PAKISTAN: Terrorists kill four people in Karachi

Militants attacked Sunday a Pakistani air base in Karachi, killing four people, said a spokesman for Pakistani naval forces.

According to the Express television channel TV, five explosions were heard on the Naval Air Station.

Officials of the intelligence services have said that between 15 and 20 attackers were inside the base of Mehran and had attacked three aircraft hangars.

Witnesses reported gunfire and saw smoke rising from buildings.

"We have four dead and five wounded, but the balance may go up," he told Reuters an official security services, who requested anonymity.

Images on television, we can see flames and smoke rising from the site.

The Pakistani Taliban have vowed to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden, killed May 2 in Pakistan by American special forces.

SOUTH AFRICA: Municipal elections in a test for the ANC

AFP - South Africans voted Wednesday for their fourth city since the end of apartheid, a test for the African National Congress (ANC), which is struggling to overcome growing frustration towards his performance after 17 years in power.

Polling stations officially closed at 19.00 pm (1700 GMT), but voters who were still queuing at this time have been able to deposit their ballots in the ballot box, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

The results arriving only a very partial, it was still impossible to identify a trend towards midnight (2200 GMT). The final results must be published Friday.

Pansy Tlakula, the owner of the IEC, said she thought the turnout exceeded 40%.She had reached 48.4% in the previous municipal 2006.

Apart from some delays due to delays in delivering ballots, failures scanners identity cards of voters, power cuts or the presence of crocodiles preventing tellers to access a remote polling station, the election went well, according to the IEC.

23.6 million South Africans renewed the elected eight cities, 226 municipalities and 44 districts ordinary.

The ANC, still basking in the glow of his image as a liberator, remains the favorite in the poll.But discontent against the failures of public services could lead some voters to the opposition or abstention.

"I'm very optimistic because we've made great progress," however, said the South African President and ANC leader Jacob Zuma, by voting mid-day in his village of Nkandla in Zululand ( is).

"We're going to surprise a lot," he said while acknowledging that more work to improve drinking water, electricity and roads.

Since the advent of multiracial democracy in 1994, marked progress has been made. Some 93% of households have a water point near their homes, against 62% last seventeen years, 84% are electrified as against 36% ...

But rural areas and former black townships have been left on the sidelines or equipped with failed installations, giving the impression to the poorest being left-nots.

These frustrations have led to a resurgence of protests demanding better public services.

Electorally, this discontent could undermine the dominance of the ANC. In a poll released Monday, the party captured 58.3% of the vote, 8 points lower than his score for the 2006 municipal.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) that controls the city of Cape Town, expects this to continue growing discontent.The party won nearly 15% of the vote in 2006 and 17% in the 2009 parliamentary and could reach almost 20% this time.

The DA plans to take the ANC mayors, especially in the west and south.

"Our democracy is maturing and people are beginning to understand that we must vote on the parties' ability to act in their favor," said its leader Helen Zille, before dropping his ballot into the ballot box."No party owns the voters for eternity," she added.

During the campaign, the ANC has played its past as liberator, the president Zuma even calling on voters to vote for the party in memory of deceased heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle.

Tuesday, he also visited the bedside of the country's first black president, Nelson Mandela, 92 years, still recovering from a hospitalization in January for an acute respiratory infection.

In a country that still bears the scars of decades of racial segregation, the message is still fly with some of the black population.

FLYING RIO PARIS: The black box flight AF 447 are readable

AFP - Investigators of flight AF447 from Rio to Paris announced Monday that it managed to "collect all the data contained" in the two black boxes of the Airbus A330 of Air France crashed in June 2009 and this summer will publish a first report the causes of the disaster.

After 23 months at the bottom of the Atlantic, all the data contained in the recorders could be read over the weekend and collected, said in a statement the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) responsible for the technical investigation into the accident still unexplained.

Analysis of the black boxes would "take several weeks, after which a report will be drafted and made public during the summer," said BEA.

The two recorders, one containing the flight parameters, the other sound recordings in the cockpit, contain crucial data to try to explain the disaster, which had been 228 deaths there nearly two years off Brazil .

So far, investigators have determined that the malfunctioning (icing at high altitude) and speed sensors of the device, said pitot probes, manufacturer Thales, was one of the failures established in the disaster. But they believe that their failure can not alone explain the crash.

COMMEMORATION: 30 years after the socialist victory, the "Tontonmania" sweeps over France

"People seem to take pleasure in recalling that day, and to trust their memories," said Pascale Kremer, a journalist with Le Monde magazine, the weekly supplement of the daily Le Monde. "We received over 500 submissions in response to our appeal for witnesses to our May 7 issue published, which is pretty unusual," she notes.

In bookstores, the heads of gondolas full of souvenir books. And not without success.Published earlier this year, "Assault and battery: 50 years of shared secrets with Abraham Lincoln" (Editions du Cherche Midi), Roland Dumas's book, companion of the former president, was ranked especially late April third best-selling test as classified Ipsos / Livres Hebdo.

