the multinational battle against russia's wildfires makes headway cutting the area ablaze by two thirds over recent days. atomic countdown russia says iran's first nuclear power plant share will launch on august twenty first the project does not conflict with recent united nations sanctions against tehran. to commanders are to be given their marching orders after a video of a massive brawl at a military base in the moscow region finds its way onto the internet. and greetings from moscow where it is two o'clock in the morning i'm sean thomas

and here are your top stories the battle against a raging wildfires across russia is showing signs of success with the area now on fire just cut to one third of what it was five days ago however the situation remains critical in some parts of the country the first to two planes with firefighting equipment on board have arrived in moscow on friday more deliveries are expected in the capital during the weekend more than ten european countries and the neighboring states have also provided assistance to russia's fight against the flames meanwhile the record breaking heat that's been fueling the fires in the moscow region is finally starting to ease. authorities are now preparing for heavy storms as i told you before. the burning area has shrunk by thousands of hectares throughout the country in the past twenty four hours and states of emergencies have been lifted in several regions in washing however the overall situation is of course still devastating as many villages have been burnt down completely and thousands of people have been left without homes over fifty people have been killed

in the blazes right now we are some two hundred kilometers away from moscow and this is the area that one of there is that have suffered the most from the far is right now behind me you can probably see the completely burned down forest here right now russian military is helping farming to tackle the blazes are very important to ask of the russian government right now is to protect the countries such as military bases and nuclear plants and all foreigners in those regions contaminated by the nine hundred eighty six noble nuclear disaster have been extinguished by now as they have been concerns that they could spread greater access particles further and russian authorities right now are saying that the radio active level in those regions is the normal meanwhile in regions like this one that they're still burning the small is still very very thick it's very difficult to breathe here and doctors are saying that standing here in this forest

for just one hour is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes they're also saying that immune systems of many people have gone down during this period of fires of course those with lung diseases and heart diseases have suffered the most meanwhile the weather forecasts are not very optimistic even though where you saw heavy rainfall early morning on friday it seemed that for the shower it was very isolated and just as we left the capital on our way here the showers have stopped they did clear the air in moscow however but they didn't help to fight the fires outside the city experts are saying that this heat that will last for the next couple of days will then be slowly replaced with the lowering temperatures which might bring heavy rains and storms in the city. parties natalia novikov are reporting from the moscow region and the fires have claimed another life officials say the first a death of a volunteer firefighter has been confirmed after his body was found in the republic

of more dough via in central russia many across the country have joined the battle and artie's oxana. went to see what the people in the moscow region have been doing to tame the flames. do you want. meet alexander the driving cinema manager by night there's open fire over there see about a five fighter by day one of the many russian volunteers who are trying to say forests villages and people. running i have two toddlers you wake up the whole city is choking with smog the kids a coughing and you really want to get rid of the smog but how we understand that we ourselves have to do something mari did fire tim speak to kill a forest into wasteland alexander and his friends spread the word volunteer and people do. we take food so that people won't be hungry we've got food rations from

the emergencies ministry it tastes good volunteers usually have no gloves they are needed as the fire is everywhere and you can easily get hurt but. almost every day a team of twenty from different backgrounds meets at the square the group is almost ready we're just found out the fires fifteen kilometers away and this is where we're going and half an hour later the real job begins for volunteers the forest becomes a war zone are going but the. fire got close to the solid line it can move over it and into the forest at any minute our task is to hold back the fire covered with sand so it won't get into the village the team may be small but they punching above their weight. today the farmers not so bad but yesterday volunteers braved the worst they put out using anything to hand we're going to do with doctors guys here helicopters are a good thing they're dropping water but here on the ground there's guys phase the

for close up shop work for you guys we need sand here. over there the fire is moving up the tree we need to try to stop it. it's hard tough work a real challenge linda refuses to go under and for those who has been and are useful receiving mission. i look for fire and call my husband hicks english is that with a shovel or drops water when we are moving from place to place i help him with the caring. the team's teasin deforest cental dawn but while most of them rested whom alexander will work his regular shift at the drive in cinema and the following morning he will get the move all in tears who will again tool and sweat to save the forests. r t iran's first nuclear power plant

