tonight fears about massive nuclear fallout after an explosion at the fukushima atomic power plant if you're past the reactors roof has collapsed injuring fully workers people within a twenty kilometer zone of the plant something of back to it and we've got the latest on. also the desperate search for survivors says japan's entire defense force mobilized after big huge tsunami swept away entire villages and submerged doesn't sound over seven hundred people looking dead tonight but thousands are still unaccounted for. and in other news a rift in the arab league as member states mull over backing

a libyan no fly zone but the united in calling that. hello this is artsy is eight pm now here in moscow my name is kevin owen under main news tonight just one story dominating the world's attention again that's the disaster in japan a blast has destroyed part of a nuclear facility now in the tsunami had north a twenty kilometer evacuation zone is in place but authorities say radiation levels there are now decreasing it's understood the explosion was caused by a failure of the cooling system of the reactor itself they say was unaffected but last struck the focus you know one nuclear plant lying some two hundred fifty kilometers north of tokyo the route from one of the care walls caved in leaving at least four workers injured. there's been reports that three people who were

evacuated from the area have been exposed to radiation explosion follows friday's eight point nine magnitude earthquake good triggered a massive tsunami and caused scenes of devastation dozens of kilometers inland over seven hundred people are now confirmed dead that's the latest we know tonight but it's thought that number could sot dramatically as the hours and days move on rescuers have reported things of shocking devastation with entire villages washed away and towns ravaged by the huge waves. of possible radiation leak them from the fukushima nuclear plant remains the biggest concern tonight i have a bennett is in tokyo for us. in the last twenty four hours there have actually been around a hundred aftershocks or over that amount in fact a powerful one it was centered around fukushima district in fact measuring six on the magnitude scale so quite a large aftershock and this is well over twenty four hours since the initial

earthquake and others say this one was centered and it turned out on the focal shima district which is where the new nuclear reactor explosion took place earlier today when is the potential nuclear fallout we have heard since that there was no damage done in that explosion to the reactor itself if there was then radiation would have been leaking in that was the national fear in fact when they found cesium and radioactive iodine. on the outside of silis it. hasn't done any damage in that explosion to the reactor and radiation levels have since decreased and so much so in fact that. the authorities have been able to release some of the pressure inside the reactor because that's still very high indeed and that's still a concern it's still very hot in there as well and they need to release teen to release the pressure and they've been able to do that since and without affecting the radiation levels in fact they've been dropping but fears are mainly aren't here

in turkey or there with fearing feeling aftershocks that people are out on the streets here but it's not because of that because they're calling their loved ones i'm told. by people here that i've met in the last since i've been here and everyone's concerned about the people near near these nearly explosion at this nuclear reactor the concern now is the spread of radiation there has been evacuations of the twenty kilometer radius around this. number one where this explosion took place as a precaution because radiation is in the air earlier today the levels of radiation there were if you stood out. and for an hour next to the plant and he would have absorbed as much radiation as he would do normally in a year also another part is. under and emerged the state of emergency as well with residents in the vicinity being evacuated to three kilometer radius there being

back in one when in ten o'clock it's a radius they've been told to stay inside because hill radiation. is very prevalent in those areas all the for most important thing now for them is to treat those who have been exposed to the real radiation so what they're doing now is trying to distribute it i had seen because that. news is used to treat radiation sickness and then they move on to helping those who have been and still in shelters who have left their houses and this number is in the hundreds of thousands well over two hundred fifty thousand we're hearing who are now left he left homeless and also there are millions still at three million without electricity another one million without water so that's where the next help goes that's the search step and finally then the rebuilding process begin in towns entire villages completely wiped out so it's a real big struggle for them all the ones in the twenty kilometer radius around the

fukushima power plant number one where the explosion took place they had been evacuated and they're now being treated for radiation sickness receiving heidi not that they have got sickness but it just as a precaution and if need be they're being quarantined also in this at that power plant number two in that same area of focus shima people are being told to stay indoors within that influencer radius now also being told. given some advice should they have been outside and they should cover their face trying to avoid breathing in any of the radiations they cover their mouth and nose. cover of any exposed areas of skin also when they get inside from coming in from the outside and they should wash and scrub themselves start early and avoid drinking tap water because the fear is that back is also contaminate since. russia says it's increasing energy supplies to japan following

