>> libyan rebels under attack for a second day as gaddafi loyalists tried to push forward. we report from the scene. >> this is the front line. the checkpoint here is the furthest the rebels have reached and the strange war. >> thousands attend the funerals of protesters who died on wednesday as colonel gaddafi has told again to go. >> colonel gaddafi needs to step down from power and leave. that is good for his country. it is good for his people. it is the right thing to do. >> welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast to our viewers on pbs in america, also around the globe. my name is mike embley. coming up later for you -- egypt's prime minister resigns. the new government will be headed by a former critic of

president mubarak. and britain opens up classified papers to reveal the extra terrestrial billings on. -- goings on. hello. colonel gaddafi and his inner circle are being investigated for possible crimes against humanity. that announcement today from the prosecutor at the international criminal court in the hague. during the day, the gaddafi loyalists have kept up their efforts in eastern libya. yet they have also pushed don to another area -- pushed on to another area. we have this report. >> after yesterday's victorious battle, the rebels marched in with a high state of

nervousness. yet after an air raid on the town by planes from colonel gaddafi's air force, the nervousness grew worse. one man accidently let up a grenade. the wounded were rushed to hospital. these men are not trained soldiers. discipline is nonexistent. remarkable pictures showed the scope of yesterday's battle. they were shot by a rebel soldier. the battle was fierce. but since colonel gaddafi's forces are better armed, but their superiority sometimes holds. but the rubble numbers are far higher, and that is what the -- the rebel numbers are far higher, and that is what counts. how the dozen people were killed on the rebels' side -- half a dozen people were killed on the

rebel side. one man went to hospital to get news of his missing son. he found his body there. >> that is my son. >> later, the funerals for the dead. the number of casualties and the battle was surprisingly small, a reminder of the various limited scope of this war which involves only a few hundred people together. the rebels' command structure is pretty vague. a senior officer has been sent to take command here. he told me the rebels will need to consolidate forces before they can launch their ground offensive. he has his own problems here. he was congratulating his ragtag army on their victory yesterday when they realized there were two prisoners, supposedly

mercenaries, inside the vehicle. they wanted to get them out and lynch them in spite of the colonel's please. in the end, and manage to save the. we drove on 30 miles farther west. this is the front line. the checkpoint here is the for the rest of the rebels have reached in this strange war. yet 50 miles down that road lies the town where colonel gaddafi's army was beaten back to last night. there is nothing between here and there except desert. >> for now, there is all lull in the fighting. but the rebels intends to open the fighting as soon as they can.

they feel sure they can do it. bbc news. >> you will have gathered this from that report. libya's opposition are not the most coherent force, but there are young people eager to sign up for the course -- for the cause. our correspondent is in the northport where some are signing up. >> libya did not have much of an army, but it is now being formed hour by hour with new recruits. hello. you are not even old enough to have a beard. how old are you? >> 15. >> border you doing here? >> i am here to kill gaddafi. he is in a crime now. we know about them. >> how are you going to kill him? >> we are going to go to tripoli. >> the compound? >> yes. he is the killer.

he killed our people. our children. our people are worse than in prison. he is a killer. >> what is your name? and he is your friend? >> yes. what did you decide to come together? >> yes. >> you also want to kill them? how old are you? >> 17. >> this is dangerous. >> no, no, it is not dangerous. it is not dangerous. >> this man killed my children. >> your children? >> not our children, no. >> what are they in teaching you here? >> we have learned how to take the gun and shoot everywhere and not to run with the gun.

just things about it. >> are you expecting to be sent to the west to fight? >> yes. yes. we want to be there. i want to be there. >> all lib dem 3 >> all of them? they have only had one day or so. >> they are coming year. hear, we are trying to convince them they must be trained using weapons, first-aid. we are trying to teach them all. and we are not going to send them to the west. we are going to protect this area first. this is our place. some of them would have come from before. butñ mostly, they are young kids and then once you have just new

