in this real. period. of this week's top stories in. the final report on last plane crash points to pilot. have been left untouched. two of the world's oil giants joined forces of russia. potential energy treasures buried beneath the. treaty between moscow and washington another step forward russia's parliament approved the second of three readings.

with a look back at the week's top stories and the latest developments this is r.t. here in moscow the final report on last april's plane crash in western russia which killed the polish president lech kaczynski has caused some controversy this week warsaw says the interstate aviation committee report is incomplete while the agency insists its given the all the relevant information on. this report. for the first time the last seconds are heard before polish president lech kaczynski his plane crash near smolensk turn on one board.

in the crew ignored warnings from the aircraft's automated system to pull up and advice from air traffic controllers to land at an alternate airport plus were inexperienced flying in bad weather the interstate aviation committee highlighted what they found to be the main causes behind the tragedy in their final report there's never a failure to make a timely decision to land at the reserve airport based on multiple becoming day sions about poor weather conditions at smolensk airport descending lower than the safe minimum height necessary to make a second landing attempt failure to react properly to automatic amongst those other reasons which led to the tragic crash of the aircraft into the land and the death of those on board. the findings also claim passenger pressure on the crew to land as soon as possible played a vital role in the incident here is evidence the crew was afraid of disappointing someone if they didn't land. it's

not clear whether the navigator was referring to the polish president or the commander in chief of the air force who is in the cockpit and later alcohol found in his blood poland was not satisfied with the draft report compiled by the i.a.c. which found pilot error was to blame and insists various factors at play caused the accident but aviation experts have confidence. in the findings my experience with the russian investigators has been very good there are very high quality organization that i believe that it was the investigation was generally carried out in accordance with the international civil aviation organization annex thirteen which is the international standard for accident investigation the committee concluded that no single person can be blamed for the accident but now that the final investigation report has been delivered a criminal investigation can be launched and perhaps more light said on the crash that killed the polish president his wife and most of the country's political elite

and he's now a r.t. moscow. and prime minister donald tusk has acknowledged that part of the blame lies with the polish side however warsaw intends to carry out its own investigation and is currently setting out a formal response to the findings but as catherine as ever reports even in poland opinions on the tragic plane crash are divided. state of bringing closure to a very painful chapter in recent russian polish history the final report has opened a pandora's box of doubt denial and political mind games from rational disbelief at the back if there were reports the investigation is incomplete diplomacy and politics should not hamper the investigation of facts for us facts are the most important investigators will add to the report the parts that are missing but will not change what is already there this tragic catastrophe was not and does not have to be a blow to good polish russian relations. to emotional outrage shippers have but

today we see the consequence is in the shape of the report blaming polish pilots in poland in general for this catastrophe and making it a one sided matter without any evidence we're dealing with speculation without any basis. but is this grief talking or shrewd political experience some believe mr kaczynski the twin brother of the deceased president and himself a failed presidential candidate could be attempting to use this tragedy to his political advantage. in poland is hard for many reasons. and first of all. we are approaching the parliamentary elections i am afraid that. all this could be one of the most important balls of. contention between major political forces well some of owning up political leverage in their sights others say the cause of the disaster is clear cut vision is

a very complicated. simple people. interested in so sometimes it's easy for. conclusions. in my opinion. of poland and russia have insisted on keeping this debate from influencing the recent foreign ties but with a story far from over it looks like some in poland are keen to keep things for. polish newspapers of their front pages with strong action minded words war against the report to us versus the aviation committee we will find out the truth and so on but these headlines that are how catchy are just words what actions the polish government will choose to undertake and how they will affect relations between

russia poland remains to be written. catherine as r.t. warsaw poland. well david lemar from flight global magazine says poland may be eager to distance itself from the blame but he can't find fault with the official report i think that the polish government is i think desperate to put at least some of the blame in somebody else's direction but incidentally i completely go along with the russian verdict on the on the air traffic controllers hours incidentally the air traffic controller did not clear this aircraft to land he had with withheld clearance for the aircraft to land and he wouldn't have had permission to stop an international flight like this one anyway if it had been a russian air force aircraft the controller could have told it to divert an international flight especially of this status the controller would simply go along

