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.

'VICTORY' FOR ED

YESTERDAY, Ed Miliband (the younger and less attractive Miliband brother) was elected as the new Labour party leader at its autumn conference in Manchester.

He managed to scrape ahead of his brother David (the former foreign secretary) by a wafer thin margin of the vote, winning by only 1.3%. Ed, failing to win majority support from Labour MPs, MEPs and party members had his ‘victory’ secured by the Unions, who also get to vote in Labour Party leadership elections.

The new “hand puppet for the unions” will have to unite the Labour party after its worse defeat in history at the 2010 general elections. The dependence on the Unions vote to secure his victory may very well come back to bite him. Ed will find it a tough juggling act to please both the party - the majority of which didn’t vote for him as leader - and the Unions, who will want the Labour party to take a tough stance against the huge public sector job cuts expected to be made by Cameron’s Government.

The hesitant appointment of Ed well and truly marks the end of new Labour, as the ‘heir to Blair’ David Miliband failed to take the crown which he thought was in his grasp for the past few years. The party claims to be united under him, but how long will we have to wait for the backstabbing and plotting that seems to go hand in hand with Labour politics.

What will be the future for David Miliband’s political career in Westminster? His brother insists he deserves to play a vital role in the shadow cabinet, but will David be able to put up with serving his younger brother? It seems like too much of a bitter pill to swallow and perhaps we are witnessing the beginning of a new psycho drama within the top rank of the party.

Ed Miliband, the former adviser to Gordon Brown and author of the loosing Labour 2010 election manifesto apparently marks a new era for the Party and represents a new generation of Labour. But he has a lot to prove.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

TODAY, the Labour Party announced that Ken Livingstone is to be their candidate for the London mayoral elections in 2012.

Livingstone, who served two terms in office between 2000 and 2008 won 68.8% of the votes, defeating his rival, the former MP Oona King. It seems that Labour and London cannot shake off Mr Livingstone, having served as the first Mayor and previously as leader of the Greater London Council in the eighties he just keeps coming back.

So expect a rematch of the 2008 elections as Ken and Boris fight for City Hall, again. In his acceptance speech Ken stated; "everywhere you look Boris has broken promises and taken his axe to services Londoners rely on". Livingstone attacked Johnson for the cuts that are to hit Londoners in the year ahead. Mr Johnson did not comment on the event but a deputy said; “choosing to exhume Ken Livingstone is a very odd decision”. Unfortunately, we probably have two years of this tit for tat and Livingstone’s criticisms of Boris to look forward to, even if he does promises an ideological rather then personality contest.

Tomorrow is an even bigger day for the Labour Party, as they announce the results of their leadership contest. Rumours suggest that Ed Miliband will beat his older brother (and front runner for most of the campaign) David. Whoever wins, the party hopes to heal the deep wounds left by Gordon Brown’s defeat at the elections as they try and form a credible opposition to the coalition government.

STALKBOOK

LAST week Facebook launched, Places, a new application on its site that allows users to post their location in their status updates.

For a start do I, or anybody for that fact, really care if an old school ‘friend’ (who hasn’t spoken to me for years and I haven’t ‘liked’ or commented on any picture update or comment related to them) has just gone to Pret for lunch? The answer is probably no.

Places may have its merits for those out there who are inclined to stalk people in a professional way. It will no doubt make their lives easier. Besides this is it just a case of putting out yet more personal information on the net.

We very rarely think about the information or private data we post or publish on the Internet. It is undeletable, once released into the World Wide Web it is there forever. Facebook status updates and pointless tweets will be floating around cyberspace long after we die.

As we share more of our life online it’s important to remember that anyone out there could be reading.

FEELING REFRESHED?

HELLO to all slice of Pie readers out there. I have to admit that it has been a bit quiet on the blog post front for a few months. But I’m pleased to say the quiet spell is over.

Hold on to your laptops, or whatever Internet browsing device you use, take a deep breath from the shock of a blog entry, and expect to be checking back here a lot more often.