Two hundred festivals throughout France

The Web is no exception. The Twitter feed from the radio station France Inter took an original initiative by offering Internet users to relive the events live, exactly as if they had taken place 30 years ago.
In addition to this media storm, many events are held in homage to François Mitterrand through France, where about two hundred festivals are planned Tuesday.In Paris, a grand concert will be held instead of the Bastille, echoing the one organized in 1981 to celebrate the historic victory of the Left. The headquarters of the Socialist Party, political party of former president, will also open its doors to the public on the occasion of this anniversary.

Race to the legacy of the Socialist Party

More than 16 years after his death, Mitterrand remains pervasive among Socialists. One year after the presidential election, while the primary campaign begins in the party, several big names from left to openly call for the former president.The former first secretary of the Socialist Party, Francois Hollande, had chosen Clichy-la-Garenne, where Mitterrand made a speech a few days before his victory in 1981 for his first campaign rally on April 27. On Tuesday he will travel to Chateau-Chinon, a town which Mitterrand was mayor, to give a speech.

Her rival Segolene Royal on Sunday presented before his supporters, his new slogan, "Strength citizen," which is reminiscent of the "quiet strength" of Mitterrand.At this gathering, the businessman Pierre Bergé, patron and support of the defeated candidate of 2007, received a thunderous applause by declaring: "I think I can say that the true successor to Francois Mitterrand called Ségolène Royal.

This race to the political heritage can be interpreted as a search for unity within the Left. "As we approach the primaries socialist Mitterrand call illustrates that the left needs unity to win the election in 2012," said Jean Yves Camus, a political scientist at the Institute of International Relations and Strategic Relations (IRIS). "His candidacy in 1981 was consensus within his party and the nomination process had proceeded smoothly," he recalls.A serenity that can only be welcome at a time when the knives are sharpened in anticipation of the primaries.

FRANCE: Le Quai d'Orsay 14 expels Libyan diplomats loyal to Gaddafi

AFP - France has declared "persona non grata 14 ex-Libyan diplomats" who have a "period of 24 or 48 hours" to leave French territory, said Friday the spokesman of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

"France has declared persona non grata 14 ex-Libyan diplomats stationed in France.Depending on circumstances, allow interested parties within 24 or 48 hours to leave the country, "said spokesman Bernard Valero Quai d'Orsay.

They were accused "of behaviors and activities not consistent with relevant UN resolutions and particularly 1973 and contrary to the protection of Libyan civilians," the ministry said, when asked to AFP.

The 14 diplomats were appointed by the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, that Paris, which recognized the National Transitional Council (CNT, rebellion), no longer considered legitimate.

The ambassadors of Libya in France and Unesco (whose headquarters is in Paris) had announced on February 25, they resigned to condemn "acts of repression in Libya" and they "joined the revolution" cons Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

A group of Libyan dissidents had taken control of the day the Libyan embassy in Paris.

An international coalition - led by France, the United Kingdom and the United States - occurred on March 19 in Libya under UN mandate to end the bloody suppression of the uprising against the Gaddafi regime.

Resolution 1973 adopted in mid-March by the UN authorizes such "take all measures necessary" to "protect civilians" in Libya, while "excluding a foreign occupying force" in that territory.

Scenes of jubilation in Washington after the announcement of the death of bin Laden

AFP-Thousands of Americans gathered spontaneously outside the White House Sunday night to shout their joy after the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden. "We had waited so long," said one student while the crowd sings "USA, USA".

"I've never felt such emotion," said John Kelley, a 19 year old student from New Jersey, near New York. "It's something we've waited so long. When I heard the news, my legs were shaking."

"As soon as I heard the news, 'says he," I called my best friend who lost her brother in the attacks of Sept. 11.He was overwhelmed with joy. It sounds too good to be true, I can not believe it, "he said.

Behind him, a young man crying in his phone: "we have had!". Students return to the campaign slogan of Barack Obama's to accommodate the news of the day: "Yes we can, yes we did" ("We can, we have done). Others sing the American anthem .

The crowd is very young. Many donned a sweatshirt "USA", some football shirt of the United States.The smile, the shouts, one picture taken in front of the White House to mark this historic day in a carnival atmosphere worthy of a victory in the "Superbowl".

Hoping to be heard by the U.S. president, students yelling "It cancels exams, which begin in a few weeks.

Anna Howell, 27, came with her husband. They look at the crowd, a little away, waving their flags. "It's great, what joy for the families who lost relatives on Sept. 11," she said."It's not every day that America and communion."

She lives in Alexandria, a suburb of Washington, near the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence targeted for Sept. 11. Would she have preferred that Bin Laden is captured alive? "Dead or alive, I do not care. They have, that's what counts," she replied before thinking: "It would have been nice to bring him to justice."

Nearby, a young man disagrees.It exhibits a cardboard sign on which he wrote in black marker: "We got rid of the junk bin Laden."

In the streets of Washington overlooking the White House, Americans come in clusters. Taxis honk filled as for a wedding. Jon Garcia, a 19 year old student came to the White House to "be part of history."

"I feel a sense of justice. It took so long but we got it. It is only fair for families bereaved by Sept. 11," he said."It gives meaning to our mission in Afghanistan," he adds.

David Abel, an "Obama fan" of forty years, is "shared". "For many people it is a symbolic victory. But it's too selfish. We sing + USA + USA, we only think we are forgetting the rest of the world," he laments before returning to his hotel .

