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 rebel 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 leader's stronghold there are increasingly fears that the situation could deteriorate into civil war in his latest televised address woman 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 and 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 would 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 is humanitarian reasons it's also also the official reason that's been given by the united states for warships that it's into the region it says that these warships might be used or at least are planning to use them in humana. if it's 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 as the libyan crisis rages saunas some foreign powers are weighing up whether to get involved phyllis bennis director of the washington based think tank b. institute for policy studies believes that nato is military intervention is unrealistic and its recent posturing is just showing off. this is an old story in washington where humanitarian intervention is the excuse of the day i don't think we're going to see the possibility of troop deployments or even necessarily ship involvement i think this is partly a show of force to intimidate gadhafi and to make nice as it were to the new leadership that will be rising in libya to create a new government when gadhafi is overthrown there is no doubt that people in washington and london and elsewhere are scurrying around desperate to figure out

ways of ensuring that they get in on the ground floor with these new these new governments that are going to be in power that they are oil companies getting and that it chevron and b.p. rather than russian or chinese or other oil companies the people of libya face an even harder challenge than than the people of egypt and tunisia and other countries that have existing governmental institutions in place that they can take over and use as the base in libya there are no such institutions there is no parliament there is no constitution all of this is being created whole cloth it's an incredibly exciting moment for people in libya but they're paying a huge price in blood to make that possible the democratic revolution that is underway in libya are indigenous home grown revolutionary processes and they don't need us government forces to teach them about democracy they are claiming it on their own and that needs to be respected. well more on the fallout from the unrest

in the middle east and north africa in just a moment but first let's take a look at what else is ahead for you this hour war of words u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton wants more taxpayer cash to fight back against that information onslaught from foreign media. and step back the whole millennia and follow our team as root for the rich cultural legacy of jihadist level. now the ripples caused by the unrest in northern africa and across the middle east are now being felt far and wide. 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 egypt in algeria 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 the 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. 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 and what europe will be able to do it depends on the ability of actually among some of the governments that are most affected i mean imagine if in two months time coral gadhafi is 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 we'll see that eighty percent of that oil producing territories right now are under rebel control now you're upticks 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 summer analysts say is just the beginning or prices have a knock on effect. the cost of. most items because of course you need energy to. to make products and deliver them to shop so. if prices continue to stay 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 are radical islamists interpol one all over the region you know these revolutions in egypt and syria in tunisia all of the arab states they have been islamic yet you can see millions of radical islamist parties who have been suppressed by previous regime slow muslim brotherhood in egypt for instance. in libya you know al qaeda is there is strong in libya libyan department of al qaida is one of the strongest of the maybe the second strongest after the pit to start a new one one of the greatest dangers is that. you could use their tools to try to get you. so they're highly volatile situation in this northern african region

really bear significance not just fully being egypt but really for the rest of the world. r.t. well in just a few weeks the arrests in tunisia spread throughout the arab world and there are growing fears it could go further still with concerns that islamic radicalism will come to power but political analyst from islamabad says the threats are vastly overestimated. i'm one of those people who are very skeptical about for example. on the strength of al qaeda in the afghanistan pakistan region we believe in pakistan the tide 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 gunston or pakistan currently right now i think that would be of a figure much much less than even a figure like two hundred it is premature to speak really of any religious or any groups of any sort really taking over what is largely

a popular discontent about issues such as governance of politics and the performance of politicians 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 interests there are extremist groups but we don't see any sign really that any of them really have the capability to seize power in vibrant countries such as egypt or tunisia that was i'm a corrupt political expert from islam about there and of course we're interested in your opinion over the question of who has the most to win from the wave of unrest in the arab world now on our website that's our dot com. now america is losing the information war too for an english language media like al-jazeera china sea c.c.t.v. and r.t. well that's the concern of u.s.

