siegfried moved here from germany back in two thousand and six within a few months he was married getting regular work as a translator and he's lived here ever since so what would you say some of your favorite things are about the city it just the russian art should take this over the house and i will show you some of them and you will visit one of the. monuments right in the cradle this huge stone citadel was built from fifteen hundred to fifteen eleven but most of its original buildings were destroyed during the soviet union nowadays it houses news news local government but it's still an imposing place to walk right in the heart of the city. these monuments and architecture have earned a place on eunice caus one hundred cities of the world of great cultural and historical value and secret had one more striking example for me. please have a look at his beautiful old building it was built in the nineteenth century and it

was the house of. tradesmen rise to the successful to the regional museum what do you think visitors to nizhny novgorod can expect. they can expect. a very friendly. with much. sides. and that's hospitality also applies to one of ms nice most cutting edge attractions. so finally i could back up corner and turn with complete precision and that meant i was ready to head to a brand new just the landmark. think we've probably got the worst conditions you could possibly have for driving it's a day to be inside or at the very least walk but here in this new road there is

a place where you can burn rubber. whatever the weather. you're looking for me and i think. i meant let's check this place up so. i feel ok. so he works at the end ring the country's only f.i.f.a. approved motor sport circuit. all right james you're at the major motor sports venue in russia entering the start as yeah so you've got your eyes and frank how they're all right here to the right building the main building so there's going to be a lot of people then yes. openings and you've still got things to build some wintry techniques no yeah ok and now while they're after practicing here they were driving away safer on the roads and this sort of thing you'll you'll be teaching me a few trips as well as. rates. were.

the first term is the most challenging one of the biggest number of precious understand and really this race could. this really could barely see a thing that was looping going just be able to get a feel for the bus again was able to give me a few good tips because your brain here and you try to slow the shortest possible distance here you're going to break a little bit go less a bit more the next lap you'll just do is try to guess if you got my lap time down which was useful because i had a different type of challenge ahead of you you know apex right mate so if you can do it the way that's right it's ok. to rest of them i think we do.

we decided we'd do five laps getting the better things on the streets of those coolers were still proving tricky. point and draw it like an old. safe and secure in jamestown is attending to. going to win me any races so i have the accelerator. that's still to focus on if it's please post on this. number the coming over to take the chicken. ok i'm probably not going to make the championships but if i ever get into a wintry car chase i'm source it. but my need for speed was still unfulfilled fortunately down by the banks of the volga there's

plenty more where that came from now ever the chance to try out some pretty flawless machines on discovering russia but here in the region they've created a monster piece of maritime design and she's a record breaker. these are a crown a plane it's a cross between a ship and an airplane and they're the fastest commercial amphibious vehicle on the planet. they're designed to effectively fly on a cushion of air just above the water's surface and were originally developed under a cloak of secrecy in the one nine hundred sixty s. but after the soviet union collapsed so did the project and it's only recently that small of versions have been built here in the news media region by rubin and his company and the aqua glowing fine have is their pride and joy motion picture of a star in. the body of the place and see how light.

the aggregate takes of five engine runs on petrol and she's designed as an art market water taxi. so here we have it a fully functional i could glide for life because. the fact that this river is frozen won't matter a jot we're still going to be able to fly. and he can see he even looks like a plane cockpit inside here as well so i think for a change i'm going to take a break from driving and just relax for this one. once my pilot was in it was time to sit back enjoy the ride and wait for the speedometer to reach the magic number. so we just crossed the one hundred kilometer an hour barrier and now we have liftoff. literally flying across the ice now.

