a new strategic arms reduction treaty on capitol hill we know there have been those long heated debates on pros and cons of this major nuclear 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 from russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was more than optimistic over the what we hope the new treaty will have the support of the state duma or we think all necessary prerequisites for that have been met to implementing this treaty will contribute to the security of our country responded to national stability that given this will contribute to nuclear nonproliferation and help our relations with the united states and the rest of the world wilfork the now we had 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 and. three hundred fifty deputies said yes steve against fifty

eight that was the plan to cut the arsenal suppose the treaty itself well it seems like a good start for new start in rather than will be two more sessions at the state duma and also the federation council but we expect they will take place katra the new year holiday see us senate approved at their education resolution a very controversial document in russia's view which they believe contradicts the preamble of the agreement and these resolutions says particular that 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 and to the south systems in haste and europe should have been the biggest he returns. the relations between moscow and washington and this is why it

took me that long to hit the reset button because it looks as i did of those two final draft resolution adopted by the u.s. senate that 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 defense system of the u.s. would be such an emergency situation because the republicans main concerns regarding this treaty were that america's the defensive capabilities could be a factor and president obama did everything to ensure 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 in the world and peace of course played a key role that the document was finally ready. and that was our. reporting

for us there now president medvedev says barack obama deserves his christmas break after his efforts in getting the start treaty approved by the u.s. senate. well done barack obama he managed to push the star deal 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 it's easy to work with 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. his comments came during his annual meeting with the heads of russia's main t.v. channels summing up the results of two thousand and ten. was watching it. this is the third time that maturity that it has conducted such an interview session with the representatives of russia's three main channels he touched upon the subject the subject matters that concerning the 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 in new york. 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 the polish president to come down in that very location is something that is that earlier on 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 you have to it seems mystical and hard to believe our 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. other foreign issues which signatory did of spoke about have dealt with japan for example he was asked the question whether or not he was worried about their relations 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 are exceedingly popular in russia we have to remember that when jordi all the questions have dealt of course with the internal issues and one of those is the case of course in fact the verdicts 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 their position on this or any other case until the verdict be it an

acquittal or a guilty verdict has been voiced this is perfectly obvious 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 go that course because it's a goat 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 i 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 which reiterative touched upon in his interview session he also encouraged the ruling united russia party to be more active instead of just resting on the straw laurels and he also spoke out to the leaders of the opposition parties encouraging them to be more active. the wrong renowned politicians outside the state duma some might call them outstanding some might not but they are well

known public figures like mr m. some of mr mr they're all public figures people might like them or not but they have their own electorate now 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 that 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. artie's arena reporting for us there and in about ten minutes time we'll bring you other points raised during dmitri medvedev that meeting with russia's the main t.v. bosses for the full version had to our website our teeth on top. 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 well one place in america has an unlikely solution for either reports from the town which wants to start making money by importing chinese students. 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 again 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 that they're more clever than we are. you know and we when we do a deal with them we usually. 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 and very depressing for a lot of people you know they've 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. the town's past can also help to reshape its future 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 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 guys that were like whore 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 the israeli government is a brooding nomadic arab tribes from the desert the you've lived in for over a century the jewish state says the bedouins build their homes without permission but there's deep suspicion that the crackdown on air builders is to replace them with jewish settlements more from artie's paulus leader in the desert. in the middle of nowhere the remains of our kids village for the third time in two weeks israeli police came with the folders 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 seven times they've come so far backed up by

a government whose official policy states this is their land. but i think the unofficial policy underneath it is that the land should go to the jews not. the big ones on a medic arabs who've lived in the negev desert for more than one hundred years they claim they used to pay taxes during the autumn and period in british mandate but after israel took over nine hundred forty 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 for them with all the facilities they could hope for but they keep coming back to the desert. the government they would like to push them into account troops where they could become simple workers they would like to give the land to the army and

jewish settlements 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 is 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. 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 the dreamer will build again and in a few weeks the israelis will return policy r.t.

