this week's top stories in r.t.e. fears of foreign intervention involved in libya where the earlier capture of british soldiers outraged at a foreign presence in the region. he had think we'd be in iraq if their major export their broccoli expert says not concern for libya's people but interest in oil that's fueling some western reaction is to be unrest with the u.s. economy already suffering from soaring prices at the pump. we are in an information war and we are losing that war hillary clinton asked for extra funds to spread the us media message abroad as a growing number of people turn to other countries' news outlets to get a fresh view on world events. and also to sell russia's miniature is consigned to

history it's a major overhaul of the country's law enforcement stance with the grounding many questions however one of the much trumpeted reform will go beyond the paperwork and cosmetics. of a look back at the week's main stories and the latest developments this is r.t. in moscow but first to libya where british soldiers were released health of being seized by and secret i think forces as more western more ships and planes move closer to the country and eight special air service officers said to be involved were in the eastern part of the country escorting a diplomat who was supposed to negotiate with the rebels the protesters said they were outraged by the incident seeing it as a foreign intervention into libya's internal affairs this comes as the country slips closer to civil war with the fighting intensifying with reports of strikes

and having to heavy weaponry. has. 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 were some seventy people killed those are the latest reports we're receiving and more than three hundred people injured with reports of it strikes and live ammunition and growing fears that libya is descending into civil war 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 waste to support the rebels and attack gadhafi the latest word we hearing is that the western media is trying to portray the duffys 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 and she could afi

because she has taken such a strong stand in the past against western interference in developing countries the latest word from the british government is that it is confident 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 its two warships have left and according to a statement issued they are part of the military buildup around libya not we also know their fans to the united kingdom are putting pressure on the united nations security council to make a decision on a no fly zone however political expert mahdi. says foreign intervention has already begun and will only aggravate the situation in libya. foreign intervention can only exasperate a problem in libya it cannot help in any way and as

a matter of fact foreign intervention has already begun the french the united states and the british have already sent so-called humanitarian aid to benghazi but they've also sent military advisors and special forces this means that your creations have already begun we are seeing a similar scenario of what happened to iraq we're seeing talks about sanctions false reports that have been used to justify the no fly zones about aerial strikes on protesters and civilians this is the exact same scenario as iraq in fact is starting to talk about chemical weapons in libya it was in two thousand and three that the united states and britain want to fight the daffy is someone who gave up his weapons of mass destruction now they're doing an about face in claiming that colonel gadhafi has chemical weapons you know this is another book they're creating to justify their foreign policy in regards to libya in fact it's very ironic that the united states called on protesters in egypt and the regime to talk things out

but in libya you have a whole different story because of oil interests or black gold as some may call it . peace activist told me the western leaders who supported in recent years should be brought to justice. the neo liberal agenda that has been followed by many countries and which has led in the end to a kind of civil war or war situation new liberal agenda means selling oil resources to foreign investors and basically. cutting down the spending on any kind of social program that's all part of the logic of all of globalization and your liberal agenda what should happen next. be nice to see some western leaders who have been in close alliance with colonel gadhafi for the last ten years or at least should be brought to trial. and trends forecaster gerald celente says

is not support for the libyan people but interest in the country's vast oil field since driving us rhetoric and action. the only reason they're interested in libya is brad that you are here anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week that were killed in the ivory coast or who. i guess cocoa was that that you know a bunch of a national priority they'll try anything but we already heard hillary clinton say that they're willing to do anything for anybody in libya that needs aid so they have you have put it out there already they're talking about no fly zones and the hypocrisy is this thing on the belief i mean for example they did has anybody called for a war criminal trials against mubarak as they are for gadhafi and you and all of the the world is the western world of calling for his head but the other heads in bahrain and in yamin and in egypt

you know they're ok tunisia leave them alone what they're calling for gadhafi said why because it's the oil you think we'd be in iraq if that major export there was broccoli. well as the arab world continues to sink into chaos the cost of oil is jumping to new heights and expense claims are skyrocketing prices in the u.s. of threatening the country's economy and lower list of discovered the hike in energy costs could see the obama administration come on the front. ok tunisia was. egypt. bahrain. algeria. and libya protest in countries seeming to skew one another unrest spreading like wildfire through the middle east and north africa only raging in all year for your rich

