it is. in a good situation to ratify it in the slam duck session it has the unanimous support of the country's military many top officials former and present have testified in favor of the treaty now several republican senators say the votes are there and the new start will most likely be ratified by the end of this week it seems the only thing that could be in the way of the ratification are partisan games political bargaining which have nothing to do with the treaty itself and its content speaking of bargaining at some point the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell came out and said republicans won't want any democrat initiatives if they don't extend tax cuts for the rich so you get a sense open the expanded willard bailing culture on capitol hill and the substance of the pretty whether it's good or bad for america has long stopped being the focus of discussions here in washington to the point when it could become a threat to the u.s. national security a world without buying u.s.

russia arms control treaties is a more dangerous world the obama administration is going out of its way to have the deal ratified the president's arguably major foreign policy chief meant is on the line not only does the start cut nuclear arsenals of both countries by a third it's also seen as a symbol of trust between the two nuclear superpowers russia has cooperated with us on critical issues to our national security like iran sanctions transit to supply our troops in afghanistan working on securing loose nuclear materials and the relationships and trust that are built from the new start treaty spill over into a whole host of other national security issues that are of vital importance to america the shoe of trust and america's reputation globally was addressed by the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee every senator has an obligation to ask that question of themselves over the course of these next days are we

a credible partner. can other nations rely on us what happens when the prez the united states to go sure it's a treaty and he comes back here and the rest of the world sees the truth. not in the substance of the treaty. but in the politics of the day and if the treaty does get bogged down this year chances are the new senate which is going to be more republican and obama hosts tile who put off the new start indefinitely maybe for months or even years to get a check on our t. washington d.c. . well democratic party strategist robert wiener says the main reason the treaty is not ratified yet is down to republicans election fly co mentality it would be stupid for the republicans to continue to block it but then again they want to block everything in the past republicans used to work with democrats now since a new game they've been wanting to kill everything break publicans have learned

that sound bites can win elections instead of good governing something has to change we have to get past two year old election cycles and think in terms of the good of the country something has to happen to help us to good governance but good governance in the world not just united states includes passage of the start treaty i think perhaps by embarrassing the republicans from trust stopping them from playing politics which is dangerous it's devastating it could cause terrorism to succeed they will come around and pass this treaty and the deputy director of the national security network think tank says delaying the ratification could indicate obama's political weakness at home. if it doesn't get. actually fails there could be serious consequences for american leadership on arms control fallout for the american reputation around the world would be significant if it doesn't pass but it is not turned down but just delayed that sue will also signal that president

obama is weak at home that's why advocates for the treaty are saying to get passed now. here with our team live from moscow still ahead for you our t's military contributor shares his views on the opportunities the late veteran diplomat richard holbrooke left behind for american policies in afghanistan i am. also our team gets behind the scenes of the upcoming launch that will take the next international space station crew into orbit. but first russia will buy at least one mistrial helicopter carrier france flights are currently agreeing the price of the deal which will be the largest military transaction between russia and the nato country argue if you go to it's going over the details of the long ago sheet agreement. at this point it really does seem very deal is going to be sealed at least thus according to russian officials moscow looks set to bind the mistral

produced by france this is a huge. helicopter carrier ship it's also capable to transport dozens of tanks and other transport vehicles the negotiations on this deal have been continuing for around a year and first washington was its concerns on a nato member state selling this terrible quitman to russia you know with the restart of relations between moscow and washington this situation seems to have changed previously the french prime minister who's visited moscow just recently he said that there are no you know obstacles remaining in this deal and it's incompletion moscow wants to buy at least one mistrial and may also get the license to produce more or less it's a toy you know it's of thought to just one mistral costs around eight hundred million euros dollars although the final price for this deal still hasn't been decided but russian officials say they expect the final details of the documents

will be finalized on this deal before the end of this year. one billion euros that's how much some experts believe the myth that all contractors were to the french economy and argues interview show spotlight coming your way next hour we hear from christine those are the french finance minister who says if the deal is complete it will reflect a broader partnership between russia and france here's a quick preview. clearly it would be a very strong symbol of the very close relationship and the partnership. between friends with russia and we really want to take. not just an exchanging musicians and dancers and painters and writers not just having its roots in the history of all two countries that have been so close over the years but also in the industries of the future.

