used by the senators these commit washington ten missile defense systems and modernizing its nuclear arsenal but did not affect the main body of the treaty the deal was signed in april by presidents would be added and obama and this guy education reports is being hailed as a major diplomatic victory. in the vote. on this matter on this sort of resolution are seventy one days twenty six nays two thirds the senate president having voted in the affirmative the resolution of ratification is agreed to. and with this approval russian the u.s. will start the new year with a treaty that has become a symbol of trust and cooperation between the two nuclear superpowers i'm glad 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 our nuclear arsenals along with russia. both states have some very

significant reductions underway over the next ten years the countries will cut their nuclear arsenals by a third down to some fifteen hundred fifty deployed warheads on each side the deal also limits the number of delivery vehicles and launchers but even with those cuts both russia and the u.s. will still hold more than ninety percent of the world's nuclear weapons so many agree that the value of the new arms reduction treaty is not just in reductions but i think it's also important to say that the significance of the treaty is much larger than the implications for arms control it really does give a lot of momentum and boost to the broader u.s. russia reset and i think puts obama and medvedev on course to cooperate more closely on a whole host of issues and it may well be that this is seen as a turning point in which the russia u.s. rivalry of the past is finally laid to rest for weeks and months the president of the united states all members of his administration the military all living former

secretary of state and of defense were calling for senators not to ruin this reset opportunity for us who are sure relations and the message did resonate with many senators every senator knows when you're trying to get things done relationships matter and the relationship between the united states and russia has been critical since we fought together in the world war two and will be contin and will continue to be so this is an on paralleled opportunity to enhance that relationship and to say by signature and by ratification of this treaty that yes the united states of america wants to work with russia despite the huge support the treaty has received on many levels a number of republican senators nearly sabotaged it their actions provoked an avalanche of criticism from the country's top six. the experts who feared that the

treaty could become a victim of political games on capitol hill the arguments the treaty adversaries brought up on the hearings ranged from there's no earthly way to do all of this within the time that we have to even more unsubstantial ones like we don't have to have this treaty if we don't have a nuclear treaty with the u.k. and one we don't have one with france in the final days of debates on start some republican senators trying to rewrite the deal which would have actually killed it they wanted to take out the line in the preamble which makes the connection between offensive and defensive weapons stuart straight jackets the united states missile defense capabilities but all of those from the military who testified before the senate said the connection between offensive and defensive weapons is obvious they also maintained it's not start that would make the us weaker the treaty itself explicitly says either side can pull out of it if at some point they deem it

threatens their national security for russians this new start is about balance and equality and they will be in it as long as the us respects that balance. through the established basis of the contract the principles of equality parity and the equal and indivisible security of both parties this becomes the new gold standard for the conclusion of our agreements the agreement not only strengthens the security of russia and the united states but has beneficial effects for international stability and security in general in russia the outcome of the vote in the u.s. senate has been will come from many in moscow it's a signal that the us and russia can now open a new page of cooperation russian lawmakers made it clear they had no objections to the treaty advocates of the treaty see the outcome of the vote not so much as obama's victory but a victory for the whole world which on the one hand is going to have considerably fewer weapons of mass destruction and on the other hand to nuclear superpowers

former adversaries actually trusting each other and looking toward ending hands to provide their security going to check on our team washington d.c. . former democratic party strategist and white house insider robert wiener believes the treaty is vital because it 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 on 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 miter says look from the council on foreign and defense policy here moscow says the connection between the start treaty and the u.s. plans for a missile defense system in europe is still a key concern for russia. unilateral suggestions of the parliament's resolution will follow the line of the preamble of the document and they will stipulate to the facts of the linkage between the offensive and defensive weapons but a nuclear weapon so a missile defense system basically and second i think the russian parliament will repeat but 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 the trussell might fool otoh 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 the threats . and president medvedev says barack obama certainly deserves his christmas break after his efforts in getting the start treaty ratified by the senate. he did a really good job under rather difficult conditions he managed to get this important treaty approved in the senate so security for the next few years will be based on this treaty but 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 know 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. and the russian president was speaking to the country's leading t.v. channels about the main events of the year we'll bring you the highlights of

friday's q. and a session in twenty minutes time for the full version though just head to our website r t v dot com north korean soldiers who reportedly took part in the shelling of a south korean island last month sept young yang was provoked by soles wargames as the first time northern troops have spoken publicly about the violence they appeared in a talk show on state television marking kim yong nails nineteen years as the country's top military commander the head of the anniversary gang war and it will launch what are called the sacred nuclear war again so while the south's president promised retaliation if attacked last month north korea shelled the south island of young killing four people in response to seoul's drills in the area analysts say south korea and the u.s. are seeking to destroy north korea as an independent state. the united states' policy for the last sixty years has been to see the collapse of the north korean