countries that helped fuel the world's use of more than eighty four million barrels of crude a day. uncertainty over production has said prices soaring mean a 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 to hear 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 like a reality peak oil expert michael c. rupert's it is happening it boil hits 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 after some predict there would be a high political price to pay for the obama administration's yeah yeah serene prices go up and march and for a very long period it could. be your or. your political impact if 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 it was calling for an end to the status quo which means a rise in uncertainty in only 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 winning 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. corporate oil corporations military. profits it away analysts say the price of fuel going up 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 honor stands that it's time lauren lyster r.t. new york. well still ahead here this hour on r.t. the man who changed the course of history for the u.s.

is. the computer. i don't agree with people to the perestroika you failed it didn't fail it was disrupted the party looks into the legacy of the soviet union's first and only president mikhail gorbachev he celebrated his eightieth birthday this week. and we explore why the british are wary of an upcoming nationwide sense of several things their personal information might end up in the hands of u.s. authorities. a story still to come of first hundreds of people flooded the streets of afghanistan's capital to protest over the deaths of nine children killed in a nato air raid last week protesters directed their anger at the u.s. occupation and afghan government the demonstrations follow the country's president hamid karzai condemnation of the killings protests continue despite us little nutritionals apologies for the incident civilian casualties is a sensitive issue in afghanistan where over one hundred innocent afghans were killed in nato operations in recent weeks political activist sultanzoy explains

why the alliance can't cope with its agenda making matters worse for afghans. 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 there are too many civilian casualties the people of afghanistan the billions are the victims of both the nato civilian casualties and the terrorists. bombings and with. targeting of civilian areas and the people of afghanistan are tired of both the hearts of the people of afghanistan or at the hands of two incompetent players one player is they'd international community and one player is the afghan government and both players are in called but. ignorant about the true meaning of hearts and minds the intention of this war was to fight terror but the

people in afghanistan 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 the afghan government and the international community are held responsible in their eyes and in the eyes of the people of afghanistan. political activist sultanzoy in kabul talking to r.t. . hillary clinton says the u.s. is losing an information war to foreign media outlets including r.t. this week the secretary of state and congress for more cash to step up america's efforts to get its message across and that is going to church can has this report war 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 to the coverage of events by the us needs free 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 and the b.b.c. is cutting back some five years ago western media outlets including b.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 artie'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 news in the real commitment to the kind of freedom of the you versed 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 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 girl in wall fell we said ok fine enough of that you know we've done it we're done and unfortunately we are paying a big price for it last year the head of the agency that manages the us government

who are an international broadcasting asked for more money for his department we can't allow ourselves to be out communicated by our enemies. the list of enemies included question china iran and venezuela walter isaacson the head of the agency which runs words of america monger the media outlets later backtracked on this statement isaacson speech 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 crow by global media clout walter isaacson's speech last year so quite a hostile message to foreign media exposing shortcomings in the us mainstream but secretary clinton's statement made it will push the us is fighting a global information war and it's also i'm going to shock our reporting from washington our team. got away can have your say on all the stories we're covering here on our teams are want to log on to our web site it's dot com and there you can

share your view on the media war debate. the last leader of the soviet union mikhail gorbachev celebrated his eightieth birthday this week and as a diehard advocate for peace his name has become symbolic of the end of the cold war there isn't a new team invented not gorbachev by awarding him one of russia's highest honors and seeking to create a more open and prosperous u.s.s.r. his initiatives range from introducing free speech to a massive overhaul of the state's economy he's also famed for his leading role in scrapping the berlin wall and the reunification of germany in one thousand nine hundred his efforts were awarded with the nobel peace prize barely a year later the soviet union collapsed some critics blamed his unfinished reforms for the disorder and turmoil that played russia in the one nine hundred ninety s.

