ton of blue cheese available in the tills. most of it till the new entries been called a new mystery told bungle this was there to a little girl to be coupon this was a pill million those pounds from a gold so it's literally hutto then the princess in bangkok radisson hotel one called dream which will burn cool so if you still scintilla grounded going cold pacific otoh going cold told one cool clothes and an evening called the radio. a thai appeals court rules to extradite alleged arms dealer victor boot to the united states following intense pressure from washington russia's foreign ministry has condemned the decision calling it a political and says it's committed to doing everything possible to bring him home the russian businessman has been detained in a bangkok prison since march two thousand and eight when the u.s. led sting operation. russian engineers preparing to start up iran's first nuclear

power plant saturday the reactor will be loaded with fuel under the strict supervision of the un's nuclear watchdog the russian built plant is expected to be fully operational in about a month. and the power is back up in writing in st petersburg after a citywide power outage but that caused rush hour traffic chaos and meters had to be evacuated from the metro intercity train services also affected parts of the let in grad region remain without power. those are r t headlines up next artie's interview show spotlight this time around host al gore and of talks with french author frederick begg today or about his novel ninety nine francs which became a bible for russia's elite hoping to capture some parisian glamour it's coming your way next on our team.

hello again or welcome to the spotlight interview shell on r.t. i'm older now and today my guest is said to think. two thousand and ten is the year of france and russia since the eighteenth century no odd the european culture as influenced russia more than the french one and the same still to be a case at least with literature but that's only one of the reasons why i guess novels are so popular in russia why else what does he himself think of russia and is there still a place for literature in the glamour obsessed cultures such as russia pretends to be the famous french author is here to answer the question of. why to frederick baghdad has the reputation of being somewhat of a modern day liberty a man who indulges sometimes to excess from a privileged french family he works in advertising before finding claim an authority with his book ninety nine francs the book's

a pamphlet on capitalism and people's passion for consumption eight years ago frederick decided to help the french communists in their unsuccessful election campaign returned to writing and produced several successful books one of them is about russia where the writer is a frequent visitor he says only in russia can a person experience the feeling of eternity and only hear so beautiful but so strangely calling what else attracts fredrick by the daring russia to spill the beans on spotlight. hello fredricka thank you very much for being with us thank you have you know. well last year let's press the magazine single you alex as the for. and try to put the popular in russia is there any other country outside france that you're really as popular as the as a russian of. nineteen and france was popular in germany and spain you need to

leave but there is no place like russia really it's the only county who translated everyone of my book and all of them including my and my chat with bishop. and all the little he say every everything i wrote is just leading in russia papers examination scoring already thing here is that he often say that ninety nine friends became popular in russia by mistake because of misunderstanding because of because you really tried to to to mark at things and the russians took it seriously is that true well i don't know kind of their legs actually why readers like what i do and if there is a misunderstanding then it's great i don't mind you know i think i'm just doing my job i write what i like and if people don't understand it it's ok with me but it is

possible that in russia some of the young people took ninety nine front as a guide to learn more and to cynical way of life. which i was criticizing making fun of you know exists it's a colleague at u. of advertising and this was my life i see my life on the on the wall it was my life when i was in the ninety's as a copywriter in a big american agency and i hated this job so i was i wrote this book basically to destroy advertising and maybe some of the young people read it as funny book and they love it and they want to work in advertising so it's crazy ok well people say that that you like. oh you like being in russia you mention in couple of your interviews and that actually russia has inspired you to write the whole school. but

critics say that this book is filled with well we're with western cliches about russia so how does that add up with the fact that you that you say you like russia but you love but but is there also a satire a mockery of russia what no it's it's a description of the new russia and the new russian people of the rich people. by a french guy who is a foreigner so he of course is field of stereotypes and cliches if you come to paris you will maybe if you write about paris you will see that the french people. buying a baguette in the morning and complaining all the time and the taxis are crazy and these are cliches but it's also true and what i just wrote in in this book called. in russian is the story of a french guy who is looking for the most beautiful face for an advertising campaign and so of course he's surrounded by beautiful mother he goes out in crazy clubs

