selfless dedication thousands of volunteers help fight the flames and provide vital supplies to those affected. a helping hand from across borders our team meets a retired british firefighter who has written to vladimir putin offering to go to the front line of russia's flames. russia stop sweet exports to ensure its domestic needs are met after wildfires and drought prompting a jump in global grain prices meanwhile india is losing tons of surplus crops to poor storage as people of the country go hungry. it is poised for a comeback the terrorist group reportedly on a recruiting spree spurred on by the planned u.s. troop withdrawal from iraq.

six am in the russian capital i matras a thanks for being with us here on r t our top story moscow was finally breathing more freely as the den smog and noxious fumes that have been tormenting the russian capital for days finally subsided officials say some wildfires are now under control but many are still raging because of record breaking heat artie's a nice and now weighs in a badly hit region of resign some two hundred kilometers southeast of moscow with more. this is how it all starts with a small flame that can quickly and golf the entire forest making this a very fierce battle for emergencies workers and volunteers. 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 team to come along for

a ride on this ill seventy six. the . water line they make and. if you want to drop over the past. service like. the same turn down below our first. flight plan. and they also 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 my guys that this is one of the world's kate major 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 he's now way artsy resign region and it's not only the russians that are helping those affected by the fires people who other countries are sending aid and condolences some even want to help battle the flames artie's laura discovered when she met up with a british former firefighter this is a man whose sense of duty knows no national pull which is a retired firefighter daniel coleus 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 it's a system fire fighting operations and you 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. are still feel that there's always help people rush hour in particular because of the problem at the moment with. 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 pataki the type of blazes sweeping through russia start my career off and go into

seven zero sorry farmers wish a lot to mr cause a lot of foreigners in rural areas including foreign military rangers and in terms of the foreigners are occurring in russia. in the world. we would spend money here we hear some of times and hope some of to do with exactly the same type of foils the one way that we would have dealt with it in those days was to dig for a break and of words dig a trench down below the pay 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 there to help save lives for. the ship and russia has to point to store the person has to. and then allow

the people that care the paramedics. the following points were to come in to do their job daniel clearly is packed and ready to go the anything stopping him flying to russia is red tape clearly it says if russia temporarily suspended the visa regime for emergency work he and hundreds like came with floods to russia to quash the flames you were at a essex. this 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 that's just enough to meet domestic needs authorities say it could be october before the country starts exporting again after the harvest figures are in with russia the world's third largest wheat export or last year global prices for grain went up after the announcement. from the food and agriculture organization of united nations 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 that is certainly a very severe situation in terms of supply and the drought has been extreme to see via and the production shortfalls or fall more fall more dissipated as three weeks ago therefore it is on the stand that will restrictions off. 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 decided to do 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 the measures which is the total ban there had been a very extraordinary action to the ban in russia and the prices. rose very sharply . they have calmed down

a little bit the market is actually taking into consideration. 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 in general terms we are you much better situation than for example in two thousand and seven and eight the 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. while russia is suffering a grain shortage because of the intense heat wave in india millions of people are

going hungry for a different reason artie's charan singh takes a look at why stocks of rice and wheat are failing to reach some of those who need it 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 four days yes a valid and hungry child cries all the time there is no food to feed here how can we 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 most of us are actually i'm not much we are poor people desperate for food to eat my children go to sleep hungry names are not on the government's poverty list and we don't get any food going from 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 if so you're taking precautions there is every likelihood as we have in the household there right now where you are boarding your cup of tea for me because likelihood. can spin on the table. and if you see a. result was a degree in which we handle. losses more. abundant 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 this. the problem experts see about ten million tons enough to feed hundred forty million people 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 hand. 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 odd expected fruit the warm weather has led to a proliferation of peaches lemons and oranges in the central russian city of several months earlier than expected staff in the city's greenhouses say it's the first time the banana trees have actually produced crops this part of the world locals more used to potatoes and tomatoes are now picking figs and lemons straight from the tree. turning to iraq to u.s. backed militia leaders have said al qaeda is trying to bribe members of their group to return to the terrorist organization some officials in iraq say it is making a comeback partly due to the power vacuum and political instability of the war torn country and u.s. paid mercenaries called the sons of iraq and they fought on the side of coalition forces but now it seems as offering to pay them more once the americans leave the

