we know that he has already arrived at the courthouse where we are right now and of course this verdict has been much awaited not only here in russia but a broad international media and local media following the story very closely to see whether mikhail's about a former oil tycoon and c.e.o. of the oil giant will be found guilty of charges of fraud and embezzlement he is of course charged with theft of billions of dollars of oil this is of course his second trial and potentially a second conviction is already serving jail time for previous crimes also including fraud tax and. embezzlement tax evasion. money laundering and various other crimes no course if a found innocent of these latest charges in the hope that could be free as soon as next year if found guilty however he will remain in prison up to twenty seventeen

prosecutors of course have asked for a fourteen year sentence but that sentence will be counted starting with the timing of that started serving his sentence which was in two thousand and three so the fourteen years if they are given to me. will of course and in twenty seventeen which is when he will be released now this verdict has already been delayed by nearly two weeks we know that the this verdict was due to be read a number of days ago but for no understandable reasons the judge delayed that announcement and is expected to make it today to start reading the verdict today. his lawyers of course maintaining his innocence saying that they will do everything in their power to protest the convention of the conviction should be read today and of course take it as far as european courts not just with russian courts. should

the conviction that the verdict is read today be guilty. of this has been very controversial case since it started and it has attracted a lot of attention a lot of media attention as well tell us more about why has it been like this. well michel that is of course a very controversial figure both in russia and abroad he is a former oil tycoon the former c.e.o. of russia's oil giant company you cuss and day he was charged with. men tax evasion of fraud and money laundering. and charged and found guilty on his of course serving his first prison term now with a few of his colleagues one of those. is also facing the second charges that we hope is so their verdict will be read today hopefully in just under an hour's time the figure of myself and of course a very controversial one many in the west arguing that the case has been heavily

politicized and the conviction therefore is also a political one not a legal one prosecutors in russia of course maintaining that everything has been done by the book and according to the law my colleague. looked a little closer at the man and the controller see surrounding him. once russia's richest men he's now russia's most prominent prison after serving an eighty attempt for the biggest tax fraud in the country's history in a second case against him the prosecutors are demanding fourteen years in prison for him and his business partner. back a day to do their first conviction they are charged with stealing two hundred and eighteen million tons of oil for twenty seven billion u.s. dollars from a subsidiary company of yukos. supporters say he didn't break any laws he was not to blame because he had

a whole team of very experienced lawyers who told hole used to tell him got. everything he did was within the law it was the blame or the laws that have dissolved loopholes and them the former tycoon rose to great wealth thanks to one of the world's largest non-state oil companies you. the company grew from the state selloff in the one nine hundred ninety s. when government assets were being hived off in often shady circumstances it became soon russia's fastest growing oil producer political task ucas had said for themselves who wasn't connected to the country's economy or the nation's robe that wasn't part of their charter for the company to work or russia's benefit along with bringing others who started using state property for a long good. but the path to success had a dark side to a political associates while a defendant guilty of a number of murders the most high profile death being that of the mayor of new

fifty two guns and oil town in the year olds in one nine hundred ninety eight he had insisted that hugo's pay a local taxes in full and was killed. the first place is in prison holocaust is accused of stealing tax evasion and fraud and it's not about some trifling amount with the new charges he faces it's about stealing hundreds of billions and i'm not just talking about him his company security chief is in prison for murder they didn't like the mayor of nifty hugo sk so they killed him then there was another woman in moscow who refused to sell her little store to them and they killed her then they didn't like the hitmen they hired and he's killed as well for their cause he has always insisted he's innocent of the fraud charges which put him behind bars ever since his arrest in two thousand and three ignoring his past many in the west believe it's a political case and her of course is a victim who's suffering for funding opposition parties and pursuing his own energy

policies the russian authorities say you can is purely a victim to the economic crimes of its management if the prosecution has its way because of course he will not be free on till twenty seventeen but if he's found not guilty he would walk free in less than a year. r.t. moscow. so as you see the controversy surrounding me. and his trials and tribulations continues despite the fact that it's been over a decade since he has been in the media spotlight today of course the saga continues and we'll be keeping you updated with all the information that we're getting from the courthouse. and you can read thanks very much indeed for bringing us the latest on this case covering those are there. to other stories now here in our team for millions of americans christmas joy is a little hard to come by this week that's because behind a turkey in tinsel is a struggle to land

