hockey's minefield calls and r.s.s. feeds the palm of your. call. live from moscow you're watching r t of midnight thirty moscow time top stories peaceful protests in iraq response us police moving to arrest occupied for the civics in their campaign and new. movements two month anniversary but now a cool waters over rule that decision saying the protests have a right to return with tents in hand. moscow steps up its efforts to mediate a diplomatic deal in syria hosting members of the country's opposition urging them to hold talks with the government becomes a day of violence reportedly claims nearly one hundred lives in syria including

schools in the regime's troops. and british firms lineups are exploiting libya's rich oil and gas reserves of lucrative contracts on offer from the national transitional government and foreign investors have been queuing to reap the rewards of war since the ousting of former dictator moammar gadhafi. coming up we discover more of what russia has to offer without cheese james brown who delves into the local life and traditions of the somalia region find out why it hosted many foreign embassies during the second world war next. if you're traveling in the russian winter it's always good to head to somewhere well developed and some are region definitely fits the bill the capital is the seventh largest city in the country and can lay claim to being one of the most important business and cultural centers in european russia it's also one of the most picturesque boasting the largest central square in europe and along beautiful embankment alongside the volga river it's

a ninety minute flight from moscow or if you prefer the scenic route you can take a leisure li fifteen hour train ride. well that was a long journey and there's nothing like coming into minus twenty so wake you up but i mean some are one of the biggest cities in the whole russia. and i was also in one of its largest and most unusual buildings the glass fronted train station was completed in two thousand and eight and it's one of the highest places in town so this isn't a bad view point to take my first look at the city from this post to be around one of the half million people down there and hopefully plenty of interesting places to explore as well. and my first stop was a real hidden gem. well it's not exactly a very picturesque place here but i was in the thrill this rather tassie concretes

are about to uncover one of some more as they will soon costs. during the second world war many soviet governmental institutions as well as most of the foreign embassies moved some are on this huge bunker was created in one thousand nine hundred two as a backup to stalin and his cabinet. is a really amazing feat of engineering this this entire bunker goes down was forty meters and they built a space of milling. seems even more incredible to me is that the people who have some or apparently didn't even know that this place was . was only in the city when the soviet union was dissolved. and they finally found this structure have been under their feet for almost fifty years. the rumors are that it was built by conflicts who would execute it but nothing was ever confirmed. so i'm just kind of the first level here hopefully

we'll get some. sort of fellow close to me. and one man who knows all about the place is my guide anatoly even after all this time the power systems are still working. here you find life support systems and equipment was installed when the bunker was still under construction but it has not been replaced since then but it's still operational it works automatically it's russian made equipment the bunker was built to house up to six hundred people and they had some pretty effective defenses. right this is over it's. a reinforced steel it. is what the germans would go through. if they arrive here making their. rusty off. the bunker now doubles as

a museum with various classrooms holding its old equipment geiger counters gas masks and first aid kits are all on display at the most interesting area is right down in the depths. it's an eerie experience entering this huge conference room and imagining the plans that might have been made here. the central table is laid out for the generals and politicians the stenographers are off to the right and stalin himself would have sat under the huge map of the head of the room for the majority of the soviet union's existence some are was renamed. on the map clearly indicates its strategic position safely away from the german front lines it was never confirmed that uncle joe ever set foot here but the designers had obviously been told to meticulously prepare just in case nothing like a little megalomania to start the day but i was very happy to make my way back to the surface and take in some fresh air there's one real benefits of venturing out

on days as cold as these it's got to be this sort of view the mighty volga river in all its frozen glory where the river here is covered in ice for at least three months of the year and it was always a real pain to get across until some local businessmen opened up a rather unusual ferry service. but larry has been running the operation here since two thousand and seven and literally thousands of people come to cross the river every month and they all jump into these air cushion hovercrafts and it's made the journey a lot less precarious. before we started using the hovercraft people would try to cross the river by trying or car sometimes the thin ice caused disastrous accidents so it is the only thing if method. but now it only takes ten minutes and costs around one euro to make the journey safely and the bus itself is surprisingly easy

to control. adds. crofts to the lists. we. make. in time like across the ice they want to see me with any passengers but i was very happy to be going so. we can avoid making any excuse to get. but when you don't have customers some acosta easy easy to get carried away. with the problem with so much fun if i was driving. to. drive people to the other side of. this great. bus by now there were several chilly passengers waiting for

