we start on t.v. dot com. the u.n. has imposed sanctions on libya as the violence continues in that country in a week that see more protests across the arab world. also in the news this week because turmoil in the region drives thousands of north africans from their homes italy is calling on the e.u. to help it cope with waves of immigrants. that we can expand there is to be extradited to sweden on sex crimes allegations appealing the ruling genocide says the case is simply a pretext to get into the u.s. for a quick trial. and america has its we clipped for the last flight of the discovery the shuttles are to be decommissioned soon and under obama's new space program

astronauts will have to rely on russian spacecraft to take them into. with a look back at the week's top stories and the latest developments this is r.t. here in moscow the un security council has slapped sanctions on libya's leader moammar gadhafi and ordered an investigation into crimes against humanity following the bloodshed in the country of a one thousand people have been killed in almost two weeks of the uprising against the regime correspondent peter all over is keeping across developments in the region. the u.n. security council voted unanimously to impose these sanctions on the gadhafi regime that will take the form of a travel ban a dense colonel gadhafi himself as well as others close to him an acid free zone could be and is in a circle the sixteen names on this list is also an arms embargo placed upon libya

now the resolution it was brought forward by france the u.k. germany and the united states also contains a referral to the hague to the international criminal court there so that they can look into allegations of crimes against humanity committed during the two weeks of violence that we've seen in libya governments around the world have been doing the best to get their citizens out of the country but it's also being libyans trying to get out of the country as well one hundred thousand are believed to have fled across the border either into tunisia or here to egypt where i am now many of the nations around the world think also suspending their diplomatic ties with tripoli we heard today on sunday that france suspends their diplomatic ties with tripoli the russian embassy in the capital of libya will be taking care of french citizens until the french government can work out a way to get them out of the country well prime minister vladimir putin has said

this the country of libya should be allowed to determine its own future once this bloody violence has died down it was because today we saw you were concerned about things happening in libya please note the following the north african soil of al-qaeda is also concerned about what is happening in libya do you think this is a coincidence because i'd like to go back in history a little bit screwed with the former leader of the iranian revolution with where did you live but he lived in paris and there's a whole he was supported by the western community you would get religion now the entire western community fights against the really you program i remember just recently our partners were very active and so were the democratic elections. palestinian autonomy and how much money and immediately they declared a terrorist organization and started fighting against it we need to give people who showed us into them in the future themselves we need to give them an opportunity to take the natural way without any foreign interference to build their future

protesters take control of more and more of the country they're coming across the palaces of the gadhafi regime now one such palace just outside of outside of benghazi has become the command center the center of operations for the movement against the libyan government against colonel gadhafi and discovering some interesting things is that in going through these palaces and that one of them being guarded a scale that a bunker there was designed to withstand an attack from a non conventional weapon showing me the security consciousness the security paranoia if you will that was in place in colonel gadhafi mind now we are hearing that tripoli remains in control of loyalists to colonel gadhafi and they've been handing out weapons troops to be handing out weapons to civilians on the streets of tripoli and in the district about six kilometers outside of the the center of the capital civilians were manning checkpoints looking at cars searching cars there and

checking identification papers now many of the citizens of tripoli have remained inside their homes locked in door scared of these these armed militia that are patrolling the streets there with the latest reports that we do have suggested just fifty kilometers outside of tripoli the city of zawiya this fall in to the opposition forces now this violence in libya has been the bloodiest across the region we've seen revolution here in egypt where i am and also violence in other arab states and north african states now the. violence here though fast the passing anything that we've seen elsewhere. at least one thousand people believed to be killed so far. artie's peter oliver there well for more analysis on this let's now cross live to london based author and journalist action return see thanks so much for joining us here on r.t. well as we're hearing the anti government forces are holding

a major part of libya now but how long do you think gadhafi hang on to the country's capital now i think it's very open to question he has so many forces against him now which is worrying a lot of people not least as your view is just saw the russian prime minister because it's now getting to a dangerous point in libya because if it is eighty percent under control by the opposition who is now backing that opposition who has involved with that opposition and who is now planning in orchestrating agreements and plans do you have any ideas of that either way i'm sorry sorry to interrupt you have any ideas yourself because obviously how can you have an opposition coordinate or coordinated opposition after what forty years of dictatorship could they really put something together that quickly. i have spoken to dissidents here in london some of whom have been ruin your sleep related actually to al qaeda in the past but i think what i was more

