just that's a nice piece of material and so easy to handle. qualities of primary importance in our business what's you think of intentionally messed it up so you'll fall out of the sky. never absolutely not a great job elana was very well done religiously and. the company repairs the existing believes as well as making new ones it receives several damaged envelopes a month this part of the balloon is subjected to wear and tear more often than others after the envelope is repaired and the new one is ready to test start. mikheil nigel is the main believe tester of the to law and ops factory none of the balloons made by the company will be launched unless he gives the go ahead. are going to include us federal our best kits match european standards they were

not as good in the old days but now they're russia's best who shows it's true i can't afford to pay the price but. i would buy one if they were not so expensive that. michelle knight golf is a veteran russian air and all that he's been involved with aviation for fifty four years mikhail is a boon designer by training he's built seven of them with his own hands. first to go ballooning when he was fifty three years old he looks forward to celebrating his seventy fifth birthday in flight the contest balloons at any time under any conditions one hundred flights a year is a minimum. if you could shoot a flying is always a blissful whatever the conditions. were up and moving out and there's all vision normal position. and the balloon is in working order as it

should be. hopefully we'll get no complaints from the guys in about us. to look at the ils this is not what i call flying. in general i don't see being tethered is the definition of florida only would there out there who while we truly flying. a hot air balloon can only be in free flight during the daytime it's a common role for all balloonists in the world the basket has to touch down before sunset. unlike balloons in free flight tethered balloons are allowed to be launched even in the dark in that case the burner illuminates the balloon from the inside. pilot's refer to this phenomenon as the good organizers of the path to ghost

festival of balloonists came up with the idea for the spectacle to attract tourists . bear current simpatico such that early morning is the best time for taking to the skies the convoy of balloonists normally starts out at five o'clock in the morning to head towards the starting line. the success of the flight primarily depends on the wind no matter how skillful the pilot might be balloonists good weather forecasts and reports about the force and direction of the wind from ground control safety services but then there is a simpler way of determining the winds direction the whole crew takes part in preparations for a flight normally it includes four people

a technician carries out checks to satisfy himself for the balloon is in working order. have a good flight. palooza raised into the sky by the pilot and the navigator but whether the crew will get home depends on those who stay on the ground. once a balloon lands the crew has to be retrieved from the spot. sometimes inexperienced teams responsible for retrieval can't find crews landing at dusk therefore those

unfortunate balloonists have to spend a night out in the open not shock me as is another x. air force pilot. during competitions he is often charged with the task of ensuring the crew safe return to earth his job is retrieving crews of balloonists from wherever they might land. rainbow rainbow pickup as calling day rate pickup i can hear you. wonderful. nial has had special training to learn how to get his bearings in different conditions whether in the woods or mountains but tracking a balloon through the streets of a town is a skill in its own right. the problem with tracking a balloon flying over a city or another population center is that there is a mass of people. you need to have a good knowledge of the city's top dog are free and the floods. what invariably

ends up happening. is you get stuck in traffic. which is just great. like you know and i mean. this is a very convenient place. from here we can see where balloons are going from where they are likely to touch down but of the prophet. when you see our balloon rising over this town it's over by the hill. how far a balloon can fly depends on the wind what's most important is to make sure that it lands in such ways to make it easy for the retrieval truck to get it. bring the rainbow pick up calling are you coming in time to work if i did. not pick up what i had down right away ok we're coming.

to. pick up can you see us we can see you very well. but. a. couple of the. nile loses three or four kilograms of weight in a week of intense retrievals the crew puts the billing together and takes it apart several times the envelope weighs one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty kilograms . i think about what we entrust our very lives to this envelope higher than what we make sure that no stones get in the way back up which might damage it twenty three or four days during. each gas tank weighs fifty kilograms if you add that to the burner in the basket the retrieval people will be hard put to collect it all.

pylon. pylon. i'm now we're all. on face value ballooning is a simple affair behind the scenes it is a vigorous combination of efforts by a crew an escort truck and those who help build salute these people define rain snow bitter cold on scorching heat truly they're afraid of only one thing missing the ability to take to the skies. the sky does not misunderstand the sky does not judge the sky very simply is.

wealthy british. markets. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger. global financial headlines kaiser reports. you know sometimes you see a story. you think you understand it and then. you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you. are welcome to the big picture.

approach to the syrian. stepping up its rhetoric for regime change in syria ignoring. the opposition the peace talks. and the rift between the e.u. and the u.k. grows into a castle in the european court of human rights orders the release of osama bin laden's right hand. and washington's top military official will head to cairo to try and suspend criminal charges against americans. as egypt's military leaders crack down on the western activists who helped them last year.

