arctic tribe of herders that lived in harmony with nature breeding horses camels and even a special breed of counted sheep these sheep were perfectly suited to life in the desert grazing did no permanent damage to the grass as hitler's army approached the volga during world war two counted sheep herds were taken to kazakstan as a result the county kurds had to be restored with a different breed after the war. bottom line is a long time sheep herder and is very familiar with another factor that is causing the desert if occasion of can make it. one of the fine fleece merino breeds came from grozny. unfortunately that breed ended up replacing the calm it breeds and we ended up with over three million in grozny sheep even a. couple of cup with its got very small shop who they damage the ground of. bad choices in crop planting intense cattle pasturing and unfavorable weather

conditions of all brought about an ecological catastrophe these daily winds that blow over county contributed to the disaster they carry solid particles of dust and salt from the drying our old sea vast lush pastures have been all that robbed of them oyster. alexander's claudia remembers all too well how it started thirty years ago. but on. a master plan of countering that invasion was put together. when an emergency state was introduced in the republic almost all farmers schoolchildren and students were involved in seed collection and subsequent sowing works in the region brochure the results achieved proved that it was possible not only to stock does it in beijing but also to bring life back but there were not that but it'll take fifteen to twenty years for this land to become step again. we

should remember that it's impossible to revive step in its original form only opened. the water our goal is not only to reinforce the sandy soil but also to create a quality pastures that will foster the development of cattle breeding in kalmykia where. it's a tough task selecting which plants are fit for life in the desert and those that can help turn the desert back into step in the bush is was selected by way of trial and error which. was one of the first scientists who proved which plants are most likely to survive here with a cord injury is going to be this is a collision and route one of the bushes planted to study this. is called. the roots can grow fifteen to twenty metres deep you know it's a very convenient plant to use because it grows in the sand and doesn't require watering. when you get in the world

enough scientists recommend planting cuttings of killing you know the same way grapes are planted in the home with her we were hesitant at first but it turns out that it grows well after all even on certain people can't help wondering they tell us what's the use of planting sticks but after three months the sticks start to blossom. today residents of the county village of pecans kate will start another round combating the desert all they have is an old tractor with soviet era of quick mint attached to fight the invading sands the new agricultural technique of planting cuttings with the working team is composed of three people two technicians who plant the cuttings and an assistant who stamps on the ground around the plants to make it flat one planting machine can cover up to twelve hectares of sand in a single shift it is hard work especially considering temperatures often reach

forty five degrees celsius one hundred thirteen fahrenheit in the shade in the first year the young plants will shoot out a strong and lengthy root system then every bush gradually gains a territory is about thirty square metres all to itself when the sand invasion is stopped the spaces between the bush rows will be filled with grass this is how a former desert is going to become a pasture. there is a great variety of deserts and some of them instead of being a hindrance can be a natural wonder six thousand kilometers east of moscow in the foothills of the kadar ridge behind lake baikal lies the chara desert it is a unique place siberia. tourists from all over russia visit there even though it's hard to reach the desert is surrounded by rivers and marshes every july it hosts a festival the real. the c.s.s.

stay away from the proper roads for the trip to the festival location is an adventure in itself some travel across tyga and rivers and trucked off road vehicles others had through the marshes on foot one group of thrill seekers full by force has chosen an especially difficult route. dimitri balaban of the shy program from kazakhstan is the focus of attention his car is completely unfit for off road exploits yet he has travelled four thousand kilometers to join the band of adventurous. at u.b.s. i was of course i'd never dared to go to such a place on my own horn. but going with a group is a different thing. besides the experience guys took a look at the route beforehand and said we should be able to make a point but probably. dimitri ran into problems as soon as the cars left the

highway and the next five hours were very hard however his fellow travellers tell him it's the only way a rally across tigar is a real test but for the driver and for the vehicle. adrenalin is pumping the car is stuck the wheels are spinning and the terrain is getting more and more difficult now the participants will all experience the fun ships of travelling off road through the siberian tiger the crews will help each other out if not many of these cars will end up abandoned in the swamps forever by the time the convoy rives it is already late but the drivers for go exhaustion and start repairing their vehicles right away are the good with no i probably wouldn't want to come every year. because you need some time off but the most it's a very intense kind of experience you can. early in the morning while the campus is

