as yet more flames break out but for you go to it in their efforts don't matter anymore though it's pretty well through the group of my daughter ran up and said a bus is waiting and everyone's being evacuated we already had our bags packed my wife walked around the capital with a religious icon with asking for protection but even the bombs have vanished. a wall of flames up to three hundred meters wide was more than the firemen could handle all but a few of the one hundred houses were totally destroyed. everything even had built up and thirty years living here the family home their daughter's house their cattle even their dogs all lost to the flames but amidst the scenes of utter destruction a glimpse of hope around are. full. up . just fifteen kilometers away another village lays in the path of the flames its

people are worried the same fate awaits them and we speak yes but only a certain flamer on our right in the man of took it to chuck has spent his everywhere we don't know where to expect a fire from that neighbor is informing us about anything but for those whose battle with the fires ended in defeat temporary shelters are being found part of the evacuated were taken here and an old school building they say it is received as often as four times a day although that's still not enough the most basic things are much needed underwear to pillows to warm clothes back in moscow volunteers assemble what help they can they say there's enough supplies the problem is delivering it's huge problems with transportation because we don't have cars of our own but with flames already appearing on the highway how sweet to the villages finding a car could prove a lot easier than actually getting there too if they cross party central russia.

well me through madrid have has instructed the russian government to draft a new list of facilities that were from the fires the president says officials who aren't doing enough to prevent blazes from spreading will face punishment in the town in the wake of a followed his meeting with government figures in moscow. president came for the summer residence to hold a serious of emergency meetings in kremlin regarding the problem before he was to involve as many structures in this far fighting is as possible course during the meeting they just got to how to help people who lost their homes or their lives in this in these forests as well as how to stop the forests around moscow and in washington all right now and of course how to prevent those fires from spreading on to strategic objects in russia such as a military bases or nuclear plant for example you smothered in the. i have ordered the ministry of defense to fight the fires but the ministry can't always

even protect itself a large fire is broken out in the mosque region with heavy consequences someone was asleep on the job the fire that was spreading slowly was not contained and the heads of the local military base were nowhere to be found i'm sacking five high ranking officers and ordering the ministry to fire more if anything of this sort takes place again i will take the same steps without any rift. so while talking about how to help people watching the president has also talked about how to punish those who are responsible for some of the lies that could have been saved but didn't several. locations at all even filed against those local authorities working on the spots who according to russian president worked in effectively and who could have prevented some fires but didn't and meanwhile here in moscow the situation it looks like it's getting worse this night has brought a lot more smog in the city and as you can see behind me right now. it is very

difficult to even see kremlin because of the city's centuries covered in small. overcover there reporting from moscow. live from moscow still ahead for you in the program we'll report on what's in store next for the power selling donkey she settles in to find star luxury in the kremlin stables to help her forget her nightmare or do you. know the wrong president is denying iran rather is denying president mahmoud ahmadinejad was the target of an assassination attempt earlier reports claimed a grenade was thrown at his convoy in the west of the country the claims come at a time of increasing pressure on iran just days ago a top u.s. military official said washington's ready to launch a military strike against the country if needed it's also tightened the sanctions already in place by expanding the blacklist of iranian groups and companies suspected of having terrorist links but as our reports these latest restrictions

haven't won universal support in the world. well the united states treasury department did i denounce additional sanctions against twenty one iranian entities entities that u.s. officials say and accuse of aiding groups such as hezbollah hamas and the taliban now these u.s. sanctions are targeting iranian companies in the banking insurance and investment mining and engineering sector americans or u.s. companies are now in a bit from doing any business from from those entities that are now being sanctioned by the u.s. treasury department all of this is coming just a few days after the u.s. joint chiefs of staff michael mullen said that the option to strike iran a plan to strike iran is still on the table and it's an option that's ultimately up to u.s. president barack obama that subject did come up at the. united nations when i

ambassador vitaly churkin the russian representative to the united nations held a press conference as russia assumes the presidency of the security council now why the issue of potential strike didn't come up with discussing iran in the mountains sanctions that have been placed on iran by the international community ambassador churkin also noted that all of the un resolutions that include sanctions against iran do not include any text that allow the use of force to be used against iran under any circumstances let's take a listen when we discuss iranian nuclear issue and we will not resume. on this matter as you remember we have very clear language and it is aleutian in the last resolution even clearer than in three previous resolutions. it has nothing to do with any possibility. use of force against the brazilian president lula da

