eleven. eleven. split. but. it was. investigators say a blast in southern russia. could have been the work of the al qaeda linked militants behind. metro bombings police here in the capital.

russia brings together. to discuss how to tackle drug traffickers and terrorism in central asia with the afghan war seen as the major cause of instability. clashes are held every day despite the time of year and weather conditions right now it's extremely hot here but if you do see the troops are fully dressed in their uniforms have to get used to it since this is what they'll have to wear on the job takes you to the front line of the anti drugs fight where border guards are put through tough training for the mission ahead. i started to look at american history and politics and realize that my whole life has been like to. hundreds of u.s. nationals feel the american dream has failed them and choose to citizenship.

live from our studios here in central moscow twenty four hours a day this is. police in moscow have been put on a high state of affairs a car bomb in russia's north caucuses could signal more attacks on the capital a chechen minutes and leader linked to al qaeda is suspected of being behind the blast in the town of which injured around thirty people investigators know who owned the car which was loaded with explosives outside a city center cafe the location of the man is unknown or the. he's currently a suspect we will for victims of the blast are being taken to undergo operations up to twenty five people remain in hospitals from. the reports. we're at the exact street where the car exploded and this is where the cafe it was just yesterday this is a very a business trade in

a small particles it's packed with a little cafes and it was still retain that prevented many more people from being eight injured it started just a half an hour before the explosion so destroyed wasn't as crowded as usual the car that was packed here are was left without a driver but it contains up to forty kilos of t.n.t. just imagine ten times the last and mounds of explosives was enough to kill four two people in moscow metro lives in march it is claimed that is belongs to a local guy was and dance of five but hasn't been found here you can see that people are cleaning the area right now they're cutting the trees down you can see how massive that impact was the whole area is the blogs and i and people were shocked when they heard the blast some even thought that it was an earthquake so huge and happy it was here what we heard from some of them.

my shop is near the site of the explosion i didn't have the words to express how i feel i've just been there the shop is mostly glass no the glass has literally turned to dust it's a miracle a shop assistant is that i have seen her in hospital she's covered in blood and in shock she says when the blast struck she ran out of the shop and lost consciousness right on the tram line. up to city if people had been taken to hospital six us are free only injured and here is the first hand information from a person that survived the blast. i can't remember much i lost consciousness and when i came round there was around me. and we've also talked with the had doctor at the hospital here in piazza course and this is what he had to say he's going. to be the situation is under control the patients are stable are

surgeons operated all night some of the victims have serious injuries and many are receiving counseling piazza gorski is the center of the newly formed district in the north caucuses it includes church. investigators fear that more terror attacks could follow and police in moscow is on high alert investigators also believe the doctor omar if it could be behind this western pyrgos doc omar is in the tourist church and militant here is the one who claimed to be behind the twin blasts in moscow matter of this march and he is on international terrorist watch list stopping terrorists and stemming the flow of drug traffickers are the topics being discussed in russia city of sochi at the moment present dmitri medvedev is there hosting a summit with the leaders of afghanistan tajikistan pakistan. is following the talks. providing security and fighting drug trafficking these were the two topics

which took a front seat during today's summit in sochi where the route to this is not going to be easy russia afghanistan pakistan and the cheekiest on a well aware of the challenges they will meet some of the world wonder whether success is even possible and if so whether all countries of the international community are committed to achieve it by bringing the four nations together russia shows its commitment to support a peaceful stable and prosperous afghanistan and stability in the whole region. probably drug threat is a common problem in the region i've already had a chance to discuss it with the presidents of afghanistan and pakistan and the counter to this tranche should be a joint effort of afghanistan. nor russia nor any other country is able to tackle it on their own with as i've already said it's a joint problem and we should combat it jointly while this summit which is the

second in a row is of course a significant achievement of the four countries and it will take a long way towards strengthening economic regional ties providing jobs all of critical for the people of these countries russia is ready to align resources behind peaceful goals of afghanistan just recently russia signed to all for the last portion of again a stance debt and overall debt was twelve billion dollars all this is done because for russia central asia is a traditional sphere of interest and it has always been sensitive to stability which the afghan conflict is causing currently it's drug trafficking and islamic radicalism which are the main security threats opium comes all the way into russia and further into europe through to jake is done because no visas are required to travel from to take his stand to russia and this is why the drug floods and easily through the open door so tightening security on these border was one of the main

