these forms top teeth don't come. in them. libyan warplanes reportedly launched an air strike on a rebel forces while on the ground pro and anti get out the groups continue flaming territories from each other. to rest in the oil rich arab world sends shock waves through the u.s. economy as the protests see fuel prices soaring. are in an information war and we are losing that war hillary clinton throws down the gauntlet to us media to up its game against other countries international media outlets including our. many brits prepared a boycott of the approaching nationwide census outsourced to a controversial u.s. defense for over fears their personal info might end up overseas.

three pm in moscow i now treasure bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t our top story this week begins in libya where there are reports of warplanes launching airstrikes on rebel forces government forces are reportedly shelling the third largest city misrata which is under rebel control well fifty kilometers outside tripoli clashes between pro and anti-government groups of the strategic city of zawiya have claimed at least seventy rockets by two thousand program obviously borders and gather the capitals and even swear to show their commitment to the ruling leader still unclear who's in control of the territories with planes counter and counter flames from both sides but his policy or. on saturday the libyan leader moammar gadhafi launched a fresh military offensive he's trying to retake some of the towns he's lost in the

past eighteen days of fighting there was some seventy people killed those are the latest reports we're receiving and more than three hundred people injured with reports of a strikes and live ammunition and growing fear. is that libya is descending into civil war most of the fighting is in the key towns of libya such as zawiya which is something kilometers from the capital tripoli and the oil rich port of the north now in russia and of the latest reports there suggest that rebel leaders are in control slowly making their way towards the capital city of tripoli in zawiya itself at a draw on the gadhafi forces launched an attack they fired mortar shells they used machine guns and throughout most of saturday if you fighting happened to their villages what we have from the rebel leaders themselves is that they remain in control inside of the town and we're hearing from government forces are very in control around the perimeter now this is an important town because it is so close to the capital and if the rebels are able to maintain

a presence there they will have a better chance of attacking tripoli it is interesting though that some of the pictures we're showing you here on our t.v. have actually been distributed by the gadhafi regime it's really trying hard to present its version of events it's using these pictures as proof that its forces are in control in most of these towns in the east it's very difficult to tell from these pictures in fact who is in control on the ground but it certainly is indicative that in addition to the fighting on the ground there is certainly is a fight in the media and information war in terms of who is in control of what now many of the media in europe and in the united states has been supporting the rebels there have been editorials in major american and european newspapers actually calling on the waist to support the rebels and attack gadhafi the latest we're hearing is that the western media is trying to portray these forces as a losing and the opposition forces as winning but as you can see from these

pictures it certainly is not clear who has the upper hand there also analysts who are pushing forward the opinion that the western media is so anti gadhafi because he has taken such a strong stand in the past against western interference in developing countries really. this is word from the british government is that it is confirming that it is considering and is on standby to deploy its forces within twenty four hours it says of these forces will be used for humanitarian and evacuation purposes and not for any kind of military intervention the latest word we have from the u.s. is that it's warships have a lift crease and according to a statement they issued they are part of the military buildup around libya and we also know that two american planes have landed in china's here they are reportedly here for humanitarian efforts we also know that france and the united kingdom are putting pressure on the united nations security council to make a decision on a no fly zone. countries who might intervene in this situation or libya want to

show themselves in a better light according to john locke the director of the institute for democracy and cooperation in paris i certainly think military intervention is on the cards we know it's on the cards because the government leaders of not ruling it out libya is an important story and the west does want to try to establish some sort of control over the situation its because it wants to recuperate the situation it wants to muscle in and appropriate to itself developments which it did which it did not did not and this year it's a way it's a repeat of the west and muscling in on the situation and trying to present itself in a virtuous light by bringing war crimes or other prosecutions against the libyan leadership british opposition labor m.p. jeremy corbyn says the repercussions of military intervention in libya could see a repeat of what happened in iraq. it's looking very dangerous news looking quite possible that they will launch such an attack with or without un approval and so

we're looking at almost a repeat of what happened in iraq and in the early results i suspect to be largely the same i think the important points are that the reason the great killer war in eastern libya the western interest in libya of always been about oil and the idea that suddenly the west and keep you concerned about human rights again because in slight you very much with the very close relationship between georgians gadhafi no no fly zone was ever proposed over israeli attacks on gaza any more than any support to the opposition in bahrain i get the feeling was more about geopolitics playing itself out rather than became concerned for the. correspondent for the asia times says gadhafi is former allies are scared that whole eventually speak out the international criminal court against. jimmy imagine it's got that's so it's on a journey for said would be to collaboration of libya that took care

of the scrawny trio that you know brought gadhafi back to the international community all the shady deals the walls all the shady financial deals with italy specially eighty eight which has invested at least fifty billion dollars oil interest in the media and to dodge a relationship so they're actually every european government summation the u.s. an arms deal is from the brits that would be a fantastic show wouldn't. you can always find more on the developing situation in libya on our web site r.t. that the latest news developments and analysis from our experts all there for you. with the arab uprising sending the oil crisis new highs this week it's thought this could be just the start of a very bumpy ride surging fuel costs in the u.s.