silva was among the first world leaders to react to u.s. sanctions against iran saying that they will not help but possibly hurt from engaging iran in bringing iran back to the negotiating table specifically what it cost to do with the nuclear fuel swap program that was proposed by turkey and brazil program that is gaining support among the international community and it is something that the president of brazil says that the u.s. could be deterring with these amalgamating saying that are being done unilaterally outside of the united nations. parties marina poor naive reporting there we're going to keep the discussion going and joining us now from new york to speak on the arena nuclear program is right a retired u.s. army colonel turned peace activist thank you for being with us this hour colonel right i'd like to begin with this man. or letter if you will signed by former

intelligence and military officers including yourself which warns president obama that israel is preparing to attack iran attack iran rather in this month can you tell us more about this and of course where this intelligence has come from. well the memo that was written by the better in intelligence professionals is a and it's an assessment by us of what we see the u.s. government and the israeli government starting to plan to do we think that the israeli government has hoodwinked the obama administration as well as other administrations hoodwinked them into supporting things that have ultimately turned out to be very detrimental to the national security of the united states of america and we are warning president obama to be very very careful about anything that comes out of israel as far as the they are assessment that military force needs to

be used on iran for their killer program i mean it's never around does not have nuclear weapons and they've already committed to taking half of their low grade it raney i'm placing it under international control and in turkey for further in richmond so that it can go into their radioactive medical program so we are warning president obama to be very very careful advice coming out of israel as well as advice coming from some from sectors in our own united states government and of course recently we heard from top u.s. officials saying military action against iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons was not out of the question do you think that if military conflict erupted between israel and iran the u.s. would be able to stay out of it. well certainly it can it has a choice and i think that those are the things that behind the scenes people like admiral mullen the chairman of the joint chiefs of. baffin vice president biden and

barack obama himself needs to be telling the israeli government that that that type of action military action against iran is inappropriate and even this discussion about well everybody knows the united states of america has tremendous military capability but why do you have to go pushing it in the face of an emerging one that we could do this we could take military action well we know that but all it is a is a perv statement that makes those in iran feel very uneasy that they are truly being targeted again by the united states and by israel and the increased sanctions that we see that the united states is putting on is another their education in their mind that they are the target do you think you don't think iran has nuclear weapons at the same time the country is still fusing to fully cooperate over its nuclear program despite those latest sanctions which you were speaking about how do you think these problems should then be tackled. well it's

first iran has been very forthcoming on its program say in the last year they have started cooperating on the international scene they are allowing half of their low grade uranium to be put in an international hands and turkey they're even going to be meeting next in the next month with the u.s. officials on that program you know the united states has a two thousand and seven national intelligence estimate on the whether or not. iran has nuclear weapons and from two thousand and seven the intelligence officer. joint effort said that at that time iran does not have nuclear weapons and nor did they have a program that was leading toward it now what we're asking the obama administration to do is to have the intelligence professionals update that report and so far they haven't. we have to be very careful though that the intelligence is not fixed and

it's not at all outside the realm of possibility that within the u.s. government has what happened in iraq where. selective intelligence was used by the bush administration and vice president cheney to dupe many people in the american public and our congress about the threats that they alleged were coming out of iraq the weapons of mass destruction there which turned out to be the iranians it was a lie and many intelligence professionals within the government were telling the administration that's not true and yet they were over the over rules so we have to be very cautious about. you know i hate to say this but i was in our own u.s. government for nearly forty years but i say you have to be very careful what your government tells you and when brock obama took office he tried to make peace with iran or at least promise to do you think his efforts have failed completely.

no i don't think they failed completely and i think what he has fallen victim to or allow himself to be is to allow the right wing and that many of the republicans and in the congress to scare him off actually having a true dialogue with the iranian government and i think that's that's what he said he was going to do when he came into office and many of us who were fully expecting that he would do it that finally we would break out of the bonds of the last forty years of the u.s. . and iranian stalemate that developed over a period of time with the revolutionary government taking over with fifty five american diplomats being held hostage for four hundred forty four days back in one thousand seven hundred eighty. there's a lot of long term animosity from that from the united states point of view and

from the air. indian point of view that the united states helped orchestrate the overthrow of a democratically elected government back in the one nine hundred fifty s. and installed the shah which gave sweetheart deals for all of the natural resources of iran to the international oil community so there is there is a long history of animosity but we were certainly hoping that president obama would be good to his word when he said that he would have dialogue with the iranians all right and bryant former united states army colonel turned piques activist thank you very much for your time. now the donkey that was sent parasailing above a russian beach in a cool p.r. stunt is these days enjoying the trappings of her new celebrity lifestyle and that was wanted worldwide sympathy after her ordeal and was rescued by the british tabloid the sun but before heading to pastors new she's been undergoing some high class rehab at the kremlin's school of riding near moscow where tom barton now reports. the donkey has learned it russia's notorious four legged fly is finally

