now that the treaty is approved they will go on to the president's table or a signature that is just the formality but only then it will be considered officially ratified and only when the two countries have their trivial ratified it will come into effect what will follow we all know they will start dismantling the bombs and travelling through each other to see that the other side is complying with their obligations under the treaty is the key stark negotiator in the us rose go to miller said the whole verification process will start some time in spring as as of the russians russian lawmakers made it really clear that they have no objections to the treaty and they will ratify very very soon now that the u.s. senate gave its approval there are no obstacles remaining in their. quest to moscow . russia to follow suit and approving the introduction treaty what we've been hearing so far but i mean you can choose the votes were counted. and of course the

crimean had been watching carefully all those heated debates pro and cons on capitol hill the first reaction came from the kremlin and the foreign ministry sergei lavrov the russian lawmakers would of course need some time to study the resolution cation resolution but as for the rest will be no problem with russia indeed the vote was more about america's credibility abroad president medvedev assured the rock obama from the very beginning that russian lawmakers would say yes to a new start and most importantly most of you saying you start does not draw a line between winners and losers both sides come out as wieners by working towards global design a month. before the treaty was cleared for. there were many obstacles in the way when there. that's right kerry despite all the humor support that the treaty has received you know the country's top security experts are saying that it is a win win deal and number of republican senators who are going out of their way to

on the mind it as many say just for the sake of denying obama is arguably major foreign policy victory and the treaty could have easily become a victim of political games on capitol hill at some point when really nasty and you could say hands that it was all about politics and no substance so more on that data on the day of the vote and the excruciating detail at the base before that here is my report. the vote. on this matter on this resolution are seventy one twenty six days two thirds the senate president having voted in the affirmative the resolution of ratification is agreed to. and with this approval russian the u.s. will start the new year with a treaty that has become a symbol of trust and cooperation between the two nuclear superpowers i am glad that democrats and republicans came together to approve my top national security priority for this session of congress the new start treaty this is the most

significant arms control agreement in nearly two decades and it will make us safer and reduce our nuclear arsenals along with russia. both states have some very significant reductions underway over the next ten years the countries will cut their nuclear arsenals by a third down to some fifteen hundred fifty deployed warheads on each side the deal also limits the number of delivery vehicles and launchers but even with those cuts both russia and the u.s. will still hold more than ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons so many agree that the value of the new arms reduction treaty is not just in reductions but i think it's also important to say that the significance of the treaty is much larger than the implications for arms control it really does give a lot of momentum and boost to the broader us russia reset and i think puts obama and medvedev on course to cooperate more closely on a whole host of issues and it may well be that this is seen as

a turning point in which the russia us rivalry of the past is finally laid to rest for weeks and months the president of the united states all members of his administration the military all living former secretary of state and of defense were calling for senators not to ruin this reset opportunity for us we are sure relations and the message did resonate with many senators every senator knows when you're trying to get things done relationships matter and the relationship between the united states and russia has been critical since we fought together in world war two and we'll be contin and will continue to be so this is an on parallel opportunity to enhance that relationship and to say by signature and by ratification of this treaty that yes the united states of america wants to work with russia despite the huge support the treaty had received on many

levels a number of republican senators nearly sabotaged it their actions provoked an avalanche of criticism from the country's top six. already experts who feared that the treaty could become a victim of political games on capitol hill the arguments the treaty adversaries brought up on the hearings ranged from there's no earthly way to do all of this within the time that we have to even more unsubstantial ones like we don't have to have this treaty if we don't have a nuclear treaty with the u.k. anglin we don't have one with france in the final days of debates on start some republican senators trying to rewrite the deal which would have actually killed it they wanted to take out the line in the preamble which makes the connection between offensive and defensive weapons stuart straight jackets the united states missile defense capabilities but all of those from the military who testified before the

senate said the connection between offensive and defensive weapons is obvious they also maintained it's not start that would make the u.s. weaker the treaty itself explicitly says either side can pull out of it if at some point they deem it threatens their national security for russians this new start is about balance and equality and they will be in it as long as the u.s. respects that balance. through the established basis of the contract the principles of equality parity and the equal an invisible security of both parties this becomes the new gold standard for the conclusion of our agreements the agreement not only strengthens the security of russia and the united states but has beneficial effects for international stability and security in general in russia the outcome of the vote in the u.s. senate has been well come from many in moscow it's a signal that the u.s. and russia can now open a new page of cooperation russian lawmakers made it clear they had no objections to the treaty and would pass it as soon as the us did advocates of the treaty see the

