and that's all for now however you can find comments and vote on some of the stories you've seen right now on our you tube channel and that's our sport news and it should be right there on your screen and thanks for being with r.t. . for the full story we've gone to. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

top stories that shape the week last go falls victim to the winds of the weather is frozen rain leads to massive blackouts and travel chaos paralyzing the russian capital for several days. europe's growing increasingly wary of the spread of

islamic extremism with the recent arrests over the ledge mass terror plot in denmark adding to the fear. russia's most famous prisoner mikhail khodorkovsky will retain this status for six more years as the court finds the former tyco guilty of massive oil embezzled. also two years after israel's military offensive in gaza we reported i don't know how people there are still struggling to get their lives back to normal despite israel insisting it's easing the economic blockade. on the world wide welcome for twenty eleven a quick trip around the globe to enjoy the highlights of the new year fisted bitties. seven pm sunday evening of moscow welcome if you just joined us money is kevin owen and this is our news review of the past seven days and it was

a week when moscow grown to hold freezing rain ruptured power lines paralyzed traffic and crippled airports for thousands of stranded travelers it meant starting the holiday stuck in jams or sleeping on the airport floor others were left in the dark for new year's eve parties are kept in a great show over rounds it all. turned into a lump of ice overnight the reason was freezing while pulling on the skin emergency workers knocked it down like glass. how do you guys snapped power lines and shut down the country's largest airports for almost two days but enough at any time of year but horrendous at the height of the holiday getaway. this is how i want to moscow's busiest hops looks like power is back on and flies are getting back on shed you like that the my idea the apple which was worst hit by bad weather conditions over the weekend when a snow storm disrupted pa lines in the area as a result of that some one hundred fifty flights were delayed and over eight

thousand passengers were forced to sleep on the applets premises. it's very hard for me here i have a broken leg and there are no facilities here to bureaucracy and no one's helping there's no service honestly what you think about how the airport has been dealing with the problem. actually not very well but i don't think any your port deals are very well with these problems as we're seeing across europe. russia second largest and help sure imagine suffered no electricity blackouts but based on how to deal a spoke thousands of passengers who stormed the control zones bloke log each areas and clashed with police. meanwhile outside was no better motorists were first clearing their cars from eyes and then spent hours in jams freezing up again at three thousand two hundred kilometers the queues be all records in the city and even one straight line would stretch all the way to burst solona i've been

stuck in traffic for five hours. with clocks fast approaching the new year the prime minister was pushing the local authorities to work harder. as you promised that by six pm today electricity will be back on it six now says yes but it's not enough to meet only. experience in thirty five villages for families and people still without power i have an idea you go to these villages and celebrate the new year together with these people. and the first time in six days or so the streets lead up by the car is of the high ranking official sent to say sorry and just twenty minutes before midnight people were once again seeing the light relieved their palin was back on and twenty eleven was already looking right

it's in the direction of our our two most. more top stories in the week investigators have found the flight recorders of the russian passenger jet which called fire an explosion in western siberia the innocent claimed at least three lives and left over forty injured investigators are looking for what caused the fire in the engine as the plane was taking off in the city of sort of good morning hundred twenty passengers and crew were evacuated before the jet let them blew up among those onboard was a russian pop group called in and out i'm told journalist and the difficulty with opening the emergency exits some passengers reportedly had to run through the flames to escape leaving them with severe burns one of the injured is in a critical condition tonight. this is r.t. still ahead for you this hour when shopping turns into a religion. you shall. have a look at some desperate methods to confront consumerism in the united states as

the country's financial troubles don't seem to have killed america's credit card and addiction. join artie's closer to siberia and meet local cossacks they strive to revive the noble spirit and traditions of their ancestors the conquerors of the slack. this week danish police prevented what they called the most serious terror plot ever attempted in the country for suspects arrested on wednesday will stay in prison for several weeks on allegations of planning a gun attack in copenhagen it's thought the men with links to international terror networks were plotting a gun campaign in the office of the newspaper which printed cartoons of the prophet muhammad five years ago the drawing sparked outrage among muslims across the world officials say those arrested intended to kill as many people as possible in the papers newsroom it's the latest in a series of arrests throughout the year which have put european nations on high alert over the spread of islamic radicalism and he's

