these daily winds that blow over the county contributed to the disaster they carry solid particles of dust and salt from the drying arabs see vast lush pastures have been all that robbed of their moisture. alexanders clad remembers all too well how it started thirty years ago. but out of their boat and 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 stop desert invasion but also to bring life back but they were not that 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 on the open so. the water goal is not only

to reinforce the sandy soil but also to create 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 at the cord injury is going to be this is a collision and root one of the bushes planted to study this. it would be 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 much the same way

grapes are planted. on what 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 just 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 but 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 as 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 in 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. enthusiasts stay away from the proper roads for the trip to the festival location is an adventure in itself some travel across tighe on rivers

and trucked off road vehicles others had through the marshes on foot one group of thrill seekers fall by force has chosen an especially difficult route. dimitri balaban of a 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. 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 of probably. dimitri ran into problems assumes 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 almost as if it's a very intense kind of experience because you. early in the morning while the campus is sleep. and 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 shortcut to the desert goes through a marsh land and a pine forest we're going to explain landing in charge of the flies over the desert krasnoyarsk up with the passengers are always but will the two actually see sanjay and hear. that legend has it that wants there were two brothers younger. and older both were princes and they lived in peace and harmony really never was me 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 at this lead 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 can ridge 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 tiger. 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. so that the who naturally our goal in coming here was not to take some wild rides in off road vehicles or like bonfires balls that are both of quite the opposite. we were trying to appreciate the beauty of the desert as it is then we'd like to make sure it stays this way for times to come. 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 protected 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 wonder 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.

couldn't take three. three. three.

three stooges. freeboard video. free media. dot com. q russia and china vetoed the western backed u.n. resolution on syria with moscow criticizing the text taking an unbalanced approach to the realities on the ground. in egypt at least a dozen people are killed as. the authorities failure to prevent seventy four deaths at a soccer match on wednesday sparked countrywide protests. hundreds of thousands take to the streets in russia both pro and anti government rallies ahead of march fourth presidential elections.

on saturday russia and china. in the latest u.n. security council resolution on syria saying that backing the bubbles over the government could cause even more bloodshed but moscow says it remains determined to end the syrian crisis by helping damascus implement democratic reforms russia's foreign ministry minister sergei lavrov is due to visit the country for talks next week. has been following the diplomatic battle in new york. tempers are still flaring because as we've been reporting this should be surprise that the security council did not reach a consensus on the draft resolution on syria yet western countries still pushed for a vote and russia warned from the very beginning that if the draft was not a did not address some of russia's concerns it would veto and that's exactly what happened now let's talk about these concerns because moscow said it just requested some simple amendments would be made to the draft text that would have made the resolution

a little bit more balance for example the draft resolution different and that the syrian government withdraw its all of its forces from the cities and towns and seize all all violence but russian officials want to the document the draft resolution to also demand that the armed opposition groups stop participating in violence and retreat back from any cities or towns where it may have occupied the crime call it has called a draft text that was presented saturday morning to one side with a list of demands being made on the assad government but no note of armed opposition groups operating in syria now while addressing security council saturday a russian envoy to the u.n. fratelli churkin said the security council was not created just for the sake of taking sides or interfering in a civil war of sovereign countries he also accused some some countries of sponsoring a campaign of regime change in syria those who are pushing for this resolution to

be adopted don't you sleep with them still you could be some influential members of the international community including those sitting around this table have from the very beginning of the syrian crisis been undermining opportunities for political settlement by calling for regime change stirring up the opposition against the authorities and not his updating to encourage and freedom of methods of struggle for the draft resolution put to the vote does not adequately reflect the real situation in syria and since unbalanced to goes to the syrian sides it doesn't take into account. proposals that as well as withdrawing syrian armed forces from the cities this should be an ins to attacks by armed groups on state institutions and neighborhoods with a low balance year when the signal is now the u.s. delegation could not help but showing its frustration and anger why not participating in the meeting saturday morning we heard. you some language that's normally not heard in these diplomatic settings like disgusted in shame the united

