i know what's really happening to the global economy because a report on our. breaking news this hour on r.t. french fighter jets begin patrolling the skies of libya to enforce the u.n. sanction no fly zone. so government forces reportedly advance on the rebel held town of benghazi just spite declaring a cease fire as colonel gadhafi rejects all calls for you in no fly zone. world leaders meeting in paris agree to use all necessary military means to stop any aggression from colonel gadhafi french aircraft are ready to intervene against a nice trip on civilians join us later for the details of. engineers locked in a desperate battle to avoid

a meltdown in japan's tsunami damage power plant struggle to restore electricity it's totally cool existence could be functioning on something small traces of radiation now being taken in tokyo. live from our studios here in central moscow this is r.t. with you twenty four hours a day just past eight pm here in the russian capital and seven pm in libya where french military jets are already flying over the country to enforce the u.n. no fly zone foreign leaders meeting in paris said they're ready to do whatever it takes to stop colonel gadhafi targeting civilian areas reports from libya suggest forces loyal to gadhafi carrying out attacks on the rebel stronghold city of benghazi the spite the government ceasefire. has the latest now from the capital tripoli. french fighter jets flew over libya they're waiting of course for the

international call she inforce this no fly zone and that latest word from a meeting in paris is that they will be acting immediately now it is missing twenty four hours since the libyan government said that it was in forcing and immediate cease fire but here on the ground intense fighting continues particularly in the rebel held town of bint ghazi what we're hearing there are very different stories coming out from the rebel side as opposed to the government forces the rebels insisting that they are being fired on by three friends they say that one of those fronts of the mediterranean sea they say that they have in air strikes there is intense shelling and that among the targets being hit are civilians the rebels saying that many people have been injured and many more have been killed now the rebels did capture a tank belonging to conduct these tapes they've been parading this through the streets there are still conflicting reports over a plane that was shot down there this morning saturday not yet clear exactly who it belonged to and who shot it down the gadhafi regime for its side is insisting that it isn't here into this cease fire that it put into place on friday afternoon it

says that it is the rebels that are on the offensive it is them who are breaking the cease fire and it is them that are intensifying the fighting on the ground to try and mobilize the international community to act as quickly as possible from gadhafi himself we are hearing harsh words he said that the international community to move would be great if they interfere in libyan affairs he also said that this is an injustice this is a clear aggression and it is untold collated risks for consequences he is of course talking about the u.n. resolution one nine seven three at the same time gadhafi said that this resolution was invalid because the international community is not allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign states we've also been hearing from gadhafi son say fall is done he's also been taking our local state television he has warned against infertility tax that's what he's been calling the uprising that is happening now in benghazi he also said there would it is time for people to join in the fight now it's not really clear what's happening in terms of the cease fire. and there are those that

think that the government is insincere there are those i think that this is the sign of a crumbling regime trying to save itself but when you listen to what people leaders and particularly the opposition are saying they say that essentially gadhafi is lying and he is trying to buy time but even amongst the rebels themselves there is agreement that there are two areas in this resolution that are cause for concern but one area is the terminology all necessary measures and the other areas when it talks about the need to defend people who are under attack or who might be under attack now these are very different missions there now for a lot of intervention to take place and that is why the concern here in libya is that what might be the start of international intervention here in the sense of a no fly zone could quickly develop into something that is much more long term and far reaching b b b m's are very much against having foreign troops in their country not least of all because this country was occupied by italian troops in the past they have seen the consequences of u.s. troops in iraq and in afghanistan in iraq particularly where there was

a twelve year no fly zone people here do not want to see this no fly zone extended and dragged out for that period of time at the same time we're hearing from the united nations human rights they said it a very worried because they have no record of what is happening to rebel fighters who have been captured they have no record of what is happening inside the prisons and inside the security services they say that it can be some kind of collective punishment that is under way here at the moment so essentially the international community's court for the fighting to end on the ground is a question in terms of where it will end and one of the demands by the international community is also becky duffy needs to retreat and people here are asking what happens if he treats if he takes his soldiers out of certain towns when the rebels in move forward into those areas and will there not only is collate the fighting on the ground. we're getting some further breaking news from libya to you that a french defense official has just said that a french fighter. it has fired on

