end of wednesday they just have to vote this is what they agreed on yesterday the past six days of debates were really a marathon a number of republicans kept stalling the vote for as long as they could as of now democrats are sure that they have enough votes to to provide passage of this treaty and they need at least sixty seven out of one hundred so much as they quit this new start treaty both for us and russia and for the whole of the international community and yet a number of republican senators just went out of their way to undermine it without having substantial reasons and as many believe just to give back obama or to bargain for it to have this bargaining opportunity for something that they would want in return for their road vote and their actions provoked an avalanche of criticism from the nation's top security experts who fear that the deal could become a hostage a victim of political games on capitol hill in the final days of debates they

wanted to rewrite the language of the treaty which would have actually killed the treaty they wanted to take out this line in the preamble of the deal that states the fact of the connection between a fancy of and defensive weapons anyone any security expert will tell you that the connection is obvious and in fact all of those from the military who testified before the senate said were saying exactly that they also maintain that it's not the start treaty that would make the united states we currently fact the treaty explicitly states that either side control out of it if they deem it threatens their national security for russia's this new start treaty is all about balance and equality and they made it clear they will be in it as long as the united states respects that balance. all right now why is the new start treaty seen as so crucial for both russia and the u.s. . well tesa first of all we have some very serious very significant

reductions on the way both countries will cut their nuclear also in our arsenals by a third down to some fifteen hundred and fifty war has the treaty will also limit the number of delivery vehicles and launchers but even with those costs the two countries will still have more than ninety percent of the walls nuclear weapons so many that the value of this arms reduction treaty is not just seen with options it's in the trust and cooperation that goes with it and russia welcomes this agreement and sees lots of opportunities for cooperation behind it and that's exactly the point that president medvedev made. result. is impossible in the nearest future if i said anything different you would think i'm telling you however i am convinced that russia and the u.s. has made an important step to the non-nuclear environment by signing the stone treaty in april this year my colleague barack obama is now struggling with his

lawmakers in attempts to persuade them to ratify the document i hope people succeed . with them well for weeks and months the president of the united states all of his administration all members of his administration all of the military all living former sectors of state and of the fans were really calling for senators not to ruin this reset opportunity for us russia relations and the outcome of the vote will show whether their calls fell on deaf ears or not. all right well thank you for that report that was our tease guy in a truck reporting from washington d.c. now empty nuclear campaigner joseph sitting sione told r.t. that now that the talking marathon is over the republican minority won't be able to delay gratification any longer. most of the opposition to this relatively modest treaty has been political the opposition what thought they could deliver

a knockout blow to president obama they missed and he struck them down instead part of it is ideological there's about twelve to twenty senators in the car in the senate that are just opposed to arms control treaties they're arguing to the bitter end but they're a minority they're losing they were trying to run out the clock they kept making the argument we don't have time and then they started to be do these little mini filibusters around their amendments to prove they didn't have time they were waiting for something to happen they were tipped the balance in fact what happened is that military officials talk to each senator they got calls from republican secretary of defense bob gates from hillary clinton the secretary of state they got classified briefings and republican senator senators were reassured so you saw the moderate senators senators breaking from their own leadership this is actually an unprecedented split in the senate republican leadership we haven't seen anything like this all year where you going to lose ten to twelve senators are going to break with their own leadership to support this treaty that is in the national

security interest. and still to come in the program the call from russia's deaf community to be heard. it's a sign of the times the confluence of millions of hearing impaired people to get their language recognized. it's being reported that u.s. commanders in afghanistan are pushing to extend their presence in pakistani tribal areas and the new york times quotes an anonymous american official who claims special forces will start targeting militants across the border opening a new front now with something the u.s. military denies washington has been using unmanned drones to strike suspected insurgency bases in pakistan and is often accused of killing civilians in the process is slow. the bod has been a strong leader protesting against the attacks describing them as a violating its territorial sovereignty pakistani officials say they are capable of

