russia and germany wrap up what will be known as the oath to put it as the country's leaders agree to use food as a diplomatic weapon. also ahead this hour of america's longest war the length of the u.s. campaign in afghanistan surprises the now as the frustration with the growing human and financial costs. and thirty five years together in all of it russia and the us about the anniversary of their first joint spaceflight on the foreign cold war

relations would follow. this is r.t. from moscow just after eleven pm here in the russian capital i'm kevin zero in with the top stories this hour it's good to have you with us a growing closeness between russia and the west was on show at a joint russian german summit in the city catherine board president dmitry medvedev and chancellor angela merkel indeed shared jokes about paul the psychic world cup octopus and. barack obama but amid all the smiles they got some business done too with dozens of agreements signed our correspondent daniel bushell's been following the story. in the windy city over you could get was very much a case of the madrid if and merkel i'm sure if you like is the su country's leaders rolf's more of their personal strong relationship really highlights the country's two excellent relationship at the moment historically as it was with greeted

chatted with mr medvedev influence russian he with her off to a top local restaurant where they enjoyed off to perth but later promised it was not paul the octopus who predicted that germany would lose in the semifinal over the world cup now there was talk of a trio of world leaders forward looking leaders barack obama rich madrid if i go merkel a transatlantic troika if you like moving the world forward on security and defense issues with food as the unifying force let's listen in to share your money and let me draw your attention to the fact that germany is number one on the list of russia's partners we have long time relations which has not been spoiled even by difficult chapters in our history. when it comes to russia and germany's relations with other countries it's not like in school where you have just one friend we can have many friends germany and russia have their own issues they're completely

different in nature to transatlantic problems it's useful for us to be able to discuss them together the room for dialogue doesn't exist to the same degree with president obama as a does between us but the u.s. relationship is still very important and i think president medvedev also would like to read to read that this conference is no way should signalize about relationship with president obama. well we have two options either the three of us going to need some how megas we draw the treaty our friend barack obama to some kind of european grizzly's could going to say and i think the burger will taste best for me. so after will join siemens of germany really takes all of russia's. zation box is today a place to join russia silicon valley a joint new project being built on the outskirts of moscow it will also modernize washes train system it's trains which are outdated and yet crucial to the country really relies on its trains a lot of parts of the country and thirdly wind turbines it will build wind turbines

an eco drive in a country which is also trying to become more environmentally friendly the other big issue was iran of great wall concern at the moment as it continues to suggest it's moving towards a nuclear bomb but that of the pressure that unless. iran is an active and proven trade partner but it doesn't mean that we are indifferent towards the way the islamic republic is developing its nuclear facilities we are also concerned with some military components of its atomic program iran should find courage to begin fully cooperating with the international community to iran should do this even if it doesn't like some issues it's currently facing a friendly relationship between the two wrapping up what has been a very successful summit a very successful meeting between the two leaders and also business leaders and political leaders germany and russia really two of the strongest partnerships on the world stage today our correspondent daniel bushell reporting for us there well

russia will hope its relationship with germany will pave the way for improvement of ties with the e.u. is a hole that is the opinion of camillus uk when he's in eastern europe expert the bertelsmann foundation in berlin. at the moment russia and germany are very close especially in political context as we could see in the last two days economic cooperation is good. could be improved and. i think the current development of the relations here is very positive and to see and. good german russian cooperation could be transferred to e.u. and russia called peroration. holds two on our team from a former k.g.b. officer saying it's the developing friendship between moscow and washington which allowed the recent spy scandal to be dealt with so quickly the full interview with

only a prank oh is coming up next hour but here's a quick taste of what's in store. yes because if we take the broad dames any such small office chances for war meet a week then we can see it i believe as a first step to have marvel and rapid developments and if you have to solution i'm happy ending for both countries relations seem even stronger going to compromise for the position it was unbelievably quickly these events are the top level of intelligence while it was during the cold war it used to take years to profess i just want. more news today attacks in afghanistan recent all time high in june the bloodiest month for foreign troops since the start of the war nine years ago it is now the longest military campaign in u.s. history supposing even the vietnam war and the still no end in sight. list of reports and it strikes. it's the comparison that cannot be avoided by