is due to be launched next week russia's state nuclear corp ross out on will be will load the bush air played with fuel on august twenty first and says this does not contradict a new un united nations sanctions imposed on tehran the plan should be then fully operational in about a month but the u.s. is opposed to tehran producing its own nuclear energy without proof that iran is not developing atomic weapons or that he knows out of all reports. all signs seems to point to the fact that yes all issues have been settled all the details have been hammered out and iran's a first nuclear power plant and bush air will indeed launch on august twenty first of course it's been a long wait getting there the plant a bridge in the way of the construction of the plant originally began in the one nine hundred seventy s. they were performed by a german construction crew the first after the iranian revolution construction was halted that was later picked up by the russian state nuclear agency

a stop the name of the of the ninety's of original launch date was originally set for two thousand and seven but that iran had some financial difficulties failing to pay some parts of the bill that assad presented it with so the date had to be bought as a party to officials here at the us of the this is the final launch date of august the twenty fourth iran's first nuclear power plant will begin producing peaceful nuclear energy according to the officials that we've spoken to at the russian state that nuclear agency at our sought them they say that the sanctions currently enforced against iran by the united nations security council do not actually the effect of the pushchair power plant project they did that the bush era power plant is not included in those sanctions of course moscow backed the last bout of sanctions against the islamic republic of iran that has dampened relations somewhat

between moscow and tehran but the russian the nuclear state to see if the agency says that it is working very closely with the iranian side it is working very closely with the international nuclear watchdog the international atomic energy agency to make sure that every step of the way of the process every step of the functioning of this power plant is strictly controlled not only by russia but by the i.a.e.a. as well you cannot and you throw these nuclear power plants in your head that they support needed to. new pinball plan is just right that you do see. these through there are. we call the double double purpose recently spent fuel. rods this sentiments. are a new responsibility because the supply with nuclear fuel should nuclear ball for all the lifetime of them go figure spent fuel back to the process of the russian

army so a lot of controls in force but still the media's eye is definitely going to be on iran come august twenty first. on the way the secret is out find out why washington is more desperate than before the put a stop to the disclosure of thousands of declassified documents on the whistle blowing web site because leaks and also investment based on fortune telling find out who hopes to get rich simply by gazing into a cup of coffee. two russian commanders are getting their marching orders for failing to stop military maneuvers of a rather unorthodox kind scores of soldiers under their charge ran amok in a mass brawl lasting over half an hour made public after fight footage appeared on the web artes and he said now he has the details. it was a brutal brawl that lasted for about a half an hour some twenty or so draftees were training to do their mandatory year

in the russian army just going out if you can see this brutal video which was posted on you tube and of course by officials are so outraged two of the commanders are being forced to resign for not being able to stop or prevent a fight like this three draftees go to court and in fact face trial for being the ones to instigate this fight they were known to be the most violent during the fight and so we don't know what's going to happen to them and this investigation probably would have taken the place whether or not this video was posted on you tube as we know russia has been launching tremendous army reforms over the past couple of years it was one of the first decrees in fact that president medvedev made when he stepped into office and it's something he's been pushing very strongly for. the pentagon fears more classified documents due to be released by the whistle blowing web site wiki leaks may cause greater harm than those already published the u.s. military says it knows the nature of fifteen thousand classified records that wiki

leaks editor in chief julian assange has pledged to assume release last month the side published seventy thousand documents creating a media storm and attracting that white house criticism but investigative journalist and r.t. contributor wayne madsen believes these huge leaks could have even been orchestrated by the government itself. is showing up at news conferences in london the australian are saying that they're not going to seek any arrest of him simply as an australian national so we see a lot of governments britain and australia not wanting to take any action against him and you've got to wonder is the pentagon really serious when they're saying we want these leaks to stop maybe it's part of a psychological warfare campaign and we've seen the pentagon waste those successfully in the past they had many people come into iraq had weapons of mass destruction and they never did these leaks seem to only benefit