state and its absorption into the south. the lead government is more closely aligned with the us foreign policy goals on the korean peninsula. say the government's president's role in president kim. in south korea. president lee is off time 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 and south korea certainly seized on any opportunity to escalate tensions there is the sinking of the south korean corvette chain on then which was immediately blamed on north korea over north korea and 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 marine garrison on an island that was very close to the

north korean coast you consider that you consider president leaves hostility toward north korea. it's this policy of confrontation the escalating 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. and this week the brother of the late polish president killed in a plane crash in russia has claimed the body buried in cracow doesn't not belong to lech kaczynski. he has not yet announced whether he will ask for the remains to be examined moscow was startled by the comments as the polish side had been involved in all stages of the identification in the last week or so we kept the findings of russia's investigation into april's plane crash the report. a lot of the pilot error was among the main causes of the accident that killed all nice six people on board the jet polish prime minister has called the findings delivered by russia

unacceptable and the report hasn't yet been made public relations expert chris lee says the russian investigation was thorough and no further international inquiries and. i've looked at this issue since the accident and examined the cockpit voice recording transcripts and so on and i can't fault any of the conclusions that have been leaked by the russian authorities i don't believe personally that if we bring an international investigating team into the equation that the findings will be any different to what they are which seems to be the pressure was brought to bear in some way shape or form on the pilots who copilot the aircraft to make them attempt to land at an airport where there were no conditions at all to land too much for not enough visibility and

a lot of pressure being brought on the pilots conspire to cause that accident. and coming up shortly our t. carving up the desert israeli government is for arab tribes off the land that's been their home for over a century find out why. and why bombshell anna chapman becomes a government bad role model for russian youngsters. iran will decide next week whether to sever diplomatic relations with the u.k. islamic republic's lawmakers voted for to ron to cut all ties after the british ambassador to the country criticized its human rights record this week iran saw the comments as an appearance in its internal affairs relations between the two countries have to tear your rated since terrans claim that british intelligence was involved in the assassination of a top selling nuclear scientist last month political commentator says the threat to

break off diplomatic ties is a warning that iran will not stand for britain's meddling. iran doesn't seem to have a problem with britain and the us for as long as it's. good i mix and saw into some also saw cemented in broad daylight in tehran seems to still be you know a person funeral type of. feels that he didn't speak out against the domestic affairs of other nations or will whereas the iranian lawmaker is here to disagree but this is to send a strong warning well those strong woman this is to send the warning to to britain that iran is prepared to go as far as that if such language and such actions such as alleged actions by proxy terrorist organizations. and record breaking billion dollar military deals and high tackling cups are just some of the

results of which i would bet a visit to india this week the russian president also sealed agreements on nuclear power to meet the growing needs of the world's second most populous nation are his current sings following the leaders trip in financial crisis that shit in the group has let politicians any columnists will weigh the question is who really can do that the previous order dominated by the u.s. and europe is being left behind by the new rising giants russia india and china and the deal that struck with president medvedev during the annual summit between russia and india to support this. recently we've done a lot to promote cooperation between russia and india yesterday i spent the whole day in new delhi and we held talks we've prepared and signed quite a number of documents on cooperation between our countries. yet in india russia is seen as a friend it is india's number one arms supplier offering it cutting edge weaponry

such as who to support and supersonic. and now the countries of signed the biggest ever defense contract in india's history what billions of dollars in total it's a deal to jointly develop a fifth generation fighter aircraft costing nearly one million dollars apiece the jets will be able to complete the american esprit de two raptor that costs three times as much at present the u.s. is the only country possessing such technology which it is used even with. the new act asked developed by russia and india have stepped features and noble for the ripley for forces energy is another sector the two countries account when they sing together russia has agreed to do more nuclear power stations for india the two atomic plants it's already built in the south of the country will come online next year and will provide much needed energy for india's growing economy i am

particularly glad that we're. coming to elect lehman time cooperation. and gas sector it reflects the complementarity. the strength of the indoor russian relationship is is that it offers an alternative to their nation ships that countries have with the west you know we can offer alternative ways of thinking on various things whether it's on climate change whether it's on science and technology it's unsparing with the financial opinion will be been witnessing devising economies are being seen as the corner store of the new world order and as we enter the next decade of the twenty first century both russia and india are embarking on the next phase in the strategic partnership got in saying r.t. in delhi. the israeli government is uprooting arab tribes from the desert they've

