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former russian tycoon to be hotter kosky awaits his sentence after being convicted of stealing billions of dollars worth of oil. for more on one of the most controversial cases in washington join really still frightful old soybean oil spill in just a few more with. fly into frustration moscow's freezing rain ground hundreds of flights leaving thousands of angry passengers feeling abandoned. while there may be bad bottled moskos biggest problem but thousands of passengers remain stranded in the chapel was that bad to clear the backlog. and two years after israel's deadly of sounds of people in gaza are still struggling to cope with life under siege which they say has and.

watching r.t. coming to live from moscow nine am here in marina josh welcome to the program former russian tycoon me how hard is awaiting sentence after being found guilty of a billions of dollars it's the second trial for the ex head of the all giant who was once russia's richest man he's already serving time over tax evasion and fraud this can often tell the court in moscow where the judge's rulings will continue to be read today or you are when are we likely to hear a watt sentence will be. well actually at the moment it's quite hard to say when exactly will hear the time. and his former associates. will have to serve in jail since it is expected that it may take several days for the entire sentence to

be else it's not the first case involving me. actually the last time it took two weeks for the entire sentence to be in this time we already know that. even if we were found guilty of stealing oil from e.u. consists of situation also embezzling billions of us dollars just to remind you because they used to be all of you vigor all companies in the world at the time headed by. who was at the time russia's richest men and all this makes this one of the most controversial cases in russia and for more let's hear this report by my colleague. once russia's richest men he's now russia's most prominent prisoner coming to the end of it eighteen sentenced for the biggest tax fraud in the country's history he and his partner. which charged with stealing two hundred and eighteen million tonnes of oil worth twenty seven billion

u.s. dollars from a subsidiary company of you can see the verdict has been announced guilty. supporters say he didn't break any laws. or was not to blame because he had a whole team of very experienced lawyers who used to tell him that. everything he did was within the law it was the blame of the laws that had dissolved loopholes and them. rose to great wealth thanks to one of the world's largest non-state oil companies you can see the company grew from the states in the one nine hundred ninety s. when government assets would be hived off in often cittie circumstances it soon became russia's fastest growing producer. but the fall to success headed outside to a fanatical ski's associates were later found guilty of a number of night is what. the thieves place is in prison for the cause is accused

of stealing tax evasion and fruit with the new charges he faces it's about stealing hundreds of billions his company's security chief is in prison for murder. but that 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 purely a victim to the economic crimes of its management i think there is a strong effort on the part of many in the media and 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 cut across he is persecuted for for nothing yes there is a very strong case i think against him public opinion is divided i think that most of russia probably sweller recollected what you're all those people like and that's why i don't think that i'm on russian broad public unlike liberals for whom. i come here and find compassion for the prosecutors had asked of her that of course he was 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 masco. well your how does it have the fan story at so far to the verdict. well the defense of course does not agree with the verdict and says that it's going to appeal it and says that if it's not

going to succeed in the rush to take the case to be you appeal court meanwhile the prosecution says it is satisfied with the process. that everything went according to order but once again it may take several days for the final sentence. to be. monitoring what's going to happen in the courtroom on tuesday and will continue reporting throughout the day absolutely gore in the meantime thanks very much indeed for bringing us the update there corpus going off there. and two of moscow's largest airports are working to san people on their way after thousands were stranded by bad weather at one home frustrated passengers have reportedly been staging protests and even trying to break through passport control while a demo day out of way or poor the major power outage caused a huge backlog or you know what. is outside the airport for us there so because you

want to tell us what's awaiting the passengers still stuck in the terminal. you can see power is back on the idea that one of the countries he hops on flights are getting back on. the airport which was the worst of. the bad weather conditions when muscovites soltys freezing rain or some pull out was made by candles seven thousand passengers was stranded on the premises some one hundred fifty flights were delayed there are completing reports as of now and how many lies. and arrived at. the power was back on according to some news agencies some one hundred ten flights arriving seventy people would be loaded from the idea of the water boarding to their online table it seems like only one plane leaving on two. somebody made it overnight thousands of people are still waiting for there are

