to improve relations are following the story on both sides of the atlantic my colleague kevin owen spoke with. in washington and ivor bennett who has the developments in moscow. we could see russia's ratification of this new treaty as soon as tomorrow actually because both chambers of parliament the state duma the lower chamber and the other chamber the federal council very keen to start the voting process but it all depends on what amendments have been made to by the u.s. senate to the ratification document is called the ratification resolution it's in the hands of russian legislators now we have learned there are some amendments we don't know how significant they are and it all depends on that significance because that is the deal breaker right tomorrow we'll go to the state duma they'll study it and see if those terms and conditions set by the us are the ones that they originally agreed on if they're not it's a very significant changes then they may not end up ratifying it at all if they're minor changes then they could end up voting on it tomorrow not just them but also the federal council because both houses of parliament are very keen to push this

but a vacation drew as soon as possible and so is president of yet if he can hope both houses problems would do that as soon as possible and that's because russia wants to honor the original agreement there but that the ratification process not only in the us but in the in russia will be synchronized and this is what russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said earlier today. look at the order to split it into that as you see you know as the president agreed ratification will be synchronized we have passed all the hearings in the committees of the state duma and federation council to foreign ministry has kept lawmakers informed on the senate plans for its ratification resolutions this is very important because on each text depends what wording our legislators will use in the russian ratification law for me to put together just a one of the clock back just under twenty four hours that new start treaty eventually was approved was named by seventy one votes to twenty six in the u.s. senate getting there for more support than was expected you're. welcome and they

thought they had seventy so it's one more vote than big ben they expected but actually the treaty deserved more votes everyone has been saying that all the previous arms reduction treaty has received no less than ninety votes. approval but this was a special year and congress was not at its best a number of senators were going out of their way to undermine the treaty many say mostly for the sake of denying obama is arguably major foreign policy achievement although the country's top security experts were saying over and over again that it's a win win deal at some point it got really nasty you could say as something was rocking on capitol hill it was all about politics not about the substance of the treaty but really we have to give credit to those senators who've been parsley the fanning the treaty on the senate floor over the seven days of excruciating debates and to the president of course it was fighting very hard to get the twenty past. the 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 or nuclear arsenals along with russia was a lot of doubting russia to whether or not the u.s. senators would be able to overcome all the politics and get down to the substance of the deal here's what the head of the most foreign relations committee said on this. the fact that the senate has been working on the treaty is ratification so long and so thoroughly means that their results of the votes are relevant in the can now be questioned by anyone the american right if the creation took place despite all the speculation surrounding the procedure which was based exclusively on the interests of domestic politics it's great that an obsolete majority of the senate including a major group of republican senators decided to rise above forty interests and act for what's best for the united states and in this case in global interests. russia has been keeping a close knit all the way along the line in the process we just heard about there

from the in the u.s. congress what was russia so interested though in the passage through the washington machine. both sides being keen for this to reach the stage for this new treaty to be ratified because this marks a very significant step in the road to reset of course it's been a year since the last treaty exploits and now was agreed upon over twenty years ago and so this really reasserts that both sides are on the same page on the long road to a nuclear free world that's the long term goal obviously not only will this reduce the arsenals but it also mean that the russia can monitor the u.s. arsenal and vice versa so it's all about transparency and so russia was very keen that it go it went through the u.s. senate i'm sure the u.s. senate will be very keen that it gets ratified here early last when the bloodier talk about how we got this far out of the treaty got versus far if and when it is finally fully ratified now here in moscow when are we going to see some concrete

evidence of the treaty and those cuts taking place. kevin sooner love the u.s. to negotiate or i'll start said they might start a verification process this spring you understand that only when both countries have their treaty ratified it will come into a fact now that the senate gave its approval it's russia's turn and there really are not many obstacles left as my colleague in moscow said russian lawmakers generally made it clear that they have no objections to the treaty what will follow we all know they would start dismantling the bonds and traveling to each other to see that the other side is complying with their obligations under the treaty both countries have some very significant reductions under way they will cut their nuclear arsenals by a third down to some fifteen hundred fifty warheads the treaty also limits the number of delivery vehicles and launchers but even with those cards the countries will still hold more than ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons so anyway that the value of the treaty is not just in reductions but in the trust and cooperation that comes with it and of course it's meant to be an indication to