As you’ll probably notice, the blog has had a bit of a refresh too. With its new shiny design it should be a bit clearer and easier to read from. It is also possible for you to spread the word to anyone in the world at the touch of a button. At the bottom of each entry you will see logos for Facebook, Twitter, and other sites that allow you to share blog entries with others. And for that added user interaction, you can now rate each blog entry as well.

I hope you enjoy the changes.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

THE party political conference season has kicked off with the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool, and this year the news media are now paying attention to what is going on.

It’s funny to think that a year ago most people had not heard of the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg. It was laughable when in his conference speech last year he talked about a dream team Liberal Democrat Cabinet in government. Who would have thought that a year later Clegg would be the Deputy Prime Minister, with a handful of Lib Dem MPs joining him at the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition cabinet table.

Now with a hand in power, and at a time when the coalition Government is having to make tough decisions, over the next few years Lib Dems will have to be involved in key decisions which often go against their party’s beliefs.

In his speech Clegg urged conference to ‘hold our nerve’ to serve a full five years in government and the British public to ‘stick with us’ through the cuts the coalition will have to make to slash the budget deficit. The Liberal Democrats may be putting on a brave face now but when the coalition Government start to make budget cuts will there still be an appetite for the LibCon team? How much will change by time Clegg makes his conference speech next year?

PUTTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

YESTERDAY, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague was forced to make a very personal statement regarding his private life after one of his aids quit amid “malicious” rumours of a relationship between the pair.

It was alleged in the blogosphere, that the 25-year-old Christopher Myers, was under-qualified for his role and had only reached the position due to an improper relationship. It was stated that the pair had shared hotel rooms whilst on the campaign trail.

Hague felt obliged to make information about his wife, Ffion and his struggle to start a family public to dispel the rumours. For the first time he told of the multiple miscarriages his wife Ffion had suffered, including one this summer which the couple were still grieving from.

It’s a classic case of a story forced to the top of the national news pile by non-entity bloggers and wannabe citizen journalists for the wrong reasons. Yes we should probe into the ‘qualifications’ of Mr Myers and if he was experienced enough for his role. But should it have been done in such a mucky, smeary way across the Internet?

On a less serious note with regards to the hotel room sharing between Hague and Myers, shouldn’t we be commending the pair for saving money? Maybe it was just another one of Mr Cameron’s cost cutting measures?

THE FINAL HOURS OF NEW LABOUR

WE COULD, be hours away from a new Prime Minister and new Government.

In the Cabinet Office on Whitehall, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are still negotiating an agreement for governing the country. Just a few meters away in Downing Street it is believed that Gordon Brown is preparing to resign as Prime Minister.

It is believed that Brown is in his office at Number 10 with his wife Sarah. Having spoken to Tony Blair on the phone he is waiting with Peter Mandelson, Alistair Campbell, Ed Miliband, Ed balls and Douglas Alexander, as the last rights are said for New Labour. His aid, Sue Nye – made infamous from the bigot-gate affaire in the election campaign – is there too. Gordon is most probably blaming her for the mess of the election results, possibly throwing around a few bits of stationary too.

WHEN and IF an agreement has been reached by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, Gordon will make his way over to the Palace to advise the Queen to call David Cameron to form a new government. Of course Cameron and Clegg will need to get agreement from their parties but we are CLOSE to having a new government.

BREAKING: is Gordon packing his bags?

WITH a deal between Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats moving ever closer, as talks take place in the Cabinet Office, it seems as though Brown will have to leave sooner rather then later.

There are reports that large travel holdalls are being packed into cars at the back of Downing Street, suggesting that Brown could be getting ready to move within the next few hours.

Negations between Labour and the Lib Dems are officially over and a number of Labour MPs have been expressing views that it is time to call it quits. Gordon Brown has already called Cabinet ministers for another meeting today. An announcement from the Conservatives is expected soon.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

TODAY is ‘make your mind up time’ for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. There is mounting pressure for a clear decision about which party the Liberal Democrats are going to back to form a new government.

After three days of negotiations, talks and party meetings (some negotiations more secret then others) there is a growing census that a conclusion will need to be reached in a matter of hours rather then days.

