non argy goes to the area where the first russian fleet was born. where the indigenous people were the first hard to acces navigator and where russia's glorious history is still visible. welcomes leon the fleet. russia close up on archie. test lead to death human rights groups blame international pharmaceutical giant are endangered the lives of patients in india by using them as guinea pigs.

setting the pace for the first man in space it's fifty years since the soviet space program saw a pair of dogs become the first living things to span more than twenty four hours in orbit. also it's russia's first seaport and one of the country's diamond centers are close to visit the mall to fascinate the northern city of our congo. it is ninety am in the russian capital you watching r t a marina joshie welcome to the program human rights groups are raising the alarm over india turning into a global hotspot for drugs trials they claim hospital patients are being used as guinea pigs for the world's pharmaceutical companies in some cases without consent

they also say many of those who sign up don't understand the risks and geo side gloomy statistics showing drug trial deaths in the country have been increasing over the last few years for the first six months of this year and nearly five hundred deaths were down to drug trials more than the combined total for two thousand and seven and two thousand and eight artie's current sing reports. india government run hospitals provide low cost treatment to the poor but there are increasing claims that being made guinea pigs in drug trials for western pharma companies without their knowledge here at the. hospital indoor the north has been taking pills for the last six months on the advice of his doctor he suspects he's being experimented upon. to get to me i had a pain in my abdomen they did all sorts of tests and gave me all sorts of pills to have in the morning afternoon and night but i haven't got any. count that they can

test any medication they like. allegations have surfaced in the media that the hospital conducts illegal drug trials on patients police are investigating the complaint the hospital official say any trials are being conducted in accordance with government guidelines india is fast becoming a global hot spot for testing new drugs with two million people estimated to be taking part in clinical trials routes without their consent got a nice car year drug trials are increasing here because they cost just one sixth of what they do in the west the regulatory system here is comparatively corrupt inform the companies can easily register patients and begin trials in developed countries it would take six months to register five patients whereas in india in the same time they could conduct trials on two thousand people. giving informed consent to be part of an experiment is the golden rule of all clinical trials but many

patients here sign on the dotted line without understanding the nature and the consequences of what's being administered to them. are americans or treaty indians as guinea pigs the patients being used for trials are really through pool they don't even know details of the drug or that it is a drug trial this is an ethical. patients without proper consent without. taking part in a drugs trial it is both an ethical and a legal. patient sometimes sign up out of desperation to them experimental health is better than none at all but has agreed to let her child be treated with a new drug which she's been told will bring his fever down. the cheek ministry happy with it. there are regulations in place to monitor drug trials including setting up takes committees and hospitals to ensure safety but these are often used

by doctors to simply rubber stamp trials so. the ethics committee has the important responsibility of monitoring drug trials but it's a very out hook system that is misused for instance a medical institute in faraway mumbai gives permission for a drug trial in cities like indoor. poor how can you use permission from an ethical committee of another institute in another city to justify drug trials in an institute here with over one thousand three hundred drug trials currently being conducted in india this industry is already said to be worth one billion dollars it's clear that the laws against unethical trials are not working and the government will have to come up with other ways to stop the country's poor from being enticed into medical experiments that could potentially have serious side effects. r.t. india and so i have for you this hour a trip to diamond fields and the russian north. this site right here is one hundred

meters deep and it produces about half a million carats worth of diamonds each year now this is just the beginning because they want to go deeper into the earth where the soil is richer and where there's a lot more of that precious stone many women called their best friend. find out how the senior hunger to russia's first ship turned into a diamond hotspot series. stopping terrorist and stemming the flow of drugs that's what was agreed upon at a summit of central asian countries president dmitry medvedev host of the meeting in the russian city of sochi where the leaders of afghanistan to stand in pakistan former white house drugs policy spokesman robert wiener thinks the u.s. has failed in afghanistan mainly because wiping out drugs is not part of their mission. the us military regrettably has determined that a policy should be had of not. interdicting and not eradicating the drugs

