falling apart colonel gadhafi forces a strike against antigovernment protesters again bringing the overall death toll in the raging unrest in libya to over a thousand. and its violence spreads throughout the oil rich middle east and the world faces a surge in fuel prices are threatening to drag economies into a new meltdown. that wiki leaks founder slams british justice for handing him over to sweden sparking accusations of hypocrisy about how the u.k. harbors those facing a far more serious charges. plus it's a race for the hearts and minds of all the olympic russians are set to choose the

mascot for the two thousand and fourteen winter games in sochi. also is coming to you live from the center of moscow welcome to the program. libya it's braced for more violence as government protesters are back on the streets demanding and end to colonel gadhafi is ruled it comes after schools will kill them from the capital tripoli on friday as army forces once again opened fire on the rioters bringing the death toll to well over one thousand and with the government losing control over most of the territory the country may soon fall apart as are thousands of people wrong reports. the forces on the protesters have rested power away from the control away from to to go. they have

most of libya they are in control of the majority of the country starting out in the in the east of the nation in benghazi that's where they have a main stronghold they've spread that influence across the country leaving really only tripoli the capital in the hands of the top the loyalists. those gadhafi loyalists that have been firing protestors and its civilians using live rounds also mercenaries in the capital who would be using violence against these people wanting to get out of power now the son of colonel gadhafi saif has said in a television broadcast that he and his father will not leave tripoli my life they will not leave libya a little i while they were alive so would be his that they are trying to make a final stand as it were against these these protesters who want to see kind of put out the step down tripoli at the moment is ringed by tanks there are there are soldiers on the streets there now these soldiers have been told have been warned by

the united kingdom today that if they don't defect from gadhafi they could face war crimes charges and also hearing from a former u.s. diplomats that the country is descending into chaos gadhafi has made sure that no there is no other power source the army is not power all the army is not a force for stability there is a very small middle class very few are educated people in egypt so we're looking out across regular order chaos in libya where we were going to do and in egypt and that's a very fearful thing because it continues to get worse and worse. not just a few thousand but tens of thousands of people were killed. we're looking at the complete disintegration of the country well if the country does completely collapse then the big question comes up what next for libya. the is was no weak means a friend off the west in the past few years he had developed relations with countries. the united states and countries in the e.u.

however he was stable and if he is toppled what comes in his place could it be a rather radical islamic state could we see something else there could we see another dictator or a military dictator take place or get take power again so really if colonel gadhafi is removed from power a lot of questions arise about the future of libya the united states imposed sanctions on colonel gadhafi and his family and other libyan officials now it's being condemned by the international community however that condemnation is being criticized in some circles as coming far too late and it's only words i think peter all of the reporting there what meantime a political journalist and twenty y.l. told us here at r.t. the western style democracy is just a tool for control which should not be applied to the arab world. western style democracy in its current state is far from what i would consider to be something

that we should want it any of these countries i think i think if there's going to be democracy it should be democracy with a real change and a change that reflects democracy that actually benefits the people today's democracy is nothing more than a mainstream control mechanism through which the vast majority of the public who do not think are emotionally engaged in in situations that they don't even really realize what it is that they're voting for or approving and if you think that democracy which is supposedly what the u.s. is out there pushing and driving home for these people who need so much the philosophy of what they've developed and put together in any in the u.s. for example take a look at look at what they're doing any building bases in hundreds of over one hundred different countries you know basically putting at the end of a gun the word democracy and shoving it down their throats to me this is not democracy this is abuse this is nothing more than a system that is doomed to failure and as long as central banks continue to stand side by side in a democratic system like we have printing endless amounts of money which is devalued by evaluate by the minute we're not going to have anything more here than

chaos that is used to mask that devaluation process and hopefully distract people from the overall fraud that's been perpetrated on western societies if that's democracy who'd want it. so you can get involved in this and have your say about the situation in libya and the effects it could have on the region you can do so on our website that's r.t. dot com in our online poll we're asking who could benefit from the riots in the arab world and these have been the results of the voting is so far and it just found a belief that our people themselves stand to gain the most as they could be rewarded with a so called democracy twenty four percent think that oil export will be the main beneficiaries fourteen percent say the media will profit from the chaos and are almost equal numbers here sixteen and seventeen percent believe the islamic radicals and the arms producers will be the most effective if you are voting is ongoing all of a you can have your say any time just log on to our website that is our team dot com. or the live all to start fears of skyrocketing oil prices that

