japan's in a race against time to prevent a nuclear disaster workers risked their lives to save the country from a radiation leak and possible meltdown the paralyzed our. engineers desperately trying to restore power to the cooling systems and she managed the head of the u.n. nuclear watchdog is japan must not call in sick more closely. and meanwhile beyond japan's shores a panic is spreading faster than radiation people in russia's far east stuck up on preventive medicine needlessly putting their own health at risk. and in other news at this hour libya's government declares an end to military operations just hours

after the u.n. backs of british french sponsored resolution to impose a no fly zone. on season in libya as the international community race is intervention by the libyan government says it's agreed to a cease fire and join me in a few moments from a trip to meet some more. this is r.t. live from moscow about exactly a week after it was damaged by our massive earthquake and tsunami the u.n. has warned the battle to stabilize japan's crippled fukushima nuclear plant is a race against the clock the focus is still on try to cool the overheating reactors at the facility on a seven a stage international scale measuring the severity of the situation they measured c. has been moved from four to five that's just two levels behind it one hundred eighty

six china noble disaster he's either bennett has the latest. right now they're still trying to reconnect power to the site so they can get those cooling systems up and running and bring the temperature down inside the reactor that seems like the only way they're now going to prevent or could be a real nuclear disaster now focusing on reactor number two because this morning they actually saw smoke rising from the reactor they don't know what the cause was about they don't think it was an explosion because that wasn't heard clearly the temperature inside is very cautious or they've already managed to do was to lay a power cable from the main bridge a kilometer long cable to try and restore power but they haven't managed to connect better yet the radiation is very high still and also the outer casing of the reactor the containment vessel was badly damaged in the explosion that happened earlier this week now in the meantime they are trying everything they can to try and keep the temperature down to try to cool the reactors there off of the first

four actually have explosions since the earthquake for example yesterday at reactor number three they doused in sixty four tons of water from a caucus from above and water cannons from below in the early hours of this morning at tokyo fire department they sent thirty of their fire engines that are throwing everything make opposite is the head of the u.n. nuclear watchdog the international atomic energy agency who's in tokyo right now meeting with the japanese prime minister he came out and said that to prevent this turning into a full scale nuclear disaster they are going to have to cooperate with international help that government spokesman who is the chief cabinet secretary has come out and said that although there are very high radiation readings in some places he says that it doesn't pose a direct negative effect to the one's health because in these places it's not coming into direct human contact however a number of countries actually don't believe this and what they're doing is actually warning their citizens not to go within fifty kilometers off the ashima

a nuclear power plant person the japanese government has imposed an exclusion zone of twenty kilometers tell. within thirty to stay away yes the very top because the little bit from the east coast who was from the man we think i'd count on to see what residence. this is the town of o.-r. i-a around halfway between tokyo and fukushima i'm still one hundred fifty kilometers south of the nuclear power plant but already the radiation levels here over double that of those in tokyo the geiger counter i've got just started beeping wildly and shortcuts in your point five months he was around it's not harmful to one's health especially just yet but it is certainly a concern so much so that the army has started to hand out these face and asks here that people are wearing. their wear very frayed on the radiation but who can do very much wanted all we can do is follow the media and trust the government is saying. the tsunami did actually come in this far inland but the town escaped most

of the damage however since the earthquake they've been without drinking water here in the residents have to come and fill up water they need from points like this in the town sets up by the army further up the coast it's a similar story we've been travelling along this road for the last ten fifteen kilometers looking for a place to have lunch but none of the restaurants are open. it will take another week until we can open with electricity because we can't do anything they don't know. this is the start of japan's ravaged east coast norene life the other day bridges lie strewn all over the place so walls collapsed over here thousands of fallen down such as the force of the tsunami this is also the point where we're going to turn back because they died a county's reading the highest it has done all day one point zero four microsleep its plan how important my fear is that i won't be able to live here anymore and this is my home obviously a year for my health for the radiation and i thought it's not just about that i'm

afraid i will be able to come back here we're only around a hundred and twenty kilometers south of fukushima power plant now if the wind blows this way and even worse if the rain comes in the radiation will shortz arrived in force salaries are pouring right that well alex care who is an expert on japanese culture says the government is intentionally playing down the situation at the fukushima power plant. there is a long tradition within the nuclear industry in japan of hiding or at least. twisting or misinterpreting the evidence but one example is raising it to five it's been four for a long time which was the level of three mile island where there was nuclear radiation that no nuclear material released into the environment this one is at now says amounts of nuclear materials huge radiation and only now the whole wrenchingly is appraised five in it of course most people believe it should be six so there is

