media coverage of any topic ok well let's not forget where that last story came from in the first place many thanks to my guest today in washington and to new york and thanks to our viewers for watching us here darkie see you next time and remember cross talk rules. if you. want.

the. president medvedev says the u.s. shouldn't be jealous about a new security agreement between russia and europe which would help everyone speaking at a global policy forum in jaroslava he also said the speed of development in the country shows only those with more memories still accuse russia of totalitarianism

. russia's republic of north has said here mourns the victims of thursday's car bomb attack in its capital central market the blast killed seventeen alot more than one hundred sixty wounded. and already takes a look into why a growing number of americans have been converting to islam since nine eleven despite accusations that the media is fueling antagonism towards muslims. it's midnight in moscow why matricide good to have you with us here on r t we start with the global policy forum in jaroslava which has been hearing from the russian president dmitry medvedev told the u.s. to overcome what he described as jealousy towards moscow's proposed new european security deal and in a speech concentrating on democracy he said those who say russia isn't democratic

have bad memories artie's academy graduate has been following the discussions. the bottom line. presently bet of speech was that time has come not just to talk not just to criticize each other but time is to find global solutions three main topics dominated today's discussions democracy modernization and efficiency very simple things very simple ideas but how to achieve them there is indeed no consistency on that and the question is whether there should be consistency over that every country should go its own way russia's president russian president dmitry medvedev take on that is that nothing is very straightforward these days and this is what the forum is about as for the central top big democratization and democracy experiences around the world diversified experiences the heated argument was about what is democracy in the first place and where it can be described with some adjectives and indeed many like young which were open democracy and

democratic institutions are intensively developing and russia and present inventive said he personally wouldn't want to leave in another country in a country which would have chosen another way to go to church he said listen i strongly disagree with those who say there's no democracy in russia and that there's authoritarian tendencies here it's not true that russia is a democracy beyond any doubt it's young it's immature it's still not perfect and experience but it's a democracy nonetheless there's a way to go but we're ready to work on it in some countries democracy is being imposed but it doesn't work that way and we've seen many examples of that again presently that is promoting the idea of a new european security architecture presently betty for saying that the current european security institutions are unsustainable and that they should evolve to reflect present realities so what he is suggesting is to adopt

a new european security treaty but he nevertheless trust that there are certain obstacles on the way to. that would we need to create an institution that will bring together nato and non nato members and other structures u.s. counterpart president barack obama never avoids discussing this issue he does not say that is harmful or unnecessary but i would suggest that among our american partners a certain jealousy exists with regard to this idea however it is necessary to rise over this josee and try to look the truth in the eye without the creation of the system the world will not be able to survive we can help each other here of course when talking about global security journalists didn't miss an opportunity to ask the president about what he thought on iranian nuclear issue by far one of the hottest topics on the international news agenda presently bedside washable how to run to fight its place in the world would be in the framework of the international law russia will continue to cooperate with iran report there from our teaser

catarina grouch over. well many of the ideas that dmitri medvedev outlined at the forum came from his article go russia written a year ago the article sets out measures to kick out corruption and kick start modernization with the ultimate aim to reduce russia's dependency on its natural resources the president's press secretary natalya to make over told us about its progress. programs that the president gave a detailed and unflattering account of the situation russia is currently in it was not unflattering in the meaning of critical i think previous period and previous achievements no on the contrary they were giving credit but it was stated that the model of development russia had chosen and pursued until now is no longer viable the president named a number of reasons that stand in the way of the country's development corruption was named as a major reason for delay in development it is true that no competition is possible until we have a well built up today judicial system until we combat corruption and have fair

unbiased courts an honest and unbiased law. personality in without all this it will be hard for russia to secure a good place on the global scene that way she missed the medium. to full interviews coming your way later in the hour here on r.t. the new european security framework will take years of discussion but it's still necessary according to social science professor craig calhoun from new york university who attended the jaroslava for i don't think that there has been a resolution about the proposal for the new european security security treaty but i do think that there is now a relationship of mutual respect between president medvedev and president obama and between the two countries and that includes the other european countries that would have to be partners to any sort of agreement so in my view the discussion has to continue possibly for years before there is

