gunfire and explosions are coated office products as u.n. forces press on with a no fly zone over libya while the international community is concerned about possible civilian casualties. the u.s. has rushed to join the military effort in libya despite already having to pay billions for them going conflicts elsewhere sparking debate over who benefits from such spending. concerns over libya engine param lead to ripples in the oil market i match reservoir of all that and more in the business of. japan resumes efforts to stabilize the damaged reactors at the fukushima nuclear power plant

after work was suspended for the unexplained smoke conditions. around the world and around the clock this is r t on kerry johnston fresh explosions and gunfire have been heard in the capital tripoli overnight as international coalition forces continue to bombard libya the country's state television is reporting for the civilian casualties following a third day of allied air strikes on t.v. support of syria's keeping across developments for us. it was a massive explosion here in the capital city of tripoli it sounded like it was coming from the south of the city i cannot see any smoke from where i'm standing at the moment but we are hearing reports of smoke in the southern parts we're also hearing reports of explosions around the compound of gadhafi there have been rounds of anti aircraft gunfire we are hearing from coalition forces that they had hit one

hundred and twenty four targets they are saying that this operation is a sexist since the coalition forces have conducted is strikes gadhafi is a force has not been in the skies and that they have managed to stop the advancement of his ground forces the only confirmation we've had in terms of a targeted hit here in tripoli has been gadhafi is headquarters it was hit by two missiles and we were told that this was the command and control center of his operations the areas completely destroyed it was a small group of protesters there shouting abuse at the international community and echoing what essentially has been gadhafi is message that the world has no right to interfere with internal libyan affairs at the same time though there is still fighting in three predominant cities across the country the worst of their fighting is happening in the city of misrata which is about two hundred kilometers to the east of tripoli it is the last rebel held town in the east of this country and some of the reports we're hearing from there are quite terrifying we've been told that

civilians are being brought in from other areas they're being used as human shields against these airstrikes we're being told that the gadhafi soldiers have surrounded the whole city and that they stop in supplies of electricity or fuel and of water the civilian count is what people here are worried about we're hearing from rebel groups that they now plan to edwardes away switch to try and recapture some of the towns they lost with the ultimate goal of marching here on to tripoli state television has been showing pictures of funerals they put the toll of just yesterday's strikes at more than sixty seven is civilians who have been killed right now they're reporting under the banner of tripoli and attack so no doubt as we see more civilians die in the. conflict they will be more questions being asked on the ground exactly what the international community is doing here. and he says the un backed tree interventions are direct consequence of the behavior of libya's leader moammar gadhafi however he was critical of the bombing saying that no fly zone should be used and to protect civilians and bring about peace but. he too was

it was more on russia's assessment on events in libya peter what have we heard from the kremlin so. president dmitri medvedev said that although russia's initial response was to call for a peaceful solution to the situation in libya through negotiations that colonel gadhafi actions in persistently attacking his own people have forced the hand of the international community and this was why russia had voted in favor of imposing an arms embargo travel the regime and why the country haven't used its veto on the u.n. security council to block the no fly zone allowing international intervention in the country. just like everything that is happening in libya is a result of the shameful behavior of its governments and the crimes against their own people should know and we love the u.n. no fly zone resolution to go through to prevent these coalition of clients but the

events that followed show that any use of force should be proportionate to what is happening the fact that as a result of these actions a civilian targets were damaged and according to unconfirmed reports innocent people have died shows that states taking part in a military strikes haven't achieved that nor to meet. president medvedev said it's all those involved in these military actions should remain and must remain within the parameters of the u.n. resolution which is there to protect civilians in the on the ground in libya well the president also said that although russia had no intentions to send troops or military hardware to the country that. sure was prepared to step in as a mediator to broker a peace using their diplomatic channels and contacts in north africa to try and bring the soul sides involved in the conflict together russian foreign minister. is in the region the moment he was meeting with leaders of the arab world and said

russia stood united with the arab league and saying this only protection of civilians was the the action that should be taken all attempts should be made to protect those civilians on the ground. of course we discussed or the u.n. no fly zone resolutions being implemented in libya we totally increased the position of the arab league who requested the u.n. security council to urgently provide protection for civilians we believe that this should be the goal of the states who volunteered to implement this resolution the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law as lot of an essential use of force against civilians should be equally applied to any situation in any country. where u.s. defense secretary robert gates is in russia at the moment on monday he gave a lecture in st petersburg where he suggested possible roles for russia to play in this coalition. on monday he will meet with president agreed to medvedev plenty on the table already for them to discuss but the current ongoing situation in libya