a realignment of u.s. strategy in both iraq and afghanistan a lot of people are getting very suspicious about the motivations it's a bit of p.r. but also i think there may be a little bit of playing into the hands of those who want the united states not to pull out of iraq or afghanistan but to remain in both countries. with that same story john young who was a co-founder of wiki leaks before leaving the organization believes the site has become far too interested in publicity and is neglecting its core purpose. and they've got a great job publicising what they do including exaggerating the importance of. an important story and diminishing the amount of secrecy around the world because it's set out to release documents that should go to the public but it's turned into something. producing machine right now and has neglected its regular producing of a lot of interesting documents that the public needs to see and i think that right

now. joined up with the department of defense to act to divert attention from more important matters particularly the recent series on secrecy put out by the washington post and so it's gotten into the publicity game for too much. pakistan's president said there should be no official independence day celebrations on saturday as the country prepares for a second round of devastating floods president ali zardari will visit the worst hit regions after criticism for being abroad despite the severest flooding in eighty years the united nations estimates that sixteen hundred have died with fourteen million people hit by the disaster many are at risk of illness with fever skin and stomach illness is running rampant among flood victims. at least four people have been killed and thirty one injured after indian security forces opened fire into a thousand to strong demonstration in kashmir protesters opposed to indian rule

have been throwing rocks and stones at police before the shooting began the rally in the indian administered region was in response to the reinstatement of a curfew which had been lifted for the start of ramadan after separatist groups threatened to hold marches two months of violence have left at least fifty five people dead. the world economic crisis ruined many people's finances but also faith in the ability of stock market professionals to predict the future some of those with money still have left to invest or turning to clara voyant to help them decide where to put their cash and as daniel bushell reports it meant a boom for fortune tellers madame christina sees the future from the stains in her coffee she promises to make you money on the stock market invest in coke she says is the real thing a safe haven the umbrella shows from current economic turbulence symbolized by

these raindrops in russia gophers burbank this fish jumping through an open circle guarantee success will check how she does at the end of this report more than christina's advice has already changed lives only that she has given me confidence to get a better paid job my my own house and me to park now. fortunetelling has become a staggering eight billion dollar industry in italy alone as people don't bankers who fail to call the credit crunch one crystal ball gazer says her clients include rich businessmen and big politicians the world's top terror card expert people also want answers in their private life. still in love. with some problem. the second card. and you approach the problem. of reason the astonishing rise in psychic

fortunes is fueling a massive public counterattack prefers the peninsula as dedicated his life to prove clear voyant are cheats no better than bankers and now madame christine is jew selection of thousand dollars invested in her tubes would have earned you one hundred fifty dollars to pull the average of the stock markets where they trade justified or not she says the public's leaving lenders and coming to her for financial advice after this spectacular failure to support the economic crisis banks are losing customers some say fortune tellers couldn't do any worse i may even shed light in these difficult times. when your bushel r.t. . next to martin anders it continues his tour around russia's golden ring and visits a town and a town founded more than a million iom a girl his latest adventure is just ahead.

hello good to see you again and welcome to you said to be the of the golden ring cities located two hundred and fifty kilometers to the north east of moscow it was founded in the year ten ten islands is one of the oldest cities in russia.

