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out with the old in with the new we bring you the highs and lows of twenty ten years it will be remembered in russia or the round the world. it has been a turbulent twelve months in western countries with a wave of civil unrest raging across europe and some saying this is worse in store once feel started cuts come into force. plus new year's night time for miracles for many russian from these thousands will make their wishes when the kremlin strikes midnight by a chorus of clinking glasses. this

is r t it's seven pm friday the thirty first of december here in moscow my name's kevin owen welcome to the program if you just joined us in a few moments we'll be taking a look back at the biggest events of twenty ten but first some places are of course already celebrating new year in parts of russia are among the parties indeed well underway in the far east to sweep through all nine time zones of russia countries to the very out west most border later let's get a snapshot of what's going on all around russia. and to do that we're joined by r t sean thomas in the eastern city of you have sara firth is in the southern city of sochi. is here in the capital moscow good evening she also sean first to you when we caught up with you an hour ago your new year had already just begun i guess celebrations are still going strong then i. certainly kevin in fact we've brought the party outside i don't know why because this is the coldest region on earth in fact it's about thirty four degrees below zero out here centigrade but that's ok

it's not stopping any of the fun in fact i am joined by actually khan who is the version of good models which of course is the russian version of father frost celebrations couldn't be better out here in fact one of the main features about this area because it is so cold a lot of the decorations for new year are involve ice involve the cold in fact we're standing in the midst of a beautiful frozen ice sculpture village which is all that a beautiful with lights it's just an amazing amazing time earlier today we had to you had the opportunity to spend preparing for the new year with families getting ready for their celebrations we went to the market with them which was an interesting experience in itself no need for refrigerators there have been because well in fact all of the fish are frozen all of the meat is frozen even the milk is sold in frozen blocks we then went and joined

a family that had adopted more than eight children as they had their new year's celebration that meal it was a very special time as they had a traditional russian meal as well but really the people here they don't let it's called bring them down that they embrace the freezing temperatures in fact believe it or not there is a heat wave going on here it is only minus thirty four degrees right now usually around this time it's about minus fifty miles should you can even get down to minus sixty two degrees below centigrade so right now they're embracing the heat wave saying they're enjoying these wonderfully warm temperatures as you can see i'm dressed to the hilt just so that i can stand these temperatures but this is a part of their life and it's a part of their new year and they're saying that two thousand and eleven is just going to be brilliant fact in the distance we can still see some fireworks going on the people are still celebrating enjoying this special time of year ok. sean thomas thank. you all part of the world out of chile minus thirty four ok let's go to a plus to

a southern russia the olympic city you choose to suddenly warm up there is a safe first where you are. on the same timeline five hours away from the big moment you know. and with you getting into the spirit of it preparations well underway we've had a few more people turning out on the main square here in sochi where we are you can see that the markets to the feed in the drink and we've got the fans in the back of the band doing a couple of sound checks ahead of the concert be having at ten o'clock and we're enjoying an incredibly mild evening of course it's a much warmer climate so we've been able to ditch the warm place of the sun chill in so much of russia and have been enjoying this sort of weather now even in the coldest month john you hate it doesn't much below ninety degrees incredibly incredibly warm for a russian winter in order to what you'd expect we actually managed to paddle yesterday in the black sea which is about five minutes away from where we are here

but not just the miles climate that attracts millions of people every year it's the largest resort city in russia and as well as the black sea and the beautiful coastline with its pebble and sun beaches about an hour away from that you've got snow capped mountains and a very popular ski resort krasnaya polyana weather like the president and prime minister putin annoying to see sochi of course going to be the face of the twenty the winter olympics but head back in the center today we're getting into the spirit of things we've got the christmas tree behind us in the background in the mediterranean style climate means we've also got some palm trees so certainly feeling the holiday spirit here the main as we gear up for our new year. just a few hours time sir first you got it all to know it was slowly put of course in moscow. but it isn't across to her now there's always a big show to make up for the fact that we maybe don't have palm trees on the

streets tonight a big one is planned via. balance right kevin as over there is a saying here in the russian capital that good luck sticks to those who rush hour in the new year on red square and whether or not you believe in superstition there's no denying that the policy that's going to take place on this historic landmark in just a few hours' time from now will full the focal point of the year celebrations across moscow and indeed across all russia perhaps as a celebration focused on fowley friends follow words and of course champagne drinking now we are expecting over a million other home people to descend on downtown of moscow across all its main historic squares and landmarks the main street of sky the streets will be closed to cars and pedestrians eyes from eleven thirty pm on wood so a street party of schools can take place there but of course the main event due to

