so i never it's finally got the stamp of approval from the u.s. senate but that's not the end tell us what's up next. now is russia's turns around for the new treaty first the lower house of parliament the state duma has to vote on it then the upper house the federal chamber as opposed to before the president can sign it and we could soon see this process starting as soon as tomorrow even because today already this afternoon russia has received the documents from the u.s. senate the ratification documents they need to look over before the voting can begin but i need to look over these to check the terms and conditions are as they were agreed upon the check there as they expect them to be and if they are which they assume they will be then they think that the voting could begin tomorrow that's what the state duma spokesman said today and then as for the opportunity with the federal council they say they want to begin discussions tomorrow maybe even vote on it as well tomorrow if the voting by the lower chamber is done in time certainly get that voting done by the new year and so what they see is russia really pushing

through this ratification process you want to do this is fast as possible because all along russian the u.s. says that you have said that the ratification process is for both countries will be synchronized because they want to show that was the both countries are together on this and setting an example together now we can hear from the foreign minister russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov on this ratification process. because you are just because you don't see as the president agreed ratification will be synchronized we have passed all the hearings of the committees of the state duma nationalization council to foreign ministry has kept lawmakers informed on the senate plans for its ratification resolution and this is very important because it's text depends what wording our legislators will do in the russians because you can't win for a little bit but the republicans in the u.s. senate have been trying to amend the treaty and delay or traffic ation why did they fail. that's why they have been trying to stall it and some have opposed it saying that it could compromise the u.s. security and certainly comp. as the u.s.

missile defense program but they failed because in the end enough republicans thirteen to be precise voted against their party with the democrats to give a bomber that majority that he needed if he needed a majority of two thirds of the end they got that about five or six votes and there's been a long time coming really a part they've passed the original expiration date of the previous treaty this time last year they passed that deadline they were worried that it wouldn't get signed in time and then the two presidents did get their signatures down to say that both . partners would have to ratify it that was in april or less a number of stumbling blocks but finally there has been signed by and ratified by the u.s. senate now it's russia's turn and it's been welcomed here in russia very much so nonetheless by constantine process who has the state duma's foreign affairs committee and he took part in a number of those regional negotiations and here he is saying how much of a significant step this ratification is. the fact that the senate has been working

on the treaty is ratification so long and so thoroughly means that your results of the vote are relevant can be questioned by only one the american registration took place despite all the speculation surrounding this procedure which was based exclusively on the interests of domestic politics it's great that an absolute majority of the senate including a major group of republican senators decided to rise and work for the interests and act for was just for the united states and in this case in global interests you yes i wish that. russia and the u.s. of the world's two biggest nuclear powers holding over ninety percent of the global nuclear stockpile and this new start treaty is significant because it not only can't say rascal's but it also sets an example to other nations to follow suit in trying to achieve overall long term aim of nonproliferation and for more on the details of this treaty means. you can now listen to my colleague on it's

a can in washington d.c. . the vote. on this man 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 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 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 russia 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 parallelled 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 after last minute he's the president really 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 all the arguments the treaty adversaries brought up on these 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 you know 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 start to start running 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 if the conditions in the ratification resolution it doesn't

change the text of the treaty we should be able to prove that as soon as tomorrow 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 fewer weapons of mass destruction and on the other hand two nuclear superpowers former editor. it's actually costing you childcare and looking toward ending hand to provide their security get a check on our team washington d.c. . british opposition labor m.p. jeremy corbyn a long time anti-nuclear campaigner says the russian u.s. treaty is a signal for other nations to suspend their atomic activities it's such a huge step and one that was predicted to end in failure and so the fact that

president obama and president medvedev come to the agreement and got it through both of their parliamentary systems is a huge step forward and that's got to be a spy so surely the next thing is for all nations to agree not to renew their nuclear weapon systems because most of preparing some kind of upgrade or some kind of renewal and then move on and when you can weapons convention that can include all nations in the world including those that are not signatories to a nuclear nonproliferation treaty particularly israel india pakistan north korea. we'll bring you more analysis of the start treaty approval in the u.s. from leading experts throughout the day and we're also on the story online where you can give us your reaction just click on over to our team dot com also on our site right now prime minister putin he shows young judo a trainee's that you can't beat a black belt even at fifty eight as he takes to the mat in st petersburg to show them a figure to about how it's done. in the us and of chapman moves from being

a renowned sexy spy to a leading role in russia's next generation politics details online at r.t. dot com. north korea says it's ready to use its nuclear deterrent in what it calls a secret war against the south the north's defense minister a statement was reported by state media the minister accused solo deliberately stoking tension by staging successive joint military drills with the u.s. and with the u.s. next in your thoughts i did all this territory as he said the latest exercise one of the largest in this house history was an outright preparation for an attack on pyongyang the maneuvers involved heavy military machinery of fighter jets missile launchers and hundreds of troops and was held just thirty kilometers from the