The ambassador of Syria off the list of guests at royal wedding

The British Foreign Minister, William Hague, announced Thursday the withdrawal of the invitation by the Syrian ambassador to the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, said it was "unacceptable" after the repression of demonstrations in the country.

"In light of attacks against civilians this week by Syrian security forces, which we have condemned the Minister of Foreign Affairs has decided that the presence of the Syrian ambassador to the royal wedding would be unacceptable and that it should not take part, "said the Foreign Office in a statement.

Questioned by AFP, the royal service said they "share" this opinion.

The invitation to the Syrian ambassador had generated considerable controversy in the United Kingdom, after the violent suppression of demonstrations in Syria against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Since their beginning March 15, at least 453 people were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

Buckingham Palace, in charge of invitations with the Foreign Office pointed out that all the representatives of countries with which London has "normal diplomatic relations" were among the 1,900 guests at royal wedding.This explained why Libya was not invited to the UK conducting military operations.

But the presence of Syrian diplomat in royal wedding on Friday became all the more incongruous that he had been summoned Tuesday to the Foreign Ministry to be told that London considered "unacceptable" use of force by the government against the demonstrators.

This meeting was conducted as part of a joint effort by several European countries including France, Italy and Germany.

FRANCE - TUNISIA: A humanitarian emergency for Refugees Tunisian outside Paris

Tickets 50 euros raining in the small Parisian park. In less than three minutes, the scene turns into a riot. All around poor flock to be as quickly turned away. "Only for Tunisians!" Shouted angrily a young refugee to a group of Roma, before rushing to the benefactor came distribute its largess in solidarity.

Installed for several months in a small park of the nineteenth arrondissement of Paris, 200 to 300 illegal Tunisians, some twenty years on average, have fled Tunisia after the fall of former President Ben Ali to join France, via the Italian island of Lampedusa.

"I spend my days here and I can not do anything"

At only 17 years, Atef, a native of southern Tunisia, lives in the park for three months."Sometimes I do not eat for two days. They drink water from the fountain in the park, I sleep in a cardboard box under the ring. I wanted to come to France to send money to my mother because my father died. But, in fact, I spend my days here and I can not do anything, "said the young man in orange engulfing the ticket in his pocket.

Penniless and abandoned by the French state, this group of refugees living at the rate of distributions of meals provided by Tunisians living in Paris and the suburbs.

"They are forgotten by the world," railing against Mouldi Lady, living in France for 25 years.Every day he comes distribute jeans and t-shirts clean, toilet or food, and support young people to the neighborhood public showers.

"Here we do not have a policy, we take care of the emergency. France has two solutions: either to let them enter the territory but the dignified houses, or we make them go home," continues he said.

The stigma of the Revolution

Jamel Tunisian entrepreneur came distribute some tickets to his young fellow exiles, is convinced that they should return home - despite the economic difficulties faced by Tunisia since the Revolution.

"There are ideas to develop the country and restart the economy. It has no incentive to work elsewhere.With some careful thought you can hire everyone. The market wants, "he explains. Moreover, we must share the land with young people. After the Revolution, it is their right, "said James, who leaves in his air-conditioned 4x4 after his empty wallet.

For now, the economic and political challenges of the "new Tunisia" still far from the concerns of hundreds of refugees whose Tunisian only priority is to eat. For them, the humanitarian emergency - it is close to Paris.

Migrants who are victims of Franco-Italian differences

Samia Maktouf, Franco-Tunisian lawyer, committed volunteer in the defense of dozens of refugees in Tunisia.That day, she came up the names, ages and occupations of young men from the camp to try to get them a permit.

"It's allowed to dream in the aftermath of a revolution. They dreamed of a France of the revolution, freedom, equality. Degummed They have a dictatorship with bare hands and peacefully," outraged the lawyer, who believes that the solution must be European.

"This is for Europe to react and stop doing the ping-pong between France and Italy.Paris and Rome have left some relief to these young refugees and to make adjustments on a case by case, "said Samia Maktouf.

The controversial arrival in France, through Italy, thousands of migrants from North Africa will be the focus of a summit Tuesday in the Italian capital between the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

TUNISIA: Libyan rebels took control of a major border crossing

AFP - Libyan rebels took Thursday morning one of the key border between Libya and Tunisia, Libya, near Wazzan (Libya) and Dehiba (Tunisia), and a hundred soldiers pro-Gaddafi went unarmed side Tunisia has found an AFP correspondent.

While gunfire echoed sporadically around 10:30 am (0930 GMT), this correspondent has seen pro-Qaddafi 102 soldiers, including officers, who went under the supervision of Tunisian military about 200 meters from the border, side Tunisia. The Tunisian military interrogators at a time.They include 13 officers including a colonel Staff, said a military source told AFP.

According to testimony of Customs and Tunisian military there, the Libyan soldiers wounded loyalists were evacuated to hospital Dehiba.

The green flag of Libya was removed from the Libyan border post, distant only 50 meters from the Tunisian post.

One of three military helicopters dispatched to the Tunisian area Wednesday night flying over the area Dehiba, located about 40 km from the Libyan city of Nalout, theater these days of intense bombing of forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi.

The AFP correspondent was able to verify that the checkpoint had been captured by insurgents since it came safely into Libyan territory and was welcomed by the rebels.

