it's one of many but go up and down on pleasure cruises up and down the volga it's very popular in on the border in russia in summer time however about two pm something went very wrong it's still not sure exactly what went wrong but the result was that the ship sank in three minutes such a fast sinking meant that a desperate scramble and chaos above and below decks ensued to try and get off the ship and the result was that families trying to get off and save each other and themselves were torn apart we're looking at personal stories that we heard from survivors one was one of the very few children survivors a five year old boy who said that. he had lost his mother he'd also lost his grandmother both of them. as far as he could tell drowned he was thrown into the water and he was going to go under and drown himself he only saved himself by clutching at a hand he could see and it was the hand of

a man who managed to drag him to safety but that man himself had lost his pregnant wife another man heard the alarm to evacuate it was all but too late when the alarm came. his wife who was also pregnant ran off to try and help her friends he lost her he's never seen her again he thinks that that she was dead he could manage to grab his son and jump overboard with him into the water but the water was so cold in the car and so strong that his son slipped from his arms and he saw his son drown in front of his own eyes these are the kind of personal stories of this that this very sudden sinking forced upon people suddenly and out of there out of the blue and we've seen people today standing around here and also a lot of. survivors have come to khazan the upstream from here to try and find out what on earth has happened to their relatives any any tidbit of news that they.

find largely they have been disappointed the emergence as ministry has not been able to supply them with that with any details as yet that we have received video from the emergencies ministry a lot of divers have been arriving and they've been working in shifts our in our and out to try to explore this sunken ship and there are quite dramatic pictures of them bringing up bodies from the ship which really confirms a lot of fears also one one fe which is touching quite a lot of people more than just any old sinking is the fact that there were a lot of children on board possibly a third possibly up to fifty children in the upper decks had gone to join a playgroup of some sort minutes before the ship sunk and it's feared that because there were so many of those children in one place that very few of them were able to get out emergencies ministry says probably one of them. there's also been

allegations that have swirled around this it's difficult to corroborate these at the moment some people some survivors witnesses have said that the emergency exits were blocked on the ship and one staff member on the ship who wanted to remain anonymous has said that they informed the captain of the ship that one of its engines wasn't working when it set off the start of the of his journey and that it was leaning slightly to the right and he decided that wasn't a real threat and pushed on with the journey so there are various allegations swirling around sad to say that none of those are going to do anything to help the grief and the trauma of these people waiting for any news of their loved ones. from a summer dream to a nightmare in a matter of minutes well you'll recall thought our child remained on that boat. it was a sunday afternoon when the holiday river. garia run into difficulties on the.

catastrophe came swiftly through much of it. people were basically buried alive in giant metal coffin we managed to get out through the windows i was there with my ten year old daughter i couldn't rescue her she swallowed too much water when i was pulled out i realized my child was gone. the bog area now lies at the bottom of. the vessel sink in listen three minutes it flipped to the right then i swerved and went down we were literally thrown out and that's how we survived our whole family was on that ship we lost everybody my wife and the grandchildren two vessels passed by and didn't even care to stop and reach out to a helping hand we spent around two hours in the water before we were rescued i swam around searching for survivors and couldn't find anybody so there were a lot of children on the ship they were all in the games room it was impossible for me to get out of there my grandson would be five years old tomorrow we went on the

ship to celebrate my birthday. many of the passengers were families with children on a weekend sightseeing. survivors and relatives powerless to act and now able only to wait. we are telephoning everyone trying to learn anything about our dear ones we called the police but they said to contact the search and rescue service we did but there was no reply so we came here to find out at least something but even here nobody knows anything. it's horrible we haven't the slightest knowledge of what's going on they should give us at least some information we're calling the search and rescue service but i don't answer the phone. as many as fifty of the passengers were under eighteen years old hold into the volga three kilometers from the bank these people behind me are just some of the relatives desperate for news about their loved ones and what was

a pleasure boat cruise has for them turned into a living nightmare. an r.t. the volga bank central russia. now words come out that the pleasure boat was not licensed to carry passengers with russia's emergencies minister now saying that there were two hundred eight people aboard for more details on all those we go live to our people are standing by here in moscow so peter do we know anything about what could have caused this tragedy. while the investigation is underway to try and determine what resulted in this in this catastrophic loss of life on the follicle river. well president dmitri medvedev has been very vocal on the subject the tragedy of course of this scale reaching the highest levels of russian politics the president saying that. the companies that run these kind of pleasure cruises have a duty of care to their passengers to make sure that the boats in which they travel on all in good working order too old to dell suggestions that this boat which had