topics discussed today r t z one to see for himself what challenges the people who are providing security on the border on the tribal border between afghanistan and to a facing every day during a boy. is a tough task but getting him ready to go to one of the most tricky borders in central asia is even more difficult. work at all none of the other people don't don't go. to streaming sooner than there's no time for games when it comes to dealing with the center of the global heroin crede. classes are held every day despite the time of year and weather conditions right now it's extremely hot here but as you can see the troops are fully dressed in their uniforms. have to get used to it since this is what they'll have to wear on the job after six months trained soldiers are sent to guard the border while new conscripts arrive

continuing the cycle the stones border with afghanistan stretches twelve hundred kilometers around seven hundred fifty miles border guards are being trained by the russian federal security service under a deal signed back in two thousand and four the use of different weapons physical education combat deck ticks and survival techniques are all poured over the course . terrorism drug and arms smuggling and human traffic have put this region in the global spotlight that's why there are currently over twenty international organizations including the u.n. in the working entergy could stand alone. afghanistan produces over ninety percent of all people in the world according to the united nations the death toll from opiates in the two countries is five times more than all the needle soldiers who died in afghanistan since two thousand and one but according to the sheet of the law and independent analyst and the author of dozens of articles on the flow of

drugs he's unlikely to stop no matter how strong and in demand that water when you know you have this problem have various technical solutions but it will never be fully solved while there's fighting in afghanistan and global demand for opiates. afghan opium production has grown by a third since the us led invasion it's thought the billion dollar business brings more money than all foreign investments put together that's why it's unlikely even the most advanced water control system possible would solve the problem completely business is simply too good you've got this kind of r d. and brownback a director of the anti war coalition in washington says that the four countries are attempting to reassert their sovereignty over the u.s. . it's the dissolution the breakup of the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred one the american government both the democrats and the republicans didn't really matter who was in charge saw south and central asia and and especially the former

soviet republics in that region as a new piece of real estate a possibility for an expansion of american of an american empire of an american sphere of influence of course the resources natural gas and oil which are rich in that region are a vital interest for american corporations and the u.s. government and the pentagon see these areas as an effort place to stage new u.s. military installations u.s. military bases so we saw the meeting today and in the recent days with russia and tajikistan and pakistan and afghanistan as an attempt by these countries to reassert their sovereignty their control their independence from the american military occupation in afghanistan but an interest by the united states to dominate the region which predates the afghanistan war the us nato military presence in afghanistan is not really a diminishing so called terrorism or the spread of islamic extremism or whatever

the pretext is that it's given for it i think we all know now that the occupation by hundreds of thousands or more than one hundred thousand foreign soldiers in afghanistan is in fact a catalyst for the insurgency for the armed insurgency in afghanistan and probably throughout the region the american military and american corporations have no constructive role to play in south central asia what you see happening today russia and ghana stand pakistan stand a meeting together and working together independently of western imperial forces is clearly a better path to take. human rights groups say the photos posted on facebook of a former israeli officer. posing beside bound and blindfolded palestinian prisoners are the tip of the iceberg the group breaking the silence even went as far as publishing photos of all the soldiers in front of palestinian prisoners israeli army has been defending itself by saying it was

a one off and promised to investigate palestinian officials say this incident shows the true attitude of israelis will not discuss these latest developments with us frankenthal from the public committee against torture in israel thanks very much indeed for joining us here in r.t. now who should we believe than the the israeli army saying it's an isolated incident or human rights activists saying it happens all the time yet that's that's very true i think that very often the israeli army is really military went to their whenever they are faced with these situations their first reaction is to say ok like the army said in these things that it's a very bad it's deplorable and they say well it's a bad apple what we find as human rights organizations such as breaking the silence public committee against torture and others is that these incidents are not isolated these incidents are part of a of a trend or part of a i'm going situation in which particular in the case of palestinian detainees are

seen as objects are seen as tools either for entertainment to pose with them and that's and that's only part of the problem the major problem is that is that detainees particularly when they are handcuffed when they're blindfolded face physical violence face humiliation face psychological violence on the part of israeli soldiers who are there are old though these pictures don't show any of that violence the former officer who posted these pictures says quote an ambivalent attitude says he doesn't really understand what's wrong with him that is interesting is that indicative of the the attitude of the average member of the israeli army. well you know i don't know i think i think that what it indicates most to me and to a human rights organization from a human rights perspective is that there's something fundamentally fundamentally lacking in the training of israeli soldiers the way well we know that has to

qualify the best soldiers not just interrupt it's just interrupt us to qualify the fact that the israeli defense forces is progress made up of is predominately made up of conscripts isn't it so that probably suggest there is a lack of discipline an experience that well it's an entirely conscript army but the i think that the training the military training that that israeli soldiers get are second to none and we know that that whether if you take if you talk about a so-called volunteer army like in the united states you know it's not really a real volunteer army there are different factors that force people to go to to go into the army took the army has as a career so in terms of be average intelligence or the average of capability capacity mental capacity. ability to to make moral judgments i think that they are all perfectly capable of making moral judgments the problem is that there is not enough i think not enough human rights training in the