like i did last night and it's it's also true it does exist and russia has to accept that part of the clichés about russia are the reality it is not but well you don't you don't really find beautiful girls in the clubs in moscow but here you can find a lot of russia today one of the works of the spotlight and today spotlights can't tell you what they want about went out to moscow to find out what attracts foreigners in this country let's take a look at cards at hand that has tory and they're digging out try to find out what the russians think attacks were listen this country what keeps them coming back one . of them don't think it's because the city's food village and the streets give you a charge of energy. even a good. we must start feeling down taking a walk in the streets makes us feeling great again. probably to unreal the russians so to see for themselves that we have no business in the red square to drink vodka

and probably because we opened our country for visitors creates a recently and people are just curious to see a new country. we see on museums theatres we have a well developed culture you know people are quite friendly i think that means a lot and we have beautiful nature and russian hospitality. are you asking about moscow or rushing general because we are from siberia from brusk and we see a lot of foreigners on lake baikal and i think they are interested to see our nature which is way different than in their countries they like by call. someone. i think it's because of our girls and women right considered to be the most beautiful in the world there may be some other reasons such as business school is also a piece of food but i think the girls are the main reason for example you are very beautiful your eyes are very expressive so. you keep up with its business possibilities and wildlife so to speak. out about jealousy is

going to question podcast. go they say you have a reputation of the whole again is it your personal p.r. campaign you really this kind of person ok is it a reputation that you want to want to follow me or is it in i don't know what you are really i don't know where it comes from i think this comes from the characters in my novels because in all my books the heroes are heroes and they behave in a very strange way and they are very weird they take drugs they go to prostitutes and dance floors going all the time but it's not really my life i am more normal and that's why i write because i am too normal in my real life so i want to be crazy and i said. as far as i remember you were arrested for taking drugs in the center of paris so this is not normal i mean you get arrested for these things so you're already starting rounds normally people go to the toilet yeah i do it

industry. strange i know but agree with what this say you know it's not only the beauty of women who are trucks people to russia for example between france and russia there is a long history of mutual love and fascination for little at you and poetry so now there are good reasons to the beautiful nature as they say so you know yeah sure i've been tunisia need to do some beauty has been also you seen. it and it's really it's the real reason is to to be inside the russian classics that i read when i was young like dr zhivago for a good dodge of august break here so but do you read some of the contemporary russian authors is there anything in russia written in russian today published that's worth translating into french for yeah of course like like many of you

mentioned some of the names out because they live in is translated in well he is translated he is keen on so. i have a friend who is not translated yet. but i think it's a speed could be son because our people tell me he's a little bit like a russian myself so i would i would love to read him in french i'm trying to make him translated now but. because i think it's a lot of humor and it's important that people know that russian are funny you know . well you mentioned the classics that you like to russian literature. you also mention the young the young writers but as far as i know now you mentioned that a couple of times in other interviews that moscow involved because of your affairs as well. your favorites well why is it one of the afraid is of and do you think that vodka consumption is still the most remarkable experience for for for for you

. i think. this. is it's really. a masterpiece because it's a little bit like. russian catcher in the rye you know the catcher in the right by selling a church it's a guy who is walking around the city and here he does nothing but drink and he maybe wants to take a train but finally doesn't and. for me it's very simple very very funny and also you feel the soul of russia in this book and it's in a way an answer to people who criticize a book about russia and see it's full of cliches because if you read this yes you have a lot of cliches well go whole is spoiled three leary you know is a romantic guy it's. clear that it's really wouldn't compare you know thieves to.

