live from moscow this is r.t. top stories now this hour the egyptian military launches a major assault on protesters on curry's trying to square burning tents using tear gas and firing rubber bullets every thousand of those running against a military road as have been injured and at least three killed in fierce clashes. in other stories that shaped this week in our weekly darkon over the syrian government as the deadline set by the arab league to end violence expired doesn't sound as defined in the face of growing international pressure and russia says both sides must lay down arms. to answer many corporate protests in america not

a thousand strong marchers below the u.s. hundreds were arrested or many and pepper sprayed brownies were met with heavy handed police response. plus greeks and italians could learn from the welcome to new elected leaders who seem committed to protecting the crisis with yet more cuts and he fears the troubled state solution sovereignty because of harsh economic measures dictated by brussels. next year on t.v. the latest explore russia series we visit the city of samarra that's on the banks of the volga river stay with us from. if you're traveling in the russian winter it's always good to head to somewhere well developed and some our 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 if you prefer the scenic route you can take a leisure lee fifteen hour train ride. but 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 viewpoint to take my first look at the city from this post to be around one of the of million people down there and hopefully plenty of interesting places to explore as well. and my first stop was

a real hidden gem. it's not exactly a very picturesque place here but i did a thorough this rather tassie concretes about one kobo one of some more as the simplest. during the second world war many soviet governmental institutions as well as most of the foreign embassies moved to some mara this huge bunker was created in one thousand nine hundred eighty two has a back up for stalin and his cabinet. is a really amazing feat of engineering this this entire bunker goes down almost forty meters and they built a space of more than. what seems even more incredible to me is that the people of some are apparently in the know that this place was. was only in the city when the soviet union was dissolved. and they finally found this huge structure had been under their feet for almost fifty years. the rumors are that it

was built by conflicts who were then executed but nothing was ever confirmed. so just kind of the first level here hopefully we'll get some. sort of hello it's nice 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 have some pretty effective defenses. right this is over it's. a reinforced steel it this is what the germans would go through. if they are over 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 a stenographer off to the right and stalin himself would have sat under the huge map at the head of the room for the majority of the soviet union's existence some are was renamed congress schiff on the map clearly indicates that 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 going 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 literally thousands of people come to cross the river every month and they all jump into these air conditioned hovercrafts well it's made the journey a lot less precarious. before we started using a hovercraft people would try to cross the river by truck or car sometimes the thin ice cause 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. to the lists. like make. and sign like across the aisle. they want to see me with any passengers but i was very happy to be going so. we can be an excuse to get. us when you don't have customers some acosta he's easy to get carried away. with the problem with it so much fun if i was driving this all the time i just pretend to like. driving 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. now that. is what i call a very graphic. 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 took aim of the soviets all the russian space program when you're talking about samoa and the soyuz rockets seventy percent of the world space flight school use these rockets and then made right here in the city. one of the proudest parts of some mars 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 news is full of a lot of smaller as space. look. i'm next to an old landing module and i met up with museum director yelena for a guided tour of the premises persons that are some are it is the right place for such a museum. workers are a city has been the local point of this country space engineering for decades here you can see there are man thirty a light that has been in outer space. program about it is a replica of warts 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 you open this up. do that even only a hundred kilometers above the head 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 fun you won't be disappointed either ok so if your smee fun things to do in the rush of winter i can 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 rounds. and designers of the ski resorts have built their own i see not a whole course. with me so the players. best way to elude you speak english yeah. well i'm of the school instance james

then asked me. ok this is a first for me ok in the snow actually for me to do so. what's the idea about today what's going on well it's a golf tournament so you play golf almost the same rules as first time i have of course some local rules. all of us rules are in accordance music conditions of weather conditions and ok so now you're trying to play in mind holes. but always been in the good walk spoiled camp when it came to goals but louder was obviously a dab hand and she said she could give me a few pointers. what do we need to do so the first thing you have to set up a ball on the tee ok yeah those but to make up position. super cell to make us and them so make. oh.

no not exactly an all special start another was to go for the non-contact sport. oh. walking wounded want to. get out of the way of the person playing us off to some soothing tea i was ready to tee off. as the ladies went on with one of them so i decided i'd play a solo round and as long as i wasn't attempting the world's longest drive the ball did seem to head in the right direction. is a sure but i still miss. c.u. ball you feel that way here. is the game it's always golf. for

people who judge. 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. comes the ice still championship. campaign like. yes. and you know. james brown who is now going to enjoy some very well this is because. in the clubhouse it may have been freezing but some are 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.

