the result. in this group is available in the movie told to a period of infertile jerusalem. parts of japan are being swarmed by a major tsunami are being struck by the country's strongest earthquake on the record thousands are fleeing to higher ground and there have been several powerful aftershocks there's considerable damage and tire pacific region is on tsunami of. the earthquake in japan has affected the country's fragile economic recovery and infrastructure is paralyzed to go to a saudi holding operations bring you more on that in our business or. in other news of the fighting is being reported in libya as colonel give daffy's support which is trying to pulls rebels rounds of key areas locals warbird media exaggeration

mistaking foreign intervention all they say you need do is hold more emergency talks. very warm welcome see this is our sea life from moscow with me allies have it our top story northeast japan has been swamped by a may just an army on the entire pacific region is valid it was caused by an eight point nine that magnitude earthquake that struck one hundred and thirty kilometers off the eastern coast sending a reported a ten meter high wall of water inland causing widespread devastation right now forty four people have been confirmed dead that that number is expected to rise all the. was also reached russia's curdle islands to the north reportedly around

a meter high in japan two hundred people have reportedly been washed away with several others missing in japan sendai city will take here has been all but shuts down about two hundred fifty miles from where the wave struck by injuries widely reported by millions of without electricity and the nice international airport is also closed a ship with one hundred passengers on board has been washed away by the tsunami is whereabouts are unknown or twenty powerful aftershocks have been recorded since the first quake which was the strongest ever recorded in japan and the sixth biggest ever by the earthquake has now been felt in hawaii measuring four point five on the richter scale with the nominee raising expected within a few hours. or for more on the effect it's having in the wider pacific

region including russia's far east has talked to our correspondent and he said now we any so what's the latest information that we're getting from russia's cycle in region those state of emergency has been declared in the cycling region that includes the very vulnerable real islands where the stores have already been struck by several tsunami waves are there are reports that those waves have reached heights at least visually of up to three meters high now there's been there's been no damage or any reports of facilities or buildings being affected as well as any kind of injuries or victims but authorities are taking very serious precautions some eleven thousand people are said to be being iraqi waited hour as we speak out of the cycle the region to our higher points to safety and also ships that were our imports they are being moved out to open seas as a precaution and also tsunami cleanup forces are being put on standby throughout the far east. i know president medvedev said that russia is doing all it can

obviously to protect its citizens in the far east but also is ready to help to pay out get through this devastation. of course we're really just hold our neighbors and overcoming these pictures of these severe earthquake and stephen merchant she has also been cleared on our soil on the cool islands in the seattle region were all necessary measures must also be taken to prevent damage or loss of life its tsunami has already reached our shores and we must all be consolidated it's time now ordering the emergency as minister to present a plan of assistance to japan. now the threat of further tsunami waves hitting russian shores very much is looming as well as many other countries in the pacific as japan continues to feel aftershocks of this devastating earthquake in fact as we've been talking about the worst in recorded history. is

that many. days as to how this is this this tsunami is impacting on the wider pacific region including a code allies were crossing back to data from the west many thanks indeed so. well the tragedy in japan is impacting on stock markets as well let's get the details from. over the r.t. business desk for us you know what's happening is the exchange of the moment well as japanese earthquake out another blow to the markets already played by the middle east. the quake struck in the closing minutes of stock market trading in tokyo and that accelerated the fall the end of last ground reaching its lowest level until weeks against the dollar some exporters like toyota and sony have holding their operations and insurers are also hit hard japanese quake and aftershocks to europe and russia where in the says are shedding losses we see rice and oil stocks going down before they were a little. and the reason is that we're seeing all decline out of the thousand

refineries shut processing plant so as you see the impact of the quake are the economy in that country it's quite significant k.k. and i'm very anxious for how events in japan are affecting our the world's markets will get more from the business report a little later in the hour for now. well let's get some expert opinion now from denethor he is but also use the director of the international seismological center in london for us this is your take on many years of being with us here on arsinoe as a seismologist can you say why such a massive quake was not predicted. well production over school excuse. it's not an operational matter although everybody believes that the these are neutral. we got from mark from being able to do it reliably used to

doing important. the seismology is only hundred years old so. you know to expect to be able to do it this is not so region on used to earthquake it's part of the so-called pacific ring of fire of volcanoes and a fault so surely this is a region that should be better prepared for predicting such events. well it's not a matter of being prepared to predict that it's a matter of being prepared to withstand earthquakes and japan is very well played in that. they actually as you may have heard the interview from japan they managed to shut down their nuclear power plants in the immediate vicinity which is very important thing and i'm sure that you know the highs train so we're stalled in the right i think they're very well prepared for the. tsunami that japan is

suffering from right now is very difficult because now you've traveled very fast and the earthquake we're doing the i mean the list in it's just been is caused so they only have literally minutes to respond and it is very difficult and of course it's not just for national of the quake and tsunami to think about that initial impact of the sharks have already been recorded as ralph so what japan brace itself for next or is the worst over well what i know this is the first quake that happened. in the us and by just a nice time is the six lodgers thirty quid the century world wide so. i don't think that an earthquake likely.

