>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is 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 financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world

news." >> the latest anti-government protests in syria are again met with force. reports there at least 20 people have been shot dead. rival demonstrationness yemen, huge crowds rally in support of the president. as thousands call for an immediate resignation. and claims that allied air strikes in libya are harming civilians but is it just part of a propaganda war? we have a special report. welcome to bbc news broadcasting to our viewers in the u.k. and around the world. and also canada in political limbo. the mernt government is defeated in a -- the minority government is defeated in a vote and the fourth federal election in seven years. and northern orrland's assembly has completed its first full term of power in four decades.

welcome once again. syria has become latest hot spot in the middle east with the ruling elite coming under biggest challenge in three decades. crowds demanding greater freedom have accused the regime of using its security forces to open fire on peaceful demonstrators across the nation. there have been clashes in many places including the capital of damascus. but the worst of the violence happened in the southern city of dara. the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon wants the government to respect the rights of its citizens. jerme bowen has this report. -- jeremy bowen has this report. >> the anti-government demonstrations are getting bigger and they're spreading. this is the center of damascus. and this is the coastal city of latakia. it's more proof that no arab country is immune from the

revolution that's swept the middle east, demanding change and taking on authoritarian states. killings in and around the southern town of dara have sent people out on the streets in protest across the country. amnesty international says at least 55 people have been killed in syria in the last week. a bbc team that tried to reach dara today was turned back so we don't have first hand corroboration of the reports that are coming out of there. the government says its police were attacked and had to defend themselves. demonstrators loyal to president assad have also been out on the streets. he's being personally popular, he stands up to israel and he's seen as a reformer. in response to protests this week, he's made some big promises. to lift emergency laws that have been in force since 1963.

political reform, and to relax media restrictions. the presidential palace is high botch damascus. the -- above damascus. the biggest domestic challenge in 30 years and the president has a stark choice. >> either to announce immediate reforms and sack some people who have been responsible for these outrages. or simply bow to the hard-liners and allow the crackdown to continue. which of course would undermine the legitimacy of his regime. >> protests around this mosque after the prayer. syria is at the center of the politics of power, war and peace in the middle east. trouble here could mean trouble elsewhere. jeremy bowen, bbc news. >> we're going to stay in the middle east but move south of syria because tens of thousands have turned out in yemen for rival demonstrations in the capital of sana.

protesters demanded the resignation of their president salei but the president addressed thousands of his supporters. told them he was prepared to transfer power but only to what he called safe hands. bbc correspondent who we cannot name for security reasons has sent this report from sana. >> it's hard to imagine now that this process started as a tiny sit-in. the crowds spill out of the square and into the streets. united in their demand for resignation of president ali abdulah sana. this was a show of defiens considering one week ago snipers opened fire from the roof here killing at least 50 people. >> we ask the president to leave and give us this authority in order to save bloodshed because the people will continue to revolt until the regime falls.

>> the president is a sly wolf. he continues to waste time while he is lying. we don't have any trust in him anymore. >> the opposition leaders say their victory is now close. but today, also reminders of what a formidable opponent they're facing. throughout this crisis, president saleh has remained calm. looking relaxed and confident, even after some of his closest allies, high ranking military and political leaders, defected from him. and just as it looks like he was about to fall, on friday, he staged a massive rival rally. he told supporters that he would go but only on his own terms. his speech was a clever combination of concession and defiance. >> we don't want power. but we need to hand power over to safe hands. not to seek resentful or corrupt hands. we are ready to leave power. but only for safe hands, chosen

by the people. >> president saleh said if he goes there could be a civil war. and that yemen could fall into the hands of al qaeda. he knows that this is what concerns the west. over the years, americans have given mr. saleh millions of dollars of counterterrorism assistance. today, the troops are among those who are still loyal to mr. saleh. while some other military units have joined the opposition. both sides have set up checkpoints in the city. both are armed. neither is willing to back down. >> bahrain's security forces fired tear gas and pellets at anti-government protesters on friday. injuring 50 and killing one person according to activists. protests kicked off after a prominent shiite cleric vowed that their demands for the sunni monarchy to loosen its grip on power will not be silenced. around 100 people have been injured in jordan during clashes between supporters and

