she's available in. this photo. book. as a good. stroke for us to. release . jailed for. russia's once richest man will face more time behind bars i'm catherine outside the courthouse for the details in just a few moments. also ahead president calls for

a firm stand against interethnic violence. some crack down on racially motivated crimes and justice for all criminals regardless of their nationality song promises from the kremlin. and the spoils of war. complete for tourists who think selling bad side of the story. hello this is r t it's eleven pm monday night here in moscow my name's kevin zero in on our top story former tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky has been found guilty of stealing billions of dollars worth of oil by a moscow court the hearing is now over but the reading of the verdict still is incomplete and could take several days more get out his country has the latest from outside the court. so far we know that because of that of course he and his former

colleague level neighbors of russia's once biggest oil giant company you cross have been found guilty of stealing up to twenty over twenty five billion dollars worth of oil and embezzling the funds that of course is that the latest verdict in the second trial is rebuilt that will ski him and his colleagues up currently already serving time for a first conviction delivered in two thousand and five this of course is something that the prosecution seems very happy with they originally asked for fourteen years for mikhail to that goal and his former colleague the defense attorneys are of course saying that the trial has been politicized the evidence not substantiated and in fact the case itself has is somewhat ironic because according to their argument the trial so that is accused of stealing the very well that he was found guilty of not paying taxes for in his first conviction so these are the arguments

that they're using and that they say they will continue using in their appeal they've already confirmed to the journalists that they will appeal this guilty verdict and if it doesn't happen within russia itself they are prepared to take matters outside the country and go to the european court for their appeal now prosecutors of course maintained that everything was done by the book that every piece of evidence was submitted in accordance with procedure and that they are of course not prepared to comment on the verdict any further until it has been read out in full that of course can take days because there are fourteen files in the verdict itself each filed comprises of the nearly three hundred pages and today the judge managed to read around a hundred so. that the math is pretty simple it will take days before the verdict is read in full and the most interesting part right now of course the exact amount of jail time that me hypothetical and plus the neighbors if the. well served will

be delivered right at the very end my colleague that it was overloaded all closer at the man his life and his work. once russia's richest men he's now russia's most prominent prisoner coming to the end of it eighty a sentence for the biggest tax fraud in the country's history he and his partner. were charged with stealing two hundred and eighteen million tonnes of oil worth twenty seven billion u.s. dollars from a subsidiary company. the verdict has been announced guilty khodorkovsky supporters say he didn't break any laws khodorkovsky was not to blame because he had a whole team of very experienced lawyers who used to tell him got. everything he did was within the law it was the blame of the laws that have those loopholes and them the former tycoon rose to great wealth thanks to one of the world's largest non-state oil companies ucas the company grew from

a state selloff in the one nine hundred ninety s. when government assets would be hived off in often chidi circumstances it soon became russia's fastest growing oil producer but the path to success had a dark side to offer that associates were later found guilty of a number of murders. the thieves place is in prison. is accused of stealing tax evasion and fraud with the new charges he faces it's about stealing hundreds of billions his company's security chief is in prison for murder. 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 that he was singled out for prosecution among the billionaire businessmen because of his political ambitions the russian authorities say ucas is pure live victim to the economic crimes of its manager. and i think there is

a strong upper edge on the part of many in the media in the russian liberal media and definitely in the west to to politicize it as much as possible there is no question that. our cause and the rest of the crowd who participated initiated and was very active in the criminal privatisation of the ninety's are guilty of the crimes they're accused of so in that sense i think very few people would fatha carter koskie is persecuted for nothing yes there is a very strong case i think against him public opinion is divided i think that most of the russian publics well i reckon the activity or all those people i call the cops and that's why i don't think that i'm on. broad public unlike liberals for whom he really is and i can he can find compassion the prosecutors had asked that

her that who's forty seven served at least six years on top of this current sentence however the reading of the full verdict is expected to last several days and the sentencing has yet to come down marty mask. next tonight moscow's airport struggling to get back to normal after a blackout that caused the cancellation of over one hundred flights this weekend thousands of travelers remain stranded tonight because the disruption with witness reports that there was an attempt to break through passport control out of frustration first at the capital's main international airport with more. well it's the second day of travel starts the people traveling to. you can see the huge number of people that are still around trying to get their flights incredibly chaotic situation is of course off of the trouble that we saw yesterday when the entire port had a power cut because of the substations the power the airport the power cables.