border with north korea this series of war games comes in the wake of a recent cross border artillery exchange that killed four south koreans in florida former british parliament member and author of the boat north korea on the brink of struggle for survival believes no one intends to start a war but the rhetoric is becoming alarming. the danger is if we have new military exercises the sea because the problem is the land borders very clear the sea border is been arbitrarily and unilaterally stopped leased by the south koreans along the northern limit line which is not recognized even by the united states. the the recent shelling of the of the island. was called squanto poem the south koreans intruding into what the north koreans consider through their waters the dangerous escalation what you hobbes sized korean maneuvers which in disputed waters which led to the north korean response of. the artillery shelling of the island we've

now seen massive joint u.s. south korean exercises which clearly are leading to the north koreans upping their . upping their readiness for for future for a future attack or military adventures i don't think anyone's intending to start if you want a full scale war at this point but it is a danger with escalation is it gets out of control. which is something we need to we need to be concerned about for the future what we need to see is some gestures from either side to try and step they stand a maybe an offer from the north koreans for example to give up their their fuel rods from the young nuclear reactor and try and ship them to the science will be something that might be allow us to start scaling down the current levels of tension alexander of iran saw from the institute of oriental studies believes china and the u.s. response respective involvements with north and south korea could lead to a larger global conflict. it's

a. real big nightmare for many countries and first of all for the six countries. the six party talks we share is a common border with government control in china also and of course the china can be involved because if there is a treaty alliance tricky business career first and they do most recent the recently . riddle is to prevail to collapse from north korea and it will be true supercar were equal to the united states and china. it's possible. through a world war one started to room for national unfortunately. at one time leprosy struck fear because it meant a slow death but today it's both treatable and curable yet for russians diagnosed with the disease there is another problem to overcome being ostracized from society or he's actually got over reports on those living with the condition stigma.

lost amid vast families russia's oldest lap 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 would 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 but larry like the vast majority of people in tears kay has been cured he could leave but says it's not the ethics of the disease which made him stay but people's reaction. 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 don't and how they bite as 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 ancient 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 so. most of us are killed 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's we've got kids sometimes cure leprosy patients have to move out to a laser where nobody knows. but of our avon though was among the first to receive multi drug therapy full 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 would look at my hands it's mugs that did this and who are all the time and brine in the cool barbara found who killing terrorists can show also fallen to has been and i live it off of her and many others the chance of a relatively normal existence no woods 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 there's the chill attempting. if we don't leave any signs how what where and why it would 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 to you for now those still living in terror ski no longer need the medical

care but a change in attitude in the outside world a society where people care and don't stare acts on that if i chill what are several of region. turn back now to our top story the u.s. senate finally approving the new strategic arms reduction treaty with russia i'm joined now by your need only a lot of his from the department of political history at moscow state university good to have you with me sir so now if the ratification is completed in moscow tomorrow what opportunities do you think this opens up for russian u.s. relations well for of course those three d. is the key point in their relations between the two countries and the without the three d. we could not hope for the improvement series improvement of the relations between the two countries and right now the situation is quite favorable to or they could. aeration between the two countries on may need two national issues from the anti-missile system in europe. then and and. israel

and palestinian conflict so i think that this is a great victory for both countries and it makes. much more hope for. the nearest future of between our countries and a lot of raid on that one point about the joint cooperation on missile defense in europe as well you know the death of this problem is under discussion right now and one of the results of the first step and cooperation between the two countries on this treaty was the invitation of russia to join their discussions on the future missile defense system in the europe and i think that can solve the major contradiction we had been expressed even during the discussion of this treaty and american congress that many congressman had complaints about the future of american plants and to missile system and the signing of this treaty can make

possible the rationing. so right now this is a deal that only exists between the u.s. and russia but it does bring the world a step towards what they're calling global zero do you think that other nations will take a look at this and take it as a sign that they should maybe scale back their nuclear programs to wall so this is not just a bilateral problem the reduction of nuclear arms but you know that more than eighty percent or maybe close to ninety percent of all nuclear weapons are concentrated in two countries united states and russia and with steps of these countries without any intention to get down to. limit the number of nuclear weapons in both countries we could not hope that other countries would join. to make any steps to limit. their nuclear weapons so i think it's a good signal it's

a good sign to other nations to think and to join to think about the problem nonproliferation of course to join their. actions which is necessary i think maybe. it's. how significant of a diplomatic win is this for president obama while this is his great victory because you know that. these treaty has been signed by presidents eight months ago and to a lot of time and a lot of discussions in the united states to make this final which is. unfortunately matter of strategic character and foreign relations between two countries became a victim of internal political struggle in the united states which made it much more difficult to rectify a basic agreement in the past all are they grimace between the two countries on the

