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capital as firefighters push on with their battle against the country's rampant wildfire. on the sixty fifth anniversary of america's atomic a time of japanese city of not of saki the a bombs a reflect a legacy is still felt by its victims. and justice campaigners claim women convicted of killing their violent partners in california are having their parole boards down by the political ambitions of state governments. a warm welcome to the weekly here on our t.v. this sunday on the news from now with a look back at the week's top stories and first the area affected by wildfires in russia has reduced by two thirds this week but the relentless flames have devoured

entire villages and towns in their path leaving more than three thousand people without homes the record heat wave in central areas triggered blazes across more than twenty regions and there's still a high level of alert in moscow's neighboring result and floods in their regions wildfires there have calls noxious small to return to the capital after a few days of clear skies are being the groucho the looks of the consequences of the disaster. this summer's wildfires stiefel from those in previous years the disaster it was not only widespread but highly especially visible. in the capital a blanket of smoke covered moscow for several weeks so too did it envelop the country's economy. to its sure the situation is very severe as about a quarter of all grain fields in the country have dried up as a result of the drought unfortunately many firms are now on the verge of bankruptcy the government has already agreed to provide financial help to agricultural

producers who were faced with hard times the government responded by banning wheat exports until beyond of the year it sent world grain prices to their highest for two years the danger is that given we've been through two thousand and seven two thousand and eight and we saw when prices precede rises in other prices of commodities the danger is that financial markets start to anticipate price growth in other commodities and that's actually what causes a more general food price spike the short term the facts of the wildfires have been quickly reflected in the price tags of some essential foods and while customers can already feel how much thinner their wallets have become this summer the long term effects of the catastrophe us to be cost it over fifty people died in the fires while the death rate in other smoke shrouded regions has doubled at its height in moscow alone some seven hundred people were dying each day the long term effect on

the health of august want to be known for years when you have forest fires not only do you have the smog but you've also got carbon monoxide and you've got small particles which are in just a dent alarms and cause problems breathing. the country's ecological lungs are badly damaged to eight hundred thousand hectares of forest fire in an area the size of cypress morton yes they can be planted but it will take time for them to grow it will take several decades to make up for this loss we've lost along the moscow region i mean the woods contributing to air purification and oxygen production which is a considerable blow against the environment of the metropolis. what took decades to grow has been obliterated in one long hot summer now russians are wondering whether the unusually high temperatures are just a freak of nature or if the herald the time when moscow won't be just known for its freezing winters but for its scorching summers as well you can sit in the church of

r r t. but russia's unprecedented hot summer together with blistering wildfires and thick smog is leading some environmentalist to point the finger at manmade climate change but piers corbyn from the weather action foundation says these claims are groundless climate has always been china but it has nothing to do with man in fact we predicted that there would be extremely used europe and russia this summer and it's caused by a certain circulation pattern c o two does not cause circulation patterns what causes those is a combination of solar activity and the state of the phases of the moon a very similar situation happened about one hundred thirty two years ago where it was the size. of the lunar magnetic state there was in by show on the road so floods in pakistan. and in the previous few years there was also flood

to leverage summers also hundred thirty two years ago so these things are dictated by solar activity in the moon has nothing to do with mankind and those who say they are to just talk about money. there with are to live from moscow and so on we'll look at whether the you were asking real to stick to its deadline to get out of iraq and say the promise is more to appease people at home rather than fair assessment of whether iraq is ready to go it alone. and this week saw the sixty fifth anniversary of america's atomic bombing of the japanese city of nagasaki. over thirty countries attended a ceremony on monday to remember the eighty thousand victims of the attack which happened in the closing days of world war two in one thousand nine hundred forty five the explosion happened three days after the us devastated another japanese city with the world's first nuclear bomb strike but as our two son thomas reports

the effects of the tragedy are still being felt today. sixty five years ago sumi taro taniguchi was enjoying a simple morning bicycle ride when in a tragic instant his life was changed forever. i was thrown to the ground and i didn't eat piecing sound i thought i had been killed but i encouraged myself not to die that it was important to go on living. at first terror noticed his bicycle had been twisted and bent out of shape but has he started to move he began to realize the severity of his own condition she got up there. and my left arm and shoulder in my skin was dripping off and i had severe burns on my buddy. eleven year old yoshi kawi was at home with his twin brother just two kilometers from the blast center on that fateful morning. at eleven o two i saw the flights and give to the floor to cover my hand eyes and ears there

