John Galliano's anti-Semitic remarks could have turned into a full scale diplomatic crisis. Why? Because, as any fashionista knows, Dior - who he designs for - is the label worn by one Mrs Sarkozy. Carla Bruni started life as a Dior model and has remained loyal to the house ever since. As things turned out, Dior was not prepared to see a YouTube video start a new war in the Middle East. They sacked Galliano earlier today. And the first lady of France is now free to wear Dior again. Anyway, I write that in passing because there are, as you know, currently more pressing diplomatic affairs at hand. Tonight, Niall Ferguson, author of Civilization, will help us examine the role of the West in the revolution in the Arab world - and explain what history can tell us about why certain cultures appear to dominate the world at certain times. We'll also be asking whether the government's done enough in its adjustment to the international development aid budget to allay criticism that we are funnelling money into dodgy dictatorships and into countries that are economically far more successful than we are. Plus, the European Court of Justice has declared it is discriminatory to charge women less than men for their car insurance. Women are better drivers. Men die younger. What's wrong with discrimination within the free market?

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have moved into eastern areas for the first time since towns there fell to protesters two weeks ago, with reports of heavy fighting between them and anti-Gaddafi rebels in the oil town of Brega, 100 miles south of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Earlier Col Gaddafi said on TV he would "fight until the last man and woman" and warned that thousands of Libyans would die if Western forces intervened. Tonight, as we will have the latest on the Gaddafi fight back from Lyse Doucet in Benghazi and Tim Whewell will be assessing whether there is any sign of a joined up global response to the crisis. Michael Crick is Barnsley ahead of tomorrow's by-election finding out what matters most to voters there. Also, more than 600 Oxbridge academics are demanding a halt to the £9,000 tuition fee rise, saying they have had no time to work out how it will be implemented. Universities Minister David Willetts and one of those critics will go head to head on the programme tonight.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has been given government approval for its controversial bid to take over BSkyB. The green light follows News Corp's offer to spin off Sky News as an independent company. Rival media groups dismissed News Corp's offer as a "whitewash" and said they would "vigorously contest" it. We will be examining the decision and speaking to the man who made it, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Lyse Doucet will bring us the latest on what is happening in Libya. Tim Whewell has a film on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - who they are and what they stand for. And we ask whether, despite all of the fanfare accompanying Saturday's World Book Night plan to give away one million books, there are any problems with a great book giveaway.

Mishal Husain is presenting tonight and she's been speaking exclusively to Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen about how his organisation plans to respond to events in Libya. Meanwhile Lyse Doucet - who is in the country - will be asking Libyans what intervention they expect from the West. Then we'll be hearing from our Political editor Michael Crick who has been meeting people living in rural areas to ask them how rising fuel prices are affecting their lives. And Liz Mackean has had exclusive access to a report which has found that many local authorities will not be guaranteeing funding and will be cutting services for victims of domestic violence from the end of this month. Should local authorities be the sole providers of these services? We'll debate.

Tonight we have an amazing film from Jackie Long about Sarah Palin. Jackie has been to Alaska and got more than just a quick doorstep interview with the woman herself. She tells us how she is weighing up whether the US is ready for an "unconventional" presidential candidate like her. We also talk to Sarah Palin's parents who are concerned their daughter might be assassinated. David Cameron promised "the most pro-growth budget this country has seen for a generation" in his speech at the weekend, but what are the prospects for the British economy and what are the chances of real growth? We'll be hearing from our economics editor Paul Mason. Read Paul's blog. And Prince Andrew remains under pressure over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier. Michael Crick has been following the Prince around today and will bring us up to date tonight.

What are the options for western intervention over Libya? Should we arm the rebels? The idea is being considered by the White House but how realistic is it and how tricky politically? Tonight we'll look at the options for western governments and their possible outcomes. We are hoping to speak to the former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain to get his views. We will also consider what is behind these questions in the Middle East and North Africa with the American linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky. How do the recent events affect Chomsky's world view? You can see a preview of the interview here. The government has been criticised over its handling of the crisis in Libya, most notably over getting Briton's out. But there have been other perceived gaffes too raising questions over the government's competence. Remember the U turn over the sale of forests? We'll get the latest take on the how well the government is doing with its presentation skills from some politically savvy guests. And we'll be asking - why is sectarianism still so strong in Glasgow? A summit was held in Edinburgh today chaired by First Minister Alex Salmond following last week's Old Firm Scottish Cup replay which saw three red cards, several touch-line and tunnel confrontations and 34 arrests inside Celtic Park. Why has antipathy between Protestants and Catholics survived for so long in the city?

