nuclear activities. the greek politicians scramble to save the country as they deal over a new crisis leader heads to the streets of athens to find out what greeks themselves think. for the first time we sit down with the man who was head of the ambitious project the very person who used to lead germany at the beginning of the millennium as its chancellor gerhard schroeder tells us why it's so important for all sides involved. gerhard schroeder was chancellor of germany from one nine hundred ninety eight to two thousand and five he's now chairman of the board at nordstrom's russia's new gas pipeline under the baltic sea europe mr further why should the e.u. increase its dependence on gazprom. opinion. we're not talking about a dependence on russia we're talking about cooperation between russia on the one

side and the european union on the other in the energy sector. north stream is viewed as a priority project by both russia and the e.u. because it's been part of europe's energy networks since two thousand and six is recognized by the european parliament and the e.u. council of energy ministers and from all appears from problem and ordered from that the energy minister to nordstrom pipelines have already been laid what top of the third one will be added and what will be its capacity we haven't yet that we currently have at least two pipelines with a total capacity of fifty five billion cubic meters the question of whether a third or even fourth pipeline will be laid that should be answered by european stock holders of as you know we have gazprom on the one side and hollins got sunni france's g.d.s. suez and germany's on and b.s.f. windowsill on the other if investors decide to build a third and fourth pipeline privately financed mind you we're not talking about think financing india then it could be done i do not know whether they will make

such a decision as it was not part of my work line of. brussels wants all russian energy companies not just gazprom to be allowed to export gas to europe what are the implications of that for gazprom and europe as. regulator reprovision is not the issue that the e.u. germany and the rest of the e.u. nations need gas to sensibly reform their energy policy to get russia on the other hand has to sell gas to keep its budget in order so there's a. co-dependency which is a good thing i would be happy to see european companies invest into russia and european markets open up to russian companies it's a good free market economy is good for mark victor what do you think of the recent interview raids on gazprom and its partners in europe think of the of p.r. guys i think europeans need gas gas has many uses with the political uncertainty in north africa it's good to have

a stable partner that you can rely on and russia is one of these you know better than anyone else for instance that britain recently switched from export to implode europe needs a gas supply to maintain a stable mix of energy sources that it's climatic conditions require and it needs norway's gasoline but also russia's gas and therefore i think opening the market up to russian companies would be a wise move or to short the name to do some e.u. officials oppose russia whatever it does get us is for though most of my own i guess it so we have to admit that way but i hope we will get over it it's understandable the european union needs russia geopolitically but the reverse is also true there's no question about it the time has come to start cooperating and stop looking back at ideological differences. that misrata could russia switch supply east to china if brussels keeps up its hostility was there and is unknown as it were to your involvement of wishes in a situation where it could ship gas to china and all of asia and europe i hope

russia never has to make a choice the russian government is evidently pro european but europe cannot keep pushing russia or away it hurts russians pride we have to keep in mind that while russia has the alternative of shipping to asia europe has no such alternative with europe's geopolitical position will only improve if it manages to enter a tightly heartless ship with russia one and at the same time grant a session to turkey that would be a sound strategy and into the future of the rest. yesterday's debate alice and it did but of guess that if russia does decide to go east could that mean a gas shortfall for europe and i guess if it is snake no that will not happen russia was an exceptionally reliable supplier during soviet times so no one has to worry about that trending but i will say again that europe market is incredibly important for russia to keep its budget balance among other things therefore we're not talking about dependence here but a codependency vertigo and we've heard plans to lay an electricity route alongside

the nord stream project could germany and european in your opinion be interested in importing electricity from russia if i sniff funds i can i've not heard about such plans you want to have long since been rumors about it but so far the talk has been detached from reality i doubt the plans will ever be realized but ultimately it's up to the pipelines owners not the chairman of the stockholders committee that progress in shipping liquefied natural gas. makes europe less dependent on pipelines can that affect this project and. i don't think it would have a negative effect on the project as europe's liquefied gas market is quite limited there's no way to sell it in germany or poland has a developing market importance that it's in no way a danger for us and that's not the reason i'm criticizing is the indication that there are alternative sources the low spot prices on gas their support deals can be of no more gain than long term supply agreements in the short run but they do not