able to breathe easy and not because the don't care arrives in moscow after days on the road from southern russia not because she's not complaining she's very sweet and everyone fell in love with her and we don't want to give no and that's not because strange journey started with her now infamous flight up above the beach when the power sail pulled by a boat a publicity trick by a local water speech company when police found out the only run away and was only found later. sitting on the beach was your parachute go on you couldn't quite figure it out myself the league's. a donkey the animals distressed brain also simply from around the world celebrities and animal rights activists were hot to trot with their opinions this animal was suffering was captured on videos and photographs and the way it spread through the media is really amazing and i think what the public is done. is create

a demand you know for animals to be treated better the culprit presented of that certificate showing the animal was not physically harmed so is unlikely to face prosecution nevertheless the outcry means a napco now spend a month at the prestigious kremlin riding school drinking filtered water eating a special diet prepared by a nutritionist and being mass artist with medical point mints and i got a little bit of the meat it's one of we have well equipped stables good for dinner and a team of professional experts who take care of the horses. and what after office to house and up to have flooded in from all over the world and not all from way you might expect the manager of england's top man hotspur football club harry redknapp has said he would happily put an up go up harry has an ambition to open his own animal sanctuary in the hunt sure area of england and he has perhaps could and could join him at that animal sanctuary and not come here now has her feet planted firmly on the ground so wherever she ends up after this month for the moment she

can just relax tom barton party. it's twenty minutes past the hour let's take a look at some world news in brief for you b.p. says it's reached a significant milestone after apparently controlling the oil leak in the gulf of mexico with its latest effort the new operation uses mud to push the oil back down into the reservoir u.s. government says seventy five percent of the spill has now been cleaned up or broken down by nature around seven hundred million liters of oil gushed into the sea since the rig exploded in april causing what's been branded as america's worst environmental disaster. parts of pakistan are facing a life threatening food crisis amid the worst floods to hit the country in eighteen years rescuers are struggling to reach far flung villages that have been left without supplies the disaster has already claimed more than a thousand lives and left nearly a million people homeless forecasters say more heavy rainfall is expected in the

coming days. and a relative calm has returned to lebanon's border with israel as un peacekeepers have increased their patrols of the boundary becomes the day after a fierce firefight between both countries armies left for dead lebanon claimed its troops opened fire after israeli soldiers illegally entered its territory but u.n. peacekeepers have confirmed israel's troops remained on their own side of the border it's the bloodiest incident between the two since their war in two thousand and six. that's all the news we have for you this hour the latest business news is coming your way in just a moment. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers on. every month we give you the future we help you understand how we get there and what

tomorrow brings the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join our technology update on our g. hello welcome to the business program hay on r.t. the global cost of wheat is recorded its biggest monthly increase for nearly forty years mostly due to the severe drought in russia there are concerns the high prices could push up the cost of food and therefore inflation but according to the leading retailer x five russia's substantial grain reserves should limit the problem. it is true that due to the low harvest this year and the ongoing drought signs are pointing to an increase in prices by suppliers simply because there will be a shortage of some goods but ok i'll kill ations with the government support showed

that the reserves like the green reserve created in previous years will allow us to get through this tough period and should there be any price increases they will be controlled and not significant. while the impact of the poor harvest might be limited on national level and may hit some organizations which were excess of production that's the view of jack were originally the index futures group he spoke to us earlier from the chicago mercantile exchange. it's really changing the entire dynamic importers are becoming export hers and exporters are becoming importers i think much of this is really going to play out the real the hurt i think is really going to come from the relief agencies those that were looking to help those in pakistan or in africa those that were looking for access grain remember not only is grain now scarce around the world but capital to be able to go out and buy that grain which is now priced a little higher is scarce so they're probably going to be hurting the most out of