take place on the red square behind me and the atmosphere is already beginning to build although rody just past seven pm local time people not only from moscow and russia but from across the world have already begin to converge on this site and we spoke to some of the or they told us about their new year's resolutions that we thinking about on the stroke of the dice. and just want everybody to be happy the chinese hear the rabbit i want this year to bring everyone only positive emotions of love and help you to see it should you this is really i wish everyone the best of luck i hope that everything that is one that will happen. and everyone feels happy in this new year i wish money similarly and of course for me in from my open with a mission always helping with. a quick insight there into just what some people will be wishing for on the stroke of midnight when the policy really will

kick off the red square and the kremlin's six o'clock time i will chime marking the beginning of the celebrations a large show featuring singing and dancing and fire will take place on the square itself president to meet the there is new year's message we carried on big screens across the capital and all christian don't want to an enormous amount of state firewood speech take place over the most of course most of. the celebration from the comforts of their own havens but those who do decide to brave the elements will be treated to a fantastic show that i think is being lined up for them here in the russian capital bring our viewers all that i'll be sitting here as well taking it up to the president's speech and making to our cameras around russia to bring our viewers a flavor of what's to come it's going to be a good night alison but in moscow and still there sarah firth in sochi catching up with you both later. well as twenty turn comes to

a close we open the vaults now to the year just past capturing the despair of the disaster as well as the heroic and historic it was a year when espionage and intrigue took hold with spy scandals and embarrassing wiki leaks causing global sensations and was also a cause for hope to with the world's biggest nuclear powers decided to cut their arsenals and of course for russia netting the world cup was a crowning moment too recently on his nissen now it takes a look at what's behind and what's ahead for. ten it was a year filled with leaks and laughter tears and tragedies it got off to a good start for russia signs of economic recovery no gas crisis with ukraine or bellow rules like in previous years and a relatively bearable winter but that all changed in march when terrorists struck. twin blasts rocked moscow's metro during morning rush hour killing forty and

injuring over one hundred two women suicide bombers blew themselves up on a central line one just meters from r.t. headquarters. we will find all of those who are guilty and we will punish them too kumara from chechnya who is on the international most wanted list and has links to al qaeda is the suspected mastermind behind the attack in a chain of special operations several terrorist involved in the suicide bombings taken out by russian special forces. president hamid to madrid dave and barack obama signed the new start treaty in the spring setting to slash both countries' strategic nuclear stockpiles by a third this is the most significant arms control agreement in nearly two decades and congress only approved the pact just before christmas and the russian duma is expected to follow suit real after months of waiting for their counterparts on your capital hill to get through bipartisan wrangling there were fears the pact would be

amended or blocked by senate republicans over unrelated domestic issues both the kremlin and white house the feeling the deal as a cornerstone in the restart between russia and the us. april tenth a tragedy with echoes in history shocked the world polish president lech kaczynski and most of the country's political elite were killed when their t.-u. one fifty four crashed near smolensk. the delegation was going to mark seventy years since twenty thousand polish officers were massacred at cut them by soviet secret police just days before the accident a joint commemoration that could thin was seen as a tremendous step for russian polish relations waited near we've over the past few days we held remembrance ceremonies mourning the victims of totalitarianism kaczynski was coming to russia to pay tribute to the killed polish officers doing

well russians share in your grief and sorrow. russian polish ties continue to war as the two nations mourn together. in twenty ten russian marks sixty five years since defeating nazi germany in what's known as the great patriotic. elaborate great was how one red square as the heads of state moved on to commemorate some twenty seven million soviet minds most were in world war two. it was the first time in history countries that made up the allied forces took part in the tradition. twenty ten also saw the return of cold war spy scandal sending bombshells like her anna chapman into the headlines for weeks and then home to russia just doesn't fit that bill nelson inspires me

more than the amount and the quality of people and might in new york it's the strongest largest and the most solid community in the world. but she didn't get to stay for a long fan for towie and that chapman was just one of ten alleged russian spies exchanged in vietnam for four american spies serving sentences in russia the scandal worthy of a hollywood blockbuster broke just after obama and medvedev dished out politics over burgers in virginia media frenzy was a lot harder than tempers in the u.s. and russia who ignored the hype with cool cooperation. record heat wreaks havoc in russia with summer temperatures and twenty two and lingering at forty celsius for over a month hundreds of wildfires ravaged the country killing over fifty and leaving thousands homeless. the flames left the capital covered in a blanket of toxic smog for weeks moskos mayor stay on vacation in the hours yuri

