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ok question of time already jailed former russian tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky waits to find out how many more years he'll have to spend behind bars. and the time the outside the court in central moscow will be bringing you all the latest details. in just a couple of seconds. russia's prime minister slams the airport and airline personnel for what he calls on acceptable behavior thousands of stranded passengers in moscow said they were left to fend for themselves and. the u.s. military budget grows as less money flows to welfare benefits so americans are wondering whether they're paying too much to fill the nation's war chest.

seven pm in moscow i met treasurer good to be with you here on r t our top story three days before the new year in macau how to cough ski is still waiting to find out just how many more he will spend behind bars for oil tycoon and once russia's richest man still hasn't heard the sentence he and his partner plot on lebanon. will serve after being found guilty of embezzlement or he didn't tell you nobody is outside the court with the latest. but new charges suggest more you laundering and embezzlement persecutors are saying that new crop about its former partner blood on the video stole as much as around thirty billion u.s. dollars worth of oil why are you guys the oil company formally one of the biggest private owned companies in the world in the first trial they were found of tax evasion for which they were standing for eight years behind bars and right now the

prosecutors are insisting on extending that turned out to fourteen years behind bars and now michael died it was cool its way into the scheme through which the money laundering was done as according to the prosecutors the court concluded that about of course not only but if blundered carried out a complicated scheme of embezzling oil and money through dealings with three smaller subsidiaries of you can see some other news to gus. and you guns can have to gross all oil extracting companies each was forced into a deal that was highly profitable for them but it streamlined profitable for you because the result set a billion dollars worth of oil still going by fanatical skin lives if through you can see here is how it worked we always bought from the companies at a nominal price said by you can see it was then sold at the same level to offshore trading companies secretly owned by so that of course skin a bit if when it was then resold at market price they pocketed the difference six billion dollars was moved offshore through thomson have to learn that of course the

negative were found guilty of embezzling a total of three hundred fifty million tonnes of oil worth twenty four billion dollars this latest trial was also widely criticised by the worst calling it a validation of human rights by the russian foreign ministry has made an official statement statement about this saying that if first such a case were to appear in the united states for example that for such charges a person could be facing up to a life time in jail russian foreign ministry has also said that this is a domestic issue and it's all. all about russia's system and it has to be resolved within the country without the pressure from the international community on the port they were is actually expected it's the verdict to be heard before the end of this year but say right now it looks like it might take longer because this indeed in the beginning we heard that there are valid three hundred fifty just north of people who are in that verdict right now we're hearing

a different figure we're hearing there can be more than eight hundred of them and not even half of them have has been voiced yet so it does look like it might take longer than hearing of the first verdict took about two weeks and many experts are saying that in fact this one is a much more complicated case than the first one so it doesn't look like we're going to cnn's over this trial very soon. coming up lock and load it's time to trim the budget. the biggest threat we have to our national security is are we need to cut spending we're not going to cut the defense budget. why defense spending is the last place congressmen are looking to slice america spiralling. out of here putin has told everyone in charge of moscow's airports and their power supply that they'll be working during the holidays this follows severe disruptions caused by freezing rain at several travel hubs across

the capital russia's prime minister says the way passengers were treated by airline personnel was unacceptable authorities are looking into whether there were any legal violations or negligence. of someone that you love so you've got to be everyone responsible for this situation has to be in place and not celebrating the new you did it was ounce of power but people continue to arrive at the end of one of them there was no information provided eight thousand people were stranded there would you do to help people but nothing. bad weather conditions shut down one airport temporarily and caused major disruptions out another dead of electricity cables proctored causing power cuts that left thousands branded ensuring minutes of oh i stopped runways cause severe delays and cancellations flights are slowly getting back to normal but airports are struggling to be able to clear the backlog stranded passengers complained of a lack of information food and water some slept on the floor while others took out

their frustration on airport personnel. well that perfect storm of snow and freezing rain has also paralyzed moscow's traffic leaving drivers with huge delays on the roads this wednesday. has been checking the forecast ahead of the ten day new year break in the country. you would think the russians and muscovites in particular are no strangers to extreme weather conditions lots this winter we seem to have been hit by something out of ordinary earlier today the snowfall was extremely heavy and it paralyzed traffic all over mosco people have been literally stuck in traffic for hours and of course this being one of the busiest shopping periods of the year instead of instead of going and buying gifts for their loved ones people have been forced to just sit on the streets and this movement that you're seeing right here this is the most that many of these people have made that this is the most progress that many of these people have made in the last several hours those nights if i have to leave home by eight in the morning to make it to