the founder of the whistle blowing web site we can link says in a london court hearing whether he will be granted bell julian assange is in british custody after stockholm issued an arrest warrant in connection with rape allegations which he firmly denies arches or emmitt joins us now live from outside court where that hearing is taking place laura what can we expect to come out of this hearing. well today not so much is already spent about a week in detention here in london this is his second day in court he was denied bail on the last occasion that he was here and this is obviously the second here in the supporters of today and i saw the hoping that he will be granted bail today we're hearing reports that his lawyers are going to offer that he wears an electronic tag and that he stays in london at a registered address that's known to the police but last time they said that he was a flight risk he doesn't have any registered address here no family necessarily

here of the sea he sees his nationality as all strange and. no ties and i think that the feeling in court was certainly last time that he was liable to disappear in a puff of smoke whether they would have changed their minds this time it's not clear the decision to axe to tight student asked could take several weeks but on the other hand it might not i mean one of the possible but unlikely outcomes of today is that we could see him bundle off into a police van and send it to sweden to face these charges which amount to rape molestation and unlawful coercion so it's really not not clear what's going to happen what. it is clear is that he's being at being his extradition is being requested under the european arrest warrant and the only thing that you need to do as a country to request the extradition of somebody under the w is to provide very basic details about the new evidence of a crime having been committed at all so often the w. is seen as a sort of formality and extradition is likely to follow after that so again possibly being sent to sweden at the end of the day today but hopefully in the view

of his supporters julian assange should be granted bail and then we'll just have to see how it goes from that. speaking of those supporters we can see a placard just behind you what was all of support is being shown for us launch outside the court there. there's a very great deal of support here today there was also a demonstration on monday outside the swedish embassy which was blaming sweden for kowtow into the u.s.'s wishes eventually to see songs stand trial for espionage in the u.s. is support is a calling this a backdoor extradition first to sweden and then they're expecting that his his extradition will be inquest requested in turn from that to the u.s. now i'm joined by one of our soldiers supporters sharon ward she is one of the founders of the justice for our songs campaign as are all these people here we're just seeing some people arriving in court his bail has been put up by several renowned people here including john pilger the author he has promised around thirty

thousand dollars if julian assange says it will get bail i mean sharon just just talk to me through what you think of these charges we're talking about rape molestation and under awful coercion what's your opinion about how they are the world we think visa very very spirits charges we think the allegations are very weak we noticed that the chief swedish prosecutor looked at these original charges and looked at the evidence and said there is no case to answer here for and immediately dropped the case so why is it now all of a sudden since the cables have been released and the government is getting more and more the u.s. state department other governments around the world are getting more and more embarrassed and these cables are getting more and more revelator e. why now is a swedish politician decide to take up the case of these accused of the accusers and how to push this through a just like this about doris tradition to the u.s. it's just a serious charge and what does it what does it say about sweden in your opinion i

mean people are saying that this is this is this is this weakness kowtow into the u.s. essentially and bringing these charges well for starters this makes a complete mockery of real rape victims let's not forget that rape is a very very serious and hideous crime and yet we noticed. in sweden for example there's a very very high rate of allegations but a very very low conviction rate which seems to suggest that sweden generally the prosecutors don't take rape seriously so while of a sudden are they taking this allegation which is very spirited indeed in which julian assange is trying for many days forty days in sweden to try and clear why now are they all of a sudden bringing this up and what about the u.s. we saw a nobel prize awarded to a chinese dissident which is widely being seen as the u.s. so pointing the finger at china it's putting the spotlight on their human rights record what about the u.s. it's human rights situation well no there is it's are rather hilarious isn't it i mean you the u.s. love to point their finger at other supposed human rights abuses and war criminals

and yet don't seem to be able to take any criticism of their own human rights record or indeed the fact that they've they've tried live there oh christian are so good they're putting us into walls and invading other countries willy nilly putting us telling us lies about the war why we should be invading countries i think it's entirely have a critical of the u.s. to be making these allegations now sharon would thank you very much that sharon was from the justice for us on the campaign that we're seeing your supporters arriving this is the time at which the demonstration is shuttle to begin we've got some some famous ones we've got john pilger the author who will be head to my macand the socialite has also put up bail for us on should he be granted it but in the m.e.p. will be here a little bit later altered to support us all so we'll have to see how this case pans out during the course of the afternoon we certainly will be joining you throughout the day to see how that action dition hearing goes for now laura limit more emmet i should say live outside julian assange jer's extradition hearing