and these earthquake was actually preceded by all shocks pretty large or shocks a few days ago in almost the same place and we have seen. aftershocks being recorded all all day the all day today. this is a normal. activity will die out within days and weeks. i think that because there was you know for sure a word from little from. the line. from this earthquake it's probably likely to be in tsunami and you know we've seen already how much their mutual. thousand army warnings have also been issued across the entire pacific region and some countries have begun evacuating their citizens from danger zones what can you say about the situation there what we hear not

only into the situation in particular around three years but it is true although the highest degree of warning was issued by various tsunami warning center in the area and it is true although the lucky few documentation what was done. of these why don't you know we just knew to watch you. all the. time i can't see any more. really do you think that this latest earthquake in so nami will ignite some sort of discussion about the need to further develop warning signals and further advance the technology involved in predicting the source of disasters you mentioned there the speed with which the tsunami struck. by saying that the talks are ongoing all the time in fact the starting point

was the indonesian tsunami in two thousand and four do the december earthquake and tsunami. earthquake that caused the nami also caused a lot of. further discussion of the research and see what all the dissent is worth are in different areas around the world one you produce and if you think about it here and there that is in the tsunami are years that those who are in the vicinity to your or do earthquake and there would be affected fast. and hard and the further away from to know you from the source of tsunami you are the more time you have to respond to. things that are shot from the star seismological center over in london many thanks for speaking to us ok thank you. well in japan the synonyme that's sweeping through the northeast right now the latest information

that we have is that the government has confirmed some forty four desk but that number is rising quickly to japan's met office the eight point nine earthquake was the strongest in the country's history at least since records began in the eighteen hundreds it's also the sixth worst ever recorded in the world there is considerable destruction and results of the ten metre high wall of water which surged in the around two hundred people were washed away buildings cars and ships were also sweats in the we heavy raging routers several are missing in sendai but the third wave has also reached russian's hurdle islands to the north reportedly around three meters high and there there are several fires also raging along japan's eastern coastline and four million homes are now thought to be without power a ship with one hundred passengers on board has also been washed away by the tsunami

its whereabouts are unknown but there was also major damage in a tokyo which lies about four hundred kilometers away from where the earthquake struck their communications are crippled in the cities now it's international airport has been closed down although the entire pacific region is now on alert a four point five magnitude earthquake has struck whole why is residents there brace themselves for the tsunami to reach its shores within the next few hours. some other news now and european leaders are holding a second round of emergency talks over the libyan crisis they to have an alto round the clock for valence of the country's airspace and that is drawing up plans for a no fly zone you organize asian is waiting for the go ahead from the u.n. security council before moving forward on a bushel of stunning developments in brussels last time will anything there are now

under way are we getting any statements yes. yes the. summits here are raising pressure on gadhafi regime upon arrival just now call the chancellor of germany says that gadhafi should go now that germany no longer recognizes the regime as the country's rulers president sarkozy of france meanwhile has called for the aerial bombardment of folk and that he held parts of libya he called on the rest of the e.u. to officially recognize libya's rebels as the legitimate rulers of that country and compared libya with somalia saying that it had no leadership anymore and that there was no international recognition of gadhafi is regime italy's largest bank unicredit meanwhile has frozen assets held in its by libyan shareholders however there are growing concerns over the use of military force by nato the czech

president says the establishment of a no fly zone strongly supported by the u.s. and u.k. means war with libya people should not think this is a simple solution and germany's interior minister went further saying there will be no action by nato militarily for the time being represent russia strongly opposes president sarkozy's proposal to. the libyan parts of gadhafi held parts of libya and that the foreign minister of the country says it's categorically against the unilateral use of force by anyone and many staff from brussels daniel bushell reporting there for us. turning now to developments in libya for a few minutes where colonel gadhafi forces are pushing rebels house of more cities heavy fighting is taking place in the oil port city of ras lanuf with reports of

