fifty kilometers away from reactor number one. radiation levels are much higher. and coming up we have all the detail. for radioactive ripples far beyond the exclusion zone news emerges of. contaminated japanese cars into the european market . spreads across europe as activists. ignoring the israeli occupation of the west bank and call for a boycott of goods from illegal settlements. and with the media craze in america flaring around scandal involving a senator questions are being raised about whether news outlets.

international news and comment live from a studio in central moscow this is. a highly toxic radioactive material has been detected in groundwater in seawater samples near the fukushima nuclear facility in japan the elements strontium has been found in concentrations two hundred times over the safety limit and concludes bone cancer and leukemia meanwhile japan's health and labor ministry says the number of workers exposed to dangerous levels of radiation has risen to eight and thomas has been it's a city to measure radiation levels there and this is what he's discovered. here we're eighty kilometers away and the radiation levels in this area in many many places in many instances. are much higher or really close because if you look at

a map of where the city is in relation to the actual nuclear facility plant number one where a lot of that radiation. from the winds are bringing that radiation in the. city and the rain in the wind is blowing the radiation in this direction so we were at a spot where the radiation levels or one thousand times what is considered to be a safe dose is so. very very dangerous levels and so scientists that we are working with today. different universities are working together on projects to try to figure out ways to use a simple method to actually clean that radiation up and actually i can assure you. are working to the cattle contaminate the soil right now. and as you can see the two women aren't wearing any protective clothing clothing but the scientists are so one of the concerns is that you can actually have one spot which is only thirty

times in the accepted normal levels and then you go to another spot which is just a metre away and it can jump to five hundred to a thousand times depending on where rain water and mud have collected one of the concerns of course is that grass is you can. filter for nuclear are ready at the material and. are drawn to grassy places when they go to those areas they could actually be absorbing more radiation from the grasses well so what's interesting is this area that we're in right now is considered a safe area it is not considered a mandatory evacuation area but authorities are looking into to see whether it should be considered evacuation area where at least hotspots within the city should be evacuated because of these and small hotspots if you will where the radiation is just off the charts. radioactive particles from the fukushima nuclear power plant have already reached american shores and will be seeing genetic mutations in marine life within a year that's according to on

a good person an energy advisor fairwinds associates a corporation specializing in environmental and nuclear safety well we're already seeing particles in tokyo particle means or radioactive particles are really small thinner than that they are under your hair in tokyo in all throughout the fukushima prefecture and interestingly we're also seeing them on the west coast of the united states so airborne radiation lodges in your long track is certainly in japan and on the west coast the the oceans are still becoming more or contaminated not less and i think over the next year or so you'll see the big fish that truly are in the salmon. because this will work its way up the food chain i think you'll see more and more radiation being detected in the top of the food chain fish as well. woods hole prominent research institute has said that the pacific ocean now is ten times more contaminated then was the the ocean well the seas near

chernobyl at the peak of the accident so the oceans are worse now than after chernobyl. oh goodness i'm talking to be a little earlier here not in the focus shima nuclear crisis has also sent shock waves through the japanese motor industry and the speculation that contaminated vehicles could be heading out to the world com market and potential buyers are now thinking twice before making their way to japanese auto insurance as ati's alexy at a chef ski reports. has been contemplating a change of hardcore for months a fan of japanese vehicles she wanted to upgrade her off roader to a new or model but her car dealing friend said it was not the right time but the. i was told privately that all new japanese cars are radioactive because of the fukushima disaster the shipment was supposedly blocked by the authorities at adesa harbor but unofficial dealers bribe them and those cars on to the streets officials

at the ports left off our question whether there had been any contaminated cars here after the japanese fallout these off roaders worship then before the fukushima disaster in japan and even they were checked for radiation or for reduced claim there's absolutely no chance of contaminated go of making their way onto the ukrainian territory these cars arrived to us transiting through greek and turkish ports if anything was wrong it would have been spotted there in the first place but it was still double check all vehicles for any biological threat. however ecologists say these checks may not be enough to determine radiation growing is a radioactive particles are very small and can disperse all around the vehicle they can be found in filters radiators inside small plants that's why it's very difficult to detect them with regular geiger counters of the disposal of the customs units experts say the sale of contaminated steel is not something new for

ukraine these shorts were filmed inside the chernobyl exclusion zone several years ago scavengers stealing contaminated radiators from the ghost town of one costs around twenty dollars on the black market tens of thousands have been removed from the zone. these contaminated metal can be recycled and used for a new thing from rails to vehicles without losing its radioactivity but usually it's used for making industrial pipes and ukraine is known as. one of the leaders in production radioactive particles may be small but are still gravely dangerous a person subjected to them for a lengthy period can experience various long diseases and even cancer so yes the temptation to buy a new japanese car is too hard to resist experts advise turning to professionals to check whether it is safe let's see it was in from a just and each office in ukraine. the chernobyl nuclear power plant in ukraine was