and do everything that he could to help the captain achieve a safe approach but it's a very very emotive happening for for the polish people however i can tell you this if they try to carry out their own report in order to allocate a little more of the blame in the russian direction i think apart from some minor technicalities they will totally fail to do that. b.p. has dubbed as his story its multibillion dollar joint venture with russia's oil firm rosneft the companies will now join forces to exploit potentially huge deposits of oil and gas buried under russia's arctic continental shelf and it reports now from london where the agreement was signed. it's a deal that both parties are calling a groundbreaking strategic global alliance russia's biggest oil company has signed a deal with b.p. it's the first major equity linked partnership between

a national and international oil company when it's done after five percent to be paid in exchange for a nine and a half percent share in the russian oil made. chairman deputy prime minister told r.t. it's the beginning of a new direction for the company. which is working on a new strategy aimed at transforming the company into an international energy holding our deal with b.p. is of course part of the strategy they've gained a great deal of experience including the gulf of mexico oil spill cleanup operation b.p. has learned from this experience and our joint venture will be carried out with the greatest level of measures aimed at protecting the environment we've been working with b.p. for many years they're competent and have strong experience of russian companies the aim is that b.p. will team up to develop three areas on the russian shelf that's potentially

a lot of oil and gas down there which rosneft owns the license to exploit it's a huge area around one hundred twenty five thousand square kilometers and it will be easy to extract the resources the arctic the highly inhospitable environment and requires sophisticated technology and billions of dollars of investment but aside from the cash b.p. c.e.o. bob dudley says they've got the life experience has been working with us now for twelve years now and we've been working on the arctic for since two thousand and five working with. expression. and i think to be honest we learned a lot about what happened in the gulf of mexico and the company of the core we're going to really focus on safety and respond. for environmental care what we do the russian government's behind the deal and prime minister putin says all parties are ready for the challenge but should be fine with the system still i would like to let you know that the government of the russian federation supports this joint

operation because this is a project that could become global can have a significant influence on the world's oil and gas industry russia's arctic reserves are estimated to be five billion tons of oil and ten trillion cubic meters of gas such a project may require tens of billions of dollars of investment and state of the art technology and we are fully aware of the recent which is the optics a highly contentious area with many parties wanting a slice of the potentially lucrative pie but experts agree this deal will trigger a muddy but what lies beneath the exploration area they're talking about is in the south car see it's off the north coast of russia as far as i'm aware it's not territory that is disputed by anybody so i don't see this as being contentious in that sense it's being branded around the world as a breakthrough deal opening russia up to billions of dollars of investment now and opening a potential door to similar ventures in the future arguably this deal improves the

u.k. energy security and it also puts b.p. on a service financial footing following the massive losses it sustained from the gulf of mexico oil spill it's also a huge vote of confidence for the russian oil exploration industry you are at it. still ahead for you this hour here in cuban fury of tourists. once again the subject of strife between cuba and the u.s. have bennett says it wants its land back. and a happy ending to an icy saga three hundred people a total safety after being stranded on russia's far east coast for over two weeks. the pivotal deal between moscow and washington to cut off arms is now one step closer to reality russia normally has promised to ratify start by the end of the month after it was approved in the second of three readings the treaty that would

see the two countries nuclear arsenal slashed by a third was signed by president medvedev and the bomber last year he was given the go ahead by the u.s. senate just before the new year after months of debate congressman added several key changes forcing russia to counter-balance those amendments to keep the treaty intact the head of the state duma foreign affairs committee told r.t. washington is responsible for the long drawn out ratification process but he also expressed fears the u.s. may one day pull out of the deal. amended of the senate resolution just very dramatically and they left us no other option about. our decisions on the plaintiffs of january we are going to rectify the treaty as it is and. to add two more statements by the state duma which are to be included in the british occasion document but this time i believe the

risk is quite obvious on the american side that they will proceed with the strategic not regional but strategic aren't in the defense system small not the current president not the current government but probably the next president the next government each has a completely different strategy on this issue and in case it happens yes the treaty may be damaged and yes there may arise conditions for us to pull out of this treaty but again we are not there yet and we still have time to make better agreements and to avoid any misunderstandings and that will be our mission. this week portugal's prime minister repeatedly insisted his country can deal with its own financial problems and does not need a bailout. jersey socrates' valid to continue with strict austerity measures such as pension cuts and tax increases portugal minister relieve some concerns as it raised over a billion euros in a bond auction but this might not be enough for it to escape the fate of bankrupt