a libyan military vehicle and that is the first reported strike since the french president nicolas sarkozy said his country's planes are now over the city of benghazi preventing any attacks against civilians but world leaders have been meeting to discuss the situation in paris and our europe correspondent daniel bushell has more. president sarkozy made the announcement after the summit as you say attended by the big guns of world defense the decision has been taken at the top level u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton among them denmark and canada will supply fighter jets to the effort to get silly france and spain will provide air bases for support in the region while other arab states saudi arabia qatar jordan and the united arab emirates have said they do back the deployment of a no fly zone over libya near space and the main role along with those arab states will be played by the two k. and france u.k. leave it they've cameron says that he fully backs the deployment of a no fly zone which will in effect the ground could effie's jets and helicopters

and the arab states will play a supporting role of this we keep their support in the region france says its number one concern is to defend the civilian population and we're seeing all the western powers of this summit coming around to that point of view germany's angela merkel said that the fact that germany abstained from the u.n. vote is the abolition of no fly zone does not mean they don't support that vote only that they will not use direct military intervention themselves germany will not be sending forces to the efforts let's listen to exactly what nicolas sarkozy had to say. as we agree to use all necessary means in particular military means to enforce the u.n. security council decision that's why agreement with our partners in fools will oppose any aggression from colonel gadhafi a good support relation have been gone as of now our aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town as of now other french aircraft are ready to intervene

against tanks armored vehicles threatening unarmed civilians so growing unanimity between leaders here in the e.u. about military intervention but also growing concerns among the population at large if you speak to them about the double standards here many are saying a stay out of libya and b. if you're. going to intervene in libya then why not the other places where there's horrible escalating violence in the region and the concern is that libya is an oil rich place where the worst of the us have become mercial interests and other places like bahrain which is also suffering yemen ivory coast to see horrible violence the west is not so interested. well we can get more from dr christoph kremer he's director of a german based antiwar group in he says what the group are saying that the un's actions in libya are undermining attempts to establish democracy we can join dr christoph kramer live on our t.v.

there and it's very much indeed for joining us not enough french planes have reportedly fired their first shot and are patrolling over benghazi right now but violence has been continuing and the fact that is gone back on his word and continued military action surely that justifies this intervention now doesn't it. could you put. a little bit more slowly. sure i know we've. only just got this connection with you what i'm saying is that this intervention we're seeing now is justified because gadhafi has gone back on his word he declared yesterday there would be a ceasefire but it appears he's continued with his military action that therefore justifies foreign military intervention. yes i can only say we peace movement are fiercely against this military intervention because in our view it means a new war in the region

a new international war. we don't see that it will in any kind help the movement to democracy and liberty and we are afraid that it worsens a situation indeed while hundreds of civilians have already been killed by gadhafi forces is there really any other way though other the military intervention what would you as a group suggest. well you first must see. what we are witnessing is the not spontaneous movement it's must have been planned for months maybe even four years. shockingly in this situation we are facing a very well organized opposition even. as. we have been much concerned that what we are witnessing is not.

a not a playground for the peak international players especially from the west. conducting . proxy policy if that's what is a sin sorry sorry to interrupt if that's the case why has it taken. the u.n. so long to take some sort of action i mean clearly you are saying that the opposition is well organized and strong but it's by all accounts being crushed by gadhafi forces if it was a case of this sort of rock revolt being funded on or supported by foreign policy and by foreign. forces why hasn't the u.s. u.n. acted before now. well i think exactly what has. crowns that took the u.n. so long. it is there for and then in egypt or in tunisia where we had

a nonviolent movements rather strong rather well or so it's true democrat and him and superior of their peoples and i think the situation in libya is stiffer and. backstage there must be very much action which we don't see in the german public and which we are not very well informed about we are just surprised to see a movement rather well organized and rather violent and militarily organized and i think. to a solution must be the big players in the background namely the u.s. the european union and the including russia should get together to talk about the situation and make proposals for a nonviolent solution otherwise really skeptical. and solution will be found but

we are. we are voting very much for a nonviolent solution it's absolutely urgent but what the situation is now is clearly what you don't want to see but there is some sort of confusion if we look at it the decision to impose this no fly zone we saw earlier that applied to jet was shot down over benghazi which rebels claimed belonged to then well does this mean now that under this resolution they'll have to shoot down rebel planes as well as good. yeah of course what what we are witnessing is peak military confrontation and that's exactly the point we are so much concerned about . we're going into a new war in the region with unforeseeable consequences. the complicated thing you you mentioned that it is complicated complicated thing but we have is that we have a mixture between a libyan and in