are threatening to derail the country's economic recovery as artist or a lister reports the political price may be too high for the obama administration. tunisia. egypt. the hurricane. algeria. and libya protest in country seeming to fuel one another unrest spreading like wildfire through the middle east and north africa all raging in all year for your rich countries that help fuel the world's use of more than eighty four million barrels of crude a day. uncertainty over production has sent prices soaring i mean the shock waves from the middle east turmoil are being felt worldwide now the mideast crisis is hitting home for outrage americans as oil prices have skyrocketed so too have the prices people pay for gasoline and now the price americans pay at the pump

is threatening to derail the u.s. economic recovery a surge in oil. prices will be the end of the u.s. economy not just an end to the recovery there's no more bailouts were a reality people oil expert michael c. rupert sees happening it will hit one hundred fifty dollars a barrel which he believes is inevitable this year others predicted going to two hundred twenty dollars it's so devastating because oil. fuels more than just cars. it fuels the entire global economy. though there's no doubt that if gas goes to five dollars a gallon for americans asked some predict there would be a high political price to pay for the obama administration's yeah yeah serene price and go and watch and for a very long period it could. be your or. your political

impact there is no denying the u.s. has played a role in the events that have transpired in the middle east. every time u.s. president barack obama went to the podium calling for this that there must be reform political social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the egyptian people and calling for egyptian president hosni mubarak's resignation he was calling for an end to the status quo which means a rise in uncertainty in rich region so did leaders weigh the toll it could take on their own economy some argue they don't have the power to kind of waning back up trying to push their back against an avalanche and i don't think we're going to hear a lot of success that may not stop the u.s. from trying to take control some observers believe the u.s. may intervene militarily in libya or oil reserves are massive under false pretenses of helping protesting people has nothing to do with interest. it has everything to

do with the interest of the u.s. . oil corporations military corporate profits if the way analysts say the price of fuel going uk will simply fuel public rage and the government is largely helpless the american people are going for a very nasty ride and there's no way out of it now but i can tell you the government understands that it's time lauren mr r.t. new york. afghan president hamid karzai says washington isn't doing enough to keep mounting civilian casualties caused by u.s. and nato military actions in his country he voiced his criticism in a video conference with president obama on thursday this follows nato's apology a day earlier for killing nine children in afghanistan cloner a preliminary alliance report shows the boys all younger than twelve were gathering firewood when they were targeted in an airstrike overall estimates suggest nato's campaign in the country has caused more than nine thousand civilian deaths since

a star in two thousand and one political activist i would sultanzoy says innocent afghans are becoming statistics in the u.s. war on terror. it's very difficult to translate these apologies into really meaningful. things to victims' families these are casualties that have been happening for too many years and there are too many civilian casualties the people of afghanistan civilians are the victims of both the nato civilian casualties and the terrorists who problem with suicide bombings and with indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas and the people of afghanistan are tired of both the hearts of the people of afghanistan or in the hands of two incompetent players one player is the international community and one player is the afghan government and both players are incompetent and ignorant about the true meaning of hearts and minds the intention of this war was to fight terror. but people don't

want to have become the victim of terror the united states and coalition forces have to do much better and they have to also hold the afghan side also at a higher standard in this case both the afghan government and the international community are held responsible in the eyes and and the and the eyes of the people of joplin to snow. hillary clinton says the u.s. is losing information war to foreign media outlets including our t.v. this week the secretary of state asked congress for more cash to step up u.s. efforts to get his message across or he's got it should he and has more from washington were declared the u.s. is now officially in an information battle with foreign media which provide alternative views on world news views which often running contrast in the coverage of events by the u.s. mainstream media 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 we are cutting back the b.b.c. is cutting back some five years ago western media outlets including c.b.c. and c.n.n. had a near monopoly in the coverage of world news things have changed since then more and more viewers across the world tuning in to various foreign media to get a fresh take on events clearly the united states feels on the defensive in part because it 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 there are 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 r.t.