outcome of the vote not so much as obama's victory but a victory for the whole world which on the one hand is going to have considerably fewer weapons of mass destruction and on the other hand to nuclear superpowers former adversaries actually trusting each other and looking toward any heads to provide their security get a check on our team washington d.c. . all eyes are now on moscow which was about on the deal and the russian state duma speaker says this could happen as soon as friday with the governors and. we agreed to act simulate a new slee we are ready to consider this issue but we have found out that the ratification resolution has a number of conditions hopefully the next few hours will receive this document after that we will be able to make a decision on how we'll go about right to find this treaty if the conditions in the ratification resilin doing change the text of the treaty we should be able to rectify it as soon as tomorrow. i have an e-mail and

a political analyst from the independent institute think tank in washington says the nuclear cut still is an important step and even those who put up objections to it recognize this. they arms control has always been sort of the central. pillar of the relationship ever since the cold war is on and that's still the case because the most important thing in the world is these two huge arsenals which dwarf any other countries' arsenals the treaty does allow russians and the us to cooperate war and i think the general. better relationship is good if there's a potential nuclear accident or something like that as we had in one thousand nine hundred five we had good relations back then and i think that really prevented an accidental nuclear war i think this happens on many senate votes is that they dig in their heels they tried to get up the price on what the administration has to pay

to get the treaty not in physical cash but in programs handed out to their constituents and everything they pretend to be on line so they can get more playing hard to get and then when the treaty comes they don't want to be seen as having missed a chance for a historic vote on a major trading lawrence korb a senior fellow from the public policy research organization the center for american progress in washington believes the treaty helps address the danger of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. i think it's significant for to reduce it as number one it helps us get our relations with russia back where they should be and get the russian help with things like on a stand and ran and the other is that the real danger to the security of the united states is a nuclear weapon or nuclear material falling into the warm hands and this treaty is a first step to dealing with the problem what it is is if we get all of the countries of the world including russia the united states signed the

nonproliferation treaty which they agreed that if all the countries would develop nuclear weapons they would reduce they i was and really we haven't had anything for a decade so we're still moving in that direction will be bringing you more comment and analysis from leading experts on the start treaty is approval throughout the day later this hour we'll be joined by victor kiam and you from the institute for u.s. and canada studies in moscow to discuss the treaties future russia and the u.s. may be resetting their relations but the country still fail to see i had a i to eye on many issues the us was one of few countries to vote against a resolution condemning the glorification of naziism that was adopted by the united nations table by russia on a stasia churkin a looks at the possible reasons behind the us decision. we have one hundred twenty nine countries saying they want to fight against the glorification of not citizen and then the united states says no but we don't want to sign up to that document this is especially interesting because the united states obviously fought against

naziism in the second world war and this is one of those rare opportunities when we have countries like iran and israel even agreeing on an issue which almost never happens but here is the united states who does not want to go along with everyone else over the last several years there have been documents leaked and declassified revealing us cover ups of nazis right after the second world war of course of particular interest here is the waffen s.s. the so-called protective squadrons of the nazis that were really a militarized group that helped carry out the goals of the nazis by doing things like ethnic cleansing to all sorts of war crimes and these were the people that the united states ended up cooperated with in the wars in the years after the second world war of the most important interest here though is of course the voltec waffen s.s. because the united states was really caught parading tightly with people located

there to try to fight the soviet union and a lot of the a for example a baltic state is one of is the only place in the world right now that sees former s.s. soldiers as war heroes this is something that the united states is really so far staying silent about and strangely especially when the cause is so straightforward as fighting the glorification of naziism. but you can always find more on this and all the latest news analysis and blogs twenty four hours a day a click away at our team dot com here's what's online right now former spy girl anna chapman isn't biding her time in russia as she joins a political youth movement find out what she's up to and where she stands on the issues. and christmas is well and truly coming to last allies fifty sandoz around the world are in the capital gift giving spree you still don't believe in st nick. dot com see for yourself.

