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 is the russian art should take this over the house and i will show you some of them and you will visit one of the detector or 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. like. these monuments and architecture have earned it a place on u.s. co's 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. successful to the regional museum what do you think visitors to news the north court can expect. they can expect. a very friendly. with. and that's hospitality also applies to one of ms knees 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. so i think we've probably got the worst conditions you could possibly have for driving it's a day to be in size or at the very least but here in the 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 model sports event here in russia entering the start as ring 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 some of. our opening though and you've still got things to build some wintry techniques. 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 tricks as well the. brakes. were. for

the first turn is the most challenging one of the biggest number of precious understand and really this place could be the best i 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 those are bring here and you try to slow the shortest possible distance here you're going to break the left or the next lap you'll just do a straight guess refused to go my lap time down which was useful because i had a different type of challenge up ahead of you you know apex right to mate so if you're going to hit the way that's right it's ok. the rest of them i think we do. know it's a busy month. we

decided to find lumps getting the better of things on the streets those corners were still pretty tricky. point and draw. like you know he's. safe and secure in jamestown as a tenant. wasn't going to win me any races so i have the accelerator. that still photo and squeeze cost. and with the coming last lap overtake. ok i'm probably not going to make the touring car championships but if i ever get into a wintry kautz ace i'm source it's. my need for speed was still unfulfilled fortunately down by the banks of the volga there's plenty

more where that came from now over 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 new region by rubin and his company and the aqua glowing five is their pride and joy motion picture of a star in. the body of the place and he has a light. takes

a 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 five 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 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 but highly recommend. called believe i was already flying 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 nice 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 is this region is the birthplace of one of russia's most famous and lavish painting styles and it has souvenir is fit for a king. this is whole folk arts it was developed here in the seventeenth century and almost four hundred years on the industry is still thriving. the style takes

simple items then paints them to give them an appearance of great value and my going oksana was ready to show me how it was done. so this is as we would involve is made to live like clay but then it has this special oil applied to it which shines it up and then the ladies here it's on this album in the outer and then it's almost ready to be fired. but first to go through one more process. this. base 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 that goes 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 it's on offer 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 . lines and then suddenly it just all came together. and see this 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 business historical monuments and tried my hand at the delicate and. just plain dangerous. 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 support of syria's opposition is driving the nation into civil war. and the rebels have clashed. decision time for greece it's criticism debate whether. the population rages against deep cuts made to secure the data. on the part of washington. attacking iran's nuclear sites asking for time to let sanctions do their job up top stories.

on the clock around the world this is r.t. the u.s. and its allies are pushing syria into civil war by backing the armed opposition that 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 and had reports of ongoing violence in the country. has been to one of the syrian cities caught up in the conflict. zabadani i think to 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 is a lull in the fighting and as we approach the city we're not sure who's in control

at the checkpoint they are happy to see a russian television crew as 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 in the years 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 is 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 where 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 for say an armored groups on the ground too but 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 sharp is an area where much of the fight in took place. i was away when i arrived the army told me there had been a big battle he says the army is now here there's no armed groups anymore no tension. the clashes between security forces and the armed opposition groups here near the town of the dunny have been very severe how they all stopped their 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 the military 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 refinish nasty sever dunny syria. washington and its allies are calling on president assad to step down while running further support for the rebels and middle east bloc a culture 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 who are actually in the group so you would go to and finance or give support to so within that 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 and critical 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 call things down before the escalate out of control. middle east blogger culshaw talking to us from london. it's the moment of truth for greece as eurozone finance ministers meet in brussels to decide its future they've said they're hopeful the deal will be agreed with the french finance minister insisting

all the elements are in place but is that counterpart called for the e.u. the european central bank and the international monetary fund to maintain a permanent presence in greece in return for the bailout greece has already met all of its creditors previous demands the country has forced a massive new austerity package to qualify for one hundred thirty billion euros of rescue cash there is no talk that funds could be paid into especially set up account that would be restricted and if it misses its targets the cash flow which stops the rage of the greek people however is only growing with every new political measure imposed as artie's jacob greaves reports. voting for morse there is something dubbed by greece's caretaker prime minister has a moment of historic responsibility a notion some especially the greek population feel has been lost on eurozone leaders. i feel disappointed and sad because these measures were imposed on us by foreigners and we didn't have a say as a greek people. but there is