means that it's very likely to be a main topic for discussion. from moscow thanks for that update. civilian coalition must tread carefully as actions countering resolution former bassett miles told us about the risks. i think that far as i can draw good it's very difficult of course the military action that's been taken so far is exactly what robert gates the u.s. defense secretary said some weeks ago now would be necessary in order to impose a no fly zone better to say eliminating all the effective anti-aircraft defenses which might put petroleum crofter in danger it was obvious from the beginning that that was going to involve a lot of intrusive military activity and inevitably civilian casualties i don't think anyone should be surprised at what happened and i think it's very worrying

indeed the mandate from the united nations is perfectly clear it's to protect it's to impose a no fly zone but the purpose of it is to protect civilians and that means that if we kill civilians we are in danger of being accused of going against the mandate. of the peers native americans i think should step down that's according to u.s. president barack obama who is once again washington's position over the crisis but obama says the main goal of international action and the woman terry and threats to civilians is going to take care has more from all of us. here's the trick in president obama's response he said there is a division between the goals that the u.s. military not pursues which is yet again underscored is to enforce a new u.n. resolution and u.s. policies he clearly said the u.s. policy there is needs to go so again he's saying is not the goal of the military at the moment but the overall policy is that you must step down that's definitely

a very interesting rhetoric that will magically speaking but there's still lots of questions as to the limits of the intervention will it really enough for the coalition forces because there's sarm could all be or is it a target now the pentagon says no in fact that it was secretary robert gates said targeting gadhafi goes beyond the u.n. resolution on libya and the u.s. is determined to stick to the resolution but the thing is that the wording of the resolution is basically all inclusive sort of occupation the fears are that the coalition forces could be going beyond the one authorized no fly zone measures which were designed to protect civilians so the majority of americans definitely do not cheer for the grounds of war but as my colleague lauren lister says something here in america could actually benefit from the campaign take a look. one to one point five million dollars the reported cost of this united states tomahawk missile launched into libya.

it's only been a few days into operation odyssey dawn and already the costs of this environment from sea and air are skyrocketing the price of day one alone. more than one hundred million dollars within the first two hours they fired one hundred ten cruise missiles so right there thousands of teachers of course could be paid for coming at a time when teachers not to mention other public workers are fighting to keep their livelihoods close to ten percent of people are unemployed. and the country faces fourteen trillion dollars of national debt the u.s. has already committed trillions to ongoing wars in afghanistan. as well as iraq. despite all this has moved to the helm of this international intervention but can my country afford getting involved again the united states clearly doesn't have

money for this we will end up taking money from other important programs domestically and other lawmakers are locked in a constant debate over u.s. money problems are going public it's a strange time and which almost all of our congressional days are spent talking about budget deficits religious problems and yet at the same time though all of this passes which is a very expensive operation this mission was led by the united nations but quickly the united states has emerged at the forefront so you have to wonder with so many cars at stake what does justify this role for the u.s. despite claims from the top of the humanitarian intervention people from the streets. to the pundits don't buy it the u.s. mission is to keep the doxy from having any influence on oil prices people oil expert michael rupert says the real reason for the bloodshed all boils down to the one point five million barrels of oil

a day coming from libya which the west simply cannot afford to lose you can't take any supply out and not expect the price to go up dramatically for everybody on the planet but not everyone's taking a hit in the pocket conflict is good for some of the most powerful u.s. corporations military contractors they have made literally super profits spectacular profits off of the wars in iraq and afghanistan so it won't be any different in terms of the war in libya but every news story and destroying military in. opens up markets for more american british and french arms sales in the world justifying perhaps first some who would have benefited a war that adds to the tool other conflicts have taken on the us economy and reputation in the world we will spend at least a half a trillion dollars right now in afghanistan and no libyan the money we're spending

