newt and gave the new start agreement an initial go ahead artie's washington correspondent diana chance you can follow the developments. in the vote. on this segment on this sort of resolution or seventy one days twenty six days two thirds of 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 am glad that 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 both russia and the us 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 us 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 world war two and we'll be contin and will continue to be so this is an on parallel 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 had 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. already 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 on substantial 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 start straitjackets 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 u.s. 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 u.s. respects that balance in russia the outcome of the vote in the u.s.

senate has been welcomed from many in moscow it's a signal that the u.s. and russia can now open a new page of cooperation with the president obama did a really good job under rather difficult conditions and he managed to get this important treatments approved in the senate as 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 that because he can really listen to you and he used them he's not impeded by stereotypes and what is probably the most important thing for a politician because he keeps his promises 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. you were weapons of mass destruction and on the other hand two nuclear superpowers former adversaries actually trusting each other and looking toward any plans to provide their security get a check on our team washington d.c.

moscow has repeatedly repeatedly said it could pull out of the start treaty if it feels threatened by u.s. missile defense systems in europe connecting the two remains a key issue for russia and political analyst to dmitri su slav says the country's lawmakers will reinforce that. 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 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 on the date of signing the treaty in prague. might pull out or might consider pulling out from the new start treaty if it considers the development of u.s. missile defense system reaches

a level that russia will interpret as the threats that was a political analyst to dimitri simes love their. now this week saw another major security crisis on the korean peninsula north korea warned it is ready to start a nuclear war if the south continues with military provocations seoul has been conducting a live fire military exercises next to the border with the north and in disputed waters north korean t.v. has shown soldiers who reportedly took part in the shelling of a south korean island last month they say it was in response to south korea's aggressive war games four people including two marines were killed in the attack it is believed to be the worst escalation of tension on the peninsula since the war sixty years ago an expert on the korea blame ford says that no one is provoking a war deliberately but the situation can easily spiral out of control. the danger is if we have new military exercises at sea because the problem is the land borders

very clear the sea border is been arbitrarily and you know actually established by the south koreans along the northern limit line which is not recognized even by the united states. the recent shelling of the of the island. was called palm the south koreans intruding into what the north koreans consider through their waters the danger is escalate. what you hod is sized korean maneuvers which in disputed waters which led to the north korean response of. the artillery shelling of the island we've now seen massive joint u.s. south korean exercises which clearly are leading to the north koreans. upping their readiness for for future for a future attack or military adventurism i don't think anyone's intending to start if you want a full scale war at this point but the danger with escalation is it gets out of control so we see something we need that we need to be concerned about for the

future what we need to see is some gestures from either side to try and step on a maybe an offer from the north koreans for example to give up their their fuel rods from the young nuclear reactor and try and ship them to the scientists will be something that might be allowed us to start scaling down the current levels of tension that was going forward an expert on korean issues on the way diplomatic fallout. find out why angry iran's considering the breaking off all ties with the u.k. . power has been restored at moscow's airport after a twelve hour break over one hundred flights were canceled and others diverted to nearby airports after freezing rain down the electricity cables authorities have been ordered to do everything in their power to ease the situation on the ice covered streets of the russian capital and airports are to tells us how the

downfall of. cables that run the. weather is. coming in. there were no means no place for people to sit there is no transport nothing has been done for the people. running. by the.

story. of the bad weather putting. one. number of incidents. in another. thing and nothing and. everyone. reporting for us. suspected militants have been killed in a counter terror operation in the capital of southern republican. authorities say one of them was the leader of a local terrorist group weapons and a six handmade bombs ready to be planted were found at the scene. with violence broke out this morning. where just a couple of meters away from the building where a group of militants has been walk today in the center of. the counter-terrorist

operation has started early in the morning. the militants will feel used to surrender and opened fire the residents of the houses nearby were evacuated and the whole area has been blocked by the police then the special task force told the fled where the militants were hiding as far as we know by now several militants have been killed and yet to be identified and as the russian and to terrorists the media says this group could be behind the killings of the police officers in the region and launching a series of terror attacks there is also information that the head of the high school a terribly was among the militants and that he was eliminated this is yet to be confirmed by the officials dug a stun has been a very troublesome region this year with many terror attacks launched by the militants trains rails and the whole situation in the region is very troublesome. coming up on r t breaking the silence. millions of deaf people voicing their

concerns because they're only means of communication is still not officially recognized find out why in just a couple of minutes. this week the brother of the late polish president claimed to the body buried in krakow does not belong to lech kaczynski jaroslav kaczynski also the former prime minister says he's not yet decided whether to have the remains exuberant poland has rejected moscow's report into the april plane crash that killed the president and ninety five others the investigation said pilot error was to blame it's still not clear whether warsaw is contesting this current polish prime minister donald tusk said the findings into the accident in southwest russia are unacceptable over one hundred fifty pages have reportedly been sent to moscow detailing where poland believes investigation was flawed aviation expert chris yates says the russian investigation team thorough and no further international inquiry is needed. i think the key issue for the polar side is

probably quite a significant amount of criticism of the polish air force and in particular the captain of the aircraft and his copilot operating that aircraft on the day of that tragic accident and i think that's primarily a major cause for concern. what we'll see you soon with the draft report that's been passed on to publish government i've looked at this issue since the accident and examined the cockpit voice recording transcript 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 when the pressure was brought to bear in some way shape or form on the pilots who copilot the aircraft to make an attempt to land at an airport where there were no conditions at all to land too much for not enough visibility. a lot of pressure being brought on the pilots conspired to cause that accident aviation expert crissy ates talking to us there the signing of a record breaking billion dollar defense contract was among the highlights of dimitri made very visit to india this week the russian president also promised to build nuclear power stations to meet the growing needs of the world's second most populous nation parties can sing has more on the leaders trip. financial crisis that shaken the group has let politicians and economists worldwide question the wall street to school many conclude 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. fortune recently we've done a lot to promote partnership between russia and india but yesterday i spent a whole day in new delhi and we held talks we prepared and signed a number of documents on cooperation between our countries. yet in india russia is seen as a more friendly it is india's number one our supplier offering it cutting edge weaponry such as submarines and supersonic. and now the countries have signed the biggest ever defense contract and he gets history thank you what billions of dollars in total it's a deal to join to develop a fifth generation fighter aircraft costing nearly one million dollars apiece the jets will be able to compete with the american f. twenty two raptor that costs three dimes as much at present the u.s.

