me. or not it's not the first funerals held in russia as the country mourns the victims of sunday's pleasure of cruising a sinking on the volga river over nineteen deaths have been confirmed but the search for dozens of bodies trapped under water continues. as the french parliament votes to extend the military campaign in libya analysts highlighting consistencies and paris's frantic attempts to find ways out of the deadlock. also wiki leaks founder julian assange is fighting a decision by a british court to extradited to sweden over sex crime allegations which is supported just a pretext to how devoted to the u.s. . and russia wants to take the customs union with exxon one step further

prime minister putin wants to create a free trade zone between union and europe more on that in business in twenty minutes time. hello there thanks for joining us it's nine pm here in moscow you're watching the r.t. international news channel with me kevin zero in and rescuers are searching through a playroom in the sunken volga river cruise ship as the bodies of thousands of children could be among those still trapped under water over ninety people have now been confirmed dead after the heavily overloaded pleasure cruise that sank in the republic of tatarstan on sunday our correspondent tom barton has the latest from. some homes glowing in a memorial tribute to those that died this is a large river with many craft traveling up and down it

a lot of the cruise almost ships full of knowing the crew on the bulgaria. paying their respects to the ship that sank. we still hope jules has. you know has an air pocket or some other way to believe that little angel is alive for the school. where ambulance workers call it was in the chip. cruise together was husband five year old son who was pregnant or was to deliver her second baby noticed she isn't around here only husband to survive seem to run tight. there are thousands of people that have turned out here to the river boat station in khazan which was to be the stopping point of the bulgaria on its pleasure cruise up the volga they've come to lay

flowers and to pay their respects to the people drowned either trying to get out of the ship or those who were trapped in it in sunday's tragedy downstream from the rescue efforts are going on with divers going through the wreckage to try and search the rooms inside the ship they're moving into one of the most difficult parts about operation into a large play room and it's thought that a large number of children there but that they simply weren't able to escape and they all drowned in the. first came terror and tragedy. the boat leans a bit there are three of them in the cabin my son my daughter in law and my grandson my son said he tried to open the cabin door holding his child when the wave crashed into them and he lost grip of my grandson he says you swim towards the light and made it out alive but i can't buy my grandson or daughter in law. now amidst the grief comes the anger and the questions of why you peaks do your jobs

you don't understand a thing. gary a pleasure boat sank in just three minutes on sunday now some people are saying it should never have been on the boulder at all. of the past two hours before. an awful condition of their down a pretty voice choked on a ship before it would never have been allowed to sail it growing evidence seems to point to gross mismanagement on the vessel including a broken engine ignored by the captain and blocks in the agency exits chloe then not long ago on the twenty third we travelled on his motives a bit he wasn't called condition then he has a catastrophic serial turns in or a trip that it would have to stop for some layers because the engine was working properly the vessel was first built in one nine hundred fifty five and as recently as last month was given official clearance to sail despite this rescue teams say it

was hopelessly outdated the crew there was working in town and they noticed water coming in through the windows at such a pace the boat went down very quickly all of this will come to the fore when the ship itself is raised to the surface for investigation but it's the how ring accounts of what happened on the weekend pleasure cruise that tell the real story. is that people were basically buried alive and try and match the 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. it's such a waste since two good guys i'm sorry i can't speak you see that. signify you my friend son was there soon arrived early it's all so hard to tell and so stupid but it could have

happened. rescue workers will continue their efforts throughout the coming hours and days but hope has now gone they will find anyone else alive leaving just the shock and grief an artsy of all go back into russia. scenes of terrible anguish but now there's also growing anger after claims that two vessels pass the cruise ship as it was sinking but did nothing to help a criminal case has been launched against those ships captains over get we've got more on the human side of this tragedy on our web site as well but you'll find it interview with the divers who are working at the scene they give a harrowing account of their underwater search for dozens of bodies in poor visibility you can read more about that further analysis about what went on at r.t. the. lower house of the french parliament voted to extend the military campaign in libya it comes after recent remarks by the french defense minister suggesting that the rebels should talk to colonel gadhafi this is rumors that one of the most

active advocates of the nato led invasion might be starting about pedal on the campaign and that is the new bushel reports now exile growing in paris that what was intended to be short lived mission is turning into an embarrassingly long war. not help. each other. books is like bragging they'll destroy the republicans they're often wrong and gets a nasty surprise i. french foreign minister should pay postage france would be libya in quotes days or weeks the wars into a fourth month and the final round inside nicolas sarkozy with his western allies seem short little opponents fighting back but it's not just an environment for sarkozy for members and for all nato for the whole west paris even to me it's all mean libya's rebels were written some somalia. went to libya for training