a good person off as. over a year of investigations and a massive police raid in the end brought results twenty six people have been arrested in belgium germany the netherlands belgium dutch moroccans and churchill's all are suspected of recruiting so-called the hardest candidates and financing terrorist organizations right from the court won't offer you a police mission a success absolutely but is the battle over this in the race that it's just a visible part of the iceberg it's huge there is a whole machine behind this redo a ruse was born in belgium in a family of christians and converted to what he was lame to eat he's. he did it on his own will because it simply provided the answers he couldn't find in other religions according to him islam teaches peace and tolerance but unfortunately due to generally poor knowledge about it it can be used to teach the exact opposite.

there are really extremely moms acting in europe and the problem is people who don't feel erotic and don't understand the muslim philosophy they end up in the arms of these in moms who come from saudi arabia egypt a former french intelligence officer claude money now has a company advising governments and corporations on hell to deal with terrorism and extremism really address based in brussels he claims the spread of islamic extremism is happening right in front of the authorities veiled from their attention by its privacy they will say you are not a good missed him because you don't know his five times the price five times a day you are not a good missed him because you are drinking you are not a good muslim because your life is not very. good missed him because you don't do nothing for your brother. in palestine in iraq and so on which are oppressed and killed it begins in the families it begins in the us into streets and in the must this is one of the immigrant quarters of brussels populated by muslims signs in

arabic specialist shops and cafes kind of court to believe we are in the portland of the european union officially around a quarter of the local active working age population from eighteen to thirty is unemployed unofficial this figure is even higher which makes it prime ground for recruitment. the lack of education about islam and little work in many european muslim communities seem to have become the driving force behind the spread of extremist. attitude towards asylum on the most to be left in the european union the flow of new comers is likely to continue and many experts believe unless more effort is made to help muslims integrate into a multicultural so. the extremism threat will remain no matter how many arrests or me what is going off or the brothel. for. this prison term extended on thursday his current sentence for fraud and tax evasion would have ended this year but i new sentence for stealing oil means he'll

now stay behind bars until twenty seventeen his lawyers appeal against the verdict out he's really going to report. four days that's how long it took the judge to beat the verdict six more years that's how long the hill who will have to spend behind bars the forty seven year old is in the final stretch of an eight year prison term sentence after being convicted for tax evasion. because he is here by sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment the sentence will be served in the correctional colony of a medium security prison in this second trial the bush king just partner but only because if you were convicted of stealing two hundred eighteen million tons of oil worth twenty seven billion dollars from a subsidiary company out of course he was known as the very worst corporate governance abuse in russia and i myself was that you question how the meeting where i had a power of attorney from one of their minority investors to attend and was thrown

out of gun violence the meeting went on to dilute the investor a man called american kind of his state down to virtually nothing and the company voted to sell oil to an independent trade company for one dollar twenty five a barrel at a time when the international price was thirty dollars so that he made his fortune through what was then one of the world's largest non-state oil companies ucas it began from the states so often in one nine hundred ninety s. and became russia's fastest growing only producer at that time in the business was risky in ucas was no exception to could have put his associates were found guilty of a number of murders even so there's a cool. this is the two men are innocent for their cause he was not to blame because he had a whole team of very experienced lawyers who are used to tell him that. everything he did was within the law it was the blame of the laws that had caused

those holes in them so the cost he has maintained his innocence of the fraud charges ever since his arrest in two thousand and three million the west were of the opinion that singled out the prosecution not so much for financial reasons as for his political ambitions so why do his supporters in russia tend to view him as a sort of a martyr figure we are all humans and we feel compassion for people who who are who are behind the bars for a very long time he already eight years in prison and he has to spend many years more the president can be smart he can be a particular he couldn't be source for spoken but it doesn't mean that necessarily this is a synonym of non guilty and that might be a case without of course the prosecutors had asked for at least six more years on top of his current sentence they got what they wanted but we may not have heard the last of rush's trial of the decade it is a ghost party let's go to a massive new oil pipeline from russia to china began operating on the first day of