is the only country possessing such technology which it is used to share even with its fuel since. the new aircraft developed by russia and india would have steps each of us and noble for the ripley for forces energy is another sector the two countries ago when they sing together russia has agreed to do more stations for india but do atomic plants 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. heading to coming to leg human time corporation. and gas sector it reflects the compliment tentative. this strength of the interaction relationship is is that it off.

to. the relationships that countries have with the west you know we can all fall alternative ways of thinking on various things whether it's a climate change whether it's on science and technology it's on space with the financial up he will be been witnessing the rising economies are being seen as the corner store of a 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. . and you can find more on that story online at r.t. dot com here's a taste of what's there right now with nothing to sniff brushes off the competition . as wigs makers or save the country has the best locks to create pieces and. get blown away by the chilling beauty of good ice caves.

iran is considering severing ties with the u.k. angered by british criticism of its human rights record tehran says the comments were ference in its domestic affairs the islamic republic's lawmakers have already approved a bill to cut diplomatic relations the parliament was due to finalize the decision next week relations between the two countries have deteriorated since tehran's claims that british intelligence was involved in the assassination of a top iranian nuclear scientist last month political commentator mokhtari says iran is ready to go as far as breaking off the top. eyes keep britain's nose out of its internal policy. iran doesn't seem to have a problem with britain and the us for as long as its academics and

scientists are not assassinated in broad daylight in tehran seems to still be. purchased imperial titles. and it feels that we think speak out against the domestic affairs of other nations as well whereas the iranian lawmaker is quite clearly disagree but this is to send a strong morning well a strong warning this is to send a 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 are not stopped. now on to some more news making headlines around the world. supporters of ivory coast's opposition leader. are calling for a general strike across the country with the backing of the international community he claims. is refusing to leave

office at least one hundred seventy people have been killed and fourteen thousand have had to flee the violence following the disputed. eight american tourists have died and more than twenty others were injured when their bus collided with a truck in southern egypt they were traveling from the southern city of the ancient temples of. a truck which had broken down at the side of the road. the ship at the center of a deadly raid by israeli forces earlier this year has received a hero's welcome on return to its home port in istanbul the mavi marmara was boarded by troops as it attempted to break the blockade of gaza to get aid to palestinians nine people were killed on the ship which was part of a larger convoy diplomatic relations between turkey and israel were damaged over the incident and both continue to call on the other side.

series of aftershocks has rocked the new zealand city of christ church months after a powerful earthquake struck the region at least twenty buildings were damaged and power lines. blew out windows and brick work but there are no reports of injuries police have cordoned off the central business area and special units are inspecting the buildings scientists warn that could continue for quite some time. for deaf people in russia communication gets no further than their own community and although there are an estimated ten million people in russia sign language is still not officially recognized over reports on their silence. shit. alex econ to hear the song that. i believe. he had he sings it with his hands touching. that i thought it.

was. he tells me he speaks the most beautiful language in the world. and so despite living in the world of silence aleksey and his fellow performers put on a show full of life and music. the audience appreciates this theatre of the deaf actors is an exception in the world mostly hostile to those speaking with their hands. even though language doesn't officially exist all previous attempts to pass a law giving official recognition to the russian sign language have failed the

problem dates back more than seventy years when sign language was banned from soviet schools in one nine hundred fifty stalin made the situation even worse by calling it not even a sorry date language unlike what some might think it's not a primitive way of conveying basic information it's a fully fledged language capable of expressing just about anything. you know. the head of the old russian federation of the deaf believes there are more than ten million hard of hearing people in the country but no interpreters no t.v. channels almost nothing to ease their interaction with the world the. one of four children the only deaf one in the family.

this is the first beauty shop for the hard of hearing and has a stop interpreter. they may not hear but they're not mute and they love talking. to us. was after all those who calls here all the same people it may be just that the

music of their hearts and souls is loud but still not loud enough to be officially recognized. as you the. party moscow. and coming up travels to alaska and our special report but first i'll be back with an update after this short break.

it's the secret incursion into the country. it's the invasion by means of. traditions the language is really you that the first did beat the beat. and culture. the thing is that the had the dozens are still unaware of what's going on in the land still asking them to my idea but it's like. i don't know any but alaska the great. on our cheek.

hungry for the full story we've got it first hand the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers on. the close up team has been to the region where industries are rapidly developing. now wattie goes to the homeland of those with strength of mind and body. to the land developed by cossacks in ancient times and which became a premier destination for nineteenth century political exiles. this is the armscye russia consult on r.t. . she's available in. central. full stop.

to the beach. including.

the people of the state which once used to be a part of russia alaska the great deal. once it was a part of russian territory there are still reminders to this day children wearing russian national costumes people having russian names and many orthodox churches and standing here but more than one hundred forty years ago it became the u.s. territory though some americans still don't know about. just over the last have no idea about let's like nothing i don't know anything about that alaska it's cold.