now at the border point intense where there was saving food and medical supplies aid workers who are on the scene are warning that this is reaching crisis point and we're hearing reports of crisis and chaos at these border points as gods struggle to keep the situation under control now the fighting is continuing throughout the country at several times between forces loyal to the leader moammar gadhafi and with all forces particularly in those areas around the libyan capital tripoli government forces are struggling to retain control and create create to keep in place a buffer zone around what is still the leaders stronghold there are increasingly fears that the situation could deteriorate into civil war in his latest televised address warmer gadhafi warned against international intervention he said that thousands of libyans would die if there was any kind of international forces on his soil he also said that he was simply a symbol that the real power was in the hands of the people and as such he could not meet their cause to dissolve the government and to implement any kind of

constitutional reforms he also vowed in quite a strong statement that he would fight until the last man and the last woman to remain in power now discussions are continuing at the united nations over a proposed no fly zone over libya now on this idea has been suggested by the british prime minister david cameron if indeed he goes ahead and commit some self to it in essence britain will be committing itself to shooting down aircraft now the idea has been rejected by many in the international community including russia they say that it is for libyans to determine their own fate and their own future it is worth noting though that british troops are in the libyan town of bin ghazi they've been there for nearly two weeks and there are also growing concerns that they might take over chemical weapons stockpiles that are in that town and this is because london has indicated that it has fears that gadhafi might use these stockpiles against his own people the official reason though for those british troops being there. it's humanitarian reasons it's also the official reason that's

been given by the united states warships that if it says that these were the ships might be used or at least are planning to use them in humanitarian efforts but that all options are on the table and this has raised concerns yet that they might be behind the scenes some kind of plan for international intervention despite libyan saying that they do not want to have this well in just a few weeks the unrest in tunisia spread throughout the arab world and there are growing fears it could go further still but for more on this let's join now by am a cleric or a shia political expert from islamabad now mr qureshi we've seen a domino effect in the region is how likely is it that the revolts in north africa and the middle east could eventually reach pakistan. well pakistan that is the eastern extension of the arab islamic region of north africa the middle east and it has been always open to influence from the arab islamic region so it is very likely

that whatever you're seeing happening right now in the middle east is actually right now having an impact on the box the new political discourse you can see the box that immediately you can see blocks that evolution is certainly talking very openly and on a daily basis about what's going on in the middle east so it's very likely and of course considering also the fact that many of the economic moves that we are at the at the root of the reason for many of the rules that we've seen in the middle east do exist also in box done especially in the past five years or so has done is a ripe for this kind of chaos in this well one of the concerns of a lot of observers is the fact that islamic extremists could gain power in some of the arab countries well if the situation such a situation unfolds in pakistan and they fall under revolt as well how likely is it that al-qaeda could come to power and what would the consequences be. you know it's very important to understand that right now we're not seeing any sign we haven't

seen any sign yet that any religious extremists are coming to power anywhere in the middle east we haven't seen that sign anywhere with the exception maybe off the elections that took place a few years a few years back in the gaza strip and brought hamas into power but we're not seeing does this dynamic play itself out for example in egypt or in tunisia not at all and of course not in the rain not in oman not in kuwait so i think it would be premature to really go into that direction but if you come to pakistan and if you also again talk about al qaida takeover you know i'm one of those people who are very skeptical about for example. these trends in the afghanistan pakistan region we believe that it is very very dissipated very very weak right now in fact if we count the actual numbers of members of al qaeda suspected ones who might be on the ground in either of gunstar pakistan currently right now i think that would be of a figure much much less than even a figure like two hundred persons so to speak of

a takeover per se would be i think a gross exaggeration but yes you have a lot of religious groups of course exist in the region again these groups are very dispersed they're not under one single umbrella we don't find them for example very active in the political arena it is premature to speak really off any religious or any extreme groups of any sort really taking over what is largely a popular discontent about issues such as governance and politics and and the performance of politicians so you're saying that it's still saying it's still premature to see extremism as the root cause so how should this be viewed that you know there are a lot of religious groups as you're saying how should they be viewed in the context of what is happening in the region. let me tell you one thing when you exaggerate the threat of al qaeda and when you say that al qaeda might take over for example or in some of the middle eastern countries when you say that you're basically