offer stability for think of for player because in the wake of the fukushima disaster germany is closing all its nuclear power plants do you support that and how will it change germany's energy mix. been damaged mind consider this me and my team with the people who would rigidly negotiated that deal with our energy suppliers we had agreed to make a sensible exit out of nuclear strategy that was followed by a short period when the federal government thought our agreement should be. overturned of what they've since gone the other way and started supporting what i had negotiated on this does not mean bridge technologies like nuclear energy cannot be used until energy efficiency is sufficiently developed we need gas as an interim energy source for the sake of energy security that's the reason we need to buy gas from norway from other countries but primarily from russia and the reason we need to build gas power stations and more so. with this in your debt crisis mr sarkozy

says no hero no europe surely europe will survive without the euro so that there's and i know for more this is a quote my successor in office likes to yours of course europe's going to have problems if the euro has problems but there's one thing you can be sure of the euro is going to survive as a common currency even it theoretically things turn out differently which i find very improbable youth we will still have a united europe it is right in or prague you were chancellor when greece cooked its books to join the euro should you have stopped athens from joining the single currency club or nicked us on those it towards your environment i do not think that was our situation of the european commission its employees that had to conduct inspections they had letters know that we could take the responsibility for greece's e.u. a session on ourselves it was a purely preparatory mission conducted by the european commission not the national governments we had made the decision to take greece in we could not claim without

having firm proof that the information we got then was diplomatically speaking not entirely correct very much keep in mind that the european parliament voted in favor of greece's membership almost unanimously including the conservatives who are now trying to distance themselves from that decision sometimes in politics you don't want to believe things that he wants condoned or actually happening. for unless either the commission was wrong or the handling of greece has been wrong since it ended which which is it. they're kinds in the it's pointless to talk about how things were in the past we're talking about the future i hope we manage to keep greece in the eurozone for that to happen the new greek government would have to be nonpartizan uninfluenced by debate provoked by right wing party that i hope the package of aid agreements that european leaders have agreed on is implement eckerd and if that's the case then i think we can start taking care of stabilizing the market with a great deal of help from greece of course there is one point i would like to make

on the country should not be broken down not only does greece need a budget discipline which is of course true but what greece needs most are investments that this would be good to see wealthy greek citizens who are currently investing abroad pay taxes in their own country instead of looking for investment opportunity or so on was a good i don't want to bring is there a red line beyond which germans that they we're not going to bail out southern europe anymore or does germany have a historic debt to europe has from it's been they're getting a bad debt i'm not against discussing a red line the problem is that if you start to talk about a red line then you'd eventually have to corrected germany's interested both politically and economically in a functioning europe that the economic interest is easily explained that forty percent of our export goes to the european union and beyond that if those countries are hit by a crisis then so is germany secondly or the lesson we learned in the past and our

prospects for the future dictate that germany is not strong enough geo politically to play a significant role in a game where the u.s. is one superpower and an asian leader. in this case china is the other new european state is only a united europe can take on a role like that if that's why germany is interested in a night in the us that is not just because of the past but for the sake of our citizens future that will come from the lord of being to small question many germans many people many finns are angry. having to pay. of a roll that's kind of enough for it see and i can understand that but i have to explain it very consistently to the current generation of political leaders that it's within our own interest to maintain stability in other countries as germany's a nation that relies hugely on actual year if markets around us crumble it harms us we have to explain it to our people the new generation the prospects for long lasting peace allies in europe. when you serve the german chancellor there was no

question of receiving financial aid from china or russia directly or indirectly through the i.m.f. do you regret that's happening potentially and what would be the implication if think it doesn't make it but i do not think we should feel bad about other nations getting stronger be they russians chinese brazilians south africans or indians it should not concern us because these countries offer us more opportunity to export our products as they develop. but that's only the case if we stay better stay more innovative when we fulfill our agenda of twenty tam and sort out our social policies germany is the only country that understood back in two thousand and three that for an aging country to maintain prosperity it must provide for change i wonder if the rest of the e.u. states having understood this a decade later will manage to take the action needed to maintain prosperity on the other hand we have an understanding that an aging society with

a decreasing number of people who are deployed has problems of that sort we started taking care of our problems in time for the rest will regret it and be forced to take on a harder mission this goes for everyone not just the sound or bust this but if they've been ignored and gerhard schroder chairman of the board for the north stream gas pipeline thank you for speaking with r.t. . team has. technological breakthroughs save human life. our team goes to the same. ways. where farming pioneer place local cuisine. and where future developments

depend on the way. close up on our t.v. . lead.