presence on you tube is one example almost three hundred million views as opposed to c.n.n. that has around three million archy's constantly growing audience is already an indication to many that the days of media monopoly are over and people demand a multi-polar approach to the news there is no real commitment to the kind of freedom of the u. verse speech that we really need if we're going to be a democracy at home and in a you know a community of nations overseas too many hillary clinton speech a few weeks ago on freedom of internet seemed contradictory to the treatment that sources like we kulaks are getting us legislators are not crafting a law that would give the administration increased flexibility to go after week in leaks on the likes and now the administration is seeking more funding to step up u.s. propaganda efforts of broad 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 that you know we've. we're done and unfortunately we are paying

a big price for it last year the head of the agency that manages the u.s. government run international broadcasting asked for more money for his department we can't allow ourselves to be out communicating by our enemies the least the pain of missing clue to russia china iran and venezuela walter isaacson the head of the agency which runs with america among other media outlets later backtracked on this statement isaacson's page for more funding seemed even more unconvincing considering his agency has a budget of seven hundred fifty million dollars and it's way more than the budget of r t iran's press t.v. and venezuela's tell us we're combining probably money alone can't occur by global media clout walter isaacson's speech last year so it's quite a hostile message to foreign media exposing the shortcomings in the us mainstream but secretary clinton statement made it will push all the us is fighting a global information war and its will so i'm going to strike out reporting from

washington or two. that is the war of ideas heats up observers say it's washington's fault for being on the losing end christopher chambers a professor of media studies at georgetown university says the real news is on its way out in the us going to press and t.v. channel ownership by large companies. the corporatization don't mess to clean up american news has basically thrown out the whole need for news gathering and real reporting in exchange for punditry and entertainment and sensationalism because that spin to deliver the demographics to the guys who pay for the commercials what happening is we've opened up these huge gaps because we're more concerned with reality t.v. and people arguing and people attacking the president than we are with having people on the ground finding out what the problem the problems are and when you do that you can produce a product that people here and around the world are going to respect the amount of money we're talking about she could literally set up an entire. voice for america

on steroids a real state run news network she's not that's not what's going to happen they're going to try to go into these countries and probably try to bind news basically to be a true propaganda arm rather than a news gathering and reporting outlet which is what our t. al-jazeera and the chinese network are going to be yes they're going to have their messages but they're real news networks they're pretty much where c.b.s. a.b.c. n.b.c. were thirty years ago before things fell apart and record. auroras interested in your thoughts on everything we cover here on our team so why not log on to argue about give us your opinion on the war of words on our web site our team dot com.

freedom is the basis of russia's future development that message came this week from president dmitry medvedev who said reforms are inevitable for the country. nearly all of that with but we can't postpone our freedom nor should we fear that the free man might use his freedom inadequately some believe that our country's tragic history in the twentieth century was a result of a failed injection of freedom they believe the skeptics who say grand scale reform is unsuitable for the russian people think differently a country should not be held together with tightened screws and he's obviously that in order that is excessively strict an excessive number of controllers does not usually leads to the triumph of good and nots to victory over corruption but rather to degrade nation of management therefore it's extremely important to give the society a chance to organize itself the president's message came as russia marks one hundred fifty years since the abolition of serfdom the clear was signed by czar alexander

the second after a long struggle for reform in society the country's modernization and liberal changes have been at the forefront of my betters policies since he came to power to you. u.k. is preparing for a nationwide census so to start of the end of the month the government says it'll help provide the services and resources people need but a connection to a controversial u.s. defense for means many feel their privacy and up in the wrong hands are chinese lore and it reports. it's census time in the u.k. when every household in the country is asked to provide detailed information about their lives to the government so they can keep track of what's going on and who will be in charge of this sensitive data. yes it's controversial u.s. arms manufacturer and lockheed martin and campaigners ranging from religious groups to peace activists to data protection lobbyists are really great states on ethical

grounds play on a number of oppressive regimes they also are the us heavily in the wars they fought in iraq and afghanistan opposed by the majority of people in britain even if supported by the british government hill vows to boycott the census despite the risk of prosecution he says he won't be alone look he'd makes land mines and nuclear weapons and contracts out interrogation at one time of a day although it will be the u.k. arm that carries out the survey there's still a worry that the information could fall under the auspices of the us patriot act which compels personal data held by any company on systems in the us to be made available to government intelligence the office but national statistics which in lockheed martin maintains it's taken measures to make sure u.s. authorities can't access the data. processing will be carried out in the u.k. leave will be held at any point outside the u.k.

