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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> clashes in cities across libya between anti-government protesters and forces loyal to auto gaddafi. dozens of people to have believed to have been killed. in the capital tripoli, security forces fired tear gas on hundreds of demonstrators. welcome to bbc news. coming up, chinese premier wen jiabao vows to tackle inflation. the show must go on great days after the sacking of its chief designer, christian dior reveals his final collection.

forces loyal to colonel gaddafi and anti-government protestors have been involved in fierce clashes. the sound of multiple explosions and heavy artillery have been coming from the coastal city, east of gaddafi's stronghold. >> so far, it has been a fairly on equal contest. enthusiasm and determination to reverse is training and sophisticated weaponry. yet, so far at least, the enthusiasm has been holding up pretty well.

the rebels have captured the airfield outside the city. although they have been forced back a few hundred yards along the approach road to the town, and they have not been defeated. they have had to face marcher and artillery fire, both of them pretty accurate. all that got to fight back with its ak-47's and the occasional rocket launcher. it was not for their morale, they would have been chased away quickly. it is still not clear how many deaths. today, unlike last wednesday's battle, colonel gaddafi's men had the advantage of fighting on their own ground. the day started with a heavy sandstorm. the rebel commanders plan to use

it to be up their forces and prepare for an attack in a day or so. with conditions as bad as this, there is surprising -- it is not surprising that there is no military activity. both sides simply want to lick their wounds after last wednesday's battle. that turned out to be completely wrong. the commanders brought up some of their properly trained soldiers to take over the front- line posts from the untrained volunteers. trouble was, the volunteers decided to head wildly down the road. that left the train soldiers no alternative but to gather their gear together a and going back them up. no preparation, no buildup. these are volunteers and they are heading off to the city only

about 15 kilometers away from here. you can hear the sound of mortar fire. it was midafternoon and the battle lasted until dark. it will presumably continue tomorrow, by which time the rebels would have brought up several hundred more men. the also be a bit more favorable. -- the odds will be a bit more favorable. >> native told bbc that it is preparing for a -- it has no plans to intervene in a crisis. a decision to implement a new -- a no-flight zone. >> the fact is that the current u.n. security council resolution does not authorized the use of armed forces. i do believe that the introduction and implementation of a no-fly zone would require a

new u.n. security council resolution. having said that, i do believe that if gaddafi and his regime really attack and a massacre their own people, at the united nations will not stand idly by. >> that is the main rebel at setting where there was an explosion on friday. i asked him to describe the situation in benghazi. >> this is a major escalation in the crisis. if this were true that this is an air strike or an army truck explosion, this is the first time that the rebels have been targeted in such a way. previously, they had only been

taken out by accident or in other ways. this is a clear violation of the incidents. >> how about fighting in the previous day? one of our correspondents had been in benghazi and he was reporting that traffic was flowing, people said to be quite content that they had this local committee counsel that was being run from the courthouse. what about the past few days? >> i arrived here late last night. i have been here almost 36 hours. i cannot say that i've seen too many cars on the road. 90% of the shops never opened because many shopkeepers fear looters. they're too scared to open their shops. the streets outside my hotel at

the moment are completely empty. i am living downtown. the courthouse on friday afternoon was where all the main action was. we had the military rally after words and the courthouse was -- a constitution is being drafted by the national lydia council. you'll leave -- national libya council. shops are closed by about 9:00. restaurants are barely opens. it resembles a ghost town. there is no normality here. thousands were demanding jobs and government reform. the ever smaller protests and the capital. the government has promised to thousands of new jobs and an

increase in unemployment benefits. in yemen, thousands have gathered in the thousands calling for the resignation of the president that has been in power for 33 years. thousands of people have attended the burial of pakistan's only christian in government minister. he was assassinated on wednesday. he was an outspoken critic a funeral mass was held in the capital. thailand's annual parliamentary session is under way. it is the mostest -- is the most important delivered by a chinese politician. he identified tackling inflation as a top priority. we are in beijing. the world's second-largest economy, but plenty of talk about growth and the economy.