within the last two or three years that's documented we have the why record and everything else so it seems strange in many ways the whole western support of some of the rebel groups in libya must be questioned because in some cases i think we are effectively arming al-qaeda. it's all making a mockery of the un vote on foreign intervention in the country. none of. this. witness is made of libya's causing widespread atrocities for every one military personnel that was supposedly a casualty there were ten civilians frauds categorically ruled out cindy grilled troops to expose predict is the only way they'll break the libyan deadlock the moves the splitting the nato coalition silvio berlusconi head of keep italy

invaded libya was a mistake and did a study you the fridge defense minister says the rebels should negotiate with moammar gadhafi this is the same man that they're already indicted in the international court so technically i mean from a legal point of view it's even possible role should the u.s. vote for him bombs would bring havoc in libya to pay said the latest talks who can support surrogate love rothwell quote lloyd lee diplomats speak for a row of elections just annoying months away sako advises that a successful war could resurrect his chances instead one paper writes libya's becoming a slow motion for crash for france's deeply unpopular president so jogging for excessive sweating is understandable as his libyan sprint is turning into

a marathon the new bush will see paris. to discuss this story more we're joined now by little victor that he's a european affairs advisor to the french opposition's national front party joining us from brussels for it even chief thanks for being on r.t. so the national assembly has voted to prolong the operation what's your reaction to that outcome. well we see that the globalist. war is going on the french government is trying to push forward through this ideology of supporting globalist wars around the world and we completely oppose this kind of point of view actually we think this is an intrusion into a civil war which is already cost one hundred sixty million euros to the french within the euro crisis when the social situation is getting worse now i mean we pose this kind of point of view and it's just nonsense. and called the

president's decision to intervene in libya a political one with a large upcoming elections well let's look at it now as this operation sends into a stalemate has this been a vote winner or a vote loser for nicolas sarkozy i think i know you're going to answer that with. well i'm sorry for mr sarkozy that he didn't fall before the fourteenth of july which is our national holidays and actually his political agenda is a bit worrying because we were in there in this war a just to show off actually with his friends on the global era and we see this quite interesting actually to see that something else is behind all of this and in the same time we are very very worried about consequences as we know now with that most opponents in the rebels are islamists. but you mention the cost just now you mentioned the cost to the french public of this operation but under the sixty

million dollars figure some figures got to two hundred million dollars if the operation continues to drag on will be justifiable for the french people themselves to spend so much money on a foreign war. well this is what i want to say. this money is this is a waste of money for something which is not working because i think will not step down he is still in power this money should have been used for something else completely differently. we think this is really a stalemate which is going to turn not like in so million people might think but i think more like the iraqi scenario so all of this is completely irrelevant diplomacy we wish we had something else which we used to be our tradition in france which is much more independent much more wiser to see what could be on on the long term and immediate. but at the moment but that's great of course but the

moment the situation is that situation is unfolding in libya and if paris wants to take it until the bitter end will the question of introducing ground troops be considered do you think will that be stopped by the french public. any conflict which is entering a stall mate means that you have to bring the boys on the ground it means we have to have our boys killed on the ground that means we're going to begin and the iraqi insurgents in are you it's for sure i mean airstrikes are not sufficient enough to reach your targets there are no wars in which can be won just striking so what she says is that is going to happen there. i am not sure i think this is going to happen we fear actually this is going to happen this is why we say we have to stop this right away we have to think about another solution for libya and specially because we are very worried about on the fact that we know now the islamists are behind the scene of the rebellion it's not only because it's not not it's really ok

it's a part of it but most of the islamic brotherhood for example which are operating as well in syria and in egypt i mean the whole region is falling in the hands of islamist moderate or not for us this is a big problem the big down european affairs advisor to the french opposition's national front party thank you for your input on the program thank you very much. for nato is lying when it says its aim in libya is to protect civilians says independent journalist cherry. who spoke to us you can see the full interview with him if you'd like to catch it on our t.v. next hour it is a quick preview of what he had to say. starting from the moment it was decided to launch this operation the lives of civilians were not taken into account and this is just the beginning it is rather

a question of the rearrangement of this region when we are yet to see a series of wars in this case keeps lying to restage during the war in castlebar and neither would normally like it only to conceal its mistakes and this time it's being done not to consume the sticks but you can see all the strategy. and more thought still have death he has no future and new libya must go so says russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was on a mission to washington right now it is going to if you can is there for us joins us live they're very definite statement there for the minister isn't it. well exactly foreign minister lavrov said colonel qaddafi must step down and there is no place for him in leave years future and that's a view shared by the obama administration as well but saying that there is a lever of has also criticized the scope of the international intervention in libya