a ride so it was time for me to make my exit. but now that. is what i call a ferry crossing. back on foot so i was ready to check out some of those other attractions i'm one of them is quite literally out of this world. if you talking about the soviets all the russian space program then you're talking about samoa on the soyuz rocket of seventy percent of the world space flight school use these rockets and they made right here in the city. one of the proudest parts of somalia as history and include the launch vehicle to stalk the carried the first man into space and now some of the city's cosmic achievements are on display to the public. this music full of

a lot of laura's space. i'm next to an old landing module and i met up with museum director for a guided tour of the premises persons which are some are is the right place for such a museum. because our city has been the local point of this country space engineering for decades here you can see there are men satellite that has been in outer space. program about it is a replica of war to the world renowned cosmonaut yuri gagarin used during his space missions. there are around six hundred different exhibits that date back to the beginning of space exploration including some of the most advanced technology of the cold war. makes me feel very small when you realize that you're next to something without sleep in out there among the stars and these spy satellites were part of the soviet and russian space programs for the best part of forty years and

these lenses so powerful that. if i open this up to do that even only a hundred kilometers above the eye to be able to read. the news here is definitely one of the city's cultural highlights but if you're also a winter sports fan you won't be disappointed either. ok so if your smee fun things to do in the russian winter i could tell you maybe sledging a bit of skiing i probably wouldn't say go. bust here in samoa they don't let a small thing like the conditions get in the way of the round. and designers of this ski resorts have built their own icy night hole course. week so the. past week you eluded speak english yes. oh no let's go instant james then let's meet you ok well this is

a first for me ok in the snow actually for me to so. what's the idea about stay what's going on well it's a golf tournament so you play golf almost the same rules as first time i have some local rules. all of us rules are in accordance using conditions of weather conditions right now ok so now you're trying to play it nine holes. oh always been in the spoils camp when it came to gold but louder was obviously a dab hand and she said she could give me a few pointers. what do i need to do so the first thing you have to set up a ball on the c. ok. so make up position. so. so make us and then make. oh. you are the head.

not exactly in all species starts and mother was the goal for the non-contact sport . oh. walking wounded want to get out of the way and playing bass to some soothing tea i was ready to tee off. and as the ladies went on with one of them i decided i'd play a solo round and as long as i wasn't attempting the lonesome longest drive bolted seemed to head in the right direction. unless. he is a shoot back to the floor with. see if. you feel that way here. he game is always cold now reportedly judge short. mind you my technique wasn't my first

concern. with the temperature down around minus twenty celsius so minus four fahrenheit i reckon i may have made one of the quickest ice cold frowns in history . right. now comes the only school. and the lake. and the. championship. who is now. going to enjoy some very well deserved because. in the clubhouse it may have been freezing but some are it was turning out to be a lot of fun and i was ready to take a look at another famous russian business because this region home. culture is that so much

a given to each musician of our time that the mark of serious money as a major has ruled out any military operation against syria though this could change the face change on the ground. twenty years ago the largest country. to certain places. but have been. began a journey. where did it take. if you wonder around the streets of samarra there's one car that you'll see more than any other and that's no surprise because it's dominated the region's manufacturing

industry for decades. if you think of the old russian car then you can't help but think of the older they've been going up and down the country's roads for almost half a century and their story also writes. this is the alto bus factory more than seventy thousand employees work within it six hundred hexis and they could use to inhofe thousand new cars every day. ok so when i think of a lot of this that's a classic design is pretty much what props up in my head but it's there and some aura and making something a little more modern. and i was ready to see how it was done. in the right place to. really do a few nicely if there was

a i would be a bad populace ok so this is where everything begins again so this rebels polio locked up are beginning we are able well linda mason a lot the public want him part of but he still has the can in the late sixty's and inputs and we produced more than twenty six new moons of cards to put into them a list of silly we produce fourteen finalists of ours. from whole cloth in the months. on the basis of we are to more than pulse not one other thing. the cleaner is one of the longest biggest sellers and machines work day and night keeping production line going. along the price you really buy on the must be. with the german company coming up good it is there well then the police in the night of the car boarding the courts only only two persons are needed here and there is no