army to explain and to make it clear what is allowed and what is not allowed and then there's not enough accountability soldiers are not held accountable the number of soldiers who are actually prosecuted for violence is so minuscule palestinians are afraid to file complaints because they're one they're fraid of retribution and they know that there will not be sufficient prosecutions talking about the summer months or so it's a matrix just quickly nobody is actually brought to account for the aggressive raid on the gaza bound aid flotilla which of course everybody knows about the happened not long ago now here is yet another scandal do you think that could perhaps home israel even more in the light of the present tensions. well it seems that israel is going from scandal to scandal i think that what happened with the with the flotilla is it's a different issue than what happened here i think that what happened here with the pictures on facebook is it is a combination of issues this combination of ongoing case of violence of

maltreatment of palestinian detainees by the israeli military and failure of the military to help hold their soldiers accountable it's there's there's a systematic. problem from puti just whether it be interrogation or torture whether it be violence against soldiers against detainees so i think in terms of the image that israel is trying to portray they're trying to on the one hand to shake this off as a one time incident but on the other hand they are able to simply ignore what human rights organizations write about and what we report about on a regular basis that we know that you know for years these incidents have been going on for years i've been ok at them and demanding prosecution demanding accountability ok thanks thanks very much indeed lewis frankenthal for joining us live there from the public committee against torture in israel we appreciate time here on r.t. thank you. know many foreigners an american passport promises opportunity and a better life but an increasing number of u.s.

citizens have become disillusioned with their country last year alone of a seven hundred people renounce their citizenship three times as many as the year before auntie's more and the tallest one expatriate why he did it. ken o'keefe grew up an american in a nation that he believed was the greatest in the world a bastion of freedom and democracy in order to protect those ideals he joined the marine corps and went to fight for his country in the gulf war and that's when the american dream became a nightmare i was punished for speaking out about something that my superiors were doing. my life became extremely difficult upon my return with a different perspective i started to look at american history and politics and realized that my whole life i had been lied to. i believed in those ideals you know i believed in what i found out that these ideals were really the way america was presenting itself in the world and it became clear to me at some point that i would run errands citizenship and renounce it he did o'keefe applied to the state

department to stop being american plane political asylum in holland and burned his u.s. passport o'keeffe knows that not everyone will agree with what he's done some maintain he could have exerted more pressure from inside the system but however they choose to do it middle east commentator alan hart says americans must do something i have a love hate relationship with america on one level americans are the most uninformed misinformed dumbest gullible people on the face of god's earth that's the bad news deep down they're also the most idealistic so i say and americans didn't mind me saying it if they were properly informed about the causes and effects of things in the middle east. they could become engaged to make their democracy work it hasn't always been this way at the end of the second world war

the us was leading the world both economically and morally but according to carol turner from the stop the war coalition it's steadily it rooted that goodwill because it's failing to give. it's ethically now attorneys it's increasingly forced back to using its military power to impose its will can. change since giving up his u.s. citizenship has made it his mission to oppose u.s. military action wherever he can he was on board one of the gaza bound aid ships raided by israeli commando in may and following that he was branded a terrorist by israel can o'keefe now an irish citizen giving up his country wasn't an easy decision and he insists it wasn't one borne out of hatred you know i realized at a certain point citizenship was a social contract and i didn't agree to the charms of the contract obligations you

have rights and you have obligations among the obligations. those taxes are being used to commit mass murder i don't agree with a lot of people misinterpret renounce your citizenship or hate america. i have a deep love for the american people i wish that the ideal of america became a reality until that dream becomes a reality o'keefe and others like him will be staying away from the land of the free and the home of the brave. britain's first coalition government since one hundred forty five is marking one hundred days in office since elections in may gave no single party a clear majority conservative prime minister david cameron heads the coalition along with the deputy prime minister liberal democrat nick clegg well since its formation the coalition is on failed sweeping public spending cuts to tackle the u.k.'s record budget deficit critics say the cuts have been too drastic and opinion polls show mixed support for the performance of the government. in hays general compass of a think tank joins us live from london studio thanks very much indeed for joining