Instead of green flags, the rebels hoisted with flags of the monarchy, the symbol of the rebels, while a tractor was busy destroying a large portrait of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, which marks the entry into Libya.

According to the second chief of the operation of the rebels, "between 5 and 10" pro-Gaddafi soldiers were killed and 25 wounded.From the rebel side, there was "a minor injury," said Youssef, a first loan.

At the checkpoint, strewn with bullets, could be seen in the late morning thirty pickup, equipped with several missiles "Grad 25 kg" as a rebel.

After being supplied with water, most of the rebels walked away quickly towards the Libyan town Wazzan towards a mountainous area, Ghzeya, home of the pro-Gaddafi, said the rebel leader who now says fear cons-attack on the checkpoint where rebels continue to mount guard.

The attack against the post, said Youssef, was conducted "to allow the wounded" to move to Tunisia.

Libyan insurgents on a 4x4 briefly pursued the elements pro-Gaddafi Tunisian territory before ironing on the Libyan side.

Shortly before, the rebels had seized Wazzan, about 3 km from the border post.

In anticipation of renewed fighting in this area, the Tunisian army was deployed on Wednesday to 10 km north of Dehiba a company of a hundred men of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of Gabes, a large port city 150 km further north.

In recent days, fighting between pro and anti-Gaddafi came close Tunisian territory. Monday, several mortar rounds of the pro-Gaddafi had fallen in the area Dehiba, causing a "strong protest" in Tunis from the Libyan authorities.

Fighting violent shaking for several days west of Libya.Over 100 people were killed last weekend in Nalout Yefren and two towns south-west of Tripoli pounded by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, according to locals.

14,100 Libyan nationals have fled the fighting and moved to Tunisia in the area of ​​Dehiba April 6 to 19, police said Tunisian border.

Iran: Ahmadinejad accuses Washington of creating tensions between Tehran and the Arabs

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday accused the U.S. of trying to create tensions between Iran and the Arabs, following an appeal from the Gulf Arab monarchies to the UN to "stop interference" in Iran their business.

"The United States seeks to sow discord between Shiites and Sunnis (...) They want to create tensions between Iran and Arabs but their plan will fail," said Ahmadinejad in a speech at the annual parade Army, broadcast by state television.

The day before, the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC-Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman), headed by Sunni families, denounced the "interference by Iran," Country Shiite-majority in their business.

They called, following a meeting in Riyadh, the international community and the Security Council of the United Nations to "stop the Iranian interference and provocation hardcore, especially after the unrest in Bahrain.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is the friend of all nations and wants development.I'm sure with the vigilance of the people and politicians and, I hope the governments of the region, this new conspiracy of arrogance (the United States, ed) will fail, "said Ahmadinejad.

"The pro-Zionist leaders in the U.S. trying to save the Zionist regime but they will not succeed," he added, reiterating that there would soon have a new "Middle East without the domination of the United States and without the Zionist regime. "

"The United States is not an honest friend. Experience has shown that they have fought their own friends who had sacrificed for them," he saidAhmadinejad, referring to the fall of the regimes of Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Iran is predominantly Shiite, while the Gulf Arab monarchies are mostly Sunni, with the exception of Bahrain, whose population is Shiite but is ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

Iranian officials have repeatedly condemned the sending of reinforcements to Saudi and UAE Bahrain to support the forces of that country to the suppression of protests led by Shiites in mid-February to mid-March.

The violence in Bahrain, officials said, 24 people including four policemen.Four protesters died in custody since the end of the protest movement.

According to Iranian media, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, asked in a letter to Secretary General of the UN Security Council intervention to "stop the killing of the Bahraini population.

ITALY: The justice reform accelerates the benefit of ... Berlusconi

The Italian Chamber of Deputies Wednesday passed a law reducing the legal time limits, a measure which, if passed by the Senate, will
the effect of avoiding the Chairman Silvio Berlusconi on trial for witness tampering.

Under the jeers from the opposition benches, the House voted by 314 votes against 296 the bill reducing the statute of limitations for criminal defendants to
criminal record.

It would shorten the eight-month trial Mills, named after British lawyer David Mills in which Berlusconi is accused of having given 600,000 dollars in exchange for false testimony.Berlusconi denies it, but it is now unlikely that a verdict could intervene before the action is extinguished.

Opponents have expressed for several days before the Parliament and the House debate was lively.

"We wish to reiterate that not only laws but also the principles of the Constitution that the government stalled," said Dario Franceschini, president
House Democrats of the Left, the main opposition party.

The measure is part of a broader program initiated by the Justice Minister, Angelino Alfano, presented by the government as a necessary reform of the judiciary, but critics say tailored to avoid jail Berlusconi.

Alfano, a Sicilian than 40 years often presented as the political heir of Berlusconi, has denied that his reform of the Italian judiciary, known for its slowness, is intended to
help Berlusconi escape to the judges.

The bill must still be passed by the Senate, where the center-right government of Berlusconi controls the majority.

JAPAN: A month after the earthquake, the Japanese pay homage to victims

"The country is not able today to organize ambitious events, so they are quite intimate ceremonies taking place today," said FRANCE 24 correspondent found in Japan, Marie Linton.