other countries that the two nuclear superpowers are committed to the goals of nonproliferation. while politicians are still engaged in the formal process towards final ratification the russian military have already been taking steps needed on the ground for compliance with the deal us officials have confirmed that the russian side has already submitted a list of thirty five nuclear facilities to be open to american inspections start provides for a new monitoring mechanism to ensure that both countries are putting their arsenals u.s. assistant secretary of state for arms control rose go to mueller has confirmed that russia has already cut the number of deployed weapons below the seven hundred level stipulated by the treaty former deputy democratic party strategist excuse me a white house insider robert wiener believes the agreement could help bring a nuclear free world a little bit closer. one of the debates that made no sense was the republican

saying that it wouldn't when this allows inspections on both sides and that's really what counts as reagan always said trust but verify and this treaty gives a very strong verification apparatus it was an amazing development that the president would get seventy one votes when only sixty seven were required for the supermajority and the reason for that is finally the republicans have decided but only after the election that it's time to govern not to play partisan politics the fact that we're willing to cut is a moral statement that the world will pay attention to and it gives credence to the dream from reagan to obama and all the secretaries of state in between from both parties that perhaps someday we can have a nuclear free world that really is the objective that we all want and everybody makes fun of the dream but i think we none of us wants to die. in his final speech of the year u.s. president obama has it described the start treaty as the most significant agreement for his country in decades on friday his russian counterpart dmitri medvedev is

also planning to give his thoughts on the deal and the year's other key moments it'll be at the end your meeting between president medvedev and the heads of russia's leading t.v. channels we'll be covering this for you on friday and of course it will be available any time on our website at www dot com if you had there are now there's plenty for you to watch here's a quick look. christmas is well and truly coming to moscow fifty centimes from around the world hit the capital gift giving spree watching the seasonal spirit come alive also. moves from being the world renowned sexy spy to a leading role in russia's next generation politics the details are online right now.

north korea's state media has quoted the country's defense minister as saying is prepared to fight what is termed secret nuclear war against the south if seoul strikes first the north korean minister accused seoul of making a bad situation worse by holding a live fire military drills along the disputed border he said the latest exercise one of the largest in the south's history was an unmistakable preparation for an attack on the north the exercises brought heavy military machinery fighter jets missile launchers and troops within thirty kilometers of the border with north korea the new drills following a young. killing four washington based investigative journalist went. there's more than the eye going on in the korean peninsula and the results could be global. doesn't seem that the united states is restraining the south korean

president lee myung bak who we have to remember is a right wing very conservative president who has a lot of support from the south korean evangelical community and now we know that they're going up to the d.m.z. and they're being allowed to like at the light of christmas trees which the north koreans are saying this is a provocation maybe north and south korea are acting as proxies for big power politics in the region but i think all the big powers russia china the united states and japan should be restraining their respective parties the north and the south if the north attacks south korea the united states will respond. commensurately i think. you know it's very possible we could see this go nuclear the last few presidents south korea had had what were known as sunshine policies with the north they opened up to the north they they had cross border visits trade

all that has been stopped by this present south korean president lee myung bok he's basically gone back to the cold war days. he's playing brinkmanship when it just should not be allowed by the united states but unfortunately we see the obama administration once again once again giving up pants to the military to do whatever it wants we also spoke to alexander violence of the institute of oriental studies he claims that chinese and american involvement in the korean peninsula could lead to a global conflict. it's a. little bit nightmare for many countries and first of all for the six countries three who met the six party talks who share the common border risk are in control in china also and of course china can be involved because it gives a treat to the lions to reach a business career first. at the recently. read in the stool prevent collapse

from north korea and the true picture supercar you will treat united states in china. it's possible. can start the korean financial unfortunately. christmas cheer will be in short supply for some americans this year but not on wall street five top u.s. companies will have dished out ninety billion dollars in bonuses in a year when more and more fellow citizens have been forced to to rely on food stamps and welfare lauren least or look at the growing gap between rich and poor in the us. in the u.s. to use the season for holiday cheer charity and this year for some of millions of jobless americans despair now why did i work all of those christmases why did i give up that time with my family if now i have nothing and all of the work that i've done in my life for no reason for theresa this used to be her busy season at