work in time i don't have any other option but i think the weather doesn't have much to do with traffic it's a daily problem you'll see moscow's always feed traffic it is a matter whether it's snowing or not it was there are just too many cars she would you know i've been stuck in traffic for five hours of course now is the last disaster weather wise that has that has hit the russian capital over the past several days earlier over the weekend the temperatures have risen unexpectedly in the also drop dramatically and. paralyzed by ice or snow or power outages everywhere we were covered in sheets of people calling very graphic jim a lot of accidents but most importantly power outages have forced the shutdown. because major air hops there were dead about and airports people have been stranded there for days and able to leave for their holiday destinations forecasters say that more ice and rain is expected in moscow and we could be in for something even

more dramatic in people actually may be forced to spend their new year's eve stuck in traffic stuck in airports and whether or not these will actually be merry holidays yet remains to be seated. fifty five trillion dollars and counting that's the total u.s. debt the highest in the world congressmen are calling for tougher cuts with social spending already trimmed but artie's jihad hafiz reports the military is getting more and more cash. if there is one issue that both sides of the aisle agree on and we need to cut the spending yes we need to cut spending it's cutting spending to reduce the country's budget deficit even top pentagon officials acknowledge it as the country's most potent problem the biggest threat we have to our national security as are the federal government's debt now stands at thirteen point eight trillion dollars and is projected to hit twenty trillion by the end of the coming

decade we're not going to cut the defense budget in half. countries military budget now seven hundred twenty five billion dollars a price tag of epic and historic proportions the largest since world war two. it includes one hundred fifty nine billion dollars for america's wars in iraq and afghanistan the reality is this is what america does neo cons like robert kagan who urged war with iraq long before nine eleven helps keep this reality alive by equating military might to global leadership and world domination we intervene in grenada nine hundred eighty three panama nine hundred eighty nine iraq nine hundred ninety one somalia nine hundred ninety two haiti nine hundred ninety four bosnian one thousand nine hundred five cost of zero nine hundred ninety nine afghanistan two thousand and one in iraq two thousand and three. the united states spends

nearly as much on military hardware fixtures and training as all other countries combined we see at a time when there's twenty five to thirty million people who are unemployed or underemployed where forty seven million americans can't go to a doctor when they're sick there's limitless funds limitless resources for the war budget the military budget is hardly ever questioned downtown that is dominated by its industrial complex. advertisements lined the metro. commercials showcase the latest hardware and politicians cave into the lobbying campaigns and you can see it by the budget figures that the united states is in fact a warfare state it's addicted to militarism its addicted to war spending and it's addictive the war profits this is where the war profiteers are headquartered tearing over the pentagon this place is known as contractors row and it's from this clear point we see there were valving doors there which employees from the defense

contracting enterprise jobs at the government and likewise a significant number of officials in the government the pentagon and the cia fly into jobs in the military industrial complex despite this military contractors spend close to thirty five million dollars lobbying congress according to the congressional research service defense contractors also dish out substantial amounts of money for campaign contributions in election years meanwhile a congressional watchdog group found in two thousand and eight over one hundred fifty members of congress had one hundred ninety six million dollars collectively invested in defense contractors and so as lawmakers scream louder too we need to cut spending and federal spending for education health care and social services has been reduced cutting the military budget which makes up over twenty percent of the federal budget is not on washington's agenda jan hottest r. t. washington d.c.

. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe two suicide bombers in iraq the city of mosul have stormed police headquarters killing a high ranking commander three people wearing explosive vests approached the complex one of them was shot four setting off those belt the other two insurgents managed to get inside and blow themselves up mosul is the latest may is the last major urban stronghold of al qaeda in iraq. south korea's president says resuming six party peace talks with the north is the only way to resolve nuclear tensions on the korean peninsula this follows the north shelling one of the south highlands last month killing four young yang said the attack was a response to seoul's recent military exercises which have been called a path of military provocation by the north it's considered the worst spike in tensions on the peninsula since war sixty years ago. city are flooding continues wreaking havoc across northeast australia with water levels are expected to rise even higher in the coming days rains swelled rivers have burst their banks