referring to is the chance that u.s. and british and european special forces are now organizing things with certain elements of opposition groups undercover the world wide satellite television is showing us what's happening in the north of the country we don't really know much about this operation by the british special forces that alone the cia who presumably are already there because they also know how many arms were sold by western governments and european governments to libya and we don't really know what's happening to those missiles so what happens to the opposition now it's very important for what their opposition is to organize themselves and be very wary of foreign interference well that's exactly what we some of the libyan dictator has been talking about recently warned that the unrest may lead to foreign intervention which of course is what's happening is you're saying all could well be happening even civil war he wants well i mean we've got civil war there anyway and we really are. that's right i mean obviously i wasn't repeating the words of safe good afi

for any reason i don't i don't have be all say or carry for a million dollars to play songs for me but. get our feet is right to a certain extent because foreign forces are getting involved there the western powers are not interested in democracy in libya what we're interested in now is the oil if if a country like spain is already changing legislation about speed limits on spanish routes because of fears over the oil supplies what we now know is it's the banks and all j.p. morgan so many banks are involved in the libyan government so many. companies they will be working with u.s. forces with. other elements of european union forces and what we must not allow as castro said quite early on in this saga of libya the recent events with us and

allowing nato invasion of libya what should there not be some military intervention now the libyans are crying out for help the u.n. has now just agreed to impose a set of sanctions on gadhafi but will they really be effective now in the near future or should really military action be considered just to save the libyan people. it's always difficult in situations like this it's when. the libyan question starts to impinge on other areas which is of course because some people are estimating hundred thousand refugees exiting through gymnasia and egypt but i think what's very important here is to allow the libyan people as is said after all by people like the british prime minister any american president to decide their own fate so soon as us about the national interests and the military industrial complex as it starts to get involved with the opposition i think a lot of people will start to be fearful it with us already know what this is because it's so interesting to hear what you say so many people say if you leave

them to their own fate then wouldn't that give a chance for islamic fundamentalism to step in so many are worried about and then obviously form an islamic state which many people know what of course against western interests and that's a fair point is no. well i mean if a country decides to do what it wants to do it should be allowed to do it is part of the united nations charter and if the country is now held by eighty percent the opposition all eighty percent of the country they're going to have to stop planning for elections democratic process is democratic institutions i think the foreign minister of libya at the moment i think he is at the moment things of change every minute is closely allied to the cia he would be a part of that future opposition but he'll be telling the state department and his handlers in langley virginia please save me because otherwise the islamicists will take over libya i think that's what they also said about egypt and that's what they said about tunisia and that's what they say about all these countries i don't think

anyone should take them that seriously whatever comes after this regime that was back to the hilt by the american and european powers after the initial periods of libya's person evolutionary history which were for independence. we know they're back to democracy back in their own interests and they'll use the scourge of the fears about islam islam to prevent democracy to get the best rents of the oil fields all right let me just ask you about. the un has also an investigation into human rights violations during this bloody uprising. after all the dust to settle whatever happens to him do you think he could actually face trial and is he worried about. it's very interesting that the international criminal court have been brought into a resolution the united states of course is not a signatory to that resolutions are gadhafi could always hide out in washington escape an i.c.c. subpoena i think the americans and i don't know people like tony blair would be

very very frightened of nicholas sarkozy or mr berlusconi of italy would be quite frightened about an i.c.c. trial because then then we could have the regime and the people that are still supporting him in tripoli in their bunkers will be able to tell all the stories about everything from lockerbie to how our american and british arms companies were involved in propping up that regime and they have a string of e-mail that have an e-mail trail i don't think the americans or none during or russell's would very much what that tickled out in court you actually returns here as always very interesting here we have to say thanks indeed for joining us live there in london thank you. and you live it up rising a spot fears that already high oil prices could skyrocket to levels never seen before reports that colonel gadhafi may well sabotage the countries of pipelines about a fuel to the fire this week for the barrel of gold approaching one hundred twenty

dollars and there's a warning of significant economic threat syfy under a spread some experts went as far as suggesting oil prices could hit two hundred twenty dollars a barrel but steve levine from foreign policy magazine says this scenario is unlikely to develop. saudi arabia has gone around and rightly assured everyone we not only can add more volumes to the market but we added the difference that would create a situation in which prices would really skyrocket another country mine are mine so you've lost a million barrels a day is our line from libya. algeria which is also having trouble or if it foreign that would bring saudi arabia right up to its capacity to to substitute for volume then you would see i'm not sure two hundred twenty i think that's probably an amorous china good headline but maybe one hundred fifty. which is still pretty

