IS IT NOW TOO LATE FOR LIBYA AS GADDAFI'S FORCES CLOSE IN ON REBELS IN BENGHAZI

Has the international community left it too late to act on the continuing crisis in Libya?

Gaddafi's army bolstered with African mercenaries have been trying to recapture areas of the country held by rebels pushing for democracy in the country.

Gaddafi's forces are converging on the rebel strong hold of Benghazi as what can only be described as a civil war takes its grip on the Libyan people.

Hope and time is increasingly running out, we have reached a point where it is probably even too late to now act.

But we are involved.

We became involved the minute we called for Gaddafi to step down.

The calls were a sign that we were backing the rebels' cause, yet we have left them to face their ghastly and bloody fate.

The failure of a cohesive response to protect the lives of those standing for democracy is shameful.

Europe has been rendered useless in the face of any diplomatic crisis.

The UN has proved to have no interest in protecting the rights of those who stand for democracy, as permanent members of the security council like Russia and China (which are clearly 'glowing beacon of democracy') are against the idea of enforcing now fly zones.

The US has shown that it is no longer the leading global player in foreign affairs.

President Barack Obama has continued to take a back seat confusing leaders of the UK and France as they wait for a decisive line from the White House.

Prime Minister David Cameron is clearly increasingly frustrated with the President having joined forces with France and Lebanon to push for intervention.

But waiting for Obama to act on Libya has been like waiting for rain to fall in the desert.

Put simply, the wasted time spent waiting for some sort of action from the US has cost lives.

LIFE IS PRECIOUS BUT WILL WE HELP OUT THOESE IN LIBYA

I had been planning to write this entry about the plight of Libya on Thursday night before the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

As the pictures from Japan started to come in following the massive earthquake and devastating tsunami, I, like the rest of the media world, moved my attention away from the state of Libya.

The catastrophic scale of the damage and destruction caused by less then three minutes of platonic movement off the coast of Japan shows the fragility of human life.

The tsunami that has plunged a country into a state of desperate emergency should remind us this.

This takes me back to Libya.

The nervousness of the global community to intervene in the developing struggle will surely bring mass killings to the deserts of Libya as Colonel Gaddafi seeks revenge against the rebels.

Gaddafi has been holding back from using force to how the international community will act, and so far nothing but a few feeble words have come about.

On Friday, the EU agreed that a stronger stance was needed, and today the Arab League backed the idea of a no fly zone.

But the problem is the UN has failed to act to save precious lives.

Gaddafi will no doubt now try to squash those who protested against his rule. The rebels are now in fear for their lives and as stated by the BBC journalist captured and tortured this week.

There will be a heavy price to pay for trying to gain democracy.

The United Nations was established to help keep peace.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is intended to value the lives of those who seek freedom.

Our failure to act together in a way that the UN was originally designed for has enabled the crisis to turn into a massacre before our eyes.

MASSIVE JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE SETS OFF PACIFIC TSUNAMI

A huge tsunami is making its way across the Pacific after a mega earthquake struck off the coast of Japan.

The Red Cross estimates that the waves making their way across the ocean are higher than some Pacific islands.

The quake with a magnitude of 8.9 struck off the northeast coast of Japan at 2.46pm local time.

Reports say that there were 12 powerful aftershocks, seven of them at least 6.3 (the size of the recent New Zealand earthquake last month).

Tokyo, 240 miles away from the epicentre, felt the quake as buildings shook violently.

Worker Osamu Akiya, 46, was in his office in Tokyo when the quake hit.

'I've been through many earthquakes, but I've never felt anything like this,' he said.

Dramatic pictures of vast bodies of water washing away cars and boats show the force of the tremors.

A fire broke out at a nuclear plant in northeast of the country.

The country's bullet train service has been suspended and motorway networks have been affected.

It will be a tense 24 hours in Japan and countries around the Pacific as the tsunami moves across the ocean.

Live news feed from BBC News here.

Pictures of the quake aftermath here.

BARAK OBAMA CANNOT CONTINUE TO TAKE A BACK SEAT IN THE 'SPRING AWAKENING' PROTESTS

WHAT has Nobel Peace Prize winner President Barak Obama been doing to help the people of Libya?

It is estimated that more than 2,000 people have died in the protests against Col Muammar Gaddafi and for the most part there has been little intervention from the global community.

The US President and leader of the free world won the peace prize in 2009 for extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.

It was a little premature when awarded and Obama himself acknowledged this saying it was his: 'call to action', but there seems to have been little action so far.

He appears to have taken the option of riding in the back seat with regards to the revolution and protesters demanding regime change in the Arab world.

Being one step behind diplomatically in the 'spring awakening' was starting to develop into a pattern.

It is clear that the President is haunted by the 'ghost of foreign policy past'.

He would not want to be seen to repeat George Bush's bloody enforcement of democracy in the Middle East.

But he should at least be a pillar of strength for protesters and modernisers in the region.