take a listen we support the effort and you know and you should have to start negotiations between the representative of three representatives of three presidents representative some very good guys the transitional national council on the understanding that the efficiency of of course would not have any place in the future of libya. and the efficiency of would not participate in googs discussions. he also repeated that moscow sees the actions of the allied forces there as violation of the un mandate he said that the resolution is being wrongly interpreted as you can do whatever you want but there must be limits to any intervention what moscow sees is the west now clearly taking sides in a civil war and extending the conflict all right another subject now the u.s. undersecretary of state said monday that the missiles shield would cover the whole

of europe now does that sit with russia which of course be very critical of washington's plans. well kevin u.s. missile defense plans in europe are of course up for discussion here in washington foreign minister lavrov that russia for a legally binding guarantees that the european missile defense project will not threaten russia's security there have been words before washington has many times said that the system would not be against russia but moscow needs to have it on paper some analyst explained that this urge that russia has been getting everything on paper with promises in the past that were not fulfilled for example when the soviet union collapsed russia was assured that nato would not be spending towards its borders but he did it can be continued recruiting new members of the bottom line is words are good but words in a legally binding agreement are better foreign minister lavrov said that's probably the most irritating issue in the relations between the two countries and there is a huge desire to leave it behind and to rather turn it into an area of cooperation

referee has offered building the missile shield in europe together but that offer was turned down nato says russia can participate but it can't be a joint project because russia is not part of nato troops that are suppose that if that's the case let's base our relations on agreements not just words but it is going to teach account in our washington d.c. studio thank you. this is our t. still ahead a few there's trouble in afghanistan as the association of the afghan president's half brother a powerful politician allegedly links of drug trafficking deals a blow to nato its plans to leave a stable country behind his troops withdraw for you also is of greek style rested its we bring you inside of the financial woes of a country many predict could be next in line for e.u. help. wiki leaks founder julian assange is back in a london court where he's appealing against an earlier ruling to be extradited to sweden the world's most famous was the blows wanted for questioning over sexual

assault allegations but his supporters fear that if sentenced talk only will end up in the hands of the u.s. government lauren it has the latest from outside the court building tonight. cheeriness so much has hired an entirely new legal team full based appeal he started the old old laws and he's got people who are much more have much more experience in criminal law and they're much more concerned with the ins and outs of e.u. your and specifically the european arrest warrant they're all queuing that the european arrest warrant enough known as case is invalid because they've essentially discrepancies between the allegations made and the testimonies of the two alleged victims there are four charges and they range between are no full coercion to sexual assaults right down to break they're also saying it's important to remember that no charges have been brought against us or she's wanted for questioning in sweden and say far no more now this case is slated to go through wednesday if based

appeal is rejected by the high courts that g.n.r. sauces but i would still take the extradition case right to the supreme court and even on woods to the european court of human rights assaulted his supporters have always been worried that one sex is right it's a sweet and they wish he would be sent to the u.s. that this case is politically motivated and of course have noted that a grand jury in the u.s. is investigating wiki leaks and that some people in america would love to get their hands on ourselves. so you could correspond laura you can catch more of laura's report in sweden with links for the u.s. on our website r t v dot com for all the stories we're covering available online for you with all the latest new clubs videos terms of what you say on the stories you see also richard over like this video for these the plane rescue operation just hours of putting aircraft crash landed on a lake in eastern siberia so they fished everybody got out again also before he caused the roads in moscow and where st louis simply she's in sportscar for the mugs in central moscow. and carnage.

off brother of afghan president hamid karzai from the. noted in his own home initial reports suggest a while because i was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards the taliban claimed responsibility described as one of his biggest achievements karzai headed the province a volatile region on the border with pakistan he was often accused of media reports of having links to afghanistan's massive illegal drugs trade i spoke to a doctor big kidneys a political analyst from kabul who says the killing is a blow to the u.s. . and the past couple of years he he confirmed that he had a good relationship with their american troops and american officer because of this i think that americans lost one off important members of the air troops but at the same time he was accused of being involved in corruption and drug trafficking and then because of this many believe that the now i mean well seeker for another

