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happy new year from the coldest region in the world i'm sean thomas in your could you have been coming up we'll tell you about all of the celebrations and embrace in the icy cold frigid temperatures feeling incredibly mild weather. as we care for our new year's celebrations in just. the atmosphere builds as people begin to the. red square preparing. to join me alison just a few moments from now. it is over the old and in with the new we bring you the highs and lows of twenty ten years it will be remembered here in russia the round

the world. and i was craving it has been a turbulent twelve months in western countries with the wave of civil unrest raging across europe and some saying there's worse in store once the cuts come into force the report. this is r t it's ten pm friday the thirty first of december here in moscow my name is kevin welcome to the program in just a few moments we'll be taking a look back at the biggest events of twenty ten but before that some places are already celebrating new year in most parts of russia or indeed are among them the party's been in full swing in the far eastern siberia and will sweep through all naing time zones the country's western most borders our correspondents gave us a snapshot of what's going on around russia with alice hibbett of the capital sara firth in the southern city of sochi and sean thomas in the eastern chilly city of

your quote. 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'm 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 involve ice in fact we're standing in the midst of a beautiful frozen ice sculpture a 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 and because 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 the cold 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 my sure that you can even get down to minus sixty two degrees below centigrade so right now they're embracing your 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 ok let's go to tempe is a plus ten though and head to a southern russia the olympic city assault she is decidedly warm of their day and with that me getting into the spirit of that proper ations well on the way we kind

of e-mail people heading out on the main guy who. you can. mark his feet in the drink and we're enjoying an incredibly mild evening still she of course knowing it's a much warmer climate so we've been able to ditch the warm place of the hill and say much of russia and have been enjoying this sort of weather and now even in the coldest month of january it doesn't pull much below ninety degrees we actually manage to toddle yesterday in the black sea as well as the black sea and the peaceful place with its purple and sand beaches about an hour away from that you've got snow capped mountains and a very populist. weather like the president medvedev and prime minister he said to see sochi of course going to be the face of the twenty eighth when a limp a bit back in the sense that 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 that are certainly feeling the holiday spirit here at the moment as we gear up for. this but of course. now there's always a big show to make up for the fact that we maybe don't have problems on the streets tonight big ones planned via. heaven as there is a saying here in the russian capital good luck sticks to those who rush hour in the new year old red square as a celebration focused on a friend's father and of course champagne drinking now we are expecting. the whole of people to descend on downtown moscow with its main historic square as the. people not only for russia but from across the world are where do you begin to convert all of this we spoke to some of the they told us about their new year's resolution i just want everybody to be happy chinese hear the rabbit i want this

you know. to bring everyone only positive emotions of love and how to see it should you this is really why we should everyone the best of luck i hope that everything that is one that will happen. is that and that everyone feels happy in this new year money family and of course for me and for me all from with your original roots helping a large show featuring singing and dancing and fireworks will take place on the square itself president deby the red there is new year's message will be carried on big screens across the capital and it will crescendo want to add enormous fantastic fire words take place over the last forever of course most of us provides will be the celebration from the comforts of their own havens but there you see you 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. so twenty turn comes to

a close we open the vaults to the year just past capturing the despair of the disaster as well as the whole row of the historic it was a year when espionage and intrigue took hold with spy scandals and embarrassing wiki leaks causing global sensations well as over the course for hope to be the world's biggest nuclear powers inside of the cup they're assholes for russia and letting the world cup was a crowning moment recently artes and this looks now what's behind us. one hundred 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 the. twin blasts rocked moscow's metro during morning rush hour work 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 kumar of 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 were taken out by russian special forces. presidents dimitri medvedev 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 congress only approved the pact just before christmas and the russian duma is expected to follow suit after months of waiting for their counterparts on capitol

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 see sealing the deal as a cornerstone in the restart between russia and the u.s. . april tenth a tragedy with echoes and history shocks 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 with a new over the past few days we held remembrance ceremonies mourning the victims of told over terrorism kaczynski was coming to russia to pay tribute to the killed

polish offices all russians share in your grief and sorrow. russian polish ties continue to warm as the two nations mourn together. in twenty ten russian mark sixty five years since defeating nazi germany in what's known as the great patriotic war. an elaborate parade was how down red square as heads of state looked on to commemorate some twenty seven million so we had lives lost during 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. she's. innocent inspires me more than the

amount and the quality of people and might in new york it's the strongest the largest and the most solid community in the world. but you didn't get to stay for long fam for a towel and chapman was just one of ten alleged russian spies exchanged in vienna 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 the media frenzy was a lot hotter than tempers in the u.s. and russia who ignored the hype with cool cooperation. record heat wreaked havoc in russia with summer temperatures in twenty ten 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 now moscow's mayor stay on vacation in the out yuri luzhkov was sacked the next month with president medvedev saying he lacked confidence in the mayor and sergei sabean and soon became our scouse top man. officially 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 wiki 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 solution silent 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 to have gone into an extraordinary job of journalism many people believe mr saunders to be innocent and in sweden he faces allegations of rape a songe 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 a hard task i have the highest task i have to continue on with my work the whistleblower continues to leak into the new year. fallen yukos head of ski was found guilty of laundering 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 criticized for politicizing the case but putin says compared to financier bernie made offs one hundred fifty years fourteen years is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. last but not least twenty eighteen feet for both ladies and gentlemen to be organized. it was a nail biting wait to the announcement with russia and england going head to head till the very end. little sasha secured the bid with his big dreams of football and england secured have minds by dubbing russia's win a fix from both of my heart thank you prime minister putin only went to zurich