luzhkov was sacked the next month with the president with major saying he lacks confidence in the mayor and sergei side. beyond and soon became our scouse top man . this is really our first in the middle east iran's bushehr nuclear power plant was launched and loaded and is said to be connected to the country's electric grid within months saving iran eleven million barrels of oil a year the plant is operated by specialists from russia which also provides the nuclear fuel and deals with the waste iran considers the launch a victory and proof of their peaceful atomic program despite criticism from the u.s. and israel. he never made it off the short list as time's person of the year but for many he is the man of twenty ten with the leaks founder julian assange exposed hundreds of thousands of iraq war documents and american

diplomatic cables to name just a few the u.s. government would like to get a social silence here in wiki leaks the wiki leaks website will continue to run. these documents were stolen the freedom of speech any breach of security like this is bad for diplomacy he's done an extraordinary job of journalism many people believe mr song to be innocent and in sweden he faces allegations of rape a son was arrested in the u.k. where he was seeking refuge later being granted bail after a legal wrangle and now has to wait to find out whether he'll be extradited to sweden clearing my name is not the hard task i have the highest task i have is to continue on with my work the whistleblower continues to leak into the new year. following yukos head mikhail khodorkovsky was found guilty of wrongdoing over twenty five billion dollars worth of oil and sentenced to

fourteen years in jail he has nearly served out an eight year sentence for tax evasion and fraud and faces another six behind bars russia has been critical. sized for politicizing the case but putin says compared to financier bernie madoff's one hundred fifty years fourteen years is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. and last but not least twenty eight hundred feet from both ladies and gentlemen to be organized. it was a nail biting wait for the announcement with washington england going head to very end function with. little sasha secured the bid with his big dreams of football in england secured hamburg by dublin russians with thanks for. saying q prime minister putin only went to zurich after the announcement saying he

didn't want to pressure fee from the david cameron backroom and prince william wanted not to bring the world cup home to england. russia didn't let the sword losing brain on their parade winning the right to host the world cup certainly goes down as one of the most enjoyable moments of the year but that does it for our look at twenty ten's top tam companies to now away and from all of us here at r t happy new year stay with us for the top of dance in twenty eleven. well for europe twenty ten that was the year when some of its countries come to realize that you can't spend what you don't have the sterett see began to be closely associated with the euro and hundreds of thousands of angry people across the continent lashed out in response to your attitude breaks up the timeline for us . the summer of discontent that became a winter whoa for

a europe in crisis across the continent tens of thousands repeatedly turned out to protest against their government often resulting in violence and destruction. and it's not over yet after a brief holiday hiatus most assured the unrest will return in the new year and we haven't seen the worst of it yet. the first bomb on the door mats a credit card bills people will be beginning to lose their jobs people have been living this proof for this on their credit cards to pay their mortgages they're going to start defaulting that's when the real protests are going to stop and in the u.k. was a huge hike in college fees that sparked the violence. in the country's near collapse forced its toughest ever budget to secure an e.u. and i.m.f. rescue in greece in spain public sector pay slashed while taxes rise.

for the french it's the prospect of being forced to work longer all measures which ensure working people pay for the mistakes of bankers and governments britain's enduring the harshest cuts since the second world war also reeling over forking out around twelve billion dollars for a u. membership and as we've seen the contribution rise i think is going up by two point nine percent unfortunately that is you know it's enough to get people actually quite quite red in the face quite hot headed because we are having to see massive cuts here local authorities are cutting back on their frontline services and actually we don't feel as british people that we get that much in the we put a lot in we don't get an awful lot out london's biggest protest of more than fifty thousand fell on deaf ears as inside the house of commons member. voted to make students pay three times as much for their diplomas but they insist the vote hasn't

dampened their spirits what parliament can do. the movement can do in fact and we believe that we still have the chance of defeating the higher education bill which is going to be debated in the new year so far in the u.k. students and trade unions have been the most vocal but veteran politician and campaign attorney says the next move would be so for united front. students support pensioners who are finding their pensions. disadvantaged public support benefits are being cut to the thing becomes a very powerful political movement for justice and once the governments have closed right now the cuts are on paper but once they begin to bite so too will an increasingly angry public not even the christmas tree on trafalgar square emerged unscathed from this winter's violence and from the people of norway and