twenty eleven and set the pump round fifteen million tons a year and replaces the railway is the main means to transport fuel the pipelines length is about a thousand kilometers with most of it being on chinese territory it's a joint project between the two countries biggest oil companies in russia hopes it'll become its gateway to the growing asian energy market. protests have swept across garza this week because it marked two years since a military offensive by israel the three week war left more than a thousand palestinians dead many of them civilians israel said it was responding to palestinian rocket attacks and targeted for mass militants but the offensive drew worldwide condemnation because of the huge number of civilian casualties israel blockaded guards are after her master which she believes is a terrorist group took control of the strip in two thousand and seven since then they've been restricted and rarely reaches its destination as i think paula slayer has been finding out the israelis insist their economic siege on gaza is easing but

they can't deny the border and international condemnation is heating up and asian aid convoy but politicians and activists from eighteen countries is on its way to gaza on board a one hundred eighty people food and medical supplies and a determined core to reach gaza on the second anniversary of the last israel gaza war the convoy dubbed asia to gaza solidarity caravan sits sail from new delhi at the beginning of december it's trying to do what an aide for till a failed to do in may break the israeli blockade on the coastal strip that earlier attempt left nine activists did since then israel insists things have gotten better there is a humanitarian analysis that we are making on a daily basis which allow us to see a broad picture about the humanitarian conditions and the situation in the gaza to a point each moment but gazans complain life is still unbearable so israel has limited the number of trucks clothes and shoes coming into gaza and this causes

problems with coordination in gaza. last month twenty two international organizations issued a report claiming the easing of the blockade has helped bring in materials only for the u.n. and international building projects ordinary goods they say are still not getting in our goods have already been detained in israel for three years but the fines that we've paid already equal the costs of the goods so even if we receive the goods back now we can't sell them they're spoiled and those goods that are getting in there too expensive for most people here. the goods that we receive are not of a high quality but we have to buy them because we don't have an alternative. cars have also become a luxury two thousand dollars for an engine while just two hundred dollars for a rather simplistic alternative what can we do there's no fuel for vehicles drano spare parts inevitably result that it's kind of transportation to donkeys this is one of the largest cattle markets in gaza and as the economy here plummets it too

is struggling to survive. we have no animals no barley today and even when we have barley people are always here to buy it's been four years since israel imposed siege on gaza to try and break her massive support and with no sign that life will get better any time soon most gazans have the eyes on the sea and their hope on the next. policy are to israel. this week the new year was welcomed in with fireworks and celebrations all around the world. i didn't see the ultra stunning started new zealand as protectors packed into oakland's harbor to enjoy the huge display from the tower there then as every move further west to australia it was a good show verse celebrations went off with a bang a sydney's no traditional spectacular fireworks lit up the skyline over the harbor revelers meantime in japan that welcomed the new year by releasing a massive silver balloons carry notes with hopes for the future in taiwan the

island's tallest skyscraper was the centerpiece as fireworks in their. u.k. put on a good show quarter of a million people flocked to the riverside to watch the london light up at midnight two wheelers going across the atlantic as well new york festivities centered is always around the slow descent of the six time for school board with thirty two thousand lights and moscow mr snowstorm thousands of people running in twenty eleven with the midnight chimes of the crumbling clock but as exotic poet who reports most for many russians they hold just the coming of a new year. it was a hectic new year's eve four years ago because cynthia family was marking their six years together with all of finishing the cooking and p.t.a. entertaining the guests. but as the cramming clock started counting down the last seconds of the year everybody paused. they rode out wishes and napkins burned them and soaked the ashes in the champagne according to the time honored to russian

ritual drinking it should be grand even the most on a team that will wish all of the ok i can tell you what i have asked for because this way it won't come true let's wait and see if i'm like you 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 cloak 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 kremlin chimes are women and some of the most popular new year's wishes include finding your chill live 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. remember that this 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 the descent of family has that own little new year a miracle running around the house and helping with the festive first decoration at the will of the farmers she's the wish i wrote in that piece of net can in the one i meet and 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 they read dear to your heart and it will

definitely come true. artsy mosco. well i'm not sure it's a burning a napkin on board the i assess a but the party did take place of above nonetheless the international space station threw out a unique start to the new year going to r.t. dot com find out what it feels like to see the whole planet celebrating from high above. and about how spectacular it looks it can be pretty dangerous if your have some sparkles you alive just log on to our website to learn tonight how to choose the right fireworks and they don't go off with unexpected backers. this is our team from moscow we're off on a siberian expedition next as we take it more of russia close up.

