using foreign fines to promote unrest in the post mubarak country activists however claim they are the victim of scarfs reluctance to give up power with dreaming the people about the rights of the scaf looking for inge all. sub agents against the regime and all the mind the round up of activists has also netted a son of u.s. transportation secretary ray la hood further fueling tension between cairo in washington. simply because. of them in a sort of plans for. i don't think that. anything at all so this is america has military aid to egypt reaches one point three billion dollars annually has been very serious though has been quick to condemn the car when in the days of blank checks are over or they condemned mubarak tons of times but at the end of that the continued on flowing that the provide support also continued flowing we don't buy or washington's so-called support for democracy here

in the middle east washington wants to stabilize the situation as much as possible in order to get into its interests they don't care about democracy meanwhile even those on the streets protesting against car sharing the council's concerns about the ngos motives the usa has had a hand in tips policy making for years but the whole n.t. and your campaign has become the first serious disagreement between america and the country's new authorities cairo wanted to send washington and message that it's no longer the silent dog it was under mubarak but an independent state which will last so the right any outside interference some doubts though they really minute the end to military movement growing have a vigor you can see it over there this if you don't kill us all the armed forces or scaf now running egypt is in a very vulnerable position and this nationalistic pronouncement may just be a nationalist show put on to calm the people down and to win back

a shred of credibility. in cairo. just twenty minutes past the hour here in moscow you're watching r t and still ahead for you in this program a bounce to civilian deaths and plans for an early withdrawal the number of nato air strikes in afghanistan could actually be on the rise we explain why in just a few moments. if there were some villain for others a u.s. army private accused by washington of treason. seems a nomination for the nobel peace prize. fair and transparent that's how people here in russia want to see the upcoming presidential election and much polling stations across the country are being a quipped with the web cams to avoid any wrongdoing but a group of proactive citizens has decided that using technology alone is not enough . going off explains how they're planning to secure honest voting.

it doesn't take long to find videos of alleged violations during the recent parliamentary vote in russia just a couple of clicks is enough of these files have flooded the internet and even though most of the allegations are still to be proven in court tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets demanding fair elections with marches presidential votes just around the corner events are unfolding quickly where. people want to vote responsibly and to know where their votes go they want political competition independent courts and media forming the voters league is not meant the idea was floating in the air the voters league was officially founded in january by a group of journalists bloggers activists orders writers and other public figures i'd stay with sweden g.d.s. plague t.v. host and now activist. the lady. or the head of

a charity fund and blogger. also known as dr lisa. ordinator of the blue buckets movement fighting for equal rights on roads for everyone. our league is an opportunity to gather people who are not indifferent to what's happening the more people with a civil position there are the better the league's main goal is to ensure fair elections is published a list of initiatives on the web divided into groups that everyone can be. part of public discussions and online votes are the key instruments and letters have been sent to all presidential candidates asking them to cooperate with the league and even though the project is less than a month old everyone has so far agreed including pledging little to another candidate businessman mikhail prokhorov has already struck a deal with the leak yet to go i'm willing to authorize one hundred fifty thousand league observers would also arrange to put together

a unified database to keep track of the election protocols according to its founders around ten thousand observers are needed to ensure a fair election in moscow alone. it's great that the civil society wants to be more active but it's clearly important not to cross the line and observers not only are positioned it is serious so if limitations not to take sides in the political process. he's got the lead sounders say they'll shut the organisation down if it ever starts turning into a political movement claiming they were keen to work with all candidates equally there's no doubt society has changed more people want to have more influence on russia's political life perhaps that's why it took less than one month for the vote was leaked to establish ties with both the authorities and the opposition and with the help promise from candidates the league just may secure enough access to effectively monitor the vote in march as long as it avoids taking sides and protects its neutrality is going off r t moscow. it's good to have you with us

today here in oz he afghan president hamid karzai has accused nato of killing eight children in an airstrike on wednesday officials that launched a probe later claiming that foreign forces wrongly targeted civilians after receiving an incorrect report that armed men were preparing an attack in the area the bombing came just a week after the united states announced it might stop combat operations in afghanistan earlier than expected but this strike could stoke already strained relations between karzai and his western backers over a mounting death toll journalist gareth porter thinks that foreign expansion is to blame for the growing number of casualties this is the price that afghanistan pays for having foreign troops on its soil troops which carry out operations that are based on at best imperfect intelligence and at worse simply lack of fundamental

knowledge of local situations and mistakes that are made which will result in innocent people being killed completely unnecessarily the numbers are growing clearly because the television has continued to expand its operations in response to the growth of u.s. and nato troops and part of the taliban response and i would say the single biggest part of the response has been to lay more and more i e d's this is the primary way that the taliban has been able to find to kill u.s. nato troops and even more so to wound seriously u.s. and nato troops. well a more expert opinion on u.s. sanctions in afghanistan on our website dot com you can also find out about america's massive defense costs for example the u.s. congress has approved eighty million dollars to build a new bunker busting bomb with the order from the pentagon quote.