no lockheed martin staff will have access to any personal census data or data is the property of and only u.k. e.u. owned companies will have any access to personal census data but it's that last point that's raised red flags for data protection lobbyists who say that all the private information collected during the census will be available to practically any organization that requests it i only use it on the any statute. but only use by the security intelligence services for national security purposes any use for the pursuit just cry any use in pursuit of an e.u. community obligation so any e.u. rules that information can be passed over so it's essentially any government use whatsoever the competition rouses be republished and u.k. government agencies don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to safeguarding information three years ago

a file containing secrets terror related documents was left on a train more recently the national health service lost the medical records of tens of thousands of people thanks to lockheed martin's involvement in the census it would be hard for the u.s. authorities to lay their hands on that information if they wanted data from the census is used by the government grants to local councils and recognize new groups in society at census run by looking martin raises grave concerns in britain about ethics and international security if a lot of people boycott this that says it will make it ineffective and a waste of money but the two hundred forty million dollar contracts amounts will go into looking at martin's pockets anyway your average r.t. . stories making headlines across the globe police if you still get. up a student demonstration of the capital of bangladesh angry crowds smashed vehicles

while witnesses reported several people injured protests was called after a twenty five year old student died in a road accident in the early hours of sunday. at least twenty six people have been killed twenty injured when a passenger bus collided with a lumber truck in the southern brazilian state of santa catarina police report the truck driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the bus that had forty seven passengers aboard in two thousand and seven two similar accidents on the same road claimed twenty seven lives. fire that tore through a bar in central taiwan has a ninety day twelve injured preliminary investigation suggests the blaze was caused by sparks from an l.e.d. torch being used during a performance several of the victims were piled on a staircase between the first and second floors. and soviet union leader mikhail gorbachev has been celebrating his eightieth birthday this week on the day itself he was a he was awarded one of russia's highest honors the order of st andrew medal recognizing his achievements as president for many people his name is synonymous with the end

of the cold war the unification of germany and liberalism with his economic and political reforms he paved the way for democracy in russia best known policy perestroika into revamp the country without destroying the basis of socialism is initiatives also led to the cancellation of state censorship and the creation of free speech gorbachev received the nobel peace prize in one thousand nine hundred a year later though a coup started a chain of events that led to the collapse of the soviet union and gorbachev departure his critics say you plunge the country into destructive and addict reforms effects of which are still being felt today it's quite the criticism though the former leader still says russia was in desperate need of change. you see the google book google with a bust and who says we realized from experience that it was dangerous to wait much longer than we have to take a risk we couldn't produce we needed changes and i don't agree with people to the pedestal and. failed it didn't fail it was disrupted the railed stopped but still

perestroika achieved a lot inside russia we had democracy free elections freedom of conscience private property freedom to travel abroad everything to hold so glasnost there was so much openness the entire country was affected people realized they had finally got some freedom an opportunity to act in foreign affairs we put an end to the cold war we normalized our relationship with the u.s. we reunited germany we didn't send our tanks or troops there all our units in eastern europe stayed where they were it wasn't always easy and many things did not work out the way we planned at the beginning and when we made our first mistakes much we didn't really explain to people what was going on and didn't get them involved in all those processes we were self-confidence in the war but in public politics i don't think we have ever lost a major battle nuclear arsenals were significantly reduced thanks to our efforts during perestroika today when the world is so divided we need to find things that

bring us together for instance the g twenty is a step which brings us closer it's an instrument of a mechanism for handling the hardest and most challenging issues what we need more than that it's a matter of learning to live in a global world. you can find our full interview with mikhail gorbachev on our website r.t. dot com if you manage stay with us for a special report on the so-called global food crisis and why millions are starving despite having an abundance of supplies is coming up next after headlines.

that has become common names and mobile home is told me of creation of the global food system the global food system is not created to feed the people of the world is created to maximize the profits. journal trading the actual cash physical grain your trading promises for graeme to be delivered a month or six months or twelve months or eighteen months in the future. for reasons madi likely silver or gold that can be negotiated and accorded to some degree in. some place. yet or.

possibly it's not traded now but it could be in the future of. this investment. he needs the new york invest and the media to radium ended up in intensive mode number for the cars because the screen instead of. the most dangerous. radiation that exists in the nature. of all four of the group in the vicinity of known differentiated so produces so much heat and genetic changes including pantsuit leukemia. or i've been out of the immune system. you don't have to have a college degree going to have to play cribbage occasion to understand if you spread radioactive materials all she.