journalist who broke the story to my colleague shay said that it could be a big problem with militia. members 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 prepare to lead their heritage over responsibility in managing the sons of iraq program to the iraqi government the iraqi government's commitment to the potomac predominantly sunni sons of iraq groups has not been strong in over recent months we've seen a very sharp spate of attacks against sons of iraq i mean it is and militiamen and we're seeing some very disturbing reports recently about al qaida offering more money. to them than they would be 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 that they are now 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 lieutenant 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. nothing is stable here there is a security vacuum and there is no stability in the near future at all there is

a vicious political stalemate and the few tenets that this is he is built on. the army perhaps the police force and a couple of other things like that which could potentially keep the country secure in the future certainly not ready to do so now his words were a direct challenge to the white house which is that the job is done and that the institutions are ready to take over including the army and that iraq the foundations of the new iraq have been laid if you look around the country there are many people who would dispute that. we are seeing a slow 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 as the americans prepare 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. afghan war veteran jake deliberate says that al qaeda strategy of buying

loyalty will ultimately fail. buying off people never works because people have to take part in their nation state to build it. big reason that al qaeda is making a stronghold back inside of iraq is because we fail i think i think the coalition forces of failed to realize what's making al qaeda grow al-qaeda is growing because of of continued presence the us and nato forces in the middle east i mean we have we have templi surrounded the middle east and bases in united arab emirates and saudi arabia and in iraq and afghanistan in kuwait and as a result of our bases being there the greater islamic world sees that and they see their their environment being taken over by what they see as occupiers no i don't personally i don't necessarily think that the united states wants to conquer and control all of the middle east but i think that we definitely want to demonstrate power there so we put in military bases there the big problem is that this hasn't

appropriately assess the threat the threat is five to seven thousand militants and every day that we stay inside the middle east those militants have fuel to grow. let's take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe authorities in pakistan have warned many areas could soon be submerged causing thousands to flee cities and villages as flood waters head to the south and east of the country the worst natural disaster in pakistan's history has now killed fifteen hundred people in the affected more than fourteen million the u.n. has launched an appeal to raise nearly half a billion dollars it says it's needed to provide emergency aid for the troubled country. at least twenty two people have been killed twenty five others injured when a bus overturns and plunges two hundred meters down a ravine in peru the bus was carrying fifty passengers who were mostly farmers traders and teachers bus accidents are relatively common in peru because of poorly maintained vehicles. a government commission has started investigating alleged

atrocities committed during the final years of the sri lankan civil war the panel starts work amid claims that it lacks credibility and scope the u.n. is looking into it was 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. and skydivers have attempted to break the european record for the most people jumping in one formation one hundred four participants train for two days before leaping out of five planes in the skies above poland they weren't successful this time but say they will try again to break the record which stands at ninety nine later in the week. what is the best way for the u.s. to get out of iraq and what change did barack obama bring to his country's foreign policy in a few minutes r.t. speaks with a veteran journalist john pilger who shares his views on america's past and present .

today i'm in london speaking to joan a veteran journalist and a documentary writer who started his career chairing the vietnam war john paul just thanks very much for talking to r.t. now let's talk about morton media in general first if you don't mind recently the website 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 of wake it up. because what we could leaks is wrong is what journalists should have done. you know here here is the dreadful litany of years of of disaster and killing in afghanistan and i'm in iraq. and i don't think we've gotten a sense certainly we got a sense of the disaster but i don't think we've got a sense of the real. 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 you know so from the word of authority and start becoming independent it's an

extraordinary moment what about the internet in general do you think in terms of means 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 on the 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 you started yes look things.

improve progress is my. in spite of. the. 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 i made sure of what they call in washington perpetual war and i'm quoting general petraeus permanent war i mean 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. the 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 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's 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 hasn't changed since nine hundred 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.

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 this really began in pakistan. also in yemen and somalia with other interests in africa. bombers has accelerated bush's policy talk to me about america's increasingly complicated

relationship with iran that are now that they've refused to rule out sanctions and that's talk of the minute 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 go. with the rise 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 iran 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 israeli and american base that was a part of american foreign policy. has tried to provoke the united states into attacking iran 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 just thank you very much you're welcome.

every month we give you the future we help you understand how to get there and want to bring the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world join us knology update on r g. if. soon which brightened. song from phones to impression. from stunts on t.v. dot com. this. is.