reason. so he was made to give up. and once the frameworks assembles it's on to the next pass the operation. the judge and to work with the body ok and the body with force is going to be just quality again. and in the neighboring hangar things were moving on quickly. from the wind screens to the engines and wheels all parts returned separately and it's remarkably fast operation. and what you can't feel seven thousand euro price tank something like this. the sixteen hundred pieces of metal but only four hours on the production line my brand new law that. is ready for the roads. to clean or maybe a very popular color around here dance in the winter time it can get you everywhere

sometimes you just have to try out a more traditional means of transport now i recently strapped on a pair of skis around about the first time in twenty five years that was quite quiet easy reintroduction but here in samarra i decided i'm going to ramp things up a little bit. so you know if i'm guessing it but even some are like to do things a little bit extreme yes you are extreme right now what exactly are we going to be doing today we're going to ski your. river this is. speed that's almost while the rope and this ok this today will be between sixty kilometers per hour. maybe one hundred. right that sounds terrifying. good ok let's go. in here and his friends are fans of stuart which apparently is skiing behind animals in this case

a high powered snowmobile. from the belly up in this business. yeah right here that would be me of a. forest. yes i had my medical insurance up today. one way or another i was going to have to give it a go so i was probably keep it up but i was starting to wish i'd just gone and taken the hovercraft again. benito's that's me. i'm really. really is all a very good life so please please. ok i got good people but. i miss it lee there were a couple of false starts but eventually i managed to stay all right.

ok i know you like thursday was. harder still much. as you managed to control your balance this is an amazing experience and soon i was ready to join the going for a group effort. and we're ready to rock. this nice little all for the peace that will have to be deployed. but if you are trying this for the first time it's best not to get overconfident.

well that's a fairly intense reintroduction to. but i think. everything still intact. should excuse me a minute i think i just got a little rest but unfortunately my recovery was to be short lived. he came from a session out there on the ice but apparently my new friend has another thing that he wants me to try something about sending me into a tunnel runs. it sounded rather ominous but once again goes a promise i was going to enjoy myself. for anything you say you get so what you're going to. go.

ok so simple no super screw it gives you instant flying power when i have it useful i go get it well. and to. a little bit it will go it's ok. since out of the tunnel rat is an acrobatic expert in cooling tunnels and i was about to get my first lesson that will. correspond with. your mother like. that is really really. beautiful imagery. you are good and happy and ok mile. smiled on it. how you could tell i'm here. partly the secret here is something changes to your body surface area do it right and you should rise and fall safely and if you train enough eventually you can do

stuff like this the wind speed is apparently more than two hundred kilometers an hour and it's powered by five hundred horsepower engine enough to even get someone like me off the ground. good fellow. right ok we're into the tunnel. but trouble tara. moving up. and then it was time to take to the air i was a little worried about the crash to the floor at any point but remember had a good grip on me. was a little bit more. than. an

outright made it through a time to run it was time to go solo. them despite bouncing off the walls a few times i made it down in one piece. but an amazing experience ok they're about there isn't anything to do their part of me but i think i'm going to call that one the belly fly didn't it seem uncertain works after all. it had been a lot of fun but some are was beginning to tie me out so i thought i'd end my trip with a little self-indulgence a muslim it's a festival has definitely got to be one of my favorite times in russia because basically it's a weeklong extended version of country day but it also is supposed to signify the

end of winter and i've heard of the two but some more of traditional native inhabitants who don't quite go for. now just a claims to have people with. first residents of this area often they battled with bashkirian nomads back in the eighteenth century. and it seems they still like to expend some serious energy to get themselves in the mood for a feast. and they still have very worked up their muster what it is. bottles of their own was upset because they were hungry but a bit of a boogie seems to solve the problems. really are not here. i have no idea what was going on how did you. know people.

and then the guest of honor arrives this old lady represents muscle units and she's here for a special reason. and then things started to get when it. loses the. element of the massively successful. how. it's because something has to give a good. recipe for people is what i signed up for this guy. apparently mustn't series his piece all the bad spirits out of you if the year starts anew. and then you can have a go over it i guess. the stick is that i thank you for it but very happy about it. i mean once everyone's been cleansed

there's yes mortal sin to celebrate but finally i managed to sneak off the subject sir winsor is rank with my america it's finally home. so i was eight. i should have been the robot and so. i i just honestly earned my pancakes but sadly it was time for me to be leaving some aren't. i found a thriving cultural business and scientific center and people that are always ready to show you a great time. all

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