advocation 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 dinner they'll study it and see if those terms and conditions set by the u.s. are the ones that they originally agreed on if they're not it's a very significant changes then and they may not end up ratifying it at all if they minor changes that 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 verification through soon as possible so is president 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 that the ratification process not only in the u.s. but in russia will be synchronized and this is what russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said earlier today. look at the go disputed you want to 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 the foreign

ministry has kept lawmakers informed on the senate's 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 it would go to just one of the club just under twenty four hours that new start treaty eventually was approved was noted by seventy one votes to twenty six in the u.s. senate getting there for more support than was expected you're. welcome 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 of 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 sense 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 there 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 there is still some of the votes are relevant in

the can now be questioned by anyone the american writer for 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 absolute 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 eye on it all the way along the line in the process we just heard about there from me in the u.s. congress what was russia so interested though in the twenty's passage through the washington machine. live very keen both sides being keen for this to reach the stage for this new treaty to be ratified because it marks a very significant state in the road to reset of course it's been a year since the last treaty spied on that was agreed upon i have a twenty year. so this really really says that both sides are on the same page on

the long road to 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. also and vice versa so it's all about transparency and so russia was very keen that it went through the u.s. senate i'm sure the u.s. senate will be very keen that it gets ratified here only last when the bloodier talk about how we got this far out of the tree to go thus 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 soon enough the u.s. can negotiate or i'll start said they might start the 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 had no objections to the treaty what will follow

we all know they would start dismantling the bombs 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 cuts 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 former democratic party strategist and white house insider robert wiener says he's glad that many republicans finally realized of the treaty will make the world a safer place. one of the debates that made no sense was the republicans 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 and sticking with the same story chuck hagel a former republican senator in the u.s. believes the deal is possible because moscow and washington understand there are areas where they need each other a russia and the united states have many common interests and we are working

together on so many of these common interests all over the world whether whether it's or a on whether it's north korea economy energy europe nato. less than we are are bound together as global citizens of the world and russia is one of the leading nations of the world as is the united states we need to cooperate we need to get along we are not always going to agree but i think the ratification of this treaty for our side and i assume will be done in moscow soon i think is a very significant relationship in hampshire and builder for both of our countries . in his final speech of the year u.s. president obama has described the start treaty as the most significant agreement for his country in decades on friday president dmitri medvedev is also planning to give his thoughts on the deal and the year's other key moments it will be the

annual meeting between the russian leader and the heads of the country's main t.v. channels we'll be covering this for you on friday and of course it will be at your fingertips any time on our web site r t v dot com. tensions are spiraling on the korean peninsula as the north threatens to launch what it calls a secret nuclear war against its neighbor if seoul strikes first on thursday the south's military held live fire drills some of the largest in its history the exercises brought heavy military equipment fighter jets missile launchers and troops within thirty kilometers of the border with the north souls recent series of war games have come in the wake of a cross border artillery exchange that killed four south koreans last month foreign policy analyst stephen gallons told r.t. that soldiers military strategy is imposed by washington and its goal is the end of north korea. the united states' policy for the last sixty years has been to

seek the collapse of the north korean state and its absorption into the south. the lead government is more closely aligned with u.s. foreign policy goals on the korean peninsula than say the government's president's role in presidents kim. in south korea. president lee is often times seen as a puppet of the united states and the area around his office is called by many south koreans the news united states of south korea south korea certainly seized on any opportunity to escalate tensions there is the sinking of the south korean corvette cheonan which was immediately blamed on north korea over north korean denials and there are many in south korea who do not believe the official inquiry then we have the artillery exchange that happened on november twenty third which has been blamed

on north korea however the exchange was triggered by south korea and marine garrison on an island that lies very close to the north korean coast you consider that you consider president leaves hostility toward north korea. it's his policy of confrontation deescalating war games and it's hard not to conclude that south korea is trying to precipitate a fight to pick a fight in trying to provoke its northern neighbor washington based investigative journalist wayne madsen says that the south korean leader's policies totally contradicted the more conciliatory approach of his predecessors and the peninsula may indeed see a nuclear war. last few presidents south korea had had what were known as sunshine policies with the north they opened up to the north they had cross border visits trade all that has been stopped by this present south korean president lee myung

bak he's basically gone back to the cold war days. he's playing brinkmanship 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 that is probably something that would get out of control rather rapidly i think you would see then japan get involved obviously china we get involved where we would definitely see a lot of casualties you are with r t we've got plenty more in store for you including a fresh fight for land in israel. government's bulldozing of bedouin villages and operating inhabitants from the desert lived in for over a century or two you look at the reasons behind the crackdown. the united states has long championed the cause of capitalism but now with globalization and outsourcing in full swing the country is experiencing its less