a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at r.t. moscow i'm a rule research showing the situation in syria won't improve unless both sides shift from the battlefield to the negotiating table that is the message from russia's foreign minister who recently returned from the capital damascus. reports on this. following the visit of the russian delegation a tuesday ria a bull's eyes and that is the opposition and the current government have expressed their willingness to go through with negotiations president bashar asad said that he's also willing to go through the necessary reforms in order to end the violence in the country and one of those reforms which he has promised is

a to carry through the referendum on the constitution now that is slated to come to come around sometime in march and if their friend and goes through as expected this may mean the end of the monopoly of the current ruling party another note for the moment how is the fact that the syrian opposition which here there which until now has been unwilling to to go to any negotiations with the current government in syria has said that they are willing to talk but they have said that russia must provide the roadmap for those negotiations and that they must go beyond just the talking that some actions should be taking place now syrian president assad has also said that he is hoping that he that he is actually he was once the observers from the league of the arab states to stay in the country and of course russia has also mentioned that the peace process in the country must go through according to the plan laid out by the league of the arab states now want to listen to the

russian foreign minister to give a look at luxury live we have suggested that certain parties capable of influencing the opposition groups especially those based outside syria will try to convince those groups to begin negotiations parties with influence on damascus have been trying to convince the authorities to do the same as i have mentioned the syrian authorities confirm they are ready to begin negotiations without putting forward any conditions there of course to also countries not seem to be as eager to see the peace process in syria to go through france italy and spain are among the latest countries to have pulled. out there best sitters from syria also there at the gulf states which have not only recalled their ambassadors from the country but have also sent out syrian ambassador from their countries. i don't find it easy to comment on this because i don't want to give an impression that all these processes have a certain logic behind them we don't see any logic in them just as much we didn't

understand the ferry decision to suspend the arab league observers mission to syria therefore i don't think that the ambassador's response helps create conditions favorable for implementing the league of arab states initiative there are also statements from the united states who are make it clear that they're not willing to see president bashar lock the to remain in power for much longer the u.s. ambassador to the united nations has said that his days are numbered also the white house has mentioned that to negotiate with also it is to is basically a way to fail or now the u.s. has said that they hire not planning on supplying arms to the syrian rebels but they have said that no option is off the table. reporting right there while in the light of the recent u.n. security council fallout so when moscow and beijing both blocked a draft resolution on syria we spoke to russia's ambassador to that body potentially churkin says that putting pressure only on the saudi regime gives

unilateral advantages to the rebels who are also to blame for the violence in syria . the latest round of military confrontation in syria started a couple of days before that resolution draft resolution was put to vote and the reason i'm here i'm trying not trying to justify anybody but simply trying to be analytical is that as the monitoring mission of that i believe was there and that as the situation was evolving everybody saw that the government troops were pulling out of certain towns or certain quarters and in cities that territory was taken over by armed rebel groups that would mean that the the armed confrontation will continue and escalate and that was the reason for which we brought our amendments to the text of the draft resolution which would not only require the government to pull out its forces from from the cities but would also would also require the opposition forces to show restraint and not to exercise

their military coup out every conflict. needs to be resolved through negotiations there are two ways really in my view one is a frontal attack against the regime something which i'm afraid has been happening lately including from some international important international players the advocates of regime change in trying to. resolve the crisis through frontally the toppling of the current government in the mosque but this is this would mean bloodshed and civil conflict and. conflict which would be spreading beyond the borders of syria but the other the more rational way the only way which the international community should be supporting. trying to put the parties to the table to bring them to the table and to arrange a dialogue among them in order to find a political solution without further bloodshed. and in the meantime the pentagon

has reportedly launched a revision of its defense capabilities in case it will have to resort to a military option in syria and the president of the arab league lawyers association . says this is nothing out of the ordinary simply a matter of history repeating itself this is very clearly an attempt by the west to thwart any effort of settlement because i don't think the western powers whether it's the u.k. u.s. france or the europeans and certainly the arab countries the gulf countries really playing according to the rules that are being laid down to them by the americans they are the people who are trying to explore any possibility we've seen this before in the. west who are supporting the opposition and they were arming them and anybody who wanted to have a dialogue with the government regardless of whether they were liked or not they

were accused of being. stooges of the government or their agents of the government but they are not compatible and this is that they are doing now at the present moment i think in terms of the opposition in syria and i fear that this is really why all of the russians are trying to get the opposition to talk to the government because that's the only way you can resolve the problem i think they will stop those people from even the opposition from discussing with the government sitting with them and this is really where they've done the same thing in libya where civilian and peaceful protests were converted into an armed conflict so that it gives the pretext for the west to intervene. so delve into this a little bit further here on r t and offer more perspective on what the future mashi hold for syria let's now talk to professor when going from the chinese academy of social sciences are joining me live from beijing thank you for coming on today we've heard reports here that the pentagon is reviewing military options for

syria now given china's resolution veto what's your reaction on. i think the other hand the council reaction actually is conflicting we want to do president obama has just the motion to another article because while he got the interview with a correspondent from the u.s. he said very clearly that they are not is there is has no intention to make any immediate terry into reaching into the syria issue not just hours later after president obama asked me and then the pentagon you show this kind of strong statement i think there have a two fold all of this reaction from the go number one is that they want to show that the united states particularly from the media terry i'm days still have a very strong determination to top down the us regime and secondly they want to put another pressure that is a very heavy pressure tool by syrian regime and also gave some pressure for their

