seal the hole and all the other gaps on the ship so that once it's partially raised to be able to pump out the water from the ship making it light enough to raise it more easily a very complex operation visibility in the water is very poor for the divers there's a lot of algae in the water at this time and so it's proving to be a drawn out process but one that is crucial for all those people waiting for answers a mountain of cuddly toys never to be played. they are the flowers and candles a testament to the children among those who drowned in the pleasure boat the ball carrier sank in the volga last sunday. and the most we studied together for a year she never had arguments with anyone she was a very kind girl and was always ready to help. the ship sank in just three minutes turning a summer afternoon on the river into a scene of horror i didn't like it is that people were basically buried alive in

anti-matter 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 in the chaos to escape many other families were also torn apart one five year old boy lost his mother and grandmother and was only kept afloat by a man who grabbed his hand another man unable to hold on to his son in the strong current oil slick had to watch him drown in front of yuri was the deejay for the disco on the bottom deck he only just managed to escape. and i remember clearly that water was rising very quickly it was a matter of seconds i survived because we saw through communed to go in the cellar started pushing people out through it at that moment we've pushed me up on the surface and then i saw that the board was already under. water. over half the

bulgaria's two hundred eight passengers and crew including the captain his wife and child never made it out meanwhile as the arabella another pleasure boat arrived at the scene she was surrounded by people screaming and drowning unable to reach the banks of the vast river three kilometers away. as we approached it was hard to distinguish in the dark water people who were alive from the rubble that was floating around people were in panic when we rescued them in a state of shock some suffering from other traumas they were all covered in oil fuel that was leaking from a sunken ship it was a terrifying picture i have to say despite a huge search and rescue operation after the initial survivors were picked up. the divers and cranes working in this water have been trying to recover just something of the lives lost and families destroyed in those few terrible minutes but they've also been working on the question the cost so much why did the bulgaria

sink and sink so fast. as the list of bodies recovered from the ship grew so did the number of revelations about an aging dangerous and badly managed vessel eyewitnesses and people connected with the ship came forward with damning accounts of its poor condition on the stingy management who forced it to keep sailing. i became captain of the vessel in two thousand and seven ship had made been renovated for a while before that there were big problems with the engines and power generators repeatedly mention that to the management and even had an argument with them portal thora t. say they were lied to the ship was only supposed to carry one hundred forty people but was loaded with over two hundred they were told it was carrying twenty more tails a bound including a broken engine and tricity generators failing so that no s.o.s. signal or tunnel instructions could be issued and blocked emergency exits criminal

cases have been opened and arrests been made to the bulgaria sinking and more controversially into why two ships which reach the scene before the arabella didn't pick up a single person but reports the crew members instead took the pictures on their mobile phones. and you were told the passengers were shocked there were about seventeen people on a raft many had cuts and injuries that were bleeding we yelled for help i saw the board passers by in a different direction towards. the slow process of raising the bulgaria has now started up with it will come the potential for answers but also terrible memories in particular associated with the ship's play room where a group of children were gathered when the ship sank. just some of the young victims in what will go down as one of russia's worst and most avoidable shipping disasters tom bottom. the captain of

a ship who helped rescue seventy seven people from the sinking bulgaria has been described the horrific disaster scene and an interview with r.t. and you can see that in full in about twenty minutes from now or you can find it right now on our website at our team dot com there we have all the latest reports of an intense search and recovery operation since the tragedy happened and you can keep up to date there and by the way while you're online you can check out our you tube channel for all of videos all of the salvage mission.

london's police commissioner has resigned as britain's newspaper phone hacking scandal escalate still further it follows revelations the heart of former news of the world journalist as a media adviser at the same time as his force was supposed to be investigating the paper's conduct just hours before that a former news of the world executive rebecca brooks was arrested amid claims of hacking and bribing police media analyst phil reese told me earlier that the practice of police being paid for information by the media is not likely to disappear anytime soon this is a good example of what the police have been doing in the kind of murdoch years they've been using arrests they've been leaking they've been paid for telling people where the celebrities have been arrested so actually manipulating the rest of people is actually a practice it has become in trying now in my view as a result of the kind of bribery thing so this would hardly be out of practice but i don't think it's going to deflect opinion i mean there are so many m.p.'s now an indian so much of the british establishment which for so long kowtow to murdoch.

