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former russian tycoon tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky awaits his sentence after being convicted of stealing billions of dollars worth of oil. for more on one of the most controversial cases in russia join me. in moscow in just a few minutes. flight to frustration moscow's freezing rain grounds hundreds of flights leaving thousands of passengers feeling abandoned. but it may be back on it want to moskos the easiest tops but thousands of passengers are still stranded. in the couple of minutes from where people are backing to clear the backlog. and two years after israel's deadly offensive people in gaza still struggle to cope with life under siege which they say has an east.

it's three pm in moscow i match reza good to be with you here on r t our top story former russian tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky awaiting said this after being found guilty of embezzling billions of dollars it's the second trial for the former head of oil giant yukos who was once considered russia's richest man he's already serving time for tax evasion and fraud. outside the court in moscow where the judge has continued to read the verdict gora so when will the sentence be announced. at this moment it's hard to see when exactly will hear the final sentence meaning the exact time of. his former associate will have to serve in jail because of the judge is continuing to read the verdict and he's expected that it may actually take several days it's not the first time that. he's involved in the case

and last time it took two weeks to read the verdict. now the defense seems hopeful that we may hear the final sentence in the near future. go through. the judges reading out what the court considers to be the evidence against because i'm glad to limit it from the information we've got we understand that the court plans to finish reading the verdict this year it will go to with them good. results of that of course you know what only we did have been found guilty of us dealing or from you consists of securities and embarrassing billions of u.s. dollars just to remind you you used to be one of the world's biggest private oil companies back then headed to buy. at the time russia's richest man and that's why this case is one of the most controversial ones in russia and for more on this here's this report will recall that it was going. once russia's richest men he's

now russia's most prominent prisoner coming to the end of it a.t.'s sentenced for the biggest tax fraud in the country's history he and his partner platon lived in what charged with stealing two hundred and eighteen million cans of boiled work twenty seven days down from a subsidiary company company thinks that it has been announced guilty of his 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 before me tycoon rose to great wealth thanks to one of the world's largest non-state oil companies you can see the company grew from the state selloff 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 path to success headed outside to a. so you see it well a defense of the government is horrible for. 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 security chief is in prison for murder. and there has always insisted he is 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 you can is purely a victim to the economic crimes of its management i think there's a strong upper edge on the part of many in the media and 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 privatization of the ninety's are guilty of the crimes they're accused of so in that sense i think very few people would fath and khodorkovsky is persecuted for nothing yes there is a very strong case i think against him public opinion is divided and i think that most of russia will probably smell a recollected if you're all those people like and that's why i don't think that a man. brought public unlike liberals for whom. he can 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 thing though that is expected to last several days and the sentencing has

yet to come. r.t. moscow. so you know what's been the reaction to the verdict so far. well there's already been a strong critical reaction from the worst of washington has said that such a verdict will horn russia's image when it comes to human rights germany has said that this will be a step back for russia when it comes to modernization but the russian foreign ministry has called. on the united states and the european union not to interfere and not to apply pressure on this case saying that this is simply a case when a person has to answer for his crimes in front of the law and also outlines that some of the offenses that. have already been found guilty off are considered to be a severe offenses in many western countries including the united states where people convicted of some of these crimes can even receive life in jail meanwhile

the defense does not agree with the verdict they say that they are going to try to appeal it and even ready to take this case to the european court if they don't succeed in russia and they're even preparing to make a public appeal to the president after the final sentence is announced the judge is saying that the prosecution has provided more than enough evidence and cleans of that everything is being done by the book of course will be monitoring everything that goes on in that courtroom on tuesday and will continue to report on this case as the day goes on. as kind of live outside the courthouse reporting. the other top story we're covering today two of moscow's largest airports working hard to send people on their way after thousands were stranded by bad weather at one major hub frustrated passengers were reportedly staging protests even trying to break through passport control president medvedev is ordering

a complete investigation into the conduct of moscow's airports are. one of the capital's major terminals with more. this is how one of most easiest tops looks like power is back on and flies are getting back on should you like the idea that the app which was worst hit by bad weather conditions over the weekend when a snow storm disrupted pala lines in the area as a result of that some one hundred fifty flights were delayed and over eight thousand passengers were forced to sleep on the app or its premises now we can see that information is getting back on the screens of the app or before people had been complaining that they were receiving no updates on the flights whatsoever and even muscovites had to spend hours and hours here inside the airport having no information on whether to leave home on keep waiting for their flights well let's go for how long they've been waiting for their flights inside how long have you been waiting for a flight. i was due to leave for terms of a from the twenty seventh they promised

a flight will depart today but i don't know yet there's no information on the screens coolie office in television and they said the plane at two o'clock today. says all the passengers have spent more than two days inside the airport complained they were not given hotel butts and that was not enough food and drinks the press service of the airport says they regularly hand out lunch boxes and also provide stranded passengers with drinking water so what's the situation adama denver airport is gradually improving we've called in extra staff to help resolve the problem and we're handing out water as well as hot and cold meals people are calm we hope the situation will be completely resolved by tomorrow some of the passengers even kalash with the representatives of companies and complain that the airport is full of passengers but no representatives so companies are inside and largely people complain on the lack of information on their flights are the hardest

of all it is for parents traveling with their kids many of them have been at the airport for holmes. and long hours post gives me a little heavy been waiting for your flight where i'm going to we're going with this is a twenty six boxing day and we're going to northern ireland to belfast to buy a heathrow so we have so we were at the airport when their electricity went off. the council to we were told to fly yesterday which is council were on a flight this morning which is counsel them are we being put on to they can o'clock flight which is obviously being delayed so honestly what you think about how the airport has been dealing with the problem. actually not very well but i don't think any reporters are very well with these problems as we're seeing across europe and other local schools bs is top stream it's about an airport which didn't have any electricity blackouts also bases had to delay suppose some seven thousand passengers many of them have been clashed with the representatives of and companies