opponents of the government there. the clashes happened during a demonstration by the opposition calling for political reforms. fighting then broke out when a pro monarchy crowd began to throw stones at the other side. to libya. the u.s. military says the operation to protect civilians in the country have made good progress but that colonel gaddafi's forces pose a threat. a pentagon spokesman said they were still able to carry out attacks in places such as ajdabiya in the east despite attacks on supply lines. in a few minutes we'll have a report from there but first here's our world affairs editor john simpson. he is in tripoli. >> an r.a.f. fighter in action over libya. by intervening, the coalition has changed the situation completely. here in tripoli, it's a very different war indeed. missiles and bombs fall every night. but the main struggle is a propaganda one. libyan television is showing these pictures of civilians who have supposedly been killed in

the raids. are they genuine? impossible to say. the international journalists in tripoli are immensely restricted. though we are free to say what we want without censorship. today, we were bust out to see what we were told was a hit on the civilian target. you could see the growing effect of the war. this was the coalition's target last night. a military base of some kind into dara on the outskirts of tripoli a mobile radar desh has been burned out. -- dish has been burned out. we were taken to a farm mouse a couple of meals -- farmhouse a couple of miles away, a young woman injured. there were all sorts of question marks about it. bits of a missile were certainly lying around. but the hole where it had supposedly landed was unconvincing. and the holes in the wall certainly weren't made by

shrapnel as we were told. someone had fired an ak-47 at it. and who was it that had been hurt? the owner said it was his 18-year-old daughter hit in the back. but the gardener insisted he was a 4-year-old, a 4-year-old boy. but the basic track is whatever precisely happened in this garden and how it was done, the libyan government is seeking to show the world that the campaign that's been fought here is killing large numbers of libyan civilians. this isn't the final proof of that certainly. yet, it's not just propaganda to say that colonel gaddafi still has support here. and while he's got that, he won't go quietly. john simpson, bbc news, tripoli. >> religion stiffens the resolve of men preparing for battle. there's a strong islamic core

running through the rebel fighters. in their struggle for control of eastern libya. today, felt very different. they've been stirred by british attacks on government troops nearby. and they're finally ready to battle even if skill comes a poor second to devotion. the main road is blocked by colonel gaddafi's men. so we took a back route through the desert toward a town under siege. it doesn't look like much, but whoever controls this area holds the key to land and resources in the east. for the first time in 10 days, we were able to get into ajdabiya. the stain of smoke rising from a fight that's reaching a crescendo. this is who the u.n. resolution is supposed to protect. he's not a fighter but lives here and this morning he was robbed and shot at by government troops.

he's lucky to be alive. he speaks of the terror of living in ajdabiya and wants one simple thing -- more coalition attacks. we've just come into ajdabiya itself. you can hear the sound of gunfire. there have been heavy explosions. we've seen air bursts, artillery as well. and there are rumors that colonel gaddafi has put snipers up on the rooftop and we've heard that sharp sound as bullets go by so we're taking shelter at this end. and the rebel fighters have now pushed into the city. and that's why the fighting here seems to be quite so intense. the shooting gets much closer. we're caught in the crossfire. it's a graphic illustration of what the people here have lived with and why they desperately

need help from the outside world. ian panel, bbc news, ajdabiya. >> canada's minority conservative government has been toppled in the face of an historic confidence motion. citing it for contempt of parliament. they voted in favor of a liberal opposition motion. the result will now trigger the fourth federal election in seven years. from toronto, lee carter reports. >> is it the pleasure. house to adopt -- is it the pleasure of the house to adopt the motion? >> nobody was surprised by the result of this vote in the canadian parliament. the no confidence motion simply confirms the conclusions of a group of m.p.'s that on monday found the minority conservative government of prime minister steven harper in contempt of parliament for failing to provide the estimated costs for a number of spending programs. >> the budget table this week by the minister of finance, the next phase of canada's economic action plan is critically important to complete canada's

economic recovery. its contents not only reflected the wide input of canadians including the input of other political parties. it has the strong support of canadians. >> all that needs to happen now is for canada's parliament to be officially dissolved and an election date set. having led two minority governments, mr. harper is hoping his party will win a majority. >> the honorable -- >> coming from behind in the opinion polls, former author and broadcaster michael ignaceius will fight his first election as the leader of the main opposition liberal party. >> it's time to change canada's direction. time to get us on the right path. after five years of conservative government, it's time to say enough is enough. enough of the politics of fear. enough of the politics of division. enough of the politics of personal destruction.