pleasant aspects faced with a huge economic slump one american town is turning to an unlikely savior chinese students but as priya sridhar reports from some residents pride might get in the way. millinocket maine once a booming mill town now. almost a ghost town the paper mill once a symbol of pride and prosperity in the region now a reminder of a time that has come and gone and international trade is what basically took the paper industry of the united states down it's not just here in the in the town of no one market it's worldwide the chinese there are more clever than we are. you know and we when we do a deal with them we usually we get the sour end of it. today millinocket is a small town of five thousand the closest mall or movie theater is an hour's drive away many of the once bustling businesses in town now stand empty and abandoned

open very depressing for a lot of people who have had their hopes and hopes that they would something would come along that would change everything but it hasn't. dr cannot smith is the superintendent of millinocket public schools after watching his town fall apart around him he decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. myths idea is to boost the school's population by charging chinese students twenty seven thousand dollars to attend his high school for one year and they have some skills that we don't have that we'd love to instill in some of us through this desire to learn and . getting good education it's a bold idea in a town where most few china as the reason they're mill went bankrupt but smith argues that the competition the might have hurt the town's past can also help to reshape its future but we can't possibly compete with the labor market and you know

one point four billion people i think the competition is good for us and we have to learn. whether economy works right now there are two hundred students that attend this high school. even though it was built for eight hundred sixty percent of the students here qualify for a state run free lunch because their parents' income is at the poverty level school administrators say that bringing in students from china will not only save the school it will save the town and bring it back to the days when the mill was booming. but not everyone in this almost exclusively white town is excited about the idea that their school might eventually have just as many chinese kids as kids from maine sound people well have an issue where they're going to be like oh my gosh they're not from here make them go away most students in this high school have never traveled abroad what they know about china they say they've seen on t.v. i think the chinese are going to be total shock i think of like high tech and way

more advanced and i think ten times more money and like in a better society and then you look at us in real life horror and nothing and those struggling to survive in town are angry that the country they believe took their jobs from them is now the one they're looking to for help preassure either party millinocket maine. and you can always find more news blogs analysis and interviews on our web site here's just a sneak look at what's online at our t.v. dot com right now. in prime minister putin it takes to the mat in st petersburg to show young wrestlers that you can't beat a black belt even if he is fifty eight you can join his master class online right now. and muslims in the u.s. say since nine eleven terror obsessed mainstream media has been typecasting followers of their religion as enemies find out who's really behind those headlines on our t.v. dot com. the

israeli government is routing no magic arabic tribes from the desert they've lived in for over a century it says the bedouins built their homes and without permission but activists claim of the crackdown on arab villages aims to replace them with jewish settlements palls leader reports in the middle of nowhere the remains of a kid village for the third time in two weeks israeli police came with a few visitors and in little more than an hour demolished sixty houses. from a flood 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 elsewhere in israel and i can't they want me to sell my land i

won't. and as long as he and hundreds of others won't the police will continue to raid backed up by a government whose official policy states this is their land but i think the unofficial policy underneath is that the land should go to the jews not. the big ones on a medic arabs who've lived in the negev desert for more than one hundred years but off to israel took over in one thousand nine hundred eight they've been hard pressed to prove their ownership of the land 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. they're not abiding by the law they live inside graveyards with horses donkeys sheep 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. i think that the government they would like to push them

into the town troops were they could become simple workers they would like to give to learn to move to the army. to settlements just look around here there's vast uninhabited desert 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 has because the desert is it seemingly not big enough for jew and arab jew mel torme has lost his way house and seven houses but he hasn't lost his resolve. we are men of peace we don't use the gun the man who came to destroy our houses are the bad faces of this land we did not fight back when they came but the fight will continue because tomorrow when the sun comes up jima will build again and in

a few weeks the israelis will return policy r.t. in the negev desert israel. and now for a brief look at other major headlines from around the world. u.n. has recognized ivory coast opposition leader. as the winner of the country's disputed presidential election in. turn has declared all nine thousand u.n. peacekeepers in the country enemy combatants the international body accuses backbone of access to the suspected mass graves of at least one hundred seventy three people killed in post election violence it comes just a day after opposition to the country's only t.v. channel offline depriving the incumbent of an important propaganda tool. california has been hit by powerful storms which have flooded the state with a year's worth of rain in just one week many people were forced to leave their homes after the downpours sparked landslides and floods burying houses and cars in

