and the russian military is trying to restore its former glory but the kremlin came to reform the armed forces the military industrial complex has fallen behind technologically but also become riddled with corruption. up next we talked to a prominent german statesman about the euro crisis and discussed the benefits of energy cooperation between russia and the e.u. this is art. gerhard schroeder was charles love germany from one thousand nine hundred to two thousand and five he's now chairman of the board at nordstrom russia's new gas pipeline under the baltic sea to europe mr further why should the e.u. increase its dependence on gazprom has kidney. opinion. we're not talking about russia's dependence we're talking about cooperation between russia on the one side and the european union on the other in the energy sector new stream is

viewed as a priority project both by russia and the e.u. because it's been part of europe's energy networks since two thousand and six not recognized by the european parliament and the e.u. council of energy minister brussels wants all russian energy companies not just gazprom to be allowed to export gas to europe what are the implications of that for gas problem and europe as. regulator e permission is not the issue the e.u. germany and the rest of the nations need gas to sensibly reform their energy policy that people rush on the other hand has to sell gas to keep its budget in order so there's a codependency which is a good thing now to be happy to see european companies invest into russia and european markets open up to russian companies it's a good free market economy this is why i think europeans need gas or gas has many uses here 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 them you know better

than anyone else for instance that written recently switched from export to imperial europe needs a gas supply to maintain a stable mix of energy sources but its climatic conditions require getting needs norway to get outside but also russia's gas and therefore i think opening the market up to goshen companies would be a wise move of. the name to do some e.u. officials oppose russia whatever it does get us is for it or just most money i guess it is so we have to admit that on i hope we will get over it it's understandable and this class. the european union needs russia geopolitically but the reverse is also true it's not a question that the time has come to start cooperating and stop looking back at ideological differences you have to. misread the could russia switch supply to china if brussels keeps up its hostility it's a known as it were to your informants of which is 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 of the russian government is evidently pro european but europe cannot keep pushing russia away it hurts russians pride and then we have to keep in mind that while russia has the alternative of shipping to asia europe has no such alternative and europe's geopolitical position will only improve if it manages to enter a tiny hard to ship with russia on and at the same time grant all you a session to turkey that would be a sound strategy aimed into the future the rest is yesterday's debate alice and is from guess that if russia does decide to go east could that mean the gas shortfall for europe now deserters need to know that no not happened russia was an exceptionally reliable supplier during soviet times so no one has to worry about that judging what i will say again that europe hallmark it is incredibly important for russia to keep it a budget balance among other things therefore we're not talking about the conduct here but a codependency to get 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 because europe's liquefied gas market is quite limited to move there's nowhere to sell it in germany or poland has a developing market important 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 then spot deals can be of no more gain than long term supply agreements in the short run but they do. not office debility very first think of for playing 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. bindy i made mine consider this me and my team were the people who originally negotiated that deal with our energy suppliers and 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 and they've since gone the other way and started to porting what i had negotiated on this does not mean bridge technologies like nuclear energy cannot be used until energy efficiency is sufficiently developed that we need gas as an interim energy source for the sake of energy security that's the reason we need to buy gas from new york from other cultures but primarily from russia and the reason we need to build gas power stations. with this debt crisis mr sarkozy says no euro no europe surely europe will survive without the euro so that there's an a and a former well this is a quote from a successor in office likes to go to of course europe is going to have problems if the euro has problems but there's one thing you can be sure of and if the euro is going to survive as a common currency there even it theoretically things turn out differently which i find very improbable you think we will still have a united europe it is vital in or plug you would chancellor when greece cooked its

books to join the euro should you have stopped athens from joining the single currency club in new. york i do not think that was our situation of the european commission its employees that had to conduct an inspections they had letters know that we could take the responsibility for greece's e.u. a session on ourselves and it was a purely preparatory mission conducted by the european commission and the national governments we had made the decision to take greece in we cannot claim without having firm proof that the. the nation we got then was on diplomatically speaking not entirely correct various people might 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 ends in the it's pointless to talk about how things were in the past we're talking about the future you can go i hope we manage to keep greece in the eurozone for that to happen you know i hope the package of aid agreements that european leaders have agreed on is implemented if that's the case that i think we can start taking care of so they have allies in the market because it was a great deal of help from greece of course there is one point i would like to make 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 on our investments are creaking and it will be good to see wealthy greek citizens who are currently investing abroad pay taxes in their own country instead of looking for investment opportunities is there a red line beyond which german thursday we're not going to bail out southern europe anymore or does germany have a historic debt to europe has from. been digging about 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 correct it in germany's interested both politically and economically in a functioning europe that have 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 your 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. ok china is the other new european state isn't the 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 of that conference a lot of being to small question many germans many dutch people many finns are angry at having to pay. are they wrong that's 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 x. here 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 implications 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 ten 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 about 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 i have on the other hand we have an understanding that an aging society with a decreasing number of people who are of a ploy that has problems of that so it will be able to we started taking care of our problems in time or the rest will regret it or be forced to take on a harder mission this goes for everyone not just the sound of all past this but if they've been ignored in the house rhoda chairman of the board for the north stream gas pipeline thank you for speaking with r.t. . this is our time. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth

