tree present brock obama has to seal the deal with his signature but this is a mere formality all eyes are on russia not up next is russia's turn to say yes or no to this first major nuclear agreement between two largest nuclear super policies which account for ninety percent of the world's nuclear stockpile from the very beginning the two partners agreed that if occasional new start would be synchronized and today russian foreign minister again repeated that russian lawmakers would stop the voting on this would it be cation document as soon as they get the script. it's a bit difficult to let them go russian president dmitry medvedev it is and the russian foreign ministry had a comment today yesterday on this event i mean the fact that the u.s. senate has ready fight the new start treaty as for our next step that's as the presidents have agreed the process of ratification will be synchronized we have

passed through all the stages of committee hearings in the state to do much else the russian foreign ministry was actively involved in this approach says in the state duma and in the federation council during those hearings we presented our programs hearings with thing he said information concerning various positions in the u.s. senate concerning soon that is the news that some amendments to the read if you geisha in resolution this is an important aspect of the whole process but because we still haven't seen. the final text for obvious reasons this will have sure this will affect what amendments are parliamentarians will make sure to all right if occasion resolution last year as i said if we haven't seen the text yet we can shirts and if it's have the general idea of what it contains but so is the final

text will be formulated according to senator procedures a new wave that we're ready to participate in the state duma hearings as soon as it takes place a last minute u.s. senators added this medication resolution to the main script of the new strategic arms reduction treaty and of course the russian side will hop to sea and studied calculate before the vote. now before the treaty was cleared for edification there were many obstacles in the way tell us about some of the. well right as far as the resolution is also concerned the present rock obama did everything but sign a blood oath practically to ensure both. sund nuclear modernization and the american side says that this resolution is more of a political manifesto which reflects republicans main concerns where the new start could it back the u.s. defensive capabilities as one u.s.

senator said i voted for the treaty because it leaves out countries with enough nuclear warheads to blow any attacker to kingdom compound because president obama promised a twenty five billion dollar ten year plan to make sure that those weapons were indeed it was been a long time the wait for the new start has been a long time coming it actually missed last year's december deadline when the previous ninety nine treaty and there were talks among skeptics that now that there is no accurate in place where the two nuclear superpowers would increase. with increasing that stockpiles but based did not happen russia has been saying that. new start does not draw a line between winners and losers that both sides come out as winners by but working towards global disarmament as two largest nuclear superpower was there leading by example then all considering that nuclear weapons not as a security asset but as a liability for war and how long had been the way for most good washington hate the

law just reset button in their relations here is the report of parties going on in washington. the vote. on this tomorrow on this sort of resolution are seventy one twenty six nays two thirds the senate president having voted 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 glad the democrats 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 u.s. 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 u.s. 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 who 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 the world war two and will 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 has 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 on substantial 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 us 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 us respects that balance 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 u.s. 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 two nuclear superpowers former adversaries actually trusting each other and looking to work hand in hand to provide their security get a check on our team washington d.c. . ivan eland a political analyst from the independent institute think tagg 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 put 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 treaty lawrence korb

a senior fellow from the public policy research organization center for american progress 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 stand and 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 wall hands and those treaties are first steps to deal with the problem what it is is you forget all of the countries of the world including russia and the united states signed a nonproliferation treaty which they agreed to all the countries would develop nuclear weapons they would reduce they i was in and really we haven't had anything for a decade so we're still moving in that direction. slater director of the new york

branch of the nuclear age peace foundation says the treaty will serve as a key trust building measure that's on the backlighting deployed weapons those are the ones that are on notice ready to fire from twenty two hundred down to fifteen hundred and that's good but what's even more important is that we re install our ability to inspect each other's nuclear weapons facilities which expired with the last start treaty last december and now we haven't even been able to see what russia is doing and rest it can't see what we're doing so this is a new start allows us to have inspections and verification and then this is very important seville trust so that we can actually go to disarmament and the other very good think about start is that it so is that the u.s. and russia can make a deal and that we now have to move forward it will be more common that analysis on the start treaty approval from leading experts throughout the day here on r t remember you can always log on and have your say at our team com we'd love to hear

from you. china says it will help struggling european economies combat their debt crises the offer came at an economic forum in beijing the e.u. is china's largest economic partner but cooperation has been challenged by europe's ailing financial health economist marco pietra polies says the beijing support is not a permanent remedy for the block this extends china's political influence in europe by making a lot of european states dependent on china to buy to buy their dead but it doesn't get away from the fundamental problem in europe europe has a big big sovereign debt crisis and the seas if you like a patch to try and help the situation until the europeans managed to put together some some proper reforms some proper fundamental structures to help the euro stay

together moving forward and to date they've been very much dragging their heels in and patching up greece and ireland rather than coming to the table to put together fundamental reform of how the euro actually operates later today max kaiser and co stacy herbert a 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 berger 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 and the government is saying no we want you to stay still money meanwhile the i.m.f. is asking people ireland to suffer more austerity while the i.m.f. is redecorating its lush headquarters in washington d.c. .