while others resent him for the strong the powerhouse that was the u.s.s.r. but despite the criticism the former leader still says russia was in desperate need of change. i don't agree with people to the perestroika failed it didn't fail it was disrupted do real stocks still perestroika achieved a lot of people realized they had finally got some freedom an opportunity to act inside russia we had democracy free elections freedom of conscience private property freedom to travel abroad everything good 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 our troops there all our units in eastern europe stayed where they work it wasn't always easy and many things did not work out the way we planned but at the beginning when we made our first mistakes we didn't really explain to people what was going on and didn't get them involved in

all those processes we were self-confident. and you can catch the full interview with mikhail gorbachev along with many others on our website at r.t. dot com. the u.k. is preparing for a nationwide census to take place later this month the government says it will help provide the services and resources people need but involvement of a controversial u.s. defense corporation leaves many fearing their privacy could be violated all of these more and it's 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 a lot he'd martin and campaigners ranging from religious groups to peace activists

to data protection lobbyists brayley against it on ethical grounds play on a number of oppressive regimes but also. the u.s. heavily in the wars they fought in iraq and afghanistan are opposed by the majority of people in britain even if supported by the british government hill vowed to boycott the census despite the risk of prosecution he says he won't be alone look he makes loved mines and nuclear weapons and contracts out interrogation of guantanamo bay 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 gauged lockheed martin maintains its taken measures to make sure u.s. authorities can't access the data. all dance of processing would be carried out in

the u.k. leave or be held any point outside the u.k. the lockheed martin staff will have access to any personal census data all data is the property of the owners and only u.k.e. you own companies will have any access to personal census data but it's that last point that's raise 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 any use under any statute. only use by the security intelligence services for national security purposes any use for the pursuit of crime any use in pursuit of the new community obligations so any e.u. rules that information can be passed over so it's essentially any government use whatsoever of confidentiality has been abolished 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 their 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 said so it is used by the government grants to local councils and recognize new groups in society a census run by lockheed martin raises grave concerns investing 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 amount will go into looking at martin's pockets any way your average r.t. . look at some of the major headlines from around the world in our world several people are being. injured after clashes between police and students in the capital

of bangladesh officers armed with tear gas and charge the angry crowd after they began to smash vehicles again over the death of a twenty five year old student in a road accident. japan's foreign minister resigned after opposition uproar over a political donation he got from a foreign national. admitted accepting about six hundred dollars from a south korean citizen a resident in japan a son is small but japanese law bans politicians from accepting money from outside is to protect the country from foreign influence his resignation strikes a blow to the current prime minister. mr as his successor. russian or enforcement was given a much needed make over this week with public trust in the force sinking to an all time low it's hoped that new reforms in a name change will return it to credibility or result is a cover in a survey report there's a lot riding on the overhaul beyond paperwork and cosmetics. a change of title and

hopefully a change in attitudes these law enforcement officers are abandoning their soviet era name of needs here in favor of the world they recognisable police for the government it's a first step down a long road towards not are now using the service and arresting a sharp decline in public perception the people stressed of the boys in blue has been dealt a huge blow in recent years it's led to a messiah amongst officers and outrage from knows they're supposed to protect incidents like a supermarket round by officer you've set off who opened fire an innocent shoppers killing two and wounding seven it was the final straw that fueled calls for reform but can changing their name bring about a change in behavior while some insist that any change as long overdue for others it's purely cosmetic of the very fact that there were so many students with police officers behaving illegally in russia. who is yours.

this very fact is not going to be changed by the change of the law because these illegal practices were contra to the previous legislation as well as quadruple the current work the big question is whether there is the political will to really. take it under control the police themselves though are preparing for the changes to come up with a huge part of our ratings will depend on the people of this country how they evaluate our performance this kernel is already grasping the essence of modernizing the force her students seem eager to absorb as much information before their upcoming exams so that it was the work that everyone will be interested in physical ability knowledge of new civic duties all those are included in the new exams there will be no indulgences for anyone either pass the test or leave the force other changes are a mixed blessing there. b.

a twenty percent cut in personnel but the remaining officers will get a pay rise there will be better screening of new recruits with every detail of an applicant's background put under the microscope but until all that takes effect officers have to knuckle down to the job in hand restoring honor to russia's police is a tough task and the public are no pushover judges but the force is determined to turn that around reexamining staff redesigning the uniforms all those changes will take a lot of time to be fully implemented but one of the first things that change will be signs like these which soon feature internationally recognizable policing pashminas our moscow. well about the recap of the week's headlines for in about three hundred minutes from now stay with us live here on our take in moscow.

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