a request from. the grieving she what exactly is moscow pledging to do. well russia has stepped into the breach with energy aid for japan japan used to draw thirty percent of all of its energy from nuclear power stations and that of course is being suffered terrible. to the situation in fukushima and of course the situation and other power plants around the country following the earthquake and tsunami russia has pledged one hundred fifty thousand tons of liquid gas to japan as well as stepping up. its trade of coal to the country there's also the possibility of providing electricity directly to japan through an underwater cable which links the two countries prime minister vladimir putin has said that russia will do everything in its power to help its neighbor to the east. this is a great tragedy for japan so i would like our corresponding ministries and before

it is to work out plans for how to help our eastern neighbors we need to do everything to increase supplies of field such a plan because of a slump in energy generation. second we need to continue monitoring the situation in the russian far east as closely as possible you know just talk to the local authorities in the region the situation there is normal both from the point of view of people's housing and radioactivity nevertheless the situation must be closely monitored on a round the clock basis. the prime minister also ordered the monitoring of the situation in russia's far east of me of course it is just hundreds of kilometers over the same for more than japan what is the latest situation there at the moment i guess there are concerns in connection with what's going on in japan right now yeah. well yes following this explosion at the fukushima plant on saturday there has been concerns that we could see a full scale meltdown that would. radioactive material into the air now the situation is being monitored very very closely in russia east this is due to of

course the close proximity but also that due to that close proximity there is a risk if there was clear material being put into the atmosphere it changing weather changing winds could take any perspective perspective nuclear warheads russia's far east and cause problems there so that situation is being looked at as it stands at the moment the radiation levels normal in the far east of russia. that's being looked at by russia's nuclear watchdog to make sure that nothing untoward is going on there now to make sure the people on the ground there are receiving all the correct information they glued to their radios they glued to their televisions and are to. gauge the situation on the ground in soccer. we're only six hundred miles away from fukushima and residents of the city of usual supply lines to be capital of the region can believe their eyes they are literally glued to their t.v.

screens a moratorium the latest news as the bees happening so close to their borders all before they were freed shortly after friday's earthquake and tsunami in japan but there could be a chain reaction which could lead to a natural disaster in heating the severely region what they're afraid of now is a risk of radioactive contamination despite were not in immediate vicinity. six hundred miles is not a lot at all for radioactive cloud the local merchants his ministry keeps coming down people saying that they should not panic that they should do spend there we can't as usual though it's not really a relief people keep calling them it's really hard to get through been trying for more than two hours when we finally could speak to a representative of the ministry is that the only question people keep asking over and over again what preventive measures they should take to avoid contamination and where they could get their personal geiger counters to measure radioactive the

levels of radiation now emergency officials say the v.a. will update locals on the latest and that there will be enough time to evacuate if necessary. katrina over there know the situation of the fukushima plant is drawing a worrying parallels with the chernobyl nuclear explosion which remains the world's worst atomic plant disaster it happened twenty five years ago in ukraine but the effects of the contamination still being felt today at his lecture as your skis. similarity. obviously this why smoke coming from the reactor building is the only resemblance which we can see between the two incidents twenty five years ago chernobyl and at the fukushima plant now days that's where the similarities and the situations are basically different simply because what caused the what caused them you know the the fallout internal was caused by a massive human error what is happening now in japan is of course the result of

a natural disaster the earthquake happened which happened on friday and the other big difference and this is a very significant difference between the two events is how the government has been responding to the to the events obviously twenty five years ago the government of the soviet government kept most of the information secret from the general population in russia as well as from the rest of the world when told a massive secret can train to just safeguard this information and this was this is something which we cannot see today because the japanese government even though we have conflicting reports coming from the islands of what's happening there and we have no certainty of what caused this last still the japanese government ordered the evacuation of people from the surrounding areas at the fukushima region but

this didn't happen twenty five years ago when fifty thousand residents of the town of people next to the chernobyl power plants were kept in the town for more than twenty four hours and this of course caused some damage to them that people were subjected to a great deal of radioactive threat coming from the open reactor of course these mistakes were learned the mistakes by that made by the soviet government and this is what the japanese government this hopefully trying to avoid right now but. clearly as the situation is in trouble and it's one our difference despite what we can see in the pictures from the japanese television the meltdown itself the nuclear meltdown itself is a very scary thing for all scientists as i've been calling it their worst nightmare ever indeed this town is all about the core of the reactor going into an uncontrollable state and that's causing our nuclear chain reaction first and then