sleep. an experienced hiker well acquainted with the area sets off into the sands his task is to check how safe the route is before the new arrivals hit the road to explore the charred desert the short cut to the desert goes through a marshland and a pine forest we're going to explain landing in charge of flies over the desert cripple the passengers are always bit will do to actually see sanjay and hear this but legend has it that wants there were two brothers or younger. and older can both were princes and they lived in peace and harmony or even if it wasn't until they came upon a treasure trove of gold they proceeded to divide it mostly but they could never come up with their hogs one always ended up shorter than the other and this led to fighting and civil war the gods were greatly displeased with it and turned one prince into the kadar ridge and the other into the wood become rich while the gold

they were fighting over became a stretch of sand between them and the first groups of tourists are approaching the charas sands. each person has to improvise a way of walking over the difficult terrain where the tiger ends and the desert starts the walk ahead of them is fascinating yet tiring the key to success here is to ignore the burning sun and insect bites of the taiga. there is no complete explanation as to the deserts origin one theory is that it was produced by centuries of winds eroding the sediment of an ancient lake. the lake dried out about fifteen thousand years ago and its form of bed was walked on by packs of mammoths and woolly rhinoceros tusks keep turning up in the area to this day. landscape is a breathtaking combination of north and south brought together as if by magic. there is no other doesn't like it anywhere else in the world. these fabulous sights

completed by the impressive skyline of the kadar mountain range the chara desert itself is quite small but just over fifty square kilometers. some members of the talk who post stayed behind in the count there completing preparations for the relay competition on the festival's program it's going to be tough with over fifty experienced hiker's after the trophy and we. actually our goal in coming here was not to take some wild rides in off road vehicles or like bonfires balls that were bought at the quite the opposite. we were trying to appreciate the beauty of the desert as it is and we'd like to make sure it stays this way for times to come that on some countries a desert is considered disaster just the char is a place for us to get together and have a good time in a friendly atmosphere. just like today's festival. the relay

competition route is set a few kilometers away from the desert the chara desert itself is a protective nature reserve and visitors only allowed on foot this is no place to host a competition but the protection of the law and the deterrent provided by the sounds themselves make sure that this one of a kind natural treasure remains in its original state. in the evening visitors are treated to one last one. the sun setting over a quiet lake lights up low clouds and fog on the horizon creating an unforgettable beautiful picture. once the sun has set everyone gathers at a large meadow by the lake it is time for the awards ceremony and singing songs by the fire all just for listening to the music of the night forest by the slumbering siberian desert.

wealthy british style. markets why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. world from the future of science technology innovation paul believes developments from around russia we've got the future covered.

rigby's to lead the way and make sure we deployed to the sanctions the travel bans the asset freezes in syria. cracking down on syria the us is stepping up its game against the troubled country and considering intervention so is this a case of libya two point zero parties on a stasi a turk and i will tell us what's going on and what's at stake. and as the u.n. focuses on issues abroad the u.s. honing in on threats of its own and rewriting its list of enemies will tell you who's on top. and we all know that nothing comes for free not even freedom itself

but what but that price just went up but the authorization of the new and the a bill so what exactly are you giving up and we'll explore. it's tuesday january thirty first eight pm in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching r.t. . well the west now calling on syria president bashar al assad to step down a draft resolution formed by the arab league and backed by the u.s. and the european union calls for assad to hand power over to his deputy the west says the move is aimed at bringing peace and stability to syria or violence between government forces and rebel fighters rages on now the u.s. and e.u. stand behind this resolution but russia does not moscow says it will block the u.n. resolution over fears the move will allow the west to militarily intervene in the

country and russia is one of the five council members with the power to veto the resolution artie's on associate turk turkana joining me from new york just a short while ago and gave me the latest take a listen to what liz after an entire year over three hours of sitting around talking around a round table there certainly not any steps closer to a unified position at the security council today as we've been reporting top notch diplomats spearheaded by the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton as well as her british and french counterparts descended upon the united nations headquarters here in new york city to try to convince the rest of the international community including russia and china who do not support the position that the west and the west and the arab league are taking when it comes to the syrian crisis basically have been attempting to get the countries to agree this is not been the case of course one of the key elements of this resolution that we're talking about here is

a regime change in syria and this is something that russia has been very vocal in saying it would not support the russian foreign minister says it's just not russia's job or the international communities for that matter to call for regime change take a listen. but it's not a part of russia's foreign policy to ask leaders to step down regime change is not . the decision must be solely syrian only syrians groups of syrians must gather at the negotiating table and hammer on to deal with the good if the demand is for him to go and he doesn't then what's next we call in the air force bombing we've seen that already and the security council will never approve this i guarantee it. well this resolution that the arab league and the us are really pushing for says that unless the syrian leader steps down the he will have fifteen days to do so or the international community would be allowed to conduct any further measures and this is something that's very very frightening to russia and china who say listen this