thanks for that. now you can keep up to date with the latest weekly weeks on our web site there's also of course the latest news blogs and now with us here's just some of what the online right now for us are dot com accelerating into the twenty first. century russell's motor industry showcases its first eco friendly hybrid car . and when i'm sixty four a swiss woman defies the age barrier to become a mother for the first time with a little help from some russian friends. the next space bound rocket now stands poised for wednesday's blast off fly hughes will take a crew of three a russian an american and an italian on the twenty six mission to the international

space station r.t.s. peter all of our reports now on the rockets journey to its launch site in kazakhstan. he would like you know the final preparations underway ahead of the launch of the soyuz t.m.a. twenty rockets which will carry cosmonaut to meet to be called the active and astronauts apollo and katherine coleman up to the international space station for the rocket has received a blessing from a priest from the russian orthodox church in line with tradition here at baikonur that's not the only tradition they have here many many traditions and superstitions if you will to be carried out before the launch one of those traditions as that the astronauts and cosmonauts visit the museum here and by can also they get to look at what those who have gone before them days and what they brought back from space while at the museum they also sign a ford with the picture of the soyuz t.m.a. rocket on it and write a little message a memory of what they were about to do with this mission now there's been plenty of former astronauts and cosmonauts say it's a lend their support to the mission crew. doesn't matter what the water is it

doesn't matter what you know it's just a very robust and strong system that can withstand just about anything nature can throw at it and we've seen you know it's been slices the sixty's was a rare exception or so every time and some of those who have been up there before say it's those little things that can make life hard when you're up in space i think probably the biggest challenge for me you know i think it sounds kind of trivial but it was the lack of variety of the food after you know you know one month it's ok two months it's ok and then you know three months you know exactly how many brownies are in the desert have been you know exactly how many heaters are in the meat tray and because it's all the same so that's how it's looking here at the moment in baikonur the cosmonauts and astronauts are currently tucked away so they can catch any sniffles all colds or coughs it's very cold here in baikonur of course they if they do get sick they can be pulled from the mission and the whole

team of. this poorly coleman would be removed from the mission and replaced with the crew so they desperately trying to make sure that that doesn't happen there all took up nice and warm and that's how it looks at the baikonur cosmodrome peter all of a bike and. let's take a look now at some world news in brief for you this hour the time the prime minister silvio berlusconi has won the lower confidence vote he won by a margin of three votes amid protests throughout the tell you capital decision comes after berlusconi won it earlier vote in the senate berlusconi had warned that the country would be jeopardised to be forced from office critics say mr berlusconi support has been weakened after a series of scandals and budget. a major irish bank has backed down on plans to pay out forty million euros in bonuses after the government said it would stop supporting the bank if the payments went to head the allied irish bank is one of the day institutions at the center of the country's financial crisis the lender

has already absorbed billions in taxpayer cash to cover its losses in a statement the bank said it had received a letter from the government threatening to withhold further public money if the bonuses were paid out. that of south korea's army has had his resignation accepted by the presidential office after being appointed to the position in june the army general was released recently linked to a financial scandal involving property investment his resignation comes amid heightened tensions on the korean peninsula after the two countries exchanged fire last month earlier south korea's defense minister resigned after his response the attack was heavily criticized. veteran american diplomat richard holbrooke has died at the age of sixty nine after undergoing emergency heart surgery nicknamed the bulldozer who's best known for pushing the u.s. agenda in the balkans during the bosnian war more recently he became barack obama's

special envoy to afghanistan and pakistan argues military contributor colonel you again you push over says holbrooke's passing gives the u.s. and russia a unique chance of starting to work together on the eradication of opium growth in afghanistan. wiped out the whole generation of american politicians and generals and diplomats and ambassadors who were taking the active stance to be the focus on their real eradication of ghana's stand after richard holbrooke came in he made a complete overhaul of u.s. policy from counter narcotics to. effectively promoting the u.s. post as the u.s. drug store policy in afghanistan relating lose all the beings and drug lords that's resulted in effect. for the drug trafficking in afghanistan keep personae fight the trail of the historical u.s. counter-narcotics approach in afghanistan just for the benefit of the leap service