if you wander around the streets of some are 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 the decades. if you think of the old russian car that you can't help but think of the older they've been going up and down the countries roads for almost half a century and their story started right over there. this is the factory. seventy thousand employees work within it six hundred hectares and they produce two and a half thousand new calls every day. ok so i think. a lot of this let's say classic design is pretty much what props up in my head but there is some aura there making something

a little more modern. and i was ready to see how it was done. in the right place to. live a few nicely if this was a very i would be a bad date populus ok so this is where everything begins again so this is where the story of a lot of hard beginning we are in the world and in this in the plot the problem of stability in part at the mystery of what must begin in the late sixty's and that's what we produced more than twenty six millions of cards to print them a list that's silly we produce fourteen families of ours. from old place in the long haul on the basis of we are two more than possible that one of the free will. to clean or is one of the longest biggest sellers and machines work day and night

keeping production line going to lower the price line relieved by all of us to give them to the german company to come up with it is there will be enough to resume the night of the cardboard thing actually only two persons needed here and there is a separation is. available. and once the frameworks assembled it's on to the next polish deliberation know what i'm going to the next day job and worth the gamble with important ok and then the border with force is going to show me just qualities that are good. and in the neighboring higher things were moving on quickly. from when streams in the engines and the wheels. separately and it's remarkably forced operation. and what do you get for your seven thousand euro price tag something like this. the

sixteen hundred pieces of metal but only four hours on the production line my brand new law the cleaner is ready for the roads. to kill even maybe a very popular color around here pants in the winter time it can get you everywhere sometimes you just have to try out a more traditional means of transport and i recently strapped on a pair of skis to run 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 and they are you know so i'm guessing it but even some aura like to do things a little bit extreme yes you got extreme right now what exactly we're going to be doing today we're going through security on. this instant and the speed that's no more while the rope and this ok it will be. sixty

kilometers. maybe one hundred right that sounds terrifying. good ok let's go. in here and his friends are fans of stuart which he is skiing behind animals in this case a high powered snowmobile. romo making the belly up in this business. yeah right get out to me really feeling or just. go ahead my medical insurance is up today. but it's one way or another i was going to have to give it a go so i was probably kid you know but i was starting to wish i'm just going to take in the whole the craft again. you know it was actually you know it. was i really. heard is all of your life so please please.

come back i'm going to fall back. and mislead there were a couple of false starts but eventually i managed to stay upright. ok i know you like sir if you wasn't out but. still. i'm still much. what you managed to control your balance this is an amazing experience and soon i was ready to join the joys for a group effort. and we're ready to rock. this nice little off in the deep that we will be out of it before.

but if you are trying this for the first time it's possible to get out of a comfortable. well that's a fairly intense reintroduction. but i think. everything's still intact. i think i just got a little rest person fortunately my recovery was to be short lived. or still taking for my session out there on the ice but apparently my new friend or a man has another thing that he wants me to try something about. a tunnel runs. it sounded rather ominous but once again because it promised i was going to enjoy

myself. for anything. so. he would have read it was real. ok so can you see those super words roy it gives you instant flying power when i have a useful i've got it well. and to. know you'll get through this field ok turns out the tunnel rat is an acrobatic expert in vertical wind tunnels and i was about to get my first lesson. courtesy with. your mother like. you that is likely to. be useful imagery. you are good and happy to look at. milan smiled on it well i'll be

a good time 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 and long often we're. growth. into the final. tribal tara. maybe not this year. and then it was time to take to the air i was a little worried that i could crash to the floor to any point but remind how to good grip me. there are

a lot. of very. little. was a little bit more one more thing. i want to get back. and i'll try and made it through a ton of them run it was time to go search. them despite bouncing off the walls a few times i made it down in one piece. but in the lazy spirits ok there are about thirty something needs to do their paranoia but i think i got a call that one the bellyful i didn't notice the superman search works after all.

it had been a lot of fun but some are a was beginning to tie me out so i thought i'd end my trip with a little self-indulgence the muslim needs a festival has definitely got to be one of my favorite times in russia because basically it's a week long extended version of pancake day but it also is supposed to signify the end of winter and i've heard of the kind but some are of traditional make it inhabitants who don't quite so forth. now do is to claims to have people with us. first residents of this area off the bottle 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. i suspect that they still have very worked up their muster what it is. they will find it. possible to have their own was upset because they were hungry but a bit of a bookie seems to sold problems. really i know. i

have no idea what was going on known as you. know people. and then the guest of honor arrives this old lady represents must units and she's here for a special reason. and then things started to get weird. i. think this is the. element of the massively successful. i'll. start to have some sort of significance a. recipe is what i was on offer this. apparently mushy series here to piece all of the bad spirits out of you before the

year starts a new. out then you can have a go well with both i guess. the stickles is that i thank you for it but i'm sorry i'll be about it. i found once everyone has been cleansed this is yet mortal sin to celebrate but finally i managed to sneak off to . serve windsor is rank with my americans by a. so i was eight. i should have been the robots or. i doesn't leo and my pancakes but sadly it was time for me to be leaving some aura. i found a thriving cultural business and scientific sense and people that are always ready to show you a great time. well

from the. science technology innovation hall believes developments from around russia we've got the future covered.