and for the encouraging of pakistan the united states has to start focusing on things here at home otherwise or not only broke but we have the rest of the world angry at us a price some believe is too high for america to pay more in mr r.t. new york. whereas the situation in libya develops the american military machine is the only thing that stands to benefit from the conflicts that's accordance with the will quell the reception educational sense of. these institutions. they want to divide and conquer just like the romans so they yes this is this is not by the way not a no fly zone it's also a no drive zone in all walks of there but they needed leave they couldn't keep it as bad as it would be to intervene to keep airplanes from why they immediately are attacking people on the ground. or. killing a lot a lot of a lot of people get a blood point. we don't know whose brother it is really it's a good thing they're out of. this is not

a good thing but we have another war going on and i must say from the standpoint of an american concern with the fact that our government is broke that the dollar is going down the drain that the government is putting the whole country in the most horrific financial circumstances where they're starting yet another war to spend who knows how many billions of dollars makes the military industrial complex very happy but i must say among us taxpayers we don't like these rebels are being led by former officials of the regime these are not a bunch of libertarians so i think yes as they struggle for power and as one group will want the us helping them we will be regional players whether it's the people of egypt or sudan or some of the other countries in the area but they don't want another u.s. occupation right in their backyard so yeah i think there could be much more of an open civil war. or india has joined the chorus of international forces action coalition forces to start past strikes against that he was among the five u.n.

security council members who abstained from voting for a no fly zone resolution that's his pressure to has more from you jenny. india has come out and said that it strongly disapproves of the air strikes that are going on into libya the minister of external affairs said that they are hoping for a peaceful settlement to happen with the help of the united nations and other regional organizations they said that they will do whatever they can to strongly discourage violence in libya while respecting the wishes of the libyan people so really just strong disapproval from here in india like so many other countries around the world who are watching the situation as the minister of external affairs does say that he believes that airstrikes would be counterproductive and actually harm innocent civilians foreigners and diplomatic the communist party of india which is really powerful in the eastern portions and southern portions of the country actually released a press release not too long ago saying that they believe the main reason the

united states is interested in libya is for oil and they said that to support any sort of sanctions you are sponsored sanctions or airstrikes would essentially be promoting imperialism and they don't want to have anything to do with that so like the official word from the government of india they don't believe that any airstrike should happen in that especially if you compare these events to what happened in tunisia and egypt they believe the indian people should actually respect the libyans freedom fight is what they say. you are and your logic of it although they've been courses on lloyd. points let's go. home to find out what it's like to wake up because i just. feel so or you keep trying to lucille's footage of them both into libya as well as some exclusive images local into you to talk so much to see for yourselves.

thank. you japan has resumed its efforts to solve the tonic crisis at the from pursuing nuclear plant for the emissions of smoke the international atomic energy agency says the level of radiation is sixteen hundred times higher than normal site workers are trying to restore electricity and cool down the troubled reactors but there it is our monitoring of radiation in the seawater and environments around nuclear plant. residents of the engineers cited in supplied with bottled water after officials claimed tap water was contaminated. by the when it has been by the earth by some in japan history will repeat itself at least has been on the scars of nuclear disaster for most of his life as

a resident of nagasaki you sure he has had liver and kidney problems since he was thirty five and he's already beaten cancer twice every time you falls ill now epeat it could be his last battle. issue no watches events unfold at fukushima fearing the true nature of the disaster is yet to show itself so you are saying that the result of the contamination won't just end of the event it will be handed down from generation to generation i have four daughters the first to have leukemia another has breast cancer the results of a disaster will be shown and generations to come. you should know was just eleven when the bomb was dropped he survived the blast but was exposed to lethal levels of radiation on his two trips to the hypocenter first to find his father then to bury him despite everything he's pro-nuclear power but still think. it's the

wife thing to do him so then the i don't think the public all the government are overreacting in this situation i think people must take all precautionary measures they can to avoid the worst for. the nygard psyche the stands today had to be built from scratch eleven square kilometers were reduced to dust a cloud of its tragic past still hangs over the city it's a residence though know what it means to suffer and are willing to help those in need members of the international volunteer organization the lion's club here collecting for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami everyone's desperate to give with donations already ten times higher than normal we have a custom something happens in our nation we collect donations and we help each other especially the people on motorcycles who are very sensitive to a comic power so we are very worried about what happened. and we want to help in.