and those take a look at the map there we go regional hub for western siberia and the old type of mountains is where we're heading as a continental climate with cold snowy winters and hot dry summers it's also the home of siberian cossacks who conquered the region for the three hundred years ago and as artie's told but discovered these days they've kept their military tradition and shop. the view from the end of the cossacks spear 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. and it's no good to see media they start teaching us riding on which in servant and to trickle of thirteen depending on chance abilities that's for me i was

a very good do i do worse it's eleven as well as that i can handle a spear and a saber but if that's got to your ottoman the others have a demand. daily schedule and horse riding is the glamorous part but the young says the village built this gym themselves and now the training in it will have a lot to do to prove themselves as hunters and horsemen with training communally fosters a team spirit crucial in this cause exercising. a team spirit necessary for the cossacks noblest pursuit hunting on the sharp end the beloved fast russian dog the bred to perfection over centuries and not for any ordinary prey. even though they were selected for their speed and anger because they must be able to get the better of a wolf. with gauri is master not just of his hounds but of this whole cost village he's called the atom out and he has to show skill in leadership from solving

village disputes down to training dogs to catch hairs. of though he prefers the larger prey morris for to be thought into which in old times to get the chance of becoming an atom and it was considered prestigious to bring home a wolf tied up. with the ring and after the day's outdoor training we caught up with our ottoman at the evening meal where 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 the czars in return for grants of land. here before and the idea was to create villages along the country's border so that people are bound to the land they're living on. the cossacks strong independent traditions were disliked by the communists they were suppressed and marginalized since the end of the soviet union they've been trying to rebuild that

self-sufficient way of life especially when it comes to resisting the bad habits of city there is no easy matter living in the country of course but on the other hand we're protected from the harm of the city from drugs alcohol smoking. but tonight at least the elders of the village are allowing themselves a few liberties tom barton party. americans are hooked on shopping and spending despite the country's heavily indebted economy and painful lessons from the crisis left alone with credit card shopaholics fall into addiction and an uncontrollable search for hard styles and bargains but there are people who don't shy away from putting up a very loud fight against consumerism artes and a sincere churkin a better one of them. another truth. you should. stop.

her. but styles and new must have items of the fashion world changes fast as the seasons but one thing that never goes out of style in the us is shopping america is the birthplace of modern consumerism nowhere else in the world do people buy more than here with officially more shopping malls in the us than high schools if i didn't spend enough money on sunglasses like of molly save for college and things like bad very few actually admit to an addiction is a dora does that. what. does. that probably say the twenty five things we do we need for a new dose of jackets sweaters and skirts she considers herself a shopaholic how many pairs of shoes do you have. so hundred the urge to possess

has taken over men to statistics age men and women compulsively shop equally in the us nowadays i'm not truly excited about spencer runs during the last couple of years i've seen but i think of a one hundred thousand dollars on clothes while these numbers are simply unimaginable for millions of americans only a few are putting up a very loud fight against consumerism. reverend billy says a credit card exorcism on the entire nation is what can cure america fifteen million americans are addicted to shopping but many more americans than fifteen million shop too much still shape his me life mission is to cheat so we. this shopping devil by putting on acts in churches and shopping malls around the country but credit crunch the purpose of the exaggerations is to make americans see their flaws yes. the splash trick. too much money consumer

consumers. it's a church that controls us it's a fundamentalist church like the roman catholic church in the fourteen hundreds these desperate times normally accept my credit card limit every mom could be calling for desperate measures like spells and exorcisms the things that glitter in the windows will that appeal to you since more often than not in the us legally the majority of people have too much month left at the end of the money the average american is said to generate over fifty tons of garbage by the time they are a senior with millions buzzing around new york stores this holiday season and it's hard to tell who is doing it responsibly and who is completely out of control because of shopping not considered a mental disorder there are dozens of there are people and clinics in the big apple for those who are willing to admit they have a problem and indication of no lessons learned even after the.