may affect the cost of everything from transport to food with a barrel of the black gold now approaching one hundred twenty dollars this week and lists are warning of significant economic threats if the turmoil spots further but it sees it only goes after he explains how the problem is playing out in the united states. the oil three little letters. could have dire consequences on any economy and here in the united states will is sometimes also accompanied by three big words drill baby drill a dream. and with those three words you've got yourself a politically entrenched powerhouse will drill new wells sure we'll drill them and the crisis in the middle east has only inflamed so what we have now are soaring gas prices and fears of a relapse in the already weak economic recovery and on the heels of the unrest crude is heading for the biggest weekly increase in true years and when oil prices

soar the price of food also skyrockets and so a vicious cycle begins for many americans a reality that is once again rally the base and its spokespeople perhaps for the wrong reasons and whenever there's a crisis you're here at home or abroad it's usually exploited politically i did government or the media it loves to hate coffee is now threatening to burn up the oil fields experts are predicting a worst case scenario of two hundred twenty dollars a barrel if that happens but i don't believe that this this particular interruption of oil supplies will last very long so if you're trying to tie drilling offshore with what's happening in libya i think it's a bit of a stretch a stretch that some are all too willing to make the oil fields are on fire and we have no backup plan. well he has lifted the moratorium in the gulf for drilling oil

thanks to caste sunstein no new permits have been issued but permits and backup plans aside what's really going to happen in an already ravaged economy where we see this in the middle east. and this in our very own midwest. so the last thing you need is the people who are. in the worst economic shape are the first ones to get hit by gas prices and this will cause a lot of discomfort to a lot of people who don't need it is bad news in terms of violence spreading to other people producing nations in the region have been overshadowed and instead of asking how americans will cope with this are asking the question that never gets answered but at the same time seems to never get old who are our friends and who are our enemies for our tea dina kosofsky. the eleven from the magazine foreign policy he believes that the oil market is unlikely to collapse anytime soon he says

there are stable countries like saudi arabia can fill the gap of those that are stuck in turmoil. the markets have calmed down over the last twenty four hours saudi arabia has gone around and rightly assured everyone we not only can add more volumes to the market but we have added he will be different that will create a situation in which prices would really skyrocket is there another country run our lines so you've lost a million barrels a day is our line from libya if algeria which is also having trouble it in its prime that would bring saudi arabia right up to its capacity to to substitute for volume then you would see i'm not sure of two hundred twenty i think that's probably an anarchist trying to get headlines but maybe a hundred if that which is still pretty high. time that middle east protests have

prompted others to speak out against unfair government policies like in the u.s. state of wisconsin public workers are protesting against cuts in their benefits the recent middle class tax rises the rest of what people in the big apple think about that. are not for the type of coverage. we it would not be either of these things either of the middle east things or the things going on with the states would be quite as hard as they are. in the residence coming away in about seven minutes time. is preparing to repeal the law and courts ruling that he be extradited to sweden on a sex assault charges the founder of the whistle blowing wiki leaks website says the allegations are baseless and if he is handed over he will not get a fair trial. and it has been looking at why a son sure is being extradited from

a country which is home for many wanted far more serious charges. wiki leaks founder julian are solved learns the court has ordered his extradition to sweden to face questions over rape allegations and he's got some interesting questions of his own why is it. that i am subject. to nonprofit free speech activists were three hundred and sixty thousand dollars bail. why is it that i am kept. under electronic ballasts forever. when i have not even been charged in any country is not the only one asking not particularly as the british government has a history of granting asylum system fairly controversial characters recently the immigration minister admitted one hundred thirty nine suspected criminals have been given the right to settle in britain permanently that thought to include former henchmen of saddam hussein an afghan official who tortured prisoners and rwandan

genocide perpetrators basic tradition relating to asylum is that anybody can come here provided they are loaded provided i've got lots of money we will let me because we want them in with their money and therefore it's not particularly the russian not nuts and all legal so welcome here. shakes. i have a jew b.s. criminal record as it were of torture yet they were allowed to swan around london and knightsbridge but it's water where ever since the second world war the u.k. seen only two successful convictions for war crimes and despite recent retrospective laws that allow suspects to be brought to justice in this country according to and see torture campaign is redress so thought on nothing's been done people like that should be investigated by the u.k. police authorities. and if the is fission evidence found for prosecution. that

should be prosecuted in the u.k. we always are bringing these people to account to these suspects but it seems very little is being on the list of the rich and powerful on interpol's wanted list resident in the u.k. is long and around forty people wanted alone living here in two thousand and three a lead chechen terrorists akhmed zakayev was granted political refuge the same year asylum was granted to russian tycoon buddies but is not ski convicted of embezzlement in russia it shows here the hypocrisy of the british courts. he is quite clearly been involved in the math here over the years all sorts of very serious offenses which he may actually quite literally equate with terrorism and yet he is not being extradited and yet we see here what appears to be anyway a trumped up charge of rape which hasn't actually even come to charges in sweden

