we'll we know there have been those long heated debates on pros and cons of this major new clear cuts treaty while unlike in washington the russian parliament or both chambers of the russian involvement must say yes to these treaty and while the rest of the world is now guessing whether russia will say yes or no to these document russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was more than optimistic over the go what we hope the new treaty will have the support of the state duma we think all necessary prerequisites for that have been met implementing this treaty will contribute to the security of our country and huge national stability that people who contribute to nuclear nonproliferation and help our relations with the united states and the rest of the world will for now we have the first results coming from the state duma the lower chambre of the lower house of the russian parliament which said yes to these treaty to the court document in its first meeting in the first voting which took place today three hundred feet to vote three hundred fifty

deputies said here state against fifty eight the plan to cut the arsenals up post the treaty itself well it seems like a good start for new start in russia will be two more sessions at the state duma and also the federation council but we expect they will take place after the new year holidays the us senate approved at the rate of vacation resolution a very controversial document in russia's view which they believe contradicts the preamble of the agreement and these resolutions says a particular a new new trade a new start should not contain the u.s. anti missile programs development and of course russia will be studying the docket the document carefully with regard to the u.s. missile defense plans especially close to russia's borders at the moment the u.s. plans to deploy until he sells systems in haste and europe have been the biggest he returned save the relations between moscow and washington. this is why that long to

hit the reset button because it is so difficult to do final draft resolution adopted by the us senate states that a fully fledged global missile defense system is necessary in this regard i'd like to remind you that the treaty on ambiguously states there is a link between strategic offensive and defensive weapons treaty also says that any party can pull out if an emergency situation occurs and russia definitely believes that the creation of a fully fledged global missile defenses to by the us would be such an emergency situation that the republicans main concerns regarding these treaty were that america's capabilities would be a factor and president obama did everything to ensure that this will not be the case he committed to a twenty five billion dollars ten year plan to make sure that there are many weapons at work and these of course played a key role that the document was finally ready by katrina over there are supposed to be true since loftus from the council on foreign defense policy here in moscow

he told me u.s. plans for a missile defense system in europe are still a major issue for russia but unilateral suggestions parliament's resolution will follow the line of the preamble of the document and they will stipulate to the fact of the linkage between the offensive and defensive weapons but with nuclear weapons and missile defense system basically and second i think the russian parliament will repeat perhaps more strictly in the context of the russian unilateral statements that was published by the russian foreign ministry or on the date of signing the treaty in prague. some might pull out of might consider pulling out from the new start treaty if it considers if the development of u.s. missile defense system reaches the level that russia will interpret as a threats with his part president medvedev says barack obama deserves his christmas break after his efforts in getting the start treaty ratified by the senate. short

well done barack obama he managed to push the starr bill through the senate and he did it in very difficult circumstances this treaty will become the cornerstone of security in the world in the coming years when it's easy to work with obama he keeps his promises he's done a great job and he's now on holiday so i wish him a happy christmas and a good rest. but his comments came during his annual meeting with the heads of russia's main t.v. channels summing up the results of twenty ten. watch that. this is the third time that me to read it has conducted such an interview session with the representatives of russia's three main channels he touched upon the subject the subject matter is that concerning to foreign policy and he also focused of course largely on the internal policy but to start off with things that concern the foreign policy he basically talked about some of the main events of the year and one of those unfortunately was a quite sad event that of course was the tragic death of the polish president in

the plane crash. continued it was also a place where thousands of polish nationals were killed by the soviet secret police in the one nine hundred forty s. i do have the plane of a polish president to come down in that very location is something that is bitterly or wrong make something that the russian president spoke about as well. who of course it always comes as a shock taking in news of this sort you feel shocked and sorry for the people who were killed and this time to add to the entire polish political elite that happened to it seemed mystical and hard to believe relations with poland have gone a long way since then things were very complicated i think that our relationship is less complex now the investigation still has to be concluded it can't be politicized we have to listen to all parties involved other foreign issues which he did of spoke about how he dealt with japan for example he was asked the question

whether or not he was worried about their relations or with the country following his visit to the coral islands which japan considers to be their territory and the russian president said that he's not worried about that he's certain relations between moscow and tokyo will remain to be top notch because japan and japanese culture exceedingly popular in russia we have to remember that majority of the questions have dealt of course with the internal issues and one of those is the case of me. in fact the verdict in his case will be right and. just a couple of days the president being a lawyer did speak about the case but from the point of view all the president and a lawyer as well. no government official and this includes the president has the right to state the positional additional or any other case until the verdict. guilty verdict was this is perfectly obvious to my general position as a lawyer is that the legal practice works with what is possible and of course material it is said. that the public or anybody else for that matter should not to

