the week's top stories right here on our team british special forces soldiers released by libyan opposition as fears of foreign military intervention in the country. yet take place here no rocket major warfare is rockley experts say calls for military action in libya are being driven by skyrocketing fuel prices in the u.s. . we are in an information war and we are losing that war winning hearts and minds abroad if hillary clinton asks for more funding to spread the u.s. message overseas as more people turn to alternative sources for news.

and russian law enforcement gets a make over in a bid to regain the public trust major reforms and see the force renamed and officers retraining. from our studios in central moscow this is r.t. we're glad to have you with us first to libya where british soldiers were released after being seized by anti can often forces as more western warships and planes move closer to the country at least six special air service soldiers were in the eastern part of the country escorting a diplomat who was supposed to negotiate with the rebels the opposition leadership said they were outraged by the incident seeing it as a foreign intervention into libya's internal affairs and this comes as the country slips closer to civil war with fighting intensifying and reports of airstrikes and heavy weaponry by keys clear. 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 gadhafi 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 empty could afy because he 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 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 to. have a lift crease and according to a statement they issued they are part of the military buildup around libya now they also know that france of the united kingdom are putting pressure on the united nations security council to make a decision on a no fly zone or his cause we're reporting for us there. based piece out of this dark a young wagner things western leaders who supported get out of the recent years they themselves brought to justice. the new 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 the element of globalization. and your liberal agenda or two should happen next words. 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. trends forecaster gerald cilento says it's not support for the libyan people but interest in the country's vast oil fields that's driving us rhetoric and action. the only reason they're interested in with libya is back to you oil you hear anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week that were killed in the ivory coast and i guess cocoa was

that that you know much of a national priority if they don't try anything but we already heard hillary clinton say that they're willing to do anything for anybody in libya that needs a so they're putting it out there already to talking about no fly zones and they have hockey to see is just beyond the police i mean for example they it has anybody called for a war criminal trials against mubarak as they are for the you know in 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 leave them alone what they're calling for gadhafi said why because it's loyal yet think we'd be in iraq if the major acts or if there was broccoli as the arab world continues to sink into chaos the cost of oil is jumping

to new heights experts claim the skyrocketing prices in the u.s. are threatening the country's economy and as our tease lauren lyster discovered the hike in energy costs couldn't see the obama administration come under fire. i was tunisia was. egypt. the hurricane. algeria. in libya protest in country seeming to a few one another unrest spreading like wildfire through the least in 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 well prices have skyrocketed so too

have the prices people paper 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 sees happening at oriel 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 asked some predict there would be a high political price to pay for the obama administration you know gasoline prices go up and much and for a very long period and it could be

a severe. your political impact here 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 and is calling for an end to the status quo which means a rise in uncertainty and 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 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 stopping us from trying to take control some observers believe the u.s. may intervene militarily in libya or oil reserves are massive under false pretenses

and 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. profit even way analysts say the price of fuel going up will simply fuel public rage and the government is largely helpless the american people are going through a very nasty ride and there's no way out of it and tell you the government understands that it's not laura mr archie new york still ahead for you this hour the man who changed the course of history for the u.s.s.r. . if you will if you will what. i don't agree with people say that they're just like you failed it didn't fail it was destructive party looks into the legacy of the soviet union's first and only president pile gorbachev who celebrated his eightieth birthday this week. as we explore why the british are wary of an

upcoming nationwide census over the years that their personal information might end up in the hands of u.s. authorities. 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 the government the demonstrations call the country's president hamid karzai condemnation of the protests are continuing despite apologies from president obama and military officials civilian casualties are a sensitive issue in afghanistan where over one hundred innocent afghans have been killed in nato military operations in recent weeks political activist daoud sultanzoy explains why the alliance can't cope with its anti terror agenda making matters worse for after. it's very difficult to translate these apologies into 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 the civilians are the victims of both nato civilian casualties and the terrorists the problem with who said bombings and what 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 they need financial 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 the people of afghanistan have become a 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 the eyes of the people up on the stuff that was political activist i would sultanzoy speaking to us earlier from kabul. now hillary clinton says the u.s. is losing an information war to foreign media outlets including our t.v. this week the secretary of state asked congress for more cash to step up america's efforts to get its message across archie's damage and you can reports 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 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 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 can into 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 there is 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 or 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 news in the real commitment to the kind of freedom of the universe 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 abroad 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 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 on international broadcasting asked for more money for his department we care allow ourselves to be out communicated by our enemies. the list of enemies including russia china iran and venezuela walter isaacson the head of the sea which runs with america among other 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't provide global media crowd walter isaacson's speech last year sent quite a hostile message to foreign media exposing the shortcomings in the us mainstream but secretary clinton statement made it official the us is fighting a global information war i suppose i'm kind of struck our reporting from washington r.t. . the last leader of the soviet union mikhail gorbachev of celebrating his eightieth birthday this week known as a die hard advocate for peace his name has become synonymous with the end of the cold war president dmitry medvedev marked gorbachev's day by awarding him one of russia's highest honors seeking to create a more open and prosperous u.s.s.r. is initiatives ranged from introducing free speech to