high. meanwhile there are fears it only could drown under a wave of illegal immigration from the instability in the middle east thousands of refugees have already reached the comfort zone of the producer the government to declare a humanitarian emergency but if you've got this kind of reports on how locals are dealing with the situation. with eighty miles off the coast of north africa the tiny italian island of has relied on fishing and tourism means sources or being caught but for the first time in years the balts or and have been there or drawing of us because we can't work there always are here we have been going out to sea for twenty days. since the recent uprising in tunisia the island has been flooded with refugees over five and a half thousand arrived in just two weeks sometimes up to three hundred refugees would grab on just one tiny fishing boat to make the perilous journey to the

mediterranean island doesn't have all the ground many of those who meted have nothing to lose turning local right here on its head with no money and nor jobs they have already been cases of vandalism and theft. you know it will start to believe in the lights on at night they always wonder ronde none of the locals ever used to lock their doors and now that these people are here we're still uncomfortable due to its location like people who is familiar with refugees but never so many in such a short period of time and with many voicing strong beliefs official say identifying genuine cases he's one of the biggest problems. that we are historically a free nation and we want freedom of islam we want to live like a prophet told us in holy books to live in an islamic state but most are housed at this refugee center where they are provided with food water clothes and medical aid

all financed from the state budget is designed to house only around eight hundred people so under tight security hundreds of refugees are flown to the mainland in the beginning that often we send four planes yesterday but on average two planes with refugees leave every day to crew charlie mari and political leaders. italy and tunisia used to have an agreement under which most were fiji's were intercepted before even reaching the island but now that the government has been overthrown the floodgates have opened i put violence continuing to spread in both north africa and the middle east italy has already warned other evil states up to three hundred thousand refugees could we libya alone for decades limp you know that manage to i mean i play any isolated world of its own accord with all the supplies and no one was afraid to leave their

borders all the five something changed and the biggest wave of refugees may still be out there not this tiny island but the entire continent it was just a lot more like you know about. this is not coming up in a few minutes there doesn't have to be only one the pretty fourteen the sochi winter olympics will have three mascots chosen by russians in the country. to meet their. clubs also. so pony up the cash after a ride on the back seat take the wheel. oh yes americans a powerful new space program which they feel hands the reins to russians in the race to the. stores to become the first must be extradited to sweden over sex assault charges that's the verdict made by a u.k. judge but we couldn't find it says he will appeal the decision as the court had

failed to even consider the details of the allegations as it was called the whole hearing the rubber stamping process. gives us a background. when julian assange emerged less than a year ago with this video. showing u.s. troops going down unarmed civilians in two reuters journalists video games he was lauded as a hero of transparency. and anti war ally a human rights defender r.t. america interview decides on the day of collateral murders release and what keeps people almost and more people in management of civilization go even if you understand how the world actually works. in the fourth grade is to get information out about the real world and the second is the common form of the interview but we need sources who can get. out of the

public eye nomad a computer expert with a cache of two hundred fifty thousand classified cables catapulted to the front page of virtually every newspaper in the country working with wiki leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks to his foes julian assange is a cyber terrorist and war time he's guilty of sabotage espionage crimes against humanity he should be killed but to his stance a soft spoken activists with the potential to radically reshape the geo political landscape voted by the people as time's man of the year but our commitment to our sources is not just to protect. it's not just to publish the material used to get the maximum. possible. today it's the political impact of the leaker and not the leaks that has gripped have been. allegations of sexual misconduct by two swedish women infighting within wiki leaks for his and bank accounts stalled

the nation particularly obama administration and the cia they want to start with the leaks they're doing. all sorts of extraordinary action star being paid. master card and other private corporations to. donations to be made to wiki leaks the once heroic figure now party mugs bumper stickers and t. shirts to pay his legal bills who profits from demeaning meaning. obviously it's the us government which is really hard to get. makes no bones about it then under the bus by the newspaper that once eagerly uses leaks initial impressions are going to. set up some red flags some in the list say signs and wiki leaks have been effectively neutralized consumed by litigation rather then leaks i think would be american government wants us to have mr science in custody so that ultimately he can be extradited to the united states to face charges for the

release of those documents court ruled that julian assange to be extradited to sweden but his attorneys say the next stop for the thirty nine year old computer programmer could be here in the united states where science could pay for espionage charges and even the death penalty as the sun chases jail time the future of wiki leaks hangs in the balance and its ability to be a place for whistleblowers and it beacon of transparency and ford r t washington d.c. . america's longest serving space shuttle discovery has lifted off for the last time this week after a quarter of a century in service the spacecraft will be put into retirement on saturday the shuttle dock to the international space station delivering cargo and scientific equipment upon his return to earth it will be it for it off to a museum where it will soon be joined by its sister ships and over and atlantis the furtively manned u.s. space flight within the with the new craft a decade away but these are things going to confound isn't sitting too well with