plans to raise their retirement age policeman in front of the prime minister's office footage. let's go to some other international news for your brief with the world update will start with its way rights on the gaza strip of left at least one civilian dead and four others injured the man killed was a guard at a farm israeli army the bombings saying they were aimed at sites belonging to terror groups and were a response to a short range rocket attack that was incoming from gaza. has the poor young saudi blogger who's wanted in his home country for his remarks on twitter the journalist spoke outrage in the kingdom last week after he tweeted that he would not pray for the prophet mohammed clerics condemned his thoughts blasphemous twenty

three year old could now face execution. whitney houston has died at the age of. the performer was found early hills hotel room on the eve of the grammy awards in los angeles. by. drug use authorities have yet to determine the exact cause of death. the u.s. army private bradley manning accused of passing secret documents evidence of war crimes to wiki leaks has been nominated for the no. well peace prize he's being put forward by a piece in the u.s. and an icelandic parliamentary group the twenty four year old is awaiting a court martial in the u.s. and faces life in prison optimistic klug a study plea believes that manning will be a much worthy of recipient of the prize rather than that of the current u.s.

president what he is accused of is leaking documents and video that has led to the end of the iraq war has led to pro-democracy rallies and uprisings all over the world and i think it's much deserved that he receives this nobel peace prize if obama gets it the why should he has done very little for peace even though he promised it and obama is also taking credit for ending the iraq war when actually that's not the truth the truth is the iraqi government did not want to allow legal immunity for u.s. troops after january first and the reason that they didn't last immunity is because of what they saw in the cables in the videos showing civilian deaths that were being covered up in the corruption by the u.s. government. all right just about about a minute and a half ninety seconds to we're back with a recap of the week's top stories serious. wealthy

british style it's just not time to be satisfied. with the. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy in these kinds of reports on

r g. h. d. if you're just joining us a very warm welcome to you this is. time for your headlines now the arab league debate. to syria the free syrian army says it expects official recognition from arab states there are also reports that western countries could. through their support of the opposition. iran's president promises to reveal major advances in its nuclear program it would never stop enriching uranium iran insists its only.

peaceful purposes despite the long list of western sanctions imposed against it. once again gather outside the greek parliament which is set for a tough choice. to secure one hundred thirty billion euro bailout people. venting their frustration on the streets. right now if you will stay with us here on our. take you up to cloud nine. possibly the oldest type of aircraft ever known to man our special report right now here on our. people couldn't fly for a long time i don't think because they didn't think it was possible we can learn how to do that without machines anywhere if we want to. destroy your arm while people here are a man ticks but they have generous souls like sunni's is something out of this

world and in chanting experience disease of the skies would brings these people together so they come here from all over russia and the world are. always people stick together because of both the love of ballooning and that none of them will be able to do it singlehanded each person is a zone of responsibility those on the ground are responsible for the ones in the sky together they are a close knit team. it all started in the late eighteenth century a balloon with two passengers in the basket was launched from a paris suburb one pm and fifty four minutes on november the twenty first seventeen eighty three was piloted by collateral deaths unlucky day long after flying across the french capital they landed safely in another suburb twenty minutes later the king of france for stowed them the title of count being the first humans to fly in

the air and granted them the right to hand it down to successive generations of balloonists. since then anyone going up in a balloon for the first time has to pass an initiation ritual to be awarded the title of count by the pilots. that she was killed which elements do you know count using really earth years water to fire. what else in the. the air. was gone through all of them to. earth and flew in the air. and if taken off without. it. fire is the main driving force of any hot air balloons the first timers have their hair ends burnt

as a sign of respect for fire champagne then comes into play as a symbol of water that is used to extinguish the flaming has finally the initiated tell the head sprinkled with earth was a good luck charm for future flights. the first balloon launch in russia came exactly twenty years after the french debut in eighteen zero three a balloonist from paris flew a russian balloon passenger over moscow according to one theory emperor alexander the first but ordered the launch he wanted to know what such aircraft putting those designed for warfare were capable of doing in the mid twentieth century ballooning

was no longer popular in russia almost no military balloons have been in use after world war two yet ballooning today remains a recreational activity for hundreds of thousands of people around the world. p.s.e. gorse russia's oldest spa resort today it is popular among both russian and foreign balloonists a you find both mountains and lowlands the city is just over one thousand five hundred kilometers south of moscow mt elbrus europe's highest point is only seventy kilometers away the mountain stands nearly five thousand five hundred meters above sea level. the first ballooning competitions in the caucasus were held here russia's southern most region that was in the mid one nine hundred ninety s. a pilot had to be a professional to stay. balloon and keep it at the right altitude you can never

tell how the air currents are going to behave. in pilots turned up for the inaugural event thirteen years ago nowadays it is an international festival that attracts both russian and foreign balloonists the aim is to restore the to former glory. vitale. is a former air force pilot on the first balloonist in the caucasus the crew holds him in high respect he was the first russian take the risk of launching a balloon in the antarctic. were made a sectional bosco's and a balloon that featured the colors of the russian flag for most k. we went to paris. from there on to santiago. finally we reached our destination in chile with the world's southernmost city with. the usual pollution as the cell phone was host to