secretary of state hillary clinton who was asked congress for extra cash to promote the u.s. agenda around the world are 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 views which often running contrast to the coverage of events by the 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 global stage the u.s. trail when it comes to television basically said the u.s. should stephon 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 it 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 tuning to various foreign media to get a fresh take on the events our t.v. presence on you tube for example is a real hit almost three hundred million views c.n.n. has 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 thinking al-jazeera coverage of the unrest in the middle east and north africa has outdone the u.s. presentation of the events while many are happy to see this emerging media of the. wright is the head of a 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 page to get more funding for his agency which among other media outlets one's voice of america later he backtracked on the. understatement though and said it was. i've written statement last year sent pretty hostile message to foreign media trying to trying to provide a fresh perspective on world news but but this was the effective state hillary clinton basically confirmed it saying that the u.s. is at war at an information war with foreign media while journalist and filmmaker danny schechter says the u.s. is not open to alternative points of view so can no longer hold the monopoly on information. the united states feels on the defensive in part because they can no longer monopolize not only the terms of you know the soroti in these countries but also the terms of the debate there's other information out there other points of view and those points of view are profoundly damaging to

a country that believes that its point of view is the only point of view who should be the only point of view so hillary clinton one day is defending the internet the next day the administration is proposing all kinds of regulations and ways to cut off speaking to internet if possible you know there is no real commitment to the kind of freedom of diverse speech that we really need if we're going to be in a democracy at home and in a you know a community of nations overseas we can't dictate what people believe anymore. well for more stories visit our website or to dot com there's plenty of analysis and features for you to explore including an american dream for song and advice there for others the divide in the u.s. between the haves and the have nots becomes a gold. 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 will find out more about the country's oldest holiday at our t.v. dot com. a quick look now at some other international headlines a man armed with a handgun has attacked a bus carrying u.s. air force troops at frankfurt airport in germany killing two when wounding two others the attacker was identified as a twenty one year old cos of an who worked at the airport he apparently began shooting following an altar cation with the men while he boarded the bus and was caught by police while trying to flee the scene. officials in new zealand have stated they don't expect to pull any more survivors from collapsed buildings following a deadly earthquake a little over a week ago but the death toll currently sits at one hundred sixty one the most died in multi-story buildings which came crashing down in the city of christ church authorities who say their goal is to recover as many bodies as possible fear of the

final count may rise as high as two hundred forty. well the u.s. army private believed responsible for supplying a trove of documents to whistle blowing web site wiki leaks has had a twenty two more charges brought against him they include aiding the enemy which can carry the death penalty although prosecutors say that they won't apply for it intelligence analyst 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. astronauts on board the space shuttle discovery took a final space walk around the international space station to get the outpost shipshape before the shuttle program winds up with discovery is heading into his headed into retirement after this white and only two more shuttle trips remain by end of endeavor and then of the atlantis well the crew used the trip outside to repair a broken pump as well as remove an experiment platform the shuttle will remain at

the space station until sunday. when i get ready for an adventure as are close of team prepares another exciting trip around russia. just three hundred kilometers north of moscow lies the malevolent reliable town of lettuce level which prides itself on its rich history and breathtaking views well despite its considerable aid for the town is valid for the service many of its original buildings its churches and monasteries that were tracked thousands of tourists want to absorb the spirit of ancient history look at us levels amazing scenery also appeals to the cinema industry as artie's lives of friends found out. it is said that one thousand years ago at the place where the volga and the coach or so rivers meet prince jaroslav all the wise killed in loco sacred bear with his

battleaxe. and then founded the town of yaroslavl 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 the most prestigious the plots of the up to some fifteen to twenty historical films were short runs in the area where we are working we even filmed at this location to recreate moscow in one forty one with stalin being driven round in his car from the kremlin to the church of the prophet elijah to the embankment time has stopped in the frame of a camera what makes they also have a 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 petrobras 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 one thousand 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. going you know i've made several films here here i've raised my pupils who now participate in the making of my films i hope that soon they're going to have their own ideas and will start working on their own projects so my dream has come true. other movers and shakers in the industry are generating pupils of their own but in a much more physical way romana kurtz and hollywood and russian movie career has taken his stand schoolyard film to a whole new level and they 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 russia training four or five times a week with complex stunts it's very intensive new talents and real stunt men

aboard here on this carpet but there are more ways to jump into the movies than playing with fire and jaroslav all just go get a bite to eat at one of the local cafes one of the most famous of all soviet films was even visited libya changes profession a spoof on ivan the terrible in it the moscow of the sixteenth century was played by the yaroslavl town a rough stuff and here at the even the sale of it restaurant customers get the full cinematic experience this seems 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 even under seal of which being the most popular for his part yuri vacs men's recent film hydraulic is packed with blockbuster action but his other local repertoire is not it's that of the theater. in the city of yaroslav all is the cradle of russian theatre the