handling the militants by themselves now kathy kelly who campaigns against u.s. led war says america's military establishment is simply hoping for more money. it seems to me that the united states would have an effect similar to what has happened in the past here in afghanistan along with the drone attacks the invasion of a sovereign country. a united states joint special operations whose means of attack include death squads and assassinations and night raids would exacerbate the tremendous almost tidal wave of anti-american sentiment amongst the public united states establishment the military industrial complex companies have learned that you can make an enormous profit you can stuff your financial portfolios and run to the bank and that you can do this in an unlimited way and they've learned

that lesson and they would like to continue it but as far as what the united states might have learned from listening to people on the ground who are in touch with those who bear the brunt of the united states warfare i'm talking about the families whose loved ones have been slaughtered i'm talking about families where people are now widowed and orphan the united states doesn't learn from listening to the cries and the pleas of people who beg us to stop the killing. and we'll get more analysis of the american presence in the region for marty's military contributor later this hour. now russia's most famous female agent is now starting a political career as one of the leaders of a youth movement anna chapman became known worldwide after the spy scandal earlier this year between moscow and washington that saw agents from both sides being swapped well let's get more on this from artie's tall barton. how tall you are

following the meeting of the youth movement today why exactly are they choosing anna as their figurehead. it was at this meeting of the young guards organization which was filled with a young audience looking towards a political future in russia that chapman turned up and gave her blessing to them she was elected to the public council of the organization and when she was given the microphone she gave them some words of encouragement let's hear them. and. there are so many people who pursue power and fame and money but does all this make us happy probably we simply need positive human emotion is there would be less negative in society if each of us woke up with a smile now faces a loved our close ones and what matters most if you dream the boulders dreams.

well that might seem a little bit rich coming from a chairman who has pursued quite ruthlessly the goals of publicists and fame and fortune but if we used to say maybe do it she says no what she does she may not be the best spokesman ever but as one of the organizers here joked to was wherever she goes she's brilliant for publicity because she's followed by a massive pack of cameras. all speaking of publicity anna chapman is now out in the open we can say that her spy career was not successful but what can we expect of her in the political field. well that is an interesting question she's certainly very notorious as you said it started all with the spy scandal back in june july of this year spy ring supposedly uncovered in the u.s. and it was on the chapman being deported back to russia as part of a swap since then you would have thought coming home with her tail between her legs

that she would have been really put into obscurity quite the opposite has happened she's turned into a huge celebrity since then she has been appointed as a visor to one of the one of the russian banks she's traveled to baikonur to see a space rocket fly up to the to the international space station perhaps most notoriously of all she says she has been in a number of photo shoots the most raunchy of all being for the russian edition of maxim magazine and her firm fertile figure carrying a reputation before her so the question really is is she going into politics well who knows but if this organization wanted p.r. figure they could have chosen a far worse one and a less attractive one mr all right thank you very much for that our correspondent tom barton. all staying on the topic there are fresh spy scandals making waves

right now moscow claims the espionage allegations against one of its diplomats who was expelled from london are baseless russia's foreign ministry says it's regrettable that this friendly move is happening while both countries work on patching up their strained relations artie's laura abbott has more from the british capital. william hague the foreign secretary wrote a letter to the house of commons explaining what had happened he said that britain had indeed expelled a diplomat from the russian embassy in london they requested that diplomats expulsion on december the tense after what hague is calling clear evidence of russian intelligence service activities acting against british interests here in london then we are also hearing of course from the other end that there was a tit for tat expulsion from the british embassy in moscow and in response to that expulsion from moscow william hague said that britain rejects any basis for that particular action despite the fact that of course it was only

a response to war what the foreign office here had done was this of course is a huge embarrassment for the foreign secretary william hague who when he took office as recently as may this year said that he vowed to improve relations with moscow and him fact went to moscow and met with president dmitri medvedev which is quite a rare occurrence for a lower official than the prime minister and then do a visit by david cameron which is supposed to take place early next next year now whether that will affect the timing of that visit is obviously not clear yet william hague the foreign secretary says that he still wants to have a co-operative and productive relationship with russia we saw another tit for tat expulsion in two thousand and seven following the affair three diplomats were expelled from each side then as well and that was in protest from the british side a russian refusal to extradite lugovoy to face trial in the u.k. he is of course britain's prime suspect in the murder of alexander litvinenko since

