the latest in science and technology from the ground force and. we've gone to the future are covered.

with. oil.

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

a very warm welcome to you this is our life from moscow just days now before the new year. is still waiting to find out just how many more days or years he will spend behind bars the former oil tycoon and once russia's richest man still has not heard the sentence that he and his partner platon lebedev force after being found guilty of embezzlement. reports from outside the courthouse. the new charges suggest money laundering and investment persecutors are saying that that is from a partner. as much as around thirty billion u.s. dollars worth of oil why you this oil companies. formally one of the biggest private phone companies in the world it is first trial they were found of tax

evasion for which they were sentenced for eight years behind bars and right now that prosecutors are insisting on extending that turned out to fourteen years behind bars and now michael died it was cool with slangy the scheme for which the money laundering was done as according to the prosecutors the court concluded that about of course skin pop 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 said he billion dollars worth of oil still going by that of course skinny legs if through you can see here is how it worked the oil was bought from the companies at a nominal price said by ucas it was then sold at the same level to offshore trading companies secretly owned by so that called skin neighbors 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 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 school when you think you are a ballet shoes of human rights but 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 about russia's judicial system and it has to be resolved within the country without the pressure from the international community on the core of the third day of the hearing has come to an end and maybe a little is expected that hearing of the verdict would be done by. for the end of this year in the beginning there were three hundred they just were basically works

in diverting right now that 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 until the end of this year. well coming up here on r.t. lock and load it's time to trim the fat. the 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 are looking to slice america's spiraling debt. while prime minister putin has told everyone in charge of moscow's airports and their power supply that they will be working during the holidays it follows severe disruptions caused by freezing rain at several troubled hubs across the capital and that perfect storm of snow and freezing rain has also paralyzed the city's traffic one estimate the length of

queues at over three thousand kilometers that's more than the distance between moscow and barcelona. has more. 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 residents of the russian capital have been in for something of a trial a particularly heavy snowfall has paralyzed traffic all around the city average people today will have to wait to spend about three to four hours a night so i have to leave home by eight in the morning to make it to work in time i don't have any other option 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 i've been stuck in traffic for five hours so you have to also keep in mind the fact that over the past weekend temperatures have risen significantly and then dropped literally overnight and the entire city was covered with ice sheets of ice on the roads on

the sidewalks so there are massive traffic disruptions because of the conditions on the roads there are 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 massive disruptions two of most because major airports. thousands of people stranded for days on end without proper food water. someone that you see everyone responsible for this situation has to be in place celebrating the new year when we did it 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 tide is sort of weather by actually take a turn for the worst as there is more ice and more i see rain is expected to fall

and mosco in the next couple of days so this actually may not be such a merry holiday season for it's after all. and renegotiate there reporting from central moscow now fifty five trillion dollars and counting that's the total u.s. debt is the highest in the world congressman are calling for tougher cuts with social spending already trimmed but as a teaser one half its 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. 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. the 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 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 door through which employees from the defense contracting enterprise went wrong to 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 hospice r. t. washington d.c. . he is coming to you live from the heart of moscow now let's get to some other

world news in brief this hour five a suspected islamic militants have been arrested for allegedly planning a gun attack in denmark police say their target was the copenhagen offices the danish newspaper that printed the controversial prophet mohammed cartoons five years ago officials described it as the most serious terror plot ever attempted in the country the publication of the cartoons one of which depicted the prophet mohammed with a bomb shaped turban called a mass protests among muslims across the world. now the president of south korea says resuming a six party peace talks with the north is the only way to resolve nuclear tensions on the korean peninsula followed the north shelling one of the sounds islands last month that killed four people. was a response to a soul's recent military exercises being called a quote path of military provocation by the north considered the worst tensions on

