Turning back the tide

A rejected Soviet-era scheme to reverse the flow of Siberia's rivers has been resurrected - at least in the mind of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov.
Environmental concerns scuppered a 1986 plan to use controlled atomic explosions to create canals channeling the Pechora River into the Volga and sending the Irtysh and Ob south to Central Asia.
But Luzhkov has revived the idea - which could cost up to $40 billion - despite the same environmental concerns as before.
And he hopes to sell 25 cubic kilometres of water a year - about half the Ob River's annual run-off - although current technology cannot prevent a high level of leakage from the canals.