then there has been attempts on various sides to push what they're calling the reset button in russia u.k. relations this could have serious implications for that reset button. our london correspondent laura there and will get more from r.t. on our website for the latest news and analysis. and here's what's lined up for you right now what are t. dot com hundred stop in jailed after protests at president lukashenko is election victory in bello groups get more of what's been happening on the streets of the capital and why. plus the shortlist of eleven has been revealed and russia's competition for a basketball for the twenty fourteen song winter olympics with ideas ranging from a dolphin to a leopard what's it to be or choose which one you like best at our team dot com.

the u.s. commander in afghanistan says the late richard holbrooke made a vital contribution to the campaign in the country well general david petraeus claims president obama's special representative helped build an effective team on the ground but artie's military contributors says the diplomats failed to tackle the most burning problem. with the gradual shift of the u.s. military and intelligence community from afghanistan to pakistan i guess the u.s. commander in afghanistan has a bigger fish to fry than to waste his style his energy and credibility and the respect and attention from his troops level mr pearl period preys on the architect of the drug promotion strategy in afghanistan and the main defender

of the opium cultivation all across the country we choose to be general at the trails when the men know if general patrols stick with his sprays to richard holbrooke calling him the titan of the us policy in afghanistan and pakistan he might as well make his mission guilty by association he might be stuck with the mission creep which will be described as a titanic full bar both in afghanistan and across the border in pakistan well later this hour here on our team we hear from america's war veterans who found themselves fighting their own conscience. they are killing innocent. of course and that's never a. mission

accomplished cos believe me i think of it every day. as the flashback to memory. the same time you see here john. i was. i was ashamed that i had been. i was ashamed that i had been a. girl. where i would be out in all the hours of. hell believe where i would go in the woods or i think. that i was a good soldier. but you know shoulder on the other side and i think i'm just. looking around the world now at today's other top stories france is urging its

citizens to leave the ivory coast after a political crisis of the african state erupted into deadly violence the u.s. secretary general earlier warned the situation is becoming increasingly volatile and risks a return to civil war ban ki-moon said a un peacekeepers were being forced out by the incumbent president after it recognized his rivals election victory more than fifty people have reportedly died since the ballot. south korea will hold its largest ever aladdin air drill sea of its border with the north artillery jets at about eight hundred soldiers will take part in the large scale exercises that maneuvers come amid heightened tension between the two countries following artillery exchange last month so. korea also held live fire military exercises earlier this week a move that north korea said could ignite a war. well you might expect a language used by around ten million people to be fairly well supported but for

deaf people in russia communication gets no further than their own community sign language is still not officially recognized our school reports on their silence struggle. that. was about it. alex econ to hear the song. from the family. yet he sings it with his hands touching. that was that. was. he tells me he speaks the most beautiful language in the world. and so despite living in the world of silence aleksey and his fellow performers put on a show full of life and music. the audience appreciates this theatre

of the deaf actors is an exception in the world mostly hostile to those speaking with their hands. even though language doesn't officially exist all previous attempts to pass a law giving official recognition to the russian sign language have failed the problem dates back more than seventy years when sign language was banned from soviet schools in one nine hundred fifty stalin made the situation even worse by calling it not even a sorry gate language unlike what some might think it's not a primitive way of conveying basic information it's a fully fledged language capable of expressing just about anything. you wish. you. would. you be.

the head of the old russian federation of the deaf believes there are more than ten million hard of hearing people in the country but no interpreters no t.v. channels almost nothing to ease their interaction with the world that. he's one of four children the only deaf one in the family. this is the first beauty shop for the hard of hearing and his self interpreter. they may not hear but they're not cute and then love told king.