playing into the hands of a very. let's say into the hands of certain western countries that have a vested interest in perpetuating their presence in afghanistan it's very it's an open secret the united states wants to continue to be present there are a couple of its allies in nato also would like to see a continuity of this war in terror for many strategic purposes and reasons that have to do with the gulf with iran with china and certainly will so with russia so there are a lot of vested interest i just suspect that some off the reports that we read in the media particularly in the western media in the in the american media the british media sometimes exaggerate the strength of al qaida and in order to serve their own strategic interest there are again as i said extremist groups they are some of them are lethal some of them are very crazy you need to be watch out be on the watch out for them but we don't see any sign really that any of them really have to capability to seize power in vibrant countries such as egypt or tunisia

it's been a couple of months now and whatever happened over there and you hardly see any influence for even the moderate religious groups over there there are there are there are there are segments of the population that support them but there are far far from seizing power in any of these places whether it's egypt tunisia or pakistan ok well let's just let's just say in the way the way the west is viewing the situation in the region could they be underestimating the internal situation in the arab world. under estimating i don't think so i think there's a clear understanding now everybody understands i think and especially the officials in washington do you see many of the governments that we have in the middle east in crucial countries are very close to the united states we can see all my. hosting u.s. air bases we have been rained we have saudi arabia kuwait and of course egypt. and on all of these governments have been traditionally very close to the united states

i think if there's anybody who is really very concerned about what's going on in the middle east it is of course the american officials and i don't see that they're underestimating was going on there is a very serious situation it could hurt long term the u.s. interest in this whole entire region including pakistan as well of course as we all know that the americans have a very strong presence in box them as well a very close relations with the government and the last thing they would like to see is for all these pro-american ruling elites really being toppled by popular discontent and this could get is very real and nobody is interested meeting it ok well thank you very much for insight there i'm a political expert from islam about. more on the continuing developments in the middle east and north africa in just a moment but first a look at what else is ahead for you this hour the global war of words u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton wants more taxpayer cash to fight back against an information onslaught from the foreign media. and step back

a whole millenia and follow our teams close a team as one of the rich cultural legacy of. the unrest in northern africa and across the middle east may have far reaching implications and they are already being felt around the globe. maps out the situation. let's look at the implications of the ongoing unrest in the northern african region and what it means for the rest of the world geographically libya tunisia and egypt and these are just some of the countries affected by the civil unrest there just across the sea from europe and this to me that hundred forty thousand people have already fled unrest in libya into neighboring tunisia and egypt but the likelihood they'll actually stay there is rather slim it's only has already received as many as ten thousand refugees who continue to pour into the country france greece and spain may just be next in line even before.

the prospect of massive immigration has always been europe's wars night. in real terms it has never been substantial we have always been below thirty thousand . possible and every year. clearly the overthrow of the governments poses a whole different set of issues in what europe will be able to do. it depends on the ability of actually cordy meeting among some of the governments most affected i mean imagine if in two months time. not overthrown i mean business cannot proceed as usual after something will have to be done if we work on the map of libya in terms of oil production facilities will see that eighty percent of that oil producing territories right now are under rebel control now europe takes over eighty five percent of libya's crude exports more than thirty percent of libyan oil

goes to italy fourteen percent to germany ten percent to china and france and five percent to the united states the unrest has already promoted a spike in oil prices which climbed it to over one hundred dollars a barrel the highest point in two years and this some analysts say is just the beginning or prices have a knock on effect. to the cost of. most items because of course you need energy to. make products and deliver them to shops so. if prices continue to stay tastes a high that will have significant inflation pressures. on europe and the world finally if a civil war breaks out in libya with the country breaking apart geopolitical implications for the region and for the world cannot be underestimated the major peril now is coming is the islamists radical islamists into power on all over the

region you know these revolutions in egypt and syria in tunisia all of the arab states they have been. you can see a million radical islamist parties have been suppressed by previous regimes like muslim brotherhood in egypt for instance. in libya you know are very strong in libya actually libyan department is one of the strongest of the world maybe the second the strongest after the protests funny well one of the greatest dangers is that. try to get use of the city so very highly volatile situation in this northern african region really bears significance not just fully being egypt in all but really for the rest of the world. r.t. . america is losing the information war to foreign english language media like al jazeera t.v. and r t well that's a concern of u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton who is asking congress for extra cash to promote