the volga river it's featured in countless poems stories and songs. but here is the main transport link that stretches all the way down to the caspian sea. the longest river in new york pastas through many major russian cities such as kazanci modest and volgograd. preceded by viking settlements in the april ninth centuries the city is said to have been founded in the tent and as an outpost the principle is the overall story. centuries later. the second largest city and first time during the polish invasion of russia in six hundred twelve it was the unofficial capital of russia. today the city has a population of over six hundred thousand it's an important heritage site and off to moscow and st petersburg it's one of the main tourist destinations we come from

the u.s. where something that one hundred. years old is considered all and here we've been able to see magnificent frescoes that are up to a thousand years old so it's been an incredible experience you can see why popular . during history in b.c. it also has a fast and direct train route from the famous express also in the city. to monument prince. the first fortress on the volga river built one thousand years ago legend has it a ferocious sacred back story is displayed here ever since the bear has been associated with the area and is now the city's emblem. this site is extremely important to the cultural life it's where the first was built in the country in seventy fifty after a fire destroyed the original wooden building it was replaced by

a shallow certain structure you see today. it's said to be the starting point of stagecraft before anyone. came along. and many areas in time for the one thousand. eight. in good time i suppose. now if you think. you'd be correct take a look here. it's out of. one thousand. it has a value of around thirty dollars and it's one of the most popular and use banknotes long gone is the face of. various historical sites. like this one here. this monument was unveiled in one thousand nine hundred seven was built on the local civilians led by million. went all the way from moscow the

capital from paul. in sixteen. of the monuments celebrate the success. without taking the inside the spiritual and cultural of the city. which translates as. found in the place with. its often mistakenly the city's kremlin. so want to tourists. and the united states. american. train for magic but it's more visible in moscow and. here we feel like we're returning to the old and it is absolutely spectacular to see that we are in a place that boring back to the century grander the onion dome so we're very fortunate that we've spent three days here it's something that i

think a lot of americans don't know about. an opportunity part of the world. everything was rebuilt. on time today we can hear the sounds of how many drills dozens of men are working around the clock to renovate the ministry in time for the anniversary celebrations it's wonderful to hear the most of the city's main sites will be returned to the. the ministry bear proved very popular with vista is found in a forest as a cub a mother being killed barely alive and suffering from exhaustion and starvation she was rescued by the us of a museum and preserve the she lives to this day this is master here she's been living inside the kremlin for twenty years and hibernate for a staggering three to five months each year she's completely friendly a lot by everyone here in the city she's cared for by the egotism who say that

she's smarter than a dog i think she's absolutely adorable and. very . so what else is there to see and to do here they are still state museum architecture and reserve is a large museum complex in the city including several buildings and hundreds of thousands of items in its collections became a say museum in one hundred twenty four when collections of several private museums in the region we lighted into one precious important items from various churches and most trees were brought here this main collections are now on display at the ministry in the city. one of its highlights is a manuscript titles love of equal level of meaning the song of ideas while fact which is the major epic piece of ancient russian literature. you

also must have missed the church of st john the baptist along with the monument it's depicted in one of the thousand with banknotes built between six hundred seventy one and six hundred eighty seven on the bank of the cultural river it's now one of the world heritage sites the area was one of the wealthiest parts of the town at that time this residence was the build the most amazing church in the us level it's pretty cool so decorated with glazed tiles in the structures distinctive feature are it's amazing fifteen onion domes assembled in three groups. and finally party. up lavaca is a large entertainment complex on the peaceful environment of the volga river including many areas there are restaurants out of terraces my clubs and so. if loved by the city's well to do the best are organized is an impressive rice dishes and drinks in the menu and some of the best r.c.c. teaches here we not.

have not yet. now moving to our next location this is a private museum funded by one of the residents this hall is called music and time featuring various musical instruments and clocks now the owner is obsessed with bells it's their right and his private collection on his one thousand is displayed here inside the museum. a beautiful surveyor and museums are wonderful this is a very special museum of course because it reflects the interests of its founder so much these bells from and. through is a joy to visit this museum and to hear the bells and the photographs and as well as become a kind of person. like many museums around the world where you have glass cabinets

we do not touch signs at this museum you can see much many of the items on display such as this wonderful nineteenth century gramophone. the clocks are all set at different times to chimes to go off at once good idea and if you want to be crazy by the taking you can always listen to the strange sound off the music box. sounds like it's being played could see me. finally after all the side saying i'm kind of hungry i recommended.