a number of stations belonging to the united states but very many people in high places outside our country from the presence of russian blueness there extremely objectionable we paid before we arrived in chile. we were able to fly to king george oil and but only after two failed attempts. to get in the end with winds of eighty meters a second we did manage to launch a balloon but not before everything that could be broken was broken. and will continue about. as far as i know only four men in the world including myself have ever launched balloons in the antarctic. vitale was trained by alex some of one of the first balloonists in the former soviet union he has been chief referee at every balloon competition in russia found he. and to the country's first balloon on a factoring company russia has

a total of forty professional balloonists that make frequent flights. that are ga each exercise is performed within a radius of two hundred fifty meters other balloon star trailing behind the hair a minute later. before each launch the referee tells contestants what they're supposed to do just like with passenger aircraft balloons a check for any technical folks prussia taking off alexander's wife vera shares his passion for flying she was six years old when she first saw a balloon and since then her cherished dream has been to pilot one. dress leaves you mean come on everyone can bridge is the pay isn't going to give the week no matter how old you are there and how welcome to come here with children very many men bring their wives along with the don't come here is simply to look around and go for right now they help a lot. now there are a lot of

a monitor's the building competitions she recalls them a new visit wind speeds and alternative flight paths and schools them accordingly. the admission the first balloon to go up for stubber pole it is a heads as soon as it touches down the pilot will allow to crawl some the ground the job of other pilots is to hit the mark as precisely as possible. the first building to go up is called the heading blueness lingo it is piloted by the judge then the other contestants need to mimic kids' maneuvers by approaching it all moving away. only few pilots can cope with such difficult competition the professionalism of the talan also has earned the couple the title of aero good. of russia but alone us founded russia's first company manufactures balloons aleksandr to learn off made

his first balloon in the late one nine hundred eighty s. it's lining born inscription saying the first soviet made mungo feel. possible. ballooning has gained enormous popularity in russia in the past two years this can be seen from the growing number of orders for balloons placed with our company. and so i don't think the shape of balloons or even the wicker baskets is going to change the balloons of the future will offer a more comfort to in-flight pilots. things like better navigation smoother knobs and delicate thin cords instead of course ropes tools void getting entangled . sensors will give way to radio signals reporting temperatures inside the envelope with dust and all that will be mainly intended for the spectators the balloons are

most likely to look like the ones built by the brothers montgolfier for a long time to come. all it had was a basket and a burner. one tank costs full two minutes after that it should be changed to mean you should be two tanks at all times one of them an active duty and the other as a backup. to just wind up with much of this right here is where the baskets are born these tubs are filled with water in them i believe the liquid is used to soak willow. canes

are here. but we're using rattan pam to make of this particular basket today on the gumball and dream i call fused to give school children physical education classes he was a teacher by calling and dre even held a scientific degree for fun one day he decided to weave a small wicker basket today he's head of a company which makes much larger baskets. in the old days we used to make balloon baskets in russia today the firm storks of the tropical rattan poly used it's more popular because it's more practical it's imported from europe and southeast asia. because soaking process takes three or four hours the material is not put to any particular test to see whether it is ready for processing but then i don't need any i just bend it to see whether breaks or not if. it's a simple as that doesn't if you've just ok your bullets get down to work

with your work is a handy craft with a long history it was all the rage in nineteenth century russia where there was used to make all sorts of things from furniture prams and suitcases to hand bags and toys the traditional craft somewhat faded in the twentieth century but it is being revived today although this is a slow process only a few workshops can handle major deals involving wickerwork. family but a human nowadays basket wickerwork barely differs from its french origins yet the same technique has been used for hundreds of years i have seen how they do it in the czech republic and in germany which their methods are very much alike. andrei shares his team's motto there is no place on important things in aviation bus gets a made in strict conformity with blueprints the job takes three days on average

every small detail is important from the ropes to the framework few women and found in this trade men's hands a stronger. our products retain the warmth of our hands the. i'm sure that if you are in a good mood while waving a basket the result is a good product. we've

. come. to believe. since.

the move. good move. move move move. move. the mob abandon the bus odd. the envelope is the most important part of a balloon the safety of all those on board depends on its quality design is make a computer model of the balloon number but once the blueprint is finished they use

it to cut out a column of material these are used to make parts of blue. is a seamstress by trade twenty years ago she worked as a tailors making dresses and overcoats when ballooning got a new lease of life she switched to the ambitious task of making balloon envelopes elaina's bloom several times including flights aboard balloons of her own making. i lost balloons during a festival in the moscow it was a very long time ago i even flew over the kremlin and it was so much fun will do now such flights are banned but back in one thousand nine hundred one or one thousand nine hundred two. it was an amazing. fellow. that's an hour.