and that was just the start we moved post one hundred seventy kilometers an hour and despite the speed it was still an incredibly smooth trip if you do happen to have a spare half million dollars lying around when highly recommend. called believe i was already flowing just a couple of centimeters above this river. that is a pretty special taxi ride sadly i was going to have to hit the roads again if i wanted to get back to moscow. but i still wanted to pick up some authentic new souvenirs and for those there's really only one place to go. sadly i haven't been elevated to the aristocracy but i think the grandest gift shop that i've ever seen because this region is the birthplace of one of russia's most famous and lavish painting styles and it has souvenirs fit for a king. this is her folk arts it was developed here in the seventeenth century and almost four hundred years old the industry is still thriving. the style takes

simple items then paints them to give them an appearance of great value and my guide oksana was ready to show me how it was done. so this is as we would involve made to look like clay but then it has the special oil applied to it which shines it up and then the ladies here it's on this album in name and then almost ready to be fired. but first it goes through one more process. based method to go. is a serious business the factory employs nearly sixteen hundred people and customers will pay a high price for their work and there's almost no limit to what they'll paint. some great custom jobs they've got as well i think i'd be afraid to click that one of damage if i wasn't in the market for a laptop but i did want something original to take home so exxon offered to help me

in a little d.i.y. project. some. tips i was working with the traditional colors of red and black but i don't really go in for broad strokes here . and then suddenly it just all came together. is news amazing how your artistic abilities can develop just a little concentration. pointer to the region has been a roller coaster roy's. business is visited historical monuments and tried my hand at the delicate and. just plain dangerous secret was right whether you're

a culture buff an adrenaline junkie or just passing through. will welcome you in with open arms.

chinese state media says the u.s. and nato countries in support of syria's opposition and striving the nation into civil war r t travels to one violence ragtown know where the army and the rebels have plunged. decision time for greece its creditors to pay whether athens will sink or swim as the population rages against steep cuts made to secure the bailout . and on the path toward london and washington warn israel against attacking iran's nuclear sites asking for time to let sanctions do their

job. thanks for being with us on current arace reporting a lot from the heart of moscow the u.s. and its allies are pushing syria into civil war by backing the armed opposition there says a chinese state newspaper beijing joined moscow's efforts to bring about a political settlement in the crisis torn country with a top chinese diplomat recently visiting damascus with reports of ongoing violence in the country artie's marina phenomena visited one of the syrian cities caught up in the recent conflict. zabadani fifty kilometers northwest of damascus lebanon just over the border once a relaxed luxury mountain resort the town has recently been the scene of brutal clashes between assad's forces and anti-government groups there was

a lull in the fighting and as we approached the city we're not sure who's in control at the checkpoint they are happy to see a russian television crew a solid hint about who is in charge here russia is among the few countries still talking to assad and calling for others to have dialogue with the regime along with china it to be towed to the u.n. security council's resolution and voted against another one at the general assembly which put pressure on assad to leave this town nobody home to around twenty thousand people looks abandoned the reminders of recent turbulence tell their own tale of what happened here on these walls you can see the story of the conflict how it was developing here in the city of there by danny initially there were some graffiti here about president bashar al assad then when the armed groups operating in this area took control over this town new graffiti is a period of course and to government one of the army regain control of his adani

they destroyed them or they tried to destroy them all at least but some still remain. when we are in town we can hear sounds of shelling some turn a deaf ear to it all is fine shooting i don't know those who agreed to talk don't want to show their face. the army intervene and it's killing us they're showing random houses searching arresting people there's f.s.a. in armor groups on the ground too few. but not everyone here says the situation in the same way was when armed people came here we asked the army to stand up for us now they are controlling the city at the dulles shop is an area where much of the fighting took place. i was away when i arrived the army told me there had been a big battle here says the army is now here there's no armed groups anymore no

tensions of the daniel the clashes between security forces and the armed opposition groups here near the town of the dunny have been very severe how it all stopped the locals tell us that their town has a unique story when the violence started the residents decided to intervene and there has allegedly been an agreement between the army and the opposition that both of them leave the town although the military officer we have been able to speak to didn't confirm that and we can still see. many military and machinery inside the city we had a look around and counted at least thirteen tanks but able to tell us they were only used as protection on the way back through the checkpoint an officer keeps watering everyone suspicious in this violence locked nation raif nationality danny syria. washington and its e.u. allies are calling on president assad to step down while rallying further support

for the rebels middle east blogger karl shero says this approach will spell chaos for the syrian people. assume assad were to step down tomorrow who is actually the legitimate political opposition to take control and when the west talks about supporting or the gulf states this side or the outside what actually the group say you would go to and finance or give support to so within the vacuum who would step in you would have people returning from iraq that has kind of the weapons or the experience and i think what we really need to be aware of is this highly erratic nature of western policy in particular u.s. policy towards all the countries in the region but particularly now towards syria that is kind of becoming provocative the west really needs to step back and try to cool things down before the escalate out of control. as middle east blogger karl shohreh talking to us from london. it's the moment of truth for greece as euro zone finance ministers gather in brussels to decide its future and french finance