and that of the sea take down the check in hundreds of flights were canceled hundreds and hundreds more passengers left stranded flight was supposed to be yesterday. flying today. yes we have been me and my mother. actually we stayed at a local hotel it was really nice and comfortable and we're back here today to see if we can get on a flight you know the airport with power around nine pm yesterday and then they managed to start processing some of the flights domestic and international flights started running at about midnight. i can only measure says normalize the situation the atmosphere in the airport is calm and the. passengers have been registered we planned to go back on schedule. but obviously it has caused a heat amount of trouble and we know a lot of the flights were diverted to share a. feeling the strain we share much of

a spokesperson say they've really been trying to deal with the bad weather conditions and they've had some problems a day icing the will they go to the moment of the date of really trying to clear this huge backlog that they have after the problems yesterday get the flights priced to get people where they want to go. coming out the season to be jolly it is of course but not for everyone the pockets of americans jingle all the way millions who didn't get a job for christmas little or nothing to celebrate. the russian president surprised his kremlin colleagues during a meeting on monday to be triggered vet of began a session of the state council modernization commission by addressing the recent racial violence in the country. has got the details. the president today said that as in a phobia and asyik tensions are threatening the country's stability and here he was

addressing local governors and said that they should work more closely with that new groups to prevent the kind of mass clashes mass riots that happened in moscow and inside because barrack on december eleventh over a bought thousand people kalash with police in these two cities in moscow it was just outside the kremlin they were chanting russia for russians and beat ethnic minority groups represented just mostly from the north caucasus those mass rights followed the killing of an ethnic russian the sparta football fan representative and three of the four suspects who were released shortly after that of course it urged drew to fire football fans in moscow it also drew the are a both the president and the prime minister these quick release after such a short detention and they carried out the road investigation whether those policemen were somehow under pressure to do that of course that all raise concerns about a rising tide of xenophobia in the country and also the government's bungled reaction

to that today the president urged police to act more fiercely to act more harshly to disperse rioters next time but i welcome any more of them attempts at inciting racial he should in provoking violence should be stamped out with extreme prejudice forget about loyalties criminals don't have a nationality and they must be isolated and punished regardless of their ethnic and social background and that's from the new prime minister putin who was also present at this meeting admitted that as needed balance that was formed in russia through centuries is now changing and these changes are rather painful and prime minister putin urged young football fans not to try to settle scores up to the games by breaking the law and he also urged them to. stay away from the radicals and extremists are actually nothing to do with the game it's no surprise that the country's leaders beat their alarm the country just recently won the bid to host

the twenty eighteen football world cup and of course it's unacceptable for a country which is preparing to host such a pristine just event that's similar attacks and similar conflicts clashes between football fans and police take place. our correspondent catherine approach over there deeply entrenched on opposite sides of a fragile peace barricade israel and lebanon are fighting a propaganda battle right now having won the hearts and minds of their own peoples the two rivals have said this side some tourists and resulting support a slow report some of the attractions are more than authentic. 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 that we decided to create and develop jihad tourism in order to thwart attempts to distort and falsify history. dubbed pallywood hizbullah land or hamas would these theme parks offer

through all of their own their appeal the danger here is all too real. we try to tell our visitors about the 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 israeli 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 side are bunch of criminals they don't they don't they did tell the world they want nothing of their one of the neighbors this group of tourists is visiting the jewish state through a specially designed package titled the ultimate mission to israel but in the course of one week we brought them to meet with. officials mossad intelligence

brought them to the defense ministry to the border in so be eleven hours they live in is their forward positions and the highlights include a visit to an israeli unit that carries are targeted killings a tour of the lebanese frontline and listening in on army trials of him as suspects i'm looking forward to seeing the and getting a better picture of the fighting. actually this is. one of your books as long as it's based on facts and propaganda is not based on deception and. false presentation it is more than ok 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 to be convinced about when the problem 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 teen television. coming up on the program sending best wishes for. the low daddy i love you so much you with best dad in the world happy new year to join us in the holiday spirit being sent hundreds of kilometers about. twenty three fifty moscow time world news in brief this monday night two suicide bombers killed at least fourteen people in central iraq the attacks were the second this month targeting a government compound in ramadi one bomber blew up a car a minutes later another detonated an explosive vest as people gathered at the scene at least four of those killed were police officers forty seven other people wounded

. nine are in court in britain charged with conspiracy in terrorism charges it's alleged they were planning a large scale attack aimed at landmarks banks and government buildings around central london the men were among twelve suspects taken into custody last week during dawn police raids in the u.k. but three detainees later were freed without charge. five suspected u.s. drone have killed at least fifteen militants in northwestern pakistan u.s. drone attacks are common in was able to stand which is a hub of taliban and al qaeda the be more than one hundred attacks by pilotless u.s. aircraft in twenty ten most of the mid north. coast protesters in the city of abidjan have demanded a compromise no power struggle incumbent leader laurent gbagbo is ignoring warnings from a brain countries who threaten to use force if you refuses to recognize the winner of the recent elections called for a nationwide general strike but. says attempts to oust him could lead to civil war

more than one hundred seventy have been killed and fourteen thousand fled violence following last month's disputed poll. street protests in the u.k. may have quieted down lately but there could be more to come forward british m.p. and minister tony benn thinks the government cuts are threatening the basic rights of the people. we'll 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 the children the right to education is a basic human right and we now have accepted britain most votes in the world right to educate the right to health care. the right to produce justice on human rights.