the tanks on the government's troops will experts claim the libyan leader is planning to bomb oil and communications facilities in the east a poor thing is in tripoli with the latest. after a week of heavy fighting in the strategically important town of as is a we are rebels there have finally been overthrown by gadhafi is false as the latest reports we have from the town is that the city center is quiet that most people have deserted their hoods and that gadhafi streets are now moving from house to house carrying out a race at the same time the other focal point weeks into the city of ras lanuf according to libyan state television to quote him this city has been cleansed of al qaida supporters for several days now gadhafi is wolf planes have been pounding in particular residential areas in the east of the latest reports coming out from there jeff his forces are in control there too now here on the ground while it

certainly does seem as if gadhafi is men are pushing back and winning the battle here on the international stage it's the rebels who are really coming out in the front just yesterday france was the first country in the international community to officially recognize the rebels as the voice of the libyan people the legitimate voice of the libyan people as you can imagine this is angered people here particularly in tripoli we have been speaking to people they are confused and they are angry with the international community's response three dutch marines who has been missing for quite some time now have finally arrived safely in athens the two men and the rhine woman were captured by libyan forces after a botched investigation mission and now the latest report from the international red cross is that the country is in the midst of a civil war but again speaking to people here moving around you certainly don't get that since on the ground and many libyans that i've been talking to make the point that the foreign media tends to exaggerate the situation often putting drama ahead

of reality it's take a look. there is a lot more happening on the international stage over the merits of intervention and a no fly zone then the boggling taking place in downtown tripoli market shops here closed early not days people afraid and many of the africans who used to work here a fled the country and the argument that libya is on the brink of civil war so foreign intervention is needed to be cheering a little hollow there have been several hundred people killed but that's not a huge level of violence it certainly isn't a global level of violence. intervention it is he has offered access to foreign media but only if the camel insists stay well away from any of the opposition but it's a similar picture an opposition stronghold to ramadan break he was forced to close the benghazi office of his newspaper because of pressure from rebels that you have to print their version of events is all nothing really media. is going to the

hut places and all these cities are controlled by robbers and then they've been the people there for become. the new is what they think and what they believe and many gadhafi supporters fear that while he may be winning the war with the rebels he's leading the information war that here in john's new outside tripoli with people mona says she's puzzled and angry by reports that missionaries are shooting people in the town this morning futures come. the right to. normal life and life certainly seems calm on the street. as for conflicts with the difficulties of cloning is essential media coverage and even less for an interest to intervene there are events unfolding right now in ivory coast where there is also a conflict an armed conflict between rebels and the government but nobody seems to be thinking of it it's only because fashionable attention is focused on libya the

only reason is that of. your oil think we'd be in iraq if their major export there was broccoli its leaders meet in brussels to discuss the fate of the clinton hundreds of no also great many libyans will say it is and built closely. with our top story now and i'm a just an army has strong northeastern japan sending a ten meter high wall of water in them which is causing widespread devastation when it was caused by an eight point nine magnitude earthquake that struck some one hundred thirty kilometers off the pacific coast and several aftershocks have also been felt since so far we know that sixty one people are confirmed dead but that number is still expected to rise three ways the views of its russian google islands to the north reportedly around up to three meters high in japan itself two

hundred people have reportedly been washed away the several others missing in japan's. to see the damage was also felt in tokyo some four hundred kilometers away from where the earthquake struck it's all good grounds who hold fires and injuries widely reported then of these international airport has also been shut down there's a tsunami warning also now in place for the entire pacific region an earthquake has been felt in by measuring a some four point five on the richter scale it's now preparing to be struck by a destructive wave within the next few hours. well let's get more on the quake and its effects from dr robert jacobs we set to say see a professor of nuclear history and culture after washing a piece many thanks for being with us here on aussie now obvious facts of the

earthquake and being felt that way you are on the found that you are at hiroshima itself. it's quite far from tokyo so we didn't feel we didn't feel the earthquake at all it was actually friends and family and colleagues calling us to ask if we were ok that first let most of us know about it but absolutely the effects are being felt almost everybody in japan has friends or family in tokyo or in the tokyo area. communication is you know has been very difficult in tokyo so most everyone i know has been trying to reach friends or family in tokyo throughout the afternoon and evening and while they may assume that their friends or family are unaffected or you know are healthy until they get those places they're very uncertain so there's been a lot of distress everybody is well aware that there is a significant loss of life and that we may not know the toll for several days so