a resolution the disaster would be if any country breaks off the discussion and refuses to keep this process moving forward because we do need to reach an agreement and a new framework so although the forums discussions touched upon some serious topics the debates were at times lighthearted artie's tests are sell us ought first have. if you will who participated in this or they've been to a lot of forums and they're they're sort of used to this and with the weather outside of the plenary sessions or sometimes even in the players that you see them laughing you see them agreeing to disagree especially when it's a very very sensitive topic and when they went outside you're talking to them about politics they prefer to talk about how beautiful their country is or how much they like russia perhaps or how much they'd like to visit moscow and so these things come out and one other thing is they've been career diplomats career politicians are are academics and they always tell me you know one thing that the younger

generation should do is they should do a better job because we're talking and talking and talking so hopefully this would happen and of course we have italian prime minister silvio berlusconi said that he had been misinformed about the topic that he was supposed to talk about so basically went up there and just started to improvise with total money to see that it was not. the tactics to be discussed it disappear in this section of my administration interest prepared the speech has prepared. the moderator of this portion of the meeting this presentation doesn't correspond to the discussion here . so well after all the serious talk now. celebrating its one of the anniversary of the participants some of them will be participating in activities for them so there will be more fun. for i'm seventy four year old italian prime minister silvio berlusconi announced he's throwing his support behind

an institute in his country aiming to prolong the average human life span to one hundred twenty years during a visit to see vladimir putin afterword silvio berlusconi's ideas seem to interest the fifty seven year old russian prime minister. we will leave until we're one hundred twenty years those. yes but you have to bear in mind that this is the average launch expectancy is still the leaders live much longer. still we would still be prime ministers when we are one hundred twenty new i'm not sure that's possible the job of prime minister ways you won't believe me i haven't had a single day off this year either the prime minister peach in have had much time to rest recently on so. i have some ideas about a couple of days of joy and holiday we'll talk about it later. the serious discussions i think global policy forum are now over and yaroslavl is moving into a party mode to celebrate a millennium since the city was found it our team will also be there with them

following the festivities so join us on saturday for more live coverage from the. when the new season. when it's something really crucial when you want to get down to brass tacks when we bring special coverage. this time the latest news from the. policy for live broadcasts special guest discussions on the you know modern state in providing security and stability of the present day world. question. switching gears now to the other major story we're covering out our teeth thursday's deadly terror attack in north or shadowed president medvedev time in your os level he told the meeting there is no point in being soft with terrorists they must be destroyed their republic has been holding an official day of mourning for the seventeen victims of the car blast that hit the capital central market a suicide bomber carried out the attack that also injured more than one hundred

people some of them children eleven of those injured are now being treated in moscow hospitals and three more will be sent to the cop of them later three suspects have been detained and the owner of the car that was used in the attack has been identified artie's axon ali photo of a report from vladikavkaz where the first funerals have been held. two lives hand in hand interrupted at the moment when yes i'm on my man and have total endurance and no new will check in at that lady got across central market they see the boy was quarreling with his brother about writing their bike so grandma promised to buy a little and lure a new one a moment later their dreams were wiped out by the blast so we would the markets i went into a shop was my mother wife and two sons stayed outside and then an explosion i rushed out and saw all four of them on the ground i lost two of them my son died was one and a half years old my three year old son is now in surgery doctors of fights you foos

life there were a lot of people in the markets still refined. and yes i'm on met almost every morning before go into the market but there dave i think i felt seek and stayed home yes a man went alone just held grapes and never came back. this is a father and he's one and a half year old son who died and this is his wife she was injured max. and this is the one. twenty years ago when life in georgia became difficult for ethnic as a reason like many in her village quiet and hospitable yes a man packed his things and headed to the logic of cars her small family makes their leaving from selling fruit and vegetables and a year ago moved closer to the central market used to work closely to show other ones to the selling grapes another was selling lemons there was a risk with them who hold the hood but she was badly injured it was ripped off her chair diabetes and they couldn't stop the blood crying over the last many people

and logic of course refused to believe the blast really happened the main question for many remains why. these are barbarians monsters not humans these people have neither nationality nor humanity nor decency i think it was deliberately planned to bring this tragedy to the republic this is the sixth time something like this has happened they choose big holidays to cause racial hatred but they want to achieve it. grief and sorrow has united the people and logic of cause russians a city as ukrainians and other is all bring flowers to the scene and donate blood to help the injured. the glass is cracking under the feet of those who come to the gates of the central market. echoes in the out just was interrupted only by those claiming to know a pair in the area people try to stay closer to each other as if this close this can help them to live through the tragedy. are seen from political us.