states is disgusted that a couple members of this council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose here. addressing an ever deepening crisis in syria and a growing threat to regional peace and security in the meantime russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is heading to damascus on tuesday to meet with syrian president bashar al assad russia has been very vocal in trying to get home sides participating in the conflict in syria to come to the table and start speaking to one another and. using some type of dialogue instead of violence to come to a peaceful approach so of course we will stay on the story and see how it evolves and works out parties more important added putting force there and as diplomats battle it out at the u.n. thousands of demonstrators have gathered in damascus in support of president bashar al assad the crowds also praised the decision by russia and china to block western calls for luzhin change in syria but it rick ross off from

a stop nato group told our tune that although moscow and beijing him down not to allow u.n. sanction for an intervention in syria there's a chance the country may still be bombed pronounce side. what i fear is we may be see a replication of what happened in one thousand nine hundred ninety when the united states and its nato allies launched a seventy eight day bombing campaign against yugoslavia having failed to enlist chinese and russian support for un resolution against not only hear those lovely of . course that the resolute stand taken the principled stand taking the taken by russia and china against a resolution that we have to remember was sponsored by morocco and co-sponsored by a very interesting group of people they include the nato quality of the world the united states britain france and germany along with portugal to include all six members of the cooperation council that is the monotheism emirates and in the persian gulf this is not a representative group of nations of course when the united nations of the world is

very select one is largely the same for the first a comparable resolution one thousand seven hundred three against libya last year you know armed uprising of the sort of burning in syria could have occurred it was in libya earlier possible route as long as the thirteen years ago without the understanding by those who gauge it was on armed uprising that they would be supported by forces outside the. more than two hundred people were reportedly killed by security forces in the syrian city of homs just ahead of the vote at the u.n. security council the government denies that the assault calling the reports a hysterical campaign of incitement by armed groups the editor of the syria tribune dr ali mohamed says information supplied by the opposition should be taken at face value i mean their works not believing the syrian army waited ten months and then just the night before the security council meeting it decided to start bombarding homes this too which in homs that's been difficult for the syrian.

regime supporters for such a long time and i don't see why the army would choose such critical timing just start it's a vicious crackdown and describe it they are only cleans and just two weeks ago we had the arab league observers who could have gone there and investigate it but unfortunately they were pulled out for no good reason and therefore they are only claims from this side of opposites claims from their side so we cannot treat it well what's going on but i don't think that the army wants really. it's not like the syrian army this is number one and claims like that happened or in fact just a short and the opposition was not able to prove any of these claims over the past ten months police in egypt have again fired rubber bullets and tear downs to force a crowd of rock throwing protesters away from the interior ministry building in tyro clashes between security forces and demonstrators have been raging for four

days now and have left a dozen people dead and thousands injured activists have been venting their anger over the military rulers failure to prevent an outbreak of violence at a football match on wednesday that left seventy four dead correspondent for information has more from cairo. things have been extremely devastating and terribly kilty clearly these are the last two days and also very tragic the code so huge that massacre only one state when seventy four people died in this time heat at one of the city's football stadiums has become by itself the deadliest incidences were barak ousted last february but it's also triggered a new wave of clashes between the police the army and demonstrators that have actually become something common seen here in the capital cairo and everywhere throughout egypt the fact is people have been very quick to use polling portside incident to use local sources especially the interior ministry of doing nothing of

the allowing this to happen allowing these deaths over and we should see and actually fulfilled over instigating these trials in order to preserve the situation of instability in the country in order to eventually just to follow some power thing through terror and lou all the generals from the supreme council of the armed forces they took power from the barak last february and since then demonstrations actually have never told shortly after this happened on wednesday the whole school football fans have come to live bullets nothing to the minister here in the central pa who just walked away from here seeking for justice and calling for amy did transition of power from the military to civil the situation is unfolding early presidential elections and since then twelve people have been killed in the last four days and twenty five hundred dollars have been injured who think that it's a terrible dissolve so i have to say i hope you can see the pictures right now as

you can imagine. while masoud street is a narrow street is one of the streets they didn't towards the building all for the interior ministry here in hollywood the queen many many people there chanting and to miter slogans from time to time police has been firing tear gas at the. ties to them to even. be able to speak to several people though let's not listen to what they have to say about who's going to go and when it's going to stop people not just because the conditions didn't she didn't the cast of the good guys are unbelievably effective even people might die and that they would if they suffocate each day just deny everything today at sundown and not to light the fire and they do she told me. that the chinese the seventy seven year old china it's over your news it's more than enough what they're doing to the protestors and that they're doing to the interests of the country and the children must be oh well as you can see a situation is very volatile here in cairo and actually in several all the cities

