u.n. . let's hear some of the international reaction. has more on how the trouble is being felt in washington. given all the big interests at stake in the region there is no more democracy chanting going on in washington there have been a few statements from u.s. officials calling for leaders of libya bahrain and others in turmoil to show restraint in hadley handling the protests and that's about it no more of that epic coverage of that mock democracy in making the kind of thing something that we saw a little more than a week ago when obama delivered all these passionate speeches on people of egypt making their voice heard and embracing democracy there is no more of that now with the exception of iran of course the u.s. is for anything that's against the ukrainian leadership but the situation in some other countries seems to have spiraled out of control with egypt analysts say it was easier and safer for the u.s. to root for democracy and support the people because there is the army there which is very powerful and is largely financed by the united states and is now in control

of egypt but in other countries in libya for example the u.s. doesn't have that same leverage so they are much more cautious calling for democracy in those countries i spoke to some experts here they say washington's biggest fear is that those op risings in the region could bring about leaders who will be hostile to the united states and many analysts and only say for the u.s. it's not really about supporting democracy in those countries it's about securing their interests just two months ago secretary of state hillary clinton pronounced herself very impressed by the progress that bahrain is making on all fronts she said that's quote there seems to be a strong. broadly held commitment to democracy. that was that was before pro-democracy demonstrators filled the streets and the government responded with deadly force it leave you to experts say the u.s. would so much rather have things as they were could off he was never their favorite leader that's what for about some seven years ago he reached to open up a levy is all which is to the west and to let them in. best the oil production so

they kind of left a little but now we protest spreading like wire wildfires across the region the u.s. seems to to have little control over what's going to happen next there as the region becomes increasingly unstable the price of oil spikes on global markets it is now at its highest level since before the two thousand and eight financial crisis libya where protests are much more violent than they were in egypt or anywhere else now as the richest proven oil reserves in africa it is the twelve largest oil exporter in the world and he threatens to disrupt supplies i mean all these protests not only that but there are questions as to who will control the suez canal a major oil shipping lane americans have their fleet in bahrain to patrol the canal and keep an eye on iran but bahrain is now in deep crisis and nobody knows what's going to happen so the u.s. might be losing control there experts say if the on rescue team and the crude oil prices continue growing as they are now the u.s. is going to be hit really badly especially now that it's struggling to climb out of recession there are there are reports that

a number of western oil corporations might temporarily gain from this spike in oil prices but the political unrest in the region makes it all too unpredictable that was our. reporting from washington and in the meantime john la quinta of the institute for democracy and cooperation in paris says that by supporting the uprisings in the arab world the u.s. only gives the appearance of change. the american double standards in the middle east are so breathtaking that. one doesn't really know what to say in the case of egypt and as in the case of the other countries the interest of the united states is to present the appearance of change while maintaining political control that is what the americans are about revolution serves to legitimize a continuation of the status quo effectively you may remember in the great novel and film the leopard there's the famous saying everything must change so that everything stays the same and that's really the motto of the americans in these

situations they're trying to keep a lid on the situation in the middle east they're trying to legitimize new versions of the old regime but of course that's not to say that there are no social pressures autonomous social pressures themselves there are of course considerable pressure pressures in these countries but foreigners living and working in libya are leaving the country several nations including russia are sending special planes to bring their citizens home r.t. sara further has the details. russia evacuating the russian nationals living a working in libya. specialist a working on high profile investment projects and we know that that's not going ahead as he said special planes have been dispatched to that evacuation we can hear now from russia for the and back to the to libya he commented on this. obviously russian nationals should be evacuated to the margins his ministry has been quite successful in carrying out bank eurasians on the social consensus it's hard to predict what the current situation in libya will lead to is

just one common reason for such reports across the arab world is the emergence of a new generation of better informed that have been brought up by televisions and to some extent the internet and are ready to take responsibility for the country's fate statements on the foreign ministry website has called for an end to the violence in the country and the political dialogue is one that's really been this and this only that we've seen the russia's response to the situation in the middle east asia being markedly different to the approach taken by other western countries especially as we've been hearing in the u.s. they had this big pro-democracy rhetoric can we. russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov saying that you wanting western countries really that this. revolution for the sake of revolution in for a democracy tool can be counterproductive to actually the focus should be on a stablish in now these democratic processes in the country as to what he's who in