it's now prepared to get to the bottom of this and weed out those people who have been corrupted at different levels remember that four years ago right the police had these bags with i think it was eleven thousand letters about four thousand celebrities and victims of crime and all these other people and they knew they were taking part investigation and these bags were just left there i mean it's amazing remarkable that it took four years for them to do anything about this meanwhile senior police officers were wining and dining with members of the murdoch empire they were they were meeting them for drinks privately one even hired them at a thousand pounds a day to work for him so you know what does this tell us about the relationship between the police and the news corp employees well it's very very serious and if this can happen at the top of the police look at the example that gives to officers down down the lines now you could well you know can any organization properly examine itself but so much is at stake that if that operation is seen to be

corrupted as well i think we've got you know an even bigger problem i think so many people now are watching it including you know members of parliament select committees these are investigative bodies within the british political system they're all all eyes are on this let alone all the journalists who are looking at what's going on so i think that the ramifications of this is so big i mean you know britain is it is shaking at this each day it's headline news and people are asking who's next. meanwhile rupert murdoch is trying to rescue news corporation's crumbling reputation he spent the last forty eight hours apologizing for the phone hacking scandal with full page newspaper adverts while also meeting the family of a murdered teenager whose voicemail was intercepted and reports it's a watershed moment for the cozy relationship between britain's politicians and press. but every media outlet in town t.v. read you even the sky rated. part imitates life the long running simpsons

takes a shot at its owner rupert murdoch aka montgomery burns in an episode broadcast apparently coincidentally this week. but it's not the only piece of timing in the extraordinary phone hacking case that seems to get more scandalous every day the list of something like four thousand names which the police have had since about two thousand and four two thousand and five and yet they promise facie evidence of criminal activity by these individuals and boy by the murdoch empire and yet they have not acted on it so why now just as the murdoch deal to take control of satellite t.v. giant b. sky b. look sure to go ahead his arch rival the guardian newspaper releases catastrophic allegations of a moral journalists and their shady practices that when the deal collapses the

times for example which currently loses money you could have transferred some of the profits from. into investing in the times and if you are for example or the guardian or the daily telegraph you would welcome it it's not just rival newspapers who stand to gain from murdoch's empire crumbling the b.b.c. could retake t.v. territory lost to b. sky b. and the labor party which was wounded. by years of relentless attacks by murdoch papers can finally take revenge but where will all this lead be. that would suit the government just fine the british press is famous for it sharp teeth and no holds barred doggedness particularly where its own government is

concerned prime minister david cameron has all but shut down the press complaints commission and already talks of statutory controls to govern print journalists back in springfield mr burns's thought it as the townspeople opened up their own newspaper and he's almost right. the media. rupert murdoch he is beautiful man murdoch found as did mr burns that you just can't buy all the newspapers those outside his control have been gunning for him for years and this time they may have succeeded just as he looks set to consolidate control over a launch section of the e.u. case media markets the drugs being pulled out from under him and it's all over the hidden scandal now revealed that the police have known about it for years nor and it's. still ahead the dangers of a debt default we examine why the u.s.

is on the brink of a financial nightmare and what it might do to try to avoid it. and also still to come. yes red square a four wheeled frenzy is high speed for many one super car screech through the center of moscow. but first a senior advisor to the afghan president hamid karzai and a member of parliament have been killed during a suicide attack in the capital kabul. it comes less than a week off because it was half brother was assassinated the taliban claimed responsibility for the killing describing it as one of its biggest achievements in a decade meanwhile the us led coalition started handing over control of some of afghanistan's territories to local security forces but generals jere van dyke being held hostage by the town and says the u.s. led efforts in the region were seriously on the mind by the death of consonance brother. while the karzai it was not just the governor or the shadow governor of kandahar he was the most powerful and the most popular person throughout all of

southern afghanistan this shows that right now with the canadian troops pulling out and with the u.s. trying to now focus on eastern afghanistan feeling that they have controlled the south there is now a vacuum who is in power who can the west rely upon the taliban have claimed responsibility for this but it's not clear that the taliban are responsible it could very easily be a power struggle i've also heard and others have reported that he was responsible for perhaps starting to bring the taliban together with the united states to negotiate therefore someone would have had a definite reason perhaps pakistan perhaps the taliban to stop this we don't know yet who is responsible because they killed the person who had all the information and it was journalist gerry van dyke commenting on the killing of the afghan president's brother. a new round of nato airstrikes has rattled the suburbs of the

