ffs. rebels are gaining. as they move closer to the libyan capital. the international community now faces a host of new challenges as the rebels it supports begin. i'm twenty seven the capital city of tripoli join me in a few moments from all. foreign intervention is a result of. his own people but criticizes the coalition for recklessness as reports of more civilian deaths come through. and in other news this week hundreds of thousands marched on the streets of london in protest massive demonstrations

gripped the heart of the e.u. money. while the money for the libya intervention. and. radiation levels reach ten million times the norm in the. nuclear. the government people to leave the area. as we run down the top stories of today this week well libyan rebels are advancing west towards the capital tripoli after further gains in the east of the country they claim they've regained control of several strategic oil towns from the forces meanwhile nato is ready to replace the u.s. and leading the coalition's campaign let's cross live right now to tripoli and

speak to our. forces are now on the back tell us what are the latest gains by the rebels. his word is that rebel fighters have taken over the. the oil important port city of ras lanuf now there is a major oil refinery there as well as a whole lebaran full of oil pipelines what we are hearing is that the rebel fighters are combing the streets looking for gadhafi as man this one comes off to earlier wins in the towns of the bia and the brig there we've been told they could duffy's men abandoned their military vehicles and escaped in civilian cars there has almost been a hundred eighty degree turn around in the fighting in the last few hours in the last few days and both the coalition powers as well as the rebel leaders themselves are the first to admit that this is because of the a strikes and by the international community now the takeover is also important because it is the last city that the rebels are reclaiming off to this point they will essentially be on

the offensive and what we're hearing from the rebels is that they are now advancing towards the capital city of tripoli the next major city on the map is the city of sept this is some six hundred kilometers away from tripoli it is the hometown of the libyan leader moammar gadhafi and it is very much his strong support base so the questions that the international community now needs to grapple with is as the rebel fighters at vons through the waste words and as they clearly are on the offensive and as they clearly need those airstrikes is the international community going to come to their rescue and continue with their involvement this raises very real concerns as we hearing from the libyan government they're accusing the coalition powers of not actually being independent they say they taking sides and that they prolonging the action on the ground essentially they're accusing the coalition colors of bringing this country to the brink of civil war there are also questions being asked in london for example in terms of whether or not gadhafi is not going to do some kind of revenge tactics that we've been and we're hearing that he might go so far as to duplicate something like the lockerbie incident it's not

clear on the ground just how far back his forces have been pushed and just how far back his military might has been diminished and this is why people here are suspecting that they could. still the counter attacks by his forces in fact we've hearing by some of the residents in some of these towns that the rebel fighters have reclaimed that they are still very much afraid that they could be renewed fighting they also say that they don't trust these rebel fighters that much or as you say the rebels are making headway here that could be harder. and we know the coalition has been enforcing a no fly zone in libya for over a week now with the use of strike sort of tomahawk missiles that are with nato and next to work take control of the mission is this move winning support among libyans there on the ground. one amongst the libyans who support the death it certainly is not winning support they would much rather the international community remain out of what they say is their own internal affairs among the opposition fighters they

are very much aware of the tension between these nato leaders that are currently meeting in brussels the meeting that's underway at the moment is really to discuss whether or not nato will take full control of the whole operation but what we have been told is that some tonight sunday nato will be in command of inforcing the no fly zone and that this will be in place for around three months in terms of broadening the operation here we're hearing dissenting voices from countries like turkey they say that they want a very limited interpretation in terms of that u.n. resolution one nine seven three the resolution speaks about protecting civilians and nothing more and that is why nato leaders are having to grapple with the question of just how far they've prepared to go militarily in terms of predicting protecting civilians and opposing gadhafi and his might we're also hearing from able leaders that they've been promised weapons from a number of western countries they're not telling us exactly who promised these weapons and whether or not they've been delivered but certainly it is raising alarm bells in the international community because the rebel fighters themselves besides

being inexperienced and loosely organized have also shown that in the face of chaos they frequently and there is the very real threat that these weapons could land up in the hands of gadhafi so a lot of challenges to the international committee. at the moment a lot of questions being asked and just what is its tactics moving forward certainly as we see that the rebel fighters are making everyone says. paul it's interesting you talk about the dissenting voices against this western interference in libya we are hearing dissenting voices as you say in turkey for much of the arab world but also in the past few days in brussels and london with a massive protest against austerity cuts as the governments spend millions on these military actions on his policy in my country thank you. for the coalition maintains that kind of gadhafi himself is not a target and promises a quick and decisive campaign but international affairs analyst john allen thinks the allies are committed to regime change in libya and won't stop until they bring down i think they have gravely mistaken and i think that this escapade will end

