voting could happen on friday but he's a cattery neither a trio that has more from moscow. not to say that the united states are ready for the new strategic arms reduction treaty present brok obama has to seal the deal with his signature but this is a mere formality all eyes are on russia now up next is russia's turn to say yes or no to this first major nuclear agreement between two largest nuclear superpowers 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 start the voting on this would it be cation document as soon as they get the script because they're going to split it. as the president agreed ratification will be synchronized we have passed all the hearings in the committees of the state duma and federation council the foreign ministry has kept lawmakers

informed on the senate plans for its ratification resolution this is very important because it's text depends what wording our legislators will use in the russian ratification law although we are aware of the contents of u.s. resolutions we still don't have the official text but in any case we're ready to consider it a soon as the state do a session is called a last minute u.s. senators added this way to pick a sion resolution to the main script of the new strategic arms reduction treaty and of course the russian side has got to see it and study council before the vote indeed it was been a long time the way for the new start has been a long time coming it actually missed last year's december deadline when the previous ninety nine treaty expired and there were talks among skeptics that now that there is no accurate in place where the two nuclear superpowers would increase . would start increasing their 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 winner is by the. working towards global disarmament as two largest new p.s.u. football as they are leading by example then all considering that nuclear weapons not as a security asset but as a liability will learn how long had been the way before most and washington hate the law just reset button in their relations here is their port of r t's they may chip count into washington. the vote. on this amount on this sort of resolution are seventy one days twenty six nays two thirds the senate president having voted in the affirmative the resolution of ratification is agreed to. and with this approval russian the us 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 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 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 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 security 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. and one 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 start straitjackets 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 started to step through 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 and 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 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 opening 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 if you were weapons of mass destruction and on the other hand two nuclear superpowers former adversaries actually trusting each other and looking to work and in hand to provide their security guy to check on our team washington d.c.

. i have an e-mail and a political analyst from the independent institute think tank says the nuclear cut steel 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 in 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 the 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 and lawrence korb a senior fellow from the public policy research organization the center of american progress believes the treaty helps address the danger of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. i think it's significant for two reasons number one it helps us get our relations with russia back where they they they should be and get the russian help and things like stand and grab 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 wrong hands and this treaty is a first step to dealing with that problem what it is is you forget 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. greg thielmann a senior fellow at the arms control association in washington says the treaty sets a good example for other nuclear powers to follow this treaty itself does not affect directly the nuclear arsenals of other countries in the of the permanent five members of the u.n. security council or countries like india pakistan israel and perhaps north korea that may have nuclear weapons what it does is though by the u.s. and russia that have ninety percent of all of the world's nuclear weapons by showing that they are taking another step toward significant reductions this does put pressure on the others to become more transparent and to be more willing to

engage on what they can do to move toward nuclear disarmament. we'll be bringing you more comment analysis of the start treaty approval from leading experts throughout the day here on our t.v. of course you can always log on to our team dot com and leave your comments we'd love to hear from you. china says it will help struggling european economies combat their debt crisis the offer came at an economic forum in beijing the e.u. is china's largest economic partner but cooperations been challenged by europe's ailing financial health economist marco pietra polies says 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 debt 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 in the next hour max kaiser and co stacy herber will look at the financial scandals in the debt ridden european union and on the other side of the atlantic. i'm here in london where the bankers are demanding their year end bonuses and the government is asking the blues mr berger don't steal any were 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. . new this hour the israeli government is routing nomadic arab tribes from the desert they've lived in for more than a century it says the bedouins built their homes without permission but activists claim the crackdown on arab villages aims to replace them with jewish settlements artie's paul asli reports. in the middle of nowhere the remains of i'm a keep village. for the third time in two weeks israeli police came within a few days of and in a little more than an hour demolished sixty houses. from a club no this is my land i have a paper i have a document this is my land i ask this government how do i live and how can i afford

to buy the same land of elsewhere in israel when i can't what they want me to sell my land i won't agree. and as long as he and hundreds of others won't the police will continue to raid seven times they've come so far backed up by a government whose official policy states this is their land. but i think the unofficial policy underneath it is that the land should go to the jews not. the big ones on a medic arabs who have lived in the negev desert for more than one hundred years they claim they used to pay taxes during the autumn and period in british mandate but off to israel took over in one thousand nine hundred eighty they've been hard placed to prove their ownership of the land they don't have any legal documents proving that this land is there's been evergreens of buying and selling between themselves but according to the law the state of israel ownership of land can only be proven by registering the land in a public office israel says it's built alternative cities fill them with all the

facilities they could hope for but they keep coming back to the desert official printing what they're not abiding by the law they live inside graveyards with horses donkeys she was the animals mess all over the graves and make it difficult for us to move them but we have to because they need permission to build on the land and they don't have it at all because. i think that. the government they would like to push them into the count troops where they could become simple workers they would like to give the land to the army and jewish settlements who. who will. change the demographic status of the negative just look around here at this vast uninhabited is it is home to only seven percent of israel's population several years ago the government launched an ambitious program to the value of six hundred million dollars to try and attract new jewish

immigrants and israelis to live here it aims in the next three years to have more than a quarter of a million of them living in the desert but just because the desert is it seemingly not big enough. to melt he has lost his way house and seven houses but he hasn't lost his will and. we are men of peace we don't use the gun the man who came to destroy houses with a bad phases of the we did not fight back when they came but the fights will continue because tomorrow when the sun comes up. again and in a few weeks these raids will return. in the negev does it israel. get more from r t with latest news analysis and blogs always available on our web site here's a taste of what's online right now at r.t. dot com former spy girl anna chapman is inviting her time in russia has changed joins our political unit will find out what she's up to one where she stands on the