the scene of the world's worst nuclear accident but many fear that the crisis at fukushima may soon surpass it but you can check out the ones prosperous soviet city of the infamous atomic facility to find out how it looks now a special report from there marking the twenty fifth anniversary of the two noble disaster is available on our website dot com in the documentary section. europe is seeing a surge in anti israeli sentiment with a growing clamor for governments to stop turning a blind eye to the occupation of palestinian land activists say they want actions not words and demanding an embargo on exports from illegal settlements but as daniel bushell reports politicians are remaining tight lipped on the issue. against israel thousands call for the boycott of his really good over its continued expansion on palestinian land a jewish demonstrator says enough is enough. american leaders do nothing the e.u. does nothing the repeated un resolutions have ruled israeli settlements illegal.

activists want the european union to war the main export of the occupied territories flowers and fruits they formed human barricades that a use a ploy depose stopping goods getting through. israel's carmel brand market settlement produce and pockets to profit but pine forces can move in their citizens are committing war crimes under the geneva convention public pressure is bearing fruit italy's biggest grocer co-ops and food grown in the occupied territories the world's largest security firm g four s. has stopped work with these really check points on the west bank admitting it breached human rights shareholders forced belgium's dexia bank to sell its israel arm over a million euro loans to settlements activists next target is the firm leg room links between thirty and jerusalem e.u.

transport giant veolia protesters are also seeking to file charges on the international law against israel over its construction of settlements which the authorities are investigating police will pass these complaints on to the courts judges must rule if firms who buy food from occupied palestinian land are complicit in war crimes irish m.e.p. paul murphy will join girls of fla tiller the biggest yet to raise awareness of the situation knowing activists were killed by israeli commandos when a similar operation was stopped in international waters last year murphy feel things have got so bad he's ready to risk his life hopefully people and kills this time as they were last time by these raiding and military forces. that it brings the world's attention to this issue such moves say experts force politicians and business to act to public opinion change your mind. before you were thinking

that israel was granted by the british today would probably kill me opinion really capacity to challenge and international institution the european tradition and the un and also to. the last time such a campaign was mobilized internationally was against the so also for can a poor toyed regime israel may have powerful lawyers but opposition in europe to its policies is grueling to the new. process. and israel's continued blockade of gaza is not only damaging to palestinians but also disastrous for israel itself that's according to the e.u. high representative for foreign affairs exclusive interview with baroness catherine ashton coming your way later this hour but first here's a preview. we're very consistent in saying what needs to happen is that the israelis need to open the borders with guards or and allow people and goods to move

freely now i recognize the importance of the security situation for israel we've always done that but it seems to me a position that's not tenable where you have the inability to get the economy moving in gaza and one of the things i've been saying to the israelis for some time is it's in their interest to see economic growth and development and darts are lots of small businesses you know that could really do well lots of people who want jobs eighty percent of people in gaza receive today so many young people who don't have a future and part of the answer to that part of making sure that we have security is giving them that future and that means allowing in and out the products the goods were girls that could actually sell and support its own economy. he may be faced by an ongoing rebellion an increasingly destructive nato bombing campaign and worldwide condemnation but colonel gadhafi is valid he'll stay in

libya. to the bitter end his remarks came a rigged game of chess with the visiting president of the world chess federation. the chess master expresses shock at the scale of destruction in the capital tripoli these comments came just hours before another gadhafi aide defected to. nato is also declared its intent to expand military operations in the country again after libyan government forces re took the port city of zawiyah from the rebels well to discuss gadhafi as a latest act of defiance in the face of overwhelming odds are now joined by dr. at the university of kent at this time joining us from cambridge thanks very much for being with us here on r.t. you know it's noticeable how gadhafi seems to be at the moment playing chess and giving interviews all with an air of somewhat aloofness now how is he remaining so calm especially when other arab leaders crumbled so quickly in similar circumstances. well i think to understand the difference we have to

realize that in egypt there was of course the powerful army that pushed. president mubarak and that hasn't yet happened in libya but the defections are showing that gadhafi support within the regime is clearly declining i think the other reason why he seems so carl is because i think he does suffer from dangers to lucian's he does think of themselves as somehow untouchable and it's very clear that india and all dictators all autocrats all tyrants sooner or later. removed by by their own people or somehow removed by outside forces very few actually survive until their. sort of physical death in all day and i think the same will happen we could afy idea will be betrayed or some attack by nato will be successful in either injuring him or indeed in killing him but if he is defiance a lot perhaps strengthened by the fact that nato has taken so long over this mission already stretched to its resources saying that its crews are tired and that

