in. an. new details emerging after russian pilots say that everyone aboard a crippled passenger plane by bad landing had a short airstrip to run both the woodlands. violence increasingly being called heroes for that conduct find out why just him and. a joke that was too close

for comfort a u.s. soldier faces condemnation from planting grenades in the cars of iraq is alive. and britain special envoy to afghanistan steps down amid speculation he was driven out because of his continued criticism of the military campaign. twelve midnight in moscow i matras are good to have you with us here on our team our top story prosecutors are investigating the crash landing of a crippled russian airliner in the northwest of the country all eighty one people aboard had a miraculous escape when the plane overshot in a bad airstrip on tuesday and slammed into trees artie's tom barton has the details . new record kilis that's was experts from passengers a calling the crash landing of this plane in the russian taiga without anyone

injured we see no pool so we learned in the streets and ended up in the woods emergency crews arrived to find two week everything was fine as to the still to this to mislead people if you want the professionalism of through here you would not be standing here. the tupolev one fine full was flying at ten thousand meters on its way to moscow from russia's far east when there was a massive electrical failure the plane lost all to mattick navigation and communication its fuel supply and wing flaps were crippled meaning i had to land quickly. that higher than normal speeds even the lights in the cabin and cockpit went out by sight alone the pilots found an abandoned their strip in the depths of the forest a managed to land on the third attempt but the look never brought of course has not been used for what it was intended because it's a helicopter airdrome of the ground was too hard and without any runway knockings with but you have to be a monster to land a plane like this what is most important is the insurance and ability and

professionalism of the whole crew if the whole crew listens to their pilot and he really acts with responsibility for the whole plane this is the main thing this means it's a professional career the proof is that no one was injured on board the plane the runway was too small for the plane and it overshot plowing through two hundred meters of trees before stopping but despite the danger all eighty one people on board were evacuated to safety investigators now hundred core such a massive electrical failure providing that i don't believe what fifty four is not quite the brand your craft and i'm sure that that couple was manufactured probably at least twenty years ago away with more. i believe there is a chance that they could we plant was just more of a loss adeline's which owns the plane says it wasn't aware of any issues with someone a professional to finish the investigation committees working at the site to find out what really happens before the flight the plane was functioning normally it is

on the ground planned technical maintenance and preflight checks after seventy two passengers every two people in a married couple in the future to continue their journey by plane as they went by train that there was no real panic when the plane landed there was slight nervousness because they were an emergency slides and everyone was anxious to leave the plane as soon as possible but the stewards did everything well and the evacuation was done in a normal manner and put it to the pilots to help investigators to examine the scene before following the passengers back to the capital in a few days or whatever the time. because she's already called in to receive medals for bravery and skill with the passengers now back in moscow everyone's awaiting the return of the two pilots and when they do come back it will be to a hero's welcome tom watson oxy moscow. a former u.s. sergeant who served in iraq secretly planted grenades in the cars of iraqis at checkpoints for a prank he filmed himself and the reaction of the drivers as

a joke put it all on you tube but as policy or a ports most iraqis see nothing funny about life in a conflict zone. manning a checkpoint all day musket or wing which is perhaps why sergeant dunson and his partner admit they pass the time and with jokes on unsuspecting drivers in the posting dunson describes how they planted a grenade in the back events calm a few seconds of confusion was explained and get to the paste but very would be to drive it is seen on his way. you know because. our our it was just one of those things where it you know it happened. on a guy like up on but for most iraqis this is not fun and i think there is very far from being a joke. i think it's only for them to laugh through us it's not funny but it's very scary. you're used to for your users the search is happening every day

but if someone did this to me i would be so it's here. as with most people in the country where checkpoint after. night and day it's not uncommon to have your card taped at least a dozen times a day if you found out you need to wear what you will see the city of britain they will be arrested on the spot and terrorism. and some american military personnel are not seeing the funny side of sergeant dunces antics i would not tolerate that in my organization. i don't think that's conducive to gaining. you know into the partnership with with the federal police or certainly in trusting their confidence . or the people for that matter and trusting the. trusting in the federal police. to fight him out but that army has never been pranked himself but claims to have witnessed american soldiers displaying even more alarming