a lot of the many of them are on the verge of the stereo saying that they're there's not enough food out drinks despite what the press service says they're providing passengers with enough fabric just on to. drink water people say they have to keep you from the five hours to get any points and as a result they will state at the airports expensive restaurants also taxi drivers were we to capitalize on the passengers clients and base and they charge something up to three hundred dollars to get them back to the city center which is six times the regular fare. certainly not the best time for traveling there but what about other moscow airports how are they coping with the weather conditions. on many of the love flights which were initially planned for demise did vote with the three directive to ensure a native of the country's largest airport itself with no electricity blackouts but a phase step somehow the delays for some seven pounds on passengers and again they're complaining they are given no updates on the status of the flights neither

from the airlines from be cowboys which is the most irritating even for muscovites because they don't know what to do to stay at the airport on the or leave home so many of the waiting passengers out with children some of them haven't tried to employees all be absolute they say that the airport is now full of passengers but there are no riverside idiots of companies inside and there is a long queue of people at the information desks trying to get any info updates on the status of their flights the worst stay back to. the company was are a lot of the flights to wrong one of the most popular destinations for new york breaks new brakes on monday funday the first plane with some one hundred forty passengers left sure immediately but leaving thousands of people complained they were. we're not even given hotel but so many ended up sleeping on it's. certainly

not a very pleasant start of the holiday season there for some of the travelers but thanks very much indeed for bringing us the. airport here in moscow. and there are vicious traveling conditions of a very different kind and a few minutes on our team. if i was his three hundred years ago i moved to more local law does it from the army or a variety of other crimes the result was the same the russian close of team falls as the artistic sob trail in southwestern siberia. and two years on from israel's deadly offensive in gaza which killed more than a thousand people palestinians there say they're still suffering in two thousand and eight israel launched massive air and ground strikes on hamas targets in response to walk with attacks and asked to control the region in two thousand and six but tel aviv regards it as a terrorist group going israeli blockade means man if you have

a living there are struggling to get basic necessary goods as our reports palestinians in the region say we leave can't come soon enough. israelis insist their economic siege on gaza is easing but they can't deny the border and international condemnation is heating up and asian aid convoy but politicians and activists from eighteen countries is on its way to gaza i'm border one hundred eighty people food and medical supplies and a determined core to reach gaza on the second anniversary of the last israel gaza war the convoy dubbed asia to gaza solidarity caravan sits sail from new delhi at the beginning of december it's trying to do what an aide for tell a failed to do in may break the israeli blockade on the coastal strip that earlier attempt left nine activists did since then israel insists things have gotten better there is a humanitarian analysis that we are making on a daily basis which allow us to see

a broad picture about the humanitarian conditions and the situation in each moment but gazans complain life is still unbearable. and israel has limited the number of trucks clothes and shoes coming into gaza and this causes problems with coordination in gaza. last month twenty two international organizations issued a report claiming the easing of the blockade has helped bring in materials only for the u.n. and international building projects ordinary goods they say are still not getting in our goods have already been detained in israel for three years but the fines are already called the cost of goods and even if through super goods now they're not for sale there are spoiled and those goods that are getting in there are too expensive for most people here. the goods that we receive are not of a high quality but we have to buy them because we don't have an alternative. cars have also become a luxury two thousand dollars for an engine well just two hundred dollars for

a rather simplistic alternative what can we do there's no fuel for vehicles spare parts inevitably result that it's kind of transportation to. donkey's this is one of the largest cattle markets in gaza and as the economy here plummets it too is struggling to survive. we have no animals and no barley today and even when we have barley people are always here to buy it's been four years since israel imposed siege on gaza to try and break hamas a support and with no sign that life will get better anytime soon most gazans have the eyes on the sea and their hope on the next. policy are to israel russia's deputy minister of foreign affairs alexander spoke to r t after a recent visit to the middle east and he says a coordinated international approach is the best solution for resolving the conflict between israelis and palestinians. are good at doing that as the saying