that out of many we all want that war we breathe the we hope. to me the american dream is to live in peace and prosperity and freedom and a government under socialism is not a government a free. me i'm sitting. here . you have very motivated me out cross the country who are activists who are willing to fight for what they think is right for themselves but the fact is forty four bridge then. we are counting. property drowning and i think it's threatened by it's cutting off our. it's making real democracy. all but impossible.

if they shoot something inappropriate for public they can easily be shown.

casualties of war ok. i wish he would have never happened but it has happened. in a war a t.v. camera becomes an unnecessary would destroy their own safety all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors should leave. and it's clear what happens with such witnesses i got on my site. many texas theater. shooting nurses shooting on our.

right if you live from france to pressure. from the start on t.v. don't come. the headlines on our t.v. ratcheting up the tension the pentagon says a u.s. warships will continue to sail in the gulf despite an iranian a warning to stay away from the area where the iran has recently testified mr. israel and the palestinians return to the negotiating table for the first time since peace talks and broke down a more than a year ago but both sides have played down expectations of a breakthrough ahead of the meeting. of the russian military is trying to restore its former glory with the kremlin it keen to reform the armed forces the military industrial complex has fallen behind technologically and become riddled with

corruption. are those your headlines here on our t.v. do stay with us next it's union the latest action from the world of sport. this is sports today plenty head over the next ten minutes or so including these stories of. cream rising day two at the car rally sees the reaming champions move to the top of the standings in argentina. late starters detroit bhaskar paul finds me of how to wage war games to witness a victory this n.b.a. season but the pistons are now on a winning streak. and hitting the heights it was world record breaking time and some of the evil this week with motorcycles snowmobiles no less flying higher on longer but. great stuff more on not coming up but let's get underway

a little soft of there in argentina where it hasn't taken long for the car rally royalty to get into gear after stage two it is reaming champion. who leads in the cars section while in the saddle three time winner more coma is the man to catch a two hundred ninety kilometers stretch lay in wait for the competitors from mar del plata to santa rosa. nine time champion behind the wheel stephanie when he looked reward to the top of the standings after a quite brilliant but. finished a disappointing twelve on day one would be better the frenchman a fifty four second advantage of the in line the perfect response from the older while you're in the bike's normal service resumed after the tragic death of local rider. on sunday. finishing the round on top after coming home in second during the opening round they are reeling champion leaving veteran cyril depreciate in his

dust by almost a minute. now during twenty eleven we profiled one of the most promising russian. singh drivers to emerge over the last few years mikail been a teammate of reigning tomorrow formula one champion sebastian vettel in their younger track days but as constantine but top off reports their careers have taken very different paths today. behala lashon is a well known driver in his homeland the twenty three year old's progress on with the past few years has been impressive he became the first ever russian to win an international championship at the arena world serious and last year it looked like he was ready to take on the biggest challenge and sit behind a n f one wheel but then the support of his sponsors stopped and the larson lost his seat you want to get the from a one way ticket and you've not only thought but hearing it also some financial support. it's not

a secret that anybody at the formal on. his way there also reading the budget that pilots sponsor will bring so. in this case. it was very difficult for us to get a home on this year i lash and launch his racing career in classical style where starting out in corning which acts like a training cumin garden for drivers and lays a foundation that many future world champions used to transform themselves into successful f one drivers among them the likes of reigning champions of us m. vettel who used to be a lotions teammate in randall's world serious. i were glad that we. have with often. you know one team and one championship at the same time i know that i was meeting him quite often and though he is a formal one world champ and so it also makes a hero and makes her feel better. eyelash untested an f one car at the young