uniform russia's foreign minister so currently we see it to their syria it's it is interesting how you bring in the american conflicting angle here the american president obama saying that any military option is not on the table here we have the most recent reports the pentagon are reviewing military options for syria now on the table let's address there where you are now what does china stand to lose if syria turns into another libya what's at stake here from beijing. actually. you my own opinion i think has zero rights. gradually moving slightly into a civil war and is going to copy libya more though actually it. is in fact just a matter of time on the floor terms you know the reason why china vetoed a u.n. resolution is just because we don't want to see and you seem like to leave that

kind of approach has been copied again because we all remember very clearly when they used their resolution one thousand seven hundred three gave the green light of all any outside very intervention into the libya usually that's the original purpose it just to establish a no fly zone is not has nothing to do with any scene like the region change. after direct given this because of these agreeing neither given by the u.n. resolution and they told me quoting other members of the arab league they have a just you know over and over used to the u.n. mandate so i think that's why we don't want to see this kind of. this is sparking of you are resolute professor as you say as you say that beijing does not want to see another libya style situation taking part in syria but if that's the

way that china feels that do you think it's possible that beijing could take a more active role in syria and if so in what capacity. oh yes are you gonna do it in the past. conses tend to be here for peaceful dialogue trying to live you know you from core on all of those and how do you see in syria back to the negotiation table and even though you are also discussing how it will turn out can't go wrong for example also said i was a special envoy of the middle east the affairs told me so probably is no longer by sheer government tool also on the strength of the situation on the ground to more clearly so i think also i think a time oh well all those the western countries to be careful about their any media tearing into actually those assert that and also trying to.

persuade they even not to go to that you know the meter with that is that i may be the same either way that is still on the rebel forces as they use them send the troops seeing progress when ping from the chinese academy of sexualizes i wish we had more time we don't thanks for coming on out to you today my pleasure. as always hear it out say we love getting you involved with our top stories here we've got an entire section dedicated to syria on our website of course dot com then we have also got a poll asking what you think will come of possible peace talks here how you're voting right now at this hour on r.t. the vast majority if you believe that the west will find a way to remove our side regardless of peace talks about a quarter believe that even if an agreement is reached the opposition will not honor it thirteen percent say the talks to do it anyway they won't achieve a thing just six percent saying that further talks will bring long sought top to

peace do argue about now if you can head over to dot com let us know what you think . what is still to come of the program here on r.t. the greek economy goes on sale clashes erupt in athens as the austerity ravaged public rails against what they see as a fire sale of the nation's future. just on a quarter past the hour here in moscow. sweeps britain after the european court of human rights ordered the release of abu qatada a dubbed osama bin laden's right hand man in europe it's the latest in a string of judgments that of over ruled domestic decisions reinforcing the opinion that the e.u. is interfering in matters it has nothing to do with and as artie's laura smith reports patience with the e.u. is certainly running thin. a silver in land with its own queen its own currency and its own parliament

law was made by someone else this building houses what we in the u.k. call the supremum court but in practice it supremes in name only despite being the highest court in the land when it comes to human rights if you don't like the way your case is gone or you can take his abroad to france and decisions made in strasburg could overrule any may taya the european court of human rights was set up after world war two to avoid the persecution of minorities by the state but now it's been de railed and it was never never anticipated of the second world war after the holocaust off the terrors perpetrated by certain tyrannical governments but the court now would be protecting the criminal and not the victim. delays in control of a sea have dogged the european court in stroudsburg there's

a backlog of up to eight years and when cases are decided the judgment so often bizarre in two thousand and ten the court decided to give prisoners the right to vote after a petition by john hirst who spent much of his life behind bars after killing his landlady the u.k. is still refusing to implement the ruling it makes me physically ill it would probably mean to give the vote to anyone who is in prison aside it could also cost a fortune but the last time that we looked at this the cost of complying with judgments under the european convention of human rights was about two point one billion pounds a year that's three point three billion dollars plus another two point eight billion in a susi ated one off costs in other areas an immigration ruling means a convicted nigerian rapist gets to stay in the u.k. because of his right to

a family life. and most recently the european court of human rights ruled hate preacher abu qatada dubbed bin lardons the right hand man in europe can't be deported back to jordan where he's now g. to be released onto the streets of britain this is somebody who stands up and publicly. hatred about everything that our democracy is and stands for and yet we can't get rid of him because of the european convention on human rights sitting in strasburg forty seven judges one from each signatory country so far so far except none of them were elected by the people of the countries they're making law for we've got a system of law and order in this country it's worked for many many years for the seat or the mother of all parliaments why do we need purple brussels to tell us what we can and cannot do the answer is we don't so therefore british law for british people those who aren't calling for the u.k. to pull out.