On Monday, one month to the day after the magnitude 9 quake and tsunami occurred on March 11 giants, a minute's silence was observed in the north-east by the survivors and rescuers at 2:46 p.m. (5:46 GMT). At the exact time of the first quake, sirens sounded and the local population was immobilized to honor the victims.

According to the latest report from the authorities, at least 27,000 people died or disappeared in the disaster, and 150,000 people were left homeless.

Members who participate in rescue and search for bodies of victims have interrupted their work to this tribute before resuming operations as soon as the minute's silence ended.

"We saw last month: the Japanese are collected, but also very modest in the way they express their pain," reflects Mary Linton. "But they will long remember the disaster, the worst ever for the islands since the Second World War," she says.

Fukushima always worries

One month after the earthquake, the situation remains precarious in the country. Since March 11, Japan was hit by several aftershocks.On Monday, a new tremor of 7.1 magnitude shook the north-east and a new tsunami warning has been run before being lifted soon after.

Especially, the situation remains worrisome in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (No. 1), 250 kilometers north of Tokyo, where the six reactors were decommissioned by the tsunami on 11 March. The waters had broken their power and embedded generators. The following days, the nuclear fuel was heated, causing an explosion of buildings and, ultimately, a leak of radioactivity.

A month later, experts believe that the worst was avoided, although the situation remains precarious."We saw no signs of real improvement," worries the Japanese media on Monday. Indeed, the Japanese authorities and utility Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) have not yet managed to fully control the situation. According to Japanese media, the authorities are even considering expanding the exclusion zone around the plant because of high levels of radioactivity.

Questioned by AFP, an industrial sector said that the staff working on the central act "in a rugged environment that does not work in normal conditions." He said "it will take weeks if not months to achieve proper control over the situation."

Rome will grant temporary visas to migrant Tunisians

AFP - Italy has decided to issue temporary residence permits "humanitarian" immigrants recently arrived on Tunisian soil, enabling them to travel to all countries of the European Schengen zone, said Thursday the Minister of Interior Roberto Maroni.

"We decided to grant temporary residence permits for humanitarian protection, which will (such migrants, ie) to travel in the countries of the Schengen area," said the minister, noting that "the overwhelming majority of immigrants say they want to join friends and relatives in France or other European countries. "

The minister appeared before the Chamber of Deputies the agreement reached this week with the Tunisian authorities, after the visit Monday of the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in Tunis.

It was on this occasion on Friday confirmed he would meet his French counterpart Claude Gueant "to define a common response system so that France and Italy may involve all countries of the European Union."

Mr Maroni said that the temporary permit applied only to migrants have arrived on Italian soil.According to the agreement with Tunisia, newcomers must be returned to Tunisia.

Since January, with the fall of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the insurgency in Libya, Italy is facing an exceptional influx of immigrants, with over 22,000 landings, mainly from Tunisia.

The majority of these immigrants from francophone ensures want in France.

CHINA: Police refuse to explain the arrest of the dissident artist Ai Weiwei

AFP - Police refused to provide explanations on the reasons for the arrest of the artist Ai Weiwei, his wife said Monday as a wave of repression has fallen on dissent in China.

This outspoken government critic, known abroad, was arrested Sunday at the Beijing International Airport as he prepared to board, confirmed his wife, Lu Qing, told AFP.

His aides had said he wanted to go to Hong Kong and that police had raided his studio in north-east of Beijing.

"So we stopped him, the police came home with a search warrant and searched everywhere," added his wife by telephone.

"They took the computer and other equipment," said Lu Qing, "they refused to give the reason for the search warrant or arrest of Ai Weiwei.

More assistants to the artist were questioned and released Sunday, said Lu, adding that she herself had not been under house arrest.

Contacted by AFP, Beijing City Police refused to comment on Ai.

His arrest comes at a particularly difficult for critics of Chinese communist regime, dozens of whom were detained under house arrest or far from home in recent weeks as Beijing fears contagion of revolt in the Arab world, as organizations Defence of Human Rights.

Ai Weiwei's arrest was greeted with concern by those organizations.

"The Chinese government is intensifying its policy of harassment against the latest symbols of dissent and seeks to silence all critical voices," said Reporters Without Borders.

"We urge the international community to respond forcefully to the arrests of dissidents and bloggers who follow each other at a pace not seen in China."

Ai Weiwei had said last week the AFP will open a studio in Germany to exhibit his work, saying they are frustrated by the obstacles he experienced in China.

"What happens here is very discouraging and I want to keep working, I must find a basis," said Ai, who is known for monumental exhibitions including, most recently in London.

On Monday, his cellphone rang in the air and his Twitter was dumb.The major Chinese websites have been redacted information of his arrest.

"Since mid-February, the GOVERNMENT has stepped up pressure on militants in recent days and the repression was even stronger," noted Hong Kong's Defenders of Human Rights in China, in reaction to the arrest of the artist.

YEMEN: Face-to-face tension between supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh

AFP - Supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdallah Saleh came out in droves Friday in Sanaa where security forces and the army deployed an unprecedented fear of clashes between rival groups, according to an AFP journalist.

"(...) I agree to sacrifice myself, for my blood and all that is dear to the people," shouted Mr.Saleh in "thanking" her supporters for their support during a brief appearance on the site Sabiine, adjoining his palace.