russia and the u.s. may be resetting their relations but the country still felt to see eye to eye on many issues the u.s. was one of few countries to vote against a resolution condemning the or if occasion of naziism that was adopted by the united nations proposed by russia are two sided stasia churkin the looks of one of the possible reasons behind the us decision. we have one hundred twenty nine countries saying they want to fight against the glorification of not citizens 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 u.s. coverups 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 block 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 it's always get more from our to you with

the latest news analysis and blogs always available on our web site here's a taste of what. former chairman is and biding her time in russia joins a political youth movement find out what she's up to where she stands on the issue . of christmas as well and truly coming to the russian capital as fifty senators from around the world are. in moscow for a gift giving spree if you still but don't believe in jolly old st nick you can log on to argue dot com and see for yourself. time to take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe south korea has done its a lot more with the time war games ever the exercise involves jets tanks and artillery all using live ammunition only twenty kilometers from the north korean

border this comes a month after north korea shelled an island in response to a similar exercise and so has warned that any aggressive action by the north would lead to a merciless response 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 a precondition for things to receive aid from the e.u. and i.m.f. experts say a collapse in the greek economy would have a knock on effect on other european countries. finally in this news block it's the disease that many people think belong to biblical times but for those struck down with leprosy it's a very present problem many russians affect their kind of vying to remote villages with little chance or hope rejoining society artie's excitedly thought chauvel reports. lost amid fast families russia's oldest lapp

a village has no streets only 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 the public would little understanding of the disease. when the her special is 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 by larry like the vast majority of people in tears kay has been cured he could believe but says it's not the ethics of the disease which made him stay but people's reaction. in the 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 don't and how the bites are snakes don't just bite out of the blue the same with lepers if you hear

this word you get scared once you know would swats that is different. 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. most of us are killed so where will we go there were many cases when people were discharged and they go to an 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's we've got kids sometimes cure leprosy patients have to move hours to later where nobody knows the. but a very vital no was among the first to receive malta 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'm going to look at my hands it's mark that did this and the war over time and brine in the cool. barbara found her killing terrorists can sure also find a husband and i live 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 and leprosy all over again it's possible that one day due to poor living conditions and things like that the pandemic will return to you 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 down that if a child what r.t. stabber full of original daniel bushell joins us next with all the latest business news stay with us here on r.t. . this is more a region is economically and socially one of russia's better developed provinces the region has a significant scientific and industrial capacity that will realize its full potential after the construction of the. park can tell ya he has completed the i t. park or has r. and d. projects in the spheres of automotive construction aerospace and oil chemistry high tech data center for bridge with cutting edge servers and communication equipment will be constructed at the core of the park the project has been personally approved by prime minister vladimir putin the federal government is planning to

allocate sizable funding for the parks construction investors will be given benefits such as property tax exemption low land rental prices and other preferences this him our region government is open to mutually beneficial cooperation we invite investors to participate in existing projects and we are ready to give a hand of fulfilling your projects and growing your business in this small region. it's a business the battle for control of russia's biggest mine and the last nickel is likely to be over by the spring that's the view of billionaire de mint patani a central figure in the dispute with their pos because roussel speaking to the wall street journal puts on and says no to twelve billion dollars awful this month to buy back a twenty five percent stake from russell was generous resells immediate response was to reject the proposal however russo has since employed bankers merrill lynch

to assess the value of the stake and at least one of the cells major shareholders may call for has said he's willing to sell for the right price. the long new year holidays in russia will cost the economy up to twenty seven billion dollars in losses according to analysts f b k the ten day break from january first sees most of the country shut down. including virtually all nonessential 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. the food see is edging closer to six thousand points it's pre-holiday trade down there is a top gain on the dax as germany's airports return to a more normal after days of few snowfield chaos. in asia hong kong slipped in afternoon trade to close down for the first day in three fears that china will tighten spending strong u.s.

economy data but there could be boosted exporters. for almost three percent pan's nikkei was closed for the emperor's holiday. both e.l.t.'s and my six have reversed after early morning gains trade is weak with many investors already away for the holidays. as crude futures ease over ninety dollars a barrel for the first time in two years shares are also on the rise after a strong profit forecast for next year but m.t.s. is down for a second day after turkmenistan suspended its license to operate in the country the company's president told business r.t. able. to recover the hundred sixteen million dollar loss from the move. the business was rapidly growing with the growth rates of around fifty percent on the your basis the penetration. is about fifty to sixty percent so there is still room

for growth and it has been absolutely successful business up until now. the cement industry in russia has been in the doldrums in recent years with construction one of the sectors hit hardest by the crisis but russia's winning bid to host the world cup has given the industry a shot in the arm new figures show all this for construction of football stadium. as well as for the twenty fourteen winter olympics in sochi means the cements market is expected to jump ten percent next year and return to pre-crisis levels by twenty twelve. now gazprom may become the main sponsor for the olympic games in london. but a misty daily reports the gas giant is in talks with russia. which to finance appropriations for the games could cost two hundred twenty million dollars is expected to receive advertising space in exchange but officials call the deal a donation and say no contract will be signed. remember you can always find most on

our website that's dot com. oh i say. this of course and that's never

a. mom a song from the skull so. i think of it every day. that's the flashback from the memories. so a long time. ago. i was. i was ashamed that i. i was ashamed that i had. to go. where i wanted to. go forward to the. believe what i would go in the woods or i think. that i was a good soldier. but you know most older on the other side and i think i'm just a good.

one thirty pm in moscow good to have you with us here on our teeth easier headlines washington and moscow held the new nuclear codes treaty passing a final vote in the u.s. senate after months of delays and house wrangling now it's russia's turn to vote on the deal that both countries agree is a new symbol of the trust between the two nations. still some differences remain between them with russia disappointed the u.s. is voting against a u.n. resolution condemning the increasing glorification of naziism. and at an

economic forum in beijing china said it would help debt ridden european economies tackle the crisis but experts warn the book will make the continent more dependent on. next on our t.v. u.s. veterans talk about their missions at war and there are grants that some of them now part one of our special report coming up. to be a soldier was a very important thing in a young man's life and to be not just a soldier but to be a good soldier and to be in combat. army. that's where you belong. and that's the southerner in me.