this entire equation that both russia and the u.s. have substantial grain was not does the act does this is a crisis absolutely i think that you know you've got a combination of two economies that are very well versed in making sure that their supplies are intact over the course of say the winter months and they're quite frankly i think good the russian economy was prepared for this that the russian government was prepared for this i know of course here in the u.s. we've been preparing for it but remember grain this specially wheat is much like a weed it doesn't take more than just a few days of rain to get things going again of course this crop is pretty much over and i think that we could write it off but we still have a big report coming here in the states in another week and of course south america is going to report over the course of the next few months let's see how it all turns out. and let's have a look at markets now in russia starts around it later when say to raise previous loss that the markets of greece expire approaching the u.s. but sharing the country added move because in july the multiple calls. it sounds

that the main game is a bad bank putting on four percent of the mindset. and it's a mixed picture in europe after the losses to taxes now trading in the black week reports from banks behind the investments and the irish down on my seven percent after the losses widens to one point seven billion here a standard chartered a sheet of course just for cost sending its shares almost three in the. lloyds banking group and is some up. i miss them all to towson strong profit. and u.s. stocks are rising modestly on to report and private employment showed a modest pickup in hiring payroll company eight hundred pieces in four years and it forty two thousand jobs last month slightly better than full cost investors are awaiting a key reading on the services sector due out later on wednesday. b.p.'s new chief executive robert dudley is a moscow is the talks deputy prime minister igor suchan discussions are likely to

include possible asset sales to cover the cost of b.p.'s gulf of mexico oil spill they will be joined by tony hayward the outgoing chief of b.p. who will be taking up a non-executive director role on the board of the russian joint venture to pay for more we now live to our correspondent. who's that rolls next headquarters where the meetings that you take place hello to you zena now all the any details about the subject of these discussions. then did robert dudley is here in moscow to build new bridges with the russian government russian investors it up also brushing their shoulders in taking keep the peace and good relations with russia is essential for b.p. robert dudley has a history in russia and with his first visit since the disputed two thousand and eight but this time in a new role as the c.e.o. of b.p. so one of the main topics of the discussion is likely to be b.p.'s operation in russia and russia even the. order of these global oil output currently and if we

look at the future it will see that the tanking b.p. has let me have a reader will be bernie and it's very important for the company if you do the fact that b.p. is looking to raise thirty billion dollars in order to deal with the consequences of this disastrous spill in the gulf of mexico another topic of the discussion will be the nomination of tony hayward's as the director of also here at the headquarters for us now. so the talks today are up to the docks today we will know if tony hayward will join to b.p. or no but what is not likely to be on their agenda is as some media suggested is that they'll be talks concerning the sales of russia's as a b.p. but you know i think it will be on the contrary that take a b. you will be looking among other russia's oil giants will be looking to buy b.p. is that wobble as so and it's also an important issue and the spokesman for

a ourselves that thinking b.p. is already in talks with b.p. over their assets in minnesota and the company will be also interested and now sits in central and eastern europe so today is a unique interest in very interesting meeting that will build and you relations between british and russian shareholders enchained k.v. which is the third largest oil company in russia as well as will influence the whole oil sector due to that baghdad is looking for investors for new ideas and new ways of thought the ration. my case for now thank you very much that was seen of meditative outside roles nest headquarters in moscow. sure all day for now we can always find more stories on our website.

culture is that so much about the taxpayers and i mean to say she needs a lot of people at the t.v. one to be popular in commercially lucrative but just how realistic are these programs are the ultimate. vote for bush. and bush always adds by one vote for kerry for kerry so the people that are going to be validating this machine can stand there all day long and vote for somebody and it will be right every time but the guy can walk up here and if he hits the right button. you can flip the vote.

crosstalk is coming up here in march but first a look at our headlines there's a state of emergency in seven regions across wildfires rage on with no signs of slowing down at least forty eight people have been killed since the record breaking heat wave began more than two weeks ago entire villages have been wiped out and thousands left homeless. person emergency crews have stepped up their efforts employing specialist equipment to extinguish the fires neighboring countries have joined the operation sending aircraft to help in the most devastated regions president medvedev has already fired five high ranking officials for their lack of

action in dealing with the crisis. and in other news washington puts more economic and political pressure on tehran tightening sanctions and blocking iranian organizations to be aiding terrorists president mahmoud ahmadinejad says he couldn't care less about the new restrictions but warrants other countries not to follow suit. but those are for me and you know it will be with you at eight pm moscow time up next peter lavelle and his guest look at the surge of reality t.v. in the twenty first century and discuss whether it has a role beyond simple entertainment that's coming up in just a few months. and

you can see. the funny. alone and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle reality t.v. wonderfully popular in commercially lucrative but just how realistic are these programs are they the ultimate form of spontaneous expression or are they merely evidence of how modern values are centered on the most banal common denominators.

and.