us nick clegg says he should really be proud to say he is in fact really proud of the coalition should he be so full. i don't think he should be proud no the coalition government is inflicting huge huge cuts on public services here in britain cuts in public spending even deeper and hard to miss is that shifted in the one nine hundred eighty s. in this is going to have a dramatic effect on those on both lower middle incomes in mr clegg is meant and meant to be a leader of a party that stands up for fairness given these huge huge cuts to public services they're really going to hurt people in this country should not be proud but looking at the opinion polls it seems that there's been quite a positive response from the public are on his austerity measures on the coalition's austerity measures how do you are argue with that. well he went into the election promise not promising that he would ensure their immediate cuts

weren't made to public spending he also went into the election. campaigning against the conservatives plans rise in value added tax he went into the election promising to scrap triton if he got into government and on all of those things he's broke his promises so when they really start hurting when the cuts really start hurting you know when people start seeing their hospitals closing when people start seeing their schools closing and all the rest of it then i think we'll have on our hands a deep unpopular governor you're referring to much of what nick clegg has said in the past is he. a factor in this coalition perhaps because obviously according to other political. popularity has actually declined since the beginning of the government is he doing more damage to this government and perhaps you could be better off without him. can you repeat the question i didn't quite catch that nick

clegg is he doing more damage to this government then perhaps you could do without him. obviously you know nick clegg has now entered this this coalition but i do think that it is bad for the liberal democrat party and that the liberal democrat party would have been far better i'm going into coalition with labor and having a progressive coalition but it has been a remarkably successful hundred days so far or do you see this as a honeymoon and in fact you are predicting obviously from your left wing point of view that this coalition could indeed fall apart. obviously venture i believe that it will fall apart whether that sooner rather than later remains to be seen but we now in this country face the real prospect of a double dip recession which is a direct consequence of the huge cutbacks that in part nick nick clegg is responsible for and as i say when these cuts really start to kick in really start

to hurt people then we're going to have a hugely unpopular government on our government if there is a double dip recession but it seems that many people in the country accept the fact that cuts are necessary so many other european countries have had to do the same with some success so some people are taking a very british attitude stiff upper lip and saying we've got to accept what's happening and that's certainly being reflected in the opinion polls. well certainly they may well be willing to stomach them right now but as i say when they start seeing their local school shut down when they start seeing wards on their local hospital shut down and so on and so forth then i think it's really really going to hit home to people exactly what these cuts means i mean in terms of people's everyday lives and i do not believe in the future that the people of this country will stomach you know cuts that are even bigger than what mrs thatcher implemented in the one nine hundred eighty s. and as i say what these cuts will mean is that they are deflating the economy just

when the economy needs this kind of support and we really do risk a double dip recession here in britain ok thanks very much indeed given his general sense of compass a left wing think tank live from our london studio thanks very much for joining us thank you thank you for bringing us up to date here for the moment r.t. business news is next with shawn. and i welcome to the business program here on r.t. and we start with a nasty business exclusive russia's biggest lender spare bank says it's happy with its form is over the first half and confirmed is on course to achieve its full year targets that actually their bank is under a don't speak spoke to us about the results and where the bank goes from here. we should be able to look for years experiments performances follow the plan we set out and the results for the first half of the year meet the forecasts we made at the beginning of twenty ten looking forward we believe we will be able to achieve

our plans for the second half of the year and reach an annual profit of around three point two billion dollars talking specifically about the loan segment in the first quarter we saw a decrease in the lending portfolio from may the trend turned positive in our lending portfolio has grown i can't say the trend is going to continue to strengthen but there have been signs of recovery. what about the un going posters of privatizing the bank rules the billion used to finance of russia's finance minister. has been saying it is time for some shares in state companies to be allocated for privatization while the markets are behaving favorably and he also meant spare banks should be included when he said this we're not talking about a controlling stake here rather about the eight to nine percent that is in the hands of russia's central bank in excess of the controlling stake of fifty plus one share we see why the private ownership is a positive step but it would increase the volume of shares in circulation on the market if this decision is made to go ahead we would support it but. time check out

the markets now here in moscow the r.t.f. my sex finished when is a session in the red a low oil unless the price is that it's a golf guide is still fell two and a half the thing while the railings are on the r.t.s. hitting more than one. and finally araf loss become the first russian airlines being in the top twenty five leading carriers in the world industry magazine air transport well placed the russian flagship carrier at tenth place one place higher than lufthansa group and that's due to the airline successful financial dealings in two thousand and nine the magazine or they put. their net profit last year which is one hundred twenty two million dollars first place in both categories went to emirates airlines. i shop they face out but you can always find more stories on our website called sash business.

the most of team has been to the kaluga mission when the car industry is rapidly developing. large egos in the area where the first russian fleet was more. where the indigenous people were the first target she's not a given and where russia's.