goes hope dies last we should have an objective view of the situation we shouldn't fall into despair but we shouldn't be too optimistic the most important thing is to take a scrutinizing look at the problems and came to the peace process and work together including the parties concerned israel and the others towards a solution of these problems and even for choosing a common goal which is i repeat a comprehensive palestinian israeli settlement of this. and i can watch the full interview in about an hour's time here on r.t. while we are on line and interactive at r.t. dot com here's a taste of what's lined out right now. in china's eastern promise for you up as beijing offers to buy into struggling countries to keep them financially ticking over. and out of this world you your party is on the cards at your national space station several of them in fact and the details are at r.t.

dot com. and also to look at some other stories from around the world airports on the east coast the united states are going to return to normal after severe blizzards caused thousands of flights to be called off and there's a state of emergency in five states with officials warning people to stay off the roads as the snow deepens and drift forecasters say war is on the way the freezing temperatures will continue. nine man i have been remanded in britain accused of plotting a christmas terror campaign in the capital it's alleged they were planning explosions and coordinated attacks on banks government buildings and busy shopping areas around central london twelve were arrested in nationwide dog raids last week but three were released without charge it comes at a time of heightened security over terrorism across you were. west african leaders are expected to arrive in ivory coast to persuade the incumbent president to step down refuses to leave office since last month's election and despite international

pressure his rival al assad atar is recognized by the un as newly europe warns that any attempt to oust him could throw the country back into civil war. hundreds of people have been forced to flee their homes due to flooding and heavy rain across northeastern australia severe floods have shut down around three hundred roads across queensland including two major highways to the state capital brisbane doherty's have declared towns as disaster zones as predicted that there are several days of rainfall still to come. the russian close it now takes us to explore more of the country it's time heading to south western siberia. and we're in the region located more than two thousand kilometers from moscow the

main city which shares the name briefly became russia's capital after the one nine hundred seventy revolution it also held the imperial gold reserves but it's got a checkered reputation as tom barton discovers. two things in particular it is famous for those are the fate of exiles sent here by the czarist regime along a difficult and dangerous road to get here and prison and forced labor once they arrived the other is a rich military to dish and the city has a military academy established here two hundred years ago has provided very famous officers and generals for the russian and the red armies and it's those themes of examining. on the march under guard these men and women are walking one of the longest and probably the loneliest road in the world they reenacting the march into exile made by thousands of czarist russia never get it succumbs years to go there is some ways winterreise

in say yes a lot of people died on the way this group in the western siberian region of omsk discovered they're living on the only surviving stretch of the original nine thousand kilometers of the siberian exiles track that's had no modern changes made to it. when you come to the track you can vividly picture the convicts on their walk and hear the clinking of their chains you can smell russian history here the story is going to discover that he's descended from some of these exiles and decided to build a museum telling a story he and his reactors now receivers to us from all over the world to show them what it was like with these bodies it's scary to put the shackles on of course but it's interesting if we don't remember history will have no future. it's a monument to one of the restructures cruelest chapters of. the. care. one of the more noble traditions and also because

military professionalism practiced here at the city's cadets college for nearly two hundred years. what was an officer school now gives. always a general education but with the military emphasis this here they created siberia's first cadet corps to prepare officers to protect the territory before that it was a course like military college that's why i think with the successes of those old times. young hopefuls have to pass tough exams to get in here for those that do it's a very different school to the others in arms. giving a book and it's strange to be away from home unusual but when you get used to it if you like home. military personalities are dotted throughout history this is he served as the capital of anticommunist white russian leader admiral kolchak in the civil war from one thousand nine hundred to nine hundred ninety last in residence

