bring you the latest in science and technology from. the future.

a question of time already. find out how many more years you'll have to spend behind bars. and. the board in central moscow will be bringing you all the latest details on the new what it calls in just a couple of seconds. russia's prime minister. and the airline personnel what he calls unacceptable behavior thousands of stranded passengers in moscow said they were left to fend for themselves. plus the u.s. military budget grows as less money flows to welfare benefits. so wondering whether they're paying too much to fill the nation's watch.

news twenty four seven this is our. just days before the new year now. he is still waiting to find out just how many more days or years he will spend behind bars before mile oil tycoon and once russia's richest man still hasn't heard the sentence that he and his partner. will so after being found guilty of investment. is outside the courthouse for us with the latest. new charges suggest more you laundering and embezzlement persecutors are saying that me profit out is former partner blood on live aid if so as much as around thirty billion u.s. dollars worth of oil why are you going to 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 sentenced to 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 cold slangy the scheme through which the money laundering was done as according to the prosecutors the court concluded that about of course top 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 go all oil extracting companies each was forced into a deal that was highly profitable for them but extremely profitable for you because the result said billion dollars worth of oil still going by her that of course can live as if through you can see here is how it worked the oil was 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 own skin a bit if when it was then resold at market price they pocketed the difference six

billion dollars was moved offshore 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 dish ill system and it has to be resolved within the country without the pressure from the international community on the floor of the third day of the hearing has come to an end and media lou is expected that the hearing of the verdict would be done before the end of this year and the beginning you heard that there were three hundred pages worth of paperwork in diverting right now we're hearing that it could be as many as eight hundred of

them and not even half of them has been voiced yet so it does look like it might take longer than until the end of this year. putting right there outside the courthouse well you always live from moscow and coming up for you shortly lock and load it's time to trim the fat. biggest threat we have to our national security is we need to cut spending we're not going to cut the defense budget and. find out why defense spending is the last place congressman looking to slice america's spiraling. prime minister putin has told everyone in charge of moscow's airports and the power supply that they will be working during the holidays it follows severe disruptions caused by freezing rain several travel hubs across the capital perfect storm of snow and freezing rain has also paralyzed the city's traffic one estimate has the length of queues at over three thousand

kilometers more than the distance between moscow and barcelona. are reports. you would think wildcards would be used to all sorts of extreme weather right now especially when it comes down to winter conditions but this year especially residents of the russian capital have been in for something of a trial when it comes to weather conditions a particularly heavy snowfall has paralyzed traffic all around the city traffic but notice is that average people today will have to wait to spend about three to four hours stuck in traffic besides you know 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 this traffic it's a daily problem yourself always full of traffic it is a matter whether it's snowing or not there are just too many cars she would you know i've been stuck in traffic for five hours you have to also keep in mind the

fact that over the past weekend temperatures have risen significantly in the drop literally overnight in the entire state it was covered with ice sheets of ice on the roads on the sidewalks and all of that ice is now covered by snow so there are massive traffic disruptions because of the conditions on the roads there may very many accidents the ice that has engulfed the russian capital over the weekend has paralyzed not just the traffic on the ground it actually also caused nothing disruptions a few of most because major airports don't want to insure near to thousands of people stranded for days on end without proper food water. someone actually see it go through everyone responsible for this situation has to be in place celebrating the new year there was out of power but people continue to arrive at the airport where there was no information provided eight thousand people were stranded there

what did you do to help people with nothing but weather forecasters are saying that this kind of sort of weather be actually take a turn for the worst as there is more ice and more ice rain is expected to fall in mosco in the next couple of days so this actually may not be such a merry holiday season for after all. reporting them now fifty five trillion dollars and counting that's the total u.s. debt the highest in the world congressman are calling for tougher cuts with social spending already trimmed but it's artie's if you don't have this reports the military is getting more and more money. 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 is our 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 and have. to stop. country's 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 that town 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 its addicted to 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 the revolving door through which employees from the defense contracting enterprise one job to the government and likewise a significant number of officials in the government the pentagon and the cia fly into jobs at 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. . he is coming to you live from the heart of moscow where it's not just. minutes past nine in the evening let's get to some other world news in brief that. five suspected islamic militants have been arrested for allegedly planning a. police say the. offices of the danish newspaper the controversial prophet mohammed cartoons five years ago officials describe the process as the most serious ever attempted in the country the publication of the cartoon depicting the prophet mohammed with a turban caused massive protests among muslims across the world. president of south korea says that resuming six party talks with the north is the only way to resolve nuclear tensions on the korean peninsula followed the north shelling one of the south side wins last month killing four people.

recent military exercises being called a quote path of military provocation by the north it's considered the worst. since the war sixteen years ago. severe flooding continues to wreak havoc across the northeast with water levels expected to rise even higher in the coming days rain swollen rivers are. destroying some 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 several towns in the region as disaster zones. or just a little bit later we'll tell you how people in rural russia stay fit whether it's minus twenty or twenty. you can join us on our exploration of siberia. find out how the young preserved.