minister has hinted the outcome could be and athens is favor greece has met all of its creditors as demands to secure the second bailout and is expecting to be rewarded with the euro zone's backing the country has already forced a massive new austerity package to qualify for one hundred thirty billion euros of rescue cash but there is now talk that funds could be paid into a specially set up account pathans as access to it would be restricted and if it misses its targets the cash flow would stop the rage of the greek people however is only growing with every new political measure imposed a jacob greaves reports. voting for more stary see soviet dubbed by greece's caretaker prime minister as a moment of historic responsibility a notion some especially the greek population feel has been lost on eurozone leaders would feel disappointed and sad because these measures were imposed on

actually foreigners and we didn't have a say as a greek people. there is a wise old greek proverb that a person who rose and borrows becomes a slave who he borrows from and after passing more unpopular cuts greek politicians are told that brussels. perspiring the decision on another bailout that and questions over greece's place in the euro led the country's finance minister to talk they were toying with the nation's future this is by no means the birth of austerity measures to be imposed on greece but with a significant amount of coalition it he's choosing to say you know it does mark a shift in thinking among governing politicians willing to share the grievances of the public and offer them a lot. turnitin if the greek economy is not restart just if it doesn't go down the alley of development that eventually greece at some point. in that case what will

happen is that all of the assets of this country will actually pass in the hands of the. all the funders in total forty three m.p.'s in the ruling coalition chose to say no to morris their take it even among those in favor may remain hostile to the euro zone's message and how it's being delivered i think is such type of message is brussels are helping the people forces in greece. and all of us that the measures don't solve the problem they make it worse we need development we need development for the survivor the greek economy growing among both the greek the public and the teachings has to be that eurozone leaders aren't all that bothered about their well being there's more people as we see. this situation because we were in greece cover way the way there really since last sunday's mass demonstrations a good team ewing uproar has sent a message to those in athens and brussels that though voting through austerity may

have been an historic moment as one of the likely to put the nation's problems to bed meaning rather than be resigned to the past scenes of anger are likely to be part of greece's future. greece r.t. athens. tell us what you think about greece's financial wells that are to dot com we ask what more rescue funds will mean for the country if the bailout is handed over half of you think our friends is already delayed and more cash will make no difference a lot of you also believe the bailout and the cuts needed to secure it will only make people's lives harder just six percent of you say the e.u. will not like greece collapse even fewer believe bailouts are the only way for greece to stay afloat we asked investment adviser patrick young the same question and he says more rescue cash will mean a loss of greek sovereignty. what we have here is basically that great scene in the hollywood adventure movie were someone has tripped and fallen over the edge of the

cliff and he's being held onto by one arm by the person who we're not sure whether he's the beauty or the easy gonna let them go and let them fall to a terrible death or is he going to hang on to them and gradually bring them out and that's where we are with three from the european union because our actually what is being said behind closed doors and even to a degree in the public is we've got someone like the blood the german finance minister basically saying he doesn't trust the greeks to manage to hold on to the agreements that they've made and tragically the greens track record of actually doing their bit in terms of what they're supposed to do in the past has been a huge deal so therefore we now have a situation where the greeks have said we'll do anything you want whatever you want we'll do it personally i think what's going to happen is that the finance ministers will probably agree to give greece some money and greece is going to find itself in a dreadful situation were like a nine year old child every friday it's going to have to go to daddy so it's done

untold work so it's been a good boy and overall trying to please have next week's pocket money in order to pay it civil servants and that's a horrible loss of sovereignty. coming up here on our national security and focus. with a couple of weeks left in the presidential race out of it for you to outline his vision for the future of russia we're going to have all the details on that coming up. why the afghan president's efforts to secure pakistan's help in talking peace with the taliban are coming up against a brick wall. the u.s. and britain are warning israel not to attack iran's nuclear facilities saying new sanctions need time to work on currently being visited by u.n. inspectors to accusations of developing atomic weapons but israel which also accuses all the talking its diplomats abroad could now be on and on stoppable path to a military strike artie's arena reports from tel aviv. israel's leaders are actively