everywhere even this far away where no tremors were felt that all the emotional tremors struck as a racial tremor as well. racing through japan for many days to come as you say as we wait for the final counts to come through and as you mentioned the mobile phone network has how that been played with that governments also issued a statement much as one of its nuclear plants is really on the stand because of a cooling system failure what kind of pain just might. well hopefully it will pose no danger at all because there are hundreds systems so when the cooling system fails as apparently happened in one of the species of plants there should be other systems that other cooling systems that and kick in so in theory this is the kind of safety procedures that will avert any kind of any kind of event any kind of nuclear event but of course one system can fail and other

systems can fail as well so what happens with that with the primary danger is that these reactors have shut down so they're no longer generating electricity but of course remain very very high and so those horse need to be cool and if according to cooling systems fail then the temperature of the cores can rise and that can lead to a variety of different sorts of incidents in which radiation may be released in the environment. lines in the wells may just somethings that ring the so-called pacific ring of fire so what say filatov afterthoughts fence that if it is either have this nuclear plant again there's often like this. well the primary safety mechanisms is the emergence the shutdown of plants at the at the first signs of significant earthquakes there are of course as always earthquakes here and and as in any earthquake region smaller quakes but these plans are triggered to shut down when earth quakes are detected over

a certain level so the big automatic and quick shutdown of the plants is the first safety stuff the second safety step is that we've done sea of procedures such as calling procedures so that if there is a failure there will be a secondary system that they're looking in so that no system is relied on alone. but there's also some very senior going over to japan to try to predict earthquakes which is of course a tricky business but one of the things that this ultimately points to is that these are humanly systems and they're designed to withstand earthquakes up to a certain level i'm not positive since i don't study nuclear power plants specifically in the positive what kind of earthquakes these plants were designed to handle but certainly in japan you have to dissipate an earthquake over eight points as possible but as human design systems nature is always capable of. think of having against that go beyond our designs and beyond our expectations and this is

one of the dangers of any technology and certainly of nuclear technology. to wrap it take it that one set to say to professor neoprene eastern culture the russia basin sent many thanks to a film with the earthquake and tsunami that hit japan many thanks for. repercussions all but the softer japan now being felt in the world economies as well and clean as a form of business that. welcome to business here in our she was straight go straight to our top story japan's economy is said to suffer significantly after being hit by one of the biggest earthquakes in the last hundred years along with massive blackouts the country's infrastructure is paralyzed some companies like toyota and sony have already halted their operations it's too early to gouge the exact economic impact japan's central bank has already stepped up efforts to provide ample liquidity analysts warn the

country's debt could soar with it already twice the size of the country's g.d.p. . now the earthquake added another blow to the markets already played by the middle east turmoil japanese stocks with major losses in the final minutes of trading kong reports of the quake benchmark nicky ended by wicklow shutting down point seven percent the yen also lost ground which in its lowest level in two weeks against the dollar following reports of a tsunami insurers were badly he had shares of m.s.n. eighteen surance group holdings well over three percent hong kong stocks also fell as investors sold down shares across sectors. and europe stock market dropped below or on news of japan's earthquake the food chain the dax the trading in the red markets are also weighed by tensions in leading. rosenstock to quine for a third day as russia's main revenue earner tumble after the earthquake in japan the r.t.s. is retreating over a percent in the mines it's losing under eight percent now let's look at some

individual share moves energy stocks are still trading in the black look at all that is our point six percent ross we have is getting slightly over a quarter of a percent bottom of the trend though is there a bank that is selling one and a half percent. now let's go to oil continues to fall as japan's requirement shut down processing plants and fired a refinery outside tokyo it's spreading according to local officials japan is the world's third largest consumer prices also sliding on weak economic data from the u.s. and china as well as fresh concerns over european debt brant blend is trading at one hundred thirteen dollars per barrel and w t i is at one hundred and one dollars a barrel and in other news russia's largest lenders bad bank has finally agreed to cry investment bank for the dialogue for one billion dollars the long awaited purchase is part of the russian state lenders plan to build its own investment division and lead to hopes to gain the leading positions in russia's investment

service market in five years and outperform its rival t.v. bank sources say the deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. dialogue which is one of russia's top investment banks reported a net profit of forty two million dollars compared to last the fifteen million in two thousand. so we update for now but you can always find most stories just log on to our website r.t. dot com slash. used today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world seeing from the streets of kandahar. operation through the day.