the u.s. and around the world are things going to check out reports from washington. here is what we have learned from hillary clinton's statement we are officially at war information war by we i mean english language non us run media which provide alternative views on world news use which often running contrast to the coverage of events by us mainstream media story clinton was defending her department budget in congress she says a major reason the state department needs money is because the u.s. is losing the information war and among those media who are winning that war hillary clinton named r t we are in an information war and we are losing that war i'll be very blunt in my assessment al jazeera is winning. the chinese have opened up a global english language and multi language television network the russians have opened up an english language network i've seen it in

a few countries and it's quite instructive mrs clinton says she's leading an effort to spread u.s. propaganda through new media with twitter feeds in arabic and farsi but on local stage the us creil twenty comes to television station said the u.s. should specify propaganda efforts and get back quote and they gave of doing quote what we do best here is more we are engaged in an information war you know during the cold war we did a great job in getting america's message out after the berlin wall fell we said ok fine enough for that you know we've done it we're done and unfortunately we are paying a big price for it and our our private media cannot fill that gap in fact our private media particularly cultural programming often works at counter purposes to what we truly are as americans and what our values are i remember having an afghan general tell me that the only thing he thought about americans is that all the men wrestled

in the women walked around a bikini's because the only t.v. ever saw was baywatch and worldwide wrestling some five years ago western media outlets including b.b.c. and c.n.n. basically had a monopoly in the coverage of walled news things have changed a lot since then more and more viewers of crossed the walled tune into various foreign media to get a fresh take on the events our presence on you tube for example is a real hit almost three hundred million views c.n.n. or something like three million r.t.s. cost and growing viewership is already an indication to many that the days of media monopoly are over and people demand multi-polar think al-jazeera is coverage of jiang reza in the middle east and in north africa as house down the us is just a presentation of the events while many are happy to see this emerging medium. alrighty the head of the u.s. agency that manages the country's government run international broadcasting has basically called those foreign media enemies i'm talking about walter isaacson's

last year's infamous pitch to get more funding for his agency which among other media outlets of america later he backtracked on the. statement though and said it was. pretty hostile message to foreign media trying to trying to provide a fresh perspective on world news but but this was this after of state hillary clinton basically confirmed it saying that the u.s. is at war at an information war with foreign media well for more stories you can visit our website that's r t dot com there's plenty of analysis and features for you to explore including an american dream for solve a nightmare for others the divide in the u.s. between the haves and the have nots becomes a goal. and pancakes are ready for tossing in russia as the country gets down to traditional celebrations to mark the end of winter and the start of spring and find out more about the country's oldest holiday at our two dogs. well

a quick look now at some other international headlines a man armed with a handgun has attacked a boss kerry u.s. air force troops at frankfurt airport in germany killing two and wounding two others the attacker was identified as a twenty one year old cos of one who worked at the airport he apparently began shooting following an altar cation with the men he boarded the bus and was caught by police while trying to flee the scene. the u.s. army private believed responsible for supplying a trove of documents to whistle blowing web site wiki leaks has had twenty two more charges brought against him they include aiding the enemy which can carry the death penalty other prosecutors say they won't apply for it intelligence analysts private bradley manning is currently being. held at a military jail in virginia he faces a hearing in may or june to determine whether there's enough evidence to try him.

officials in new zealand have stated that they don't expect to pool any more survivors from collapsed buildings following a deadly earthquake a little over a week ago the death toll currently sits at one hundred sixty one most died in multi-story buildings which came crashing down in the city of christchurch authorities who say their goal is to recover as many bodies as possible fear that the final count may rise as high as two hundred forty. i'll get ready for an adventure that was are close a team prepares another exciting trip around russia. just three hundred kilometers north of moscow. which prides itself on its rich history and breathtaking views or despite its going to sit or of the tile has

managed to preserve many of its original buildings its structures and monasteries and thousands of tourists who want to absorb the spirit of ancient history but the artist levels amazing scenery also appeals to the cinema industry as artist lindsay france found out. it is said that one thousand years ago at the place where the vulgar and the rivers meet prince you will be wise building most sacred beer with this battle. and then founded the town of. the town and region its name for has been known for drama ever since local filmmaker yuri vacs man gave me a tour to show me why you did lots of some fifteen to twenty historical films with short runs in the area where we are working. to recreate moscow in the one. driven. from the kremlin to the church of the prophet elijah to the embankment time has stopped in the frame of a camera what makes the asaba region so attractive to filmmakers is that the sets