in the negev desert israel on the other news making global headlines right now. the last digit temps for thousands trying to get away for christmas have been thwarted by yet more heavy snow in western europe a shortage of the icing chemicals meant hundreds of flights were canceled in paris at europe's second busiest international hub making matters worse two thousand had to be evacuated from a terminal as snow piled on the roof leading to fears of collapse travelers that have also been stranded in ireland and denmark while the wintery weather also shut dusseldorf airport germany. pope benedict the sixteenth hasn't welcomed in christmas with the traditional midnight mass in st peter's basilica the vatican earlier the pontiff began the holiday by lighting a candle in his window overlooking st peter's square heavy rain that smaller crowds than usual security was tighter this time as well following a lot of bombings at embassies in rome this week. even though it's the season of

goodwill there is a chill in the air in the baltic states and it's all because of the origins of the christmas spruce probably proclaims to be the first but its neighbor says that they're barking up the wrong tree. boyko investigates. it's a white christmas in a stone and lot there a fluffy snow paralyzed and mulled wine all the ingredients of the proper christmas spirit and instead of gifts there is that pile of historic arguments on the tree the two neighbors are in a bitter dispute over who was first to come up with the festive for. the tree here in the reader sasha helps her daughter decorate her fourth christmas tree there in no doubt whose spirit shines the brightest and for the longest time. of course it's very pleasing to think that the first time 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 theory has been cut down to size before somebody can do much to me. but another before i can believe but no i say. first christmas story about. the festive 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 would 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 ditch if i still need shows just how much they have in common christmas comes once

a year but historians and love trains have many ongoing haggles they also disagree about who is really minimal beautiful whose beer tastes better how many bears this nation is allowed to handle nearby woods some of us say that without this legal disagreements life 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 artsy telly in a store near or christmas tree of the season for the little disputes and now back to our top story right now dmitri medvedev secured a session with russia's leading t.v. channels let's hear more of what the president had to say as he wrapped up the year .

it's. mr president but in question on the new start i like one phrase in our henry short story that goes and one other accidents of that year was a democratic president know being a democrat a bum is different he's done a good job he has pushed this important document the new start through the senate why did you have a conversation with him so late yesterday was he still great in their education if you got to. know he's away on holiday it was quite late when we talked after eleven pm our time like any other person he's entitled to rest he's on his christmas

holiday but i think he can rest with the realisation that his rest is well deserved he did a really good job i agree with you under rather difficult conditions he managed to get this important treaty approved in the senate. like i said our security for the next few years will be based on this treaty and in general i can say that it's easy for me to work with president obama because he can really listen to you and hear you he's not impeded by stereotypes and what's probably the most important thing for a politician he keeps his promises he's kept his promises as regards to the new start as regards the w t o and as regards the ratification of a very important treaty on nuclear cooperation and as regards various international issues so i hope he gets a good rest he did a good job and i told him so yesterday i said barack have some rationale for them out there with. people really remember what it past event looked smelled sounded like the year two thousand and ten so one even did i will remember i think

it was even more vivid for year how did you find out about the crash of the polish air force one near smolensk and how did you react. sure store with my. hand. to roll in it was a difficult day i was in some petersburg at the time it was a saturday and i was planning to have a break then my aide told me about what happened or i was shocked it always comes as a shock taking in news of this kind you feel shocked and sorry for the people who were killed and this time to add that it was the entire polish political elite if it happened at that spot to think it seemed mystical and hard to believe it turned out to be true nonetheless but our relations with poland have gone a long way since then i mean when things were very complicated i think that our relationship is less complex now i paid an official visit to poland we talked with the investigation still has to be concluded of course it can't be politicized or serve as a reason to stop blaming each other we have to listen to all parties involved and

accept the conclusions made by international agencies then there is the internal investigation of course of them we can use the whole thing at us and. how do you feel about polish prime minister adult call in the interest aviation committee report an acceptable. well i guess that's what i would rather think that his evaluation was emotional and the result of occurrences in poland's internal politics of poland is shattered the communal mentality is shattered which is understandable because it was a real tragedy but it can't affect our relations and it can't lead to the results of the intergovernmental committee and the investigation into the incident being politicized. why did the government in spite of a tradition that has been going since soviet times admit that spies court were working for russia the incident made it clear to me that russia has annoyed by networking very few switches.