they are indeed going to have to continue with this but some of the crews are exhausted i mean in some ways the limit of what airpower can achieve has been. been exhausted itself so perhaps he's comforted by that is he not. he's clearly hoping that there will be some kind of repeat of the nine hundred ninety nine scenario over kosovo where nato bombed for seventy eight days and nothing much changed on the ground except for lots of destruction and of course it's usually the civilian population that suffers the effects of destruction not the leadership and of course what happened of course was the ground troops made all the difference ground troops finally removed troops from kosovo we're not going to see ground troops in libya but we might be seeing is more intelligence on the ground more interest of gadhafi regime by rebels or indeed by foreign intelligence and then perhaps a crucial strike to finally we can get our fear and remove him but it is clear that the moment the nature of strategy isn't fully working that's been apparent for many

weeks now what about the latest development concerning germany now recognizing the rebels how significant is that. but it's a belated move really but at least one shows that the german government realize its previous stance of just sitting on the fence and somehow abstaining isn't really working i mean the russian president. steyn for the reasons that we we know we need to do a domestic politics but he clearly didn't think gadhafi had much legitimacy and that's what he said at the summit of the g. eight germany's move i think is belated but it stephanie welcome what about the situation in syria britain france and becoming more vocal about the situation there something that russia and china a very concerned about obviously russia and china have been concerned about what's been going on the libya concerning the nato intervention there but do you think russia and china will be justified in blocking any u.n. security council resolution over syria. no i don't thing a blanket veto of any kind of resolution is ever justified because you have to look

at the resolution and see what it says i think a carefully crafted resolution could be helpful because what it could see it go to assad is that basically he's got a final chance either he relents and stops repression in which case there might be some way of a political solution that may even keep him in power certainly his regime in power or elles with further repression this is going to be intolerable and over time the pressure will be immense for him to resign even from his own supporters within the regime so i do think both russia and china would be well advised to look at a resolution if of course the resolution promises an intervention which nature can deliver that would be foolish and russia and china will be justified in in perhaps blocking this but it all depends on the content we haven't seen the draft resolution passed the public won't so the chinese and russian diplomats i think should consider it perhaps a lecture in politics the university of kent thanks very much indeed for your time

here on r.t. good to talk to again thank you thank you. well police in the u.s. have close an investigation into the so-called sexting case that's dominated national headlines for over two weeks and married senator tweeted a recent photo of himself triggering a media rush that overshadowed world news including the war in libya and violence in syria what is going to priorities lie in the american media. but he doesn't know if the merican media can't get enough of anthony weiner's crotch shot the married u.s. congressman had sent this lewd photo to a young woman via twitter a story made a perfectly sex scandal with a shameless cover up this is a twitter hopes a prank that was done on the victim of this poor girls the victim of a subsequent embarrassing come fashion last friday night i tweeted a photograph of myself that i intended to send as a direct message as part of a joke to a woman in seattle once i realize i posted to twitter i panicked i took it down and

said that i had been hacked and of course a tearful apology i am deeply sorry for the pain this is caused by wife. and our family it seemed anthony weiner's indiscretion overshadowed all other news in america winners winner and we are the winner is this you that we dated for a few months like almost ten years ago to the point when even comedians for whom the congressman's crotch shot has become a bottomless source of inspiration point how distracted american news media can be a hero. and your stories. that have been blocked by this recent scandal on a more serious note many people think the only way to get ratings this is to lead and constantly churn and cover these types of lascivious stories that really don't have any bearing on people's lives whether or not it's a private issue that has affected nobody but the people involved the media pressure

is so high that it has become a trend in america to make deeply personal apologies on camera but everybody who has been hurt. you know that the sorrow i feel. the same goes for celebrities like tiger woods' extramarital affairs made headlines for months i'm deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior i engaged in the apologies seem to fuel the gossip industry even more when politicians stage and i do use this word stage these apology kind of sessions they are very likely responding to their public relations. advisors their lawyers etc etc i mean in the networks american media companies love it because again it generates even more scandal american television and don't take. the low hand with our analyst miles courts and now we know the least this endless and all these

scandals have to do with private matters but they feel they knew same bar i mean to such an extent that maybe happens by the same as they were placed back in america i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. . when we get more analysis on the latest news developments by logging on to our web page. here's a quick look at what's the four. americans are hearing voices with new radio studios with a voice of russia opening up in washington new york also online. the u.s. is creating an internet and cell phone networks inside other countries you can find out why. any of our videos you can go to free video. and. free. education free. free. free free.