issues. and christmas truly is coming from moscow as fifty saddos from around the world are in the capital for a gift giving spree if you still believe in jolly old st nick r.t. dot com and see for yourself. we. turn now to some other stories making headlines across the globe south korea's president has warned that any aggressive action by the north will be met with a merciless counterattack this comes as the south wraps up. the largest one time war games in its history the exercise involved jets tanks and artillery all using live ammunition only twenty kilometers from the border with north korea the war games have come under intense 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 a close vote the extreme measures passed or a precondition for athens to get aid from the e.u. and the i.m.f. experts say that a collapse of the greek economy would have a ripple effect in other european countries. the iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad is visiting turkey to attend a regional economic summit and garner support for his country's controversial nuclear program he's already already met with the turkish prime minister to discuss the upcoming six party atomic talks to be held in istanbul in january together with brazil on current to go she added a nuclear fuel swap deal for for iran which was rejected by the u.s. . diplomatic effort fails to resolve iranian nuclear dispute israel would have the would have to step in with a nuclear strike according to a senior israeli military analyst that full interview is coming your way in less than ten minutes here's a sneak peek. of israel would like to it's an israeli

does understand the bill who just results of such as to how it. if diplomatic pressure economic sanctions don't work iran is getting too close to a bomb then i think that the european intelligence communities and the united states is going to close israel to launch an aerial strike on the nuclear facilities of iran. finally in this news block it's a disease that many believe was resigned to the biblical times but for those struck down with leprosy it's a very present problem today many russians are affected are confined to remote villages with little chance or hope of rejoining society as artie's oksana we touch over found out. lost amid vast 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 a public with little understanding of the disease when the first patients arrived fifteen zero there 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 he has been he could believe but says it's not the ethics of the disease which made him stay but people's reaction. sometimes it's like a man in a snake you see a snake and get frightened but someone who knows the snake a snake catcher is not only free he knows which ones bite and which is dying and how they bite at the snakes don't use white out of the blue the same with letters if you hear this word you get scared once you know woods what's that is different.

most people's knowledge of the disease comes from engine bible stories if you realize that they're most likely. all 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 testy feel unwelcome in the outside world. most of all snarky old too 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. we don't want to leave next door to the so and so's we've got kids who sometimes cure leprosy patients have to move out to a laser where nobody knows. but if i want to know was among the first to receive a multidrug set up before 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 rector but i'm going to look at my hands it's rugs i did this and you are all the time and brine in the cool barbara found her killing terrorists should also find a husband and i want if it will fit 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 you would be very difficult for men kind of just aren't 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 the 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 are several region stay with us here on r.t. daniel bushels up next with a business update. welcome to business the battle for control of russia's biggest mine and the world's nickel is likely to be over by the spring that's the view of billionaire vladimir patani an essential figure in this pos because roussel speaking to the wall street journal patani says twelve billion dollar offer this month to buy back a twenty five percent stake for resale was generous with immediate response was to reject the proposal however since lascelle has employed by his no lynch to assess the value of the stake and the least one of us sells major shareholders he called has said he's willing to sell for the right price. the long holidays in russia will cost the economy up to twelve twenty seven excuse me billion dollar losses

according to analysts b.k. the ten day break from january first sees most of the country 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. goes up from the beginning of next year so that every liter of focus 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 asked gazprom to finance preparations for the games the sponsorship could cost up to one hundred twenty million dollars i guess prom is expected to receive advertising space in exchange but officials calls the deal donation and says no contract will be signed. this chicken the latest rates london and frank four point nine percent this hour. as the top gainer on the germany's return to

a more normal after days of snow fueled chaos theory moscow both the six have reversed after early morning games in economic news russia's g.d.p. grew four point two percent in november here which says g.d.p. gross to three point seven percent for the first eleven months of twenty ten. looking at some russian stocks gazprom is lower continues to gain after a strong profit forecast for next year. is down for the second day after to announce losses from the suspension of this business in turkmenistan would be one hundred sixty million dollars. now the cost of basic foods in russia skyrocketed in twenty ten the severe drought in the summer and poor harvest pushed prices well above the official inflation rate buckwheat's a staple of the russian dinner table also. tripled while the other essentials like cabbage potato and grain nearly doubled although curiously bread only rose six

percent becomes as the government released grain reserves and threatened to control prices across as agriculture minister says she is concerned by the situation. just because of a look at what was the main reason for such a dramatic increase in prices is the trouts we see a massive jump in prices for potatoes some would argue that we're taking all possible measures to control the situation and the recent price for it was not just speculated growth which the financial backing would given camas has stabilized the market but yes it's a difficult situation. that's all we've got time for remember you can always find more stories on our web site that's altie dot com.

it's the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. traditional language jill you. bestie pete pete. and culture. are still unaware of what's going on in the land still ask my dear.

i don't know the last grade. on our cheap. either.

it's. two thirty pm in moscow good to have you with us here on our t.v. using your headlines. washington and moscow hailed a new nuclear 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 which both countries if you use a new symbol of trust between the two nations. a new fight for a lead in israel as the government's bulldozing bedouin villages and operating inhabitants from the desert they've inhabited for more than a century some claim you authorities aim to replace them with jewish settlements.

and at an economic forum in beijing china says it would help the debt ridden european economies tackle the crisis but experts warn the move will make the continent more dependent on major. 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 would put it i would put it this way israel would like to attack israeli leaders understand the possible horrendous results of such an attack the possible.