see me as a second fishel scapegoat he says that he if if there is any proof if there's any evidence that any other russian businessmen of any caliber has committed a similar crime that would think mr medvedev is ready to see the evidence on his table and to take according measures that of course freedom of speech and democracy were also two major issues was reiterated of touched upon in his interview session he also encouraged the ruling united russia party to be more active instead of just resting on the throat laurels and he also spoke out to the leaders of the opposition parties encouraging them to be more active. renowned politicians outside the state duma some might call them outstanding some might not but they are well known public figures like mr just because ya know. they're all public figures people might like them or not but they have their own electorate well part of public politics. and of course when it came to the freedom of speech and he did

have changed the format a little bit he actually posed a question to the three heads of the russian major t.v. channels asking them if they believed the freedom of speech existed in the country because in his opinion television has not been quite active in covering the events which were interesting to the people and that of course wrapped up the almost two hour long interview session conducted by the russian president earlier today. that's a really good reporting for us there well next we've got some of the key points raised during to me to my brothers meeting with russia's main t.v. bosses we got the full version streaming whenever you like to see it as well on our website r.t. dot com brand new look the web site as well as you know check it out for a week or two also there tonight but be but why don't kings of the road in the drive for living a free life find out what else russian the harley davidson bike is and cossacks you have the correct discover that they have in common unlike me because i know i've

got the story under silent struggle russia's deaf community talks to our team we brought you this one yes they didn't catch it the talking in their own language sign language to explain their difficulties in getting heard. this is r.t. from moscow in the boom years the united states long championed the cause of capitalism but globalization and outsourcing means it's experiencing some of the downsides right now however one place in america has an unlikely solution to reports next tonight from the town that's making money by importing chinese student . millinocket mean 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 international trade is what basically took the people of industry in the united states now it's not just here in the in the town of no one market it's worldwide chinese. you know and we when we do a deal with him we usually. get the sound of it. today millinocket is a small town of five thousand the closest smaller movie theater is an hour's drive away many of the once bustling businesses in town now stand empty and abandoned have been 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 to this desire to learn and get ahead by 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 their labor market and you know one point four billion people i think the competition is good for us and we have to learn the jobs with economy work 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 some people will have an issue with 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 about high tech and way more advanced than us but ten times more money in like in a better society and then you look at us and we're like poor and have 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 mean. in the states to look at a program coming up next here on our t.v.

join us as we travel across american soul that was once very much part of russia. it's the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. tradition language. this is the first to go pete could be. culture. the thing is that the have the genders are still unaware of what's going on in their lives you're still asking what you. like. i don't know a thing about alaska the great. one archie. more news now the israeli government so brutal nomadic arab tribes from the desert that they've lived in for over a century the jewish state says of the bed it was built without permission but there's deep suspicion that the crackdown on arab villages is to replace them with

jewish settlements both maltese paula sleep in the negev desert. in the middle of nowhere the remains of all i'm a keep village. for the third time in two weeks israeli police came with the voters as and in a little more than an hour with 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 what 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 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 just the big ones on a medic arabs who've lived in the negev desert for more than one hundred years they

claim they used to pay taxes do not mean period in british mandate but after israel took over in one thousand nine hundred eight they've been hard pressed to prove their ownership of the land they don't have any legal documents proving that this land is theirs they have agreements of buying and selling between themselves but according to the law of 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. 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 townships were 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 this 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 an arab jew mel torme has lost his way house and seven houses but he hasn't lost his resolve i don't miss. we are men of peace we don't use the gun the man who came to destroy our houses are the bad pieces of this land we did not fight back when they came but the fight will continue because tomorrow

when the sun comes up will build again and in a few weeks these raids will return policy r.t. in the negev desert israel. through top world news stories clashes between the taliban and security troops near the afghan border in northwest pakistan have left at least eleven soldiers and twenty four militants dead civil tenure as attacks were launched against five checkpoints in the tribal region involving around one hundred fifty taliban fighters the military has launched offensives over the past few months but insurgents have continued to attack in the taliban and al qaeda stronghold. west african leaders tonight warning the use legitimate force against ivory coast's incumbent president to make him stand down refuses to quit despite losing last month's election which he says was rigged the un recognizes the opposition leader as the winner his access to funding has been frozen by the region's central bank making it difficult for him to pay civil servants and military staff two hundred have died in post-election violence which has put the

country on the brink of civil war. which attempts for thousands trying to get away for christmas have been thwarted by yet more heavy snow in western europe a shortage of the ice and chemicals meant hundreds of flights were canceled in paris and europe's second busiest international making matters worse two thousand to be evacuated from a terminal the snow piled on the roof leading to fears of collapse travelers have also been stranded in ireland and denmark where the wintry weather also shut off airport in germany. or those managing to be where they want to be this holiday season is a chance to get together and celebrate here in russia christmas is still a couple of weeks off but a cathedral in moscow is opening up its doors in the western tradition the saving of a conference there for the festivities. here in the immaculate conception catholic church will mosque around five thousand catholic have gathered for a traditional mass three of them are being held tonight first one in russian then another one in polish and the final one that's going to take place at midnight