famous theater founded here by short of all course was the first national theatre that opened in russia it reached the heights of creative and professional thought in its. time movements. that may be but as long as the one thousand year old city of yaroslavl 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 with the hundreds of movies made here in the region over the last century it's made a huge impression on the locals and here to give us a better idea of that is local movie lover elisa said hello hello nice to see you here give us an idea of what movie making industry is meant to you here and yeah. there were a lot of morris that were shot here and there will be more i think when i was a small school girl they decided to shoot i feel i'm old school and it's was

with a very famous russian actor and i was so here when i saw the whole group there and then later when i saw it on t.v. i was really impressed because it was the hours it was the place i know from my real life it was great we'll have much more for you here from the close up team in central russia exploring the jaroslava region. all coming your way as an in-depth look into a live the libyan crisis from a former russian ambassador to the country but first let's have a look at the all the latest in business with yulia.

hello and a very warm welcome to the business obviate our top story this hour europe's third biggest oil company total has agreed to buy a twelve percent stake in russia's independent gas producer novacek to join the arctic liquefied natural gas project to expand and russia french oil major also intends to increase its share in the company which almost twenty percent in the next three years i'm now joined live by our correspondent buddy perform who has the details hello to you dr so how big a milestone is this deal for the two companies. well the deal is likely to benefit both companies while tile is europe's third largest oil company and no attack is russia's largest independent gas producer now they will both join in russia's arctic l.n.g.

project now this is not the first time that the tile is trying to pay emerge to buy a stake in russia's nova tag back in two thousand and four they were trying to buy twenty five percent of the tac and right now but the deal back then has failed and since then the value of the stake has risen another tech has gained about thirty percent in the past three months and. raising the value of the stake to four point seven billion dollars according to the c.e.o. of to thailand christopher de margerie the company is buying the stake for around two billion a dog. as and they plan to raise the stakes to from twelve to fifteen percent within a year and to nineteen point four percent within three years the. c.e.o. of the tile christopher dim archery also said that he believes it's

a very good investment the current situation in oil and gas producing countries in northern africa show that this is indeed a very good investment and that they need to be in russia russia has safe conditions for investment russia's prime minister vladimir putin has also said that this is a great deal that has a great deal that has a lot of potential. can you tell us a bit more about the project which total also got a stake and. that's right the u. mild peninsula above the arctic circle is one of the richest sources of hydrocarbons and russia is making is hoping to make out of the main center for production of the quick five natural gas the project the year mile and l.n.g. project aims to start producing liquefied natural gas in two thousand and sixteen in five years and the project needs about twenty billion dollars of in mass

investment now. the project is designed to reach output of fifteen million metric tons a year and the number text c.e.o. said that the company will soon seek other partners but never tag will remain the main partner in the project that's now listen to what the c.e.o. of nova tech because sun has had to say. we are considering bringing in several other foreign partners into the amal project they will be able to get up to forty nine percent we're now negotiating with a number of possible partners and we expect to make a final decision by the end of the year however to towel will stay as the majority shareholder in the project. most analysts agree that is great that to tell was paid and that to tell us participation will compliment the implementation of the project. show thank you very much for this indeed to all correspondent of course

watching on the deal between french total and russian over tech you're up to date now join me in less than one else tying for more business news here on r.t. . download the official anti up location on the phone the i pod touch from the top story. one life on the go. video on demand all teasing blindfold costs and already set features now in the palm of your. question on the dot com. we'll. bring you the latest in science and technology from around the world.

we've got the huge you're covered. welcome back here's a quick look at all the top stories we're covering today the u.n. is warning of a humanitarian crisis as the uprising in libya sees at least one hundred eighty thousand refugees fleeing across the border to asia but most of them are foreign labor. cost intense. as colonel gadhafi once again refuses to be prised from power in libya he's threatening more violence if the u.s. or nato forces intervene he born he would fight won't until the last the last one. and america's losing the information war to foreign media like al-jazeera china c.c.t.v. and our all 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. all that starting with former russian ambassador to libya to discuss the potential routes the country may now follow that interview was next . qaddafi's refusal to leave peacefully has seriously changed trend of the revolution in the middle east ever annexed uprising in the arab world risks becoming more radical and moderates but more on the fast moving events i'm joined by the former russian ambassador to libya. thank you you much mr gaddafi in person lots of times what impression did he make a. very purpose oriented politician he. does his best to achieve and knows how we should.