>> welcome to "the journal." >> will come. our top stories at this hour, libya declares a cease-fire after the u.n. approves a no-fly zone. rebels say they are still under attack. one week after the earthquake and tsunami, a minute in silence for the dead and missing. efforts to prevent a meltdown as authorities say they might need to bury the whole plant.

>> with a growing threat of western military intervention in libya diplomatic preure is growing. the u.s., britain and france warned gaddafi to hold the advance and pull back on other cities. this comes on the heels of a decision to propose a no-fly zone. gaddafi has declared a cease- fire but rebels say government forces continued their assault. >> for these rebels the no-fly zone cannot come soon enough. the resolution gives me new hope. >> there for libya has decided on an immediate cease-fire and stoppage of all operations.

>> that announcement has been received with skepticism. >> the libyan people have called for international assistance. this resolution paves the way for that to be answered. colonel gaddafi's refusal to hear the repeated calls to stop violence against his own people has left us with no other choice. >> the international community will not be tricked by the libyan regime. the international community will verify strict compliance with the resolution. >> at the nato headquarters preparations were made to pave the way for operations to begin this weekend. >> we now havthe power and legal basis to stop. that is why what we are doing is

right. >> the foreign affairs chief also weighed in. >> the universal view is that gaddafi should go. >> in libya. gaddafi's opponents have new hope that the tide will turn in their favor. i am joined now in the studio by our mideast analyst. do y y believe this cease-fire is a serious offer from the regime? >> this is not a serious offer. gaddafi is trying to buy time. there have been fights going on along the tunisian border. the fact is the war is going on. >> what does this mean for the no-fly zone? >> gaddafi is trying to achieve results on the ground. he knows starting tomorrow he

will face serious consequences in terms of being attacked. >> what options does gaddafi have now? >> there is no way anyone will negotiate with him. however he will not voluntarily leave his position so there will be more fighting for some time to come. >> we are going to come back to you after a few minutes. leaders from europe, the u.s. and arab countries are to meet on saturday in paris to discuss the un resolution. in washington president obama warned gaddafi to implement a cease-fire. he outlined what the international community expects from the leader. >> gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing, pull them back

from various areas and establish water, electricity and gas to all areas. humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of libya. these terms are not negotiable. these terms are not subject to negotiations. if gaddafi does not comply, the international community will impose consequences. >> our correspondent in washington has been following events in the joins us now. president obama warned of the consequences for libya. what is the u.s. planning to do? >> they are committed. they are demanding a no-fly zone. they were in favor of the resolution passed.

they have five major warships in the area. they are very much capable of starting airstrikes on short notice. the question is when will they start? there is a small discussion if it is legal to do these air strikes after gaddafi said he has implemented a cease-fire. they will take time to check if this is true. >> the french have been at the forefront for a push of the no- fly zone but will the u.s. take a leading role? >> obama said on friday that u.s. leadership was essential but made it clear this was an international mission. he was cooperating with the french and british. if we take a hint of who was

pushing the resolution, it seems like they are still in the driver's seat. the u.s. has the most advanced military but hillary clinton is going to paris to discuss options. >> the u.s. is already fighting two wars. what is the american public saying about the possibility another battle could be fought in north africa? >> americans are very sympathetic towards the fight for freedom but more than six out of 10 americans don't want to see any american soldiers in libya. that is why obama made it very clear. he will not deploy any ground troops. he will not go beyond the goal of helping civilians in libya. the americans don't intend to use military force to have a

regime change. >> we thank you very much. yemen has declared a state of emergency after 46 protesters were killed in the capital. witnesses say security forces fired live rounds with thousands in a demonstration following friday prayers. police also used teargas to disperse crowds. world leaders including nicholas sarkozy have condemned the crackdown. 10,000 shiite muslims in iraq have protested bahrain protests. heavy machinery was brought into teardown a symbolic statute in the capital. it was a focal point of anti- government protests.

the protesters are calling for increased civil rights. an unconfirmed reports say four protesters have been killed in anti-government protesters. police dispersed protests in two towns. video shows demonstrators calling for the end of corruption in the country. the marshes were the largest since political unrest began three months ago. joining me in the studio is michelle to talk about the unrest. you studied in syria. we are seeing protest splayed out there. how do you see this playing out? >> it has to do with events we see in libya and egypt.

it is still very dangerous. these two states will also see violent clashes of people not willing to be ruled by incompetent leaders. it is really always leading to tripoli. other regimes will follow. should he be crashed, then the other regimes will be very fearful and will not dare to use violence. >> the latest on rash is -- unrest is pushing oil prices up. >> oil prices have been fluctuating for weeks especially in the oil-producing companies. crude oil was down $1 after gaddafi declared a cease-fire.

>> libya is one of africa's main oil producers but the crisis has cut production to a trickle. the foreign companies pulled staff out when the turmoil began. concerns remain this could lead to supply shortages. before the uprising they pumped 1.6 million barrels of oil a day. normally libya exports 85% of its output to italy. libya holds the biggest crude oil reserves on the african continent. >> to japan where it has been one week since the earthquake

and tsunami that caused so much devastation. we now take a look at the japanese population and how they are coping with the aftermath. many people have lost everything. over half a million people are holess. survivors stood with the rest of the nation for a moment of silence. >> one week after the earthquake at 2:46 p.m. people observed a moment of silence to commemorate the victims. the death toll is almost 6500. 10,000 others are missing. relief workers also paused for a moment. their task seems almost surmountable. the tsunami and the nuclear

crisis caused the number of the evacuees to swell. the cold weather is affecting thousands of people. there have been reports of death among the elderly. >> after filling all the stove's we have run out of fuel. >> it is really cool. we are desperate for hot food. >> many are desperate for news of missing relatives. there are occasional moments of joy. this man was reunited with his cousin he thought was dead. at this air base u.s. troops are helping with aid distribution. time is of the absence -- of the essence. >> the tsunami left knee fushima power plant crippled.

japanese officials have raised the incident level to 5 on a seven point scale. engineers are now considering the chernobyl option to prevent a catastrophic release of radiation. japanese authorities are trying to lower the temperature inside of reactor family. it is fefeed the fuel runs may begin to mouelt. a team has joined the effort. 140 firefighters from tokyo have also arrived. four men more accustomed to tackling fires, it may be the greatest challenge of their careers.

