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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> defiance in libya, but president obama warns colonel gaddafi, pull back your troops or face military action. fighting appears to be continuing. jets wait for orders to head to the mediterranean and toward the no-fly zone. welcome to our viewers around the world. the japanese government admits failings in handling the nuclear crisis and making progress in the cooling operation. we had to the town recovering from the tsunami.

>> libya has said that its troops will not enter or attack benghazi. rebels say they have come under fire, while further west there has also been fighting. reports of new fighting in the east of the country came as britain, france, the united states and arab countries all issued a joint ultimatum to libya posole leader. we begin our coverage from tripoli -- libya's leader. we begin our coverage from aaa. >> you cannot take to the streets of tripoli without encountering a crowd like this. theirs is the only view you here. an attack on colonel gaddafi is an attack on libya itself. it is akin to treason.

they are mystified that the united nations cannot see that. >> what about the united nations? >> i hate the united nations. i hate britain. i hate france. i love libya. i love libya only. >> we are ready to give our lives for muammar gaddafi and for libya. >> the more intense fighting becomes, the more intense their loyalty to gaddafi. >> when they speak of the international community, they speak in different towns. >> the vote last night at the un has changed this conflict. it authorizes air strikes against ground troops, like

these on the front lines, should they attack civilians. the libyan government does not want that, so, in contrast to what it says to the libyans, it said this today to the international community. >> therefore, libya has decided to have an immediate cease-fire, and the stoppage of all military operations. >> only yesterday, colonel gaddafi said his men were coming to benghazi. those who resisted would be shown "no mercy." has he changed his mind? president obama has spelled out what gaddafi must do to prove he is serious. >> he must got his troops from advancing on benghazi, pull them back from other areas, and establish water, electricity, and gas supplies to all areas.

humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of libya. let me be clear. these terms are not negotiable. >> the un resolution does not require colonel gaddafi's departure. it requires him to stop using the violence. among the faithful here, the and minty of the world only strengthens them. -- the enmity of the world only strengthens them. >> gaddafi claimed that all military operations had ceased. he claimed troops were outside the city but would not enter. malta, germany and turkey have agreed to monitor the ceasefire and the rebel troops violating the ceasefire. >> many tanks are heading from

benghazi to another area. those armored militia groups started a couple of minutes ago fighting in the village. the shelling is continuing. the army is not taking any action against them, because we want to abide with the decision not to violate the cease-fire. >> the french ambassador to the united nations has told the bbc he expects a military intervention in libya within hours of a summit on saturday. that summit will include talks

with hillary clinton and arab leaders. >> there will be participation in the diplomatic effort. this is the last signal. the u.s., u.k. and france have set the conditions. after the summit, i think that we will launch the military intervention. >> reports from libya said forces loyal to colonel khadafy continue to attack rebel forces despite the cease-fire. we traveled to the east of the country. we have a report from benghazi. >> what began as a rebellion now sounds more like a war.

this area has been attacked from the sea, land and air. it is a graphic illustration of why a no-fly zone is needed. over the last hour or so we have been listening to the sound of what appears to be a pretty brutal battle between the two sides. we can hear the sound of rockets and artillery landing. we believe that the front line has now edged slightly closer to benghazi. it is difficult to know what the tactics of colonel khadafy are, but they seem to be applying as much pressure as they can upon the rebels before the no-fly zone is put into action. >> it is impossible to know how many have died here. we were shown the bodies of two fighters killed here today. the conflict is turning ordinary men into warriors. me, you doher told

not have to fight. ♪ we met a musician who has taken up arms with the rebels. >> we only have guns. they have airplanes and heavy weapons. >> take a good look at what this conflict is doing. reduced to tears by the violence he has seen and is powerless to stop. they have all just escaped. he says men, women and children have been killed and burned alive, and the trauma is simply too much. it is no surprise that the people of benghazi do not believe the promise of a ceasefire. tonight, there are even reports that government troops are