is just a repetition of the libyan scenario and this is something we don't want to happen importantly russia has suggested that the opposition and the syrian government meet together in moscow and talk and talk void any sort of escalation of this conflict as well as any sort of resolution that could potentially harm the people on the ground now u.s. secretary of state clay in as well as other diplomats are urging russia to allow this vote on syria but i mean they're not on board right now what would it take for russia to agree to this. well you know i think what it would take a vis point is a document that would be pleasing not just for the u.s. and the west and the arab league but also the veto holding members russia and china they're not they don't just hold this veto power that blocks whatever resolution the united states want the point is that russia has been involved for very long time in negotiating with syria in really trying to resolve the crisis as well and

it's a significant player in this because what essentially is calling for is talks negotiations and avoiding any sort of escalation do not do further harm is really the key element that russia has been calling for so essentially what it would take liz is for the diplomats to get together and make sure that whatever document they vote on it's not just something that the u.s. in the west but also important players like russia and china who do have reasons to what they're calling for now the u.s. is presenting this as a humanitarian effort we heard from playing today she said quote we all have a choice stand with the people of syria and and the region or become complicit and allowing violence there but you know russia and china they are not buying this argument why not. well liz you know this whole veil of humanitarian mission goals that the u.s. really likes to talk about unfortunately history has shown that this excuse to

stand united with the people as the you know the united states likes to put it has not always played out this way we have to remember that when the libyan situation was playing out the international community led by the u.s. was trying to convince members of the security council that there's no way that the resolution that they're backing would do anything that impose a no fly zone and certainly what we have seen was a full blown military intervention in libya by nato forces and the united states and this is something that just did not work out the way the diplomats were saying it would so you know this humanitarian mission flag can be pulled out only a certain number of times by the united states before somebody cries wolf so the other countries are really being careful with cautious right now and taking all of the possible developments into consideration and the south thank you for keeping us updated there in new york that was our correspondent on the south. and for the very latest on this u.n. security council meeting you should follow on

a stasi on twitter not. so what is really behind the bloodshed in syria sara firth is on the ground with the latest. with the sounds of gunfire and. face first from the streets and the increasing. international opinions britain needs to lead the way in making sure we tighten the sanctions the travel bans the asset freezes on syria. the syrian case has developed as every side wants to push away the responsibility to another tossing the ball back and forth. in the last few days the situation has become so unstable that finding people willing to talk we know this present difficulties. we've had tanks entering in firing and just enjoy we've had six people who've died we travelled to the suburbs where some of the clashes have

breaking out to try to get a clearer picture of what had been happening here in the last few days in one of the damascus at the moment now we were travelling to a suburb called and we thought. that we just received a phone call telling us that it's not safe to travel there at the moment with the situation so you. know you really. don't know what's going on in these areas even the people who are living in these areas don't really have the situation at the moment we make it into the suburb of job or back the opposition that just last week had control of some of these areas have now gone underground so there was a funeral for a resident of just died in the fire during his funeral people and his relatives were voicing slogans and called for freedom so someone was shot during the funeral and we had to go and hide from the security forces. were taken to meet some members

of the f.s.a. . begins and some other members joined as well and people they know just being arrested in the changes in the atmosphere so. so. such uncertainty right now it seems mistrust is rife. it seems not to convince the free syrian army that coming closer to the capital would be simpler now this is harmful to the cause of bringing peace to syria. everyone it seems is no waiting to see what if any outcome will be and the un's briefings by the arab league's will having to halt. the whole reconciliation talks it's not want to be simply dismiss as many have already done they have do political aims they have two political reasons for. feeding the complicated in syria i think they don't want that they're not interested in the form and nor are they interested in

democracy or freedom was the government accepted the invitation received mixed reactions from the opposition they size of being taken in the past in calling for a syrian solution to a syrian problem that has repeatedly failed to communicate no opportunities for dialogue are running out fast. and with such desperate pleas from many people here the opposing sides continue to make it clear they don't want to listen the cools the international action it's just going to keep getting louder so. well today the senate how day hearing to discuss what the u.s. views as a worldwide threats from the rising power of china to cyber war concerns to ron's nuclear program the u.s. is finding much to fear these days it was once al qaeda considered to be america's top the rat but today it seems iran the is what scares the u.s. the most this despite iran and even top u.s.