our school school though i'd rather compare it to the ninety nine friends making because because this kind of vodka is a mockery well yes he is on purpose of course making a cliché yeah out of this it's too much it's very early years ago injury and that's what they do all the time i think really as i said in the beginning real life is boring if you write books it's because you want to improve your life and make it exaggerated make it more than life bigger than life would life be right. yeah i think sometimes when you're bored you start to do to imagine things and you start to dream and maybe writing is fighting boredom and this is what a vodka really helps. well says frederick baghdad area french writer and author that's here in moscow spotlight will be back shortly and

while he still is here in our country we will have another fifteen minutes with him in less than a minute stay with us. thank . the united states of america is waging war within its own army. advantage is on no one side. and human losses are quite significant. is it possible to win the war against

sexual assault in the u.s. armed forces sex in the army. division. among those. four months of preparation. the pay hans thermionic. the last effort to keep the lead on the eastern front. the bullied citadel a bunch of her the poor. brave showing. the battle bombs had a great sacrifice a lot. and are still healing. numerical advantage of the military are. the most heavily reinforced area. of the battle of course. it lasted forty nine days one of the

muddiest battles and the turning point a move to push. on from feinstein. who threw stones on t.v. . welcome back to spotlight i'll going off in just a reminder that my guest in the studio today is frederick bad bad there are french third thank you thank you thank you met. with pleasure. well you say

well though actually you say and you like to talk about it a lot says written in the russian magazines about about lots of fun you're having when you come to moscow and your name is all around the glamour magazine is nightclubs. what about is there something else except having fun and that a trip to moscow that i know you're introducing your new book but except making money and having fun is there anything else you know it's not only making money when you promote a novel you have the chance to meet a lot of people who ask you deep questions why do you write these what about your childhood who are you really freddie and its users will have no outs or no answers about you but you know it's like doing a psychoanalysis for free and in a foreign country people don't know my image in france they have another image they

think i'm somebody else it's really very relaxing and very rewarding for me i feel like it's a big honor to meet all these people and discuss during the day but also during the night because going out at night is not only to destroy myself it's to meet people and dog and sit down and you know for hours talk about lot of talk about the absence of god you know like why americans have so many shrinks i mean that it is these personal because they don't have enough russians to talk to exactly exactly the russians are helping me he used to feel better let's. and you know you once said that moscow reminds you of paris in the nine hundred twenty s. is that true well i was not unfortunately in paris yes yes well that's what i want to ask you how do you know i mean but from when i read it what did you mean when i read hemingway or scott fitzgerald talk and henry miller talk about

a city where everybody is free and everything is possible and i think most schools now is a little bit like that that's why everyone wants to go there because it's like new york in the eighty's also it's a city where you have a lot of energy electricity people want to do things build things create new new companies and it's it's not only fun it's. human behavior that is really positive i think do you really hate capitalism do you really hate paris paris is a little bit. dead right now i hope it's going to resuscitate do you know i lived i lived in paris for six years when i was in which younger and i visited it lots of times but last year the first time in my life i went to paris in winter i loved it yes so you have to go to paris and i think there is so much better you know it because it does not as many japanese and russians well even even not as much french

there because they're all way for but the council. says ok it's better power is made out of french is all right but you know the french. will be prevented the grass is always greener on the other side so maybe because i was born in paris and raised in paris and has been there all my life i prefer to move and see other cities you said about the grass and you know what my father always says it's that he says dealing with people is like washing washing the went shield of your car when you were. the grass you also think the dirt is on the other side when you start washing the other side you also get to think that it's on the other side where that's exactly the thing out ok now in other another quote from yourself you said that all literature is a game and if a book is too serious it's crappy what so what's the purpose of literature going to

entertain people i think it's important that you give pleasure to your reader i think so i think if it when i write i try to have fun myself if i have fun maybe the reader will have fun too i'm not saying every novel has to be funny and entertaining but i'm seeing the novels i like are full of humor and they have a have a distance they have irony and them the best russian novels are like that you know check of what's really funny and i think people think a book has to be serious i think the book has to be ambitious which is not the same you have to have an ambition to some the world in a few words but if you do it with distance and you know cynicism if you do it in a little bit spectacular way then it's more of a distraction and it's not a crime to distract people when you write but. well of course chuck of maybe firmly