behavior. and i personally know of many cases where soldiers would take offense and for example hates an iraqi citizen justify them and there were cases where people died from this. we had about one hundred fifty thousand american soldiers here and although some were professional there were many who were not. but i want to a local t.v. stations now picked up on the idea. that it takes well known local celebrities to evacuate. points and plays pranks on them in much the same way as dunson and. i would use and. says it's a way to lighten the situation. in libya we're not making fun of the iraqi forces and their very brave face and said it we want to present them in a number you can define week on that we also wanted to present you have been this is something people can learn from but even if. there's mixed reaction to be able

to show that still iraqis making fun of iraqis is very different according to most people to americans it's on you know me i think and with people still being killed in iraq if we day it was a constant reminder that terrorism is no lawful. back to. staying with iraq at least six people have been killed thirty five wounded in separate attacks in baghdad on wednesday a civilian and three policemen were killed when twin car bombs exploded in the south of the city two people were killed in a simultaneous double blast near a bus station in eastern baghdad on tuesday a gunman wearing an iraqi army uniform shot dead two u.s. soldiers. coming up later here on r t battle on the scene. where he tried to shoot their mooches to stop them to believe feinberg. law enforcers try to stop poachers that are pushing the sturgeon towards extinction in the hunt for black gold. but first the u.k.

special envoy to afghanistan who's been an outspoken critic of the military policy there has stepped down from his position but the move the move is fueling speculation search coles was forced out because of his political views to discuss his we're joined by artie's laura emmet live in london hello laura so to quote circle holes afghanistan would be quote governed by an acceptable dictator which he described is the only realistic i would come and said that saw it all can be done about turning around the war apparently he's not a man to mince his words so what is it any surprise that he's stepped down. well it's not really a surprise no but it is interesting because that comment about the about a dictator being the only acceptable way to govern or the only the only suitable way to govern afghanistan was made in two thousand and eight and people called wasn't appointed to this post until early in two thousand and nine so they knew what they were getting when they appointed him but this particular news today is

certainly not a surprise already early in two thousand and ten he had clashed with u.s. and nato officials his line has always been that there is no military solution to the problems that we're seeing in afghanistan and the only way forward is to open some sort of dialogue a close an egg of relationships with the taliban and that the military solution just isn't viable and he also. in june two thousand and ten he took an extended leave of absence from his post and already a couple of months ago it seemed unlikely that he would return possibly a slightly less clear cut issue is whether he jumped or was pushed he was quite influential with david miliband who was the former foreign secretary before this new government came in four months ago but the moment the new government was appointed the new foreign secretary william hague put in his position under review as to the question certainly is did his skepticism about u.s.

foreign policy in the region mean that he had to go and his job was to coordinate strategy with the u.s. and with other countries that had troops that have troops in the region which is obviously a diplomatic position and diplomacy as you just pointed out doesn't seem to be something that he either had much of or didn't didn't want to use this in this case and there's certainly a suggestion that he got into so many just peace with so many different people that they rendered his position really on terror untenable now the interesting thing is that the foreign office in the u.k. says that the position of special representative is no longer necessary and that bearing in mind that. u.k. will no longer now have a full time special representative dealing with afghan afghanistan and pakistan and that's a region the new government has identified as a key foreign policy priority so that is an interesting point now focusing on his outspoken nature about u.s. and british ratatouille there are people viewing his departure as the war effort

losing a much needed source of accountability i think that's quite a common view yes this is big quoted by some as another blow for a u.s. foreign policy in afghanistan that is already fraying at the edges this is a hugely experienced man in the region before he held this particular post he was the u.k.'s ambassador to afghanistan so a long history in the region and a career diplomat he was always very outspoken though as i say about the fact that the afghan or his view that the afghan war lacks any kind of military solution that the only way forward is to engage with the taliban on a diplomatic level but the u.s. it seems didn't want to hear that even after he had made his views clear president obama ordered a troop surge to the chewing of thirty thousand new soldiers to escalate the war and effectively the strategy was to reduce the taliban to its knees and have them begging for peace that doesn't seem to be working the violence that's going on in afghanistan now is the worst that it has been since the taliban were ousted from

power in two thousand and one president how many cause i himself advocates a closer relationship with taliban insurgents and trying to try for a diplomatic solution in gauging with with with the taliban and the need for a negotiated peace is a view that's now shared by many european if not all european nato countries that have troops in afghanistan themselves they certainly do feeling it's tonight that the voice of reason in that particular argument may have gone all right artie's laura live for us in london thanks for that report. up to forty homes have gone up in flames in a village in southern siberia as wildfires continue their trail of destruction across russia locals have been taken to safety authorities say seventy firefighters are battling to prevent the fires from reaching another village near by blazes across the country this summer have claimed more than fifty lives russia's president dmitri medvedev has blamed the negligence of local authorities and valid