press pundits and now politicians last month afghanistan surpassed the. place that both ambassador holbrooke and i are all too familiar with as the longest military campaign in american history committee chairman senator john kerry brought up the failed u.s. war of decades ago at a crucial time in america's current one this is a difficult moment in the afghan conflict a moment when questions about strategy and progress abound at a hearing on governance and the u.s. civilian strategy in the region the man in charge of it all a vietnam veteran himself tries to make the lesson of that history a fundamental difference between those two wars since you mentioned it mr chairman and this war our national security interests are at stake with the safety of. the u.s. at stake as richard holbrooke claims you might think congress would have crossed their t.'s and dotted their i's by now and fighting their longest battle as they're

supposed to be united states constitution requires that before the united states goes to war that there be an act of congress but just as in the vietnam war we've never followed that procedure with respect to a war in afghanistan we centrally drifted into a war in a long term commitment a long term commitment that appears to be wearing on lawmakers who want to know this wouldn't be helpful for the president to at least lay out a flexible timetable for when the u.s. is getting out beyond the july two thousand and eleven date to start withdrawal u.s. president obama set is given no assurance that this should be an open ended occupation holbrooke emphasizes the u.s. is committed to no calendar very leery of setting a date certain they'd hear. for the salute withdrawal but still the endgame is unclear civilian and military operations in afghanistan are

proceeding without a clear definition of success the ambassador is banking on the success of reintegrating the taliban starting next week but little about afghanistan appears to be in u.s. favor it's not where you choose to fight to defend the american homeland it's the most remote logistical place in states ever fought ancestry just who can put an end to this fight in the absence of withdrawal dates its military and political missions fail the congress has the ability to stop the war by not funding it as u.s. lawmakers and officials talk strategy and tout successes in afghanistan this comes amid escalating violence in the region deal with the bloodiest month in the nine year conflict with one hundred international troops killed forty five have been killed so far in july with twelve of those deaths coming in the last day or so for r t m or lester washington d.c. . the u.s. has handed over the last of iraq's prisons to the country's government authorities

will take control of her own one thousand six hundred detainees have come close to the capital baghdad america's slowly withdrawing from iraq with a final deadline set for december next year the u.s. will continue to hold two hundred detainees though some of which were members of saddam hussein's last government though the majority of the five still but earlier i spoke to andre gilligan he's a journalist from britain's daily telegraph newspaper and also worked as a reporter in baghdad when the u.s. led invasion was launched back in two thousand and three he told me that remaining prisoners of the last go in the u.s. occupation. they are the last remaining if you like american black hole of detainees we we know roughly who's held one town in mowbray we know who's in custody in afghanistan and we still don't know who these people are conditions in very many. not very good conditions in the american jails are actually better in some ways than in the iraqi germs. the iraqis have not been particularly successful

custodians of their own prisons one that they have amnesty international has published many critical reports on them. and of course detainee abuse is widespread in iraqi prison so i can't imagine that these detainees will be any better off actually under iraqi custody than american this is r.t. from moscow coming up in the program a blast from the past. this is a poll done became so popular and alongside the job memorabilia a special brand of cigarettes was just to mark the occasion yet thirty five years after the historic launch took place r.t. looks at the significance of events and indeed as we saw this some of the merchandising. and. right to get find out how it amused turn from fun to horror these visitors in st petersburg left helpless and dangling in mid air we've got more about that become a little later. this is back to the killer of prominent russian human rights

activist nataly estimator has been identified and placed on a wanted list that's according to president dmitri medvedev who outlined the course of the investigation after a meeting with german chancellor angela merkel estimate of who was kidnapped and murdered in the north caucasus region a year ago. reports. russian authorities are claiming success a year since the murder of a chechen human rights activist in this together to say they know who did it the russian president can say and they now have a main suspect and he has been put on the international most wanted list now the hunt goes on for those who ordered the murder soon after their tallies to meet all skills russia's president said finding those responsible was a metal or not i would miss a say on identified men bundled the fifty year old woman into a car as she left her apartment block her border riddled with gunshot was discovered later that day lying in a root in the neighboring region of. several more can see that one was this to

police and stimulus colleagues because we never denied that estimators murder was related to her profession this theory was also voiced by the head of the investigation committee. doku says to me you're always dealt with the most sensitive issues as part of human rights work in chechnya officials warry the murder harm the reputation of the republic which is several miles previously a long lasting counterterrorism operation or gene was lifted and life will seem to be getting back to normal. it was a blasphemous challenge enacts which sole purpose was to have all the global community turned against the chechen republic to impose a negative perception of the republic people understand that it was backed by the enemies of our republic government and our country's government as a whole. this square in the center of the chechen capital is named after journalists who have been killed

