rebels are closing in on colonel gadhafi as they press towards the libyan capital after reclaiming several key oil town in the east labels advanced weapons lightning speed across eastern libya stating the stage by final showdown between pro and anti could have people says. meanwhile moscow says the foreign strikes a result of gadhafi is crimes against his own people criticizes the coalition forces for recklessness over civilian casualties. also in the news this week hundreds of thousands of britons marched in london in rage over huge cuts the protests also gripped the e.u. as many are angry cash flows in to them to be able. the

operator of the fukushima nuclear plant apologizes for new reports that radiation levels reached ten million times the norm the false claims led to the immediate withdrawal of emergency teams. with a look back at the week's top stories and the latest developments this is our live in moscow libyan rebels are advancing west towards the capital tripoli after further gains in the east of the country they claim they've won back control of several strategic towns from the forces meanwhile nato is ready to replace the u.s. and leading the coalition's campaign. has the latest now from tripoli. pryde most of sunday we saw these rebel fighters advancing with almost and lightning speed westwards through eastern libya they're now in the town of the bin jawad which is

about a two hour drive from the city of sets and the reason why set is important is that this is the hometown of the libyan leader moammar gadhafi is where it is where he has his major supporter base now we know that the rebels along the way encountered very initial resistance this is partly because they were driving through the desert and also because we're hearing that gadhafi forces were treated to set a hit of this rebel advancement of the soldiers simply abandoned their military equipment along the sides of the road so the focal point now will be on sirte when those rebels reach said we are expecting that they will be a major showdown between the pro and anti kadafi forces and this is where the role of the international community becomes so critical because we are hearing the rebel fighters pour on the coalition partners to continue with the airstrikes on sirte which they have been doing for several days now and to continue to give them a power whether or not the international community decides to go forward with this is one of the decisions we are waiting to hear from the meeting that is currently underway by nato leaders in brussels now the other focal point we've been watching

throughout the course of the day is the city of misrata in western libya this is a city that is firmly in the hands of gadhafi is made and it has been for several days now the rebels simply on able to take over there and they are today calling on the international community to assist them with more a strikes the libyans who support moammar gadhafi are against any kind of international involvement and they are at his word by the fact that these nato members are meeting to discuss the way forward as for the rebel fighters themselves it does seem to alarm bells because now you will have a much broader coalition calling the shots the latest word we have is that the native leaders who are meeting in brussels and who are discussing the way to actually move forward they're essentially looking at taking over the full leadership of the military operations from the coalition of the british the french and the ameri. because on sunday morning there was a military committee meeting of nato members held and the decision from that meeting was that they would go forward with the overall you to ship they seem to be

discussed of their meeting the nuts and bolts the military command he would be in charge and that is what has been put forward to this enlarged and nato meeting so what they're really looking for there is some kind of consensus the significance of this is that what we've seen until now is almost two parallel operations these operations will not be brought together under one umbrella and those parallel operations are on the one hand under the leadership of nato the enforcement of a no fly zone and the enforcement of an arms embargo and under the leadership of the americans we've been seeing the targeting of ground forces including the japanese soldiers and tanks so essentially those will not be false and one umbrella the sticking point at this meeting by nato members is of course the rules of engagement just how far can the international community go in terms of involving itself in what is happening on the ground and here the questions of civilian casualties making sure that civilians are not injured or killed in any kind of international action is what is being discussed on the table we know that the

french are very much against nato taking over control of this whole operation and we know too that turkey would very much see this operation be very limited in terms of its scope it would rather just have the international community's involvement being that of enforcing the no fly zone and nothing more than that the latest news we have though is that the command and control center will not be based in western turkey in the town of izmir we also know now that once this whole operation is enlarged it will not be up to one country to say when where and if and a strike must take place that will not meet this broad consensus what is important though about those nato enlargement and nato taking control of the full military operations here is that it certainly will send a message to the arab world and it will be much more tasteful for arab countries to be able to come to the party in terms of the mission. under the nato either ship in mind that is and if the american leadership there is a summit that has been planned on tuesday in london the contribution of the arab

world will be much more discussed in terms of what they bring to the party we're also hearing that the italians are proposing and immediate cease fire and the establishment of humanitarian corridor also that she will be clarified at this meeting on tuesday in london. in tripoli well for more on the situation in libya i can now talk to return see he's author and journalist joining me live from london good to see you. indeed thanks so much. with nato due to take control of the operation in libya many countries are saying the campaign has gone too far but to what degree should international forces get involved in order to protect civilians well they say it's a nato operation turkey is expressing a lot of reservations as to whether it's gone too far i think we can bet that there are already and other forces on the ground and as for the nato european compared to u.s. led in terms of this mission i think it's absurd the united states of course is still