in afghanistan because it would destabilize afghanistan what a mistake of a policy and it's a policy mistake both by the military by general petraeus by ambassador holbrooke because it's the drugs that that fund al qaeda which is the reason that the united states went into afghanistan in the first place drugs are seventy percent as much as seventy percent of al qaeda is in the taliban's funding according to senior democratic senator charles schumer and if that's the case what are we doing making happy farmers in afghanistan or is our job to secure afghanistan stop the drug trafficking create alternative economies and then stop the killing that goes around the world both by the terrorists and by the drugs themselves that have killed millions throughout asia and europe. put it in and its military presence of ghana

stand as the only option for the u.s. says it's off a soviet war veteran who fought in the country in the 1980's the full interview is coming up next hour but here's a preview. you should. you cannot depict the country as a den of terrorism or its people as terrorists by default this is not true there is a faction of people within the rebel movement that use terror methods some of these people do indeed have links to al qaeda in no way does this mean that any afghan or any armed afghan is a terrorist the us is facing a philosophical problem spent nine years there by december two thousand and ten and their military presence will match that of the soviet contingent now over this period they have failed to understand the afghans outlook on life they do not understand afghanistan barack obama is now facing the gorbachev dilemma of whether to withdraw u.s. forces if he pulls them out it will be bad for and if he doesn't it will go from

bad to worse i'm deeply convinced that barack obama should do the same thing as we do with afghanistan there is no other way. and police are still searching for the main suspect in a car bombing in russia's north caucasus some thirty people were injured in tuesday's attack in the city of course investigators believe in a tourist chechen militant with links to al qaida could have organized the a tap officers are also hunting for the owner of a car which exploded outside a busy cafe meanwhile authorities have stepped up security across moscow fearing more bombings police received two threat alerts on wednesday of explosives planted in a business center and near an apartment block in the capital people were evacuated from the building but found. they say every dog has his day but for two dogs in the soviet union it was a day that launched them literally to international fame it's fifty years since.

for santa to orbit and returned safely a day later becoming the first living things to survive such a flight that pave the way for the first man in space eight months later. looks back. but it. just. became the first ever human in our space first thing to return i don't know if the first space. before manned space yielded to man's best friend at least fifty seven dogs were sent into orbit by the soviet union arguably one of the most famous travelers were too much or whitey and the little arrow fifty years ago after months of strenuous training they and a bunch of mice rats flies plants and a rabbit boarded sputnik five all. the most important criteria was the dog's size

there was only that much space aboard the spacecraft also dogs are much better at tolerating cold temperatures but it wasn't every dog that was acceptable their character their physical condition all that was taken into account. he worked with the soviet space program for decades he remembers bill can say ok as they really were under different names. the dogs got names of the systems on the girl's name these two dogs and they like the sound of those names but then our boss found out and he was not impressed he criticised us for giving these dogs foreign and politically incorrect names so we changed them and that's how they became famous. still his fame continued on the ground she had six pups one of which was presented by the then soviet leader nikita khrushchev to j.f.k.'s daughter caroline and international room and believed to be two of her fluffy and another kennedy dog

called charlie they in turn had puppies which the u.s. president jokingly referred to as pop nicks man's best friend became not only a link between two ferns of the cold war dogs were also the guarantee scientists needed to safely send a man follow. in their pop prints. nobody knew you see whether a living organism could survive in space or how a body would react to those conditions which is why bill can stroke were the first joint leap for mankind you could see that belka was more agitated and that the dogs were at times uncomfortable but they made it safely home and scientists knew that it was man's turn to reach for the stars. bill can still go during stamps calendars became the subject of tales and news reports fifty years after their flight their trip fascinates young and old alike and the museum where they are displayed is proud to tell their story again and again gas units are about r t. staying in

space we've got an out of this world by a russian cosmonaut in our website and there's plenty more there. the first steps to the stars find out what it took to prepare for space why it helped take man to the moon. and moving home and body meant to what you're learning appears in france are to be series of tributes to twentieth century figures. out of white house adam in the u.s. economy is recovering but with the unemployment rate still near ten percent a major problems in the real estate sector some say the administration is spinning the story that's according to the from the train's research center. what they're trying to do is to convince the public that if they'd only build their confidence and

they would go out and spend more and that as businesses had more confidence they would hire more he is a constant in. why did they create they dumped in nearly eleven trillion dollars that was led. and guaranteed to stimulate the economy the job numbers are terrible weighed weighed below what they had forecast let's look at the two losing wars america is fighting what's the word they use where making progress progress is the white house favorite word every time they're losing it's the same old story it when it's the war more men more money more time and whether it's the economy more time more money it all recovering from an illness if you're not getting a healthy you you're only on drugs that are that are hiding the symptoms as the