"I hope that their speech will be wise and responsible" and they do not irresponsible remarks, "he said at the protesters, who had planned for this Friday but canceled a march on the palace Presidential initiative strongly criticized by the entourage of Mr.Saleh.

"The people want Ali Abdullah Saleh", "By our souls and our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for the president," chanted the supporters of the regime, harangued by the imam of the Muslim weekly prayers on Friday Tahrir Square in the center of Sanaa.

"These millions of Yemenis who have poured in from all provinces say yes to President Saleh," he told the imam in his sermon broadcast on state television, accusing the opposition of seeking to lead the country "in the insurgency, bloodshed and civil war. "

The tension was high in the capital, where security forces and the army stepped up checkpoints on roads leading to various meeting places of the demonstrators, dividing the city into two parts: the north dominated by the opposition and the south by the regime.

Around the square of the Change, near the University of Sanaa, where camped for over a month the young protesters demanding the departure of President Saleh, the army, whose officers have joined the protest movement, has established checkpoints at access points of the square.

Units of security forces in turn channeled the flow of regime loyalists, including many tribesmen raised the call of the head of state, and Tahrir squares Sabiine.

The day Friday was named the "Hi's" by the protesters and "Brotherhood" by loyalists.And places of assembly are located in different districts of Sana'a, a few kilometers apart.

But an explosion of violence was feared in the capital where the face of rival army units, partially concurred with the protesters, and the Republican Guard, commanded by the son of head of state, Ahmad.

The protesters, according to an AFP correspondent, Friday expanded their sit-in to the streets around the square of the Change, after renouncing the march on the presidential palace for fear of violence.

Britain has also Thursday urged its nationals to leave immediately Yemen, where the situation "deteriorating rapidly", the Foreign Office in noting its "travel advisories" that Friday's events could escalate into violent confrontations.

The head of state has faced since late January to a popular protest movement calling for his departure and which intensified after the death March 18, 1952 demonstrators by shooting attributed to his supporters.

Of negotiations between President Saleh and the strong man of the army, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar - who joined the protest after having long been an ally - did not lead to a negotiated transition power, and the President decided to continue.

EGYPT: Parliamentary elections held in September

AFP - The first parliamentary elections since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak held next September in Egypt, but the date of presidential elections has not yet been set, said Monday a senior military official.

"The elections will be held in September," he told reporters Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (AFSC), in a formal announcement on that date.

He added that the date of the presidential election would be announced later. The date of the election for the presidency "is not defined.We must keep the law and when that is done we will announce the president, "he said.

The AFSC provides leadership in the country since the February 11 resignation of President Hosni Mubarak last under the pressure of the street.

After the departure of Mr.Mubarak, the army had given an indicative timetable of six months to organize legislative and presidential for a return to civilian rule.

This time, however, was considered by many personalities as too short to ensure a genuine democratic transition.

Egypt has already organized the March 19 referendum to revise the Egyptian Constitution, which was widely endorsed by 77% of voters.

The last legislative elections were held in November and December 2010. They had resulted in a landslide victory of the party of Mr.Mubarak, but the most important opposition groups have withdrawn, denouncing massive fraud.

The Egyptian parliament has been dissolved in the wake of the departure of Mr. Mubarak.

Syria: The power refers to the end of the state of emergency in force since 1963

AFP - Syria, which considers the demands of his people "legitimate", plans to cancel the law on state of emergency and will establish mechanisms "effective" to fight against corruption, said Thursday Boussaïna Shaaban Councillor of President Bashar al-Assad.

This statement came as Syria was the scene since March 15 of a protest movement against the regime, especially in the south, which killed more than a hundred dead by militants of Human Rights .

The official news agency announced at the same time an immediate increase in salaries of 30%.

"Syria will consider revocation of the law on the state of emergency" declared in the country coming to power of the Baath party in 1963, said Ms. Boussaïna at a press conference in Damascus.

She added that "new mechanisms to fight against corruption will be established."

The claims of the inhabitants of Dera southern city where demonstrations against the regime are the most important are "legitimate," she said otherwise.

"The claims are important and legitimate.They are on the desk of President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian leaders, "she said.

However, she wanted to make the distinction between the inhabitants of Deraa and "people who have guns (and) have no claim (who) are just trying to cause violence."

"I can say with certainty that those affected are not the people of Deraa but those who want to destabilize the security Deraa prior to destabilize security in the entire country," she said.

"If there are legitimate demands of the people, then the authorities will consider seriously but if someone just wants to cause trouble, then that's another story."

She reported an "ongoing investigation" to determine who were responsible for these events, however, speaking of "financing" foreign ".

"There are indications that there are foreign funding and arms trafficking (...) But we can say that finance or planning it," she said.

Regarding the number of deaths since March 15, she has previously indicated that there had been "10 deaths".

Activists defending human rights talk to them more than 100 deaths in the repression of demonstrations for one day Wednesday Deraa (100 km south of Damascus).

Ms. Boussaïna criticized the foreign media of exaggerating the death toll in the demonstrations.

"The problem is that some media outlets want to exaggerate the number of dead," she said at the press conference.