have been standing for centuries nearly perfectly preserved so in studio send out their location scouts to find a great historical setting gatos level is ready for its close up. and so is its talent alexander petrova is in the business of setting scenes with paint and a heavy dose of romantic realism. he adapted ernest hemingway's the old man and the sea into an animated film on twenty nine thousand painted plates of glass and snag the nine hundred ninety nine academy award for animated short film he showed me how he shot the frames with a custom made motion control imax camera system. i've made several films here here i've raised my pupils who now participate in the making of my films i heard that soon they're going to have their own ideas and will start working on their own projects my dream has come true for. other movers and shakers in the

industry are generating pupils of their own but in a much more physical way carts in hollywood and russian movie career has taken his stunt schoolyard film to a whole new level and the need to get over the past five years we've been training people mostly boys and men who want to master this profession they come from all over russian training four or five times a week with complex stunts it's very intensive you talents and real stunt men aboard here in this car but there are more ways to jump into the movies than playing with fire in jaroslava just go get a bite to eat at one of the local cafes one of the most famous of all soviet films was even busy live its changes profession a spoof on ivan the terrible in at the moscow of the sixteenth century was played by the town a rough stuff and here at the even the sale of addressed customers at the full cinematic experience the scenes of the film are set throughout the restaurant but

if you'd like to sleep on it the attached hotel is what you'll fall for it caters to the movie minded with its time honored blockbuster themed rooms evander ceiling which being the most popular for his part vax men's recent film hydraulically is packed with blockbuster action but his other local repertoire is not it's that of the theater. in the city of yaroslav will is the cradle of russian fusion the famous theater founded here but short of vocals was the first national theatre that opened in russia it reached the heights of creative and professional flooring in its time. that may be but as long as the one thousand year old city of yaroslav all is internationally protected as a historical site it will forever be known as the silent ingenue gracing the background of thousands of cinema and television screens the world over in. lindsay france our team.

will later it'll be time for a spotlight today in our yuri milner the first russian venture capitalists and fortune magazine's top fifty but first the business. stay with us. hello and a very warm welcome to the business update french oil major is buying a twelve percent stake in russia's independent gas producer to boost its share in the company up to twenty percent in the next three years the deal signed on

wednesday is asked to make at around four billion dollars total has also acquired a twenty percent stake and liquefied natural gas project on the peninsula which makes the company partner in the project total already owns a quarter of the stockmen gas fields project. together with start the company russia is becoming increasingly attractive for pouring investors. today's situation in the world shows that we've been broached to boost our investment into russia russia is a very attractive country for investors which is even more obvious a bit the instability that we're currently facing. and another foreign investor on the russian soil japan's largest general trading company also announced its plans to participate in the stock when gas project the stock one failed in the barents sea is set to contain almost four trillion cubic meters of guts the venture aims to build a plant to produce seven and a half million tons of liquefied natural gas annually the plan is to start within

the next five years. let's have a look at the stocks now asian store markets are mostly high on thursday many investors are grasping the opportunity to buy into stocks after wall street's turmoil in the middle east and the crisis continued to temper demand in the case point. nine percent higher and hong kong on the rise both chinese and global find some fun stuff to u.s. employment data boosted chasse middle eastern and rest and high oil peeping investors. and on wednesday the russian markets managed to recover after a positive opening in the u.s. on wednesday the russian energy sector benefit from high oil prices gold companies saw significant gains for precious metals gets the russian markets will stop. time. the worry wallet inflationary pressure for me i want your prices i want to

price of support for the russian market itself and i think we're going to see again what you did inside this. market will for. spikes in the oil futures. futures again those with before. that wraps up the business bottom you are up to date now join me in less than one os time for more business news here on our change.

is he to. eat.

it. all come back a quick recap of the top stories we're covering on our team here what is warning of a humanity. crisis as the uprising in libya sees at least one hundred eighteen thousand refugees fleeing across the border to tunisia and most of them are foreign laborers who are now being housed in tents. as colonel gadhafi once again refuses to be prized from power in libya he's threatening more violence if u.s. or forces intervene or he warns that he would fight until the last that and the last woman. and america is losing the information war to foreign media like al-jazeera. the u.s. top diplomat hillary clinton voiced the concern as she asked congress for extra

cash to promote the u.s. agenda around the world. and all of his goals for today is the first russian a venture capitalist and fortune magazine's top fifty well that's coming your way after a short break. for the. we've got. the biggest issues good human voice face to face with the news makers.