turning back to our top story now the u.s. senate finally approves a new strategic arms reduction treaty with russia for more on this i'm joined live by victor could i mean you the deputy director of the institute for u.s. and canada studies here in moscow. revenue thanks for joining us so now that the u.s. senate has approved the deal how easily do you think the ratification process will go on this side of the atlantic. well i think it's a major step towards the final define the if you cation of the treaty by both sides and they saying that maybe you know just the rumors of the rumors and. were a bit exaggerated but finally we understand that to both sides have demonstrated a responsibility and understanding of the moment and the importance to sign this three to him to read and to implement it in the future so is this becomes

a good who are for the future relationship between the two modelers. now once this deal moves forward what opportunities could this open up in u.s. russia relations. well i think that the u.s. and russia can cool put it. in many fields if to speak in the nuclear era or the air old a strategic weapons they can cooperate on the reduction of with the future weapons they can pull great on the controls for their movement of defensive materials they can cooperate on the issues of the controls over the movement of the equipment and many other things so it's an opening for the good to relationship between the two sides in their guaranteeing the world against the development of the new types of the weapons of the message of the most destruction against the evil legal developments of technological developments in support of countries and i think

generally towards your move the creation of the new climate in the in international relations so i think there's a really this is an important step holistically and diplomatically what do you think this will mean for president obama now that he succeeded in pushing this treaty through. well i think that it could make a big day and desired to have some people who wear a speaking call the losses so democratic party during the recent election and saying that this is the end to president obama and so on no no what president obama has done in this area in response to the major major us national security interest and i think it's good that the other party i mean the republican spar they have understood and have understood it and have supported him through rectification of this treaty that means that the u.s. political class or the political establishment now under god can still the

understanding of some joint interest which united to both parties and a thing that may facilitate be interaction between the u.s. and other nations and we're going to show all right thank you very much for joining us victor i mean you deputy director of the institute for usa and canada studies. take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe south korea has started its largest winter war games ever exercise involves jets tanks and artillery all using live ammunition only thirty kilometers from the north korea border the south's navy is also involved in unrelated maneuvers off the western coast of the peninsula this comes a month after north korea shelled an island in response to a similar exercise the war games have recently come under criticism for what many see as unnecessary provocation. the greek government has passed its twenty eleven austerity budget despite massive and often violent protests in the country the

ruling socialist party mobilized its majority to win in a close vote the extreme measures passed are perkoff are a precondition for athens to get aid from the e.u. and the i.m.f. experts say that a collapse in the greek economy would have a knock on effect upon other european countries. later today max kaiser and co stacy herbert look at the financial scandals in the debt ridden european union and on the other side of the atlantic. london where the bankers are demanding their year end bonuses and the government is asking them please mr brander don't steal any more of our money and the bankers are saying wait a minute if we can steal your money we might leave the government is saying no we want you to still owe money meanwhile the i.m.f. is asking people who are willing to suffer more austerity while the i.m.f. is redecorating its last headquarters in washington d.c.

. finally in this news block it's a disease that many believe belongs to biblical times but for those struck down with leprosy it's a very present problem many russians affected are confined to remote villages with little chance of rejoining society or he's outside a league arch over reports. lost amid vast families russia's older slap of their lives has no streets all in one but houses with its own fire brigade ambulance service and kindergarten it's a home for many people affected by leprosy away from the eyes of a public with little understanding of the disease when the first patients arrived they have to know they were packed into just one house but now there is this a building big enough to house two families given the patients more privacy and dignity in the larry like the vast majority of people in terrorist he has been

cured he could leave but says it's not the ethics of the disease which made him stay but people's reaction or do you know what this road sometimes is like a man in a snake you see a snake and get frightened but someone who knows the snake a snake catcher is not afraid he knows which ones bite and which dying's and how the bites of a snake bite out of the blue the same with letters if you hear this word you get it once you know i would swartz that is different because. most people's knowledge of the disease comes from engine bible stories if you realize that they're most likely immune or that after treatment for myself or is a no longer infectious in any case the condition is extremely rare. it's that ignorance which stops many of the residents of tara ski feel unwelcome in the outside world super suits most of our sark yield but where will we go there were many cases when people were discharged and they got on ok until the neighbors found

out about their disease and kicked up a fuss we don't want to leave next door to the so and so. we've got kids sometimes cure leprosy patients have to move around to places where nobody knows them. but a very vital no was among the first to receive them all to drug therapy for leprosy and the you were ceasar in many ways she was lucky to be treated at all at a time when diagnosis was hard the telltale patch on her food was missed by most doctors. but i want to look at my hands it's mugs that did this and the war all the time and brine in the cooled barbara found her killing terrorists can see also find a husband and their life it offered her and many others the chance of a relatively normal existence you know it's hope centers like these will no longer be needed in the last decade they have been hardly any new cases of leprosy in russia however doctors say the reason need to keep institutions open even if