The big hitters in government have appeared before the Defence Select Committee today at a time when it is being asked whether defence cuts have left the military without the resources to be effective in Libya and in future crises. We will have some expert analysis from General Sir Richard Dannatt and a full report on what the Defence Secretary Liam Fox and Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs. We'll also be asking whether growing backbench anger could lead to the defence review being reopened. We also have a report from DR Congo on the child sex trade. Reporter Sam Farmer joins members of the children's parliament in DR Congo as they try to help fellow children who are working in the sex trade. The film centres on the efforts of a 15-year-old boy in the children's parliament who is trying to advocate more rights for these youngsters. Closer to home the government has announced that displaying cigarettes is to be banned in England. But will it stop smoking? We'll look at the evidence and examine how the promotion of cigarettes has changed over the years. And Jeremy will be talking to Jim Davidson live about humour and bigotry. The comedian has written a play about an old racist comedian who is challenged by a young black performer.

Unions have reacted angrily to a major report by Lord Hutton proposing a radical overhaul of public sector pensions which would see millions working for longer. David Grossman will be examining the fine print for us tonight. The former business secretary Lord Mandelson will be presenting an authored piece on economic globalisation and will join us live in the studio. Then, as Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the possibility of a no-fly zone in Libya, our diplomatic editor Mark Urban will consider if military action of this nature could be considered war in all but name. And Sarfraz Manzoor meets the band Cornershop to talk about their new album - due out next week - which is heavily influenced by Punjabi folk music.

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami. Tonight our Science editor Susan Watts will give her assessment of what has happened and why, and ask how well the warning systems worked. Mishal Husain will be speaking to the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva about what help we are offering. Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, hundreds of police were deployed in Riyadh, on the day anti-government rallies were planned. Our correspondent Sue Lloyd Roberts is there and sends us a compelling report on the day's events. Security forces blocked roads and set up checkpoints in an attempt to thwart protests. Protests are illegal in Saudi Arabia, which has had an absolute monarchy since its unification in the 1930s. Read more from Sue in Riyadh by clicking here. And Iain Watston is at the Liberal Democrat spring conference - which is getting under way in Nick Clegg's constituency, Sheffield, just a short distance from Barnsley where the party suffered the humiliation of coming sixth in the recent by-election. We'll be talking to the Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne about the state of morale in the party.

Engineers are racing to cool down a third reactor at a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant, after a second blast rocked the facility. Tonight, we ask how severe the nuclear emergency is, and what the implications are for the nuclear sector and energy mix worldwide. We are also examining the impact the earthquake and tsunami is likely to have on the Japanese economy and in turn on the worldwide recovery. Plus, with the pace of events on the ground in Libya outstripping any co-ordinated international response we ask whether this is a tipping point for the diplomatic community. And we have a report from Jeremy Bowen, filmed during his recent days in Tripoli, in which he draws his own conclusions about the uprising and subsequent civil war.

Tonight we're devoting much of the programme to examining the middle class under pressure. For the first time in years this group - who had assumed that if the economy grew their income would grow - are finding this is no longer true. Wages are frozen, and the cost of living is soaring. Tonight our Economics editor Paul Mason reports from Sandwich in Kent where he meets people seeing the value of their wages, homes and pensions eroding and their prospects disappearing. Stephen Smith considers why so many people describe themselves as middle class nowadays. And we'll be joined live by MPs David Willetts and John Denham, and by people from different parts of the income scale - including a single parent who is being made redundant and a couple with two kids who rent their home and live off overdrafts. Plus Susan Watts, our Science editor, will update us on the situation at the Japanese quake-stricken nuclear plant where radiation levels are now at a level harmful to human health.

The British Foreign Office is now "suggesting that British nationals currently in Tokyo and to the north of Tokyo should consider leaving the area" because of fears over radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant - where engineers are racing to avert a nuclear catastrophe. Matt Frei will be assessing the mood of the people in the Japanese capital for us tonight, and we'll be joined live by the concert pianist Noriko Ogawa and the actress Haruka Kuroda. Then our Diplomatic editor Mark Urban will be asking why President Barack Obama is taking a back seat over the Libya no-fly zone, and we'll debate with former UK ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer and former diplomat and journalist, Jamie Rubin. And Iain Watson will report for us on the political dividing lines ahead of the Budget. Gavin Esler will be asking the shadow chancellor Ed Balls if Labour has an alternative strategy.