a dynamic of libya a mixed with an outside dynamic with the big players. what's what must lead to a solution is so. the public is told the truth about the background of the interests behind this confrontation because for example what we heard is. that the opposition movement in levy is foisting the flags on the monarchy but is that it's not a future oriented and that's not their makoto station already and that. we have to know who place what and i think a solution will only be there if all cards on the table if if you understand what i mean i think we'll have to leave it there christophe kramer thanks very much for your insight into the developing situation there in libya thanks for joining us there in hannover well with concerns that

a no fly zone over libya could be a cover up for for a full scale engagement which we just heard about there in that interview as you were activists jim brann says the u.n. resolution is full of holes. but you can interpret so many things and then i mean what on earth you mean by protecting civilians presumably it means protecting civilians from both sides because there are clear suggestions of atrocities on both sides and certainly not a one sided thing but of course i think the central point is that the whole thrust of the intervention is not it seems to me is not a principled thing then that accounts for the for the contradictions and the holes in the resolution i think the whole thing is a mess so the resolution itself is full of holes because i think you have to question the whole process and once you start on a person who is in error contradictory then you end up with more and more pitfalls along the wife you have this thing that obama for example stayed very knowledge out

of it and then suddenly when the resolution was passed yesterday he makes very specific demands which clearly were not in the resolution that demands that for example the government forces pull back from a series of towns that kind of thing so you have you have clear intentions through . the different parties to make of it what they will and i think that we'll see that process roll on when you can follow all the latest developments in libya on our twitter and facebook pages we've got links to all our videos and regular updates there for me.

to japan now six workers at the stricken plant have been exposed to what is being described as excessive levels of radiation that part of the team continuing their battle to restore electricity to the facilities crippled reactors all efforts now are going towards restarting the cooling system and averting a nuclear catastrophe on these other planet has the latest now. some power actually has been restored to parts of the nuclear plants not the crucial areas yet there's cooling systems in the reactors and that's what they're aiming to get but what they are doing and what they have done is connect our cables to reactor number two trying to get the other reactors electricity hasn't yet interned on because if they do that they fear that it might now function so what they're doing now is doing the checks saying if they if their electricity will go through without any problems if that does happen i think they will hear that it is the cooling systems and cooling

ponds will be a massive relief for those workers who are doing everything they can because that's all they were trying to do for the last eight days get those cooling systems up running get the temperature down in the meantime what they've done is try to call water into the damages and today it happened again military fire engines on the ground shifting canons of water into the spent fuel pools for all of the reactors number three and four because the water levels in those is believed to be dangerously low if it falls below the fuel rods and explode also exposes those to the air and then there is the air that radioactive substances could escape as early as last saturday we can get when there is news of the first explosion of the year one of the reactors at fukushima it will bind got water in even in tokyo are as bad as that as the news came out and the government was issuing warnings to people just in the area of the same thing with water case of contamination so that they were spreading south and if at all they are they close they're up as far as sendai where

i was earlier this week bottled water as it was in short supply even a few days ago and take it. into there as people were trying to avoid making tackles and fears of contamination and those is spread to things duff's as well and the government did some checks on milk and spinach in neighboring prefectures typical shima and they found radiation levels to be above normal again no danger to . one's health there is he is obviously now mr garneau the government spokesperson the chief cabinet secretary has said that radiation levels outside the thirty kilometer exclusion zone and not harmful to search human health but a lot of governments are believing that they're getting that their nationals out and also when it's really the fingers are being pointed now questions being asked who was to blame for this could have been avoided the main issue that's coming up now months exit experts worldwide is the issue of privatization of japan's nuclear power because. electric power company owns the line and the questions now being

asked if it was safe to compromise for profits. no matter how hard they try disaster still looms it think she attempts to cool the reactors have been applauded for bravery but it's been a week since cooling capability was lost and there's no end in sight to this crisis the implications are that really already has spread a fair distance there probably will be an area around the plant like turn or wall that will be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future could get far worse than the us the plant's cooling systems may have been crippled by a natural disaster but some are now questioning the merits of the manmade decision to build reactors near the so-called ring of fire this is completely a human a disaster because that should never have been vokey at there in the first place and citizens have pointed out the fact japan's nuclear industries also in private hands has led to accusations profits were put before safety fukushima's already has

a questionable past with a history of falsifying safety records at the site back in the eighty's i think we also have to review the idea of privatized nuclear power because private. cutting corners and i think we're watching those corners being cut today what we'd like to see is the government take over these these nuclear reactors from private corporations because private corporations name purpose for existing is the next emerged profits and by maximizing profits in the nuclear sector we're talking about you know my eyes in concerns for public health and see it and lost private investors may be needed to get the ball rolling it's the other way around if things go wrong i think it's we're going to be inevitable that the state will take over in order to contain these plants the old they're probably need to be covered with concrete and sand much like trouble was and i think the state will take over responsibility for the. i think whether the state has it or private companies do it

