Evening Buzz: New Battle Plan in Libya

Libyan rebels pray while preparing for battle against government forces near the city of Ajdabiya.

Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer

NATO has agreed in principle to expand its role in Libya. Along with enforcing the no-fly zone over the country, it will also take the lead in protecting civilians, said the commander of U.S. Africa Command.

Gen. Carter Ham told CNN that coalition forces have achieved a "large degree of success."

"We do have an arms embargo. We do have a no-fly zone and we have halted a very serious assault by Libyan regime forces toward the city of Benghazi," Ham said.

But Ham admits complete success has not been achieved.

"We find these (Gadhafi) regime forces taking cover inside built-up areas where they know, because of our concern for civilian casualties, that - that we won't - we won't strike in there. So it's a tough, tough situation right now."

Tonight on 360° we'll talk with CNN's Nic Robertson in Tripoli and Arwa Damon in Benghazi. We'll also talk strategy with former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark.

There's also the deadly uprising in Syria. Dozens of people were killed in demonstrations today. We'll talk with an eyewitness to chaos in Daraa. We also have remarkable video of protests.

The demonstrators are fed up with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. They want reforms and the government has responded to some of their demands. Among them a raise in government workers' salaries by 1,500 Syrian pounds ($32.60 US) a month, more job opportunities and a crackdown on government corruption.

And in Japan, there's a potentially dangerous development. Officials fear a core reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may be leaking high levels of radiation. We'll talk with nuclear power plant expert Michael Friedlander and MIT's Jim Walsh.

Join us for these stories and much more starting at 10 p.m. ET.