>> that is right. wen jiabao acknowledged the resentment of china overñ a rane of issues, including corruption, the gap between rich and poor. he did point out that the government's top priority is to tackle inflation. he went on to speak more broadly about the economy, the country's latest five-year economic plan is the focus of this session. he wants to see more of domestic consumption. until the economic growth has been built on the back of exports and infrastructure projects, many people here have realized that that model going into the future is unsustainable. what the government wants to do is stimulate more domestic, believing that that could provide for more sustainable growth going into the future.

>> stay with the domestic theme. one delegate mentioned the socio-economic development of minorities and that was essential. was that significant? there have been troubles involving some of the minority community. >> it is significant because the government here believe said economic development, it is the -- it can alleviate many of the social problems and it china. -- problems in china. the government but the lot of store in its hands. they believe that if economic growth continues and if it is high enough, and that people will support the communist party and that will ensure the stability of the country and the legitimacy of the chinese communist party going into the future. >> how about abroad?

how much discussion has there been about china's foreign relations? >> there is not been a great deal of discussion on that issue. many countries will be heartened by the fact that china wants to increase domestic consumption. that is not going to happen overnight. it will take a long time. in the future, that could mean that chinese consumers are buying more exports from countries like america or europe. that could actually -- domestic demand in china could drive global growth around the world. that is not going to happen in the short term. >> thank you very much. this is bbc news. christian dior's a fashion show opens in paris without its controversial designer.

and nasa rocket mission had ended in failure twice. it did take off from california, but it did not make it into space. it crashed back to earth. >> ignition of the taurus rockets. >> a perfect start for nasa's latest mission. >> and of climates may affect our lives. >> does minutes into the lodge, there is a problem. >> the flight was going well until the time of separation. >> it fails to separate and the taurus rockets falls back to earth, crashing into the pacific ocean. the flight staff does not know why the 250 million pound mission failed. >> we are all pretty devastated. we will recover. the team will bounce back. they are all profs.

-- they are all professionals. >> liftoff. >> two years who earlier, the same thing happened. minutes into its launch, its multimillion pound payload crash back to earth. at the time, nasa said it would fine fellow would rob before it flew any more missions. losing to earth observation satellites in the same way has been extensive and embarrassing -- expensive and embarrassing. it will launch another investigation. this time, it hopes it will get right. >> queen elizabeth is to make a statement. it will be the first trip to the republic by a british monarch.

this is a bbc news. clashes have been taking place in cities across libya between anti-government protesters and forces loyal to colonel gaddafi. dozens of people are believed to been killed. wen jiabao has pledged to tackle inflation. more on libya. two weeks after the uprising began against gaddafi, the government -- anti-government protesters have been on the streets in tripoli. after friday prayers, more than a thousand people clashed with security forces. amongst them was our middle east editor. >> it was hard to get to the main mosque because the regime's forces have setup roadblocks. this man, worried about and

farmers, it took us away from the mosque's so he could speak clearly. >> people are terrified. they are afraid of being killed and shot. afraid of being arrested. >> its in to me that this is much harder for protesters than in egypt. is that the case? >> i govern you or i kill you. that is why it is much harder. people here are not protected by anybody. >> it felt tense. protesters were killed when they demonstrated after the prayer last friday. this week, dozens of people had been taken away at night by the regime's armed men. as soon as they finish pricing, they began to chant. -- finished praying, they began to chant. they cannot forget that people have been killed here. they did not want to be identified. >> everyone is absolutely a

great. everyone in tripoli is against them. everyone here is ready. >> it was quite a small demonstration, symbolically important enough for the police to break it up. they moved in with teargas and rubber bullets. it had been a peaceful demonstration with no weapons. in this part of the area around tripoli, the population has been losing its fear of a police state. but the security forces are doing all they can to be in skillet. even so, on the edge of the capital, others davis faced with a rebellious population. all the anger on the streets is not on its own.