out of office. now in trouble with the law moscow's deposed mayor yuri luzhkov could face charges of corruption money laundering and fraud as r.t. secretary cutover reports russian investigators suspect wish cops alleged murky dealings were a family affair. why 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 you're a lush cough and his wife russia's richest woman in a 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 fraught the bank of moscow owned by a friend of which golf is accused of approving a whopping great loan to

a dummy company which then use the money to buy land from the mayor's wife is 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 managed 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 better 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 into piers 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 is shewed 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 mosque of ice face a vitiated 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 preserve it to his wife in full view of the. 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 acts it. delivers in the months instead of promoting himself and playing political games the mayor 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 to. know that these allegations are out in the open experts believe those in charge will be forced to pick up the tab. for glasgow got out of 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 find those in charge will be easy there's a loan agreement in place. so the consequences of laskowski 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 exhibit

pressure r t moscow. and all of our stories and a much more just head over to our website that's r.t. dot com and here is some of what you'll find there waiting for you right now we bring you the story of the russian man who is preparing for the ancient prediction of the two thousand and twelve apocalypse but he's making his own arrangements to try and avoid it. time for a fiesta international christmas. festival kicks off here in the russian capital but this year's celebration is dedicated to spain which is waiting for you twenty four seven just a click away. dot com. all right well time now for the latest in our close up series exploring russia both on

and off the beaten path. and this week team is in the region which is in southwest siberia in the second part of the series we now take a look at how locals that live and learn about their customs and traditions our very own guide in the region shows us how people survive in the cold and also what they do for and to take. 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 that front both people with the cossacks and it's their strong and self-sufficient local culture but i'm examining in my report. the view from the end of a cossacks beer but not to worry the young cossack on the other end knows what he's

doing he's part of a tough rural tradition which has lasted for centuries. similia there's dietitians friday night and we turn servant to trickle at the age of thirteen depending on chance abilities and as for me i was a very good do i do horse at eleven as well as that i can handle a spear and a saber progress that's got to be all our tom and the others have a demanding daily schedule and horse riding is the glamorous part the youngsters in the village built this gym themselves another training in it will have a lot to do to prove themselves as hunters and horsemen in the training communally fosters a team spirit to fill in this cossacks society. a team spirit necessary for the cossacks noblest pursuit hunting on the sharp end the beloved fast russian dog the bars bred to perfection over centuries and not for any

ordinary prey. even though they were selected for their speed and anger because they must be able to get the better of a wolf welcome with gauri is master not just of his hounds but of this whole course 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. though he prefers the larger prey was more restricted b.-a likely to root in old times to get the chance of becoming an atom and it was. prestigious to bring home the wolf tied up the three an award after the day's outdoor training we caught up with our ottoman in the evening meal and he tells us about the history the cossacks originally came from lands far to the west of here but they proved a useful militia force conquering and securing siberia for desires in return for grants of land. here before an interview with the idea was to create villages along

the country's border so that people are bound to the land they're living on having youth at 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 the self-sufficient way of life especially when it comes to resisting the bad habits of city. it's no easy matter living in the country of course but on the other hand if we're protected from the harm of the city from drugs alcohol smoking would go. 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 jude you've been here for a while now in russia and in arms and you've also traveled outside the big city so how would you compare life within the cities of russia and outside them. well i'd say the obs is quite a lot more provincial than some peers where i was before. have over the u.k.

i've crossed a small town in the north of england so i'm used to the small town life but i also been to the villages around and in the region people there are much more down to earth they're tied to the land a lot of them have a lot but it's not on they keep animals their. fears long was healthier than what we have in the big cities and supermarkets and so on it's all locally grown it's a tea coffee and sugar. and i guess you could say the lifestyle is healthier except oyster a bit drinking the stereotype of people there they're 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've got close knit 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 and a 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 so that song 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 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 if there's something which which your liking whether whether it be material or in terms of family care like child care and so on are the first people you'll turn to in russia will be your family and your friends and neighbors and so on so it's absolutely essential and so that's been a survival to tactic in russia from the move for the communist time and during the congress time definitely so that song which continues in prevails today with 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 whether. it is tom barton reporting right now

or this is r.t. live from moscow where it's now about twenty four minutes past the hour do stay with us because in just a few moments charlottes here with the business. inside it is bad old she's available in hotels the story of the military ambassador speechmaker tell atripla so tell the truth i tell you go. tell. dostoevsky you see if there's a visitor. and

i welcome to business program hey aunty with me is folly russia. has rejected the sale of its stake in nickel bunked the company nickel also to buy twenty five percent stake for twelve billion dollars but we're not satisfied with the price keep the. fields was made to. control over the minor between the two main shareholders' interests. to take legal action against michael the sale of eight percent of its share capital to commodities trying to figure. the deal has concluded with a lack of information regarding the terms and the price of which it was made also was selling soliciting can you prove your old snake was shat buyback plan which is aimed at increasing the mine this couple is ation. wash as president has said more

effort is required to improve the country's poor investment climate his correspondent explains the outcome of it is meeting the case it's turning into an international financial sub. according to the russian president during the past eleven months only fourteen companies are floated their shares in russia dmitry medvedev says this is nothing to be proud of that one of the main reasons for this is the current poor investment climate in russia says that this problem can only be solved using a systematic approach with everybody taking part 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 me to believe it is pushing to transform moscow into an international financial center and at this meeting he also talked about some positive steps being taken this year to achieve this goal one of the steps was

the passing of a law to regulate the use of insider information and another step was the creation of an international consulting council which will include foreign international experts so we are seeing some small progress but to the head of state himself a lot more is still needed to be done before we can really see the russian capital as a true international financial center. here in russia. ending the day marginally in the red. more than. two thirds in another. general.