a job as lauren lyster reports even though welfare has been extended the clock's ticking. in the u.s. to the season for holiday cheer charity and this year for some of millions of jobless americans despair now why did i work all of those christmases why did i give up that time with my family if now i have nothing and all of the work that i've done in my life for no reason for teresa this used to be her busy season at work but she was laid off from her job in the gas and heating business more than two years ago and has been unable to find any steady work since i look for work every single day i fill out applications u.s. lawmakers reached a deal this month to extend unemployment benefits for millions of unemployed americans we're all going to have the best holidays we can but lost in that story are millions of jobless americans like teresa who don't even qualify for this health anymore benefits expire ninety nine weeks but

a job doesn't magically appear by their own accounts and activists buying on their behalf these americans no longer count in this economy left out in the cold and out of the statistical surveys when for many for example their phones are cut off they are not counted and no one can say that they are but they're struggling arguably the most to get by merry christmas you. fire there people like sixty one year old gabrielle a laid off veterinary nurse like a record one in seven americans to eat she now relies on a government program that helps pay for food no news food stamps meanwhile no work is on the horizon it's very hard i mean. the truth that matters are really nothing out there despite the tough financial situation so many are facing these will be happy holidays first of all st thanks for one the lavish christmas decor is just the tip of the iceberg big banks like this one are expected to post their second highest near profitability ever recorded second only to last year and still the

average beggar bonus may come out higher that means the average year end bonus would exceed last year's of more than one hundred twenty four thousand dollars a person but if banks are in this money what's so wrong with that many of the banks that are doing well are only doing well because the public bailed them out so we're seeing is a transfer of wealth from in a way the needy to the greedy is unemployment soars last quarter american companies posted their barges corporate profits ever recorded in u.s. history and while the rich may be taking those earnings to the glitz of new york's fifth avenue for holiday shopping in the shadows or those struggling to see a little light at the end of the tunnel we've been cut off and we've been practically ignored by almost everyone that's out here the people in our government and the people you know we're in the media they're looking for any hope despite a system they see as sympathetic to business and banks but stacked against them

we're really living in a society where we don't count this is really marie antoinette. at the balls while the french people starved and that's not different and they're fighting in that society to have holidays that count as anything resembling happy there's a sense of. it's supposed to be here and it's not here lauren lyster r.t. new york appears. in just a few minutes we ask whether the failing afghan drugs fight has another purpose merit is antenor at its agency in the region is struggling to stand the opium trade with claims that it's simply a cover for other activities. and taking a trip on the troika why there is still plenty of porth power in one of russia's most loved traditional symbols. power is returned to one of moscow's main

airports following a twelve hour blackout over one hundred flights to and from out of an airport were canceled while some were diverted after freezing rain ruptured the cables some sixty flights were canceled and dozens delayed at moscow's sheremetyevo airport as the runways froze over but lights are getting back on schedule now over four hundred thousand people in the moscow region were also left without electricity for hours although temperatures are just below freezing it's unusually warm for this time of year and it's caused a range of freeze on contact with power lines bringing them down drivers are having a tough time to pass sheet ice on the roads has made it difficult for salt to be spread to make them safer leading to more accidents and traffic jams. the bitter rivalry between israel and lebanon a stake in a twist with competing theme parks beaches showcasing their side of a propaganda battle hoping to win over tours to get their message across but as

you're explained some are questioning the morality of displaying the spoils of war . it might not be quite the real thing but it sure brings one up close and personal dozens of tourists flocking to hizbollah strongholds deep inside lebanon at the low we decided to create and develop jihad tourism in order to thwart attempts to distort and falsify history. dubbed pallywood hizbullah and hamas would these theme parks offer through all of their own their appeal the danger here is all too real and how will we try to tell our visitors about real events that took place in this region many stories are about those who gave their lives for their brothers. and in the space of sixty thousand square meters all the trophies collected by hizbollah fighters are displayed captured his radio weapons and tanks alongside katyusha rockets and grad missile launchers. it's given us a chance to see firsthand how wars are fought. but what is jihad to tourism for one

tourist is nothing short of terror tourism for another here and now under other sides a bunch of criminals they don't they don't either they tell the world they want nothing of their one of the neighbors. and so the battle to win the hearts and minds and pockets of visitors on the mop up operation after the real war in the arena of pop culture and entertainment taking people to those places is a very powerful event for those people to shape their mind and to convince them wasn't we convinced about this group of tourists visiting the jewish state through a specially designed package titled the ultimate mission to israel in the course of one week we brought them to meet with. better officials will start intelligence drove them to the defense ministry to the border and gas that soviet eleven hours they live in is their forward positions and the highlights include of his attorneys