to do that, they will need more help from inside the regime. up till now, to get the results they want, they have not had enough. it is not an equal fight. sources --olonel's for stable oil, he is containing his enemies in the capital. he has friends here. plenty of them. this evening, supporters marched in the square in the center of tripoli. the atmosphere was relaxed. he may have lost eastern libya, but your families felt secure enough to bring small tilted. the colonel is rallying his supporters as well as the security forces. pushing back card. >> let's take a look at the events in the middle east. it comes directly after popular

uprising in egypt and tunisia. they are continuing and ongoing conflict in bahrain. the professor of religion at the university of notre dame in indiana, i asked him if he thought there was a danger as the protesters' demands are met with defiance. >> -- this is not easy. this is not egypt. these people have to brave a reuther -- the fight is going to be brutal. it is going to be long. to be looked at the past few days, the protesters have managed to take hold of major cities in the east, like benghazi and others. they are managing to -- it can set the country.

we are now writing a constitution. he is really a major and prominent official in the libyan regime. he has defected and has joined the protesters. that is amazing progress, of course. >> do you think we have learned anything new in the past couple of months about how arab nations have been governed? >> definitely the major lesson is that things have to change. the arab leaders are faced with two choices. they have to introduce changes into their system or they have to leave.

in the case of gaddafi, they are not leaving easily. others are left -- like a mubarak we have a mess and other countries, like yemen, bahrain. these countries shows that the social fabric of their society is a bit different. bahrain, we should not expect a major regime changed in bahrain. we might see some standoffs. we are deflating the protests. yemen is a different case as well. it is threatened by a civil war and an army.

if this -- and goes down, -- we will see some kind of change within the regime. >> rescuers in the new zealand earthquake has said the death toll could be lower than they initially feared to tread -- feared. the death toll stands at 155. the net in states, in a pretrial hearing has been held in one of the country's largest cases of insider dealing. raj rajaratnam conspired to get some legal tips about plans to invest in the government tax group. he denies the charges. his trial is expected to last at least two months. the christian dior fashion house has unveiled its latest

collection in paris without its side -- star designer. he had been sacked by the company. >> taken to the catwalk, the latest luxury collection from christian dior. this display of glitz and glamour was overshadowed by the uproar surrounding john galliano. >> the fact that the name of christian dior has been linked to its designer is very painful. >> a british designer was fired by the dealer after allegedly making anti-semitic remarks in paris last month. he was shown telling to women in

the cafe, i love hitler. he has apologized for its behavior, but french prosecutors say he will stand trial. a paris fashion week on friday, there was a notable absence. no doubt from john galliano at the end of the show. >> it kids better and better. -- it gets better and better. >> the show in paris was well attended. john galliano is now a man stripped of his christian dior status, a man who was convicted in court and could be sent to prison. >> hundreds of people working around the clock in vietnam tried to save one of the city's

important inhabitants. pollution is threatening its survival. >> remarkable as it seems, right in the heart of the city of 6 million people, which is at least one giant turtle. there may be more, no one really knows. right now, the turtle's life is not a happy one. passersby have tossed in rubbish, the pollution is slowly killing its most famous inhabitant. >> only believe the injury is we can see it or caught by a sharp edges. the poor quality of the water itself made the conditions unbearable. >> six centuries ago, the turtles and is like david kyd of the sword with which he defeated

the chinese. >> many generations of the people of grown up with the turtle and the lake. >> workers are cleaning up the water and expanding a small island in case a turtle was to crawl onto land. some experts are skeptical. if elected they could clean, no one is going to complain. certainly not the turtle. >> a reminder -- the forces had been fighting on two fronts to reestablish their control a spokesman for anti gaddafi government forces says they have propelled an attack from government forces. they were superior in numbers and weapons-grade the government spokesperson said the army is now in charge.

this is a bbc news. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the 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.