this certainly does appear to show political interference in the court system here in britain and total hypocrisy from the british justice system while julian are stars looks set to be cast from the safe harbor of the u.k. into choppy waters it's unlikely he'll think from ptrace just yet he may not have billions in the bank to buy himself out of trouble so he'll just have to hate his friends in high places have influence i start his defense team has vowed to now take his case to the highest courts in the land in the hague preventing his extradition meanwhile some of the world's nastiest people suspected torturers terrorists and war criminals remain at large in the u.k. under the protection of the state's lore and it's our duty. to come here on the program on arts he races on put something up the olympic medals will be won. it certainly seems that our beloved our team mascot designer sean shirk will not

win but i'm proud. coming up we'll give you the details. coming up. police in russia southern republic of korea have blocked all the roads after a series of attacks in the capital of. the authorities are now saying the situation is under control. brings us the latest from the region in the caucasus. we're here at the back of the gas station that was attacked early on saturday morning armed gunmen reportedly shot the station and a deadly blast was prevented only signs to the fire crews who could rival this follows a series of similar militant attacks here in the capital of russia's republic of korea just a few hours earlier that could have resulted in a major bloodshed after twelve people similar tenuously attacked several locations including traffic police posts and the efforts of federal forces but the plans to

cause havoc in that actually have clearly failed the frappe the day we know fatalities in just one policeman injured shows that there has been a turnaround from the last week's dramatic events in the volatile republic gruesome attack on a tourist minibus last saturday left three people dead and two injured for all the cells a cable tower is keely of in a resort was blown up and hotels in the village nearby grew back a ways and when a car bomb was discovered all the incidents forced their story just to close and i am to operation on the region in that time and terrorist forces have already created a base with weapons supplies and a makeshift explosive device now of as you know kyra lies in the world of trial north caucasus police says that islamist terrorists operating in the region could be behind the latest attacks some experts say and then later they were carried out heat in several locations at the same time for those the pattern used by islamists

operated internationally. parties are over for now anger is growing in the u.s. over the supersized text vote for the group class it has quickly come to a head as thousands are protesting in one northern state plans to cut public sector workers collective benefits this week asks people in new york how they feel when they're asked to make sacrifices for the super rich just after. people across the u.s. are protesting proposed legislation intended to slash benefits for the middle class i do really protesting the fact that every day people are being asked to make sacrifices while last three years continue to profit even more this week let's talk about that i'm a member of this week's middle class and we say. we work for the all those and first then friday we work for ourselves but think. do you think that

people in the middle class are responsible at all for where the economy is that right now no it's it's wall street and bush. so why isn't wall street paying more and why aren't they being asked to contribute more to health plans because the government would prefer to buy their pay a muffin and bail them out the upper class probably pays ninety percent of the taxes or more in new york city and new york state it's probably the same thing in wisconsin i don't know the numbers but i think everybody's paying for it paying to keep the government moving so why are there isn't one riles up that if it if it seems like so clear cut to you why is everyone so in a fit right now where people don't want to give up what they've got were it not for the news coverage and or the social media and i'm not saying it's bad but we're not for the type of coverage. we it would not be neither of these things either of the

middle east things or the things going on with the states would be quite as hot as they are no matter who you think should be paying for the distressed economy the bottom line is that if you ask the middle class to relinquish benefits it's only fair to ask the same of the upper class as well. we would all to live from moscow was twenty minutes past the hour competition for sochi. two thousand and fourteen winter olympics promises to be yes but another race is underway before the games get into because people all across russia costing the vote to choose the olympic mascot when i was alive while he's a shawntel was you can bring us up to date on this show and so talk to us about the process of choosing the mascot finalists and also how the voting actually take place. well certainly rory this all started back at the beginning of september when the winter olympic committee announced that there would be a contest that the next mascot for the olympic games would be designed by russians

and it would be chosen by russians and so that started the race entries from all over the country started pouring in and basically we had everything from a shot glass full of vodka on skis to a dolphin on skis to even a psychedelic frog but basically children and adults and artists from all over the country started putting their ideas forth to try and create the next popular winter mascot now of course this is a really big deal the winter mascot will be a big part of the branding of the olympic games that last will be a big part of the merchandising for the olympic games and we may all remember the beloved of the bear from the one nine hundred eighty summer games right here in moscow a very popular character and so now the question is will this next character be just as popular now those final designs it's been narrowed down to the top ten the top ten was chosen by the judging panel of celebrities politicians as well as