preventing the so-called friendly farmers from going to tell about the united states of the drug enforcement administration together with the state department have by default a new opportunity to reset and jump started the russian american cooperation specifically. on that counternarcotics with the main focus on area there were indications because the reason no other alternative and the reason no other personalities in the white house who were opposing richard holbrooke. and a few hours on our team we take you on again underground journey between gaza and the egyptian border. they live only next to the border. but also on the border of peace and war. they are responsible not only for themselves. but also for their loved one. they are ready to take any

risk. on the way how russia's relations are racing ahead with its northern neighbor we have an exclusive interview with finland's president coming up that's after a business update stay with us. for the full story we've got it from the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. working

to business precious metals again in for a second day as investors look for protection from the tumbling dollar the federal reserve is due to meet later on tuesday to discuss interest rates and the second round of quantitative easing q e two as it's become known is intended to boost economic growth by creasing the amount of money available to buying but investors fear the injection of billions of extra dollars into the market will bring inflation. gold is trading at just over fourteen hundred dollars an ounce up seven percent on the session the yellow metal has gained nearly thirty percent since the beginning of the year and is heading for ten straight annual advance silver is trading at twenty nine point nine dollars an ounce point nine of a percent. this check out the stock market is now in europe they're mixed and often

in trade p.p. is the top gainer on the footsie more than two percent because it benefits from the stronger oil price and news it has set up a fast payment system for claims relating to the oil spill in the gulf of mexico investors hope this will reduce the number of people planning to sue b.p. . on to russia where the markets have sunk into the red in the afternoon six is losing half a percent energy stocks most of the blue chips are in the red with energy may just be losing the most p.t.b. is gaining just a notch on the all ts rolls and is shedding one point eight percent and blue call is losing more the. one percent on the my six girls probably more losing twenty seven percent this hour. russia's biggest modern north nickel has sold its entire stake in u.s. metals company stillwater nickel sold thirty seven million shares to the public at nineteen dollars fifty and the remaining nine million shares to u.b.s. securities the russian mining joint had said it was selling its shares to focus on core operations. for most of mobile jobs and has opened

a credit line of three point three billion dollars with burbank the company will use the record low to refinance its current kids it will help the company to save about two hundred fifty million dollars in just one year the remaining part will be invested in developing three g. mobile services. now russian energy stocks are among the cheapest in the world driving the overall market value down heavy tax burden and in some cases poor corporate governance are to blame makes in moscow from u.b.s. knows the problem could be about to get worse as the medium term we think that the taxation will be growing for russia all. are you know. will be increasing interest on top for them and they will be a unification called pollution effect but just for petroleum products first taking next here wolf it will result in higher taxation where we call were the great means to instruct the garment developing taxation we think will be in fear of upstream.

b.p. says it will invest three hundred million dollars next year ross's joint u. mild peninsula the energy firm will spend two thirds of the budget on development of risk or fields and fields of a gas subsidiary role span investment budget is part of the company's earlier announced plans to double gas production in ten years. that's the latest this hour you can find more stories on our web site go to altie dot com slash business.

more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images cold world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to look for a shelter on the day. chosen from among many. he was given a clear cut mission. a mission he successfully accomplished. became the first ever again under space. of the

soviet union one of the best known persons in the whole world. all his thoughts were focused on flight. could he ever think that his life's work would cost him his life. what happened in those few seconds. and what sequence sealed the barrels still hold. your radar and. light on our t.v. . live

from moscow this is archie the headline no christmas break in the u.s. said it until the nuclear codes treaty is ratified as democrats wrestle to harness republican support for one of obama's most crucial foreign policy deal. the biggest naval deal between russia and the nato country is on the horizon with moscow set to buy at least one helicopter carrier from france after almost a year of negotiations. and the wiki leaks founder isn't court to see if he'll make bail ahead of finding out if he's to be sent to sweden on sex charges but his supporters insist it's a cover for the u.s. to get their hands on the whistleblower. max fast trains trade and

energy we're talking about russia's ties with its northern neighbor finland our exclusive interview with president tariq taria i should say hollande is coming right up for you. thank you. her. president helen thank you very much for being with that to day so you've just stepped off a trailing between helsinki and st petersburg how do you think this connection will change the alliance between the two cities i think that the early in practice people were kind of course of the server of course feeling any sort of now or. the country would see is the most popular among the e.u. countries to give the recess but i think that that's just one point there now the point is that.