military leaders coming out and saying the country is not building a nuclear bomb earlier i spoke with former cia analyst ray mcgovern about the increasing fear mongering in the u.s. and asked him if these fears are justified. synthetic stoking the fear. you use the word word synthetic you know he may know the leverage. if you look at the polls seventy percent of the american people believe that iran already has a nuclear weapon that's exactly the same percentage of people in two thousand and two who were persuaded by what i call the phone in corporate media to believe that saddam hussein was working on a nuclear weapon it's bizarre what do the defense ministers of america and israel say they say as pathetic as tim self on face the nation. the readings working on nuclear weapons no. what does a who rocks a in israel his counter code apart he says you know if the arenas were working on

a nuclear weapon they would have to kick out he would inspectors we would know that and they don't want that at all they are not working on a nuclear weapon they have not yet decided to do so so the facts are the offense ministers both intelligence agents and say the way they say it is they have not yet decided to do no nuclear weapons well that means that the theory simple english means they're not working on a nuclear weapon no. clapper general or former general clapper who is the head of national intelligence and patrol yes they almost wore out the subjective mood you know it was always if the iranians decide to go for a nuclear weapon if they choose to do so it's like going to war in the subjective mood and that's precisely what i was criticized for for saying we did ten years

it's exactly ten years ago before you rock going to war and if on a contrived synthetic if i've never seen the like of it now that you said earlier seventy percent of americans believe iran currently has already has made it what you're about i mean what could be behind that misconception i mean i don't think that is totally not factual really good question you have to take five steps back and say what is this whole about is this about a nuclear capability. it was about it's about regime change we haven't changed a regime in tehran in fifty nine years don't you think it's about time that we change the regime in tehran the israelis lost big time when we went into iraq because the big beneficiary of our expected extirpated in iraq was iran now they've lost the trip to the south of list turkey to the north they want regime change in tehran unfortunately. influence among us policy makers are so strong that they

constructed this imaginary threat about this nuclear weapon so that they can do sanctions that they could do four hundred millions dollars worth of of covert action in iran to perhaps elicit a reaction from iran where they can stop them with the military means that's what the name of the game is and people should realize that because you know it's very very close to the kind of situation that happened exactly ten years ago it's almost bizarre deja vu all over again this time it's not iraq this time it's iran and israel is a big decision maker here no what was really interesting is they had feinstein who's a very pro israel person admitted that she had been meeting this over the weekend with the head of mossad the israeli cia so that betray us all when they talking about the iranian threat well you know why don't they talk to the radiance about a threat you mean so willy you know it's really really really unconscionable the

way the americans are being rallied around a new war with iran it's got to stop i want to ask you after the motivation is regime change or who stands to benefit from such a change israel does you know. iran is the sole remaining. superpower were the sole remaining superpower there are regional power in the middle east they have a good sized army navy and so forth now israel doesn't want to have to compete with that and so they resort to all kinds of hyperbole here here's a eretz the relatively progressive history of newspaper saying that president shimon peres said today that iran is not only seeking regional but quote even global hegemony iran wants to be king of the world you know that's hyperbole on

steroids we ought to recognize it as that we've got to put it in perspective if the israelis want to the arabians to get rid of the regime to empower the american people should know that before they send their sons and daughters into war with iran absolutely american should be has formed informed as possible before making such a big decision as going to war you know we have heard from high level military leaders even here in the u.s. that iran does not have a nuclear weapon so why don't we hear more talk about this well i think it has to do with who controls the media the media is controlled by what president eisenhower called the. complex the military industrial complex and they make big money out of wars it's also dominated by pro israeli people i mean you look at who does who does all these shows look at the new york times they

wouldn't even the new york times the washington post wouldn't even report some of the things that printed in a hood peroxide so they are great to forces in this country and particularly in a political year which make me feel. that netanyahu. who really has the initiative here don't think for a second that obama's leadership if netanyahu has the initiative he thinks that our president will just kind of sit back and say oh darn if they attack iraq and we get involved in that if he thinks that he's going to do it and what i would appeal for is an overt outspoken statement by the person the united states saying look a who looked a who had been rock bibi netanyahu if you do this don't count on us to pick up the pieces because they're going to be a lot of pieces even a previous mossad director in israel has warned that this could be the end of the state of israel and i think that could be right there.