stories on our t.v. it putting the wheels in motion last washers in. curating for western europe as a landmark north stream pipeline begins russian gas straits in germany. the new supply route rules out energy rouse and transit countries which had previously left european consumers of russian gas. russian issues another stern warning against israeli military action against iran as president of the female vet of says it could spell catastrophe for the meanwhile the un atomic watchdog is about to release a report on nuclear activities. to save the country as a horse deciding on a new crisis leader r.t. has to streets of athens to find out what greeks themselves think now fears grow that italy is next in the financial firing line never would. have made. sense.

for all the latest in sports of unit. thanks as always tessa grip this is sport today we've got plenty ahead over the next ten minutes including. death although legend boxing great joe frazier loses his last fight with cancer dying at the age of sixty seven. game danko exits the final a.t.p. tennis event of the year following my first run defeat in for. the one constant olympic success. we examine how the talent supply. is on earth. but we begin with some sad news former world heavyweight boxing champion joe frazier has died aged sixty seven following

a brief battle with liver cancer the american passing away at his home in philadelphia surrounded by his family fraser will be remembered as one of the sporting icons of the past century german part two three titanic clashes. of the smoking joe the first on to the beach in fact. the fight of the century in one nine hundred seventy one he was lose the next against his own great respect and so fraser also want to live in one thousand. and eleven let's move on to football where it's been confirmed that the second stage of the longest ever russian premier league season will kick off on the team member the following is group eight which combines the top eight regular season much they won will see defending champions on this year's table toppers a neat take on place. petersburg second place have a tough question head with rubina in round one. while there are also be between.

one another with their champions craw and in. group b. the relegation half of the table starts off like this with. the team who finished bottom. game week thirty one. thirty two will also be played in november before the teams have their winter break the championship then resumes in. got a lot russian football's main. reminded every one of the benefits the reasons behind such a drastic switch in the form of the premier league season the footballers he sees will benefit from being able to thoroughly prepare for a global competitions on the new form and. we made the switch to this new system because we had to plan our previous calendar around the world cup on the european

championships we would schedule a full calendar for one year going to two month summer break for the next system allows us to create a uniform schedule where there's always a summer break and since there's a three month break in the winter and a two month break in the summer why not switch them around and bring it into line with the european calender. moving on where top european ice hockey nations will begin a four stage continental tournament this weekend the euro hockey tour also acting as a preparation stage for russia finland sweden the czech republic ahead of the annual world championships team russia finished second up the world championships last season the results meaning a new man up the helm is in the two. taking over the reins from the call food secured back to back world goals three years ago their hopes. will be at the helm all the way to the soft cheek winter olympics in twenty fourteen but the upcoming

finnish stage of the euro tour will be his first big test. start a very serious and interesting affair for me personally as a coach as a part of the building it was developed here in russia using primarily. the upcoming international tournaments including with the world cup should reveal their capabilities and then we can start thinking about. you. promise to give you thought chance at the opening stage in helsinki and indeed his team is loaded with promising talent experience though also said both ends of the rink sell about you lie afford alexander right do off one of the most poor is old veterans who will be appearing the former n.h.l. already has two world championship gold to his pocket but cyndi's hungry for more his presence should be vital in jelling together the age gap. a lot of us are a. real talent and you know. a little journey was.