driver's test in abu dhabi last year and made a good impression but without driving practice in the support of sponsorship the promising russians career is in jeopardy however it seems he's getting back on track as he starts the season in the carling g.p. two team from england they must go i didn't take part in the test drives and hasn't signed in concert with the team so he's still anxious about competing in the upcoming serious you could too from this here is quite an interesting car because it's brand new and nothing the same so. the beautiful thing yes yes come back their brand new design. and it's quite a bit faster than it was before. the track at the opening one printer working on the six okami thirty three formula one drivers have come through the g.p. to see reason the past four years and the lotion is sure to make the most of his

chance and prove he's worthy of an f one driver because a bite out of archie. it continues to be a busy post lockout holiday season in the n.b.a. but detroit fans aren't complaining the pistons notching their second straight win after starting the season with three consecutive losses the home side showing their fighting spirit early on ben gordon winning a vicious scramble for the loose ball before giving it three for an eight six lead big ben finishing up with twenty six points but detroit's hit a roadblock in the form of orlando's dwight howard the five time legal star in the with nineteen point seven five steals powered however late in the fourth just about the time the pistons kicked their game into another gear tayshaun prince fourteen points from eating nine seven. over the tennis where spain remain unbeaten in the group phase of the hopman cup on a bell at medina for a number over dusk doing the necessary against their chinese counterparts. in perth

it was china who struck first though in the women's portion of the season of the time world number five letting her stride against twenty seven. take them out six three six. three time champion right back into contention in the next flush the spaniard a six three six three winner over which meant a mixed doubles rubber would decide the hunter spain not messing around here he is wrapping up the mounts six six to tie to one of royal marine battalion richard gustier fronts up next for the world. russian kickboxing starbucks coffee is now a fully fledged member of the fight game elite but who can who first beat albert krauss earlier last year went on to claim victory over another k. one might some be this in november are teaser over for done in watch the action from ringside. treat every fight as if is the fight over life

that greed by which but the bicycle has lived his entire career that culminating in the biggest bud of all in moscow unsettling russia still welterweight kickboxer against one of the toughest men in the business my cousin bettis the reigning w. chant them to greet the second one legend to death the thirty one year old. in march made his way up the letter by bidding i bet rouse a unanimous decision based on the round he didn't wait to round somebody he's also known as iron mike but but the fun to be made of something even stronger in the night when he's dangerous nice forcings embarrassed to give up the fight due to fracture early in the first round though it slowed zyklon clear when the full heat came. out my plan for the fight was to make mike constantly move and not let him

stay firm on his feet that's where he's extremely dangerous not punching very hard but when it comes to knees and kicks well that's where i'm strongest. so who's next will but the gun that question is yet to be answered although the man himself knows what he wants. my point of view is that the very best k. one fighter should keep coming to russia to show what i have to offer now i can fight on my own terms and not have to travel to. the main event of the night was preceded by a number of exciting fights russia's mixed martial arts. to go on ukraine's you've cost enough and the same book native was quick to show why she deserved the favorite stat claiming a unanimous decision when a hugely skillful fighter and on top of that a lady it is a good deciding not to speak to archie until she freshened up

a little slice of the cigarettes and i had to drop to couldn't fool rules which are not quite usable for me judges pay a lot of attention to keep here while my forte's books sing though tonight i focused on wrestling and that's what gave me they age. meanwhile the clearance between russia. and china. so real must think less of. the man from the martial arts homeland however schooled by the local was simply better in all aspects of the clash over r t moscow. finally it's not too often that i for one anyway see a snowmobile fly thoughts essentially what happened in san diego this week embarcadero marina park playing host to a couple of world record attempts for the longest there will be alarms motorcycle jumps believe the valley. and the brave men ready to head to new heights the vehicles fearing the water kowtow to run one hundred sixty kilometers per hour the

effort brilliantly executed by the perth valley going a distance of a hundred thirty metres while madison managed ten more both jumps good enough to make the guinness book of world records the event was the latest in the red bull new year no limit series which continues this. extraordinary stuff all your sports world weather is here next on twenty four hour r.t. . well the. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got those huge earth covered.

feel. right to clean goes.

squandered money. what is new. your new sixty square kilometers of environmental devastation and those who are still surprisingly in line i'm finding we're just. it's getting bad out here. but not saying hardly any birds squirrels. you know i don't know what's going on here. on creek.

ratcheting up the tension the pentagon says that u.s. warships will continue to sail in the gulf despite an iranian a warning to stay away from an area where tehran has recently test fired missiles as. israel and the palestinians return to the negotiating table for the first time since peace talks broke down more than a year ago. but both sides have played down expectations of a breakthrough ahead of the meeting tony pulis near in tel aviv for more. on the russian military is on the march to restore its former glory with the kremlin keen to reboot the armed forces on corruption.