living capital tripoli as colonel gadhafi veld never to leave his country in the face of assaults by the alliance and the rebels this comes after the opposition became the legitimate authority in the country in the eyes of more nations the u.s. and more than thirty other states recognize them at a diplomatic meeting on friday saying they would deal with them until an interim government is in place a recognition by a contact group on libya also gives the rebels access to billions of dollars of gadhafi has frozen assets in u.s. banks political commentator ted rall says the move is a radical shift from the international standpoint. the united states usually doesn't extend diplomatic recognition to is a regime that is not in the capital that isn't in power and doesn't even seem likely to be able to achieve power anytime soon but you can look at the situation in afghanistan during the one nine hundred ninety six to two thousand and one civil conflict there between the taleban in the northern alliance the northern alliance

were the former regime that had power in kabul and they enjoyed diplomatic relations with the west even though the taleban controlled ninety five percent of the country it's almost just wishful thinking and frankly if i were a diplomat i would find it disturbing it's a bizarre situation if the u.s. knows who these people are they're not seeing and certainly there's no doubt that traditionally there's always been a very high component of jihadi even around ghazi so unrealistic to assume that that is not still the case the u.s. has an amazing how it should be skids full of hundred dollar bills to third world countries and expecting them to end up in the right hands and that's not really going to happen. the high level recognition of the rebels may bolster their spirit but it's a different story in combat fierce fighting for a key eastern oil town has ended with heavy casualties among the opposition as daniel bushell reports it's thought france is now trying the talking tactic with

the libyan regime after failing to deliver a knockout blow to get afy. books is like bragging will destroy their reply lives they're often wrong and gets a surprise i french foreign minister pay both did france would libya in quotes days or weeks the wars into a fourth month the final round inside the last sarkozy with his western allies seeing short little opponents fighting back well it's not just an embarrassment for sarkozy it's an embarrassment for all nato for the whole west paris even admits all being libya's rebels but it turns some somalia. wench to libya for training within the last two or three years that's documented we have to fly records 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 u.n. vote on foreign intervention in the country now by leading it never. giving. none of. this. witnesses at the bigger of libya's causing widespread atrocities for every one military personnel that was supposedly a casualty there were ten civilians. fraud's categorically ruled out saying we rolled troops protect predicted the only way mail to break the libyan deadlock the moves the splitting the nato coalition silvio berlusconi head of key italy admits invading libya was a mistake russia ups they did the us vote will be full of bombs would bring havoc

in libya which would you play said the latest tool to help support love ruffle quote lloyd lead diplomats will meet. with elections just annoying months away thought voices that a successful war could resurrect his chances instead one paper writes libya's becoming a slow motion call crash for france's deeply unpopular president. because these are jogging for excessive sweating is understandable this is libyan spring is turning into a marathon the new bush will see paris. russia's foreign minister was in the u.s. capital this week to get clarification on washington's missile defense agenda america is steaming ahead with deploying its anti missile shield in europe despite objections from moscow u.s. claims the project is aimed at protecting the continent from any potential attack from iran or north korea but russia feels the system could compromise its own nuclear arsenal it suggested a joint missile defense program but that's been brushed aside by washington and

nato the us is also refusing to provide legally binding guarantees that its system is not aimed against russia so get lavrov to stress to voice of russia radio in washington of the need to prevent a new arms race threats on the ground that being created on the basis of american national design of missile defense which was not accepted by us is a reasonable way to respond to what is your sieved as being the purpose of the system we want at this particular moment to stick to the region. the agreement between there would be no parts of the system which would. compromise which would. create risks for the strategic stability and for the but the. strategic stability area maybe strategic arsenals of the participants of the system now let's have a quick look at some other stories from around the world at this stage of the world

update and egypt's former president hosni mubarak has suffered a stroke and is in a coner according to his lawyers doctors were reportedly working to bring the eighty three year old deposed leader to consciousness but health officials and state t.v. have denied the information saying the barracks condition is stable it comes after the country's prime minister reshuffled his cabinet in response to renewed public protests demanding political reform. that is when i'm president hugo chavez is back in cuba for more cancer treatment including chemotherapy and more elegant cells have been found after he had surgery to remove a tumor from his pelvic region he's transferred some powers to his ministers during his absence but didn't agree to opposition calls for a temporary handover of all presidential authority his battle with cancer has raised doubts over his fitness to leave the country but officially he still plans to run for reelection next year. time is running out for american politicians to agree on the next move in sorting out its soaring debt the deadline to lift the nation's fourteen point three trillion dollar debt ceiling is looming ever closer