greece and ireland experts fear is to trigger spain's collapse which in its turn could be too big to bail out but financial advisor. says any survival package wouldn't solve the fundamental flaws in the concept of the euro zone. this is not in any kind a way a final solution for the european debt crisis it is just buying time for these countries so that hopefully they will be able to get control of their fiscal situation and the markets will start to to believe in them again that they are able to service their debt moving forward in reality what's happening is burdening this country with these countries a lot more debt to service and the jury is still out on whether they can actually turn their fiscal position around over the next few years you can't save all the banks and save all the countries because at some point someone's got a fire or all which is the other option which we've been pursuing so far is that we

just carry on printing money and everybody carry on printing money and we end up with hyperinflation and most currencies then become worthless so at some stage someone's got to fail but what we're doing is patching up patching up patching up hoping that the issue's going to go away pushing the can further down the road now the europeans have to start thinking about a complete reform of the european structure. quantum of bay detention center has entered the tenth year of its controversial existence and there are no signs that u.s. president obama will be shutting it down any time soon the american presence there follows a deal struck over sentry go but calls are growing stronger from havana that the u.s. is vonnie to cuba sovereignty. as this report. it's a place forever immortalized by images of torture known by its abbreviation get america's notorious detention facility in guantanamo bay cuba has been the source

of world condemnation abuse lack of legal recourse and indefinite detention is the norm it's also been the subject of decades of strife with cuban authorities who argue the forty five square mile military base violates cuban sovereignty and amounts to a military occupation the agreement under which u.s. has to be on cuban soil the kuantan a moment let's hear a piece. from earlier earliest years of the twentieth century the plot amendment was imposed following the u.s. occupation of cuba after the spanish american war in one thousand nine hundred three was extracted from the bench you've been governing under under threat under duress and in clear contravention of international laws like the vienna convention the u.s. government threatened to continue its occupation of cuba unless cuban authorities agreed to lease the land for america's military base indefinitely or for as long as

it paid the cuban runs after the cuban revolution swept the island nation one nine hundred sixty its revolutionary leader fidel castro cashed only one check and he insists it was an accident no checks have been cashed tents in protest no such she would never be signed today knows a treaty signed today would never be internationally recognized the united states. will hunt down. and punish those responsible after nine eleven the bush administration swiftly turned its military base into a detention facility declassified documents show the u.s. government used cuban soil to evade national and international law to interrogate terror suspects a strategy journalist that they escobar argues is convenience you can ship to cuba and never bring them to the u.s. mainland and they are going to live there for ever in

a state of legal limbo most of the remaining one hundred seventy three prisoners at guantanamo bay have been detained there since the facility opened nine years ago awaiting trial. president obama recently signed away his right to bring detainees to u.s. soil making it unlikely that any of them will see a trial or freedom any time soon some argue the u.s. violates cuba's sovereignty for this reason because this is the only latin american country for the past over this past fifty years has said you know then you straight to the eye of the american government or as they would say the american empire a country cubans believe should give rights to its detainees and give back the land that's right fully there is to handcuff this r t washington d.c. . the music of rap metal band rage against the machine was played for up to seventy two hours nonstop during interrogations at guantanamo bay but ironically the band

is always trying to find the system that kept those prisoners incarcerated as it's guitarist tom morello explains. when we learned that the united states government was using rage against machines music to torture people guantanamo bay we sued the state department to go to a stop and we were unsuccessful in that suit and pursued over the course of a couple of years and i think it's a thing of the crime my only hope is that hopefully at some point not too distant future. when the war criminals of the bush administration are brought to trial or one day wearing their yellow jumpsuits and black hoods it will be the music of rage against the machine that is popular twenty four hours a day. and you can see the full interview with rage against the machine that guitarist tom morello in about ten minutes from now here on r.t. . the maritime drama is almost over ships that have been stuck off russia's far east coast for two weeks more than three hundred people were trapped on board the