>> the state of the recovering canadian economy along with ethics and accountability are expected to be the main issues. lee carter, bbc news, toronto. >> this is bbc news. still ahead, there's fears grow in japan about raised levels of radiation, anti-nuclear campaigners are making their voices heard. after a quarter of a million people are expected to be on the streets of central london on saturday. all is part of a national march against government cuts. some of the demonstrators are taking part in a political march for the very first time. spurred into action by what's happening to local services on their own doorstep. our home editor mark easton has met some very unlikely activists. >> it is tori heartland. a red squirrel as a red rosette. the county council has announced cuts of 140 million pounds with youth clubs,

libraries and daycare centers, familiar public services may disappear. one of the key questions for the coalition is whether serious opposition to the cuts will extend beyond their familiar political opponents to become a wide-ranging broad movement involving their own traditional supporters. in this village necessary willing in the world, the -- nestling in the world the answer is yes. some of the ladies of gloucester will be those marching through london tomorrow. >> i'm scared of going on a political march. i haven't done it before. and i don't want to be cattled. i'm not going to pea on the street in public -- pee on the street in public for any cause. >> how do you think it's gone? >> brilliantly. >> the tori council is looking to the big society to save services, ken urging volunteers to run -- encouraging volunteers to run threatened libraries and youth clubs. behind me, people working hard for their community. they're not marching in protest.

they're doing things in action. and that's what we want to see. much more of and in this constituency we find it all offer the place which is encouraging. tomorrow could be a key moment. if buses and trains include many like these ladies from the world, the poetics of the cuts would be very different. mark easton, bbc news, gloustershire. >> this is bbc news the headlines this hour, the latest government protests in syria are met with force. reports say at least 20 people have been shot dead. there have been rival demonstrations in yemen. president saleh has address adderally of his supporters as thousands of protesters at the same time called for his immediate resignation. france and nigeria have presented a draft resolution to the u.n. security council calling for sanctions against laurent gbagbo who has refused

to relinquish the presidency of ivory coast. among the measures the resolution bans the use of heavy weapons around abidjan, the main city, which has witnessed growing violence between rival factions. but it stops short of authorizing the use of force by u.n. peacekeeping mission currently in ivory coast. that's something west african countries have been arguing for. with bbc's u.n. producer, tom lane, he's at the united nations in new york. tom, i'll ask you about the u.n. force that's currently in ivy coast in a minute -- ivory coast in a minute. what about external force and external cents using all necessary measures. is that likely to be in this resolution? >> i think you'll find that's very unlikely indeed to be in that resolution. first of all, the use of force in libya has caused huge fractures on the council with at least five abstentions and many members very leery about using force again. fearing it will create a new

precedent and expand the powers of the council. also, among those who are very anti-gbagbo there's a use -- a certain leeriness as well. i was talking with one ambassador today who said that the very nature of the fighting being done in urban areas in the ivory coast, rather than with tank battalions outside of cities as in libya. and it would be extremely impractical to do air strikes. and they were very wary of authorizing force which might mean that an external army could march into cities and make matters more violent and more dangerous for civilians. >> i see that the nonprofit organization, the international crisis group, has written an open letter to the security council saying that ivory coast is rapidly descending into civil war. so what are those thousands of u.n. peacekeepers doing there? >> well, they find themselves in a very complicated situation. a lot of these peacekeepers went in expecting to monitor and run an election. and as that fell out, they found themselves with two