The authorities charged Wednesday in clashes Wednesday in Deraa an "armed gang", accusing him of killing four people and "to store weapons in the mosque," al-Omari, a rallying point for protesters.

The protest movement began on March 15 in Syria following a call via a Facebook page titled "Revolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

This page has called for new protests Friday in the country.

A runoff between the candidates for Martelly and Manigat

AFP - The Haitians had to go to the polls Sunday for the second round of presidential elections that must decide the singer Michel Martelly and intellectual Mirlande Manigat.

More than three months after a first round that was almost canceled due to fraud, the second round could take place in some confusion after the triumphant return Friday in Haiti of former President Jean Aristide, who worries the West.

This introduces an additional unknown back in the already complex equation of Haitian politics, many supporters of Mr.Aristide likely to boycott the polls.

The other unknown factor remains the participation of some 800,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps after the earthquake that devastated the city and its province January 12, 2010.

Also returned to Haiti in the inter-turn after 25 years of exile in France, the former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier had complicated the political game.He is pursued by the Haitian justice for corruption and endorsed by several complaints of crimes against humanity.

According to a poll released last Thursday, Michel Martelly, right-wing populist better known by his stage name "Sweet Micky", would win on Sunday with 53.4% ​​of the vote against 46.6% only to Ms. Manigat.

The former first lady aged 70 years could not pronounce her last Friday night campaign speech because of a blackout during his last campaign rally in Port-au-Prince.

Participation is notoriously weak in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, and makes any predictions very difficult: only 23% of registered voters had moved in the first round, Nov. 28, to decide the initial 18 candidates.

In a country without an army and controlled by UN peacekeepers, the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon expressed hope Saturday that the vote takes place "in a calm and peaceful."

Preliminary results will be announced March 31 and final results on April 16. The roughly 4.7 million voters must also choose their senators and deputies Sunday.

The first round results announced in early December had resulted in violence that left several dead.

COTE D'IVOIRE: deadly fighting continues in Abidjan and the west

Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday in the town of Duekoue in central-western Côte d'Ivoire, killing at least two deaths, while five people were killed in Abidjan.

The rebels supporting Alassane Ouattara, recognized by the international community as the winner of the presidential election on Nov. 28, rejected any involvement in the clashes in central-west.

Residents of Duékoué reported several hours of clashes in the city, the scene of tension for years, but remained under the control of supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo out since the end of the 2002-2003 civil war which had cut the country in two.

The rebel forces that dominated the North during the civil war now argue the former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. They have threatened to push southward to force Gbagbo to step down.

Security in Abidjan, economic capital, has rapidly deteriorated since gunmen loyal to Ouattara took control of the northern suburbs.Of the pro-Gbagbo responded by establishing roadblocks and killing those they suspect of being rebels.

The fighting has spread in recent days to areas hitherto spared.

Witnesses reported that security forces had launched an operation against supporters of Ouattara and suspected rebels in Williamsville and Port Bouet 2, neighborhoods west of Abidjan, killing at least three people.

There is shooting everywhere, reported Alidou Dao, a resident of Port Bouet 2. Many people leave, "he added.

A resident of Williamsville said he saw his neighbor down the street and two others taken from their home by uniformed men who then murdered.A spokesman for the police could not be contacted immediately.

According to Human Rights Watch, the atrocities committed by forces loyal to Gbagbo have been organized on such a scale that they could constitute war crimes, but men supporting Ouattara has also been accused of executions.

Police fire

A Attécoubé, near the center of Abidjan, where the mission is based peacekeeping UN (UNOCI), young pro-Ouattara attacked and torched a police station and two of them were killed by gunfire from police trying to repel the assault, reported a witness, Junior Seiba.

Calm returned after the fighting in Duekoue, but thousands of people fled to seek refuge at the Catholic mission, reported one resident.

There was fighting in other towns in the west of the country since the presidential election but Duekoue is a strategic town on the road leading to the main cocoa producing regions.

Referring to a grenade attack that killed one person and injuring 18, UNOCI Wednesday called for stopping the escalation of violence.

Doctors Without Borders, for its part warned that the crisis sharply reduced access to healthcare for the population.

Tuesday, Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo has warned that the offer of honorable exit made a few days ago by the African Union (AU) was his "last chance" to leave power smoothly.

He also urged the security forces supporting Gbagbo to switch sides to end a crisis that risks plunging the country into another civil war.

Laurent Gbagbo, in power since 2000, refuses to give his presidential chair and relies on the Defence Forces and Security (SDS) to break any challenge.

Friday, Gbagbo's camp had rejected a proposal to Addis Ababa by a panel of African heads of state mandated by the AU and of putting up a
national unity government led by Alassane Ouattara.Gbagbo found himself at the same time provide a safe conduct if he would step down.

Taking note of the failure of Laurent Gbagbo, the AU had then demanded that Alassane Ouattara is installed in his functions as head of state.

AFGHANISTAN: Karzai calls on NATO to stop its military operations

AFP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday asked its NATO allies to cease their military operations in the country to avoid killing civilians, while traveling in the east where foreign soldiers are accused of several recent blunders .

This is the first time Mr. Karzai came to power by the West in late 2001 but continues to report civilian casualties burrs on the strength of NATO, calling for a drastic measure to its allies.