western countries is not to interfere in the regions internal affairs that these countries have the right to define their own future and there was a french need to be very careful that they're not using me as the first of their own chief is to gaze since the energy rich country open for investment we've seen russia make the most of these opportunities right but in two thousand and eight. oh . who is then the president of the country fiza to chipley and signed a three point five billion dollars deal for a high speed rail way link in the country that runs between ghazi and i now that's scheduled for completion in twenty twelve but of course as we've heard they said especially if the engine is working on that project now of course being evacuated now we know also there are many russian oil companies working in the country months and gas from gazprom is also released a statement saying that there were me feeling some of the people that working in

the country that for them as part of the evacuation in fact just last week gazprom signed a deal with the tallying company and the and that was to jointly develop the elephant oil fields in libya that of course now with the potential. fees regime is really calling into question the foreign investments in that country but we will have more on the fallout from the uprisings in north africa and the middle east shortly but first let's look ahead as we deal with martian matters and later this hour stepping onto the red planet in the moscow region the march five hundred crew are set to walk on their box mars for the last time before heading home. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world

has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to operations throughout the day . the official. from the. video. feeds. dot com. for more now on the unrest in the middle east and north africa it's leading to a surge of illegal immigrants fleeing the trouble italy is boosting security on its borders to cope with thousands of refugees whose numbers grow as the violence

spreads r.t.c. group is going to reports on those taking flight across the mediterranean. no home no job and no guarantees the life of a refugee. i had to leave i can do them i should have. a familiar story here. a tiny italian island in the mediterranean around eighteen miles away from the coast of north africa it's always been the main route for refugees but since the recent revolution in tunisia it's become swamped by thousands desperate for a better life in europe who are willing to risk all. then a thermal shock we got into a storm and. i survived six of us and. these are some of the boats which were used by the refugees to get here and now they have these signs on them from the authorities saying their use is prohibited by italian a lot they've been only here for a couple of weeks so it's pretty clear their initial condition is far from

seaworthy nevertheless sometimes up to two hundred people can cram on each one bitterly and tunisia used to have an agreement under which most tunisian refugees were intercepted before even reaching the island but now that the government has been overthrown the floodgates have opened we're not ready for the recording to introduce as me it's becoming increasingly hard to keep the situation under control with scuffles between migrants and police in question. you've been cases of robbery and vandalism and it's really hard to identify them some of them may be criminals or even terrorists most of the refugees are held at a center where they're provided with basic help but it's equipped only for eight hundred people. we brought in additional staff members including police and even psychiatry just one hundred people in total but that's still not enough. with

a wave of violent political. sweeping north africa and the middle east is warning of an exodus of biblical proportions it's calling for e.u. to help handle the influx of refugees but for no role. for me to help. you. well the turbulence in the arab world has drawn the full attention of the american media riots and demonstrations in libya and bahrain are dominating the news channels at prime time and a newspaper front pages as artie's or list are reports while u.s. leaders fly the flag for popular uprisings thousands of miles away it's a different story back home. these images of thousands protesting their government. are reminiscent of the

scenes we're seeing in yemen. orbach rain or any of the mideast protests inspired by tunisia. and on a larger scale egypt where the people's will in many cases driven by workers struggles one out over ruling regimes but these demonstrations are going on in the u.s. state of wisconsin absolutely wisconsin is the new egypt their workers are fighting to maintain their wages benefits and bargaining rights unions and their supporters have been standing up collectively for a week and counting against politicians proposing to take those rights away this is one of the most incredible out short pouring of energies we've seen since the great depression and i think it could be the spark that could rebuild the labor movement in this country we wouldn't know it walking past a news stand in the u.s. american newspapers featuring the protests of other countries on their front pages right here this is bahrain no mention of the seventy thousand protesters right here

on u.s. soil said may be a tiny side bar dedicated to the people right here in america fighting for their rights are the hardest to get or everybody over and american protesters challenge the story told by the most watched twenty four hour u.s. news network in the country critics accuse fox doesn't see why sit down we're getting more and more aggressive and i fear that it might be some problem with fear of being peaceful protesters as rioters and the safety of state lawmakers cannot be guaranteed while it may be true the struggles people face from the midwest to the mideast can't be painted with one broad brush because we do have a higher standard of living each not as bad as what we're seeing overseas in the third world developing world but it is a manifestation of the same global move that. manifestation is received very differently by u.s. press and politicians depending on where it's happening american media that shared