really unit that carries are targeted killings at. of the lebanese frontline and listening in on army trials of hamas suspects i'm looking forward to seeing the color and getting a better picture of the franking you can actually see. that you're one of the journalist books as long as it's based on fact propaganda is based on deception and . false presentation it is more than ok when the problem is done terms hit home with photographs and memories but far from the usual snapshots these ideological holiday makers have a different experience to share point three our team tell of. the massive flow of narcotics out of ghana stand as a major world headache an effort by america's drug enforcement administration have made a little impact this year artie's military contributor says that's because the agency's got bigger political ambitions. the outgoing year could have been and

should have been they did a year in afghanistan but instead according to the latest we kill leaks batch regarding the drug enforcement administration activity all across the globe these turned out to be not a hay day. in afghanistan but instead it turned into the may day for a indeed since two thousand and six when driven by political motivations the a heavy assumed in numerous paul workers and expanded its thirty from drug enforcement to counterterrorism activity it's hard to say who motivated obviously the hidden agenda for d a expanded authority from drugs to terrorism was mostly driven by internal turf battle and ego trip of its leadership to assume more political clout and paul worried at the white house having failed on

counter-narcotics especially since the whole counter-narcotics offense if in afghanistan have been totally occur tail and put on the back burner since reacher of holbrooke totally hijacked the counter-narcotics policy in afghanistan as a result of the drug enforcement administration has turned itself into the voyeuristic out feet eavesdropping and watching on everybody everywhere and doing absolutely nothing when it comes to reid's true core mission fighting the drugs no accusing the war on drugs have the political undercover operating as they see a front company. but you know if you live from moscow we are aligned around the clock for more news and analysis and let's take a look at what's in line at r.t. dot com right now why the u.s. is saying no to not citizen as un members support a russian resolution to clamp down on the far right ideology washington votes the

other way. also marking a date for doomsday the russian man who was preparing for the ancient prediction that apocalypse is coming in twenty twelve and refuses to be for armageddon. also take a look at some other stories from around the world in ivory coast opposition leaders for a nation general strike until the incumbent president steps down barring babo refuses to leave office despite international calls while the west african leaders say they will remove him by force if you fail to go baba warns that any attempt to oust him could throw the country back into civil war the u.n. says over one hundred seventy people have been killed while fourteen thousand have fled the violence following last month's disputed elections. severe weather conditions are causing massive disruption across the eastern coast of the u.s. thousands of travelers are stranded this snow forces hundreds of flights to be canceled

a state of emergency has been declared in maryland north carolina and virginia forecasters say the wintry weather is moving north with more snow and freezing temperatures expected. out of losses collided with a truck near the southern egyptian city of aswan killing eight americans and injuring over two dozen other people the vehicle was carrying thirty seven passengers and was traveling in convoy to the ancient egyptian temples the bus then hit the truck which have broken down at the side of the desert road. and london streets may be quiet for now but that could all change in the new year angry students whose massive protests disrupted the capital last month are likely to return while the government pushes through plans to trouble college fees and they've got the backing of one high profile elder statesman as our team here is later. i believe it will build up and build up because i think it is a threatening the whole nature of our society and so i would expect it would have

very very profound political effects in the future there are moments in history when people look around and say we are being controlled by those who don't have to listen to us we've got to trade the right to be educated right and yeah and the right to produce justice our human rights. and more from the veteran british political tony bennett and just over an hour's time here on our team. cars maybe skating and sliding their way through the wintry snap there's one russian mode of transport that's galloping had once again the traditional troika has fans young at all even czars and so we're it's happened big fans through the centuries and if here is how horse power is making a comeback it's not very often the thought of the whole scarves becomes the symbol

of an unthought nation and there that's exactly what's happened with the troika a true symbol of russia come join me for a ride to the north as possibly the world's most exciting full of transport. probably the reason the troika is so famous is because it looks like it shouldn't work but it does troika me three in russian so this carriage consists of three horses reversed amazing thing about them as they using different stats at the same time the holes of the middle is trotting with ones around that are galloping a troy can develop speeds of up to fifty kilometers to people right here who are controlling how destroyed operates and even desperately with it sometimes it's a skill that has to be trained for years and years and years old. like my father used to ride the troika and he taught me what to do after serving in the country's main cavalry regiment i was sent to the communist party's leaders durch or i had