actually been in the water since one thousand nine hundred fifty five may have been the that may have been one of the reasons that led to this disaster the president saying that those people who were brought in these type of companies have a responsibility to their passengers to make sure that they travel safely. but it was too good either because. i would like prosecutor general's office. within its authority to run the check on complaints of the transfer regulations by both the world hears of the specific vessels. and the state officials. to authorize didn't clear to believe the vessel for traveling under these circumstances. and basically everyone related to the organization of these should or shouldn't be especially considering the fact there were so many children on board the vessel to. alter results. should be summed up here

and not only in relation to this specific catastrophe. but also regarding. this class and all classes are the search for us because the number of old pockets travelling. along our rivers is enormous in the shed where we. had been lucky but for your story it doesn't mean this couldn't have happened it did happen and were the most grave. consequences. president medvedev went on to say that the twelfth of july tomorrow will be a day of national mourning in russia in memory of those who lost their lives on this this tragic accident on the volga river the investigative committee here in russia have opened their investigation to trying to determine what caused this disaster they're saying this off their preliminary view of what went on that it was a they believe it was a technical fault

a problem with the boat that led to this to that date to this the sinking of the ship on the eve on the volga river however at the moment they say they can't rule anything out that they're looking at all possibilities well we have heard they will present a dead it was told today that the ship was overloaded with passengers it was only licensed to tell you one hundred twenty people far more than once on board also. the company running this to a license to have passengers on that ship these are all things that are going to be looked into in the coming days and weeks of the first occasion into what happened continues. and what's the current situation of the operation on the river. well we've been hearing that that divers are in the process of recovering the bodies of those who were trapped in the boat as it sunk to the bottom of the of the river now they have had some problems too to see the well high currents and high winds in the

in the area also the fact that the ship is leaking fuel that may all this comes together to make their job a lot more difficult they are starting to bring out now in the process of identifying those who died will be getting under way. we are hearing though from the emergencies ministry they say that it's very unlikely that any survivors any more survivors will be found the time being. sure. the divers a sweep in the bottom of the river the boats being searched by sectors and decks to examine it closer but there is mary bad visibility the waves are quite high and this is also making the one of the difficult if not in charge specialist there is almost no chance of finding any more survivors still both banks and the ship will be checked. for the shia speed in which the ship went down no doubt led to the first so many people were trapped on board just three minutes we're hearing from when they they first realized they had

a problem too to the ship making its way to the bottom of the fog and not enough time for people to lower the lifeboats not enough time people to put life jackets on and this is the all these things coming together leading to was really catastrophic catastrophic loss of life. parties peter are on top of this story for us in moscow thanks for that report. and stay with us here on our to we our team will be keeping you up to date on the rescue and recovery operation throughout the day. during our some of the other day's top stories a major effort being made to kickstart the stalled palestinian israeli peace talks the middle east diplomatic quartet comprised of the u.n. russia the european union and the u.s. will meet in washington later today to go she ground to a halt last year when israel failed to renew a partial freeze on settlement building in the west bank palestinians who consider that terry terry their own want recognition of their state within the established nine hundred sixty seven borders are his policy or visited one old arab village it

which its former inhabitants say stands as a painful memory to injustice. nestled in the mountains of jerusalem are the remains of a once bustling arab community only the memories of those who once lived here have survived intact i feel this is no need. to come back and to be. my age. to see since the move to this green also. my car there. among the cacti and fick trees but in one nine hundred forty eight just before the state of israel was declared his family evacuated unlike the hundreds of villages that disappeared in forty eight and sixty seven most of the original houses of lift are still here so the only we heard of two thousand. and sharpton. they will shoot to the rhythm of the whole the whole deal with the whole they will shoot

through the. our mother took us inside the room in the corner and then the table so as to protect us here cook was one of seven hundred thousand palestinians who became a refugee in one nine hundred forty eight his childhood home was quickly absorbed by the newly established jewish state almost inevitable as the man who lived his house in london for. if he was forced to do just because he was three it and he is considered as absentee and he lost the property in the early one nine hundred fifty s. jews moved into the abandoned homes like you only your husband's parents they were also refugees fleeing arab countries we life had become dangerous after israel was created these really government sent them to live in lifter the only says to prevent arab owners from returning or in their came here on may fourth live here years without water without electricity the came here. for the memory here

is a very important most of the original two hundred jewish families lived because life in the mountains was difficult and the government was slow to develop the area no one has lived to me is how this for forty six years all that remains are stone walls where wild flowers and grass grow if there is empty. and it's into that emptiness that the israeli government now plans to build more than two hundred luxury homes a chicago tell shops and a museum insisting they'll preserve the area's history we will find ourselves with a neighborhood where history has been conserved there will also be documentation and the story will be told of who live there as we do in all the neighborhoods of jerusalem but many like your could say it's palestinian land and a double injustice why you want to destroy our house and.