he lived here though the study of the man like the maintenance of this building has remained to blue right up until the present day or we still receive hate mail saying that he hanged a lot of people and was famous for severe punishment it's all true but it was at a time of civil war both sides were monstrously cruel. it is sadly the theme of cruelty which links so much of our history to the rest of russia's particularly of exile where they were an apple or a criminal. if i was here three hundred years ago i may have disappeared my local lord i may have deserted from the army or a variety of other crimes the result was the same like my fellow prisoners around me i've got a long and very cold walk ahead into exile in siberia with a talk a bit more about this place in history and its place in russia is alexander you've lived here all your life so just out with twenty one years through basically how on

scouse developed really as a city well the history around because it's a pretty amazing because it was first established as a fortress to fight off the nomads but then during that is. used as a. as for the political exile and you probably know that's the famous russian writer dostoyevsky was an exile here for quite some time. also our city was a capital of russia for for a short period of time for a year under the odd no call chalk and it's sometimes called a third capital the third one after moscow moscow st petersburg and then also sometimes and it's also one of the biggest cities of siberia and one of the most important important ones ok having lived to all your life you obviously quite proud of the city itself i would you say why would you say it makes you proud and how would you say almost fits in to siberia and in the why of russia. if you can so i'm scott i should say maybe fifteen years ago you would have you you would have

been sonny's but it's really developed in the last fifteen years that both state curbs the buildings there and right now we have a very rich aspects of you know social life and cultural life we have famous theorist comment on we have festivals going on the world and i should say. i really am proud to live in here yes. ok from one of the people who's lived all the life there we go picture of all right from its beginnings off until its modern day. well that brings us up to date here on our business news is coming your way in just a few minutes for the.

hello and a very welcome time to delve into the world of business the head of russia's biggest lenders burbank's says he expects the country's inflation to rise to over nine percent next year that's a third more than the central bank's predicted rate of six and a half percent for the next two yet he. says there'll be no chances to cut inflation down from its current level of eight and to help percent he also believes russian banks may revise their current credit and deposit greats because of

celebrating inflation and potential tightening of monetary policy five the central bank. let's check on the stock market forces here in moscow fell off to china raised interest rates increasing fears that as economy will slow russia's central bank also up the interest rate charge for ruble accounts trading volumes have been light on monday as in past a sleep before new year holidays. and in asia japan's nikkei is down over one hundred percent as investors took profit from monday's rise in cocoa stocks that's following the slip on the dollar jones of new york hong kong stocks are down after the long holiday weekend fears of high interest rates and other moves on the mainland threatening investors demand for lend help send local developers shares one. time ticks away until the end of the year those investors still in the market appear to beloved with far fewer opportunities to invest advantage alexander dudek of says trading volumes fell sharply days before the long new year break. i don't

anticipate any movement i think it will be pretty much the same percent. maybe but as i told the market is really for the rest of week i would most probably look at bringing sector. overall pulitzer for the big. sensitive sector on the economy recovery and we'll split the next year and maybe for the rest of you could be a look a bit better than the market the world. oil rally which saw prices hit a two year high on monday is being weighed down by china's second interest rate hike since october fears rose that the met a faction powerhouse sound the world's second biggest oil consumer could slow its economic growth as the country tries to reign in inflation even so prices at the pump are taking a course of floating in the year end record levels. most analysts agree that the world price will remain between eighty and ninety dollars per barrel

next year while this would have a remarkably positive effect on the russian budget in a pre-election here yvonne for merrill lynch says structural reforms are the ones to suffer i think that there are a number of critics i think that they actually from the reform agenda i think that the key reason for russia is that you're into the pre-crisis time when all prices were increasing by double digits i think that we have seen a number of reforms structural industry quality recently and i'm afraid that if we return to the pre-crisis you have double digit increase in oil prices dispositive element that we have seen in the structural reform agenda my diary i thought we have time for knowledge joined us in less than fifteen minutes time and got more stories from our website r.t. dot com slash business.

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