and with police they try to stall and possibly control zones they block blog beach areas and try to stage protests and system to meet to handle have people mostly complain that they were denied hotel baths and they ended up sleeping on the floor so so far why payola taken rushes to law just add ports. we're online and interactive at r.t. dot com here's a taste of what's lined up right now in china is eastern promise for europe as beijing offers to buy into struggling countries to keep them financially afloat. and out of this world new year party is in the cards at the international space station and several of the details online at r.t. dot com. two years after israel's deadly offensive in gaza that 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 rocket attacks the bloody conflict drew worldwide condemnation over the huge number of palestinian civilian casualties israel blockaded the strip after it came under the control of hamas in two thousand and seven a group that it were guards as a terrorist organization since then aid has been rigorously restricted and most rarely reaches its destination paula slee reports on the relief effort that palestinians say 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 an asian aid convoy with politicians and activists from eighteen countries is on its way to gaza 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 till

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 the gaza strip on 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 they receive our goods back now they are 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 but what can we do there's no fuel for vehicles drano spare parts inevitably result that it's kind of transportation to donkeys 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 the massive support and with no sign that life will get better any time soon most gazans have the eyes on the sea and their hope on the next little or policy are to israel. turning now to some other stories

making headlines across the globe airports on the u.s. east coast are struggling to return to normal after severe blizzards caused thousands of flights to be called off services have now resumed into and out of boston new york and philadelphia but heavy snow and strong winds are still causing delays authorities have declared emergencies in five states with officials warning people to stay off the roads as snow deepens and drifts officials say it could take a week to clear the backlog of canceled flights. nine men have been remanded in britain accused of plotting a christmas terror campaign in the capital it's alleged they were plotting explosions and coordinated attacks on banks government buildings and busy shopping areas around central london twelve were arrested nationwide dawn raids last week but three were released without charge this comes at a time of heightened security over terrorism across europe. west african leaders are expected to arrive in ivory coast to persuade the incumbent president to step

down laurent gbagbo refuses to leave office since last month's election despite international pressure his rival all isaan a.o.r. tara is recognized by the un as the country's new leader babo 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 because of 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 authorities have declared towns as disaster zones it's predicted that there are several days of rainfall yet to come. turning to russia closeup now as we explore more of the world's largest country this time headed to south western siberia. they were in the on screen journal ok did more than two thousand kilometers from

moscow the main city that shares that name briefly became russia's capital after the one nine hundred seventeen revolution but also held the imperial gold reserves but it's got a checkered reputation as artie's 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 which 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 and czarist russia. it succumbs years to go there some ways winces in say yes

a lot of people died on the way this group in the western siberian region of omsk discovered their 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. you have going to discover that he's descended from some of these exiles and decided to build a museum telling a story he and his reenact has now received as it has from all over the world to show them what it was like when 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. care was. one of the more noble traditions and also because

military professionalism practiced here at the city's cadets college for nearly two hundred years the. 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 it's strange to be away from home unusual but when you get used to it if you it's like home. military personalities are dotted throughout on books history the city 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 amps history to the rest of russia's particularly of exile where they were an admiral 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 who

lived here all your life so to start with trying wonders through basically how scouse developed really as a city where are the history around because it's a pretty amazing because it was first established as a fortress to fight over not. meds but then during the czar regime it's used as a place 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 are quite proud of the city yourself 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 well. if you

can so i'm scott i should say maybe fifteen years ago you would have you you would have been so nice but it's really developed in the last fifteen years they've both stayed repurposed the buildings and right now we have 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 of living here yes. ok from one of the people who's lived there all their life never got a picture of almost right from its beginnings off until it's modern day. stay with us here on our team is up next with the business update. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get

a human voice face to face with the news make us. feel. me. time to check all the latest business news 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 next year spare bunk also says there will be no chances to cut inflation down from its current level of eight point five percent he also believes russian banks may revise their current credit and deposit rates because of

accelerating inflation and the potential tightening of monetary policy by the central bank. and russian president dmitry medvedev has just confirmed that this year's inflation exceeded the planned targets prices grew by over eight point five percent mostly due to some hit way which he had agriculture and spark shop food inflation. check the markets now european stocks a slightly higher as markets attempted to bounce back from losses in the price session with gains led by banks and well stocks the german dax the splotch to positive hit remains close to the public. and russian forces a high of the sol with about four tenths of a percent on the mizen scathing point two percent. most of the blue chips are trading in the right after a series among the top loses for the second consecutive day into raw is on the rise in reports the utility launches a new joint venture with industrial holdings russian technologies and general

electric j p's to produce gas pipelines for the project worth around one hundred million euros. that's time ticks away until the end of the year of those investors still on the market appear to be left with far fewer opportunities investment manager alexander's. trading volumes fell sharply days before the long you have 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 being sector. overall. more sensitive sector on the economy recovery and we'll spread the next year and maybe for the rest of it will be a look better than the market overall the world rally which saw prices hit

a two year high on monday is being weighed down by china's second interest rate hikes and. fears rose that the metal faction powerhouse and 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 blow to me year round record levels. sunless agree that the oil price will remain between eighty and ninety dollars per barrel next year and while this would have a remarkably positive effect on the russian budget in a pre-election here if from merrill lynch says structural reforms are the ones to suffer i think that there are a number of critics i think that actually from the reform agenda i think that the key for russia is that returning to 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 these positive elements that we have seen in the structural reform agenda might die. more business news analysis time and you can get most or a small website that's r.t. dot com slash business. wealthy british style but it's time to.