David Cameron also anxious of not wanting to act in a way too similar to Tony Blair has been slow off the mark to act.

However, in a statement to the House of Commons today Cameron said: ' Britain is taking a lead'.

The PM spoke of how British representatives secured a UN Security Council Resolution at the weekend which: 'condemns Gaddafi’s actions, and imposes a travel ban and assets freeze on those at the top of his murderous regime.'

Cameron has acknowledged that the free world needs to act.

He said that the UK is working on plans for a no-fly zone over Libya.

It is clearly difficult to find the right balance whether to take action or leave events to unfold, but when a mad dictator turns on his people with live bullets and airstrike the international community must act.

HISTORIC DAY FOR EGYPT AS MUBARAK STEPS DOWN

AN HISTORIC day today in Egypt as the President Hosni Mubarak has resigned as leader.

After three weeks of public protests on the streets of the capital Cairo and in a number of other cities including Alexandria, the Vice President tonight announced that Mubarak had stepped down.

The country is now in control of the armed forces.

In just 18 days the people of Egypt have managed to overturn a government that has been in place for over 30 years.

It is reported that more than 1million took part in the protests today after Mubarak insisted that he would not step down.

The demonstrations followed events in Tunisia three weeks ago, where President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was forced out of power after mass demonstrations in the country's capital.

One of the most populated countries in the Middle East region, Egypt is entering a new era.

Will democracy finally take seed, with free elections? – At the moment it is too early to tell.

The events could be a beacon for democracy in the Arab world.

But the most important message they send to the world is that if enough people stand together united against repressive regimes or social injustices there is hope that change for the better can happen.

THE DAY OF THE LONG AXE

TODAY, Chancellor George Osborne announced the biggest cuts to public spending for over a generation.

In a spending review, intended to reduce the country’s budget deficit, Osborne announced plans to bring down government spending and cut most departmental budgets over a period of four years.

The cuts over four years amount to roughly £821n.

The biggest hit will be to the welfare bill. Welfare is to be cut by £7bn a year with sweeping changes being made to unemployment and out of work disability benefits.

The police and local council budgets will be substantially cut leading to concerns over local services.

The police will have annual budgets cut by 4% each year, however Osborne and Home Secretary Teresa May insist that the cuts will not lead to few bobbies on the beat.

Health has managed to escape from the cuts, with spending expected to reach £114bn to reach by 2014/15.

However the NHS is expected to make £20bn worth of savings, by cutting out administration and other cost cutting measures.

The public sector is expected to shed half a million jobs over the next four years and the Tory/Lib Dem coalition expects the private sector to be able to mop up the casualties.

How this will work has not been explained.

Labour Shadow Chancellor, Alan Johnson called the spending review a "reckless gamble with people's livelihoods" which risked "stifling the fragile recovery".

Johnson also accused minsters of "throwing people out of work".

According to the Chancellor the cuts were guided by fairness, reform and growth.

However it looks as those the poorest may end up feeling the force of the cuts compared to the wealthiest in the country.

With job cuts in the public sector, cuts to frontline services and little punishment for the bankers who got the economy into the mess in the first place, fairness fails to shine through the review.

Full article can be read here: http://bit.ly/8XFzwl

THE BIG EXIT

DAVID Miliband has this afternoon announced that he will not stand for re-election to the Shadow Cabinet.

After days of speculation since the shock victory of his younger brother Ed Miliband, who was elected as Labour leader on Saturday, David finally announced his intention to quit front-line politics.

He expressed how he needed to “recharge his batteries” and would be looking forward to spending time with his family after so many years in front-line politics.

David wants to give his brother the space to be able to lead the Labour party free from comparison and without the continuing family soap opera that has been played out in the media.

However the door is not completely shut, David has not ruled out a return in one way or another in the future.

The Labour party must, on the one hand, be breathing a sigh of relief.

There is to be no repeat of the tense underlying relationship at the top of the party as seen when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were in power.

On the other hand, the Shadow front bench has lost one of its strongest members.

David Miliband, the former Foreign Secretary, still has tremendous support within the party and would have brought a wealth of talent and experience to the new Shadow Cabinet.

One message that could be read by David Miliband’s actions today, is that he simply does not have confidence in his brother’s leadership of the Party nor the conviction to back Ed’s differing political positioning of Labour.

STAY OR GO?

THE political soap opera that has gripped the Labour party and the press for the past few days is soon to come to an end.

David Miliband will shortly make a statement about his political future.

He will state whether he is to stay in front-line politics seeking re-election to the shadow cabinet or as is highly speculated decline to serve under his younger brother Ed Miliband, Labour’s new leader.

After David’s reactions to Ed’s first key note speech as Labour leader in which he set out his stance on many of Labour’s policy including a denouncing of the Iraq war, it is expected that David will quit.

If David Miliband does leave the Labour front bench he will be a huge loss to Labour party.

He has been a big player and popular minister.

The Labour Party is proving again its taste for big drama.