a wise old greek proverb that the person who borrows and borrows becomes the slave of who he borrows from because he's after passing more unpopular cuts greek politicians are told that brussels amber lynn have disposed of 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 a nation's future this is by no means the first set of austerity measures to be imposed on greece but with a significant amount of coalition m.p.'s choosing to say no it does mark a shift in thinking among governing politicians. share the grievances of the public and offer them an alternative 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 these countries 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 but even among those in favor may remain hostile to the euro zone's message and how it's being delivered i think to such type of messages brussels are helping. 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 survival of the greek economy the growing fear among both the greek public and politicians appears to be that eurozone leaders. aren't all that bothered about their well being there's more people as we see. things of this situation because we were in greece cover way the way there really since last sunday's mass demonstrations in the tin uing 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 being resigned to the past scenes of anger are likely to be part of greece's future. jake greece athens. tell us what you think about greece's financial woes at r.t. dot com we ask what more rescue funds will mean for the country if the bailout is over will have you think as we can see here on screen that athens is already more casual 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 six percent of you say that you will not let greece collapse and even fewer believe bailouts are the only way for greece to stay afloat for your financial journalist you have a valid overbuilt the same question he believes the bailout and its conditions are disastrous threatens. it will make things worse for the greek economy the greek economy is in a deep recession at the moment the austerity program that is imposed on the contrary will worsen the recession which in its turn will worsen the budget outlook

and so the negative spiral in which will breed economy and greek society has been imprisoned for almost the last two years will only get worse so this is not really a solution to the greek problem what you need for greece is to have a growth perspective for the economy of greece and you don't have that at all at the moment and the longer we wait the more it becomes obvious that the only way we can get in the greek economy growing again is by in the exiting the euro zone which will lead of course to a devaluation of the new drag me but that is exactly what is needed to get the economy through international trade growing again. and that was financial journalist you had fun over veld saying that even if greece gets more bailout cash it will not rescue the country's economy. u.s. and britain are warning israel not to attack iran's nuclear facilities saying new

sanctions need time to work to iran currently being visited by u.n. inspectors denies accusations it's developing atomic weapons but israel which also accuses iran of attacking its diplomats abroad could now be on an unstoppable path to a military strike as artie's are going to reports from tel aviv. that israel's leaders are actively drumming up their military rhetoric. 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 it's 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 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 affectively israel does not have u.s. poured white house secretary adviser 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 the 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 don't oppose it 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 with the we have the capability. of creating damage 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. true for

getting it back i think any any sane person realizes that they're all almost guaranteed the 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. israel has been suffering some bad weather as 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 the storm clouds seem to be growing every darker in tel aviv r.t. . so there is a kind of professor of political science at the university of tehran told me earlier that he thinks israel's claims that iran is a threat are unfounded. iran. know what we can use i'm not told me i mean imagine that iran has a nuclear bomb what is the good of that what is the point of that which concrete can we contemplate that iran will use i told me why i am inspectors

they have every corner of iran's nuclear facility is the point is that every now and then they say that we want to go there we want to go here and we want to strike that close and we want to integrate these places not the point is that those places are not within the jurisdiction of international atomic agency they are not part of. nuclear sites. iran is what it may cut oil supplies to six more european countries after it stops selling crude to the u.k. and france on sunday to run is aiming to preempt an e.u. embargo that set to come into force in july let's find out what impact that's having on the markets from our business desk now. for we have seen a spike in oil prices over the past couple of sessions brant is now at one hundred twenty light sweet hundred five dollars per barrel it doesn't look like prices are going to go down until we see some kind of easing of the situation with terror ron

and the experts told business r.t. that they don't expect oil prices to go higher at the same time because they say the iranian factor has already been priced in that the u.k. and france are not that much dependent on oil and that saudi arabia has already promised it could compensate for all the oil that iran eventually will not be supplying be in the studio around ten minutes time to tell you. president dmitry medvedev has met members of our registered parties to discuss how to make the country's political future more inclusive is the president's first such meeting with the opposition that it comes in the wake of sweeping political reforms proposed following mass protests over the results of parliamentary elections in december tens of thousands of people be gathering all over russia demanding fair elections with more demonstrations planned ahead of the presidential vote in march . well a lot more on the president's meeting in the politics section of our web site that

is on t.v. dot com and while you're there check out what else we've lined up for you online right now and slipping into fascism u.s. presidential candidate ron paul warms america result of pull off with its broken government ruled by corporate giants. and high tech stunning callan's on god that russian ports the country threatening to bar the state of the all weapons to fight underwater terrorists all the details for you all to dot com. is the thing you. need.