disease keeps rotting away your body and that's all this stimulus has been it's been a money drug until hours from now are a financial analyst questions whether america is the world's superpower and what lies have for it. there is debt on america's balance sheet that they're counting as an asset as their net worth america if the economy the discrepancy comes when you say america is the world's superpower in the world's wealthiest countries because they include on the balance sheet the debt with the debt is no longer serviceable and once you write that debt off which is bernanke is only choice at this point then you go from being in the first world to being in the fifth sixth or seventh world forget being in the second or third world america is going down to the bottom of the heap but if that happens to empires those of.

you watching r t let's now take a look at some other stories from around the world and the last u.s. combat troops have left iraq nearly two weeks ahead of schedule the planned withdrawal deadline had been set at august thirty first and over fifty thousand troops are to remain in the country through two thousand and eleven to advise iraqi forces and protect u.s. interests. in pakistan many of those in need of bile supplies following the devastating flood say aid isn't reaching down international donors have pledged millions of dollars more to help the country following criticism from relief groups that the response to the disaster has been too slow floodwaters are still at their peak levels in some places hampering relief work pakistani officials say sixty thousand troops have been tasked with helping the effort. we continue exploring russia's very very close serious it's an in-depth and personal view on the everyday life of local people and the history of the country.

and today we are in the northwest of russia and they are hung ghost region once the country's only seaport recognizes the capital of northern russia it has everything from ship building to diamonds were sent to us are still yet to explore all the appealing sides of this region. where now with the north of russia and the out how girls region a region which has a coastline on three arctic seas now because of its location it was extremely important in the seventeenth century as russia's first and only seaport as well as its first sea route to the west now this region became extremely wealthy because of that symmetry and monasteries were very much involved in the business in trading salt and wood and it was also here that the first arctic expeditions were outfitted as seen off the other one cicutto is where it was found at sea trade was made from here to st petersburg at a hyundai also lost its importance well today of honda's may no longer hold the

titles it once did but it is still home to the glorious history as well as thriving traits in shipbuilding and lumber as well as a budding diamond industry take a look thanks to its waterways on handles is known as the gateway to the arctic but this wasn't always the case in the one nine hundred twenty s. it was called the national hard currency shop as its rich timber and paper pulp industries yielded the lion's share of the treasury's hard currency earnings it's a controversial part of its past these industries flourished thanks to tens of thousands of prison inmates forced to work into north during stalin's time but on hunger else did make a more positive and lasting mark in history when peter the great founder of russia's first shipyard here and it became the motherland of the country's fleet our crew visited a ship repair plant in the region which has also recently started making vessels the facility was set up in the one nine hundred fifty s.

especially for repairing and retooling soviet ships and submarines in the ninety's or whenever the suv it government radically cut the number of defense contracts and the plants output phone they had no choice but to diversify and went into diamond cutting. where you were dining putting was one of the alternatives you have the idea of cutting rough diamonds in the direct city of the diamond field looked attractive. that diamond field is the lemont to solve mine named for the local scientists and pull with me head on a sort of back in the seventeenth century he said that there were diamonds in the region but the gems weren't found until much later this period opened in one nine hundred eighty two and the first diamond was extracted just five years ago not an easy task in a water rich region the field is located smack in the middle of a marshland amid rivers and springs engineers had to build an eight kilometer long canal to divert the water flow. i don't know of any other diamond fields where the

extraction conditions are so complicated. their work is like looking for needles in a haystack in every truckload of rocks only two or three diamonds can be found but they're no ordinary diamonds. deposits produce transparent colored gems here we find it intensely comic dorman's green you know even pink and blue. this side right here is one hundred metres deep and it produces about half a million carrots worth of diamonds each year now this is just the beginning because they want to go deeper into the earth or the soil is richer and where there's a lot more of that precious stone many women called their best friend. but before anyone could even see a single sparkle a long process has to be gone through and what you get are real gems jewelers as well as women from all over the world called it oh how girls today is still an