many americans. by the end of this year nasa will no longer be able to send humans into space according to obama's plan responsibility will go to private companies which are expected to come up with cheaper ways to ferry astronauts to low earth orbit they know that they have a big step to take when they if they're thinking about putting humans into space and that's going to take a you know the next phase of their development so i have a few years oh gosh i. couldn't even estimate exactly no long can say for sure when the private american companies will come up with a new spaceship for years to come it will be the russians so use it's going to be the only means for people to reach the international space station which is perfectly fine with the leaders of russia and the u.s. but doesn't sit well with many americans how could this happen we could make it to the moon earth don't build this wonderful equipment and then. and now we're

we're reduced to being passengers on a russian ship and that's that's sort of it it's a wounded pride thing one declined revealed itself in comments by some american lawmakers astronaut scientists and former nasa official comedians in the u.s. did not miss out on poking fun at american sense of pride so reporting the cash they have to write on the hope of the backseat take the wheel. yes you know you're not going to let us touch the radio there what is each stop to use the bathroom should have gone before we left. use but those in nassau who now actually work with the russians like astronaut sunny williams have different sentiments i couldn't imagine when i was growing up walking through red square or going to a russian company and working hand in hand with my russian colleagues or going to their families homes and having dinner with them and likewise when they come to the

u.s. and so. i think. maybe we're not competing but we're working together i think it's more of a time of joint cooperation and learning from one another that's just as healthy as the competition we had in the path it's not the first time americans have to rely on the russians to take their crew to space they depended on russian rockets during a two year grounding of u.s. space craft after the two thousand and three space shuttle columbia disaster columbia exploded during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere all seven crew members died shuttles track record includes another tragedy in one thousand nine hundred six the space shuttle challenger broke apart seventy three seconds into its right was the russians so use proved to be the safest way to deliver people to space and now with the shuttle retiring it will be the only way we're no longer racing against an adversary we're no longer competing to achieve

a singular goal like reaching the moon. in fact what was once a global competition has long since become a global collaboration the leaders of both russia and the u.s. are saying space is no longer a place it's now a ground operation through remains if ever once here in the us except it. they say teamwork is the lynchpin of success and the russian public seems to agree having chosen not one but three mascots for sochi is twenty fourteen winter olympics competition was fierce but a snow leopard a polar bear and a body all skates to the gold in the televised vote he's done a lot of good reports on these latest additions to the winter games lineup. these are the first winners of the sochi olympics from now on a snow leopard a polar bear and a hare have won through to become the official mascot of the two thousand and fourteen winter games a ray of light and a snowflake will represent the paralympics he has thrown the prize winning places

in any sports around first second and third and the main model will be lympics is that it's not victory but participation there is some balls and the leopard by him and the bear have their strong points that's why i think creating a team was a smart choice the winners were selected by members of the public from across russia and doughboys them saturday the competition to devise them was also a public outward the creations are the result of a nationwide competition launched last year with ideas submitted to a special website and russia's artists amateurs and professionals so why rush to the challenge 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 it really came down to this top ten rate here these are the meskins that made it into the finals and one of the entries are two bears snarly acquired for

the frost and then we have so cheese personal favorite of the anything else. despite their hardly appearance the competition between damascus was almost as intense as poorly gold traditional russian characters like father crossed melted and the heat of battle and didn't make the point of hot not even of make over with the latest winter sports where passion was enough to sweep a rather hip set of russians much rush goodall's to victory will be olympics have only one winner the competition organizers for the mascot circled on three we'll go with a night to commercial possibilities to see who's doing the breath you can journey is ahead for all the symbols chosen for the games they're just making their first steps on the. in the peak of their popularity in two thousand and fourteen and of course we're counting on commercial success with three years left on still be olympics so she will now have to get used to three new furry honorary citizens at least one of them is no stranger to the southern russian city as for real snow

leopards have recently found a new home at the local wildlife preserve the three winning kids have a hard act to follow in matching the worldwide frame won by misha their counterpart for the 1980's moss who lympics but still she will be hoping they will become just as lot and will love the little ascii art scene sochi. i'll be back with a recap of this week's top stories in just a few moments here on our t.v. stay with us live here in moscow. with.

the the three .