sure its domestic needs are met after wildfires and prompting a jump in global grain prices meanwhile india is easing tons of surplus crops to poor storage as people in the country go hungry. and it is a big comeback for terrorist group was reportedly on a recruiting spree spurred on by the planned u.s. troop withdrawal from iraq. two am in moscow i matter as a thanks for being with us here on r t our top story in moscow is finally breathing more freely as a dense smog and noxious fumes that have been tormenting the russian capital for days finally lifted officials say some wildfires are now under control but many are still raging because of the record breaking heat wave artie's a nice and now way is in the badly hit region of resign two hundred kilometers

southeast of moscow with more. this is how it all starts with a small flame that can quickly and gulf the entire forest making this a very fierce battle for emergencies workers and volunteers it's. one of the biggest operations in fighting these fires happened from the air port an airport in the resign region one of the worst hit by these fires and the emergency services has invited our two to come along for a ride on this ill seventy six. the . water line they take and. if you want to drop over the past. services like.

the same stand down below our first. line. and it's like you the funny. part. is. you . as you can see helicopters are also working to put out these flames it was quite a ride we took the mike i said this is one of the world's major ends and it's in fact why prime minister vladimir putin chose to come here to fly on one of those planes we just flew on and see the process himself of course it's not only authorities and volunteers trying to contain these flames ordinary people citizens are doing what they can to help gathering whatever items they can food water clothes to help those who have lost everything and we're terribly hoping that this

crisis will soon come to. when and and you see now way our t. verizon region. it's not only russians that are helping those affected by the fires people from other countries are sending aid in condolences some even want to help battle the flames as artie's laura emma discovered when she met up with one british former fireman this is a man who do you see knows no national poll which is a retired firefighter daniel coleus all the reports of the florist blazes raging in russia and felt compelled to offer his help so he wrote to prime minister putin. i want to offer to volunteer to assist in firefighting operations and win the russian federation and i'm available on request as a personal offer to your country with that in mind daniel prepares for action he says he's ready to go to the airport the moment he receives word his help is welcome. retired from the foyer shoppers. are still filled

up and there's always help people rush hour in particular because of the problems they've got the moment with the oil people from all around the world offering to join the fight against the force of nature volunteers from bellary spoke area and france are among more than one hundred sixty thousand people now estimated to be battling the blazes daniel started his career in rural fire fighting and says that's prepared him well petaca the type of blazes sweeping through russia start my career off in nineteen seven zero eight sorry pharmacies i wish a lot to mr cosby a lot before i was in rural areas including forests military rain gauge and in terms of the fires are occurring in russia. in the world. we would spend many here we hear some of times and hope some of today when exactly the same type of foils the one we would have dealt with it in those days was to dig for

a break and of words dig a trench down below the pain to stop we have to pay for spreading underneath the ground even though daniel retired two years ago he says in his mind he's still on the front line no matter where you are in the world for far it's a sign they're there to help save lives for which will russia and russia have to point out all the person has to. and then allow the people that care the paramedics. the five points was to come in and do their job daniel clearly is packed and ready to go be anything stopping him flying to russia is red tape caller says if russia temporarily suspended visa regime for emergency workers he and hundreds like came with floods to russia to quash the flames you were at it. and the drought in russia has forced the government to

introduce an export ban on wheat the agriculture ministry says this year's harvest is up to sixty five million tonnes just enough to meet domestic needs authorities say it could be october before the country starts exporting again after the harvest figures around with russia the world's third largest wheat export or last year global prices for the grain went up after the announcement. from the food and agricultural organization of the u.n. says the decision made by the russian government is the best solution. i sincerely hope it is still not a case where we will have a green shortage but there is certainly a very severe situation in terms of supply and the drought has been extremely severe and the production shortfalls of fall more fall more dissipated as early as three weeks ago therefore it is on the stand. on exports is the one way to compound domestic food inflation especially the price of bread wheat