a year again as name was edited here the place is now calm and quiet unlike year ago when many locals came to say their last good bye to the activist they used to look upon as their last hope colleagues who took up the job investigation will be objective and business also. simple punished time is the only thing that has. these days is a r.t. in grozny. we've got more love story as well as other stories we're covering here today on our website r.t. dot com few others you may be interested in tonight online from us find out how a team of ukrainian other meters the animated psychic german octopus it's all talking about with their football forecasts their car to predict a precise picture of what happened in the world cup final and their stress it was long before the tournament even began oh believe me check out our website. also what else we go well though we're revealing how the plight of real but by the

moment russian farmers struggling against the scorching summer heat which is on course we're going to break new records later this week they're really struggling at the moment are to dot coms what their story tonight. these days space exploration is a joint international effort but it began let's not forget as a race between the soviet union and the united states and thirty five years ago today there was a breakthrough when the two countries launched the first ever joint mission apollo . artie's katrina czar of affects on the anniversary it was a turning point that. called war speace race into new heights two rockets blasting off half a world away from each other would bring the soviet union and you need states into the same orbit. when so use nineteen and the apollo craft docked it ushered

a whole new chapter in space exploration the first ever joint project between two better rivals it was a giant leap for the men on board two. he was the second pilot in a say you screw. with apollo it was one of the most significant moments in history of russia and the u.s. before everything was secret all the details of our space programs every detail was a pool of project we could finally passed a barrier. you lady still remembers all the details of that flight from the technical to the happy banter between them and the american astronauts. who were showing the guys different cities and places in russia and when we were flying over the us brand was showing us florida i remember he said this is where all the pensioners go to live thirty five years on most of these men will once again get the chance to meet and share memories of their historic link up with my brother

alex. commander is in the united states for the big day or. the launch was during the height of the cold war so this project wasn't of just technical and scientific importance but it was also a great step towards cooperation between russia and the u.s. there were no losers. there are plans for alex and his apollo counterpart thomas stafford to meet president obama but not until the friends have had a chance to catch up with each other it was a very meaningful symbol to the people of the world when we open the hatch. election and i showed him stealing and showed to the world when the way you looked the space race said in a way the joint space project had a huge impact on both sides of the atlantic a time when rocket launches captured millions of imaginations worldwide media conceived watch the sea use reach into the sky and you vividly remembers every

emotion it stirred. i was in the fourth grade and it was a huge celebration not just for the school but the entire city we got handed balloons flags and went to meet the cosmonauts and then later on we were all outside again to watch the actual launch i remember my dad who worked at the launch pad he told me that this was the most important event of the century. thirty five years on and the ses apollo project still fires people's feelings some are even banking on it the series apollo became so popular that alongside the original memorabilia special brand of cigarettes was created just to mark the occasion back in the day these were credibly popular and were almost impossible to find on the thirty fifth anniversary of the docking they are once again missing from the city stories catherine as our artsy moscow. now we showed you the pictures on little teaser just now but ten lives literally left by

a thread with an extreme thrill ride and a rocket like attraction almost ended in tragedy abuse of these pictures in the mobile phone visitors to some petersburg's amusement park but a nasty shock it's got going ok so follow that is what happened the cable snapped on the ride and that's what happened be suspended it made a seventy meters above the ground it was a close call but well luckily rough. rescue teams made it to the sport just in time to feed the stranded passengers and the speed scared stiff isn't the first safety skerries or at the amusement park two years ago twelve year old girl suffered serious injuries after a trampoline accident there also i want to. bring a snap cable the happy news here looks like you are no serious injuries you can see people climbing out the safety of their really close calls in it. but we have to go some world news in brief and the foreign ministers of india and pakistan have met it is it is the two countries look to improve strained relations and revive peace talks the discussions are aimed at rebuilding trust that was fractured by the deadly attacks nearly two years ago in mumbai which the indian government blames on

pakistan based militants indian foreign minister s.m. krishna is the most senior official to visit pakistan since the man by plot where a hundred sixty six people were killed in. the vatican has issued a revised set of measures in response to a series of child abuse scandals it extends the time in which action can be taken against suspects from ten to twenty years after a victim's eighteenth birthday the vatican also says those who abused mentally ill adults will be punished the same way as if they abuse minors now this is the first major vatican document since the scandal erupted earlier this year with hundreds of new paedophilia cases coming to light. we've got an update on the b.p. story that long running b.p. story seems they've now replaced the leaking pipe under planning to resume a key pressure test aimed at stopping the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico it is hoped a new cap could finally help stop this disaster work was suspended