from the full interview that he gave us you can see the chatting for if you'd care to in an hour's time tonight here at r.t. . as millions of people around the world enjoy the holidays many americans are struggling right now to find reasons to celebrate unemployment and an expiration date on welfare is up the ante is money runs out but as i see laura lister reports next while some are broke others are still raking it in. in the u.s. to use 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 their 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 kovach 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 feel 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 help any more benefits expire at 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're fired there are 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 known as food stamps meanwhile no work is on the horizon it's very hard i mean. the truth of 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 what the lavish christmas decor is just the tip of the iceberg big things like this one are expected to post their second highest near profitability ever recorded second only to last year and still. the average banker 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 or 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 largest corporate profits ever recorded in u.s. history and while the rich may be taking those earnings to the glitz that 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 lauren lyster r.t. new york there is another story that strikes a chord of you rings a bell joining us nobody had logged onto our side our t. dog comments on there along with all our other stories just hit the comment tell us what you think it was good to hear from you and some other. stories tonight you might be interested in also details because one of the. seventy years ago in fact that is the day the moment passport system was introduced in the soviet union go online tonight to see why it was abolished for a period of time but indeed at the time who was allowed to get a passport but a history going back to the present there are two dot com tonight also virtual two photos and videos got a personal look around the historic. beautiful place it's set for of all for

a ballet and petersburg we take you beyond the doors at our t. dot com. this is our team from moscow with just four days until new year he's been checking with first of spirit around the globe and beyond the crew of six korea living on the international space station and planning a new year's party complete with tree and presents and why not tom bodett was lucky enough to told her cosmonauts ahead of the big day. down here on earth we'll be celebrating new year all around the planet in our customer fashion with celebrations and parties but there will be six people who won't be here they'll be one hundred kilometers above on the international space station and they'll have a bit of

a different experience cut off from the rest of the planet as it were have limited communication is each of the crew will be up there for six months they've been doing experiments up there and living quite quite a different life to most of us down here here at mission control in moscow we were able to day to get a chance to talk to them on the on the live link up to the international space station hello my name's tom barton from russia today television merry christmas and happy new year they're fixing their six billion of us down here what is your message to the word. happy new year we wish everyone good health love happiness success in all the new beginnings and plenty of reward in achievement in the upcoming year. also here was father frost the russian father christmas he turned up and on a live link gave greetings from the russian people and from planet earth to the

crew of the international space station and had a quick chat with them he also was with some children here today the children of the astronauts and cosmonauts up there and they were also spoke to speak to their parents. yes hello daddy i love you so much you had the best dad in the world had been new year old. physically it seems that the spirit and the festive spirit of new year and the festive season will be able to penetrate even outside the atmosphere. very much back crosstalk later on tonight just a bit later a couple minutes away so people of ellis guest discussed the effects of the global financial crisis that is more than consumerism and mass consumption is a lofty subject for you but it's business first with daniel. business the price of oil hit a fresh two year high on monday

a mix of opec's production freeze and blizzards in the u.s. pushed brant over ninety four dollars a barrel this morning before edging back lies sweet has also lost ground but remains just over ninety dollars. also is here remorse schoolfellow of the china raised interest rates increasing fears that its economy will slow process central bank has also helped to be interest rate charged the ruble accounts most of the blue chips fell on monday after almost three percent of the announcing production will stop from thirty first december tenth of january gazprom also fell off to saying it will change exports supply. is low off the talks on expanding in liberia . russian markets closed on friday for a ten day break but alexander's a record of analyst finance says many of vestas have already called for the holidays. with a slight decrease most probably on the news of china increased interest rates but

what can be saying now is that the market is quite in. really low and we don't see it we we are not in spitting any drastic or substantial move till the end of the year and for tomorrow as well because most of the braver traders are already or would keep norrin and be in the long qualities. list predict the further strengthening of russia's currency the ruble as oil prices remain high market watchers also remain confident in global stock exchanges for next year but in a culture over reports. the russian ruble strengthened two point eight percent against the us dollar and nine point four percent against the euro between january and event by twenty ten december has dragged yet more games rising oil prices and returning confidence in russia after the crisis. fueling the rally forecast for the ruble remains flat even though it's hard to make predictions i believe the ruble will strengthen in twenty eleven 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 as 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 this practice your. chief economist from do which a bank thinks the ruble has chances to strengthen in twenty eleven do not foresee a complete. free float for 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 the flexibility of the volatility of rubles movements will certainly increase in the coming years but when

it gets down to it the ruble is still have really depended on commodity prices to diversify the economy and slow in bearing fruit that so many analysts expect commodity price inflation in twenty eleven particularly as u.s. authorities print more dollars and that bodes well for the ruble mine which no business r.t. . that's the latest you can always find more stories on our web site www dot com slash business.