free. free. free. video. project free radio john darche dot com. the pentagon has recently been forced to admit it doesn't know where six point six billion u.s. dollars for iraq of gone and money was supposed to be part of a massive reconstruction program after the war well to talk more about the missing some joined by political analyst. he's joining us live on his webcam there in washington thanks very much indeed for being with us here on our team now this is a staggering amount of money surely the very nature of massive cash payments reportedly delivered by cargo planes and then being moved about in sacks in trucks is asking for trouble as. well yes indeed. there are reports mentioned that some of the mole in the us in the bloke's breaks one hundred dollar bills well i

remember having read some years ago that they were actually gone the socks that they were field with a hundred dollar bills like if you will of the like in your pocket and you threw it in the bag and then they took it by plane to iraq so you know you can imagine the picture anybody could just stick their hand into the can they remove the money i mean i'm just so making these the potential is there ok. apart from petty theft as it were people putting their hands in the bags if this money is unaccounted for presumably stolen and where has the vos some web do you think it could have gone team well my suspicion east would have ended up in the pocket of corrupt iraqi officials who thought i mean they saw the opportunity to get biased amounts of money from the united states money that the reports mention was sent appropriately

these three due to there were no financial controls once you got into iraq. what about then u.s. contract since. they're being corrupt in handling a lot of that minority of of course there are reports yes that maybe yes they were contractors of my have obtained tens of millions of dollars and keep bikes engraft . of course it seems the reality i was thinking for instance in the report i think from the week in leaks the saudi gober been this is just an example of the time greed and stop providing funding to the game in germany government. because all the money for development of yemen was ending up being the bank account so. i wouldn't be surprised. that should have been used to develop and reconstruction of. the terrible can be shown of this sewage system you know the

breakdown of electric electricity services so if the infrastructure utilities seem in iraq why are you with so much money but you see to it is war story so you see it's not that hasn't changed in that since the invasion of well perhaps an explanation you know a little earlier you mentioned the finger of blame pointed towards iraqi officials but of course the iraqi officials now they being threatened now go to court to reclaim the money and they say that money came from iraqi oil sales seized iraqi assets and surplus funds from the united nations all for food program they've got a point have made you think they could actually get their money back on that basis well apparently there was some agreement to legal agreement signed into the us some for the united states was responsible for the need to protect it in the one that you mentioned you know from the oil for food program it said.

that would give the right to the iraqis to claim that six point six billion if of course the united states goes to the agreement is responsible for its safety. needs from their content for in the united states was responsible for controlling meets this tube you show we don't know here in washington what happened to you and of course there is the case to the police. the courts will have to decide of course i suppose it's very embarrassing for the us authorities to just finally how will the us taxpayer this is not the sort of news the us taxpayer wants to hear in these economic times in america or isn't. in though of course especially when there is so much needed home. there would be small and it was stark spear sworn in that should have but they're being employed for other purposes and in the hands so for corrupt officials whether there were u.s. contracts or whether they were iraqis or who knows. what life

will have to leave it there we're running out of time thanks very much indeed for time joining us live on the web cam in washington thank you thank you. for despite being invited to wheelchair for more than a decade that hasn't helped that one determined russian he's come in eleven thousand kilometers right across russia. and he's drawing attention to the plight of disabled people. has been to meet him. alexander's top speed is not much more than walking pace it's been more than a decade since the accident which put him in a wheelchair driving the other car was america's consul general in the us stock eligible drunk and that's where the problems began as a diplomat american douglas can't could claim immunity officials back in washington refused to waive his rights so alexander had no chance of getting redress this little that he walked away scot free but i will keep on seeking justice. alexander tells me he's been fighting for compensation ever since to pay for his specialist care and medical expenses so long after the original accident it's important to him

to keep his case in the public eye his just finished and marathon of marathon proportions riding his electric buggy eleven thousand kilometers from his home to moscow and it's been a journey of discovery the ocean the only one i was most surprised by the decency and generosity of our people i never expected such help just imagine every set of stairs demands for people to get me up that. despite all the obstacles he came to the heart of one child many people along the way asked to go to the kremlin tell them how we live but alexander is not the complete inclined to strongly believes that no matter what the odds everyone's destiny is in their own hands the people he's met have certainly heard his call but it's the people in power in washington who really need to listen and act diary bush r.t. moscow.