person to replace him but through small world news headlines now protestant braves violence in northern ireland up to belfast was bonfires were lit to mark the annual twelfth of july celebrations catholic protesters threw stones and firebombs of protestants and police security services attempted to separate the opposing factions that the seven police officers were injured in the attacks the twelfth of july marks the end of the annual protestant marching season commemorates the seventeenth century victory of the catholic school since. space walks now underway in orbit some four hundred kilometers above our heads two astronauts are working to retrieve a broken section of the international space station and popular board the shuttle atlantis for six and a half hour space walk will also stage an experiment in robotic of refueling the shuttle leaves the station next week and its landing will wrap up america's shuttle program after thirty years in space. italy's markets plunged tuesday over fears

the country may become the next e.u. state to ask for a helping hand italy's finance ministers already promised to approve a set of budget cuts within a week in an effort to avoid turmoil in the third largest economy financial advisor marco appeared for polly told me he has fears that the could get a big trouble now the level of debt is far greater. than the peripheral countries of europe really put together in many ways whether you can put together a rescue package for the short term. is probable that it's not so much in many ways about. whether they can afford which is questionable but it's also about whether they want to wear the germans want to keep bailing out countries for as far as the germans are concerned i'm sure that they want this to come to an end in many ways italy like many western countries would be living well beyond their means for

many years and this will mean significant cuts in income spending which will mean job cuts will need a reduction in public sector pensions all this will be painful and of course the public sector tends to be much higher unionized than the than the private sector and therefore union militancy and civil unrest easy is to be expected. to get ahead just a bit less than seventy it's time for now we look at the one of the most devastating environmental catastrophes in u.s. history coal mining at his worst it's our documentary mountain top removal person is for the mercy. thanks very much heaven hallowed a warm welcome to business r.t. the customs union of russia kazakhstan and belarus wants to expand its legs prime minister putin says it's ready to start creating a free trade zone with europeans and meeting the prime ministers of the other union members to discuss the first year of corp as the end of rico ripple. it has been

a year now since the three c.i.s. neighbors russia kazakhstan and belarus began trading with no borders and russia's prime minister vladimir putin says it has already brought asked to audition results of the trade models between the three countries grew four to three percent in the first four months of this year puts it also says that the customs union is now ready to integrate more into international trade with its closest neighbor the european union puts it all into law and that the three countries together have a population of eight hundred and sixty five million people a very lucrative market for foreign partners and this allows the c.i.s. countries to ask for better conditions in international corporation. by removing barriers within the customs union the new means to be in time to erect barriers on our extended borders on the contrary main goal is to ensure that our joint efforts can more fixedly integrate all countries into the global economy

because some of the union will also seek free trade cooperation with the european union. talking about russia's not tourists red tape who to sell now the ruckus is all three conscious but then the customs union will have to compete for businesses and this may finally become a real step to fight corruption. so i'm going to reporting that has now moved to the markets crude is mixed is him injuries in the u.s. so for from peak levels or actually that they're actually up next our fears of. dominating i don't know using the market however we can that's there's still concern about u.s. economic recovery on the possibility of further tightening in china but at the moment spreads has turned positive it's up sixteen cents or was. might even more than that of ninety six and. u.s. markets showing a mixed picture of. right now there

a negative belgium's down by just a. nasdaq point three percent been worries of course dominating the market on the face of the debt crisis in europe and they still chilling investor interest. is the closing picture for european session on shoes day footsies down one percent facts point eight percent this is after a massive sell off on monday investors are continuing to dump financial and insurance stocks on this thing sovereign debt fears and this is not helped by the patch finance minister saying the selective default on greek debt is possible he while markets still nervous about the possibility that the crisis may spread to italy and spain the third and fourth largest euro zone countries cost of insuring spanish and italian government bonds has jumped to record levels and those in picture in russia now a pretty much similar to what's happening around the world flat out yes negative nice a slightly positive burbank is actually flat unlike other financial stocks around

the world which we see massive sell off the stocks and even managed to gain a notch today point zero six percent gazprom down twenty three percent as well was down for most of the session major gain on tuesday was about spots go it's rallying on reports russia's state development bank equaled by eighty percent of the mine up for five billion dollars these western from its own capital wraps up today. we have recovered slightly russia has actually done better than those other markets but if you look at the sectors that have been doing well it's really in telecommuting that is the metals well telecoms and utilities and obviously was the plan since that's not a surprise given the environment but also if you look within the metal sphere it's been called a real scope again you could argue these are sort of head she says i should be gold companies through these are very defensive mode and we don't see a lot of sort of conviction in. any kind of relief that the scene is likely to be short term in this environment headlines are next with kevin stay with us.

of them is. sleep.