throughout egypt but we can also can talk now about several months as well a full one point same incident the feed. people from the administration all this to do have been detained and they're in custody right now is that while the investigation is ongoing and also taking up protesters to mons just recently the supreme carlson of the armed forces advisory has also called for early presidential elections in the country parties where for national forest there now still ahead on our team once a harsh critic of the kremlin he now says he was wrong. the father of murdered x f s b agent alexander litvinenko wants to blame the blood in the apartment for the death of his son but now he's had a change of heart. plus america's anti-corporate protesters are expected in a dawn raid from the park they've occupied since early october.

in russia over two hundred thousand people across the country have braved the freezing temperatures to voice their political views ahead of the march fourth presidential vote two of the largest rallies took place in moscow where both supporters and opponents of blood be put. into the streets to the ark in our position it was the third in one of the largest gathering since problem entry elections two months ago which they claim were rigged political analyst dmitri babich however says the split is fueled by the mass media and is deeply rooted. it's mostly just emotions fueled by the media some people were obviously irritated seen the same two faces on television maybe too much in the last few months especially some people were terrified when they saw their position and its slogans and when they felt the hand of the west behind it so it's mostly media driven there

is no real cost struggle behind it there are poor people and reach people in both radius there are people of all kinds of ethnic groups in both threads so right now i think it's mostly a positive effect because it is sort of wakes up the government to the needs of the people so until now there are consequences more and more stability i hope it will continue in that wait if there is a real split in society of course it's not going to be good for the country after and a researcher at william and dol says the west is funding the russian opposition to minimize the country's influence on the world stage during a critical time. this document from the records of the national endowment for democracy which is a washington government financed go it's all over the place in russia their financing activists in. several different cities in russia i think really their expectation is to create as much internal unrest in russia as possible to distract

the prospective new putin presidency at a time when russia is going to face challenges with the missile defense with the destabilization of the assad regime in syria the attempt to create regime change in iran and throughout the middle east and you raise or to try to divert any russian any incoming russian government from dealing with these crises they're trying to do the same template that you did ukraine with the orange revolution in georgia to bring saakashvili into power as a pro president in that country and i don't think it will work in russia i whatever mistakes the. ten year has brought with it in whatever discontent is i think there are a lot of things that have significantly improved over the last years since the time of the yeltsin era. but that that really isn't the point the point is us

interference in internal russian election affairs is something that ought not to be tolerated and it's quite right not to tolerate it. and you can get more on this and other stories online twenty four hours a day at r.t. dot com here's a glimpse of what is waiting for you there right now. from tragedy to treasure hunt thousands of works of art are up for grabs aboard the stricken luxury liner costa concordia including the jewels and the antiques plus. jim lessons with michelle obama who is living up to her reputation as one of america's most vigorous advocates of a healthy lifestyle get the full story and much more at our team dot com. iran says it will not give in to international pressure and abandon its nuclear program even if it's banned from selling a single barrel of oil it's tehran's response to this week's approval by a us senate committee of a package of new sweeping sanctions against the islamic state but the bill has yet to pass through congress america's initiative targeting tehran's nuclear program

follows the e.u. adopting a total embargo on iranian oil which is due to come into force in july the islamic republic in turn has repeatedly said it will stop all crude supplies to some european countries before summer tehran maintains its atomic ambitions are purely peaceful and seeks to prove it by cooperating more closely with the u.n. nuclear watchdog team of inspectors visited iran this weekend plans to return later in february political analyst. says that keeping the pressure on iran is a key issue in the u.s. election campaign. with american election especially if we go into the election they want to put a lot of pressure on iran. obama administration. lobbyist a group inside the united states but i think they want to squeeze. the pressure on iran they want to. america law. community and i think what

we have seen some european talk being that the. again. i think american trying. to go to the extreme by trying to destroy the. economy they've taken into consideration that iran is going through election parliamentary election probably the thing this is going to backfire in terms of population of iran again. i think they go in very far in this in this because this is kind of an implication for the world economy especially if this escalate to a military showdown between the american and iranian. anti-corporate protesters in washington d.c. were evicted this weekend from a park they had occupied since early october and eight people were arrested when mounted police raided the encampment.