-- and the ones who have just new training. >> lyse with new recruits in ben gazi there. aid workers and charities are struggling to cope with the vast numbers of people needing medical help, food, water, in transport. we found one group that managed to get a ticket home. >> they call this the time of change. for these men, it also means cold, hunger, and uncertainty. the best part of 90,000 foreigners have been driven across the border. some have spent a week just trying to get to this point. but the smiles say it all. there on a bus bound for the airports and the promise of a

ticket back home. and so a small provincial airports in a quiet town has become the transit point for what the united nations calls "a humanitarian crisis in." -- humanitarian crisis." there is no panic here. the turmoil in libya has released a mass migration across the border in into to any ship. britain and other nations are helping to airlift hundreds. you cannot fly directly from here to egypt, but today, 60 flights are heading that way. most are egyptians, fleeing their rebellion in libya from home and still writing from its own revolution. mohammed is one of them, killing home to cairo. -- going home to cairo.

he thinks god, tunisia, for helping him. it is a common sentiment. >> thank you. >> tunisia has opened its hearts and buckets to the refugees. today, here is a volunteer aid worker. these people need help. we need help from all the world. we cannot do everything alone. >> so, the final leg of their journey to freedom has begun. yet a pretty remarkable scene, when a british holiday in both is sent to help refugees. but for every one who leads, many more are waiting. and with the violence in libya continuing, this exodus shows no sign of easing. bbc news. >> president obama has reiterated his determination the

libyan leader' must stand down, and he has all the rest of american air force planes to repatriate those fleeing libya. >> i want to make sure the united states has full capacity to act, potentially rapidly, if the situation deteriorated in such a way that you had and humanitarian crisis -- a humanitarian crisis on our hands. or defenseless civilians were trapped and in great danger. it is very important to do this and in consultation with the international community. >> president obama, of course. and one other new development. you're in the u.k., the director of the london school system has resigned over links with gaddafi. he said he recognized his magician had suffered from

accepting thousands of dollars of research funds a critic of the former egyptian president has been appointed the country's prime minister. the new prime minister took part in the street protests against mr. mubarak. three weeks on, there is clear evidence that activists taking part in peaceful protests are being beaten up and imprisoned by the army who promised to protect them. we have this from cairo. >> there are still tanks on the streets of egypt. the army has the reputation of supporting the people and helping the revolution. but they deal with protesters in a different way. "stop filming." "give me the camera," the soldier said.

this man was picked up by troops that night. he was beaten up and arrested. to date outside cairo, his family and other families whose sons have disappeared demanded to see them. the military did not want us to film this or hear their stories. but his brother told us how he had already been put on trial and sentenced to five years in jail. he told me it was up three- minute during with no lawyers or witnesses and no chance to appeal. "it is not right, not legal." the revolution brought three decades of mubarak will soon end. but people continued to protest. it was not just mr. mubarak they wanted to replace. they wanted to replace the whole system. the prime minister stepped down, associated with the old regime.

he was replaced by a former minister is supported the revolution. -- who supported the revolution. >> we accept this. we await another from the army. >> what do you want? >> doocy human rights in egypt. -- to see human rights and in egypt. that will not change unless you change all the regime. >> you sense the excitement when people call president mubarak to stand down, and that has been replaced by disappointment that things are not changing as fast as people up. the military says they're doing what they can, but that is just not good enough for people here. bbc news. >> still in the region, a junior jeff's and jerome presidents has announced -- tunisia's

interim president has announced elections. he says tunisia is entering a new era and the old constitution is no longer valid. do stay with us, if you can on "bbc world news." we will take you to and i went struggling to cope with the ever-growing numbers fleeing the turmoil in north africa. first though, and -- authorities in new zealand have given up hope of finding anyone lying under the rubble nine days after an earthquake hit christchurch. 80 people are unaccounted for. the mayor of christ church says the operation has switched to recovery mode. rescue teams and will continue their work. >> we have not given up a rope, and nor have be rescue teams.

we hope against all logic that we will find people in the rubble. but it has been a long time now since we had contact. it was only a day ago we remove the last living person from the rubble. since then, no contact, no noise the determination -- to determine the location of the deceased. >> but teams from a number of nations, including the u.k., the u.s.a., japan, taiwan, korea, china, new zealand -- they typically work in their own national units. where possible we have tried but teams and in areas where they can focus on places we know some of their countrymen are liable to be located. they work on a shift roster. they do 30 minutes on, 30 minutes all. they rotate.