after the announcement saying he didn't want to pressure fee for well david cameron and prince william weren't enough to bring the world cup home to england russia didn't let the sword losing grain 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 stopped time how many said now way and from all of us here at r.t. happy new year stay with us for the top of events in twenty eleven. well still ahead on this last day of twenty ten years now it is a time for miracles they say something to make of course quite another pretty come through we speak russian with the best tips on how to make it happen. for your of twenty ten was the year when some of its countries came to realize that

you can't spend what you don't have bailouts and austerity began to be closely associated with the euro and hundreds of thousands of angry people all across the continent lashed out in response. breaks up the timeline for. the summer of discontent that became a winter woes for 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 marked the credit card bills people will be beginning to lose their jobs people have been living the proof of this on their credit cards to pay their mortgages they're going to start defaulting that's when the real protests are going to start in the u.k.

was a huge hike in college fees that sparked the violence. in arland 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 writes. 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 huge 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 fairlawn death is inside the house of commons members. voted to make students pay three times as much for their diplomas but they insist the vote hasn't dampened the 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. disadvantage public support those who benefits of being cut to the thing becomes a very powerful political movement for justice and once that happens governments

have to 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 and this party. for many russians new year's eve is also the perfect time to look for miracles and it seems all you need is a napkin a pen the obligatory glass of champagne and a bit of faith and is out his exam a boy explains next your wish to be made when the kremlin clock strikes midnight if

you want to. 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 pours. 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 world. 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 russians 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 scribed wish granting powers to the crown in chimes are women and some of the most popular new year's wishes include finding your children are getting married and having a baby. the 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

since the family has that own little new year miracle running around the house and helping with the festive first decoration the little son wasn't she's there wish i wrote on that piece of napkin in the one i mean 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 each ask for something very dear to your heart and it will definitely come true . there will be no gifts of frantic cooking discipling but all in good is say once their door it goes to see the dream fairy they're all going to have a bottle of bubbly hyundai t.v. saturday cramming chimes and proceed with the wishful thinking they were ready things down like a store but didn't stop dreaming. of wake up already see moscow. let me take you through out what in fact hours of the last major headlines of twenty ten devastating floods of east affecting some two hundred thousand people

tonight as rising waters submerged homes and businesses officials in queens when say the floods covers an area bigger than france and germany combined the entire populations of two terms have been evacuated from their homes to safety while others have been completely cut off it's estimated the cleanup will cost billions of dollars. the u.n. is warning followers of ivory coast's defeated leader to drop this threat of attacking the hotel where its security forces and the president elect of waste it's fear that saturday's plan to solve could spark another civil war. refuses to quit his rival's been recognized by the international community is winning last one selection the resulting violence has claimed over one hundred seventy three lives so far. more of those new year's celebrations they are of course well underway in the south pacific and asia you see in the strait they are marking the beginning of the twenty eleven with the big bang lovely pictures there as ever said so too instead we did taiwan earlier on the stage so to. but against the spectacular.

backdrop of it skyscrapers again another great spectacle there to see i'm still plenty to go but up to a million people expected from a new york county in new york to is preparing a show with musical events always a big show room that loved it are there the time to put the follow ups on that will bring you those scenes over the coming hours and of course moscow too will be missing out i mean a few minutes time crush on the people involved in his guest of the big issues of the past year but it's a new year's eve business was shot at before. but i welcome to this special business program here looking at some of the highlights of two thousand. this year so russia and its most ambitious privatization program since the one nine hundred ninety s. the government closed to sell stakes in major state time companies within the next

three years in the hope of attracting around thirty billion dollars the list contains hundreds of companies of different sizes company buries sectors the biggest oil producer. sell twenty five percent the same goes for russian railways the country's biggest lend itself seven percent the t.v. will sell thirty five point five percent total sentences seventy percent stake in hydropower holdings was under fifteen percent minus one share stake in shipping company solve conflicts russia will keep control of the retaining fifty percent plus one fault if the sell off is a success 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 it leading growth positions among global indices as a mistake reports. very strong and better than expected that's how most analysts describe this year's performance of the russian stock markets both the r.t.s. 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 comic is they grew the most outside as well oiled companies and guns boom that didn't gain anything analysts 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 russian companies now trade at

a price to earnings multiples of nine and a half versus brazil and companies brazilian market trading at a thirteen year a share and cheney's above sixteen in fact turkey is the only emerging market outperforms russia with 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 you take notice mel's and mining overall for two thousand and eleven i'll list expect another year vast growth in the russian indices up to twenty five percent timothy across europe business r.t. moscow.