A draft United Nations Security Council resolution is to be put to a vote in New York tonight. If adopted it would authorise a no-fly zone over Libya and allow Arab states and others in co-operation with the UN to protect Libyan civilians, including in the rebel-held city of Benghazi. We will have the result of that vote and be getting reaction from a close Clinton ally in the US. Susan Watts will be reporting on efforts to deal with the crisis at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, assessing what is happening on the ground and also what measures are being taken around the world. And with the events in Japan causing countries to reassess the safety of their own nuclear energy programmes, David Grossman looks at what this means for the prospects of an energy gap in Britain as we aim to meet electricity demands while also meeting deadlines to cut carbon emissions. Plus, remember Citizen Smith? Well he's back - not in the form of Robert Lindsay this time, but our correspondent Stephen Smith. Stephen has been to Big Society boot camp, undergoing training as a Big Society organiser ahead of the government's planned roll out this summer.

The focus of the programme will be the Libya conflict. Events are moving fast following last night's UN Security Council resolution authorising all necessary measures to protect civilians from attacks by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces. In the face of Western powers discussing how to enforce the no-fly zone, Libya's government has declared an immediate ceasefire, with Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa saying that it was intended "to protect civilians". Tonight, Mark Urban will be bringing us up to date on the latest military plans, Michael Crick will be giving us political analysis of David Cameron's role in pushing for action and we will be discussing the crisis with guests in the studio.

Mark Urban reports on the strength of the coalition against Libya and who is doing what in the operation, and assesses whether Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is himself being targeted in the raids. We will be discussing the conflict with diplomat Sir Jeremy Greenstock and Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt. And Michael Crick will report on the Commons debate and vote on the UK's involvement in the military action. Tim Whewell has a report on the unrest and political turmoil in Yemen, and we will be speaking to the Yemeni ambassador to the UN who has resigned. Plus David Grossman has a report on energy costs, whether we are paying too much and Ofgem's proposals for shaking the industry up.

Tonight's programme will, unsurprisingly, focus on the conflict in Libya. We'll look at tensions within the hastily assembled multi-national coalition, and examine why this is one conflict that America is keen not to be seen to lead. Elsewhere, we'll try to find out what the real story behind the continuing protests in Bahrain is. And finally, ahead of tomorrow's budget, as the retail price index measure of inflation reaches its highest level in 20 years and with real wages similar to 2005 levels - the last time real wages fell over six years was in the 1920s - what does this mean for social aspirations?

Tonight's Newsnight will be on for a full hour - from 10.30pm to 11.30pm - as we pick over the details of what Chancellor George Osborne announced in today's Budget. Iain Watson and Michael Crick will be taking us through the key measures, the political calculations behind the figures and possible flashpoints. Paul Mason will be taking a wide view of the measures and giving us his analysis of whether it is as the chancellor claims a "Budget for growth". We will be speaking live in the studio to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle, and the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) Robert Chote. We will be assessing what kind of chancellor Mr Osborne is with former chancellor Lord Lamont and economists Ann Pettifor and Irwin Stelzer. And our Political Panel - Danny Finkelstein, Olly Grender and Peter Hyman - will be here to debate all that we have learned. Plus, following the news that actress Elizabeth Taylor has died, Stephen Smith will be looking back across her life on and off screen and we will be talking to fellow Oscar winner Julian Fellowes.

Portugal's parliament has rejected an austerity budget, prompting the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates. An international bail-out, similar to those accepted by Greece and the Irish Republic last year, now looks far more likely. We'll be asking what Portugal can do without a prime minister, and what the implications might be for Euro-zone members, particularly Germany. As fighting in Libya continues in key cities, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and artillery forces seem unstoppable, despite air strikes by international forces. How effective have the coalition forces been and how long might it take to stop Col Gaddafi's forces? And Matt Prodger has a report on the US soldier Bradley Manning, who is being held in solitary confinement in a US military prison - accused of leaking confidential documents to the Wikileaks website.

We look at what the fresh unrest in Syria and Yemen and the ongoing conflict in Libya means for al-Qaeda and militant Islam, and what used to be called the war on terror, both in the short and long term. Will militant Islam be side-lined by the broadly secular nature of many of the North African and Middle East protests or will events like the bombing of Libya be a radicalising element which presents an opportunity to Islamists? Richard Watson will be reporting on this issue and in the studio we will be speaking to a senior ex-CIA adviser on al-Qaeda who knew Osama Bin Laden. Ahead of tomorrow's trades union anti-cuts march we have a report the policing of activists and on the plans of some protesters with no connections to the TUC. Plus Michael Crick will be reporting on why the rally could present a problem for Labour.