This morning Nick Clegg said that talks had come to a “critical and final stage” as Cameron spoke of the country’s need to have the “strong, stable government that it badly needs and badly needs quickly”.

So which party will Clegg get into bed with?

Obviously, considering the parliamentary maths, the most stable government would probably be a Lib-Conservative government. But with such varying stances on a number of key issues and a number of right wing Tories opposed to a referendum to change the voting system (which is a key sticking point for Clegg) there could be problems. To make matters worse. A number of backbenchers feel they cannot trust Clegg and the Liberals for conducting secret talks with Labour whilst trying to negotiate a Conservative agreement.

On the other hand, a so called ‘rainbow coalition’ with Labour would have to involve members of national parties from Scotland and Wales. They could make unrealistic demands concerning forthcoming cuts; it’s not the best recipe for a string, stable government. There are also doubts within the Labour party about forming a ‘losers coalition’ with key members expressing views that more time in office for Labour could be very damaging.

Whatever happens, a decision needs to be made very soon, the question is what will that decision be?

DEAR LEADER CALLS TIME ON HIS LEADERSHIP

GORDON Brown today announced he is to step down as Labour Party leader. In a move that has simply stunned the political world, the story of forming the next government has taken a dramatic twist.

Brown hopes his actions can help to woo Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats into forming a coalition government with the Labour Party, just as talks between Liberals and Conservatives looked to be moving towards a formal agreement.

This cannot be seen as a defeat for the PM. He hasn’t been ousted by his party, and he is still calling the shots. And if his resignation sweetens the deal with Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats then he may have just bought himself extra time in Downing Street until a new Labour leader is elected.

THE LONGEST DAY

TODAY will probably feel like one of the longest days for Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. The campaigning is over, the sound bites silenced, the photo-calls complete, as it is now up to the public to decide who will win the election.

After a gruelling campaign in one of the closet and unpredictable elections for many years, voters will today reveal their choice. Will Cameron’s five-year journey of transforming the Conservative Party pay off? Will Brown’s fight to the end now finally come to an end once and for all, or will he manage to miraculously bounce back, again? And will Nick Clegg’s efforts to raise the profile of the Liberal Democrats change the political landscape for good, or will his party once again be squeezed in the polls by the big two?

Whatever happens, surely politics will not quite be the same again in Britain. As the polling stations close tonight at 10pm, we will start to get a picture of how the country has voted. After all the speculation of hung parliaments, minority governments, coalitions and backroom deals, the real answer to how the country is to be run for the next four years will be revealed. Only then will we, and the political parties, be able to breathe a sigh of relief or despair at the outcome.

THE FINAL PUSH

THE election campaign is quickly drawing to a close. With less then a day to go before the polls open, there is one last push for votes in the final day of the campaign.

After a whirlwind month of campaigning, historic televised debates, unexpected polls and dirty mud slinging by politicians and press alike there is an end in sight. Tomorrow, the electorate will finally have their say. The public have really been making the politicians work for their vote this election. As polls still suggest not one party has enough support to sail to an outright victory and majority government.

Cameron is gallivanting round the country on a last minute, last ditch, 36-hour tour. His make-up probably being plastered over the tired cracks in his face as we speak. Just like the way billboard after billboard have been pasted over with expensive, somewhat confusing slogans trying to gloss over the floors in unexplained Tory policy. Mr Blair Mark ii has not really made the impact with voters he was expecting to.

Brown experienced a biblical ‘Lazarus moment’ over the bank holiday. Summoning all his energy to fight as the Labour party desperately tries to cover the signs of an immanent implosion. Whatever happens tomorrow it seems as though Labour will probably turn in on itself.

Clegg is determined to echo the Liberal’s success in the earlier opinion polls, but with Labour once again regaining second place, the Cleggmania effect could be starting to wear away.

So as the political parties fight right to the end, every vote really will count. An expected hung parliament could mean that the result will not be clear. And with an estimated 40% of the electorate still undecided, it really is all to play for.