in the excitement of egyptian protesters all day long in cairo the anticipation and excitement were growing villainize the ones in their own backyard these protesters are some of the signs aren't so nice a little bit nasty are you feeling any aggression there on the ground the president sided with the democratic demands of egyptians on the street and called for this political social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the egyptian people meanwhile at home on the do that be gyptian military help liberate the egyptian people we have the governor of wisconsin threatening to call the national guard lawmakers in the u.s. were rallying the troops against protesters and the top republican in the u.s. dr did their tactics saying this was not a way to have an adult conversation egyptians seem to disagree a prominent union leader pledged support for the western workers in this video. you know and we watched the people of egypt celebrate their triumph now in cairo it was

victorious friday a victory fought and won whose support of the u.s. once a battlefield now a monument to the one we call freedom meanwhile on the battlefield of working people right here in america those fighting go largely undefended lauren lyster r.t. new york. now let's look at some other stories making international headlines new zealand's prime minister has firmed that sixty five people have died following a powerful earthquake in the city of christchurch that number is expected to rise significantly the magnitude six point three quake struck just after midday call saying busy office buildings to crash out of the bustling city center cries for help could be heard the rubble desperate scramble for survivors rescue crews from across new zealand and australia or at the disaster site where a state of emergency has been declared. at least thirty six people have

died after a stampede at a muslim ceremony in mali officials say over sixty others were injured when the crowd surged against a metal barrier in the stadium hosting the event the country's president do to create visited a local hospital where the victims were taken the crash occurred as tens of thousands of people were attempting to leave the ceremony. now a suicide bomber targeting a government building in northern afghanistan has killed at least thirty people the man detonated his device near a group lined up to collect identity cards and be conducive province the taliban claimed responsibility saying the attack was intended for an army recruitment center this comes just days after militants in the eastern city of jalalabad killed forty and dozens. germany's defense minister has given up his doctoral title following allegations he plagiarized sections of his thesis last

week. said he would temporarily give up the title while his university investigated the charges burke has now asked the university of beirut to retract his ph d. in law admitting he had made quote serious mistakes. and later are takes you a few hundred kilometers south of moscow or explorer james brown heads for the picture ask penza region.

well let's. just. all join james on his travels in just over an hour here on our team. now the final space walk of a simulated voyage to mars will soon be underway in moscow before the crew packed their bags and head back to earth the volunteers are halfway through a period of five hundred twenty days spent in isolation in a moscow laboratory the team consists of six volunteers three from russia and one each from china italy experiment is the science of test the effects of long distance space travel now will smith from london smaller space science laboratory says the experiment is a vital step for future space exploration. i think is actually an excellent idea i

think it's a lovely idea because it is internationalize the problem because i think that's a wonderful thing that i've done i've internationalize the problem and russia has chosen an aspect of the problem which i don't think is really been addressed properly most focus so far has been the technology that gets you to modern lands and we can't simulate shooting one go so what we have to do is separate out. the various different difficult aspects of it and then try to isolate those aspects and then understand those aspects so the one of the real problems in going to mars is getting people to get on with each other for that period of time and still be effective when they then arrive six or eight months later on the surface of mars and then come back again. and that's not a tall trivial so what the mars five hundred is trying to just isolate in their in their isolation rooms some of the issues which those those that crew technology are

going to see so it's not meant to be a perfect. simulation. is meant to just tease out some of the real issues and some of the issues are things like the difficulty in communication with earth and the growing time lag in the communications with earth the sense of general sense of isolation the fact that they have only a limited amount of supplies etc so all those things have been well simulated sergei krikalev of head of the yuri gagarin cosmonaut training center says this experience will prove useful for furthering the study of psychology. this experiment shows the behavior of people in limited confines and in limited groups and the results of it will be useful not only for future space missions but also for different fields of medicine finally it will be useful for members of polar expeditions and sailors who spend a lot of time together in one place on one boat and as regards a real flight to mars training will take place when the technical equipment able to