behind it even though robert gates and so on. a lot of reservations about it but i think another aspect of this and we know the fighting is going on and the bombing is going on the other aspect of this is that there are reports here that depleted uranium is being used and when the americans use that ten years later years later. to be discovered five times the normal rate let's hope that that's not another consequence of this or whatever military action being taken the u.s. defense secretary robert gates says that this international action we're seeing now appears to be achieving success and we're reporting now that the rebels are indeed gaining ground so he is right this initiative is actually working isn't it. but how is it working and who is it working for it's very interesting that of course there were five abstentions for u.n. resolution nine hundred seventy three the russian prime minister and president making sounds about this mission beijing being a bit more wary and would have to the african union we just don't care about them

because they unanimously didn't want what is going on now as for the arab league very very iffy support for this although but they also you know as well the arab league that is significant the fact that they are supporting this action and endorsing what nato is going to carry on doing and completing the military action taking over the command of the military action they are supporting that. well it's a win win isn't it because the autocrats who are in power the dictators who are in the arab league can now blame the protests in their own countries zionist american conspiracy is because after all didn't they come to help the protests in libya also they get to topple a dictator that hasn't been good to them because he's always looked to africa but what do you make of the slight wobble we saw a little earlier from the arab league. last week we're getting mixed messages from them aren't we at the moment. when we suddenly wanted it both ways you won't see

any or egyptian help for this nature operate on a tool i think that that question needs to be answered by all these nato leaders are meeting in london here on tuesday the foreign secretaries foreign ministers of these countries why do you think it is here in egypt are not involved because they see a great danger of western powers trying to get involved with this oil rich nation because let's face it a lot of spoils to be won and all those tanks and all those military equipment will need to be sold or whatever wins in the future we can talk about that later and of course those all important oil supplies one of a million barrels of oil a day let's talk about the future now the endgame to all of this if gadhafi is removed what next how likely is it that we will actually see a smooth transition to a democratic state. i think there's no doubt the western powers want a strong man in power so that the oil resources and oil contracts and military contracts and serve what can be arranged the way the western powers of the big multinationals want them to be also good afy put

a lot of investment in african countries i'm sure the petro dollars will be much more appreciate you don't equity markets and wall street and the city of london and frankfurt because the endgame is not not some amazing democratic outcome if they want to nationalize the oil keep the oil nationalized and renee go on existing contracts libya a very complicated country different tribes held together to communities in the east and west. what happens then i think serious questions have to be honest i'm sure that there are people on the ground in the coalition from western agencies already planning the future and what the future government will be i fear it won't get the got to democracy that we saw in the natural revolutions as it were in tunis here in egypt we finally look at the wider region now what's happening beyond that libya yemen syria and bahrain obviously we're seeing instability there but we are

seeing consider two gestures from the leaders promising reform and extra freedom for its people or their people is that too little too late after we've seen the yemen president saying he will step down but what is the situation in those countries do you think since that what we're seeing in libya. exame believable that the united states supported president saleh when he was so close to al qaeda all those times they they trained british and american troops trained yemeni forces to kill off shares in the northwest of yemen as for other countries bahrain you won't get much news about that in many of the media because of course the fifth fleet is there and saudi troops are now occupying in bahrain and now as i said order kratz dictators they can all say we have to crack down on these protests because look the americans along with no doubt the israelis will have their own agents among the protesters and they can now use that is this mission in libya the west will learn

to live the consequences for years to come whether it be increased levels of militancy hijackings and so forth and it's a grave mistake actually returned see good to hear your view of the events there in libya and beyond thanks very much indeed for joining us live here on r.t. . well russia says a u.n. backed military intervention in libya is a result of colonel gadhafi is crimes against his own people but president dmitry medvedev also criticized the coalition bombing saying the no fly zone was meant to strengthen peace in that civilians should not be put at risk. 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 consultation 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 even in targets were damaged and according to unconfirmed reports innocent people have died shows that states taking part in the military strikes have achieved 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 the behavior as foreign air forces are being too reckless in their actions. there's a civil war going on in libya the proposal of a no fly zone was aimed at preventing gadhafi from firing it is appalling 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 it on the entire territory of the country how can it be aiming to protect civilians such

means or choice to civilian death toll actually rises. the u.s. defense secretary was in moscow this week calling on the russian leadership to think about joining the military campaign in libya and although moscow abstained from voting on the u.n. resolution which led to the no fly zone enforcement it ruled out getting involved in the coalition bombing robert gates assured president that major operations in libya would scale back within a few days it wasn't the only really treat your shoe which came up missile defense in europe was also discussed in moscow wants an equal partnership in the project saying it any other option would be a threat to its own security gates promised russia's concerns are being taken into account. when extensive online coverage helps to bring you up to date with the developments there in libya twenty four hours a day you can check out regular updates from our correspondents on the spots that's all on our twitter and facebook pages and you also find all the latest videos on our you tube channel.