was a wave in our entire house crashed over us. go and his brothers crawled from the rubble and went into the city to look for their father who worked at the mitsubishi munitions plant close to the heart of the explosion on their way they found countless charred bodies and a terrifying scene you had. while crossing the river we were drawn to a woman who was walking with what looked like a wide belt or cloth trailing behind her but when we took a closer look it was her intestines coming out of her stomach there was nothing we could do. this is the hyper center of the bomb which means sixty five years ago it exploded five hundred meters above this exact spot and the people who suffered that horrific event well their stories are truly amazing but what they didn't know back then and just as disturbing is the long term effects of that radiation the medical effects is continuing. cutting her. that means sixty five years.

is. so that it true that the. radiation is affecting human bodies for sixty five years so we tara taniguchi has had continuous surgeries throughout his life to remove tumors on his back caused by the radiation now he declares that the war did not end in one thousand nine hundred five but rather the effects continue to this day and even though i'm a car we wasn't as severely injured initially as an adult he has endured liver disease and two types of cancer attributed to the mom as well as the psychological damage of the event. the atomic bomb was extremely cruel america should never have dropped the bombs and human beings on the test in new mexico should have been the end of nuclear weapons once the power of these weapons was known. but having experienced the wrath of the world's most devastating weapon these two survivors have one shared message that in. people use the wood deterrent but i do not

believe that human beings can co-exist with nuclear. a reason why the a bomb survivors of hiroshima and nagasaki are pushing for peace and complete global nuclear disarmament thomas r. t. nagasaki japan well the anniversary has been years to bolster calls to get rid of atomic weapons but as lawmaker tony lowered her tears the u.k. parliament all party group on nonproliferation says nuclear strikes are still correct to be taken seriously. if you look at the the history of the post nuclear age the reality really is this is that the world has been lucky that we have not more you could explode nuclear accident could take place see even in this this stage now because we know the so much for sale material that. it's only at any point in time we couldn't be certain accidents can save place and cause the problem

perforation not simply to new states we know the concern of the moment for example about your brown or north korea and those things that ought to make the world wake up and take very seriously the danger of nuclear weapons in this area and commits the only thing that will stop the proliferation to all the states or to serious which is by getting rid of nuclear weapons and it can be done not overnight but it can be done if this generation has the political will. well thursday marked a decade since the course of nuclear submarine tragedy in which one hundred eighteen people were killed and morial services were held throughout russia families of the crew members and fleet commanders threw reason to the barents sea of the side of the disaster which happened during naval war exercises ten years ago the official investigation concluded that a torpedo exploded inside one of the boats launchers leading to a chain reaction of detonations it remains the worst navy tragedy in russia's post

soviet history. and a few minutes why india's band want structure is proving hard to staunch the current trend from schools where food is prepared by people seem to be from a lower or the. united states says its sticking to its targets and all combat operations in iraq by the end of august and to withdraw almost all troops by the end of next year well right now there are more than sixty thousand u.s. troops in iraq but that number is expected to drop to fifty thousand in the next few weeks iraq's top military officials warned that the presence of american troops might be needed for up to a decade more until the country's security forces are ready to fully take over veteran investigative journalist john pilger told r.t. that america will not pull out of iraq that using. this announcement by. the be the end of the combat mission next year is norm something and that's another

example of the media simply taking at face value something that told by authorities in fact there's going to be something like ninety four bases left and sixty thousand troops and the surge so cold that is an increase in the number of motion agrees they call them contractors so far from getting out there's a great expression by a great irish investigative journalist called claude coburn never believe in the thing until it's officially denied. we should apply that to all statements like that. and in afghanistan despite the efforts by the u.s. and its allies the security situation continues to deteriorate a u.n. report shows that in the first half of twenty ten civilian casualties rose by twenty five percent compared to the same period last year the number of children who were killed soared by more than half general petraeus the u.s.