mostly is useful and i think this is what the government at the end decided to do i'm not sure that there were many of the options perhaps they could have also considered taxing exports or perhaps that we could be in gradual terms but you know in situations like this as the. you know governments tend to go for the most secure of measures which is the total ban there had been a very extraordinary action through the ban in russia and the prices. rose very sharply if you're glad that they have calmed down a little bit the market is actually taking into consideration. amount of inventors that are available in other countries in particular in north america so they even invent result and we believe globally this year's global supply and demand for wheat although a bit tighter than we had anticipated it still is very much manageable and he can even take care of the disastrous emergencies currently under the current lead in

pakistan so the inventors are not the i mean russia is drawing down on even through as it will be some more here and just in general terms with the situation then for example in two thousand and seven and eighty should be chief you'll recall we had a global food crisis and i think that the russian solution given the situation not just with the grains but also be defiant and all the uncertainty surrounding it really left the government of doubt much other choice and it is understandable why russia is suffering a grain shortage because of the intense heat wave in india millions of people are going hungry for a different reason or he's karen saying takes a look at why the stocks of rice and wheat are failing to reach those who needed most. india is home to work quarter of the world's starving people and one third of its malnourished children here in the village of dollars poured in eastern india had nothing to give us for days yes a very limited hungry child cries all the time there is no food to feed here how

can you survive like this to give this child quite a just me to drink water yet the government has record amounts of surplus stocks fifty nine million tons of wheat and rice it does have a huge public distribution system that provides free food to families below the poverty line but corruption and complex bureaucracy means the poorest of the poor often don't make it on the list. we are poor people desperate for food to eat our children go to sleep hungry names a lot on the government's poverty list and we don't get any food going to the government who can we do ultimately we would have no choice but to commit suicide. with people starving the recent images of piles of wheat rotting at a storage facility erupted into a major political issue in the state of punjab it was discovered forty nine thousand tons of food green had perished despite a precaution there's every likelihood as we have in our household there are no

where you are boarding your cup of tea for me because likelihood. can spill on the table. and if you see a. degree in which we handle. losses. i'm standing in one of the largest food storage depos in the capital new delhi impermanent where houses such as this would fix roofs the grain is safe but when green a store temporary like this with just a plastic cover to keep out the rain it can last only one year and with the government keeping seventeen million tons of wheat and rice stored like this because it simply doesn't have enough permanent warehouses you can see. the scale of the problem experts see about ten million tonnes enough to feed hundred forty million people who for a month has been through at least one monsoon and is at risk of rotting if this green wood released instead it could help those most in need but distributing it

will cost one billion dollars and the government cannot afford to add to its food subsidy that doesn't come as good news for his family who depend on the handouts. we cannot afford to buy rice for our family whatever food grain the government has is allowing to run its warehouses the ration cards the issue don't reach the actual poor whatever rice is distributed to the local dealer for us is instead sold by him in the open market. with global wheat prices rising due to the drought in russia if india loses its wheat stalks to poor storage this could fuel the price surge and that would hit the main dia the hottest cut in seeing the nudity russia's unprecedented tropical heat may have brought a poor harvest but it's also bearing some unexpected fruit the warm weather has led to a proliferation of peaches lemons and oranges in the central russian city of goof off several months earlier than expected staff in the city's greenhouses say it's the

first time the banana trees have actually produced crops in this part of the world locals more used to potatoes and tomatoes are now picking figs and lemons straight from the tree. in iraq to us backed militia leaders have said al qaeda is trying to bribe members of their groups to return to the terrorist organisation some officials in iraq it is making a comeback partly due to the power vacuum and political instability in the war torn country the us paid mercenaries are called sons of iraq and fought on the side of the coalition forces but now it seems al qaida is offering to pay them more once the americans leave the journalist who broke the story told my colleague shay that it was. big problem if the bush or group members decided to defect the sons of iraq were a group who were credited with helping stop the violent insurgency throughout two thousand and six two thousand and seven been hailed ever since by the americans as people who are