a symbol of peace and goodwill protesters tried to set fire to the tree and graffiti on nelson's call in nearby and this isn't the end of civil unrest in the u.k. or across europe as governments continue to dig their way out of the crisis by forcing austerity onto the people the people continue opposing them you're at this party. well on a happier note for many russians new year's eve is also the perfect time to look for miracles it seems all you need is a napkin a pen a glass of champagne and a bit of faith and not exonerate her explains next your wish to be made in the kremlin clock strikes midnight if you want to come true. it was a hectic new year's eve four years ago because cynthia family was marking their six year together with all of finishing the cooking and paid to entertain in the guests . but as the cramming clock started counting down the last seconds of the year

everybody paused. their road our wishes and napkins burn them and soak the ashes in the champagne according to the time honored to russian ritual drinking it should a grand even the most unattainable wish of the hour. i can tell you what i have asked for because this way it won't come true let's wait and see if i am lucky with my wish you will know about it a symbol of russia's officialdom the kremlin chimes are also an embodiment of people's most private hopes every year has the clock strikes midnight millions of fractions ask fortune for favors for those few seconds even cynics start to believe in magic. you can call it the cinderella fact according to polls the majority of those who are surprised wish granting powers to the crown in chimes are women and some of the most popular new year's wishes include finding your chill live getting married and having a baby. to largest cloak in moscow these kremlin timepiece is also among the

oldest in russia the current mechanism was installed in the late nineteenth century and it's still a measure of precision and while the chimes have more of the pendulum of russian history swinging many times according to historians the wish making tradition is relatively new. put on top of his tradition could be traced back to soviet times because never before had red square and the kremlin had such a sacred status it wasn't well publicized back then because there was no place for superstition in communist ideology but people made their wishes anyway and here's why four years after synchronizing their hopes for the kremlin. chimes because center family has that own little new year miracle running around the house and helping with the festive first decoration at the will of the farmer's wife she's the wish i wrote on that piece of napkin in the one i made in many many other occasions but i know for

a fact from my own experience in the experience of my friends that on new year's eve you need to ask for something very dear to your heart and it will definitely come true for you there will be no gifts of frantic cooking deceiving but all in biggest say was there dora goes to see the dream fairy they're all going to have a bottle of bubbly t.v. saturday crumbing chimes and proceed with the wishful thinking they're already think they're like a store but didn't stop dreaming. r t moscow. in a few minutes survived cradle of her reflects on the events that shaped twenty term with his panel of guests in cross talk but before that the new year's eve edition of the business news from moscow. they are welcome to this special business program here ought to be looking at some of the highlights of two thousand and ten.

this year so russia and its most ambitious privatization program since the one nine hundred ninety s. the government plans to sell stakes in major state owned companies within the next three years in the hope of attracting around thirty billion dollars the list contains hundreds of companies of different sizes and buries sectors of russia's the biggest oil producer roles in the twenty five percent the same goes for russian railways the country's biggest lend itself seven percent of all the t.v. will sell thirty five point five percent bottles appearances seventy percent stake in hydropower holdings was under fifteen percent minus one share stake in shipping companies solve conflicts russia will keep control of the retaining fifty percent plus one share fault if the sell off is excess the state says it's ready to offload even more. as the first step we plan to retain fifty percent plus one share for the

state in the next three years but depending on the results and looking at the market trends we can go further and sell the controlling stake so in the majority of companies we can lower the state's share to twenty five percent plus one. for the second year in a russian stock markets have taken at leading growth positions among global indices as soon as they close you reports. very strong and better than expected that's how most analysts describe this year's performance of the russian stock markets both the arts yes and my six have grown over twenty two percent in comparison the japanese nikkei lost two percent the footsie s. and p. five hundred and dow jones indices are lingering around the ten percent mark of wood in russia this is been a year for domestic retailers pharmacies utilities commie because they grew the most outsiders were loyal companies and guns plume that didn't gain anything out of the say the oil and gas sectors growth was hampered by b.p.'s oil spill in the gulf

of mexico low oil and gas prices and relatively low realization of volumes however russia is still looking cheaper than its peers and russian companies now traded at price to earnings multiples of nine and a half versus brazil and the company's brazilian market trading at a thirteen year a sure and chaney's above sixteen in fact turkey is the only emerging market outperforms russia with a twenty five percent growth but experts point out that pricier turkish companies have lower prospects of growth in two thousand and eleven as for russia the early growth part of the economic cycle means investors should keep an eye on the so-called cyclical sectors there are cyclical sectors they include. financial services they include retailers consumers they include telecom italia it is mel's and mining overall for two thousand and eleven.