really good and. i think. in the team because they're young they already. played good. with us it's not surprising at all. that brings is the tennis who has ended the season on a low note with the rushing crushing out of the final a.t.p. event of the year in paris. first trying to feat by under the the italian qualifier ticking the opener on a tie break she moved up the second set would go to a tiebreaker as well but it double from two hundred the win to say. ok let's talk formula one word jenson button lewis hamilton say they anticipate plenty of thrilling action at the bit rates of the season taking place in abu dhabi with the drivers' championship already wrapped up by sebastian vettel the two

mclaren drivers are looking to consolidate their positions in the overall standings button currently. thirteen points ahead of for eastbourne in the long so and he wants to hold opposition on sunday of course is thirty eight points behind his team it is keen to replace mr mark webber in for. the king. of beasts i would have thought we'd probably have to do. so over taking longer to go straight so i think it's going to be very good there think be a great spectacle that you it's a circuit it's very stop start with. it's very good under braking you need good traction so it's very difficult to overtake. running overtaking opportunities going very tough so we've got to qualify well put it over for a row is pretty much a must. american football now into the n.f.l. when the chicago bears weathered the storm to fight back and beat the eagles on philadelphia turf last night jay cutler the key man for the bears and monday night

sold fixture eagles heavily criticized linebacker corps to the task early in this one rookie bryan rule stripping the ball from a forte he took it all the way back for six time the game attempt piece the very then over came to forty turnovers thanks to cutler quarterback finding rabbanit for a twenty seven twenty four lead role the goal field goal made it thirty twenty four meaningfully could still win with two minutes left in the fourth germy moxley and pulling short of the first on though when it mattered the most. tiger woods being once again in the center of controversy but the former world number one golfer took the high road in an incident involving his former cabbie steve williams has acknowledged making a drug or tree remark about tiger causing an i cry once whoever says while hurts he believes williams had no racial prejudice seaview certainly not a racist there's no doubt. i think there was

a comment that should have been made and you know it was certainly one that he was shouldn't make he did apologize if it was hurtful certainly but you know logical. finally dying through the years you could just above guarantee russia's risk nic gymnastics team returning from the olympic games with gold global dominance the country is at pains to continue as events course he reports. eight hundred kilometers away from moscow but a long journey didn't stop team russia from paying a visit the message being talent across the basque country will be left undiscovered with. an opening a brand new gymnastic school top class instructors are helping young talent blossom into transcendent performers on the biggest stage these students aged three to seven years old washington as the current top crop of rhythmic gymnasts put on

a show at the school's opening ceremony one of the sport's main figures in russia irina venier believes it's the most complete lineup she's seen in a while in business the cream of the crop of global rhythmic gymnastics and. we haven't even had that many people at the world championships and this time we rode our entire golden reserve gymnastic europe has. always stood head and shoulders above the competition winning all round gold and three straight gymnastics world championships and at the beijing olympics the twenty one year old remaining home will despite clearly being russia's main hope for london two thousand and twelve and beyond thank you jim is great for us and coming out playing it fully it will be used in preparations for the upcoming russian championships as in have such fancy facilities and that's when i started so i'm happy for these kids i have no plans. because i'm still in the process of qualification the soviet union and russia have always been the world's mecca of rhythmic gymnastics winning sixty

one world championship medals over the entire course of history the russians have also won gold in individual and team events during the past three years but everybody at the gymnastics stronghold are aware that. maintaining the title as the greatest in the world won't be easy come next summer. our teeth. they do make it look easy don't they will out is all the sport for now i'll be back in just under two hours time with more but it is the weather then tess is here with all the news at the top of the hour.

the official location on the phone i pod touch from the. video on demand. an omission st now with the palm of your. machine on the.

top stories on our team putting the wheels in motion that moscow ushers in a new era of energy security europe as a landmark nord stream pipeline begins pumping russian gas straight to germany and . the new supply route pulls old energy rose to transit countries which are previously european consumers of russian gas in the cold with of the details in just a few moments. russia issues another stern warning against israeli military action against iran as president dmitry medvedev says it could spell catastrophe for the middle east. and greece politicians scramble to save the country as they in deciding on a new crisis leader r.t. asks what greeks themselves think now fears grow that italy is next in the financial firing line where debts are piling up and record borrowing costs. and business this hour joining the world trade organization for russia will.