vessel that is now being escorted through the frozen sea by two ice breakers a pair of smaller ships have already been towed to safer waters the three vessels got trapped in ice in the sea before the new year extreme weather conditions and technical failure have been hampering the operation. we could leaks founder julian assange could end up facing the death penalty in the united states if he's extradited to sweden that's the fear of his lawyers according to legal papers released on tuesday one attorney said. it would be easier for washington to extradite him to the u.s. washington wants to prosecute him for espionage relating to the release of classified government documents claims that sex assault charges against him in the scandinavian country are politically motivated one european politician told r.t. the case is becoming over politicized. i'm sure there's lots of political maneuvering inside the powers that be a very difficult position the americans want to get their hands on

a sign which is now think the game's up people can see what the european arrest warrants are. so my guess is i know what they're going to do but i'm fairly confident that they're going to come up with some kind of cynical fix that will allow him are there to go back to australia or possibly to go back to sweden if some kind of deal is done about what charges will be laid against him but i'm sure . this whole. media publicity about the european arrest because this is just this there are other legal instruments coming through which remove our freedoms in other areas of life all down in the name of integrating europe's legal systems. in addition to what you see on the screen here there are always more stories for you on our website that starts some of what's online right now on. the economic crisis in the u.s. has brought many businesses to their knees and left millions unemployed to find out how government workers in washington have managed to flourish during the recession

. goes on websites welcome to cardboard this new role playing community tyrant invites guests to build their identity using cardboard more about that kind of other stories that we're on our website called. other world news in brief this hour police fighting a gun battle near the interior ministry in the center of the country with reports saying two gunmen have been killed another wave of riots follows political leaders crucial talks over forming a unity government after weeks of violence forced the former leader from office comes a day after the country's parliament speaker was sworn in as interim leader on friday the president ben ali fled to saudi arabia from where he reportedly not return. more than six hundred people being confirmed dead following severe flooding and landslides across southeastern brazil soldiers of military doctors are also taking heart and rescue operations to find survivors to say heavy rain will continue for

several days in areas already submerged president dilma rousseff has declared three days of national mourning for the victims in the wake of the country's worst natural disaster in four decades. results suggest southern sudan has overwhelmingly voted in a referendum in favor of splitting from the north full results will not be announced until next month but the reason is widely expected to secede and in ninety seven percent of the southern sudanese in europe voted for the split so devastating civil war and would create the world's newest stage. the shooting massacre. in tucson arizona that killed a nine year old and put a congresswoman in a critical condition has led to calls for gun control laws in the u.s. to be reexamined. oftenest also known as the resident took to the streets of new york to help people feel about guns in today's society.

do guns kill people or do people kill people this week let's talk about that i think it's ok you know guns not concealed weapons what's the difference. walking around in public with a gun is probably not a good thing but i don't have anything against hunting so how do we prevent people who have guns for hunting from taking them out in public. you have laws against say people can't walk around nude in public what about the argument that you should be able to have a gun for protection you can use other objects for protection i think the more guns you have the more you're able to use them actually. to have it the more you were you would use it i can't believe how free you are to have guns here in america but what about the argument that if guns are outlawed then only criminals have guns.

yeah i guess my own go underground but i still think they should be a lot more legislation on he can and can have guns is that possible in a violent society though. people who don't agree with. need to be done the laws that need to be. politics or guns are more violent and deadly i think. you know it's part of humanity's constant struggle to figure out how to. before the bad thing happens prevent it. it comes down to education with whatever the topic as i beg yes but the guns or people kill people i think we can all agree on the bottom line that violence is rarely the answer. to printout save them with a reminder of main stories for you in just

a few moments stay with us here on r.t. .

around the world. this is street still keeps its secrets but now it's time to reveal. the soviet files house on the embankment on our team. bringing you the latest in science and technology from around russia. the future covered. download the official location the phone on pod touch from the. life on the go.

video on demand on t.v.'s mine old costs and feeds now in the palm of your. question on the. wealthy british style stock. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cause or for a no holds barred look global financial headlines two kinds a report. in india in the move up joint the hotels. the gateway hotel the brand imperial tried to tell us to close coromandel hotel.