. it's very difficult for anyone to do. to parents no stranger to nuclear tragedies this is where the second atomic bomb was dropped in nineteen forty five trying everything they can at fukushima to furthur not at this astor but it has nuclear watchdog is already expecting wider consequences the question is how many will be affected however bennett's azzi like a sack. technicians and emergency teams working at fukushima know their mission to avert a nuclear disaster could kill them rival thompson was involved in the three mile island cleanup in pennsylvania after a similar accident in one hundred seventy nine he explains what risks the workers are now facing what the people in japan are going right through right now it's kind of hard to tell because no one has access to them as far as i will see and i fear for their safety in fact i fear for their lives sometimes the radiation is so high that a person going into us

a hot room can only be inside there for maybe three minutes and then they have to come out someone else has to go in to finish their job so you can imagine the intensity list trying to say trying to change of power you go in with the welding machine the sea and. it takes you three or four minutes just to bring that in there you haven't even plugged anything in yet you have to leave your turn for the month we don't know the conditions inside the plant though most of us. from the industry confirm that it's very very dangerous i think pouring water in in massive amounts and they should be probably poor and work acid or boron in in massive amounts as well is the really the only catch it only thing they have left it's almost like a hail mary pass my only real regret is that the entire area was not evacuated sooner as soon as the evolution started that would have been the moral thing to do and that is not been accomplished and for that i'm very disappointed. supporters of a clean and relatively safe way to produce energy but with the current crisis

unfolding people are being forced to balance the benefits of. atomic stations as weekend. as you can struggle with a nuclear crisis are you concerned about the stability of nuclear facilities near you this week let's talk about that. the field is called must a nuclear plant in england. if you like it say should. we ourselves live across the river from a nuclear power plant virginia it's it's it's it's it's a concern certainly it's better than spending a lot of tax dollars on and you had to choose was there something about you know it's like this go to you know you look at cell phones you know cell phone service where you were if a report came out tomorrow that cell phones cause cancer or people down no they're not so people take the nuclear say if it has been work people are really interested

in you know certain way and different kinds of alternative energies what do you think about those. so enough companies put enough money into the research and if there's enough research tell us that it's not going to be a five cents if and what pays for those is tax alice right correct so if you stop spending money and will we can start spending money on energy saving that would never happen. hopefully in my lifetime i find it amazing the amount of energy what's being used here in eric rose in light specifically here on times square so i think people are. maybe a bit too much used to use loads and loads of energy so i guess it's what's going to be quite hard to get them to use. to spend more on green energy because they're going to be more expensive do you support nuclear energy you know right now. because it's a disaster i think you think it's a disaster waiting to happen absolutely so what should we do because we consume

a lot of energy on idea i have no clue i think if you don't know then how can we rule out nuclear energy we can't fire so many people so afraid of nuclear energy i know that this is happening right now but most plants are pretty safe show i think it centers on people always taken the worst and maybe that's a reaction from nine eleven even when people always think of the things that can get bad so i think there's that armageddon feeling whether or not you support nuclear energy the bottom line is that with all of our energy options there comes in one form or another a high price to pay. let's now take a look at some other stories making headlines around the world in our world updater gyptian have gone to the polls in record numbers take part in a referendum on constitutional reform if approved the changes will shorten the president's term in power from six to four years and a lot no more than two terms one candidate mohamed el baradei

a secular contender for egypt's presidency was attacked by the stones while trying to cast his vote reforms what i think a parliamentary elections in june and presidential elections in september this year . in gaza a member of hamas has been killed by an israeli airstrike after looking fifty rockets were reportedly fired into israel and he said it was the heaviest attack on gaza militants in twenty four months with two israelis reportedly being injured or seven into also in the israeli response to the attack this according to the health ministry in gaza. are you a separate state warren christopher has died of cancer aged eighty five he's been a key negotiator in the former yugoslavia and was praised for his efforts in ending the bosnia herzegovina war he also tried to promote peace in the middle east while serving under president bill clinton yeah retiring from office christopher practiced law and fourth international i think as americans strength to bring us up to date and then i'll be back with a summary of our main news stories in just a few moments stay with us.

the back.

it's not like. the book. in the czech republic is available in the hotel as my central hotel prim a very nice a small street dog the stuff. much of a maci just insult me and had to convene a cheese available in.