now in the. forward there are three people who came from anywhere in the way i can move in my village and come back. to my treatments and. this made me. so and for palestinians lifting is a physical the mind of injustice and survival but for a fair number of israelis it's an eyesore and they'd rather not be reminded of what happened here every time they drive into jerusalem to see on t lift. there's plenty more for you on line r.t. dot com here's what's a click away right now nasa shuttle atlantis docks with the international space station on its final mission we delve deeper into the future of the u.s. space shuttle era. and how does your garden grow find out why the american city of michigan is considering putting a woman behind bars if you doesn't deter veggie patch. while

nato reports on the success of its bombing missions over libya some countries aren't taking part in the campaign and don't share that enthusiasm many in spain say they've simply been dragged into the war under pressure from washington sara for reports from madrid. we appreciate spain's contributions to enforcing the no fly zone and the arms embargo the nato led mission is on track a pat on the back for spain but not everyone feels quite so pleased with spain's involvement in libya least of all the spanish people. spanish government support and they leave. with spanish troops because they're not. they're not or they're that and the parliament and the government but not the public opinion recent polls have shown a large majority of the population and now against the military campaign in

a spanking timmy's to swear in the abyss of economic crisis political in public eye rest. it's been carried out in the conditions of a tough economic crisis and conditions when the government had to sacrifice a lot and introduce huge reduction of costs in the social sphere we think it's unfair that when there is a program of material aid reduction the state participates in a conflict which will be damaging to the country's economy. yet the u.s. defense secretary has still couldn't spain among others to play a more active role in the nato mission and despite the collapse of the housing market and with unemployment at critical level spain has in destiny extended its mandate for involvement in libya we don't think it's a human need to. respond to go to media now because we didn't care about the human rights year ago when we were. libyan people have right a year ago and we didn't hear about welcomed in spain in recent years khadafi was

even awarded the keys to the city on a social visit to madrid the ten mirrors that of many western countries until recently had cause to get a and tolerated his regime. the operation against libya is an action performed so we the strategic interests of the major powers such an example of double standards of morals cannot be justified by the international community and eighteen members themselves have taken very different views about the action being taken in libya with less than half the countries even taking part of the pressure on participants like spain to increase their involvement a commitment they simply can't afford right now. evidence of the internal struggles the country is facing it's not hard to find here on the outskirts of madrid you can see signs everywhere of the pre-crisis construction but much of that works now

stopped and most of those apartments. now those here in spain who oppose nato military intervention in libya say that of course they don't support the dictatorship but they also don't support their country being dragged into a war while they themselves are still fighting such tough economic conditions surface r.t. madrid. at least five people have been killed after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing on water in eastern siberia thirty six people were aboard the antonov which my god trouble after reporting a fire and one of its engines twenty nine survivors have been taken to the hospital four of them suffering serious severe injuries the plane made its landing on the all graeber and is still afloat but several people are still missing a search and rescue operation is underway. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe several huge explosions have struck a military camp in cyprus killing at least twelve people around thirty were injured

at the base between the coastal cities of lamo solemne long karna a blast reportedly happened in two containers of explosives inside a munitions depot fire from the explosions has knocked out the island's largest electrical plant nearby and sparked wildfires in nearby scrub brush. media mogul rupert murdoch is in london to take personal charge of the crisis that threatens to ruin his empire this follows the closure of the u.k.'s news of the world paper amid a phone hacking scandal murdoch met his chief executive rebecca brooks and despite mounting pressure for her to be sacked he said she was his top priority and brooks was editor of the news of the world when much of the illegal phone hacking took place she could face police questioning as a witness but denies any knowledge of what happened. sixty seven people have been killed almost two hundred fifty injured in a train accident in northern india rescuers have been working to free trapped passengers from the badly damaged carriages the train that was packed with people

darrelle that full speed sunday on its way to the capital delhi india is no stranger to railway accidents or poor maintenance is often the primary cause. a recap of our top story this hour divers are recovering bodies from the doomed pleasure cruiser that sank sunday on the volga river in russia's republic of tatarstan they say more than one hundred corpses many of them children remain trapped inside the vessel arky has obtained these disturbing images of the rescue operation distraught relatives remain waiting for any information about missing loved ones but rescuers say there is little chance of finding anybody else alive tuesday has been declared a national day of mourning for the victims of the tragedy president medvedev has ordered an investigation into why the ship sank saying old boats shouldn't still be cruising the country's waterways investigative committee claims technical failure is to blame for the disaster more on this throughout the day here on r.t.c.