they're the most amazing, dedicated people. they have reduced risk to a minimum. risk that would be beyond anything we would normally accept in our lives. and they have focused on one thing -- with great optimism and a degree of hope he reads from the beginning -- and they still have that now. they still think light of the book may be somewhere." and that is the way they work. >> the latest headlines for you this hour. the libyan air force claims they are launching a new attack and in eastern libya. gaddafi is being investigated for possible crimes against humanity. president obama is sending aircraft to aid refugees fleeing libya peary had hundreds more -- fleeing libya. hundreds more have fled suit and

an italian island. 600 have arrived. yet from our europe correspondent, chris morris. >> out of the darkness and the early hours of the morning, fishing boats from tunisia. crammed on board, nearly 350 migrants, refugees or people simply looking for work? uprisings in the arab world have made things much more complex. after a dangerous voyage they finally made it to the european union. italy says hundreds of thousands of people are making a similar journey, either fleeing the chaos in north africa were taking advantage to try to the. -- or taking advantage to try to leave. the question is how will direct response that's because the boats will come on coming.

like this tiny boat. europe says it wants to help the region in huge transition. what will it do for them? this is the holding area where the migrants are initially taken. we were not allowed to talk to the most recent arrivals. some are being transferred of the islands. many good and eventually be sent home. -- could eventually be sent home. they just want a chance. >> to europe. >> anywhere in europe that >> does not matter. where there is freedom, democracy, we will go there. we want to find normal people. human. >> on patrol with the italian coast guard. they have a huge swath of water to cover.

flank isouthern vulnerable if north africa -- >> hello and welcome. top stories from around the no. site is vulnerable if north african descent into chaos. >> if people keep on coming, we will definitely need help from other countries. >> and this is what. another boat full of migrants heading for this tiny italian scientist. this is another reason why the tumultuous events in north africa are a big challenge for everyone. chris morris, bbc news. >> the u.n. security council says it fears a new outbreak of civil war and in ivory coast. it has so peacekeepers to use all necessary means to protect civilians. six women were shot dead as part of a protest, demanding laurent

dad of handover of the presidency. -- laurent gbagbo hand over the presidency. >> now, they are paying the price for voting for the opposition candidate. it was broken up when the police fired live rounds into the crowd, killing several women. of the past few days, there is been increasingly heavy gunfire as the president's forces failed to regain the area from armed men loyal to the opposition candidate. >> i could see the rockets passing over me. i decided to move my children and high in the house. i did not let anything bad happening to them. >> that has prompted thousands

to flee, and many taking what few possessions they can carry. >> it has been terrible. it has affected a lot of families. some move back to villages very early in the morning. >> u.n. peacekeepers are frequently obstructed and in their patrols around the city. they're calling for a truce said the dead bodies and in the streets can be taking away. many fear the country is once again sliding towards civil war. bbc news, ivory coast. >> global food prices in the it a new peak last month. the u.n. food agency is saying its price index is the highest since the measure was introduced july decades ago. it is one that costs will spiral even further if the price

of oil continues to spike. an inside-watchdog -- the chief vigilance commissioner pete thomas is accused of fraudulently importing palm oil. he denies the allegations. in of court in bangladesh, the bangladeshi central bank has dismissed him, saying he was past retirement age and had not been properly appointed. now, it had been discussed for years by the u.n., the cia, and the house of lords. uso's have been debated for years. have been debated for years. but as our science correspondent david shukman reports, not

everything is there. >> ghostly lights, a secret military investigations, fuel for endless curiosity about whether we are alone. the latest documents, some heavily censored, carry dozens of apparent sightings, like this strange cloud. but they also offer reasonable explanations, including sometimes it is just a hoax. >> it might have been the mountains. >> in 1967, the discovery of six of these in southern england triggered a massive alert, although it turned out to be a student prank. >> it is not just because they believe we are being visited by aliens, but we are worried there might be other terrestrial explanations such as a spy plane. >> is one of the longest running conspiracy theories that glimpses of alien spaceships

have been covered up. already further questions are being raised. white is the entire file about -- why is the entire file about an incident in suffolk missing? suspicion will continue. one man told me yet been adopted by a u.s. of and gains -- fiveby a ufo and in an extra eye. >> you'll find much more on that all over the internet, but also on bbc.com. you can catch up with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. you will see what we're working on, what's coming up on facebook. just briefly, colonel gaddafi and his inner circle are to be investigated for possible crimes against humanity. that answer from the international criminal court in the hague.

during the day, the docking loyalists kept up the counterattack in eastern libya. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you?

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles. presented by kcet los angeles.