a massive overhaul of the state's economy he is also famed for his leading role in scrapping the berlin wall and the reunification of germany in one thousand nine hundred. the nobel peace prize but barely a year later the soviet union collapsed some critics blame his unfinished reforms for the disorder and trauma well that plagued russia in the one nine hundred ninety s. while others resent him for destroying 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 because i don't agree when people say the perestroika failed it didn't fail it was disrupted derailed stocks still perestroika achieved a lot of people realized they had finally got some freedom and opportunity to act inside russia we had democracy free elections for. of conscience private property freedom to travel abroad everything 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 our troops there all our units in eastern europe stage where they were it wasn't always easy and many things did not work out the way we'd planned 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 of course you can catch that full interview with me while go to shove along with many of our other exclusives on our website at r.t. dot com the u.k. is are 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 artie's laura reports. it's senses 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 manufacturers lockheed martin and campaigners ranging from religious groups to peace activists to data protection lobbyists are really against it 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 lead makes land mines and nuclear weapons and contracts out interrogation. 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 for national statistics which in gauge lockheed martin maintains it's taken measures to make sure u.s. authorities can't access the data. i'll dance a process it will be carried out in the u.k. or will leave will be held at any point outside the u.k. no lockheed martin staff will have access to any personal census data or dancers the property of you and only u.k. e.u. and 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 on the any statute. any use by the security or intelligence services for national security purposes any use

for the procedures croyle 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 or else is being 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 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 they said when the fed says is used by the government grants to local councils and recognize new groups in society the census is run by looking martin raises grave concerns investing about ethics and international security if

a lot of people boycott that says it will make it ineffective and a waste of money for the two hundred forty million dollars contracts amounts will go into looking at martins pocket anyway your emmett's r.t. . still to come here is one vote that's got the attention of russia's prime minister. some moscow women picked the pm for their ladies' day party theme we have all the highlights coming up in just a bit. now for a look at some other major headlines from around the world is that once again spewing from one of the world's most active volcanoes mt caraway and why fired and fired molten lava ninety meters into the air on sunday scientists say the eruption was spotted shortly after the floor of the crater collapsed no homes are under threat to the area and the volcano has been in constant eruption since one thousand nine hundred three. following farewells for two space crews and for discovery the

hatches of the shuttle discovery and the international space station have been closed marking the beginning of the last trip for the oldest and most traveled american spacecraft but discovery will pass later on monday and is scheduled to touch around the florida on wednesday time on the mission saw astronauts live with the first ever humanoid robot in this case to assist with scientific research shuttles and driver and atlantis are planning to make their final trip and that's really the u.s. space shuttle program tonight russian law 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 new reforms and a name change will return it to credibility and his arteries that he knows are the reports 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 meats they're in favor of the world be recognizable police for the

government it's a first step down a long road towards modernizing 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 anxiety amongst officers and outrage from those they're supposed to protect incidents like a supermarket rampage by officer used to cough who opened fire on 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 accidents with police officers behaving illegally in russia during the previous years. this very fact is not going to be changed by the change of the law because these illegal practices were

a concret of the previous legislation as well as quadruple the current group the big question is whether there is the political will. to get 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 colonel is already grasping the essence of modernizing the force her students seem eager to absorb as much information before their upcoming exams so. everyone will be tested physical ability knowledge of new law civic duties all those are included in the new exams there will be no indulgences for anyone to 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 all the signs like these which soon will feature internationally recognizable policing catherine is our moscow and you can always find more on our website at r.t. dot com and online right now for you you have to face. things are celebrating the last day of most of the units and keep filling up before fasting for lunch. and see russia's latest of fighter jet put through its paces on its maiden voyage. in moscow nightclub has sparked controversy by hosting a putin party without the prime minister's permission organizers say the theme was

chosen by their female clients as part of this week's international women's day celebrations and as sara firth found out the russian p.m.'s name can really draw a crowd. and they like the nightclub. scene is. that they say. it's a bike now although a bit of fun is exactly this type of. other possibility if. i can find. mr prime minister himself and all of us working with him we are trying to do very careful about not letting his name being used in proper and proper sense. he himself is favoring the cases where his name is used for for promotion of a healthier way of living for promotion. aid to children for promoting whatever

useful but certainly i mean using his name for promoting and party in a private club in my opinion is proper. team of the party what was the. name of the prime minister was chosen by the public for passing the names of to go out bruce willis. this is not a commercial about we knew might be controversial so we decided to throw. some of the people i like out there only saying. that that's love the prime minister. the nightclub has nothing do with mr oh i think it's a really good idea and. i think if you could go back to washington to. take over having a bomb and i never got this attention i'd be making a lot of money because that's what they. think

a lot of. strong. countries a handful of. the great. if there is a body i want the private. appropriate when the nightclub. is the private. magic that it was really a little bit sad sad great. and i'll be back with a recap of the week's headlines in just a few moments. the

official g.o.p. cation joint phone called touch from the i choose option. cianci like. video on demand cheese minefield costs. or a sense features now in the palm of your. questions on the dot com.