a powerful steam explosion like it happened in chernobyl this is like a really oh it's trying to control a crazy horse because nobody knows whether you would be able to get the can react back under control or not this did not happen. this was a result of a failed experiment when the scientists when the personnel the fire station tried to lower the output of the reactor and then bring it to a temporary halt when the reactor started behaving in an uncontrollable fashion some of the personnel pressed the emergency brake button as we can as we can call it and just forty nine seconds since the start of the experiment the reactor exploded and that caused the fallout and the contamination of great areas all along the former u.s.s.r. so obviously as we've been hearing from the japanese authorities right now the reactor stays intact it's not been damaged according to the authorities and. we hopefully think that such contamination as it happened twenty five years ago in

trouble would be avoided this time but of course we'll have to wait and see what happens next with this developing story. got his lecture a jet ski there would be considered nuclear accidents throughout history of course the worst we think of is the chernobyl disaster in one thousand eight hundred six but there have been more than you might think of japan in fact no stranger to atomic emergencies among the first major nuclear energy institute there was a testing station in the u.s. state of idaho a steam explosion there back in one sixty one really small amounts of nuclear material but underline the dangers then of the industry then there was the well known three mile island accident in pennsylvania in one hundred seventy nine it's sort of partial core meltdown inside a pressurized water reactor then to japan the first major incident occurred in one thousand nine hundred nine the talk of world processing facility just north of tokyo workers there were attempting to convert an unsafe amount of uranium two people were killed after radiation was well above the acceptable limits there caused a lot of problems at the time japan's most deadly problem to date there was

a steam explosion in the nuclear power plant in two thousand and four four people died there and eighteen were seriously injured. because it was simon says an associate professor said tokyo university explains how the design of the fukushima reactor could potentially contain the damage if the worst case scenario happens. this reactor is cooled entirely by as water. a meltdown is simply when the nuclear materials cannot be cool and the temperature rises in the containment area and the reactor materials themselves to the point at which they destroy the reactor that surrounds them of course these temperatures have to reach about five hundred degrees celsius for the metal and for the uranium itself probably in the order of eight hundred to one thousand degrees celsius. the good news is that that in the

daiichi reactor is entirely water so the material venting into the atmosphere will likely just speaking radioactive steam in a case of sheer noble the reactor was moderated by graphite and. it holds the radiation and spritz much further as dust and gas so. that was the significant problem with sharon over the the neutron moderator and the airplane not react it was different and the radiation could spread much further at the daiichi site there are i believe six active reactors all of which have shut down and again i don't have all the information but at the moment it appears as though we have to build a number one is the site of the explosion now this is the oldest of the six reactors at that age it was built in one nine hundred seventy nine so it suggests that the oldest structure on the site was also the weakest people are being advised

to stay in their homes and not drink water turn off their air conditioners so it sounds like the government is preparing for a significant nuclear plant. the european union says it's gathering a team of experts to look into the consequences of a nuclear power plant blast in japan it's also pledging aid for the quake huge company dell deal with a vast scale of the disaster. bush was in brussels with outside of the story the international atomic energy agency the un's nuclear watchdog says it's in full response mode after the accident and the thousands of people who have been evacuated from the surrounding areas in japan is that it's urgently seeking information from the japanese authorities about the reasons for the blast and says it's in constant contact with neutral sororities there and is ready to provide assistance when asked and e.u. countries have also offered humanitarian aid japan while it concludes its investigation is holding far for the moment on international assistance we've seen

the european commission call for an expert panel to provide reasons for this blast and the consequence is the possible fallout of course european countries e.u. countries have some of the world's largest nuclear facilities france for example a leading nuclear power and there are three are concerns that perhaps this should not have been allowed to happen the way they should or reports but twenty percent of the world's nuclear plants are in areas of significant seismic activity and in two thousand and seven there was an earthquake in japan which should have acted as a wake up call experts here say that risks and threats of such an accident happening. so then to recap of major developments today coming out of japan fears of a radiation leak in the country remain after a massive explosion of the fukushima one nuclear plant some two hundred fifty

kilometers north of tokyo it's understood the blast was caused by a failure of the cooling system not in the reactor itself which was not damaged officials say but also say radiation levels of fall and indeed since study explosion and there's no immediate danger now within the past few hours though another earthquake measuring six hit the area where the plant is located earlier the authorities impose an evacuation zone stretching for a radius of twenty kilometers but there are reports that three people who were evacuated from the area have been exposed to radiation today but no details of their condition as yet being revealed the explosion at the fukushima plant follows friday's eight point nine magnitude quake which triggered a massive tsunami huge wave spread devastation thousands of kilometers inland taking a look at these pictures now over seven hundred people are now confirmed dead but that number is expected to rise significantly in one coastal town around nine and a half thousand people remain unaccounted for. as proof