As the rebels continue advancing west in Libya, our Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban will bring us up to date on the latest Coalition air raids that have hit Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte, the next target for taking by the rebels. Meanwhile, Tim Whewell has been in the small city of Derna, which Gaddafi claimed was infiltrated with terrorists. He will bring us a report on what life is now like there for the people - many of who are enjoying a new liberation. We also have a fascinating film from Sue Lloyd-Roberts on how women are treated in Saudi Arabia. Sue looks at how women's freedom is restricted and how some are now quietly rebelling. And our Economics Editor Paul Mason looks at the aftermath of Saturday's protests in London against public spending cuts. Have we seen the end of the peaceful protest?

Strikes on Libya will continue until Col Gaddafi meets UN terms, stops attacking civilians and pulls back his forces, the US's Hillary Clinton has told the London conference of allied leaders. Tonight we'll talk to the Foreign Secretary William Hague. The London conference was intended to be a demonstration of unity but just how solid in reality is the coalition? Our Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban will bring us up to date with the day's events while out in Libya Tim Whewell will bring us a report from Derna, a town in the east from where more fighters went to join al-Qaeda in Iraq than anywhere else in the world. It highlights how little we know about the rebels and what could replace the Gaddafi regime. And our Science Editor Susan Watts will report on the latest CJD scare. Two separate incidents have emerged in which patients have been told they were put at risk of contracting the brain wasting disease - 38 patients have been warned in Wales and 21 in Essex. In both cases the fatal disease could have been picked up during surgery. Susan speaks to one of the patients affected and medical experts about the risk of contracting CJD from surgical instruments.

Tim Whewell talks to General Suleiman Mahmoud of the Libyan rebel forces who tells him the rebels need weapons if they are to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi. He says with arms they could do the job in two weeks, but without it could take six months. The US President Barack Obama has said he does not rule out arming the rebels as government forces push them back. But any decision to supply arms to the rebels by the West would change the whole nature of the intervention. What would the implications be? We'll also be taking a close look at the arts and sciences. Which brings the most economic benefits to our society? We will have a film putting the case for each and a discussion with guests including Deborah Aydon, Executive Director of the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse theatres and Imran Khan, Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering in the UK And Ed Miliband is to marry in May. Why has he decided to tie the knot now ? And why will there be no best man (i.e. David) at his wedding?

We will take a closer look at Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa's decision to come to the UK - and at the man himself and role he played within the Gaddafi regime. Richard Watson will examine the possible benefits his defection will bring to the UK government and its allies, and the political and legal headaches too. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne and representatives of the oil and gas industry are meeting today to discuss the government's announcement in the Budget of a hike in taxes on the oil companies' windfall profits. Matt Prodger will report on that. Paul Mason will be taking us through the Irish bank stress test results, which will be released later today. And Stephen Smith's transformation into Big Society activist Citizen Smith finally begins today, having been pushed back in our schedule by the Libya conflict.

Tim Whewell has managed to secure a rare interview with the Libyan rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil. He says they'll accept a ceasefire if Colonel Gaddafi pulls his troops out of Libyan cities under rebel control. But they will not back down on their demand that Colonel Gaddafi must go. As officials in Japan say the evacuation of residents near the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant will be long-term, we ask what the catastrophe means for nuclear power. We'll have the pro-nuclear environmental writer George Monbiot and Jeremy Leggett who is founder and Executive Chairman of Solarcentury which seeks to harness the power of the sun. Plus we'll have our Political Editor Michael Crick who has been with the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on the pro-AV campaign trail. How will the coalition cope with a referendum result going either way?

Tonight as President Obama reshuffles his cabinet we look at the implications for the Arab Spring. A battle over defence cuts is expected but if the main Western powers pull back from the region, what does that mean for the Arab world and the rest of us? We'll be talking to PJ Crowley, the former US state department spokesman about how sustainable Western involvement is. We'll have other guests too. We also have a film about Yemen where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to step down within 30 days. The US, worried about terrorism, has poured military aid into the country but it is claimed that some has been used by the country's leadership to repress any opposition. And ahead of the Royal Wedding, the American TV networks are getting ready for wall to wall coverage. Why are Americans so fascinated by the Royals?