start throwing rubbish around they'll have to face punishment. as far as ways to beat the heat goes on italian boris have certainly adopted a fairly novel approach but the spite their robinson crusoe esque existence they still can't live without some of the creature comforts they go hand in hand with city living. we have two t.v. sets two radios and a notebook but no internet at my house in moscow a six minute ride from here the retired pair have just about all they could need on their thirty meter wide island getaway and if there's anything they want it's only a short trip to the nearest shop wants to take in the boat right to the shore of course heading for some alfresco sleep isn't a new thing for muscovites in the past before the invention of air conditioning

many people would sleep in the courtyards of apartment buildings to try and get some respite from the times oppressive heat not many would be willing to go to the same length as boston on a totally but with temperatures still around the thirty's more people will be looking for ways to stay cool this summer peter all of the party. the ruling by the international court of justice that cost of those unilateral declaration of independence from serbia was legal sparked international controversy over the court didn't rule on the galatea of course of those breakaway the u.s. and many european countries have praised the decision although it is non-binding but moscow says it sets a dangerous precedent and still wants dialogue between serbia and kosovo to resolve their differences highest court in the hague said thursday that the declaration of sovereignty have not violated any international more of a belgrade argues the court only focused on the declaration and said nothing about the legality of course of as an independent state serbia claims that cost of a succession in february two thousand and eight violated its territorial integrity

journalist and historian near bushehr mileage says there are several reasons why the cost of a cannot be called an independent state. it's pretty much a death sentence for international law this is a textbook case of. clear violation of both the un resolution twelve forty four and all the accepted norms of international law on asli was expecting a more nuanced decision along the lines of it was illegal but it doesn't matter i quite honestly didn't expect the world court to take such a directly pro-american position to be perfectly honest kosovo is a much independent does manchukuo vichy france was in world war two it's a puppet state it suffers from and democrat abuses of power is its government structure can be best described as a organized crime it is not a state in any way shape or form just because the u.s. state department says it is a doesn't mean it is a case of course it was just

a naked land grab and if if it's allowed to stand in serbia itself may actually soon fall apart and disappear. as a country cannot afford to simply let this slide for the past twenty years there have been wars and conflicts in the balkans stemming from the collapse of yugoslavia and each time there was any sort of dispute the serbs turned out to be on the losing end and the principles that the so-called international community adopted along the way varied according to the needs of the moment there's no principle here really that can consistently apply over the past twenty years except the serbs always lose and that's clearly not a principle you can build a policy on. they exist in kosovo sparks reaction from two other states seeking recognition of cars here and south of setia say the move confirms their rights to independence they hope the decision will push other countries to follow the example of russia and a number of other states which recognize them after the georgian more in two

thousand and eight and karzai as prime minister sergei shamba says he's a public servant more of a right to independence than cost of. the work but the president confirms a people's right to determine their own identity at the same time giving their arguments more weight on the other hand it's all politicized and we can't be sure that if we went to the hague we would get a similar ruling we probably wouldn't in spite of the fact that we have more historical legal and moral grounds to demand independence than cost of a double standards do exist it's not a secret to anyone in any case people who object to our independence will now find it difficult to openly claim that we don't have the right to determine our own standing. but we talked about the summer temperatures just now and with the tourist season at its height many beach goers are flocking to the black sea coast for some summer fun right now but alongside the hotels and restaurants one ukrainian resort is going to work here side of it. has become a thriving hub for the sex slave industry as a strategic port its location makes it

a hotspot for human trafficking to and from the region as artie's alexia jeff ski found out. it is in the sun in the grain in port city offer desa hundreds of thousands come here during the height to season. but for this woman from central africa it became a living nightmare with her identity concealed she told us how she was turned into a sex life. i met a man who told me he'd marry me and take care of me he brought me here then he locked me in a hotel room some men came every day and raped me sometimes there were three of them one later the man. and said he'd sell me to turkey but i managed to find help . she managed to escape from the man who had an. now she lives in the under protection program but many young girls here are not as lucky every day ships bring thousands of tourists in and out of but for many of this

harbor becomes a point of no return as many sex slaves are being shipped from here to other countries. turkey italy united arab emirates these are some of the most popular destinations for the sex slave trade and it does so with its strategic port serves as the market place police talk of fifty cases solved over the last two years but in reality the number of victims from all across the c.i.s. which are being brought here could be a thousand times higher and fighting organized sex trade gangs is very difficult because it's thought some are highly connected with the authorities for in sex traders use local men to find girls from to prey dreijer who are struggling to make a living so there is a great these men over there when you live they promised them jobs abroad in hotels and restaurants but eventually end up as sick slaves and are stripped of their passports. this organization called faith hope love helps sex trade victims to

rehabilitate from their terrifying past in five years they have offered assistance to more than a thousand women it's still pretty had it is impossible to keep track of how many sex slaves are out there as most are there are simply afraid to call for help both social workers and authorities admit in the last several years a desa sex trade has slightly diminished but they say while ukraine's economy is in tatters the sex industry will remain as one of the most burning problems for this resort city regardless of the season. see reporting from address ukraine. and women's rights are also one of the spotlight elsewhere to some countries look to ban the full face covering islamic veil indeed in the latest edition of crosstalk here on r.g.p. lavelle and his guest discuss whether the degrades or empowers women it's coming up later today is a taste. we need to give them