destroying crops bridges and hundreds of homes almost a thousand people have been evacuated from the worst affected areas and nearly three hundred roads across queensland have been closed authorities have declared several towns in the region disaster zone. later we'll tell you how people in rural russia stay fit whether it's minus or plus twenty. join our exploration of siberia's region find out how young cossacks are preserving the ancient traditions and keeping teen spirit alive. first though out of favor out of office and now in trouble with the law moscow's deposed mayor yuri luzhkov could face charges of corruption money laundering and fraud artie's catarina gracia over reports russian investigators suspect yuri luzhkov alleged murky dealings may have been a family affair. why i call the workers at one of moscow's banks are facing jail for lending too much credit and trust to the city's former mayor your english

cough and his wife russia's richest woman board and find themselves at the central yet another scandal prosecutors suspect them of laundering some thirteen billion rubles almost half a billion dollars in a somewhat primitive that seemingly effective for ot the bank of moscow owned by a friend of which golf is accused of approving a whopping great loan to dummy company which then use the money to buy land from the mayor's wife was here membership in the scam was carried out under the control of city hall and luzhkov personally in three months this premier estate company appeared and with little more than three hundred bucks in his account to get a loan worth five hundred million dollars unbelievable it was clear the company may not pay it back and could evaporate then this premier state company bought land

from bet sooner and it covered her debts while bankers across the world were committing suicide the eggs man's wife came out squeaky clean. on closer inspection it appears that the bank of moscow may only have been a middleman in the transaction suspiciously a couple of weeks before the loan city hall gave the bank fifteen billion rubles and it issued new shares prosecutors suspect this was the money given to prime your estate to buy land from the mayor's wife many are now wondering did the mayor really steal the money for the love of his life the alleged scam haggard mask of ice they say the shady deal was so blatant it looked as if the former mayor took the money from the city budget wrapped it up for christmas christmas for it from his office and presented it to his wife in full view of the bank. the

price paid for the land also raises questions seven million dollars perhaps or of land on moscow's outskirts is astronomic experts say and there is no sign of any construction taking place all of these paths to the bad smell left behind by the former mayors acrimonious x. it. will of the months instead of promoting himself and playing political games should have worked the city has a huge number of problems corruption is going through the roof this is unheard of it's impossible to get anywhere through fair competition someone who gets all the work contracts and tenders who has always won until recently as the mirror of moscow used to say those who exhibited outstanding business skills and prove their right to work on these projects are the most talented entrepreneurs but we know what kinds of decisions were made. now that these allegations are out in the open experts believe those in charge will be forced to pick up the tab. for

glasgow the case has received too much publicity this people will have to pay one should not forget that the man has changed so if they don't pay up they'll be jailed to friend those in. it will be easy there's a loan agreement in place. so the consequences of controversial time as mayor are still being felt and it could be that it's small time bank workers that will be paying the price of alleged big time corruption exceeding the show our teeth. for everything we're covering and much more you can always click on our team dot com here's what's online for you right now. we bring you the story of a russian man who is preparing for the prediction that the apocalypse is coming in two thousand and twelve but its very own arrangements to avoid it. and time for a few yesterday the international christmas festival kicks off in the russian capital with this year's celebrations dedicated to spain all that and more at r.t.

dot com. time now for the latest in our close up series exploring russia both on and off the beaten path. this week the r.t. close up team is on the on screen which is in southwest siberia in the second part of our series we take a look at how locals live there and learn about their customs and traditions our guide tom barton shows us how people survive the cold and what they do for fun. excepting soviet times has always been on the frontier of russia it required people to come here and build it from scratch and then to defend the front both people

with the cossacks and it's their strong and self-sufficient local culture that i'm examining in my report. the view from the end of a cossacks fear but not to worry the young corsican the other end knows what he's doing he's part of a tough cruel tradition which has lasted for centuries. and it's now good to see media they start teaching us riding on which in servant to trickle at the age of thirteen depending on chance abilities or as for me i was a very good do i do horse eleventh as well as i can handle a spear and a saber progress that's got to be on our tom and the others have a demanding daily schedule and horse riding is the glamorous part of the youngsters in the village built this gym themselves and now the training in it will have a lot to do to prove themselves as hunters and horsemen in the training communally fosters a team spirit crucial in this cossacks society. a team