a little earlier because of faulty equipment this new delay follows a string of course of failed attempts to contain the on going damage nearly three months after the explosion there destroyed the deepwater horizon rig. and it's a story. of real sore point for our pundit max kaiser is very close to his heart i was going on about it is not holding back on what he thought. in the gulf of mexico he claims he was administrator is not showing any signs either of being able to prevent disasters like this in the future. is tony hayward he just committed not to go terrorism the gulf of mexico is the us pursuing him no the obama administration is now trying to pave the way to allow exxon mobil to possibly take over b.p. yes we're going to let this eco holocaust just go by the by but then again in america back in the thirty's was an i.b.m. coca-cola and j.p. morgan they were complicit in the last major holocaust of the last century so the

us has a bit of a track record here i wouldn't sell short the possibility of exxon mobil going after b.p. . or coming up. in about ten minutes time before the business with kareena. hello and welcome to business on screen about can good to have you with us engineering giant siemens has put flesh on the ball and russia's modernization drive to a huge deal to provide the country with state of the art technology trains and wind turbines president dmitry medvedev and chancellor angela merkel noted and yet they didn't vote that business was booming between the two countries daniel schorr parts . siemens fixes its position as one of the top foreign investors in russia it will build two hundred trains in the country to replace creaking regional stalk europe's

biggest engineering group will help to produce wind turbines cutting the country's dependence on oil and gas siemens also agreed to join russia's joint new silicon valley being built at skolkovo near moscow the multi billion euro deal comes as president richard medvedev for help to pull the economy out of its backwardness you might manage to get a might let me draw your attention to the point that germany is number one in the list of russia's parliament switch and we have. created new technologies that will get released over one hundred years and we have perfect economic relations three years ago siemens was convicted of paying royalties to with lucrative contracts in russia today's make a deal was signed on the back of the close friendship between the leaders of the two states business leaders say a shift to more legitimate ways of earning influence it's very hard for anybody to engage in bribery nowadays this might take more time and more resources on the

other side in order to have success but i would assume that talking about foreign investors bribery let's say more and more out if it is being done at this time at all it's a radical difference from just a few years ago when russia's leadership a bit it was impossible to do business without backhanders summits like the one here in the urals are helping russia to shed its soviet image that applies not just to the products but to the way it goes about producing them to the new bushel business thought see if that's a rainbow. and on friday we'll be speaking to the head of siemens russia about how the country's business climate is changing join us for that. period russia lockett's finished in the red as they tracked the european and u.s. equity down words to that was after the latest two as data on jobless claims manufacturing and inflation provided a mixed picture of economic recovery in moscow some of the biggest losers were

energy companies with last night following two percent all the r.t.s. and rose hydra down over two percent on allies it. the winning streak for the equity markets which is lasted more than a week was broken on thursday david buick from b.b.c. partners in london explained and investors couldn't continue to hide from economic reality. equity markets have been heading off in their own merry little way tending and trying to ignore the quality of the economic data which actually hasn't been very good really from the last friday well the first friday of this month when the employment data was again disappointing yesterday we had a very modest rise in retail sales five percent which again we expected much stronger figures and if the economy was really about to select another one today of course manufacturing production figures. was desperately disappointing and is a point. of a return to recession or if you prefer. all that as you so rightly said it's seems

to be a war of attrition or a battle between the. president turning out to be substantially better than people thought six weeks ago today of course we are looking at j.p. morgan chase schol disappointing results from their investment banking people were thrilled that they're right down charges were less than four billion dollars and that they posted revenues of twenty five point one billion dollars on a profit of around four point eight billion dollars which was. more than except the shares a fairly flat and i think we're going to be more interested in what happens tomorrow with bank of america merrill and also to a lesser degree with citi group we had of course yesterday. wonderful figures. for people to say well i'm prepared to hang with the equity markets but i think because they were. some six weeks ago there is perhaps

a little bit of them unless of course the quality of the economic data continues to be very disappointing. make a silk science biggest foreign contract worth almost one billion dollars the company expects a kind of crown the sale of jets at a price thirty one point seven million dollars. to a company from southeast asia next week at farnborough airshow the u.k. earliest c.e.o. said the company would supply the first three super jets this year. that's all from me in the business team here but you do log on to our website r.t. dot com slash business and you can always find more stories there.

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