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 across the rally turned violent hundreds of shops and banks were smashed and danced with paint the demonstrators argue the proposed measures will destroy essential services and jobs and this is insist they're necessary to choose britain's huge deficit outpouring of anger follows a week which saw similar intense protests in brussels as. reports.

no more layoffs no to pay cuts no retirement the message from angry demonstrators pushed back with water cannons 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 the health not the bank so when you bring in the tall chose to take ground because of the prison there goes across europe voters are saying no thirty measures portugal's prime minister quit of the poll but voted down a fresh round of cuts because he has three months left to repay almost ten billion euro at a time when its sovereign credit rating has been called. the only option left is

national default. toland is 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 of furious 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 well to work the big question is now the right time to spend the money available on wars abroad the new

bush or auty brussels. european parliament member nigel farage says people across the continent have every right to feel angry over cuts at home while their governments waste 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 organization 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 those goodness knows what else i do think but to a very close to me 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 chance of this 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. for more news features and analysis on our website that's r.t. dot com here's a taste of what's online there at the moment for the kind of the mayor causes outrage in the u.s. state of florida over his past as a former grand dragon of the ku klux klan. one of the most elegant sporting contest

in the world glides over to moscow russia's capital takes over the hosting of the figure skating world championships from earthquake stricken japan. and driving ambition the first russian in the history of formula one takes his place on the podium after finishing third for all the details on our website and also in our sports update with human interest thirty minutes from now. to japan and the focus plant operator has apologized for reporting a huge radiation spike at the facility tepco said earlier claims that the radiation in the water at reactor number two had soared to ten million times the normal level a mistake while that news led to emergency crews being immediately evacuated from the site japan's nuclear agency slammed go for making a number of mistakes in dealing with the crisis and fukushima's four reactors were damaged by the massive tsunami that hit the country earlier this month which led to concerns of a nuclear catastrophe a battle to restore the facilities cooling systems a c three workers being exposed

to dangerous radiation levels lottie's i've been exposed to a man who knows firsthand what the consequences of a meltdown could be. this man has borne the scars of a nuclear disaster for most of his life as a resident of nagasaki. 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 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 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 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 niagara 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 of 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 more than money 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 it being a power and there is here now praying that focus shaimaa 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 healthy. people in 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 never 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 craved by so many after the explosion the basin's tranquility a far cry from the destruction wrought by the tsunami 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 sucker. for japan's authorities are trying to calm the nation's nuclear crisis saying the levels of radioactive materials pose no immediate danger to health but experts say there's no such thing as unhealthful 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 protection declares as much now that's not over and tickle organization

control simply prove nuclear but there is no c threshold for radiation of course long live radiation region exposure increase the chances that you will develop cancer in one of the samples i think the particular levels they're talking about and i had this in the city water else 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 reader claims 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 other eyes such as plutonium which almost certainly there's some plutonium entering the environment from these reactors that's a twenty four and a half thousand your heart flight so the long term health risks from this accident for the people who are truly horrendous. well let's have

a look at some other international news making headlines this hour in our world update syrian activists are calling for nationwide unrest with tens of thousands marching across the country troops have been deployed in the city of latakia to restore calm after twelve people were killed during demonstrations on saturday the government blames gangs for the bloodshed the president is expected to address the nation soon and lift an emergency law in place for almost fifty years. palestinian militants have been killed and another was injured by an israeli air strike in gaza it happened a day after hamas said it would agree a ceasefire with israel if attacks on gaza were stopped. by increased violence with at least ten people including civilians and children killed by israeli attacks. in ivory coast the man 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. the candidate whose personal links to be incumbent leader laurent gbagbo statement comes after thousands of supporters rallied in the capital over one million people have fled the country since violence

last november's election. but russian energy giant says it will defend its alliance with b.p. to pursue its exploration project despite a swedish court ruling earlier this week to block the deal between the two while companies we propose share swap the piece of russian based partners who said it would destroy their competitive advantage by b.p. and say they'll still be looking for ways to maintain a partnership a multi-billion dollar share swap with sun in january to exploit the potential for huge deposits of oil and gas in russia's arctic show. to bring it up to date for the moment in a few minutes from now we'll be discussing what's behind islamophobia in the united states but first i'll be back with a recap of our top stories that's after a short break stay with us life here in moscow.

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