a cornerstone of the future security for this country however as the americans prepared to lead they handed over responsibility in managing the sons of iraq program to the iraqi government iraqi government's commitment to become a predominantly sunni sons of iraq groups has not been a stroll in over recent months we've seen a very sharp spate of attacks against sons of iraq meet is and militiamen and we're seeing some very disturbing reports recently about al qaida offering more money to today we have been receiving by the government and indeed some of those approaches being successful so we were told yesterday we spoke to one. sons of iraq leader who said that one hundred of his members have not turned up for the last two months to pick up salaries he says that can only mean one thing being paid by the enemy so if you're not going to be good news for washington d.c. and capitol hill that. saddam hussein's former deputy who's accused president obama

of quote leaving iraq to the wolves saying u.s. troops should stay now given the troop pullout at the end of this month surely it's not the right time for the americans to leave. but there are remarkable words for saddam hussein's chief tend to be calling for the americans to be starting he said that there was a massive mistake made to come here to invade in the first place but to leave iraq like this would indeed in his words be feeding the countries of the world pay saying that nothing is stable here there is a security vacuum there is no stability in the near future at all there is a vicious political stalemate and the future. it's this is science he's built on the army perhaps the police force in a couple of other things like that which could potentially take the country secure in the future certainly not ready to do so now so his words were a direct challenge to the white house which is that the job is done and that the

institutions are ready to tell you including the army and that iraq the foundations of a new iraq have been like if you look around the country there are many people who would dispute that. we have we're seeing a slowdown with a steady uptick in violence on a daily weekly and monthly basis and we have seen so for the last five months the mood on the streets is not good this is a sense of dread is the americans prepared to disappear and i think that they will have to mount a pretty strong case as to why their position that the job is done should be believed. the commander of a russian military base in abkhazia says moscow's deploying the s three hundred air defense system to protect the republic's airspace and ground forces georgia protested the move saying it may further intensify tension in the region but insists the deployment just for defense purposes only and was made under the existing military cooperation pact with russia victor muse in political analyst from the institute of strategic assessment says it's a logical step after georgia's aggression. of the russian military

base is deployed. i think it's quite logical. to be deployed to protect russian military to protect. it wasn't drawn to the war it was georgia. should be really cool. and also. again step as if the system was designed to be is. they hold their russian mation all that work. friends many kids are experts in the world but it's probably one the really told them they were seized deployed worldwide. taking a look now at some other stories making headlines throughout the globe authorities

in pakistan have warned many areas could soon be submerged causing thousands to flee cities and villages this flood waters head to the south and east of the country the worst natural disaster of pakistan's history has now killed fifteen hundred people and affected more than fourteen million the u.n. has launched an appeal to raise nearly half a billion dollars that it says is needed to provide emergency aid for the troubled country. a government commission has started investigating alleged atrocities committed in the last years of the sri lankan civil war the panel starts the panel starts work and made claims that a lacks credibility and the scope of the un is looking into the need for an international inquiry human rights groups say between six and thirty thousand civilians were killed at the end of the twenty five year conflict. skydivers have attempted to break the european record for the most people with one formation one hundred four participants train for two days before jumping out of five planes in the skies above poland they were not successful this time but will

try again to break the record that stands at ninety nine later this week. what is the best way for the u.s. to get out of iraq and what change did obama bring to his country's foreign policy just a few moments are to speak with veteran journalist john pilger who shared his views on america's past and present stay with us. today i'm in london speaking to jonah hill just veteran journalist of the

documentary right here who started his career during the vietnam war john pilger thanks very much for talking to me now let's talk about more media in general first if you don't mind recently the web site wiki leaks published tens of thousands of documents relating to the afghanistan war what do you think that is the biggest impacts that modern technology has had journalism well i think the wiki leaks expose is. look like they might change journalism altogether if not change or wake it up. because what we should leaks is draw is what journalists should have done. you know here here is the dreadful litany. of of disaster and killing in afghanistan and i'm in iraq. and i don't think we've gotten a sense that maybe got a sense of the disaster but i don't think we've got