every way it sounded like a sack it is a morial for the seventy five thousand it died when the comic bomb was dropped here this one mark that exact moment now the city will forever serve as a reminder. the struck the potential of a power and there is here now praying that well remembered in the same way. transformation has been remarkable ground zero is unrecognizable the city would escape any radiation from a meltdown at fukushima but there is a nuclear plant close by and the incident has left residents living in fear. but we've never experienced such a devastating nuclear accident before and i think everyone is now free this could happen again i wasn't afraid of nuclear accidents before but now it is a can see it's not under control. after bennett's art see.

what's happening at the nuclear plant of one of russia's the atomic scientists. on the program but. you certainly know a country reporter every day by day changing every detail japan's atomic interest roof has been providing a rather detailed table of huge blocks of it's hard to judge its truth was not because they're not but rather because they may not know with all my background radiation limits the work personnel can undertake. one million dollars for it is a bit of a chance of finding any for the survivors of the earthquake aslant the tsunami that followed the more than one thousand people dead more than twelve thousand still missing it was for the latest of a signature on our website that's called. some

other news making headlines around the world. at least a dozen times since the yemeni capital after three polly committed has defected to join the two government protesters becomes a day off to present to the senate is a tonic. and it's going to grow has been met with a fierce crackdown in recent weeks with around fifty people killed by government forces in one day a room for two months now the opposition has been demanding that the president steps to help. at least seventeen people have been injured after a series of israeli air strikes in the gaza strip quarter to quarter still in hospital officials local sources say a number of targets such as with some training bases as well as a cement fracture in the workshop where hit israel has not commented on the attacks

over such actions are not common israeli rocket attacks so basically it's not recent months to stop the cease fire since the two thousand and one. the second round of presidential elections have taken place in haiti international observers have praised the process calling it one organized compared to the first round of november last year the final two candidates sort of pop singer and the former first lady preliminary results are expected by the end of the month when it will face the task of rebuilding a million homes lost on devastating earthquake in germany two thousand and. one. for the top of the business news now with not just off a short stay with us. thanks

for sticking with us here on r.t. i'm not trying to with a business update well prices are a state he weighed by uncertainty about demand from the world's number three consumer japan but persistent tensions in libya still give support to crude to add a list say tensions in the region may lead to further oil spikes but the short term there are no fundamental reasons why for the moment why prices should remain permanently high. they could go short. as high as you could think up in the woods you could even see the the heart of the with in two thousand eight. hundred are we going to see him i just like a new bit unless of course things go really can weeks tree scenario and we see

and libya's oil installations and sure go through a screen in price might be from the time from now on but a few months we just hope the system salutes seems to open the way who governs libya it's it's come true it just from lines will expose for it's who do it and lose there's no way we can afford to reduces all x. was significantly. taking a look now at how the markets are doing asian stocks on the rise tuesday japanese shares jumped around four per cent catching up with global markets after the week at the strong buy in came after several investors including warren buffett said japanese stock valuation turn attractive after last week's driven slump a weaker yen has given some support to export areas with oil to motors up nearly four percent in steel company j f t holdings up more than nine and a half percent but the biggest gains have been posted by the shares mostly hit by the nuclear crisis tokyo electric power which operates the damaged fukushima plant jumped around sixteen percent and to shiva which builds nuclear plants at

a twelve percent despite strong performance in europe russian stocks saw a relatively modest gains one day the market was consolidating after outperforming during preview the previous week the r.t.s. closed one percent up and i say point three percent oil related stocks are mostly in the black on stronger commodity prices. looking ahead to how the russian markets are likely to perform in the near future michael stein from old can each year believes equities here are still offering a good value. given the increase in risk aversion and the increase in mortality that we've seen that investors are more most likely going to take cues from what's happening with western markets with a focus on what's happening in japan and also what's with what's happening in libya about said the russian equities for me i'm very cheap specially given the elevated oil prices that we have out there we think in the medium term you're going to see a stronger performance in the oil gas sector which is going to benefit from forthcoming upward revisions to oil price forecasts and also. pending tax cuts for

form changes. and that's your business news you can catch me in the next hour and always find all the latest updates at r.t. dot com slash business.

for the. we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. more news today violence has once again flared up. and these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. today. and.

if. bryson. song from funds to. meet for instance on t.v. . and.