all the party officials in the back of my carriage british native he loved to go fast but now there's no one to take the reins from me. if you think about russia how it's different to say western europe the distances are longer the kilometers harsha so what we needed was some horses that could travel long distances without losing death stamina going at high speeds and that's exactly how the troika developed first that was used for the postal service maybe some by the fire services after a while it became almost a symbol of decadence and luxury the troika stopped just being associated with the irish stock recy but became a sort of symbol for the country itself or russia wild untamed going somewhere really fast but where and why when the soviets came to power in nine hundred seventeen they rejected a lot of the symbols of old russia but the troika was one of the symbols that they actually kept for a while during the time of the soviet union it was given to foreign dignitaries much like you know a pound as given by the chinese government now as the soviet union was collapsing

the tradition of the troika's began to decline but quite soon they made a big comeback as a sort of status symbol for the note of a reach. well i could sit here all day talking about the history of writing troikas but really you haven't experienced it until you've read literally kill self eagleburger and see. lots of fun there in the snow well in just a few moments will lift the lid on domestic violence in the united states which is reaching disturbing levels before that you know he has a business update here in r.t. .

hello and a very warm welcome to the business program for all has hit a two and a half month high last december and continue to grow out of this project further strengthening of the currency as oil prices remain high with market watchers confident in the global stock exchanges but in a question about reports. the russian ruble strengthened two point eight percent against the us dollar and nine point four percent against the euro between january end of and the twenty ten december has drugget more games rising oil prices and returning confidence in russia after the crisis are fueling the rally some of the forecast for the ruble remains flat because even though it's hard to make predictions i believe the ruble will strengthen into a d. level and remain stable. the central bank of russia says it may relax controls on the ruble further next year i said aims to make the currency free floating. this is key in realize the the government's ambition to promote it is an international

reserve currency the importance of the ruble has also recently been giving a boost by the start of trading against the chinese yuan on the my six given all those factors you know slightly several of the chief economist from deutsche bank thinks the ruble has chances to strengthen into an eleven four c. a complete. free float for the ball in the next several years i think given the dependency on oil prices given the volatility that we see in the markets the central bank is likely to be cautious although i have to say that the flexibility of the will the volatility obols movements will certainly increase in the coming year but when it gets down to it the ruble is still haven't he depended on commodity prices to diversify the economy are slow in burien. it that's many analysts expect commodity price inflation in twenty eleven particularly as u.s.

authorities print more dollars and bodes well for the ruble. business r.t. . let's check on the stock markets the nikkei is trading in the black helped by positive news from china which hiked interest rates to curb inflation in tokyo elpida my memory jumped four percent on reports that the company will enter talks with taiwanese firms with an eye to forming capital tie ups can and will stop the wrong one percent after the company said it plans to raise its full year dividend based on its earning outlook and expected capital demand for investments around saying it's closed for a public holiday. and in russia the my six end of floods last week up to closing of the bread on friday down almost half a percent ending a fortune straight week of gains there are two yes better finishing in the black up point twenty three percent wrapping up a successful trading week trading volumes for light as investors prepared for the holidays. and gazprom lost over half

a percent on friday even after the gas giant said it would not give any discounts for russian gas spare plant preferred shares also tumbled as investors cash in on strong gave the past few days back in the trend was new rules nichols point thirty nine percent after tycoon allegedly pascoe called an extraordinary general meeting minus shareholders just beat. and stock markets are wrapping up another winning here with waves of bullish projections swaying invest as. much creech air says the markets have already crossed the christmas rally finishing line. going to show when you're reading. this week we will most likely not see any significant volumes of trade although there could be minor movements in certain companies overall most of the more your purchase appears are still being christmas and preparing for a new year there might be changes in some utility companies i wouldn't rule movements in the markets on thursday or friday towards the end of the year. and

that wraps up the business bulletin join me in less than time. wealthy british style. has been tied to the tires on. the.

market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with much stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to conjure reports. which are to live from moscow these are the top stories former oil tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky set to start hearing the verdict in his second trott is currently serving time for tax evasion and money laundering and faces new charges of theft. millions of americans are struggling to find some christmas cheer this festive season even though jobless benefits have been extended for a further ninety nine weeks one is still proving hard to come by. and tourists are

the latest weapons being engaged by israel and lebanon in their bitter. i've already interest showcasing their side of the propaganda battle with competing theme parks but critics question the morality of displaying the spoils of war. so they had lions here on our team now the staggering number of american women fall victim to domestic abuse our special report investigates the problem next on our. porch of abuse to me. i can summon up than one word despair. and i'm just praying that if you didn't find me if i could just live through the night that i would get my kids out of here because i knew that it was going to happen was that he was going to kill me.