work but she was laid off from her job in the gas and heating business more than two years ago and has been unable to find any steady work since i look for work every single day i feel like applications and u.s. lawmakers reached a deal this month to extend unemployment benefits for millions of unemployed americans we're all going to have the best holiday was with here but lost in that story are millions of jobless americans like teresa who don't even qualify for this help anymore benefits expire at ninety nine weeks but a job doesn't magically appear by their own accounts and activists buying on their behalf these americans no longer count in this economy left out in the cold and out of the statistical surveys when for many for example their phones are cut off they are not counted and no one can say that they are but they're struggling arguably the most to get by merry christmas you're fired their people like sixty one year

old gabrielle a laid off veterinary nurse like a record one in seven americans to eat she now relies on a government program that helps pay for food known as food stamps meanwhile no work is on the horizon it's very hard i mean. the truth of matters are here really nothing out there despite the tough financial situation so many are facing these will be happy holidays for some wall street thanks for what the lavish christmas decor is just the tip of the iceberg big banks like this one are expected to post their second highest near profitability ever recorded second only to last year and . still the average beggar bonus may come out higher that means the average year end bonus would exceed last year's of more than one hundred twenty four thousand dollars a person but if banks are in this money what's so wrong with that many of the banks that are doing well are only doing well because the public bailed them out so we're seeing is a transfer of wealth from in

a way the needy to the greedy is unemployment soars last quarter american companies posted their largest corporate profits ever recorded in u.s. history and while the rich may be taking those earnings to the glitz of new york's fifth avenue for holiday shopping in the shadows or those struggling to see a little light at the end of the tunnel we've been cut off and we've been practically ignored by almost everyone that's out here the people in our government and the people you know we're in the media they're looking for any hope despite a system they see as sympathetic to business and banks but stacked against them we're really living in a society where we don't count this is really marie antoinette. at the balls while the french people starved and that's not a different and they're fighting in that society to have holidays that count as anything resembling happy is a sense of joy that's supposed to be here and it's not here lauren lyster r.t.

new york. bears no into some other news also making headlines around the world now . italian police say an anarchist group has claimed it carried out two parcel bomb explosions at embassies in rome injuring two staff the first device went off at the swiss ambassador's residence seriously injuring the postal worker who opened the package a few hours later the second letter bomb exploded at the chilean embassy leaving the mail handler with minor wounds italy's interior minister said the devices were similar to the mail bomb said. fourteen embassies in athens last month. the un has formally recognized ivory coast opposition leader. as the winner of the country's presidential elections that follows a mounting domestic and international pressure for incumbent. to step down from the presidency u.n. secretary general ban ki moon has warned the country risks

a return to civil war if the election impasse is not resolved state television controlled by backed by a loyalist has been taken off the air outside the capital. john it's the country's only source of news after foreign media was banned three weeks ago. romania's parliament was forced to early when a man threw himself from the chamber balcony allegedly in protest over budget cuts that would affect his family a romanian politician identified the man as an engineer working at building incredibly he was not seriously hurt a parliamentary vote was abandoned as shocked opposition m.p.'s left to the chamber and of the ruling party chose not to cast a vote. with the leaks founder and editor in chief julian assange has told al-jazeera television that he has nearly four thousand pages of documents yet to be released about israel the secret files include more information on the two thousand

and six war with lebanon as well as numerous assassinations carried out by the israeli intelligence service mossad the operations that detailed include the killing of a hamas leader in dubai earlier this year said western papers have been hesitant to publish sensitive material relating to israel. and staying on that story stay tuned for our interview show our talks with dr ronen bergman an israeli military and intelligence analyst about what recent wiki leaks disclosures have revealed about the middle east and his views on iran.