still an attempt to play it down children newspaper yesterday had an article in which they appointed to the claim of white smoke coming out of one of the reactors and they said the government is saying it's a plume of white smoke but they really mean is explosions i think what we can be sure of is that this mess will take weeks maybe months to clear up it's really very serious much more than in the government is that it means that we'll have more analysis on the situation in japan. in our program here on r.t. but for now let's move on to other. well the situation in libya is developing rapidly the government of colonel gadhafi says it's declaring a media ceasefire and military operations the opposition however says the fighting goes on. in other countries are still preparing some enforce a no fly zone over libya after receiving backing from the un security council. has

more from the capital tripoli libya is a fully fledged member of the united nations and as such it is obliged to accept un resolutions not a foreign minister a reform a statement he refused to take questions from any of us of course which he would do but he did state that the country was offering all humanitarian aid and he said it was obliged to protect foreigners and foreign assets of interests he also again urged for dialogue he said it was important that all lines of communication were open and he again urged the international community to stay in fact finding missions here from the foreign minister into seismic when these international missions they will be able to establish for themselves the facts on the ground and understand the libyan position bears a walk this means go for the international community we haven't had any of the sponsors but certainly know from this morning statement that the situation here in tripoli has been tense because this has been consumed in terms of what it means if in the coming out was a no fly zone is implemented in benghazi itself the the celebrations there have

continued since they struck late last night when that resolution was announced today is my words take it to the syrians in five days celebration people be very satisfied that the international community is finally coming to the systems of the rebel fighters over many fearing that it might be a little bit too late here in tripoli so he a very different situation people are angry people are cautious and it is interesting that the foreign minister is not straightforward and quote for a ceasefire because it flies in the face of what we're hearing from gadhafi and his sons themselves they were saying that they will be x. with me there will be x. immediately and they would tell you keep these international calls for a no fly zone which. france has been at the first front pushing for it because there's some both governments that they were able to deploy their forces in reconning now with what is one of the expectations on the ground is that we could see a no fly zone being implemented as soon as today but it remains to be seen what happens now in light of the foreign minister's comments it was five countries at the u.n.

that stayed on in boosting this no fly zone among them was russia the russian ambassador to the u.n. explaining the russian position. in essence a whole range of questions raised by the russian federation and other security council members remain questions which were both concrete and legitimate questions regarding how the no fly zone would be enforced well the rules of engagement would be limited to the use of force provisions were introduced into the text potentially opening the door to large scale military intervention responsibility for the inevitable humanitarian consequences of the excessive use of outside force in libya full fair and square on the shoulders of those who might undertake such actions if this happens then not only the civilian population of libya. holding peace and security throughout the whole region of north africa and the middle east will suffer there's a need to avoid such destabilizing developments which. we haven't yet seen any difference on terms of the reality on the ground since the announcement of the no

fly zone late last night and since there's a recent announcement by the foreign minister of a cease fire fighting does continue in misrata which is the third largest city here we continue to hear reports there are people being killed at the same time the town of thing garcia remains on high alert for the last word from the government specifically related to benghazi was that it was not for instance have but that it's going to circle the town and it has been going to stay in police and special units specifically mt toba suites is five to deal with the situations are really it remains to be seen what actually develops in the coming hours. reporting that. civilians are become a priority for international. but the weeks long reign. of tension. severely crackdown on protests reportedly even preventing demonstrators from receiving medical help. expose. god is great. the final words of this purported peaceful protesters in bahrain.

before he appears to be shot allegedly by behind me security forces since martial law was declared this week the bahraini government has crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. clearing them out of the girl's square where they've been demonstrating . and viral videos though the details can't be confirmed have been surfacing on the internet appearing to show police shooting protesters. point blank it's reminiscent of another uprising against an autocrat i want to address the situation in libya when images and reports of violence against protesters that could dockery's hand in libya reached the u.s. president's he could stand. as nasty to lead. early on president obama called for plans for a no fly zone over libya now here at the united nations the security council has

since taken the lead on that but meanwhile the united states has already sent warships along with humanitarian aid in libya's direction it's tough economic sanctions on the country essentially freezing it out of the u.s. banking system and reports suggest the u.s. has also played a more cofer role in the north african conflict an opposition. here right now. according to people in direct contact with activists on the ground in bahrain they too are begging for help from the u.s. . you. people don't begin to understand. the u.s. has a military base in the island country the navy's powerful fifth fleet and six thousand troops are stationed there and in response to the brutal crackdown the us