spirit necessary for the cossacks noblest pursuit hunting on the sharp end the beloved fast russian dog the. bred to perfection over centuries and not for any ordinary prey. even though they were selected for this speed in anger because they must be able to get the better of the wolf. well with gauri is master not just of his hounds but of this whole cost village he's called the atom out and he has to show skill in leadership from solving village disputes down to training dogs to catch hares. although he prefers the larger prey will always more restrictive be a likely route in old times to get the chance of becoming an atom and it was considered prestigious to bring home a wolf tied up the three and a walk after the day's outdoor training we caught up with our at a man at the evening meal where he tells us about their history the cossacks

originally came from lambs far to the west of here but they proved a useful militia force conquering and securing siberia for the czars in return for grams of land. the idea was to create villages along the country's border so that people are bound to the land they're living on. the cossacks strong independent traditions were disliked by the communists they were suppressed and marginalized since the end of the soviet union they've been trying to rebuild our self-sufficient way of life especially when it comes to resisting the bad habits of the city. it's no easy matter living in the country of course but on the other hand we're protected from the harm of the city from drugs alcohol smoking. but tonight at least the elders of the village were allowing themselves a few liberties. with me to talk more about life in the siberian villages is alex dude you've been here for a while now in russia and in arms and you've also told outside the big city so how

would you compare life within the cities of russia and outside of. well i'd say that. quite a lot more provincial than. before. have over the u.k. i force a small town in the north of england so i'm used to the small town life also into the villages around. skin in the region people though much more down to earth they're tied to the landlord and have a lot months if not farm to keep animals their. fees lot more healthy than what we have in the big cities and supermarkets and so on it's all locally grown except say tea coffee and sugar. and i guess you could say the lifestyle is healthier except noisily due to drinking is the stereotype most of people do just as they haven't got much else to do. but i say the people there are a lot closer to each other and they got close to that close knit communities because they rely on each other a lot more than say in

a bigger city. ok so you've described a more close to lifestyle family values are going to great connection to where they're from how would you say that that helps people there to survive the greatest challenge that there is which is the ferocious russian winter i'd say that something which is current of all console russian culture in general. like the west where we were much more individualized take care take care of themselves by so that people here in russia and especially in the russian villages have to have to look out for each other just because you can't rely on number one all the time. and it is there something which which you are lacking with the material in terms of family care like child care and so on are the first people you can turn to russia will be your family and your friends and neighbors and so on so something essential and so that's been a sea oil tactic in russia well known for the communist time and during the converse time differently so that song which in turn uses avails today you get

a view there from someone outside russia seeing life in the russian verges and it seems that those close knit ties and strong family values are enough to get people through even the worst of the russian weather stay with us here on r t charlotte up next with the business update. well i welcome to the business program here on r.t. with me was folly russia's aluminum giant resolves rejected the sale of its stake and nickel back to the company nickel offered to buy or sell twenty five percent stake for twelve billion dollars over sell says it's not satisfied with the price will keep the strategic fit feel for was made to end the long lasting battle for control over the mining between its two main shareholders will sell internals holding. in further news or sell plans to take legal action against the nickel for the sale of eight percent of its shack up with. a time figure states deal with

concluded it was lack of information regarding the tone and the price at which it was made also reselling solicit new reveals nicholas share buyback which is aimed at increasing the miners' lives ation. russia's president has said more effort is required to improve the country's poor vestment climate correspondingly corpus going off explains the alcohol of madrid is meeting that okays to turning moscow into international financial center. according to the russian president during the past eleven months only fourteen companies floated their shares in russia dmitry medvedev says this is nothing to be proud that one of the main reasons for this is the current investment climate in russia says that this problem can only be solved using a systematic approach with everybody taking from the head of state and the prime minister to the lowest levels of civil servants. the country's civil

called needs more improvement as well because it's directly connected to russia's economy just to remind you. to transform. meeting here. in this year to achieve one of these steps. to regulate the. information. was the creation of. which will include foreign international experts so we are seeing some small. a lot more is still needed to be done before we can really see that as a. check on the markets now when you. would invest anxious to keep in his final week of.

a mix of the first time. into the red. crisis. here in russia markets of. more than half a percent. there has been another sluggish day for the russian. general. then journalists are slightly positive after the asian markets rebounding. monday and tuesday the markets were falling on the hike of the chinese deposit rate basically the markets are starting to ignore that news on wednesday the main topic for once there was obviously a continuation of the conflict resellers basically training flight and they.