drumming up the military rhetoric. home iran is the biggest terror exporter in the world the israeli government and its security forces will continue to act forcefully systematically and calmly against international terrorism eating from iran. a potential israeli rocket clash looks more likely than ever there is speculation a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear sites could happen as early as spring or summer although that's not causing undue concern in israel i think possibly people you know they make their plans for a vacation you know pass or a vacation summer vacation possibly people are beginning to wonder well is there going to be a war is something going to mess it up or i think they're probably going ahead with it with sort of a thought we're back it would be nice if we could get a flight that we could cancel you know you know is that sort of thing israel has

previous experience when it comes to putting an end to nuclear ambitions which pose a potential threat in one thousand nine hundred one is jets wiped out reactors in iraq they struck again in two thousand and seven hitting sites in syria but with iran's nuclear program things may not be so simple if if israel attacks iran it will not stop iran forever from getting nuclear weapons the only postpone it for a relatively brief amount of time the. installations are too diverse and far flung to destroy factor fully israel does not have u.s. poured white house secretary advisor was in israel over the weekend warning against a move on iran saying it was better to wait for tougher sanctions to take effect in the coming months but mines may already be made up i think one of the things to create this aura of inevitability is to shut them up to shut up opposition at home and of course to convince the united states and europe that this is an

inevitability it's going to happen daughter poset in fact why don't you help us out there is a question mark however over whether israel has what it takes to carry out the mission i doubt whether we have the capability. of creating the image is to the extent of the mediating the program and even if israel's military prowess will allow it to carry out a strike on underground facilities in iran chances are it won't end there as you know saddam hussein and bashar assad by the time they knew what was happening was over and could just you know grumble without having to fight back you imagine you run sitting still you know all day day after day day after day what is your true figure hit back i think any any sane person realizes that there were almost guaranteed missiles falling on israel and considering iran for one of the twentieth century's longest wars against iraq in the one nine hundred eighty s.

the consequences could be far reaching and destructive. here's your has been suffering some bad weather is of late but it's unlikely that even the strongest winds will blow the country's foreign policy off its course and when it comes to israel's forecast for iran this storm clouds seem to be growing every darker in tel aviv r.t. . iran has warned it may cut oil supplies to six more european countries after it stopped selling crude to the u.k. and france on sunday to iran is aiming to preempt any you in bargo that set to come into force in july let's find out what impact that's having on the markets from our business desk what we're seeing right now is brant around one hundred twenty dollars per barrel of west texas crude at one hundred five so there has been a spike this is a nine month high and analysts have been telling business out see that prices will remain at these kind of levels until we see some kind of easing of the situation but it's unlikely they will grow even further on as the ring in fact has been

mostly priced in already france and the u.k. are not primarily dependent on oil and also we've heard statements from saudi arabia that it will be able to compensate for all the oil which potentially will fail to supply will have more on the. around ten minutes time an office was. led to mr putin has pledged to make national security his key strategy saying russia must be bound already against any outside threat the strong message comes as part of the prime minister's campaign for the presidential election just under two weeks away sarah ferguson has the details of the priorities that it lays out clear weapons and miss defense intelligence and of greatest wealth the navy the air force and they are they now this case alive a holes was sent to cost hundreds of billions of dollars and we know there has been some consensus on russian lawmakers over the amount of money that it will take to

modernize the onset is the prime minister stressing in the article that it's not trying to appear weak the article mentions that this is in some ways a response to the rise of local and regional conflicts some of which it says you know castrated on russia's borders that it also touches on the perceived threat of the nato missile defense shield in europe now some of this modernization has actually already gotten underway some of the bolstering of the missiles we know that ever she's deployed the newly developed listing missile the bull of a that's designed to carry nuclear warheads and russia says that that can break through any missile defense shield never should also be to be still the deal to buy at the midst of these that helicopter carrying warships and it's still that deal with france and interesting time politically in the country here we've had protests can.