rebels are gaining on colonel gadhafi as they move closer to the libyan capital. several key oil town. but the international community now faces a whole host of new challenges as the rebels it supports begin if they were i'm going to say in the capital city of tripoli join me in a few moments. meanwhile moscow says the foreign intervention is a result of crimes against his own people but criticizing the coalition for recklessness as reports of more civilian deaths. and in other news this week hundreds of thousands marched on the streets of london in protest of massive cuts demonstrations also gripped the heart of the e.u. many angry at austerity at home he's being found for the libya intervention. in

japan it's reported that radiation levels are reaching a ten million times the norm in the water at the fukushima nuclear plant but the claims are now being denied by the authorities. here with the top stories of today the week welcome to the program 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 challenge from the forces meanwhile nato is ready to replace the u.s. senate leading the coalition's campaign. reports from. but later as word is that rebel fighters have taken over the strategically oil important port city of

ras lanuf now there is a major oil refinery there as well as a whole level went up 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 agita b.-a and brig are 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 turnaround in the fighting 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 take over 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 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 able fighters advance through the westwards 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're 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 and 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 in just how far back his military might has been diminished. this is why people here are suspecting that they could still be counterattacks by his forces in fact we're 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 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 from 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 is 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 eaters are having to grapple with the question of just how far they've prepared to go militarily in terms of protecting

civilians and opposing gadhafi and his might we are also hearing from rebel leaders that they've been promised a witness 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 as men so a lot of challenges to the international community at the moment a lot of questions being asked just what is its tactics moving forward certainly as we see that the rebel fighters are making advantages with words. reporting from a aaa now or from iraq to afghanistan now libya the us has added yet another country to its list of military campaigns with millions of dollars being spent on the operation every day it's american taxpayers who are footing the bill lawrence

to now try to find out whether the u.s. can actually afford this. 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 the environment from sea and air are skyrocketing the price of day one alone is more than one hundred million dollars then the first two hours say fired one hundred ten cruise missiles so 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.

and yet despite all this has moved to the helm of this international intervention but can the country forward 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 locked in that 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 really just 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 the. only the united states has emerged at the forefront so you have to wonder with so many costs at stake what is justifying this role for the us despite claims from the top of the humanitarian intervention people from the streets. oh our to the pundits

don't buy it the u.s. mission is to keep dasi from having any influence on oil prices peak 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 having those charges and destroying military equipment in in libya opens up markets for more american british and french arms sales in the world justifying perhaps for some who have benefited

a war that adds to the toll other conflicts have taken on the u.s. 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 will not only be broke but we have the rest of the world angry at us a price some believe is too high for america to pay lauren lyster r.t. new york. meantime a former british intelligence officer told us that the coalition is giving growing consideration to killing khadafi despite its claim that the libyan leader is not its august. i think there are a tangle as soon as the whole uprising began in libya because they really didn't know which side to back and which way to jump of course there colonel gadhafi had been a historic enemy of the west for many many decades and suddenly he'd been brought back into the international fold and there were lots of nice juicy oil contracts and business contracts flowing out of libya towards places like the u.s. the u.k.

france and italy so i think they're very torn for a long time and it's only really over the last weekend that they did a bit of a rush job to take the violence to the next stage and protect the rebels that they had been backing secretly for a couple of decades in the east of libya so i think the different aims from different countries different vested interests within libya of the different countries and also different histories are all playing a part in this in this model and it is interesting as we're looking at the sort of conflicting reports coming out of the u.k. particularly about the endgame where the military chief of defense is saying absolutely not we're not going to tap the capitated the libyan state we're not going to try to assassinate gadhafi and yet the government is trying to sort of hedge its bets on that front i think the temptation is going to get stronger and stronger certainly for the west the u.k. and france to try and get rid of gadhafi in an accident a bomb that goes off in the wrong place or something because of course they've made such a problem for themselves now even if they end up with a stalemate a war of attrition and particularly a partition situation between east in the west of libya then we have

a situation where gadhafi still has power now gadhafi is going to feel very betrayed by his ex best allies in the west of course because it's up to him over the last decade and gadhafi has experience and a track record and also has stated intentions of carrying out terrorist attacks in the future if he stays in power so i think the west really is in a position where it has to go for the end game of getting rid of gadhafi for regime change but of course that is highly illegal under all sorts of international laws and is specifically excluded from the u.n. resolution. president f. says of the u.n. backed military intervention in libya as a result of colonel gadhafi his crimes against his own people but he was also critical of the bombing saying that the no fly zone was meant to strengthen peace and the civilians should not be put at risk. 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 showed that any decisions of this kind should be accompanied by thorough consultations 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. and the russian prime minister vladimir putin says he's concerned by the number of civilian deaths in libya he believes foreign air forces have been it's who were reckless in their strikes. the impression is there's 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 how can it be you know well aiming to protect civilians such means are choosing to civilian death toll actually rises. to unions while the u.s. defense secretary was in moscow this week calling on the russian leadership to think about joining the military campaign in libya where moscow abstained from voting on the u.n. resolution which would lead to the no fly zone enforcement it ruled out getting involved in the coalition bombing robert gates short of president yet that major operations in libya would scale back within a few days it 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 promise to russia's concerns are being taken into account. pushed all our extensive online coverage helps to bring you up to date