on the whole but not canceled the u.s. pastor who threatened to burn copies of the qur'an on saturday's anniversary of the nine eleven terror attacks says the event has only been postponed and not called all you know szell threat was met with worldwide to nation president obama described the burning ceremony as a recruitment bonanza for al qaeda saying it would put american lives at risk meanwhile new figures in the u.s. show a rise in the number of people who have converted to islam since nine eleven or case pretty shrewd and that some americans who recently become muslims and how they and their adopted religion are sometimes misconstrued by the western media. and. it's the call to prayer and it's answered by more than a billion muslims all over the world including caitlin billings a twenty two year old american who was raised christian when converted last year the first of ramadan my mother. she was afraid that i was going to marry someone who would be. she was crying

a lot fought that i was returning her by changing my religion to something that she didn't know about backtrack almost a decade ago to nine eleven today our fellow citizens our way of life our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist attacks president bush waged a war on terror targeting extremists muslims who were labeled as terrorists many americans like caitlin billings remember that time in the united states very well i was fourteen when september eleventh happened so i didn't really know what was going on if that really was you know people thought it was so i believe just like everybody else but as billings got older she decided to find out for herself and her investigation led her to the mistah center a mosque just outside of washington d.c. that has become a haven for many americans like billings who have found allah

a new poll found that almost forty. percent of americans believe that muslims should carry identification cards despite that twenty thousand americans every year decide to convert to islam convert say they don't regret their decision at all it's a choice that they must think about every day around the world since nine eleven muslims have battled bands of their religious clothing profiling in airports and discrimination in their everyday lives after joining a class to learn more about islam carl dodge also decided to become a muslim one of the big jokes that i've always made is before i actually set down the class and open my career on everything i knew about islam i had learned from c.n.n. and when it comes to the mainstream media the depiction of converts can be somewhat extreme that pakistani officials have arrested adam gadahn this is the american born spokesman for al qaeda fox's work first there was john walker lindh the californian who converted joined the taliban and ended up fighting with them in afghanistan and then more recently it was jihad jane the blond haired blue eyed

convert who allegedly recruited people to wage violent jihad and for many american muslims like dodge and billings the portrayal of converts is disturbing if those upset me a little bit because there's a lot of preconceptions people have been until i actually took the time to open a koran and see what was written you know that was my only impression of islam is what i had seen on t.v. and in the united states they say a culture of islamophobia just doesn't make sense it's a rights of property your religion that's what this country was founded on just had somebody asked me the other day is also are you against america now and it's like ok. i'm oh u.s. veteran as well i served in the u.s. navy and so i do believe in this country no matter what unfolds around her billing says she's proud to be a muslim if no one in the world wants to talk to me and my friend i so are granted

a happiness that might not make sense to those around her. reassure either party annandale virginia. turning back to our top story now the global policy forum that's taken place in the russian city of yaroslavl all featuring prominently at the event where dimitri medvedev plans to modernize russia r.t. spoke to the president's press secretary natalya to make over to see how the progress is going. a year ago president reagan published his vision for the future of russia to fill us in on what progress has been made i know we're joined by his press secretary not that it's a makeover that i do thank you very much for joining me. but. in his article go russia published last year the president named corruption as one of the biggest problems slowing down the country's development according to some figures it's volume which is around half of the u.v. g.d.p.

what's changed since then. and did a year ago in his article go russia president medvedev gave a detailed and unflattering account of the situation russia is currently in it was not unflattering in the meaning of critical author previous period and previous achievements no on the contrary they were giving credit but it was stated that the model of development russia had chosen and pursued until now is no longer viable the president named a number of reasons that stand in the way of the country's development corruption was named as a major reason for delay in development it is true that now competition is possible until we have a well built and up to date judicial system until we combat corruption and have fair unbiased courts and on as an unbiased law enforcement personnel and without all this it will be hard for russia to secure a good place on the global scene oh sue both in this article and his other speeches the president said that the task of combating corruption is quite challenging

regrettably illegal nihilism is typical not only of some layers of our society in the first place of it law enforcement agencies which have greatest problems with corruption and of the bureaucratic machine it is generally typical of the whole society and most of the people every one of us has ideas that are far from ideal about how various issues must be settled the brightest example we always mansion is the dealings with traffic police officials and there are quite a few examples like this. therefore naturally the task to overcome corruption is set for more than one two or even four years it requires much more time because it requires not only some changes in legislation introducing more rigid rules for state officials businesses and chords but first info most it requires a change in the public opinion of these things obviously it will take time nevertheless many steps have been made over this year to start implementing the ideas outlined in the president's article i remind you that since last year the