military commander says this shows the need to intensify the fight against the taliban and in their efforts to protect civilians the united states will deploy another thirty thousand soldiers by the end of this year but promised to start withdrawing troops by next july. moscow's announced that it will launch iran's first nuclear power plant next week the russian nuclear agency that's building the bush air facility will start loading the reactor with fuel on august the twenty first it's likely to go fully online a few weeks later but under strict monitoring by the u.n. nuclear watchdog russia will help run the station supply fuel and remove waste for reprocessing you were recently impose strict sanctions against iran to make it abandon its uranium enrichment program but russia says western fears that the plant can help to iran make a nuclear bomb groundless. you cannot and you know use nuclear power plant

in your hypothetical you think. you get bob. it's just if you write that you do see. you through that there are. people that double double your. research mood and spend your money. well they send them in so you can. bring your responsibility because back on the supply with nuclear fuel should you be above one for the life of them go figure dispense your back to the process of the russian are you. there check out our dot com where our stories are updated twenty four hours a day there are some other things that might. it's arrived this sunday billionaire belt tightening at stamford bridge find out why romano but our moments of giving his chelsea players the blues by keeping bonuses on the bench. and follow the oscar winning director of titanic and the abyss as he comes to take the plunge in

the world's deepest freshwater lake the details are online at our teen dot com. american women jailed for murdering their abusive partners face life behind bars their parole kept at bay for what seemed to be political ends rather than ensuring justice campaigners argue the prisoners killed only through fearing for their own lives but as christine fears our explained state governors are keeping them under lock and key to secure future votes. made normal. when i first came here my son wasn't even a year old and i think that he. kind of sees me and the other women that he's met here at the visiting room he kind of sees like women that have. gone through

a lot and ended that is still standing on our feet now forty years old she's been behind bars since one thousand nine hundred ninety two convicted of killing her abusive boyfriend during a violent attack one of many in their relationship this is somebody who doesn't belong behind bars somebody who made a terrible mistake and readily admits that she made a terrible mistake by picking up a gun in the first place in two thousand and nine she was found to be suitable for parole by the california parole board that decision was overturned by california governor arnold schwarzenegger's a reality shared by many women here at the california institution for women in los angeles most have long histories of abuse from the person for whom they are convicted of killing a down the road the university of southern california law school has taken up the cause of many of these women in a program called the post conviction justice project professor michael brennan is one of the founders our clients for the most part have committed

a single serious crime in their life and that's a crime that they're serving their sentence for they are represented by law students like andy martin i'm representing their saw garcia who was at the age of thirteen trafficked into the united states and sold to a man who for six years physically emotionally and sexually abused her garcia was forced at gunpoint to help that man drag and bury the body of the man he had shot then convicted of aiding and abetting so far she has served seventeen years in march she too was deemed suitable for parole the parole process is really the beginning of a long legal battle for the convicted it's not the end of the. story it turns out it's not even the end of this chapter parole for both garcia and could be and was just reversed by california governor arnold schwarzenegger of the four thousand cases that go before the board each year just about seventeen percent are found

suitable for parole and of those governors fourteen egger has overturned more than sixty percent previous governor reversed ninety percent so why why this obsession with incarceration because most governors in california certainly at some point in their career feel that they may have. possibility of running for president they're concerned about granting parole to inmates who might go out and commit a serious crime but many of these women's records show they would not be a danger to society that they were young and scared for their lives or for the lives of their children. ok the program in the hallways ok the way a bomb could be on the one. end of the line for many is here. in prison for life despite their

sentence you can't turn parole but wife sentences in two. what we call l.-wop sentences life without possibility of parole simply because. victims rights groups or others think that if you've been convicted of murder you should never be paroled a broken system chance is given then taken away here and still hope the system will change for campian that she'll be reunited with her son it will work out in the end if if you really truly love somebody like the way that i love him i want him to be the best like even if i have to stay here forever i just want him to be. the best in los angeles christine for south r.t. . just gone twenty minutes past the hour let's look at some stories making headlines around the world u.n.