the peninsula since the war sixty 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 have burst their banks destroying crops and bridges and hundreds of homes over a thousand people have been evacuated from the worst affected areas and nearly three hundred roads across queensland have been closed authorities declared it several towns in the region as disaster zones. well there's a bit later here on r.t. will tell you how people in rural russia stay fit whether it's minus twenty or twenty two. join us on our exploration of siberia region you can find out how these young preserving ancient traditions and keeping team spirit. out of favor out of office now in trouble with. the law moscow's deposed mayor yuri

luzhkov could face charges of corruption money laundering and fraud that is r.t. second thing the question of are reports russian investigators suspect that alleged that murky dealings may have been 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 your english golf 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 at seemingly effective brought 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 was here . 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 its 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 and to 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 should 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 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 presumed 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 adds 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. now that these allegations are out in the open experts believe those in charge will be forced to pick up the tap which is the word 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 lush coughs 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 exuding a virtue of r r t most. of all of our stories and much more just head to our web

site that's r.t. dot com and here is what you can find online waiting for you right now we bring you the story of a russian man who is preparing for the ancient prediction of the two thousand and twelve apocalypse but is apparently making his own arrangements to avoid it. and the time for atheists to an international christmas festival kicks off. here in the russian capital where this year's celebrations are dedicated to. some of what's waiting for you right now on our website. the. latest in our close up serious exploring russia both on and off the beaten path.

and this week our. region which is in southwest siberia in the second part of the series we take a look at how locals there are living and learn about their customs and traditions our very own guide to the region shows us how people survive in the cold and what kind of things they do for simple entertainment. 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. 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. let's. see media they start

teaching us friday when we turn 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 that i can handle a spear and a saber progress that's got to go 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 but training communally fosters a team spirit to fill in the 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. but they were selected for this speed and anger because they must be able to get the better of

a wolf will come with glory 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. although he prefers the larger prey was more restrictive b.-a like living 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 at a man at the evening meal and 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 grants of land. here before an interview at 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 in. 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 city dear 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 go even 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 jud 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 of. 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 i also been

to the villages around on the skin in the region people there are much more down to earth they're tied to the land all of them have a lot but it's not farms they keep animals their. fears lot more healthy 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 boys leave it drinking is the stereotype also people do they're just as. i've got much else to do. but i say the people there are a lot closer to each other and they got close to 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 knit lifestyle family values and a great connection to where they're wrong 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 caught on a console russian culture in general. like the west where he will 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 you are lacking. the material in terms of family care like child care and so on are the first people you turn to russia will be your family and your friends and neighbors and so on so something essential and so that's been a seattle tactic in russia from the league for the communist time and during the converse time differently so that song which in turn uses avails today to 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 parties tom barton right there well tempers will be flaring shortly here on r.t. as our debate show crosstalk is coming your way in just

a few minutes but first it's the business update with shot. but i welcome to the business program here on r.t. with me charlayne was folly russia's resolves rejected the sale of its taken a nickel back to the company nickel offered to buy or sell twenty five percent stake for twelve billion dollars oversell says is not satisfied with the price will keep the situation that feel for was made to end a 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. the time figure states the deal with concluded it was lack of information regarding the tone and the price at which it was made there was silence illicit union reveals we will 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 correspondent corpus going off explains the al call of madrid is meeting their case to turning moscow into an 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 of 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 needs more improvement as well because it's directly connected to russia's economy just to remind you. to transform. this meeting

he's also. been taken this year to achieve. these steps. to regulate the. information. the creation of. which will include foreign international experts so we are seeing some small. to the head of state himself a lot more is still needed to be done before we can really see the. international. ending the day. another. positive. slightly positive after the asian markets rebounding. monday and tuesday the

markets were falling on the hike over the chinese depository basically in the market started to it or ignore that news on wednesday the main topic for once there was obviously a continuation of the morals conflict was basically trading for the day while norris's reacted positively because at present there is no deal it's not imminent to buy it from the market seems like the most likely scenario at least in the short term. but you can always buy more stories on our website r.t. dot com slash business. it will.