objectives. one being to protect civilians as their mandate does require, but the other being to keep the electoral status quo. the u.n. has recognized alassane ouattara having won and they are protecting him in his compound in the gulf hotel. while also claiming to be neutral. the reason they're claiming to be neutral is because in order to protect civilians, that other key part of the mandate, they need to have contact with the gbagbo forces. so for them, they're poised in this very uneasy situation, which is another reason the council is very hesitant about making their life more complicated. >> and they'll discuss this next week. how likely is the resolution to pass? >> well, russia and china who hold vetos are traditionally quite wary of interfering in what they see as the internal affairs of other countries. however, the fact that this has sanctions and a possible international criminal court indictment rather than the use of force as in libya, might

make them somewhat more accepting. certainly the backers hope that it won't be watered down too much. >> tom lane, in new york, thank you very much. japanese officials are known for their cautiousness. so when the prime minister called the situation at the fukushima nuclear plant very grave it was very noticeable. operators say water at one reactor is 10,000 times more radioactive than normal. that's raised fears that its core is damaged. as the bbc's rupert wingfield hays reports it adds to the widespread concerns. >> it's 6:00 in the morning at tokyo's fish market. the biggest in the world. these highly prized blue finish -- bluefin tuna can sell for 100,000 pounds or more each. but since the tsunami business here has collapsed. and now traders worry that radiation leaking into japan's waters may soon be found in fish. in central tokyo, a tiny group of protesters have gathered

outside the grand headquarters of tokyo electric power. passing commuters take little notice of them. even now, few japanese are willing to publicly challenge huge corporations like tepco. tepco's spokesman seems taken aback when i suggest the company may be responsible for the nuclear disaster. >> we got approval from the government so in that sense, we're building and including nuclear facilities, has been in a sense designed in effect, the tsunami was than expected. >> three hours drive south of tokyo, stands the hamorka nuclear plant run by another giant corporation, tubel electric. this plant is almost identical to fukushima. except in one crucial respect. >> that green bank behind me is the tsunami wall. and it's six meters high.

the tsunami that hit the fukushima plant was 13 meters high. but what really scares people here is that this plant is built right on top of a major fault. in fact, one. faults runs between the reactor building and the turbine halls. >> ito has been fighting the plant for the last 40 years. he lives less than a mile away. and mr. ito, waiting for the next big earthquake has become an obsession. >> we know that this area has a major earthquake about every 150 years, he says. the last one to strike here was in 1854. so another one is due soon. and that's why we're so angry that they continue building more reactors here. the sendi earthquake and tsunami were both much bigger than anyone had predicted or designed for. it begs the question why this densely populated nation thinks

it wise to build so many nuclear reactors right on top of the pacific ring of fire. rupert wingfield hayes in central japan. >> we have some breaking news from libya because the a.f.p. news agency is reporting that three large explosions have been heard in the suburb of tajura in the capital tripoli. their location according to a witness contacted by the agency is at a military site. the bbc has no independent confirmation of this report just yet. the northern ireland assembly has completed the first full term. a retirement at the age of 84 after an extraordinary period in which a coalition of bitter enemies held things together. >> treated as a political celebrity. >> a pleasure. >> he's the man who went from preacher to protester to peacemaker. this was his final day as a member of the storm assembly.

he's retiring from elective politics at the age of 84. >> 40 years ago, i would have obtained where i -- and good friends. and a lot -- >> including martin mcginn he is. the one-time i.r.a. commander who later became a sinn fein politician. the firebrand ian piersley seemed an unlikely friend. but four years ago, they became northern ireland's first and deputy first minister. they got on so well, other parties called them the chuckle brothers. >> i developed not just a good working relationship with him but regard him as a huge friend of the -- and regard him as my friend. that doesn't mean we agree about everything. but hey, government, everything

-- >> there have been plenty of arguments along the way. but stormand has a feeling of permanentcy about it. the political agenda in northern ireland has changed quite dramatically. the big question is no longer can the assembly survive. but can it deliver? the politicians have agreed on free prescriptions. and free travel for the over 60. but when it came to finding a replacement for the aladdin plus, they failed. >> it should be moving much faster and delivering much more efficiently on decision making. to get decisions out the door so those could benefit the community. it's still not totally stable. but i suppose we're continuing to make progress, i would like to see the progress somewhat quicker. >> the assembly will not meet again until the middle of may. and elections in northern ireland are always fierce political battles. >> for anything more on all of our stories visit the bbc news website.

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