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. spoke up 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 results of such an attack the possible intervention of hamas possibly syria condemned nation from europe the ballistic.

anger from from the united states and the outcomes therefore if israel would be able to stop the renewed nuclear initiative using it diplomatic pressure economic sanctions or supporting it. imposed by do international community. operational intelligence means israel would prefer to take this path and the latest wiki leaks reports suggest that some arab leaders are pushing pressure on the united states to attack iran's nuclear reactor is there in. i think you mean this and do you think america could follow the wiki leaks documents on the issue of air pressure on the united states to take harsher steps these of iran i'm not new to some of us we have tried to publish some of this information with the book by israeli military censorship unfortunately try to fight some of that but basically

it says in writing what we already know but the fact that it is in reality this is an official secret american cable has an importance by its own. oversized how profound is the fear from iran not just from the eyes of israel but also from. a moderate countries in the middle east if because this is not in because all these countries are leaving. egypt who persisting you continuously told the americans to not engage iran. in a sort of do not enter this sort of a dialogue. it would not help and president mubarak calling the iranians. back to be a big fat liar. i don't think that the revelation would change anything but there is something on the go not so long ago there was movement in the mediterranean sea and

reports suggested that saudi arabia had given israel permission to use its air space so do you think that something is happening below the surface i read this far as you know. all the news there were they did not appear just recently. back into. the saudi arabia given permission to israel to free passage through its area of space to iran and back. these are all force you are currently writing a book entitled more side and the art of assassination is there going to be anything new. artem aside the israeli secret service in this book that has not already been written before we have a lot of the details. of numerous assimilation operations that took place from the establishment side nine hundred forty nine until today but we also have a lot about the decision making process how. in a summation

a targeted killing is being authorized what is the procedure what are the limits. who are the people involved in just to give you one very interesting question about the people involved many of the leaders of israel in the villages of the army or the political of the political level have been personally involved in nation operations what does it do to a person to a man who was personally involved in such operations when he needs to deal with the at least past when he had the enemy on the inside of a sniper get him in now he needs to has sort of a dialogue what does it do to use psychology to the decision making process. we are going to have the history of israel. portrayed in weave through the use of targeted decision it's nation israel surprisingly maybe israel was the is the

country who uses this. far more than any other country in history what kind of covert operations do you think are happening at the moment not so long ago the israeli defense forces unit a two zero zero was suspected of infecting a rainy and computers connected to ransom nuclear program so do you think that there are other things like this on the go the discovery. of the. stocks that. schalke the world of of computer security this is by far the most advanced and most lethal virus computer virus ever discovered i'm not saying it's the biggest or the best ever produced but the best that was ever discovered. the the ability of stocks that to jump from a computer to a computer reaching stand alone computers that are controlling the velocity of the

centrifuges inside natanz and comb the enriching your own facilities in iran. in its ability to trick to play. in to exceed in to change very fast the velocity of the centrifuge. causing it to collapse these are all extremely extremely clever sophisticated and they can be the result only of the work of a country of a very advanced technological country behind the scenes as their own growing accusation between the secret services of the countries who were able to produce it germany france britain the united states and israel accusing each other in bringing into. this to the world and why accusing it was such a such a big success because the discovery of stuxnet is a huge intelligence fiasco because now the iranians are aware that someone is able

to penetrate their standalone computers they know how it was done. and they can take it out or they can prevent it not just regarding stocks that but old next cyberattacks up to big men thank you very much for joining us here. that are killing innocent. allies. of course and that's never a. song from the skull still with me i think of it every day. the flashbacks from the memories. of so much time i'm just here trying to.

i was. i was ashamed that i. i was ashamed that i hadn't been a hero why i got my legs. and i'll believe what i was going on once or i think. that i was a good soldier. but you know most soldier on the other side and i think i'm just as good. it's the secret incursion into the country. invasion by means of. tradition language is really just the best compete beat. and culture. that the have the germans are still

unaware of what's. still asking. of course broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our team with us. along. with washington. president obama. praising the developments as. north korea's. nuclear war on the south pole makes the first move.

had said earlier that it would not respond militarily to. disputed maritime border . as millions of americans live on food stamps struggling to make ends meet wall street's biggest firms have put aside. for bonuses. those were the headlines up next it's peter lavelle's debate show cross talk who discusses with his guests whether christians are really today fleeing the middle east in large numbers. you do.