in catastrophic failure and my fear is that the european leaders and the americans who have pushed this attack on libya think that a quick bit of bombing will sort the matter out but in fact i think they will find that it will last far longer than they have gambled for the british prime minister the french president the american administration these people who are so happy to let bombs fly on countries that almost at the drop of a hat they are determined to get the outcome they want which is the overthrow of colonel gadhafi of libya so it will make the task the disagreements and the the discordant voices that are now coming out of both within western states and also in the arab league these will indeed make it very difficult to continue the war but i'm afraid they won't let go now that they've started. while american bombs pound libya iraq obama says the u.s. quote should not and cannot intervene every time as a crisis somewhere in the world even so every american president since ronald reagan who also bombed gadhafi has weighed in on at least one military conflict

christine. it's become an unspoken identity the job description. become president of the united states. declare war my fellow americans my fellow citizens for president ronald reagan in one thousand nine hundred eighty six a familiar attack on a familiar enemy despite our repeated warnings gadhafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation is relentless pursuit of terror he counted on america to be passive he counted wrong turns out so did saddam hussein just two hours ago allied air forces began an attack on military targets in iraq in kuwait for his successor president clinton the target was slobodan milosevic today our armed forces joined our nato allies and air strikes against serbian forces responsible

for the brutality in kosovo president george w. bush said it was weapons of mass destruction that threaten the world and invaded iraq in what was supposed to be a quick and limited campaign on my orders coalition forces have begun striking selective targets some military importance to undermine saddam hussein's ability to wage war most thought it would end there with president obama running on an anti-war platform he has spent most of his presidency trying to end the wars started by his predecessor until now the u.n. security council passed a strong resolution that demands an end to the violence against citizens. it authorizes the use of force in the timeline of recent history there have been some glaring similarities when it comes to the use of force by u.s. presidents none have been in response to a military attack or even threat of an attack on u.s. soil and none have ever been formally declared wars we had to protect thousands of

innocent people in kosovo from a mounting military offensive we are determined to knock out sat on hussein's nuclear bomb potential we will also destroy his chemical weapons facilities self defense is not only our right it is our duty the definition of duty often changing the result eerily parallel thank you god bless you. god. thank you very much christine for r t. president with a view that says that the u.n. back to military intervention in libya is a result of colonel gadhafi as crimes against his own people but he was also critical of the bombing saying the no fly zone was meant to strength and peace and that civilians should not be put at risk. just that everything that's happening in libya is a result of the shameful behavior of its government and the crimes against their own people we shouldn't forget that everything else is just a consequence of that we supported one of the un security council resolutions and

allowed the other resolution to go through this was done consciously to prevent the escalation of violence but still the events that followed show that any decisions of this kind should be accompanied by thorough consultations for as well as remembering that the use of force should be proportionate to what is happening the fact that as a result of these actions of ilion targets were damaged and according to unconfirmed reports that innocent people have died shows that states taking part in the military strikes have achieved that i hope that as a result of coordinated actions by the international community there will be peace on libyan soil and full measures will be taken to prevent the conflict from spreading into africa and other states. while russian prime minister vladimir putin's says that he's concerned by the number of civilian deaths in libya he believes foreign air forces have been a reckless in their actions. the impression is that there is a civil war going on in libya the proposal of a no fly zone was aimed at preventing gadhafi from firing at his opponents and so

protect civilians such a decision applied to a sovereign state is a difficult one but the aim was well intentioned but what are we seeing now that airstrikes on the entire territory of the country and how can it be you know well aiming to protect civilians such means are chose lethal to civilian death toll actually rises. to unit in the city while the u.s. defense secretary was in moscow this week he was calling on the russian leadership to think about joining the military campaign in libya or the moscow abstained from voting on the u.n. resolution which led to the no fly zone foresman it ruled out getting involved in the coalition bombing robert gates assured president where their major operations in libya would scale back within a few days wasn't the only military issue which came up missile defense in europe was also discussed moscow wants an equal partnership in the project saying any other option would be a threat to its own security is a promise to russia's concerns are being taken into account. well our extensive