president has healed his authority to pick up the phone and call the king of bahrain the president expressed his deep concern over the violence in bahrain and stressed the need for maximum restraint words the forces on the ground now backed by one thousand saudi arabian troops don't appear to be listening to critics say the talk doesn't amount to any help for the bahraini people it amounts to this absolutely there's a double standard in the way the u.s. deals with friend versus fellow unlike libya brain is a strong u.s. ally in the oil rich persian gulf it's all about oil it's also all about geo political military strategy the us has a lot of military assets in the persian gulf right now we want to make sure they stay there u.s. interests coming at the cost of people's lives and if the cost of the values of human rights and democracy the u.s. claims to care so much about so much of the blood is worthless and the libyan blood

is more important it's just critical is than the gores have bought it because it is the thing believe it or this fancy you're looking at american gold there are actually helicopter gunships you know which are going on around protesters in the capital there and that is where the united states stands on the issue tacitly behind auto products. or against depending on the threat to u.s. interests not to lives lauren lyster r.t. new york. all right now back to our top story here on the fate of millions of japanese threatened by nuclear disaster now lies in the hands of just a few dozen they're known as the faceless fifty team of workers putting their lives on the line to stop or put a possible nuclear disaster from occurring at the fukushima plant. and i look at how a man sometimes has to sacrifice himself when technology fails. mankind's modern

marvels can come to nothing when the church strikes days after the fukushima plants first explosion and pans leaders implore everyone to stay calm helicopters and water cannons deployed to cool the reactors yet the situation remains critical the japanese government has insisted that only a ten kilometer radius was necessary for graduation this was a status quo when the earthquake hit and so were already we were already way behind or so great and evacuating and issuing iraqi asian orders also there is very very little environmental monitoring provided correct information to people i think that and his government is saying they're trying to protect the japanese people but you cannot protect them from the reality in one thousand nine hundred six the soviet union mobilized thousands of people to battle the nuclear disaster at chernobyl depends how has the faceless fifty in honest workers putting

themselves up against radiation to keep the reactors from nuclear meltdown i don't think crisis can be averted least the radiation exposure is are so high and so i don't i don't think human beings can get into the areas that could be accessed in order to put the fire or the fires out and also to get water into locations where the heat is the highest this is union essentially ordered its citizens to separate fires their allies to radiation and that when the chernobyl aftermath woodworkers are meeting a focus imari doing so willingly the main question is will their efforts prove to be enough to keep the situation from taking a turn for worse certainly their lives or immediately at stake. and clearly they have sacrificed any kind of long life by being there to claudia has had nasty habit of turning against humans. and when that happens the equipment

doesn't yet exist to send machines in people things right in the end it takes human risk and sacrifice to prevent a technological tragedy from becoming a large scale catastrophe in tokyo in a party. well russia may be willing to help japanese citizens who have been left without employment following last week's earthquake and tsunami president says they could be considered for a job vacancies in russia is our response so let's get more details on this now marty as you go to risk an officer standing by live because it would appear the rusher is reaching out to help in more ways than one of his latest often often the president one of the tells. the president has offered a wide range of assistance to japan which includes same thing medical aid food and water supplies to the country also specialists in nuclear technology to help deal with the crisis around the fukushima nuclear power plant. also said

those in need and willing will be able to undergo rehabilitation courses at centers across russia and also said that some of those who lost their jobs because of this catastrophe which happened exactly one week ago the may be able to find jobs also here in the country. but. we have to think about the labor potential of our neighbors if need be especially in this populated areas of siberia and the far east it would make sense for us it could be a way out for those affected by the disaster. earlier russia's emergencies ministry sent several teams of rescuers and doctors to japan there are still working there on the spot but frankly speaking i think this disaster really affected the entire region in russia's far east is still on high alert since some

wars are rate in japan's neighborhood like bill cool islands for example and the russian president has once again ordered all local authorities to continue monitoring the situation and inform. all of the developments to be the envy of. also stressed that clearly there's no threat to their lives and called on everybody to remain calm but as forty thousand. fear of a nuclear contamination has spread beyond japan's shores. the news arriving from japan is very worrying that's why they're just earlier closing nuclear plant the other day missions of disaster and difficulties it's hard not to be gripped by panic when the world's high and to my city are sounding the alarm the flu so you are typical she marked the beginning of chances of picking