yes. i. was all true those who call in here all the same people it may be just that the music of their hearts and so is allowed but still not proud enough to be officially recognized. immediately. how. dare you pushed obama r.t. . well up next we get a check of the major business stories this hour.

and i welcome to business with me communal account law enforcers have relaunched an embezzlement probe at a bank founded by digg disgraced former moscow mary you're luzhkov it's alleged the bank of moscow russia's fifth largest bank bailed out of debt ridden why putin a but during the last year to the tune of three hundred million euros in a fraudulent property deal luzhkov was fired by president made of a difference of temper he denies any wrongdoing. and russia's biggest lenders bear a bad goal post record profits of five point one billion dollars this year according to the bank's head herrmann graph analysts had predicted net would top four point eight billion dollars spare back plans to boost profit another twenty percent next year however a graph added the bank will not raise dividends despite the profits. only in producer will saul has hired merrill lynch to appraise its twenty five percent stake in north that's according to reuters news agency earlier this month you

offered to buy the twenty five percent stake from to solve for twelve billion dollars the other when you produce it quickly rejected the bid saying it's holding in north and going to do with a strategic investment however sources close to a board say that the publicly traded company shareholders expect all offers to be taken seriously. quick check on the markets markets in europe struggle to extend games into a third session on wednesday to share support the indices would bring on gaining one point three percent and folks why again point seven percent british airways is up over one a half percent as airlines and will operators return to more normal shuttles after four days of snow related tales but investors are cautious head of u.s. third quarter g.d.p. numbers this evening. after a poor beginning to the week the r.t.s. is trading over half a percent for the second day in a row that was excess also high in economic news russia's g.d.p. grew four point two percent in the year on year which said. to three point seven

percent for the first eleven months of two thousand and ten. energy companies are gaining on wednesday as light sweet moves closer to ninety dollars a barrel russia's biggest carmaker after vos is losing despite targeting a twenty eight percent jump in sales next year to six billion dollars trading volumes are slipping as the holidays approach. two thousand and ten growth forecast for the rapidly emerging markets in china brazil and india but is revised down is russia forecast partly due to the continuing effects of the severe heat wave and drought in the summer experts say the downgrade should not invest our appetite for the country. next year we expect the outfall from fixed income instruments into equities and seen these aspects of the greats of markets in bric countries is very important for inflows as for

particular number of g.d.p. growth for example has to be lower and more conservative view we have about four percent forecast for next year but i would say that investors are looking more on sectors in particular sectors for example in retail in consumer sector the companies are growing thirty percent a year so maybe the general number of four percent is important for kind of a general attitude for economy but for investors who is buying particular stocks in particular sectors much more important to what these sectors are how deep are from . and that's all for no other back with more in less than one hour so i'll be done with that.

it's the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. tradition the language usually you visit the first day pete pete. and culture. the thing is that the had the dunes are still unaware of what's going on in the land still asking me why do you. think i don't know anything about the alaska the great. on our cheek. it came here dr swan's policeman swines ministers why i just prayed.

if you didn't find me if i could just live through the night that i would get my kids out of here because i knew that what was going to happen was that he was going to kill me many victims don't understand that domestic violence includes verbal abuse psychological abuse physical abuse and sexual abuse at least four million women are affected by abuse every year those are my only two options that i saw at that moment either i'm going to kill him or me. well he's got it killing me. the official. from the. video. and. now in the palm of your.

you're watching r t let's now have a look at the top stories for this hour rush hour and america's nuclear reduction treaty is due to be voted on by the senate in washington the democrats certain they finally secured enough support for the deal. the russian president indian engagement dmitri medvedev signed softened billions of dollars worth of deals from energy to military takes time vali look at the taj mahal.

media reports suggest the u.s. is planning a military push. into pakistan despite intense opposition from islamabad. and next on our t. american veterans talk about their missions at war and their regrets it brought them stay with us. there was one particular incident. i wish i could take to. give. we went into an area near the baghdad stadium this key came into our area and actually stopped about seventy five meters in front of my vehicle that tells you how far the vehicle came into our perimeter. and. which is we lit it up.