>> we expect a lot of difficulties with the mission we have been given. japan's reputation on in your hands. >> firefighters volunteered for this mission and are seen as heroes. the situation remains critical. fuel runs and the four reactor is may be exposed. a pool containing spent rods threatens to overheat. are concerned e accuracy of information coming from the japanese government. >> the iaea has its own specialists. i brought many of them with me. >> the japanese prime minister made an appearance saying his government has disclosed all available information. ththsituation at the plant gives

no cause for optimism. operators are pinning their hopes on a power system to restart cooling pumps. plants has also been drawn up to carry the plant in san and concrete. >> west african leaders will hold a summit to discuss the ongoing political crisis in ivory coast. the community has threatened to use force to out the president. political violence has been escalating and the death toll is mounting. he refused to step down after the election last november. libya has declared a cease-f-fe in response to the un legislation authorizing military force.

the minister would stop all military operations to comply with the resolution. more international news after a short break.

>> germany abstained to offerings the use of force against the gaddafi regime. they may send aircrews and afghanistan to free of u.s. pilots. the prime minister has been detailing the government's position. >> defending the abstention in the un security council, the foreign minister insisted berlin was not isolating itself from international partners. he said the risks and dangers of military invention were too great.

>> that is why we cannot agree to this part of the resolution. we will not deploy german soldiers in libya. >> chancellor merkle added military reaction is ill- conceived but is offering support to bolster the mission. >> we are consulting with nato about taking on additional burdens. >> that might include additional flights in support of erations in afghanistan. the foreign minister and defense minister are discussing the issue with nato. opposition leaders have broadly supported germany's decision to abstain in the home. >> the foreign ministers abstention still prohibits -- it

makes clear german forces will not be deployed for this mission. >> it is logical not to block a mission we agree with. but we also don't want to become involved in the military escalation that this resolution foresees. >> chancellor merkle will be in paris for a summit on libya. she bounced germany will do its part to enforce the resolutionon for more on the consequences of this latest resolution, i am joined by a security analyst from the german institute for security affairs. are the conditions for filled now for a military engagement? >> we have to wait. it is too early to tell. we don't know if the no-fly zone will be implemented by nato.

the first allies announced they will participate in the implementation of a no-fly zone. the crucial question is how will the regime react to the implementation despite the announcement they are ready to accept the resolution of the un security council. i cannot imagine the situation where they gaddafi regime will try to escalate as soon as possible. >> are we in for a long conflict on europe's southern flank? >> we have to keep in mind the air force consnsts of 350 airplanes. most of them of french origin. our defense system in bolivia. i would be surprised if they

accept the implementation of a no-fly zone. there will be some resistance. it might be the situation and a couple of weeks civilians are affected. one day that will affect the public opinion in the western states. >> you don't think the regime is feeling the pressure from this resolution? >> politically it is isolated. however, the policy of the western allies has been bad gaddafi -- has been that gaddafi has to go away but he is still there. we have to get ready with the situation that he will remain there for the foreseeable future. >> let's hand it over to sarah

now. we have positive developments on the currency market. >> we saw some calm returns. the finance ministers announced they would jointly intervene in the currency markets to halt the yen's rise. >> stocks in tokyo rallied immediately on the news. they breathed sighs of relief. the intention of central banks of the industrialized countries had been enough to calm the markets. after surging to its highest level, the yen fell 3% on friday. a rising yen is a threat to japanese exporters. ki exporters like toyota are already under pressure due to

power outages stemming from last friday's disaster. >> most global stocks got a boost but it was not the only driving force on the markets. >> the world's financial markets was overshadowed by the difficult situation in japan. this friday they focused on libya because of reports there might be a cease-fire. this led to a small [unintelligible] but at the end of this session the dax closed in positive territory because the uncertainty remains. the yen went down a little bit because te g-7 states are sure they don't want the yen to go further on. this has been seen very positive here.

>> let's get a closer look at some of the numbers. we go back to frankfurt where theax closed higher. in new york the dow jones rounding out the day and 11,858. the hero had a good day against the dollar. -- the euro had a good day. opal is the first european company to cut output because of supply disruptions. they plan to halt production next week. at the plant in germany two out of three ships will be cut on monday and tuesday. the plant will remain shut all of monday. the cutbacks come one day after spy problems caused gm to temporarily shut down a u.s.

plant. >> thank you for that. we would like to recap our top stories. the international community is gearing up for military action in response to a un operation of the rising military force against the gaddafi regime. obama has threatened to join in the military action if gaddafi does not comply with demands for a cease fire. emergency crews have been down cindy fukushima -- have been dousing the fukushima nuclear power plant. many continue to shop for from food shortagesand cold weather. we willontinue to bring you all of the latest news and animation. stay tuned for "dw-tv. thanks for joining us.

,,