up the virus which is spreading more so there are not a physicist or a doctor people in russia's far is divided from japan by a strip of water two hundred miles across where the quickest to react. my friend called me and said she's leaving the city i'm not in such panic yet i'm already taking iodine just in case. but radiation levels remain completely normal and doctors are forced into sounding a different kind of a long list with the president is that if anything really serious happens there things like consuming large amounts of either going already water people often say they're going to do such things will help or the reverse they may seriously damage their health because i don't function and it may well happen and probably will as well everything in japan goes west and many of our people will have problems with their hands. everyone wants to be on top of official reports preparing for the

unknown many go even further buying personal radiation meters geiger counters price is no object. in the last three days we sold out our monthly stock of geiger counters we now have to turn to our suppliers for an additional shipment of taking reasonable precautions there's no pink at all unless panic threatens to become worse than the catastrophe itself that was the case with the outbreak of the h one n one swine flu virus which helped drug companies earn billions today in russia store is the transport companies and pharmacies are cashing in on the pike but at stake is the region's largest business fishing. it accounts for eighty percent of the corny russia's largest city on the pacific ocean local restaurants offering fresh seafood from the waters off japan are already losing clients customers are

afraid of radioactive fish if he still continues wholesale fish markets could be next to suffer meaning new silver lining radioactive clouds that may never. exceed in the direction of our t.v. . i'm not in the business news with dmitri. welcome to business finance ministers from the g. seven group of the world's richest nations have agreed to step into a currency markets to try and control japan's volatile currency it's the first time in a decade that the g seven members have jointly intervened in the money markets and on wednesday the yen hit its highest level against the dollar since world war two strengthening to seventy six and a quarter in u.s. trading but it fell back in later sessions to be trading around eighty two dollars and this a native effort by the world's biggest economies would have a bigger impact than the japanese central bank acting alone meanwhile the bank of

japan injected another thirty seven billion dollars into the markets on friday to try and shore up confidence and ensure liquidity japan's central bank has already injected around seven hundred billion dollars into the country's financial sector. now to discuss the japanese currency and challenges it faces let's cross to let it go from b.m.p. paraguay's with us live thank you very much for being with us do you think it was absolutely necessary for the g seven it's a big star. i would say. so lester turtle of the past couple of days but not necessarily because of the yen level you can actually make c. arguments in trade greater terms the yen is not there where it used to be at c extreme said ninety ninety five so the reason why we are calling for intervention is there to respond for increasing significantly so this increase of response by credit default swaps was evaluated in the equity market you just called zero

their share price relative to value therefore stick leininger gold to par that is a very rare observation an indicator that people way are. putting a huge risk which itself was dangerous to create a second round perfect into financial markets and then into the economy now how much do you think needs to be pumped into the sky high yen then could this actually spark speculation me thinking. well i guess for. for us a position after which was a poll of fifty five percent of g.d.p. and theories of why we did see the dollar being climbing below eighty i think secondly to deal with racial related fears and it was very wise from the central bank to draw a line in the sand but again it is not there's

a level last year which is decisive it is the size of the japanese response and as long as there's risk premium remains elevated you'll see for us in perth mention in the market naïve us longer to arm the japanese yen is going to suffer a significantly better cost necessarily to deal with the earthquake or was other factors it is simply the demographics of its inability to say federal fund. to our twenty three percent of g.d.p. so over a. deficit. so you have to watch out for. in the medium term meant as a rebuttal argument force never a very convincing one how much do you think the current levels of the yen we're seeing right now are undermining japanese exports as if that is actually a factor right now compared. well our first rule is solar demand just why

expend more importance than the exchange rate value and again when you look at where you take inflation differentials into a current there is a real effect if exchange traded off to. the dollar yen rate to tell you sol is still best global demand through rates relatively strong there. is going to continue to export very little adulthood but the point is really odd the yen side it is are is this going to undermine. the the markets in particular the market that is soft nature important and thirty is how you need to look at a year and if there's very little to do really wish to trade for late. one final question the what are you expecting to see next week i guess that next week is going to be our risk on week you might see is the yen and the dollar being sold to

see people going back into your into into. local markets and just well into his in australian dollar and say you're all i thought. there so yes well the situation in north africa to consider of course there is still uncertainty but all i believe. we are going to risk on week so we're quite quite struck you know speak all right hands really come from b.m.p. paribas from london thank you so much for being with us so here. and i'm afraid that's all we have time for in this edition of business are to join us next hour for an uplink.

for the full six we've got it from. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers m r t. today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada from shanghai for a shelter on the day. the big.