lived in for over a century the jewish states as the bedouins built their homes without permission but local activists say that the crackdown on arab villages aims to replace them with jewish settlements artie's poles lior has more from the negev desert in the middle of nowhere the remains of a kid village for the third time in two weeks israeli police came with the folders and in a little more than an hour demolished sixty houses. 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 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 in period and british mandate but off to israel took over in one thousand nine hundred eight they've been hard placed 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 would like to push them into the townships were people become simple workers so they would like to give to lend 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 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 jima will build again and in a few weeks the israelis will return policy r.t. in the negev desert israel. i get i always find more stories on our website r.t. dot com here's just a quick look at what's on the line right now a way to take a look at birds to rehabilitate of ghana stands more than one million heroin addicts. russian prime minister of what you are putin to time off from wrestling with diplomatic issues to just wrestle watch the judo blackbelt give a master class at the same fed as burbs school. senior american military commanders are reported to be pushing to expand their afghan campaign into neighboring pakistan and washington already regularly conducts drone attacks in the country as long as a public backlash is likely if u.s.

combat troops begin operating there kathy kelly who campaigns against u.s. led war says america's military establishment is simply hoping for more money. it seems to me that the united states would have an effect similar to what has happened in the past here in afghanistan along with the drone attacks the invasion of a sovereign country. a united states joint special operations whose means of attack include death squads and assassinations and night raids would exacerbate the tremendous almost tidal wave of anti-american sentiment amongst the public united states establishment the military industrial complex companies have learned that you can make an enormous profit you can still fear financial portfolios and run to the bank and that you can do this in another limited way and they've learned

that lesson and they would like to continue it but as far as what the united states might have learned from listening to people on the ground who are in touch with those who bear the brunt of the united states work there i'm talking about the families whose loved ones have been slaughtered i'm talking about families where people are now widowed and orphan the united states doesn't learn from listening to the cries of the pleas of people who beg us to stop the killing. china says it's taken concrete action to help struggling european economies combat the financial crisis atika nomic forum in beijing china's vice premier praised the efforts to reduce debt the union is china's largest economic partner bot cooperation has been challenged by europe's ailing financial health economist marco pierre probably says regimes support is not a permanent remedy. this extends china's political influence in

europe by making a lot of european states dependent on china to buy to buy their debt but it doesn't get away from the fundamental problem in europe europe has a big big sovereign debt crisis and this sees if you like a patch to try and help the situation until the europeans managed to put together some some proper reforms some proper fundamental structures to help the euro stay together moving forward and to date they've been very much dragging their heels in and patching up greece and ireland rather than coming to the table to put together fundamental reform of how the euro actually operates. and also to look at some other stories from around the world in violence following ivory coast's beautiful selection has forced some fourteen thousand people to flee to neighboring liberia at least one hundred seventy people have been killed in clashes

so far most of those fleeing are supporters of opposition leader osama tar when the u.n. is recognized as the winner and come a leader along the rabo is refusing to quit. the former venezuelan president carlos perez has died of a heart attack at the age of eighty eight and he was in the hospital in paris to nationalize the oil industry and survive to coup attempts before it was finally forced from office he was the first latin american leader to be convicted of corruption and illicit enrichment. and in the end rocket carrying communications satellite has exploded just minutes after its launch officials say an error caused it to adopt a steeper angle than a tan it am break up it's india second space launch failure this year a similar rocket developed a fault in april. russia's flame haired former

agents of the tal ana chapman is making an euphoria into political life and this time as the leader of the ruling united russia party movement at a recent meeting chapman made a speech calling on party members to transform the future for the next generation of a chap who shot to fame during a spy scandal between russia and the u.s. in the summer when the f.b.i. uncovered a russian espionage ring she was one of a number of agents deported from the u.s. in a cold war style swap. watching r.t. live from moscow to back in just a few moments with a recap of our weekly top stories stay with us.

libs live just. close some. industries are rapidly developing. to the homeland of those. developed. which became a premier destination for a nineteenth century political. this is the. welcome

back here with here's a look at the top stories of the week historic arms reduction deal between russia and the u.s. goes had in both countries for lower house of russia's parliament voted to give initial approval to the remains on friday after it was approved for ratification by the u.s. senate few days earlier. tensions fly high on the korean peninsula as pyongyang threatens a sacred nuclear war if so carries out war of war games speaking on state t.v. even north troops have accused the south of provoking them into attacking the young

island last month. warsaw questions russia's findings in a plane crash which killed the former polish president and ninety five other people the late leader's brother claims the body buried in cracow doesn't belong to experts say moscow as conducted a thorough investigation. from wiki leaks to this spring's polish plane crash the russian president has given his frank views on the events that shaped two thousand and ten sitting down with the country's leading t.v. channels dimitri need to be out of looked at the highs and lows of the passing year and we bring you the highlights next on our team. mr president. it's. short story that and one other accidents of the year was the democratic president still being a democrat obama is different.