as nor make a struggle to find a compromise as in the bomber's urging democrats and republicans to ignore their differences to avert armageddon. credit rating agencies say there is a risk the u.s. could fail to resolve the deadlock quickly or effectively and even if the budget is approved fund managers say it's unlikely to solve the problem of america's debt. you know how to states already has been downgraded in the world markets every i'm not the only person who knows that the united states is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world look at the value of the u.s. dollar is down fairly significantly over the past few years they have to increase the debt ceiling for the moment there's no question about doubt their choice though for the future is they've got to take an x. no they've got to take a change so to government spending and do something about it they're not going to do that they might announce they're going to do it for this to get the budget ceiling passed but it's not going to have any effect everybody sees that washington

is not going to solve this problem and more and more people are looking for something to replace the u.s. dollar. things are little better in europe with italy now the focus of stopping the eurozone heading into oblivion runs approved a tough seventy billion euro cuts package to avoid the need for a bailout it's the euro zone's third largest economy and could prove too big for its neighbors to say meanwhile eight out of ninety european banks have failed stress tests to see if they could survive another financial crisis british. nuttall believes the latest developments prove the single currency is simply not working. this was always about politics it was not about economics the idea that you could have a commie in the mediterranean in line with economies like germany fast growing economies like germany was never going to where the only way to get out of this mess is for those countries to go back on to their national currencies to devalue to get growth moving. exports going in at the moment they can't use their debt because they

couldn't see these are controlled by frankfurt they're controlled by the european central bank they're not controlled by athens or lisburn or even though we see the people out on the streets in athens and i just wonder how long it will be before the people are out in the streets in rome and in lisbon and in tokyo and this thing is contagious this thing will move right across the continent specifically in the mediterranean and the bigger issue now facing the european union is italy italy is the third largest economy in the eurozone is based largest economy in the world i think the euro zone can actually cope with greece and portugal the smaller economies but it's italy goes the whole thing could cave in because if italy goes italy's economy is intertwined with spain's and of spain and italy go then we are in serious trouble. several lasco streets were impossible on sunday often in not because of the the tourist traffic jams they were sealed off to temporarily become the realm of the fast and the furious and high octane performance formula one drivers in some serious rub up against the amazing backdrop of the kremlin boards.

of all the annual moscow city racing show featuring famous f one stars on the windows of world rugby championships is a taste of things to come for russian f one fans of the country will get its own from prix in three years from now. well recap today's and this week's main stories for in just a few moments so don't go away stay with us live here in moscow this is the weekly auntie.

forty two thousand americans die each year car accidents only a thousand. seven hundred thousand people. and thirty two thousand will kill themselves cancer in all its forms kills five hundred sixty thousand of us here part is easy even more devastating they killed over eight hundred seventy thousand americans every year. the. free accreditation st john's for charges free range month free risk free studio time free.

download free broadcast quality video for your media projects a free media. tom. more news today. fleda if these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. operations today. look.

today's top stories on review of the week from. emergency crews are struggling to lift a russian crew from the bottom of the volga river after their first attempt. it's hoped the operation will provide answers to the catastrophe that claimed one hundred twenty nine nights. britain's top cop quits is the focus of the over the phone hacking scandal surrounding the u.k. press which is to the police comes as former news international c.e.o. rebecca brooks was arrested earlier in the day. the libyan rebels now in full diplomatic recognition from washington and within access to assets frozen in the u.s. nato has intensified attacks on the capital tripoli in an effort to oust the libyan

leader val's never to leave. plus intercontinental cash crunch as america faces up to the possibility of default europe's debt crisis contagion piles more pressure on the. u.s. congress needs to raise the debt ceiling to avoid financial disaster while italy is on the verge of meeting again. with another update for in about fifteen minutes from now in the meantime we hear from the captain of a vessel who screwed up to the rescue of survivors in that tragedy last weekend that's a special interview next. captain is out and thank you very much for this interview was the first to come to the rescue of the sinking cruise ship bulgaria how did you get to know about the tragedy. yes we were the first to help we were sailing in the same direction as the

bulgaria and we picked up on the radio just bits of conversations between some ships we couldn't make out what the ships were but we heard them talk of seeing people overboard and speculating that it looked like a boat or a small ship had capsized once we heard that we put on more speed to get there faster when we did arrive at the tragedy site we saw terrible things and only when we realised that it was the pleasure boat boat garia that it sunk to the true scope of the disaster strike us. how long did it take you to get to the scene. but you know i mean i would say about five to ten minutes fifteen at most from the moment we heard the radio talk but it all happened very quickly as we were nearing the site we began to figure out how many people there were in the water although that was hard to do because there was a lot of rubble floating around as well it was very hard to pick out individual people from among the floating debris it was truly a tragic picture that we saw what condition where these people were they panic stricken where they sang.