entrepreneurs and now voting is underway in that last vote for the top ten will be cast tonight at nine o'clock and then the winner will be announced shortly there after at nine thirty now there are many different designs of course a snow leopard is in the running and we are told it is putin's favorite so we'll see if his choice prevails but for more on this we actually go to our sochi correspondent tennis. what. an olympic race but no medals up for grabs it's the search for a mascot and these children want to know we are part to be the symbol which sums up forty two world they were allowed to decorate the statue in one of the city's parks to show their support for a species under threat is a strong as animal is a walled they want this animal let it go this is because it's a very special animal right only for slowly of course living in forty's wildlife

preserve but drawings of these animals have appeared in dozens of entries in the national contest to find the mascot for the two thousand and fourteen winter games in southern russia the election of the olympic mascot started with hundreds of ideas and you can see some of these drawings here in sochi olympic information center eventually the games out of the starting rate here these are the methods that made it into the finals among the entries are two bears slowly acquired for the frost and then they are true to his personal favorite of the open on ski special hotline was set up and sought to to answer all kinds of questions about the two thousand and fourteen winter games and right now baskets are one of the hottest topics. our colors are people from all walks of life and many of them are locals who would like to support their city's symbols one of the mascot for instance represents the black sea the snow and the mountains can be the issue in the pool you see another couple of candidates reflect

a famous russian stereotype but there's brown color making the point all shortlist it brings back fond memories of michel the beer the mascot for the nine hundred eighty moscow olympics remains an icon russia but its creator who took two years ago says it wasn't easy for misha to become a legend you know so i had a call from the organizing committee they said your parents just been approved by the central committee of the communist party so i. mentioned how scared the creature was passing that test. this time is up to the public to decide on the mascot although the top ten will select the play special jury consisting of celebrities i'm sure for you or some politicians the winner will be chosen by the people of russia during a televised. which. the sochi winter olympics are still the way it is in two thousand and fourteen when they take place we understand preparations have already begun. the preparations for these winter games. well

certainly rory as you know is a resort destination it is a tourist destination but it needs to be prepared to accept an international community not just for the hosting the games and the events themselves but also for the infrastructure to make sure that the city and the area is able to stand be the master entrance of all of these people from around the world so ever since it was announced that sochi was going to be the place for the two thousand and fourteen olympic games the process began right away with construction infrastructure roads new facilities being built hotels being built so that itself can be ready to accept this mass onslaught of people now as far as again going back to the mascots that voting goes until nine o'clock tonight at nine thirty it will be announced internet voting is on underway and i do have to say from a personal note i'm a little bit disappointed that my design did not make the top ten. in about

four years from now and once again it's nine pm moscow time will be airing the choosing of the mass six pm g.m.t. much. so i guess we'll be bringing you live coverage of how the road goes again at six pm gnc on saturday evening i remember you can always visit our website at r.t. protocol for the latest on the two thousand and fourteen of sochi winter olympics bring you the special interviews with the mascot candidates you can watch the bowling pins writers their team dance and find out what father frost like to do in his spare time. and for those who didn't quite make it so you can meet zoid satirical furry frog whose mascot aspirations i didn't quite get to be.

i don't let's have a look at some other major headlines from around the world this hour the confirmed death toll from the earthquake in new zealand has now risen to one hundred forty five with as many as two hundred still missing rescuers warning of the chance of finding any more survivors under the rubble slim emergency services in christchurch are working to restore power and clean water to the city police are also want to hire a lawyer to make reports of looting possible defense websites warns that the city may see more tremors greater than five magnitude in the coming days the earthquake with new zealand's deadliest natural disaster in eighteen years. four people have been killed after militants stormed iraq's largest oil refinery planting bombs and setting it on fire the governor of the province of says that the plant has now been shut down there finery is credited with producing almost a heart of iraq's petroleum exports in the past it was controlled by regional

al-qaeda cells or used it as a method to finance attacks. and four people were killed and dozens were injured in clashes with security forces during anti gun. when protests enter geminids port city of aden the death toll has now reached at least twenty one cents and daily protests started over a week ago against president ali abdullah saleh is certain to come here for loyalists and opponents of the sixty eight year old leader held a rival demonstrations in the capital sanaa after the friday press. right after the top stories coming your way in just a few moments to stay with us. the

. mind in russia would be soon much brighter if you knew about the song from france to freshen some of. these food stamps on t.v. dot com. we'll. bring you delete.