a sense of the real. the the political disaster the the behind the the human disaster in afghanistan that's what we can leak says has given us. i think it says to journalists. separate us separate yourselves from the world of authority and start becoming independent it's an extraordinary moment what about the internet in general do you think in terms of names that subclassing more traditional means you know like newspapers and document chains yes i do and i mean it shouldn't subvert them but it is and is doing that which really should compliment them. because you know the into my own journalistic habits change radically i used to get up in the morning and read all the newspapers now i go to my computer and log wrong. because that's where the

that's where there's truth telling that kind of journalism. i think the agenda that comes through in so much so-called mainstream journalism is something that we can do without now and the internet is certainly subverted that you have had a very long career and journalism do you think the world is a better place now than it was when he started yes look things. improve progress is made. in spite of. the imposition. of unaccountable power. on our lives. i think socially in the way that people leave their lives and make their own arrangements in my lifetime and. there's been no norma's amount of progress that there is also an enormous amount of regression we live in

an imperial age again. i mean that's quite extraordinary we have a technological version of what it was in the nineteenth century with great powers vying for strategic place in the world resources in the world we live in an age of what they call in washington perpetual war and i'm quoting general petraeus permanent war. that's not progress that's regression and that we have to deal with and staying on that point what do you think is the best and most painless way for the u.s. and its allies to get out of iraq and afghanistan as so many critics have been calling for get out just get out. i mean this this announcement by obama. to be the end

of the combat mission next year is nonsense and that's another example of the of the media simply taking a face value something that told by authority in fact there's going to be something like ninety four bases left and sixty thousand troops and the surge so-called that is an increase in the number of mercenaries they call them contractors so far from getting out it's consolidating its position in iraq and that's what people really should understand. there was a great expression by a great irish investigative journalist called claude coburn never believe anything until it's officially denied we should apply that to all statements like that and what about the time since barack obama's been in power do you think that there has been a paradigm shift in america's foreign policy since the bush administration no. absolutely

not there's been. think we can put aside the word paradigm the paradigm has been showing since nineteen forty five american foreign policy runs in a straight line and goes up goes to sideways goes down a little bit but basically that line runs that trajectory runs in. one direction and what are bombers is simply pick up all the policies of bush and pursue them i mean for example for the first time in u.s. presidential history and hasn't happened before a president has taken the entire defense department. bureaucracy and the secretary of state for defense from a previous administration discredited so we have basically robert gates the same generals. running american foreign policy with

a lot of help from people of like mind. another war has really begun in pakistan. also in yemen and somalia with other interests in africa. bombers who has accelerated bush's policy talk to me about america's increasingly complicated relationship with iran that are now they've refused to rule out sanctions and that's talk of minute checks and what do you think this is a nation to iran's nuclear program iran. doesn't threaten anybody it doesn't have a nuclear bomb if you look through all the international atomic agency reports of the last seventy is they saying basically the same thing constantly. with iran in the middle in the in the midst of this iran wrote to the iranian government

wrote to. the american administration and put a series of proposals they didn't even get a reply. was. under the shah wrong was a pillar of the american network the american empire if you like in the middle east that was swept away and nine hundred seventy nine when there was an islamic revolution and it has been american foreign policy to get that back. now at the same time israel which is part of the american. is really an american base that is a part of american foreign policy. has tried to provoke the united states into a tech and you're wrong it has absolutely nothing to do with so-called nuclear weapons the the the the nuclear power in the middle east is the fourth biggest

military power in the world and that's israel that has something like five hundred nuclear warheads it's never discussed thank you very much you're welcome. the issue is that so much of the same you really made a lot of people a very up looking hard reality and so convenient the world will be watching closely the us senate as it debates new climate change. wealthy british style.

markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report.

lists. thanks for being with us here on r t two thirty am in the russian capital these are your headlines russia breeds more freely a small dog and a wildfire. seem to be retreating but there are still hundreds of places to put out and thousands of volunteers helping fight the flames and provide vital supplies to those affected. russia halts and weed exports to ensure its domestic needs are met afterward.