online coverage helps to bring you up to date with the developments in libya twenty four hours a day you can check out our regular updates from our correspondents on the spot that's or through our twitter and facebook pages but also find all the latest videos on our teens a very on you tube channel. live from moscow now a quarter of a million protesters took to the streets of london on saturday to voice anger over

the government's plan to slash public spending the demonstration against eighty billion pounds of cuts was britain's biggest in years there were hundreds of arrests as parts of the rally violent the windows of some shops on the banks were smashed and doused with paint the demonstrators argue that the proposed measures will destroy essential services aren't jobs of ministers and sister necessary to reduce britain's huge deficit but outpouring of anger follows a week which saw similar intense protests in brussels as artie's daniel bushell reports. no more layoffs no to pay cuts no retirement the message from angry demonstrators pushed back with water cannon and pepper sprayed by riot police the protesters tried to get through to e.u. leaders meeting in brussels to slash spending this money was made. to be used for social security. to be used for their health not joke the badge so when

you're a new you know that world's worst move to take brand because of the prisoners there goes across europe voters are saying no to more spirity measures portugal's prime minister quit after parliament voted down a fresh round of cuts because he has three months left to repay almost ten billion euros at a time when its sovereign credit rating has been caught analysts say the only option left is national default to tell lenders the country called pay back its loans or accept an e.u. bailout similar to greece and ireland it hasn't happened in the west since the second world war but the longer you respond this necessary evil. the more costly it is is going to be at the same time military intervention in libya is costing hundreds of millions of euros many a furious so what they see as an unnecessary and expensive campaign somebody asked

the. finance minister about the financing of this and i think the overwhelming sense that you got from among the public in britain with skepticism with millions unemployed across europe people losing patience with politicians who seem out of touch with reality increasingly familiar sides on the streets of the e.u. with government belt tightening leaves growing numbers well to work it begs the question is now the right time to spend the money available on wars abroad don't you wish you all. brussels. european parliament member nigel farage says that people across the continent have every right to feel angry over cuts at home while their governments waste huge amounts of money abroad we've had british troops on the ground in afghanistan now for over ten years i don't think there's any appetite for us getting involved in foreign wars where we cannot directly see our own national interest being threatened and where frankly if we go in to support the

rebels we don't even know who they are or what they stand for or what they want i don't think anybody has thought this through and if they are going to put ground troops in that i think they're going to find in all the member states involved in this a real strong level of opposition when people see cuts in front line services for whatever reasons when people see their retirement age is going up when people see the taxes both direct and indirect they're paying going up they have a right to question what on earth are we doing getting involved in an open ended commitment in terms of war with libya that could cost us goodness knows what else i do think that to a very close but i also feel as portugal is about to topple over as the next eurozone country writ requiring a bailout that that is actually going to cost each british taxpayer about four hundred pounds and that actually the biggest effect on our pockets this week wasn't the chancellor's budget but it was the fact that the portuguese government fell and

they're about to be bailed out so i think people have every reason to be pretty angry that they see their own costs at home going up their services being cut a money being thrown overseas in all sorts of projects that they wouldn't necessarily support. you're with r.t. and you'll find more news features and analysis on our website that's r.t. dot com let's have a quick look now and see what's waiting for you on line at the moment and their candidate for mayor causes outrage in the u.s. state of florida over his past as a former grand dragon of the ku klux klan. and one of the most elegant sporting championships in the world glides over to moscow russia's capital takes over hosting of the figure skating world championship from earthquake stricken japan. while two weeks after the disaster fallout of the fukushima nuclear plant is still a major concern with radiation in the water at the reactor number two soaring to

ten million times the normal level a high concentration of radioactive iodine has also been detected in the sea near the plant now authorities confirm that the leakage is from one of the reactors though it's not yet clear which won the battle to restore the facility its cooling systems has already seen three workers being exposed to dangerous substances japan's nuclear agency slammed the plant's operator for making a number of mistakes in dealing with the crisis. four reactors were damaged by the massive tsunami that hit the country earlier this month which led to concerns of a nuclear catastrophe. bennett spoke to a man who knows firsthand what the consequences could be. lease man has borne the scars of nuclear disaster for most of his life as a resident of nagasaki you sure am a walk he has had liver and kidney problems since he was thirty five and he's already beaten cancer twice every time he falls ill now he feels it could be his