nuclear arms or reductions has been initiated by republican presidents and republican parties and has been by a lateral in their characters so they have been supported by representatives. of both parties in the united states but this time it was different. parties struggle was pretty sharp and the prize which has been paid by the obama administration also is very high unfortunately the administration had to promise to increase several times the expenditures to modernize nuclear weapons in this country which is way contradicts the character of agreement and also promised to continue the works on to missile system the defense system so the price was quite high. anyway by all means that this is a great political victory of. all right thanks for a perspective here you know you love from moscow state university good to talk to

you. taking you around the world for some other top stories this hour there have been two parcel bomb explosions at embassies in rome one device went off at the chilean embassy injuring the person who opened the package a few hours earlier the swiss diplomats residence was targeted again it was the now a handler with wounded this time seriously it's not known who sent the bombs but police are ruling out any link to the suspicious device found on the underground earlier this week. former argentine president or haven daylight has been said and to life in prison for crimes against humanity the aging general was convicted of murdering dissidents during the country's military rule between one thousand nine hundred six and one thousand nine hundred three up to thirty thousand in the courtroom there in what's been known as argentina's dirty war said this to life in one thousand nine hundred five but had been given special privileges which are now revoked. stay with us kareena melican joins us now up next with your business update.

how welcome to our business books i'm good to have you with us this hour the battle for control of north america has taken another twist who saw which owns a twenty five percent of russia's biggest miner is calling for an inordinate extraordinary general meeting to elect a new board to produce a says it has concerns about plans to sell an eight percent stake to trial for gura the multinational commodities brokerage. offered twelve billion dollars to buy back its twenty five percent stake in the miners the offer was probably reject it but another major shareholder not even part time has told the wall street journal he believes that decisions might change quite generous but i don't predict there will be a resolution by spring. and let's have a look at how the markets are performing u.s. stocks are flat in early trading up to our report showed that consumers did not increase their spending in about five months as was predicted on the last day of

trading before the christmas holiday the dow jones industrial average is down two point one percent and the nasdaq composite index is down two percent. now european stock markets are mostly hard in the last trading session before the holidays discount retailers metros again are one of the year's busiest shopping days to a travel as top earner in london and their lines clear their flight backlog after the snow chaos the chairs and allied irish have slumped seventeen percent of the irish government has managed to nationalize it that late in the bank. and here in moscow the r.c.s. has a pretty close allies it's about to shut down this hour however trade extremely weak as mainly many investors have already left for the holiday season bang buck the negative trend on the r.t.s. that toward strong profit forecast for next year m.t.'s is down for the second day up to denounce losses from the suspension of its business into printers down would be one hundred sixty million dollars. retail giant x.

five group is forecasting a forty percent increase in turnover next year the company says sales will be driven by sees its newest acquisition cupcake at discount stores it also aims to open over five hundred new stores x five will also double its capital cost with much of the money spent on rebranding the break up. and will down tools have called for the twenty one million dollars profit in the third quarter of two thousand and ten the result was a fifty three percent decline year on year turnover increased however by almost one quarter to six hundred forty one million dollars for the course. there will invest more than one hundred thirty million dollars into russia's car industry the company will assemble mercedes-benz like commercial vehicles at the factory in you know for a total be around twenty five calls annually and also plan to localize the production. now the cost of basic food in russia sky skyrocketed in

two thousand and ten the severe drought in the summer and poor harvest pushed prices well above the official inflation figure buckwheat's staple of the russian dinner table almost tripled while other centrals like cabbage potato and grain nearly double the government has released grain reserves present to control prices on thursday russia's agriculture minister told her zero towers on grain to build imports she says they're doing everything they can to keep prices down. the. main reason for such a dramatic increase in prices is the trout we see a massive jump in prices for potatoes some retaking all possible measures to control the situation and the recent price for it was not just speculated growth huge financial backing would give informant's has stabilized the market but yes it's a difficult situation group view that's all for the south thanks for watching. for

the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

six thirty pm in moscow good to have you with us here on our team easier headline moscow prepares to ratify the new strategic arms reduction treaty with washington already approved by the u.s. senate and praised by both sides as proof of a new level of trust. peace on the edge north korea says it's ready to unleash a secret war on the south and use its nuclear deterrent angered by souls massive military drills right across the border. and living with leprosy russians in a remote village feel their battle is no longer with the disease but with the

stigma that is that society imposes on. up next we take a look at iran's nuclear program and the concerns surrounding it stay with us here on r.t. . with me i have talked to an investment 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 send israeli leaders understand the possible horrendous results of such an attack the possible into french of. possibly syria the clinton nation from europe the ballistic.