with developments in libya twenty four seven you can check regular updates from our correspondents on the spot that's all to be found on our twitter and facebook pages of course you can also find all of our latest videos on artie's very own you tube channel. it's. just. quarter past the hour here in the russian capital you with art and 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 that demonstration against eighty

billion pounds worth of cuts was britain's biggest in years now there were hundreds of arrests as parts of the rally turned violent the windows of some shops and banks were smashed and doused with paint the demonstrators argue the proposed measures will destroy essential services and jobs but ministers insist they're necessary to reduce britain's deficit the u.k.'s outpouring of anger follows a week which saw similar protests in brussels as aussies 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 their this war there was made to. be useful social security. to be used for the health not just the banks so when

you bring that world first move to take ground because of the prison there goes across europe voters are saying no to move the measures portugal's prime minister quit off the poll but vote. down a fresh round of cuts because she has three months left to repay almost ten billion euro at a time when its sovereign credit rating has been caught analysts say the only option left is national default tolan does 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 postpone this necessary evil. the more costly it is it's 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 chancellor of 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 sights on the streets of the e.u. with government built tightening leaves growing numbers out of work the big question is now the right time to spend the money available on wars abroad the new bush or brussels and european parliament member nigel farage says that people across the continent have every right to feel angry over cuts at home or their governments are wasting vast 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 and 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 but to a very close but i also feel as portugal is about to topple over as the next eurozone country rich 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. with r.t. you can always find more news features and analysis on our website that's r.t. dot com here's a quick taste of what's waiting for you online right now. and the. 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 contests in the world over russia's capital takes over the posting of the figure skating world championship from earthquake stricken japan. about two weeks after that disaster the fallout at the fukushima nuclear plant is still a major concern reports claiming radiation in the water at reactor number two has soared to ten million times the normal level it's now being denied by the plant's

operators the news that led to emergency crews being immediately evacuated from the site of the battle to restore the facility to cooling systems has already seen three workers being exposed to dangerous radiation levels japan's and nuclear agency slammed the plant's operator for making a number of mistakes in dealing with the crisis fukushima four reactors were damaged by the massive tsunami that hit the country earlier this month which led to concerns of course of a nuclear catastrophe. the planet spoke to a man who knows firsthand what the consequences could be. leese man has borne the scars of nuclear disaster for most of his life as a resident of nagasaki your sherry in milwaukee 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 your shooter 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 and never has breast cancer but 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 or the government 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 its residents 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 of the nation that would 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 it sounded like a sack it is a memorial to the seventy five thousand died when the topic bomb was dropped here this one marks that exact moment now the city will forever serve as

a reminder of the destructive potential of nuclear power and there is here now praying that focusing or wherever in the same way now go 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. of a. people from nagasaki and hiroshima are very sensitive to the incident 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 and you can sit ins before but now because i can see it's not under control. this memorial represents the wall to crave by so many off 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 extends for generations to minutes. and

a sucky. now japan's government has the plans operators to be more transparent and provide better information about what's going on at fukushima and to do so more quickly experts say it's not the first time that facts about nuclear incidents have been intentionally concealed every single case where there have been nuclear accidents in japan and in the united states in the soviet union. all the places that have had crises with nuclear power the initial response has been to lie and cover up the seriousness of the problem so i don't know why this one would be any different and i would put zero stock in what official reports are and how serious it is how much radiation has been released what the dangers are the i.a.e.a. has a long long record of being a basically a tool of the nuclear industry in all the countries that have nuclear power the

i.a.e.a. has a major flaw which is that as an international body it basically answers to the government's. hold its purse strings and so it's very politically controlled organisation. it with r.t. live from the heart of the russian capital let's take a brief look now at some other international news making headlines this hour. so passes with police are continuing across syria activists are calling for nationwide unrest with tens of thousands marching across the country against the president least twelve people were killed. during demonstrations on saturday security forces and civilians all among them the government meantime blamed. for the bloodshed. palestinian militants have been killed and another injured by an israeli air strike in gaza it happened a day after hamas said it would agree to a cease fire with israel if attacks on gaza was stopped last week was marked by

increased violence with at least ten people including civilians and children killed by israeli attacks. and in the ivory coast the man a 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. that are said the candidate has personal links to incumbent leader but both a statement comes after thousands of by both supporters rallied in the capital over one million people have fled the country since the violence began after last november's election. and yemen's president and the ruling party are in talks with the opposition about a handover of power after two months of protests arly up to the us offer to step down later this year but protesters insist they want him to go now the result harder and after around fifty people were shot dead at an anti-government protest last week senior military and political figures have also abandoned their data.

well in just a few minutes here on r.t. we take a look at u.s. mining technique which is driving whole communities from their homes but first i'll be back to remind you of our top stories that's coming your way after a short. in

canada and the us today it is legal for you to give a bubble bath on your baby that contains a known carcinogen something that causes cancer most of the chances of motherhood independence day are sponsored but in this day and most of the guys they don't but clearly it's a conflict of interest today an average cancer drug prescription costs nearly one thousand six hundred dollars a month oh my god i'm a nobody with cancer in my five therefore i predict. because ninety two ninety five percent of cancers hurt people with funny history of cancer the pharmaceutical industry spends about fourteen percent of their budget on research and development and about thirty one percent for marketing and ministration. in fact there are more pharmaceutical industry lobbyists in washington d.c. and members of congress.

wealthy british style than most of us but i didn't write. them. and why.