a lesson in being an example of what tolerance really means it means sticking to our principles even if it means accepting something that we ourselves find strange go down and listen to the women i've heard women explain why they wear niqab when they can't because they are taught by an ideology that tells them that they are a precious stone a diamond a piece of candy that must be hidden to prove their worth i'm not going to sign up to an ideology that compares me to a piece of candy they also taught that they will burn in hell fire forever if any part of their body is shown where is the empowerment in this then the carbon the utterly degrading and dehumanizing we have to get off our intellectual discussion and get down on the ground and see what is happening to these women. are going to air all day to do next edition for you in just over three hours time you're on our team. malone as the center of all profession is

a fitting scene for talks about cultural ties between russia and its of the dmitri medvedev and silvio berlusconi have indeed named twenty eleven as a mutual year of culture to be held in both countries artie's a country which over reports from one of the cultural hearts of italy for a school. well it's really hard here in milan the atmosphere of the meeting was warm as well syria but a new school and started opening opened the press conference with the words let's together greet our dear friend dmitri medvedev who is back well indeed relations between the two and russia could be described as a privileged relationship and it seems that very of has taken the lead from his predecessor vladimir putin to treat berlusconi not just as a partner but as a true friend and is the third time the two have matched in the last eight months the last time they match was during the g. eight and g. twenty summits today they discussed the outcome of those gatherings seem particularly such international issues as the iranian nuclear program situation in

afghanistan and the reform of the u.n. which they both said was needed well similar to the school and indeed tried hard to create a proper refined zone viewers for these high ranking meeting he was invited for a walk around the sixteenth century cathedral they do your tea palace where the meeting took place later but it was a legend read warm with the land of the symbol of this city and it took five centuries to complete this cathedral one of the biggest. drills in the world well to build russia's cozy relationship special relationship would be to me also of the time and it's. time we know that corny frequently has personally a little bit on russia's behalf in the european union and it will be interesting to see whether he's authority now will be enough to push through such important deals as the new european security treaty all girls school and very obvious one talking about how the economic situation has been improving after the cries of the traits

of a group forty one percent in four months this year and reached twelve billion dollars but with that it turned to berlusconi for a helping hand he said he wanted italian businesses to help more than ours. as a corner me current biggest headache of the russian president berlusconi sad he telling businesses would eagerly do that but the biggest obstacle so far has been kristie. over reporting from atlanta president about his visit to the city. people in india is hard to reach areas struggled to get proper medical care but the country's government and international aid organizations have now come up with a water based solution karen saying join the health. and well come to water world this is the mighty brahmaputra river originating in debate it enters india and flows on into bangladesh it's the peak of the rainy season and here in the

state of assam with northeast india health care rights by boat for those living in remote villages it can take three or four days to reach some of the islands. many villages we can go only in the rainy season it's more difficult to get to them during the dry season we have to try to seven kilometers this could take two hours we can't carry all of medical equipment social distance one hundred thousand people live in the district of nobody but there is only one functioning medical center no wonder then that the arrival of the book clinic is a big event here the entire village turns out to meet the staff. sixteen year old is pregnant and feels this free check up is a far better option than travelling to the nearest town the book clinic is run by the center for northeast studies and is funded by the indian government and unicef its main focus is the immunization of children why locals were initially hesitant

to get their babies vaccinated mothers know actively supported but there are limits to what doctors can do dr hark examines. complaining of a pain in his abdomen to diagnose the cause doctor needs an x. ray but for that will have to go to the city but. the doc says it all have to show this to the medical center in. how do i do that poor man and we can't afford the money it costs to go there i'm looking a bit below we can deliver babies and do blood tests but we don't have an x.-ray machine so should have the patient has to go to the medical center in the city if there's an emergency we have a strong bible that we can use to transport to patients. getting access to health. is never easy and more saw during the monsoon when the river come up with drought covers much of the land by delivering health care to the doorstep of villagers the clinic could well mean the difference between life and it got and seeing our d.

on the river brahmaputra. couple of international news stories springing up today tonight at least fourteen people have been killed and many injured when a truck plunged off a steep precipice in a mountainous region in bolivia the vehicle was taken passages from a rural village near the capital of pas when it fell down a ravine and exploded emergency workers say rescue efforts have been hampered by the steep location that. china is battling to contain its worst ever all the oil spill on the country's northern coast of thirty's feared major long term damage to the environment and the economy of the region the accident happened friday after two pipelines exploded triggering an intense blaze the weekend emergency workers are reported to have been prepared using gloves plastic bags and straw mats in the plea. something not so serious no believe this if you fancy one one with a jaw here is claiming that her cats defied science how so she says her body's