fly to the red planet is created. of course we're following the mars five hundred crew story on our website and here is what else is solved by people up to date at r.t. dot com this joost face a fight for compensation for the property stolen during world war two as praise for a nazi collaborators sees a conflict redefined by the country as liberation invasion. and as the unemployment rate rises in the u.s. more and more women are taking any work going even in the porn industry or go to r.t. dot com to find out more. i'll be back with the headlines shortly but first you is here for the business update. hello and welcome to your business day to oil prices have climbed to the highest level in more than two years as the crisis in libya fuels concerns over crude

supplies w. has risen as much as ten percent and less than one week now trading at around ninety four dollars per barrel which has africa's largest oil reserves has cut supplies by fifty thousand barrels a day with the opposition threatening to stop all the deliveries international oil companies have started halting operations in the country. and the oil spikes are having a positive impact on the russian equities but of an ass again you see i'm a strategist from brown cow believes crude is a double edged sword and says investors shouldn't let their guard down. investor should be kosher is because we're getting into oil super spikes right we were already. getting to levels of

hundred and five. you know the tensions are going to continue we are likely to see higher oil prices. it's good for russia's current account it's good for russians it's makes them makes them welfare but it's a key were for global economy. may seek compensation from b.p. if their deal to join to develop reach arctic fields fails that's according to the wall street journal citing the energy minister. wrote sniffed and beat beat concluded the deal in january but were forced to put it on hold after he drew from a a r b t's russian partners of the joint venture. are claims the deal violates its exclusive agreement with the british world major. let's have a look at how the market's up there in that it's a sea of red in europe european indices are extending that previous sessions shop just as the violence in libya worsens and after heavy falls for asian markets the

footsie is back below six thousand points airline stocks are among the worst hit him in the wars over oil supplies. and in russia the indices are tricky both losses in europe and asia in the my six are significantly lower on tuesday after posting their highs to climb in more than a week on monday. let's have a look at some of the individual moves now energy majors are continuing to do well on the strong price bucking that we could trend on the markets for us now after almost half a percent of the sour but financials are suffering both believed to be down more than two percent on the might six. while the rally in that world price since the beginning of the year is given the russian government new options speaking exclusively to our t. finance minister alex accoutrements us the higher revenues will mean lower boring.

enough to show new spoilers only zero we're going to cut our initial plan for and borrowing due to the high oil prices this year it could be cut by around five hundred billion rubles we have an opportunity which we haven't used yet to finance one modernization with money from asia in particular this relates to projects in the far east and in siberia the money could come in the form of loans foreign direct investment through the placement of bombs in our projects in asia. that's it from me now you are up to date to get more store a small website r t dot com slash business.

it's brand new trisha and this is products on the price of healthy eating. we need to test these foods for toxicity allergenicity immune response lower nutrition in for environmental contamination don't you feel like a lab brought some consider the experiment in human treatment idli significant differences between the g.m. fare that they both at that don't g.m. . but they weren't treated so well themselves one question means one carrier if you

ask one question you could be uncertain and you might or might not be able to publish it but that's the end of your career. will come to the future. in a blizzard of winter blues should be good to slopes and try out some new text brushes got a little caliber excitement in its southern melt steel trainers to keep you in top form and a watchful eye on the goal line carving the trail to sochi twenty four g. phone technology update here. we've got the future covered. the official. video.

welcome back here's a recap of the top stories we're covering for you today in our they are global calls for the violence to end in libya as hundreds died during a week of protests there was real birth at the libyan leader has led to trouble but colonel gadhafi later made a t.v. appearance same was still in the country. and russia is among several other nations racing to get their people out to safety special planes are being sent the problem country to ensure more and workers don't get caught up in the clashes. and the mars five hundred crew are preparing for their final walk on the martian

surface before starting their long journey back to the volunteers or possibly through the five hundred twenty day project which they're spending in isolation in a moscow laboratory to test the psychological impact of space travel. let's get more insight into the continuing on rest across the arab world r.t. spoke to. former russian foreign minister and experts on the middle east who says the revolts are a social explosion i guess authoritarian regimes that interview next. super michael thank you very much for finding time to talk to us if that is to go speaking of the recent uprisings in north africa.