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.