secretary general ban ki moon called for international aid to be stepped up during his visit to flood ravaged pakistan is the country's worst natural disaster with an estimated sixteen hundred dead survivors face starvation and illness as emergency crews struggle to reach the worst affected areas at least one case of cholera been confirmed the catastrophe has left around twenty million people. and flags were at half mast across china on sunday on a day of national mourning for the twelve hundred victims of last week's landslides more than five hundred are still missing after the massive avalanches of mud and rocks all public entertainment was suspended rescuers are working to help those still trapped under the debris and try to prevent further flooding. and offer a truck has plowed into spectators at a night rally in southern california killing eight people twelve others were injured with some airlifted to hospital the driver had to flee the crash site when

the crowd turned against him it's thought he lost control of the vehicle after mitt missed timing the jump at the start of the race the annual california two hundred event attracts thousands to watch dune buggy style cars leap different obstacles. now attempts to bring equality to india by eliminating the centuries old hindu caste system are proving tough to enforce discrimination through the hereditary social class structure has been bad for more than fifty years but as current thing explains deep rooted sentiments still hold fast. it's a problem that's been simmering but now so only davey sees it's fast reaching boiling point she's a newly appointed cook in this primary school and johnny board here to prepare the government funded midday meal but despite sony's best intentions some of the students done their noses up but many creations because she's a ballot or untouchable in traditional hindu society on the upper caste cooks.

community means that even now and some children don't want to trued me by me their parents consider the food polluted by my touch what can i do i'm here to make lunch in the school and treat the children here just like my own kids one hundred twenty million children across india receive a meet every working day in the largest school lunch program in the world but when the education ministry decided to send it cooks to good schools where the majority of pupils are upper caste hindus many found that too hard to swallow after the media a meal can entice poor parents to send their children to school because look forward to it but there are some parents who don't want their children to eat food made by low cost people and have removed their children from here and also threaten us as well. meet the same family a member of the upper caste raj board community they refused to allow their ten

year old son to continue studying in a school which they felt didn't respect their customs and pulled him out immediately and we are asked to believe strongly in the cost system that we cannot eat food made touched by somebody from a lower caste that's why we need to child from this government school and take him into part activist said this kind of reaction demonstrates the difficulty in eradicating the caste system discrimination on the basis. of cost is illegal in india but the practice is still entrenched in rural areas where the kind of work you do and who you can eat with is largely divided along gas lines are then home much larger past people are treated like at the upper castes or just about they tell us stay on one side wash the utensils that anything to humiliate us they want to assume

a now and never rise that. the government says legal action will be taken against villagers who are poor cooks in schools the earlier this is done the better after all this attempt to get children of all costs to eat together irrespective of who's made the food is a small but important step in the country's journey to bridge social divisions got unseeing r.t. but. no plans to build a mosque near ground zero in new york we're never going to get a universal welcome online talk show host laura her fitness now asked people in the city whether it's fueling anti islamic sentiment. islamophobia is at the new anti-communism this week let's talk about that i suppose there are some parallels. a sort of hatred of foreigners hatred of others. it's a it's a big complex because communism was sort of

a government system and islam is more religion but i think you can kind of make some parallels but i think people get scared of a whole culture i think just because so much is on the news and it's scary and it's just it's just bombarded every single day it's like i almost actually i quit like listening to the news if the media that's your job they have to have be. the stories that are going to draw people to watch and and what are you going to look for things when you're scared out of a small percentage of islam that's tainted for the rest because i'm sure the very good people so we all know this right but still a lot of people are very fearful of the religion in general why do you think that it is because the impact you know it's the way your approach what religious background are you christian so if there is some christians that are going around bombing people how would you feel about it but i wouldn't mind kate just the same you know and i wouldn't feel that if i got

a group. under that bomb what i could understand why they were doing that why do people do that so many people they blame the whole group when a small amount to it i don't know maybe that's the nature i don't. get a little bit scared of one thing and then you you know scared of the rest if paul speaks you use horses so it doesn't help when you've got a couple of bad seeds that obviously expose the worst so do you think that was the same case in the fifty's with anti-communism you know it's funny because now if you look back where we are in today. it really is even more scary than you know that when you probably are in the moment because of looking back you wonder how could these people actually be thinking citibank will do the same and twenty years from now not everyone to look but back and say why are we scared hopefully no matter how you feel personally the bottom line is that with all the anti islam events as of late it's saved is they that at least first start islamophobia is very real.

in our next hour the european union project aimed at tackling terrorism the anger and human rights activists in the u.k. they say i plan to monitor airline passengers on board planes is another step closer to a surveillance state leaving them with no privacy even as they try to once for their holiday. or whatever sort break here in our town and i'll be back with the headlines in a few moments stay with us. to lose a little.