mud emergency services are working to clear roads governor schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in affected areas officials warn that there is a high chance of more storms in the coming week. group has claimed responsibility for carrying out two blasts in rome on thursday mail bombs exploded in the hands of employees at the swiss and chilean embassies injuring two staff law enforcement have launched an investigation recognizing the blasts as terror attacks italy's interior minister says the devices were similar to the mail bomb sent to fourteen embassies in athens last month. this festive season latvians believe they have an extra cause for celebration five hundred years since the first christmas tree was decorated there but one of the country's neighbors is bristling at the plans. found out why. it's

a white christmas in a stone in lot there with fluffy snow paralyzed and mulled wine all the ingredients of the proper christmas spirit and instead of gifts there is a pile of historic arguments on their tree the two neighbors are in a bitter dispute over who was first to come up with the festive for which let's light up the tree here in riga sasha helps her daughter decorate her fourth christmas tree there in no doubt whose spirits shines the brightest and for the longest time. of course it's very pleasing to think that the first of a christmas tree appeared here in latvia and we have historic proof to back this claim everybody here knows that it was dressed with flowers and berries here in riga in fifteen ten but head north and that fear is being cut down to size before somebody can do much to me document that

a lot of dollars was made before i can believe but no i see colin very well used home on the first christmas tree of liberty. this festive preakness has reached such a pitch that even some truck loss is weighing in but if you could if you ask the finish people they'll tell you they were the ones to invent the christmas tree so with the norwegians in the germans i think what's important is not who decorated it first centuries ago but that we all do it nowadays seasonal spirit aside this symbol of contention for duty feisty neighbors shows just how much they have in common christmas comes once a year but historians and loved ones have many ongoing goggles they also disagree about who is remind them of beautiful because beer tastes better how many bears this nation is allowed to have the nearby woods some of and say that without this

legal disagreements lie would have been too boring so in a way this latest christmas tree controversy is just another way of making christmas a bit merrier somebody's got our tea. is starting. and of course daniel is here with the business update that's coming up next. the business volvo benz are now substantial new investments in russia's car industry with prime minister putin in attendance the german company sealed an agreement to build sprinter vans at the factory in. what will be some twenty five thousand vehicles nearly swedish truck john volvo however says it will pump an additional one hundred fifty million dollars into its assembly plants in the kaluga region south of the capital the government says it will continue to support the industry with cheap loans and other moves to boost demand. despite

sustainable growth the government has plans to further support the auto industry in the near future especially reserve fund will be created to ensure demand returns that's why in two thousand and eleven we will continue to stimulate demand with the federal budget earmarking over seventeen. billion rubles. time to check out the stock market has dropped off a seven month high but remains on course for a fourth straight week of gains a stronger yen has hit exporters can remake a limb plus has shed almost two percent the heinz saying is also lower carmakers suffering as beijing introduced measures to reduce the number of cars in the capital also it skidded over eight percent. russian markets now thursday session finished slightly in the black however trading was extremely weak as many investors have already left for the holiday season. let's take a look at a few stocks over here in moscow norilsk nickel gained off to billionaire ali

pascoe called an e.g.l. to resolve the minus shareholder war lenders gained after russia central bank chief committed to long term low interest rates in an interview on thursday among top gainers was preferred shares gazprom slips half a percent after ukraine dismissed the integration of the gas infrastructure next year. as well but has become placing russian depository receipts. with trading to start on the my six and l.t.s. on friday. twenty billion shares which over fifteen billion have been issued result is the first ever company to issue. russia's flag carrier aeroflot has increased its order for sukhoi superjet and now wants to buy forty of the short haul planes ten more than previously announced analysts connect the decision with italian carrier alitalia which announced last week it was dropping in order to play

in favor of a brazilian rival super had planned to start delivery of the super jets two years ago but the day has been repeatedly pushed back. as the business to join us in fifteen minutes from.

more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations are on the day. wealthy british style. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy. for a no holds barred the global financial headlines. is a report. in india in the movie.

the gateway hotel the brand imperial trying to tell us to. close the. road to the colonel was a photo treat. from our studios. with a russian lawmakers are set to consider the new arms reduction treaty between moscow and washington after it's approved by the u.s. congress the leaders of both countries have praised the progress of the deal which they say is a symbol of this year's growing cooperation between russia and the us. north korea has warned of a nuclear strike on the south angered by the scale of souls latest live fire drills

some of the largest war games in the south korea's history exercises including tons of heavy military hardware and took place just thirty kilometers from the border with the north. christmas eve is also seeing another far less threatening neighborly dispute claims to introduce the world's first christmas tree five hundred years ago. they were the pioneer. explorers ways to have a perfect christmas in the russian capital in moscow out show.