important industrial and commercial region here in russia and if you do see foreigners in the city more often than not they're here on business there are a number of foreign companies based in and to tell us more about doing business with the region we're joined by darcy macquarie darcy thank you very much for joining us now could you briefly tell us what how do you valuate the economy of. our companies in the light coating. sector for the oil and gas market our company is excited about the future developments new york and we greatly look forward to working with our russian partners what do you see. as a competitive advantage. is strategically placed for the arctic circle the ports sort of thing all year round supplies are easily accessible and it's quick to get the oil and gas fields the infrastructure and the manpower we found to be very good for our specific markets currently we are starting to employ and we found the skill

sets to be very good ok thank you very much now i'll come a long way from being just a seaport and it will continue to reshape itself as more industries develop in this region. reporting there and after just a few moments daniel will bring us the latest business. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. every month we give you the future we help you understand how we'll get there and what tomorrow brings the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us for technology update on r g.

welcome to business russia's economy has rebounded considerably since the beginning of the year however a recent decline. has raised doubts about the recovery the droughts and pizza been partly to blame its economists warn some problems michael crawford carports. the volume of russian industrial output declined a sizeable ten percent in july compared with june which in turn saw a contraction from the previous month although much smaller just half a percent economist worry that a further decline in august which would be a third successive jop would suggest this segment of the economy is slowly falling back into recession we do expect that the russian economy is likely to slow considerably in the second half of these year so i guess so down on the manufacture of production of this part of him why. he did it that the pace of the natural

covering the story because of the feeling base effect the something factors but also a system like nation of investment define. how the reversal of the fiscal stimulus the weak demand for russian made goods can partly be attributed to the increase in the value of the ruble since the beginning of the year this is made products for export more expensive while handing foreign goods sold here a price advantage moreover economists warn that any sickness in manufacturing could start to infect other parts of the economy banks see that the growth rates are not that strong they might be more reluctant to give out loans so there's growth in lending that we started to see a couple of months ago it could be undercut by this. stagnation . and from several forms and this as i think the bigger concern because there are potentially you can have a vicious circle whereby slower growth leads to slower landing bursts and turn

leads to slower growth as well clearly russia is not an island unto itself its prospects are heavily tied to the wider global economy and its biggest customers in europe continue to grow more quickly than expected as the recent data indicates then there is little prospect of the wider russian economy suffering a double dip recession even if. industrial output temporarily stalls michael christian business r t. russia was the third largest grain exporter in the world in two thousand and nine but the record drought sweeping across the country may now turn it into an importer russia may import up to five million tons of grain up to the end of next year according to vedder mr daly culture ministry says the decisions already been made only the details need to be worked out the grain is expected to come from kazakstan. let's now check out those stock markets exporters in tokyo are being boosted by reports the bank of japan will take new steps to fight the rising yen called giants nissan and toyota are up from one and

a half percent. over in russia there are tears in my six finished wednesday in the red on low or oil and metals prices magnitogorsk on the steel fell two and a half percent was bank was the main blue chip blues on the l.t.s. down more than one percent. the big economies of the us germany france and u.k. are at greater risk of a credit rating downgrade than previously but they're still comfortably in the aaa bracket that's according to a new report by the world's biggest ratings agency moody's moody's stresses that all the countries are carrying unsustainable deficits and that time is running short to impose a solution the agency also points out the world has changed since the sovereign debt crisis in europe earlier this year large countries could no longer assume it will be credit worthy without having to provide proof in control spain's rating is on another review for a possible downgrade of the first being warned back in june. russia's biggest

lenders burbank says it's happy with its performance of the first half of the year and confirms it's on course to achieve full gear targets on trade don't skip the deputy chief of banks board spoke exclusively to the business. we should postpone the four 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 but from a the trend turned positive in our lending portfolio has grown i can say the trend is going to continue to strengthen but there have been signs of recovery. what about the un going process of privatizing the bank will still being used to finance a for russia's finance minister alexey could do in has been saying it is time for some shares in state companies to be allocated for privatization while the markets

are behaving favorably giving and he also meant spare bank 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 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 that's the latest join us for the opening of russian stock markets next.

in the close up team has been to the kaluga mission where the car industry is rapidly developing. argy. where the first russian fleet was more. where the indigenous people were the first arctic seas navigator and where russia's glorious history is still visible. welcome to the fleet. russia close up.