if it happens again those responsible will be sacked but you didn't wish to reduce old is that if you aren't lula's in level of we're going to lose the management and not good enough we're going to lose eve responsibility to the region with this issue but it doesn't allow for that responsibility to be withdrawn who does the fight. if it happens that we should lead to the instant fiery movement. but in the digital woods here's a clue to remember you can always find more on the stories we're covering twenty four hours a day on our website r g dot com here's a taste of what's online right now. and anti immigrant sentiment still sweeping parts of the u.s. despite recent polls suggesting the inflow of migrants fell by more than half in the past few years. and the birth of a north korean leader is shrouded in mystery but evidence suggests kim jong il may have been born in a small village in russia's far east or more head over to r.t.

dot com. the u.s. is keen to promote relations with russia to benefit the rest of the world hillary clinton made the comments during a speech to the council on foreign relations in washington the secretary of state says it's vital that past differences are finally set aside. with russia when we took office it was amid cooling to cold relations and a return to cold war suspicion now this may have invigorated spy novelist's and armchair strategists but anyone serious about solving global problems such as nuclear proliferation knew that without russia and the united states working together little would be achieved so we refocused the relationship we offered a relationship based on not only mutual respect but also mutual responsibility and in the course of the last eighteen months we have a historic new arms reduction treaty which the senate will take up next week

cooperation with china and the u.n. security council on tough new sanctions against both iran and north korea a transit agreement to support our efforts in afghanistan a new bilateral presidential commission and civil society exchange that are forging closer people to people ties and of course as we were reminded this past summer the spy novel is still have plenty to write about so it's kind of win a win. poachers hunting for a black caviar are pushing the sturgeon population towards extinction in russia southern caspian sea while authorities have been battling to try and stop them it's only led the illegal fishermen to take guns along with their rods as art but i would never ports. a weekly rate on poachers in the volga delta. caviar in each one of these is worth fifteen thousand dollars. sturgeon is highly illegal but the ban has simply driven the prices up making

a little more lucrative poaches supply forty nine out of every fifty dollars of caviar consumed. colonel gets in below shows the equipment he sees in just the last few months more of it just to put. hundreds of foremen cruising speed which with. satellite navigation and weapons and you can look we tried to shoot them oh just to stop them they fire back and we can't get them all. the caspian sea produces the vast majority of the world's black caviar but the population of sturgeon in it has gone by forty times in just two decades the local university is now simply trying to save the genetic samples before it's too late is that when you see the scientists and fish breeders the sturgeon would have become extinct too reading a welcome would be seen any aquarium this is a catastrophe. the government subsidizes breeding farms such as this one to try and avoid the extinction successful breeding it's difficult to even care if they'd

stage and still be in their league and to stop the d.c. but at least them despite their offspring i'm not destined for the dinner table. yeah they released about one million fish every single yeah but then as soon as they sturgeon free most of them are legally fished again meaning that the population is not likely to recover for decades. these forty stealing millions of gold that you took with the money just say earlybird the regulation to change the situation. the problem isn't the people here on the ground the problem is corruption and a higher level whole system has been constructed to make sure that those who break the law do not pay. meanwhile the colonel gets in. the race. the gender structure approaches the weights a little so that even the poorest the very voters will replace them the more. you go girl in there. that's. turning now to some other stories making headlines across

the globe b.p. investigation into the gulf of mexico oil spill says the oil company was to blame along with a number of its subcontractors the report took around five months to compile compile pointing to a chain of failures involving various parties in the biggest environmental disaster to hit the u.s. b.p. says it accepts all the recommendations in the report and will implement them worldwide already explosion in april left eleven workers dead and led to a massive oil leak. in the u.s. a small florida church says it will burn the koran despite international condemnation the dove world outreach center plans to mark saturday's anniversary of the september eleventh attacks by burning copies of the islamic holy book it's meant to be a warning to all radical muslims but a top muslim cleric and prominent members of the obama administration have said it could do permanent damage to ties. and we're just hours away from our extensive live coverage of the global policy forum in russia city of yaroslav all its

attracted a vast political crowd of some thirty countries as well as several heads of state russian press ashura press attache to the russian president natalia to mco says everyone is looking forward to some wide ranging dialogue. this forum is taking place only for the second time that it has already attracted a lot of interest from our foreign partners and i want to political circles so. from the russian president italy's prime minister silvio berlusconi and south korea's president. will take place in the forum a large number of prominent flora's and russian political analysts will participate and work in different fields i'm sure will join lots of interesting conclusions during the forum president medvedev will meet his foreign colleagues and make an address but will also separately meet with russian and foreign political experts to discuss the problems and achievements during the year at the debates when the news is. when it's something really crucial when you want to get down to brass to.