moscow time will also be held in the russian christmas day mass will be held at this church at three pm moscow time tomorrow so for those of you english speaking experts wanting to attend and join the celebrations the mass will be held in english so you can join the festivities here there's another catholic church in moscow that is kept french catholic church and they will be having a mass in french as well well this is the spirit is indeed very festive and holiday spirit is in the air as it has been heavily snowing in moscow all day and see it looks absolutely gorgeous tonight it's all covered in clean white snow so indeed the christmas spirit is in the in there for those of you celebrating it's a night in moscow. and indeed if you are celebrating christmas a very happy christmas to hear from me and the rest of the our team well it's a season of goodwill but there's a chill in the air in the baltic states because it's a whole about the origins of the christmas spruced an unarguable of

a moment latvia proudly proclaims to be the first but its neighbor says the booking of the wrong tree on his exam a boycott explains a bit more. 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 but instead of gifts there is a pile of historic arguments on that tree the two neighbors are in a bitter dispute over who was first to come up with the festive for. let's light up the tree here in riga sasha helps her daughter decorate her fourth christmas tree there and no doubt whose spirits shines the brightest and for the longest time. of course it's very pleasing to think that the first ever 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 demonstrate me. that another before i can believe but no i say. first christmas story. that you get. the best of precut has reached such a pitch that even santa claus is weighing in. if you ask the fish people will 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 a sign this symbol of contention for the chief ice to neighbors shows just how much they have in common christmas comes once a year but historians and loved ones have many ongoing haggles they also disagree about who is remind them of beautiful whose beer tastes better and how many bears

this nation is allowed to hand in nearby woods some even say that without this legal disagreements life would've been too boring so in a way this latest christmas treat controversy is just another way of making christmas everything merry or somebody's got artsy tallinn estonia. well christmas continues to pack a punch in about ten minutes time to. discuss the fate of christians living in palestinian lands us to come but first the latest in the world of business this friday night. hello welcome to the business news i'm sure. the credit portfolio of russian small and medium businesses has reached one hundred billion dollars this year prime minister vladimir putin says the government will continue to support banks that give loans to the sector. also with. the amount of credit that russian banks gave

to small and medium enterprises in twenty ten is one trillion rubles more than the previous year this means that the total amount is now roughly three point two five trillion rubles and we will continue to stimulate banks to work together with small and medium enterprises and. now let's take a look at the markets that my sex ended the week flat after closing in the red on friday down almost half a percent and in a fourteen straight week of gains the r.t.s. fared better finishing up in the black up point two three percent wrapping up a successful trading week trading volumes were light as investors prepared for the holidays. and gas probably over thirty percent even after the gas giant said it would not give ballerinas any discount for russian gas and the talks that were how this afternoon it's very bad preferred shares have also tumbled as investors cashed in on strong gains from the past few days bucking the trend is no else nickel after tycoon all of their possible called an extraordinary general meeting to resolve the

minor shareholder disputes. and russian markets hardly moved this week as investors were buying gifts for christmas and new year rather than the stocks maxime or last year wraps up that week. this week was relatively calm and that's mostly because the majority of the market players example large ones from europe and the u.s. on christmas holiday. treat volumes very little but. one of the interesting events of this week was the disclosure of charges from the alleged merger between. units which longer dot the stocks of these companies. and today is one of the busiest shopping days of the year as people hans last minute holiday guess for family and friends reports are just sales are well up on last year but in a coach never has been to one of the biggest malls in europe. so just know we

are having here in. the holiday spirit. of the snow. here in the center of moscow so is the. russian shopper rushing into the stores to buy last minute presents for their family and friends for the country's biggest holiday but this time the russians plan to celebrate the upcoming holiday on a big scale forty four percent of the population already claim that they will spend most money for the coming new year and christmas. for well we still consequences of the global financial downturn but still in terms of the price of course it ranges from time to one thousand dollars. to visit one of the biggest shopping malls in europe i was told that the for this season. it's like. tops. and that's all the business news for this hour you can always find more

stories on our website that's r t dot com slash business stay with us. 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. i am observing nature and discover it's. neat to. communicate with the wild and. test yourself and become free. see what nature can give you see. wealthy british stock. markets why not scandal and. find out what's really happening to the global

economy in the kinds of reports. fifty. five. these are all top stories tonight russia's approval of the nuclear treaty with america. over conflicting points in the u.s. senate's resolution. give each other a christmas roasting with a squabble over who was first on the festive decorated tree. season's greetings across the. opposition parties to show some competition as he

wraps up the year by leading t.v. channel. programs continue next. why christians in palestinian areas are living at a rate of knots right now despite living in religious communities there for centuries before it's in a few moments time. you believe. the future. and. welcome to.