last battle. you sure are watches events unfold at fukushima hearing the true nature of the disaster is yet to show itself so you will find that the result of the contamination won't just end off 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 in 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 thinks fleeing from fukushima is the wise thing to do so then the i don't think the public all the governments are overreacting in this situation i think people must take all precautionary measures they can to avoid the worst for the rest of the nygard

psyche the stands today had to be built from scratch eleven square kilometers were jews to dust the cloud of its tragic past still hangs over the city into 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're calling the nation and we help each other especially the people and i guess i can be very very sensitive to atomic power so we are very worried about what happened. and we want to help in. every way of turning like a sack it is a memorial to the seventy five thousand died when the atomic bomb was dropped here

this one marks that exact moment now the city will forever serve as a reminder of the destructive potential of the power and there is here now praying that focus well wherever in the same way niggas psyche's 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 nothing. people from nagasaki and hiroshima are very sensitive to the incident in fukushima 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 because i can see it's not under control. this memorial represents the water crave by so many after the explosion the basin's tranquility a far cry from the destruction wrought by the tsunami once that has done its damage

this place reminds us the ripples from a radioactive disaster extend for generations after bennett's r.t. and a sucky. japan authorities are trying to calm the nation's nuclear crisis saying the levels of radioactive materials are pose no immediate danger to health but experts say there's no such thing as an harmful radiation. unfortunately there is no safe level of artificial radiation in terms of its risk to humans if exposed to that radiation the international commission for a lot of protests shouldn't declares as much now that's not our adekunle organization it's relatively pretty clear but there is no sea threshold variation of course long lived region exposure increases the chances that you will develop cancer i mean one of the examples i think the particular levels they're talking about and i had. in the city water and also was found in tap water in tokyo that has a relatively short half life so within about eight days you're losing half of the

radioactivity but some of the region in places that have been talked about will be being released into the environment we've heard of cesium one three seven that's around thirty years before it loses half its reader activity is a huge problem in terms of long term cancer risk but even otherwise tools such as petroleum which almost certainly there are some plutonium entering the environment from these reactors that's a twenty four and a half thousand your half life so the long term health risks from this accident for the people of japan are truly horrendous. well you with let's have a look at some other international news now making headlines around the world at this hour anti-government protests and clashes with police opened a new wing across syria activists are calling for nationwide. tens of thousands marching across the country against the president at least two people were killed by security. during demonstrations on saturday the government blames for the bloodshed and civilian deaths. with all eyes on libya two palestinian militants

have been killed by an israeli air strike in gaza another has been injured it happened a day after hamas said it would agree to a cease fire with israel if the attacks on gaza were stopped last week was marked by increased violence with at least ten people including civilians and children being killed in israeli attacks. and in the ivory coast the man the widely considered to have won the country's disputed presidential elections has rejected the mediator chosen by the african union to steer the country away from civil war. said the candidate has personal links to incumbent leader but both are state when it comes after thousands of supporters rallied in the capital over one million people so far fled the country since the violent clashes began. yemen's president and the ruling party are in talks with the opposition over a handover of power after two months of protests. to step down later this

year but the protesters insist they want him to step down now there was after around fifty people were shot dead in government protests last week senior military political figures have abandoned their leader. russian energy giant says it will defend its alliance with b.p. to pursue its arctic exploration project that's despite a swedish court ruling earlier this week that block the deal between the two oil companies the proposed. b.p. is a russian based partners who said it would destroy their competitive advantage but both. say they'll be still be looking for ways to maintain the partnership multibillion dollar swap was signed in january to exploit the potentially huge deposits of oil and gas in russia's arctic shelf. i was just in

a few moments here on ars he will be discussing what's behind islamophobia in the united states but i'll be back with the latest headlines on a recap of the week and just a few moments to stay with us. the . first tree removal called clear cut. second explosives are used to plans to go deeper than the jurors. heard the remainder

written by machinery. finally the fund wanted soil is deposited in vallecito. on a. wealthy british style sign some time to. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report. download the official altie how to keisha to go on.

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