special coverage. this time the latest news from the. policy for a live broadcast special guest discussions on the use of the modern state in providing security and stability of the present day world. question more on. russia and the u.s. have been steaming ahead in resetting relations but there are still plenty of work left to be done the two countries are hoping to see eye to eye on issues like globalization geopolitics and nuclear nonproliferation r.-k. sat down with political analyst clifford cook china to get his take on how well the new starts been going.

clifford cup generous touch to erect a at the eurasia group and former senior official at the u.s. state department is here with us today thank you very much for joining us mr cupp surely opinion is divided it's on the so-called recess in the u.s. russia relations how would you assess it cheap amount so far is it really a fresh start i think it's a fresh start and i think so far it's worked the best examples or the new start treaty. better russian cooperation with the u.s. . iran on iran policy which is probably the obama administration's top priority we

see w t o moving forward but slowly so there are modest achievements but it's a whole lot better than it was a year ago two years ago how different do you think president obama's foreign policy is to that of george w. bush i think it's very different the president. seeks to inform. allies and cooperate in countries he seeks to consult with them. president bush had in my view is that habit of telling us our allies and our friends and if you want to work live like russia lecturing lecturing at. and after the fact after a decision was taken so i think this president seeks to build consensus i fear that president bush took unilateral action in my view too often what's the biggest obstacle in the way of improving russian american relations for several off circles the first is that while president obama and mitt got to. get along very well and i

think they're genuinely friends of the visit it's a very different of a long hard process to make the bureaucracies trust each other so you get direction from the top and then still nothing happens once you go further and further down in areas like arms control in areas like b.t.o. if the inspections don't work. if the trade agreements don't get written progress really doesn't go forward so that's one optical the second option is that there's really no constituency of united states yet that strongly supports us regulations we need business to business relationship to grow substantially before the new relationship will have a really solid foundation how can this be tackled in order to find a workable solution tackled by the two sides frankly. american capital american investors. who support president medvedev actually seeks as in california as in saw it on valley still don't trust the russian market so in my view steps

like the international financial status under the b.t.o. accession regulatory reform are very important i mean look there's a. phrase on wall street that capital is a coward capital a scared american capitalist over scared of russia until russia take steps to calm american capital you're not going to get the movement forward towards increasing trade flows towards building that core constituency and will the west ever become first of all with russia's ambitions to increase its influence in global economic and political a fast i think is going to be a fairly slow process there's still a trust gap a trust a gap between russia and the west when russia and the u.s. even met with president obama but russia is still not very popular on capitol hill in the u.s. congress there are broad segments of the american political system which still don't trust russia so that i think it will take years of russia maybe

a decade being a reliable energy supplier to europe no more ukraine disruptions it will take. some years of russia working together on iran on the major nonproliferation problems i think it is it an issue that can be overcome the that i think trust can be built but we're not there yet to be sure of what iran's nuclear program is now by. foghorn to stop it on the international news agenda iran's first nuclear power plant and will share went live in august do you think u.s. suspicions about iran's possible development all for atomic weapons are justified in my view u.s. suspicions are justified there is a consensus in the u.s. european union and the international atomic energy agency that iran has been taking steps and probably currently is taking steps to develop a nuclear weapon. about but. what is frustrating is that the iranians if you can clarify. what they're doing to the international agency and my own trip

to the wrong and i asked many times and the answer you got is that there is a thought to be a religious law against developing nuclear technology nuclear weapons in iran in my view is just nonsense because that is what they're doing so so u.s. concerns are justified this is a very important issue it's one i think the russian government now completely understands and it's one we all have to deal with is iran really suffering iran's economy fresh package of sanctions wasn't produced or not yet but i think is very important that this latest array of sanctions u.n. sanctions u.s. sanctions the e.u. sanctions run press and that in their severity iranian banks have a great deal of trouble now doing that the globally both in europe and increasingly in asia japanese banks are pulling out of their own. uranium.