anyone working for our special services is first and foremost a russian citizen they're not cannon fodder or heroes that the state is willing to sacrifice if the soviet union or perhaps even russia has not talked about them before then it was a mistake on the government's policy our main goal in that situation was to get our people out and we did that because as i said they were russian citizens i recently met with intelligence officers and i told them that we will continue doing the same thing in the future if anyone from the intelligence service be at the legal service or not or in a difficult position if these people defend our interests as for the service it can be different legal or illegal if a country claims that it doesn't have an illegal intelligence service it's usually a lie either that or the country in question is a very small sum on the markets can push us through all of them of the most tragic events this year was the massacre of civilians in a village near the investigation into which highlighted the did corruption between

the police the authorities and criminals there were similar a cure and says elsewhere how can this be tackled mr medvedev on there. is a problem but it's an important subject and i'm glad you brought it up there is crime yes and there is corruption but i believe we've cut off the people who are obviously criminals the situation is different to the level of regional and municipal authorities there are people who still live by their own code that's why we need purges not the same purges as those which took place in the one nine hundred thirty s. but we need to cut off those people from power some of the members of the ruling party but that does not mean the ruling party or any other party should turn a blind eye to it on the contrary we need to bring them out into the light expel them from the party to strengthen the parties or thorazine she. would cook for you once mentioned it all political system is showing signs of stick nation how should we deal with this while. but it wasn't just with us parties must feel

responsibility. the authorities they've received a major political party united russia should not just rain but also show intelligence tact and power it should appoint the right people pushing back the corrupt ones and those not willing to work at all or punish them because other party should also participate in the discussion of all the issue it's the fact that they represent opposition does not mean that they're isolated from society's life or they should be speaking openly about all the issues we have. but all the press each of us. i wanted to ask you how you felt about japan's reaction tv's it to the curial islands. well what about me sure nothing has changed for me the japanese seem tense. a lot of take hold back the investor. is going. well i'm sincerely sorry that i was the reason for a break in his political career that was not what we aim for i'm not sure now what he will do but let me remind you that all of the south could allow them is

a territory of the russian federation the president is allowed to visit them you would get why has no president gone there before you well it's a remote place that's true but it's our land nonetheless and we have to develop the kaleido is to ensure that the people there live well i promise that to the locals i told them that and then sent deputy prime minister chevelle off to work there he's still working and we will send other officials to the corals of this doesn't mean we're not ready to cooperate with japan we'd welcome any initiatives on joint economic projects taking into account the historical events that took place there you can manage we are ready to work with them but this doesn't mean that we will give up the curdles it's our territory our partners have to understand that are near our way to meet. the global media have made wiki leaks the main brand of the year there's no doubt about ted how do you feel about it. but as a sort of what's been revealed is interesting some things were quite surprising you know you're afraid of wiki leaks why would i be afraid of the department of state

might be afraid of the not me but they might try to but you know if i was scared of what people might write about me i would never go onto the internet or watch television some other person who has this kind of responsibility has to understand that people don't praise the authorities too often and probably for good reason the authorities have to work efficiently with you but no i'm not afraid of what people might write about me as for the consequences of the publication might have an effect on other countries' relations but not on our relations with the us we don't understand the general attitude of the media and the public we get that information from television and newspapers you open sources so we saw nothing new this reminds me of the story that happened to a soviet diplomat he served as ambassador in a european country and had been granted an audience with the queen but after the audience he sent a cable back home saying the queen asked me about dissidents i had to bring it down a peg that's what happens with diplomats they share with each other how tough they are putting labels on everybody every profession has its own rules our diplomats

write to each other to everyone's entitle to their minutes of fame including ambassadors and diplomats. who are very involved. thank you for these in-depth conversation we sure have been year on behalf of our audience it would be naive to see we hope the next year will be better but we just wish you a happy new year you think number of kids are all right. thank you very much i would like to say that i wish you a happy new year too but i promise this i will do it again you know when that will hit you. you have to say that this deal he's short of time is an eighth grader. right thank you thank you.

we'll. bring you the latest in science and technology from. the future. broadcasting live from our studios in central moscow this is our team and we are certainly glad to have you with us the russian parliament has given its preliminary approval to the nuclear deal with america days after it was approved by the u.s. senate in a vote but the debate over conflicting points made it the senators. will go on into the new year the treaty could see the nuclear arsenals of the two countries slashed

by about a third it was signed in april by president obama and has been hailed as a major diplomatic victory. dmitri medvedev wraps up the year with an annual interview with the country's top t.v. executives he addressed a wide range of issues from russia's political system to the arms reduction deal with the u.s. it is the third time the president has taken part in this deal in a session. and the season's greetings for all of you celebrating christmas day is marked all over the world but for many russians orthodox christmas will only come about two weeks because it's on a different calendar. she's one of britain's finest and most beautiful actresses next helen mirren joins us to talk about her role as tolstoy's wife and her russian heritage don't miss it.