so stick with us for our continuing coverage of business news is up next with yulia after a short break. those individual. little college the international sanctions goes to the judge they simply goes on july nineteenth. this living collections by russian designers e.g. gauge a city of central russia. this is a good living for children's fund. slogans like you presiding over the festival. you just leave your job this is. this is business also you hello and welcome to the program headline inflation could be on the way and in russia the central bank says consumer prices could decline over the summer analysts believe there is

a chance this will happen given the love of food prices and positive crops for cost however they still see some risks such as rising demand and just spending and that soft monetary policy russian inflation has been running at five percent since the beginning of the get. right now let's have a look at the markets for those extending doses all stronger dollar and concerns about the u.s. economic recovery brant blunt is trading just on the hundred at seventeen dollars per barrel while the w t i is a ninety five dollars a barrel european stocks as fresh concerns about sovereign debt financials under pressure investors are waiting for the results of an emergency eurozone meeting and it's aimed at preventing the debt crisis spreading to its image europe's thirteen largest economy the country's assets have seen a heavy salvo with bomb deal rising to over five percent investors are concerned by the high level of italy's public debt he's now one hundred and twenty percent of g.d.p. . and the russian markets are trading in the red or negative news from abroad and

right now let's take a look at some individual movers on them. my segues we could create it's pushing energy majors gazprom is losing around one percent this hour and another sector is truck maker commodities on the rise of reports but worse not to aim to invest three hundred million dollars to upgrade the company's metal production and implement nanotechnologies. russian investment fund d.s.t. global is buying a share in twitter at the second attempt the deal is said to be worth about four hundred million dollars twitter so has been valued at eight billion dollars some analysts say the company's of a valued with the service earning about two hundred million dollars a year just to global health talks with twitter last december and then they estimated the company at less than hoped the current price defined as the international investment almost the mail dot all you group already had stakes another internet companies such as ours to q groupon zynga and facebook. today

of course we're back with more business news in about fifteen minutes time stay with us for the headlines with what next.

the lose lose the first step is. to. see. to. see. him a. damn lucky official t. allocation on the phone the i pod touch from the q saps to cinch all she life on the go six six video on demand on t.v.'s money fuel costs and r.s.s. feeds now in the palm of your. questions on the

dot com. two thirty pm in moscow headlined r.t. has obtained disturbing footage of divers are beginning the operation to recover bodies from the doomed pleasure cruiser that sank in russia's boulder river sunday rescuers say more than one hundred corpses remain trapped inside the puzzle and little chance of finding anybody else alive. distraught relatives still desperately wait for information dramatic accounts have been given by survivors of the boat's final moments with reports that many children were trapped in the games room when the ship went down. president dmitry medvedev orders those responsible for the tragedy to be punished saying aging and unfit boats must be banned from cruising the waters of russia countries investigative committee points to mechanical failure

as the possible part of the tragedy. next the middle east peace quartet making another effort today to negotiate stalled talks between israelis and palestinians but the decades old conflict could get another twist with palestinians asking the u.n. to officially recognize their state at a meeting in september next we hear from the palestinian politician and former foreign minister to ask whether a solution can finally be found. we are now joined by the former foreign minister of the palestinian authority and the current member of the thought and one central committee that the palestinian israeli conflict has been around for so many decades that it almost became part of the you political discourse and bargaining chip and some political and some political leaders may not feel that pressure to change things really are you hopeful that any sort of lasting solution can be found i wonder why i mean why

is it that. the world have ended colonization and no colonies anymore. except or in our case. in line nine hundred nineteen. your question was answered all right but east indians were willing to give up seventy eight percent of the country and accept the west bank and gaza that the world accepted as not israeli occupied in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven. i spent all my life to go shaking that agreement way before school started and when no school started between the lobby in the late president israel's prime minister of israel and prison out of five billet prisoners i think the hope was absolutely dead but this is the solution two states side by side on the whole.