you take a look at some other news now out of the arab league's member states remain divided over how to deal with the libyan crisis they are to merge and see talks on whether to put their weight behind calls for a no fly zone over the troubled country sources say they're likely to back such a move by the u.n. e.u. leaders meantime have also shown support for libya's transitional national council but did stop short of officially recognizing any rebel authority the arab league and the e.u. say resolutely committed in calling for colonel gadhafi to step down with confusion and chaos continues in libya meantime and with the constant shifting the balance of power it is exam a boy here is in the rebel stronghold of benghazi where people feel that any help is going to to arrive. a little hasty and an abashed in their pricing in eastern libya is like most of its base disciplines young impulsive and reverent to the regime in these twenty two year old who had never held

a gun before let alone the news that that has got them looking at my father showed me how to use it a few weeks ago i'm ready to die for my country many in gaza proclaim their readiness to sacrifice their lives for their liberation struggle now these heroic rhetoric is becoming a real prospect as the pro-government forces as closer a bloodbath seems old with an avoidable international deliberations on what to do about believing in a frightening had been going on for so long that many people in god being no longer hold that council will come and sat there willing to alan on their last hold as the gaddafi forces are closing in on the battle cd friday prayers in gaza where the most passionate so far city residents turn their palms to the skies that many hold would have been declared and no fly zone by now. as more coffins and arrive from the front line high spirits have given way to sense of abandonment to several

weeks of encouraging statements from western capitals many here feel deceived i'm sorry to see that photo of mr obama we expect that any of them got the care and the liberty to look out for the liberties of the peoples you took lot of money first you got your money first. i live it would kill everything on every night everywhere in while in the city's arches are mobilizing that vast resources to boost morale this song has become a non-official him and of his rebellious youth them tough ones. yes. sure. good daffyd preying upon his people is just one of many themes does not kill caricaturist have adopted for their visual a stance if improved to exhibit like this one i'm now on display in almost every

rebel controlled c.g. i believe be a leader has unexpectedly unleashed unprecedented creativity in his people. as you are and there are no signs of people leaving because god be partially because some i really finding themselves in a catch twenty two situation living now may be seen as betraying the opposition team for too long may lead to persecution later on it's very hard to say what the balance of forces is how many people are for me how many are against him and indeed whether that situation is changing many people within libya have turned to go. because very few that it's a repressive government turning now are following the example since you know syria egypt to seeking freedom of speech for me freedom of organization and wanting

a democratic form of government. ironically it was in bin ghazi that more and more of gadhafi began his quest for power forty two years ago a young revolutionary he overthrew the king in a bloodless coup it calls for liberation and an end to tyranny those who are both even now even younger and demanding the scenes things but that's where many fear the story parallels my dander of the boycott r.t. been ghazi libya. the russian state duma foreign affairs committee says the international community should seek reliable information about libya before choosing its course of action. the problem is leaving is that this society is a closed one and we have very few reliable sources of information on what is going on there in the reality of the problem is that yes there are very contradictory and . what is going on there who isn't in charge aware of anything and what is going to

happen next so for me the most important think right now for everybody for it for russia for the union for a needle for the united states to get access to all the reliable information in order to take proper decisions which is not the case yet for many countries this is a chance to influence of the internal political development in libya and these countries use these uncertain situation in order to support certain political forces in libya because for me an acceptable definitely the russian action should definitely be on their decision by the security council and nothing else this is number one number two is there any military operation in libya would hear of there are predictable consequences we do not know how much regard the real state of affairs is really in the early be an armed force again and again we need to

consider this situation extremely specifically extremely well before we take any decision is at least as far as they're not based on the real information on the real situation in the country. just when you log on to our website or to go home for more news on the developing situation in japan and the rest of the day's developments as well my name is kevin owen frank you for being with us here watching the international news broadcast from moscow headline update just.

as my name is daniel smith this is julian assange we're here to make a short presentation about the we can fix project. the first. in the fourth grade he threw good information out about the real world. to him work on here and on. the. secrecy is the biggest. going to be a good market. if i ever put any sources and danger

he would hunt me down and kill him. this is exactly one of the reasons why we left the project because it has become one. more about this all along. than about the actual information. thank you. old people around the mole. it may be. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada after. the giant corporations rule the day.