advancing. they know the battle for libya is far from over. >> president obama was very careful to stress the leadership role being taken by other nations apart from the united states. let's go now to our correspondent in washington. clearly the libyan opposition wants action, and still, the only words, though there is -- though they are the strongest words by far to come by the president. >> we are already hearing from officials here and officials in britain as well that these conditions are not being met. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations and the officials and the national security council, also in washington --

there seems to be a strong belief in washington that gaddafi has already violated the cease-fire. so, the unrest is very strong indeed. we do not have any details yet on what the military action will be. there is a little bit coming out of france, but in the states, we have not had any indication of when it will all begin or what exactly the role is that the united states will apply. it is expected that the role will be significant, but again, judging by president obama's statement and all of the statements we have heard, the united states very much wants to be seen as part of a coalition. the arab league initiated this resolution. they will be proceeding very

carefully. >> do you think there is a danger with the president restricting the aims to just the protection of civilians that the americans could be putting themselves in for a very, very long operation because, ok, think about these stocks -- stops now, but he could well take reprisal months down the line. >> absolutely. that is something people have been talking about here. it is an extremely broad resolution, which will allow them to employ various means, but at the same time, it is an open-ended operation. there is no deadline to it. that was discussed in the american media today. is this going to be the next card is done?

-- kurdistan? how long are we going to be protecting benghazi for? i think people are waiting to see more details and what will come out of the summit in paris tomorrow. certainly, a lot of talk about the lack of clarity of the un resolution. also, there has been a bit of a mixed message as well, because the u.n. resolution is very much designed to protect civilians and do nothing else, where a secretary clinton and president obama emphasized -- secretary clinton said almost the opposite which is that the goal is to do almost th-- the gt rid of gaddafi. >> it has been said already by

one of their allies. >> that may be the case. the u.s. is being very, very cautious. it wants to be tough, but it does not want to be seen as playing a leading role. it may have to play a leading role simply because it may be that it will have to be involved very heavily in terms of the military, depending on what the operation will look like. we will find out soon. but the u.s. -- the thing about the arab uprising is that they are home grown. the obama administration is very careful to keep it that way. let's remember that there is really not a comprehensive policy for what is happening in the middle east right now. on one hand, we have president obama being extremely tough on libya and threatening action. on the other hand, we of terrible crackdowns against

pro-democracy protesters in bahrain and yemen that are being completely overshadowed by what is happening in libya, and we're hearing almost nothing apart from a few statements expressing concern from the white house and the state department. those countries that are ruled by the allies of the united states are not going to get the same treatment from washington that libya is getting. the u.s. is definitely in quite a tricky position here. >> thank you very much. still ahead, more anger in bahrain as opposition activists barry a demonstrator killed in clashes with the police. yemen has imposed a state of emergency after the killing of more than 40 people who were taking part of a demonstration in the capital.

snipers on the rooftops started firing on the crowd following friday prayers. the u.s. and the u.k. have condemned the violence. >> at this makeshift field hospital, there has been a steady flow of dead and wounded protesters. most of them have gunshot wounds. this man has four gunshot wounds to his legs. he says there are many more like him. according to eyewitnesses, gunfire broke out when security forces tried to stop thousands of anti-government protesters marching after friday prayers. some reports say that the large crowd was fired upon by snipers on rooftops, and that some of those gunmen have been captured by the protesters. this is the largest clash yet during the month of protests against the president. in recent days, hundreds of

protesters have clashed with government supporters, leaving about 20 people injured. with reports of more widespread demonstrations now taking place, the president has declared a state of emergency. >> the national defense council has decided to declare a state of emergency today in yemen. we are imposing a curfew on armed men in all cities. security forces will take responsibility for maintaining public security. >> the protests have followed similar uprisings that ousted leaders in egypt and tunisia. yemen appears to be taking a more in line response to the demonstrations, perhaps inspired by recent events in libya. >> the headlines. president obama has said that libyan leader colonel gaddafi must order his troops to hold their arms on rebel positions