state officials are required to publish their tax return reports both for themselves and for their family members. in addition to that the anti-corruption council had by the president as active a number of amendments to the entitled upson legislation have been adopted i'd like to recap where not expecting immediate results it would be strange to expect them right now it is obvious that it is a long term scheme which will continue and which will remain a priority on the president's agenda. russia is one of the biggest oil producers in the world but there has led to an economic dependency is there anything else that can take the place of patrol dollars. the president said that the country's dependence on oil and gas industry and oil prices has become devastating for our economy of course such a large country with such a large population and such a large number of open social issues should not build its economy and its economic expectations purely on the global oil and gas prices it would be

a strange and unhealthy dependence that is why the president brought up the subject of modernization and the necessity to switch to new innovative economic development patterns in order to have other major so it is for our budget than merely oil and gas we have made good progress over this year first of all large projects such as skulk of i have been launched last year it was just an idea while today. it's a food scope legal project with clearly defined tax preferences and with a clearly defined team its overseas partners are adding in number it has been joined by such global companies as cisco and nokia and we could be saying that this project must become to some extent the engine of the process and show how the economy can be built and how money can be made in other ways to president by oil and gas moreover and number of decisions have been made to support small and medium sized businesses in the aspect of innovative technologies and we hope that this

measures will yield results and the taxes turned in by the small and medium sized businesses will no longer be earned on the processing or resounding of goods but on innovative projects. or. thursday's worst in would you go first to a tax or more schools metro in more various incidents in the south of russia have made this year very uneasy many people lost their lives what's being done to fight terror. the president believes that modernization is impossible without solving that problem despite the fact that we had a number of serious terrorist attacks this year in which unfortunately many people were killed our law enforcement agencies have been quite effective for instance they managed to arrest several people who were behind the most serious terrorist attacks incidentally i'd like to point out that this is an improvement because in the past security forces rarely were able to capture terrorists alive so now

a number of terrorists have been arrested and interrogated the terrorist organized the blasts in the moscow metro have all been killed. so this work is going on all the time perhaps it's not that old this at times but it is definitely a priority similar tanny asli this or it is where to improve the social economic situation in the north caucuses as you know i like santa who are born in was appointed the president's authorized representative in the region and at the same time has the rank of the deputy prime minister his main job is to attract investors to the north caucasus and to create jobs there we hope that this measures will ease social tensions that terrorists often take advantage of. it's a miracle of the world for that region across russia tested the whole country this summer taking many regions by surprise who is to blame rescuers see they're not responsible for preventing forest fires forestry officers claim we do have the money to deal with all of them is enough being done to prevent such disasters in

the future. this situation with wildfires this year was very serious and unfortunately it did not only destroy buildings but killed many people too which of course is the worst outcome these fires showed that local authorities in many places were not ready to protect people issue warnings they also showed that there is a serious shortage of equipment necessary to fight the fires we will draw unnecessary conclusions from this the president prime minister and government by working on this there is a mutual understanding that the measures that were taken were not enough and there needs to be a more systematic approach to this work the president recently held in meeting where this issues were discussed changes could be made to forestry legislation so that our forests would be better protected from fires we need to define responsibilities of local and federal authorities because unfortunately in many cases the main reasons for tragedies were negligence or failure to follow fire

safety regulations there were no fences and necessary buoys in the forest which led to the rapid spread of fire also this natural disaster show that we need to get better more modern equipment in many places they still use fire trucks from the nine hundred thirty s. they're totally outdated and all respects of course we need to have the latest equipment so that this never happens again. read about all of it judging by their comments a lot of people who read the president's vision expressed skepticism about reforms to the country's political system how can you make people believe change is possible what guarantees can you give. us. the president talked about it in his article modernization in russia has usually taken place for some harsh measures just think about the reforms of peter the great or stalin's modernization it was in no way democratic it was done through

totalitarian means many people felt victims of this modernization so it is a big question whether or not the end justify the means that is why and he's article the president talked about how difficult the path of modernization was if we want to do it now in the developed democratic society of course as he rise in his article mordant society requires a mordant political structure it could be different in every country that it is clear that the rum you chill values mutual improved his value of human life freedom of opinion freedom of speech freedom of religion private property of course all those things that are up howden russia have to be protected and implemented as part of the political system that we are building the president has proposed a number of amendments to legislation this in management allow the opposition to participate in the life of the country they have been cases where civil society is .