especially the short story as a source of is not always funny no and not always funny and and also you mentioned you mentioned coffee and mention god you mentioned for example does the skin your interviews end of which tolstoy oh i'm not funny at all although that someone's of what when they die finally kills the old lady this is funny but. i mean you know that for example he needs a sort of a homeless guy in a bar at the beginning of crime and punishment and there are drinking to be. there i think this is kind of funny it's a little bit like when i go in and disco and girls it's exactly the same except petersburg a long long time ago. today uses something different from what you've been saying for a long time you said that you know that that our society is going to prove there before

for a pretty long time we kept on saying that you believe that that that the end of the world is coming soon the that you really believe it up accounts so. do you think that it's going to going to get better i think we're or what i think i'm just changing my mind because i'm getting older. as people grow old girl as they start to believe in god also you know because they have to do things that this is not the end so i am like that beginning and also i have a daughter she's ten years old and i cannot hope that it's the apocalypse i have to hope that it's not going to end but i'm scared and feel very scared. you were born into the bush family to me and even interest to create a family you know you've been sort of a holy ground for for for a pretty long time but as you say that you're growing older doesn't that mean that you're returning to a bushel way of life that that that there's bourgeois mentality starts taking over

inside of you oh my god. you know i think being a hooligan is very big you know all the sons of rich people are always like acting like bad boys it's really a cliché this is really a cliché of the board. my i'm a going to be boring old man is a possibility i bought a house in the southwest of france i go there named leave a very peaceful and quiet way i make a fire and prepare the dinner for my daughter i read my books but my books other books in my. so if people if i see this on russian t.v. i'm going to disappoint all my readers i'm very sorry in fact an old and wise man sitting on a chair going like this you know but but but but you do you know do it sound.

but then but then you do call the. russian girls that a lot of them are in the south of france when you're one family goes away you pick up you tell about how. not that he was really. ok now listen you took point. you took part in the french communist party's election campaign once it was very successful was a disaster like no one because there was paid by jacques chirac to destroy the communist party. so now you do need to go the first part of the party. i was very surprised that they asked me for help because they were reading the engine in france and they thought it was a new car marks so i said of course i thought it was crazy and. i came to see the new works with great relief for the russians so as you are now did our friends they would go there only for the rush of the french so what happened is i did an advertising campaign for for the community candidate. and it didn't work but

i still believe that the ideas of communities are going to happen if you look at since two thousand and eight what happened with this crisis the economy crisis is americans french and all the orcs in the countries are buying the banks and the state is ruling the economy now so in fact as you are becoming more and more capitalist we are becoming more and more communist it's really incredible. you mentioned when you're when you talked about your your little house in the south of france and the rocking chair and reading your books you. said sitting on my lover reading a well you said well not my books but what like like books about reading your own books do you think you will ever write a book that you will be able to read yourself like sitting in front of a fire laugh i was scared that you will end your sentence and just do you will you

ever write a book. i don't read my my own books because i. know them totally because when i finish them i have read them one million times so i don't never read them again. i don't know if i can be proud of my work is difficult for me to answer your question i think the last one is really honest really sincere and for the first time i talk about my past so when you finish a book you don't you don't really read it you just give it to the you know just to the editor and then i like to listen to what helps people react some people will hate it some will love it and i like to see them fighting each other. i like to be a conversation that's what i like but reading my own work is it's too painful. well you are becoming a little philosophical no use there yeah you are changing that are changing and

this is good this means you you will still be worth reading in the future beck thank you very very much and all the best to you thank you for being with us in just a reminder that my guest in the studio today was frederick big bear to get a french writer and that's it but out from all of us here if you don't have your say and spotlight just drop me a line we'll be back tomorrow with more until then stay an hour to take care thank you. extracting black gold is dangerous. the wind demand pushes the limits to

catastrophe. is the price too high. is it possible to prevent such disasters. and can be off to must be dealt with quickly and effectively. oil spills influence on. her. mother. in law. coming on the environment.