they're virtually empty. if we don't leave any signs how what where and why it will be very difficult for mankind to start combat in leprosy all over again it's possible that one day due to poor living conditions and things like that the pandemic will return. for now those still live in interest no longer need a medical care but a change in attitude in the outside world a society where people care and don't stare. r.t. stabber whole region they're with us here on our to your bottles up next with our way this business news. welcome to business the battle for control of russia's biggest miner nora's nickel is likely to be over by the spring that's the view of billionaire vladimir patani in a central figure in the dispute with their pastors roussel speaking to the wall street

journal but time is there's no rules twelve billion dollar offer this month to buy back a twenty five percent stake from brazil was generous resells immediate response was to reject the proposal however a result has since employed bankers merrill lynch to assess the value of the stake and at least one of resolves major shareholders mikhail prokhorov has said he's willing to sell for the right price. the long new year holidays in russia will cost the economy up to twelve billion dollars in losses according to analysts f b k the ten day break from january first sees most of the countries shut down including virtually all non-essential services and production however russians can help the country's budget by doing what comes naturally in the festive season duty on alcohol goes up from the beginning of next year so that every liter of vodka sold contributes three dollars to the state. gazprom may become the main sponsor for russia's team at the olympic games in london and sochi but

a misty daily reports the gas giant is in talks with russia's olympic committee which has promised to finance preparations for the games the sponsorship could cost up to one hundred twenty million dollars is expected to receive advertising space in exchange but officials call the deal donation and say no contract will be signed . this chicken stock markets around the world now the footsies edging closer to six thousand points in lloyd's pre-holiday trade is a top gain on the dax as germany's airports return to a more normal sched jewel after days of snow fuelled chaos in asia hong kong has fallen for the first day in three as investors cash profits their thing has slipped under twenty three thousand but petro china is up point six percent benchmark crude futures rise past ninety dollars a barrel overnight lifted energy stocks trans nikkei is closed on thursday for a public holiday. here in moscow both the r.t.s. and my six have reversed after early warning gains in economic news russia's g.d.p.

grew four point two percent in november a year on which the g.d.p. growth to three point seven percent for the first eleven months of twenty ten. burbank over continues to gain after a strong profit forecast for next year n.t.'s is down for a second day however after it announced losses from dropping its turkmenistan business could top five hundred eighty five billion dollars the company's profit. didn't said m.t.s. had big plans for development in the region. the business was rapidly growing with a growth rate of around fifty percent on the you basis the penetration of mobile telephony into many stones about fifty to sixty percent so there is still room for growth and it has been absolutely successful business up until now. and next year looks like it could be a bad year for russian railways national operator expects profits to jump ninety six percent and blames government imposed restrictions on tariffs but while the money flowing passengers and goods will the company predicts double digit increases

in both. the cement industry russia has been in the doldrums in recent years with construction one of the sectors hit hardest by the crisis russia's winning bid to host the world cup has given the industry a shot in the new figures show all this for construction of football stadiums as well as for the twenty fourteen winter olympics in sochi when the cement market is expected to jump ten percent next year i return to pre-crisis levels by twenty twelve. world prices for thirty year highs to continue the two biggest global suppliers brazil and india have both said they will not be able to meet demand for the third straight year another commodity arabica coffee is about to reach a record as colombia. for thirty five years. that's the latest remember you can always buy more stories on our website that's.

the secret incursion into the country. the invasion by means of. tradition language. and culture. the thing is that the have the germans are still unaware of what's going on in their land still ask them why do you. like me i don't know anybody else.

twelve in the afternoon moscow time good to have you with us here on our t.v. easier headlines washington and moscow held a new nuclear treaty for passing the final vote in the u.s. senate after months of delays and in house wrangling now it's russia's turn to vote on the deal which both countries agree is a new symbol of trust between the two nations. but some differences between them remain with russia disappointed the u.s. is voting against a u.n. resolution condemning the increasing glorification of naziism initiative proposed

by moscow was still adopted as it was supported by one hundred twenty nine states. at an economic forum in beijing china said it would help debt ridden european economies tackle the crisis experts warn the move will make the continent more dependent on beijing. up next we take a look at iran's nuclear program and the concerns surrounding it in our special interview stay with us. with me i have dr win in bergman a senior israeli military and intelligence analyst and author of the book the secret war with iran dr thank you very much for joining us here on r.t. most welcome so to cut to the chase is israel planning an attack on iran well i put it i would put it this way israel wouldn't like to attack israeli leaders understand the possible horrendous.