and pull back or he will face the prospect of air attacks. forces loyal to gaddafi have continued to attack rebel-held areas, despite a government post a statement that it was observing a cease-fire. away from libya, the japanese government has an acknowledged it could have reacted more quickly to last week's earthquake and tsunami. it failed to anticipate the scale of the disaster. the fukushima nuclear plant may have had a breakthrough. the energy companies as they have been able to -- energy company says they have been able to reestablish electricity, which is crucial two in the reactors. >> -- crucial to cooling and the reactors. >> the whole of japan stood

still today. for the thousands killed, there are still thousands missing. chris, alex and anna were all teaching near sendai when the earthquake hit. they are leaving, evacuated by the british embassy, on a flight to hong kong. alex does not want to leave. >> i feel like i am abandoning people i have known for two and a half years. i care about them. i am attached to them. i feel like i am abandoning them by getting out. >> alex is not the only one who is reluctant to leave japan. of the 7000 british who live in tokyo, fewer than half showed up to leave tonight.

these are the new heroes of the hour. >> we expect a lot of difficulties with the mission. it is a dangerous assignment. the reputation of japan and the lives of many people rest on your actions. >> these tokyo firemen have volunteered for the biggest and most dangerous mission of their lives. the crisis at the fukushima plant has now been upgraded to a level 5 emergency. this spraying operation is perhaps the last chance to head off a major radiation leak. on tv tonight, the prime minister sounded increasingly gloomy. >> i must tell you that the situation at the fukushima and nuclear power plant is not good. >> it is not a surprise that tokyo and the world is focused on a potential disaster at the fukushima plant.

what might happen there is now in danger of overshadowing a much bigger human tragedy that is still unfolding along the ravaged coast. >> we have some news just in because the japanese national broadcast is reporting that a survivor has been found eight days after the earthquake and tsunami. the man was rescued from rubble eight days after the quake. one of the places hardest hit by the tsunami is the coastal port of miyagi co. our correspondent returned to the town to see how it has coped now that the flood waters have receded. >> it is hard to believe it now, the way these waters rose, devouring all they saw. a week ago a giant wave was

racing toward the shore. it swamped octobermiyako's -- defenses.ped miyako's she was standing on the fourth floor of the city hall, watching. the tsunami rose exactly half an hour after the earthquake struck. all of the water was sucked out just before the tsunami hit. i could see the sand on the bottom of the river bed. -- river boat. >> that but now lies crushed. at least 1000 died here, adding to this nation's mounting losses. what you can see that many of the houses here were built of

wood, and have been wiped out. the high street is just this way. >> even now, many people are still coming to pick up what is left of their lives. when she heard the siren, she ran home to save her father. they lost each other in the waves. >> everything was being swept towards me. i knew i had to get higher. i got separated from my dad outside our house. when i saw the wave, i thought it was impossible that he could have survived. >> three days later, she found him in hospital, allies. -- alive. fishing is to be the lifeblood

of this place. most of those who died were elderly, unable to escape in time. this man is all alone. he clung to his house for an hour while the wave took his brother, sister, a son, daughter, and their two children. >> i want to lay my family to rest, but they will not release the bodies. i just want peace of mind. >> strewn along the shoreline now are the shattered pieces of so many lives, taken by the sea. >> the army in bahrain has demolished the monument in the capital. it had become a symbol of the month-long unrest in the state. on wednesday, security forces surrounded the monument.

five people were killed in the clash, including two policemen. we have a report on one of the protesters who died in the violence. >> he was a 41-year-old mechanic, killed on wednesday. his friends say he had been helping take away the women did. amid the grieving, -- the wounded. there is toieving, finance. he says those who killed him are criminals -- there is to finandefiance. he says the as to kill them are criminals. he is now seen as a martyr to the cause. there result seems to be growing. -- their resolve seems to be

growing. they have released images to show the blood on their side. they say there could be no dialogue before stability is restored. >> i am heartbroken to see the people of bahrain fighting each other in the streets. this came to a very ugly point. >> it could get uglier still with a new sectarian hatred that has been unleashed. >> there is more about all of our stories on our website. first, this young man was found under the rubble eight days after the japanese earthquake.

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