given birth to a puppy and a labor that lasted two days is the picture while they're not fighting like cats and dogs yet she says the pups tails and ears take after its mother was of the rest of the body is for the canine. science isn't radiation as the reason but they say any crossed species encounter was an unlikely cause. bizarre burma's right there at the center of the spy swap deal between moscow and washington is getting more and more popular in the united states it seems one american companies capitalized on this by making the anna chapman dolls customers can choose from versions called predator and the spy i could love each is available for purchase online for about thirty dollars judgment of the will not be benefiting you may or may not be pleased to hear from the sales because of the conditions of the release from the rest the twenty eight year old of early refused to roll offer to an adult movie. this is r.t. from moscow a waiver of moscow's bustle that we saw earlier on in the hague artie's martin

andrews is visiting the gold ring today eight historic cities near the russian capital that's coming up shortly clear intertainment first though the business news we've done it. welcome to business. if appears to have revised up russia's economic growth forecast for this year that's a news conference with italian prime minister silvio berlusconi this afternoon the president suggested g.d.p. would rise by nearly five percent in twenty ten last month the government was still predicting a growth rate of four percent. making this year the russian economy will grow by almost one percent which seems to be very good after the crisis it is clear that it is still not the growth that we need them. let's check out how the stock markets are performing with our european shares are mixed in a choppy trading session on friday gains in minors being counseled by weakness in

financials ahead of the stress test results but good news for the british economy which grew one point one percent in the second quarter the fourth this pace in four years. here in moscow it's been a big day for miners neural nickel is up almost two and a half percent reports the government may take a stake michel is one of the quarter after quarter to profit two hundred twenty percent year on year and picture pub last is looking at an initial public offering on its own all business. wall street is mixed in the morning there after the second quarter profit online retailer amazon grew forty five percent short of expectations its shares are down more than eight percent on the nasdaq for food chain moves its top loser on the dow down one point six percent despite a twelve percent jump in quarter to earnings. now microsoft has posted record

revenue of sixteen billion dollars for the second quarter that's a twenty two percent jump year on year and three hundred million dollars more than apple just a few days ago microsoft credited continuing success of operating system windows seven as well as the recent launch of office twenty ten of the russian government chose free rival linux as its main operating system this week. there were further signs russia's beleaguered car industry has turned the corner she plans to hire three hundred new employees i just tell you at the plant by september at the height of the economic crisis the joint venture laid off four hundred people. the company is now introducing a second production shift thanks to a rebound in demand state programs including cash for clunkers have helped to stabilize the plant. the world's top elimimian producer bruce l. has restarted operations at its aluminum plant in jamaica the facility was put on hold in two thousand and nine due to the economic crisis and falling demand the

plant's reopening six months earlier than expected in a further sign of recovery in the global metals market revenue rose by about thirty percent in the first quarter to reach more than two point three billion dollars. food prices in russia will be controlled by the government as the drug creates crop shortages across the country ahead of top retail x five welcomed the move warning some businessmen would try speculative price rises first deputy prime minister viktor zubkov says he set up a commission to stop that. sure. there are no reasons to food prices to skyrocket right now we have created a subgroup with the task of monitoring prices on a daily basis and to check who behaves in what way on the market and whether there is a need to raise prices rises iron and steel producers of come in for fierce criticism from the government for their pricing policies consumers such as car makers have been struggling to establish long term contracts with suppliers or what they

consider to be acceptable rates for mr vladimir putin is in the city of chile admins to help mediate disputes and open a brand new facility our correspondent in i reports. the crisis has pulled the ground from on the list. but most of the construction side there isn't an oil and gas companies the spilling their new pipeline project their government has brought battle to the sector with metals prices growing demand consumer of metals among which carmakers up to us losses where we are. which manufactures green and thanks for the military as well as the oil companies watching the prices spike. this year give us good faces criminal charges for price fixing it's a problem that's drilled attention at the highest level of government to demand all the services that ducting a wide ranging investigation into the possibility that a number of major you worked out at

a price setting bail but at this point out that the call steps to in russia pull this crap there are. market percent of the warnings that explored that are from the missing trends are hardly correlated with the global trend seems to price if you look institute holding the country's third largest producer. and you large diameter pipe production line with a narrow capacity of six hundred thousand tonnes the company has even introduced you to a white majority to signify its innovative approach in the sector we should go on with the modernization over the next five years we expect an innovative breakthrough in the pipe industry we are not only renovating the capacities but creating new ones from scratch but our clients to work in tough conditions primarily in the oil and gas sectors the prime minister together with representatives of the sector will discuss the price. that is suitable for all of

long term contracts to be established it seems a political intervention is needed due to the fact that consumer. trying to read all the press for the up to several months. they're saying that most of the producers are and likely to agree to the long term contracts it is the fact that this still fries is experiencing a serious volatility of the market right now. so from the business team for now but you can always buy more stories on the website that's also you don't call slush but .

a. few months i. love you.

thanks. fellows ought see live from moscow just off for eight thirty pm time these are all top stories sweltering in the city. and record breaking temperatures today friday the heat wave caused russia's worst arrived on the emergencies ministry says three hundred people on the ground this week alone mostly trying to cool off. serbia says it will never recognize kosovo.