His spokesman, Omer Waheed, however relativized statements after this intervention: it estimated that Mr.Karzai had only to ask again for NATO to cease operations that kill civilians, usually air strikes and targeted raids against suspected rebels.

Asked in the afternoon by AFP, the international force from NATO in Afghanistan (Isaf) did not wish to react to Mr. Karzai.

This statement of Afghan President comes two days after a loved one has been killed by international forces in the family stronghold located in the southern province of Kandahar.

Mr.Karzai was speaking Saturday to about 500 tribal leaders in Asadabad, capital of Kunar, a stronghold of Pakistan border where Taliban Kabul accuses NATO of killing 74 civilians in recent weeks.In the audience were also relatives of the victims of those bombings.

"On the occasion of this meeting I would ask NATO and the United States with honor and humility and without arrogance, to cease their operations in our country," he said, adding: "We are a very tolerant people, but our tolerance is wearing thin. "

The solution to the war against international terrorism "is not in our country" but "in the regions we have shamed for nine years, and they (NATO, ie) know themselves" saidKarzai.

The Afghan president has repeatedly in recent years to ask the international forces to attack Taliban insurgents rear bases overseas, including in neighboring Pakistan, not in Afghan villages.

To the audience, Mr. Karzai took in his arms a little girl's leg amputated after a NATO bombing, and began to cry."I want you to take pictures of this little girl and her injuries and that you show your authority," he told representatives of the NATO force on site:

"We thank the West and are happy with everything they have done for us. We do not complain if we are killed by terrorists, but if we are with our allies, we have the right to complain.How long will I continue to attend the funeral at the four corners of Afghanistan? If foreigners see us as their friends, they should not kill their friends, "he said.

Nearly 140,000 foreign soldiers, two thirds of Americans are deployed in the country to support the weak government of Mr. Karzai against the Taliban insurgency. NATO plans to transfer responsibility to Afghan forces for the security of the entire country by the end of 2014.

The EU underlines the role of women in the recent revolutions in Arab

AFP - Women played a "crucial role" in the changes taking place in Tunisia and Egypt, said Tuesday the head of European diplomacy and Ashton's Vice-President of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, on the occasion of International Women's Day.

"Women have played a crucial role in triggering the changes taking place in North Africa. In a climate of violence, they are engaged in the struggle for change," said the two European officials.

"We hope that the crucial role that women have played so far will be taken fully into account the institutional changes that are already discussed in the region.Women must be central to discussions on the new order that will be implemented, "they added.

Women defying stereotypes and taboos, have emerged as essential actors in the various uprisings that have shaken the Arab world's autocratic regimes.Whether in jeans and T-shirt or draped in black, tens of thousands of women have made their voices heard in the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Manama and Sana'a, demanding reforms in these countries.

In Bahrain, where thousands of demonstrators calling for the mainly Shiite dynasty fell of the Sunni Al-Khalifa, women have participated in mass mobilization, their traditional black abayas forming an ocean in events where men and women marched separately.

In conservative countries like Libya or Yemen, women have defied social norms to join the protest, marching through the streets and speaking openly to reporters in front of the camera.

Asma Mahfouz, a young Egyptian whose blog video calling for the mobilization was a huge success, is considered one of the voices that triggered the unprecedented revolt that led to the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

"Only by taking decisive action now we will ensure that women and girls for a future without discrimination or violence in a world with equal opportunities for all and all," felt especially Mrs Ashton Reding.

LIBYA: The insurgency continues to spread in the East

AFP - The Libyan insurgents, masters of the East, continued to rise Friday and claimed to have taken control of a strategic oil city, while police faced opposition in the streets of Tripoli.

A Libyan government source said that the West was "completely" under the control of the regime, but the east remained "problematic".

The insurgents said on Friday evening had taken control of Ras Lanuf, over 300 km south-west of Benghazi, a stronghold of the insurgency, after violent clashes with forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Ras Lanuf is an oil port, just a hundred miles of Sirte, the hometown and stronghold of Colonel Gaddafi, who has faced for more than two weeks to an unprecedented uprising since coming to power nearly 42 years ago.

In Ras Lanuf, a journalist from AFP saw the rebels positioned outside of the complex operations of oil Harouge, military barracks and police station, but it was not possible to confirm immediately whether the rebels controlled the entire residential areas.

"We took their barracks. The residential area is combed through" to find elements of the pro-Gaddafi, said a rebel fighters, Saleh Sultan.

"They fled like rabbits.When we started to move, they attacked us with Grad missiles and heavy weapons. But we kept going because we know that these are rats, "said another veteran, Abdelsalam.

A doctor reported "many casualties" in Ras Lanuf.

However, Zawiyah, about sixty miles west of Tripoli, could have been taken over by forces loyal to the Libyan regime. Fighting between the army have regular insurgents, making "many" casualties.

But a political activist Zawiyah, Mohammad Qasim, interviewed live on the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera, denied the fall of the city, while acknowledging that she was surrounded.

Sunday, anti-Gaddafi demonstrators took control of Zawiyah where they had demonstrated in their thousands against the regime during a press visit organized by the authorities. Fighting had taken place Feb. 24 in the city, leaving over 35 dead, according to the Libyan League for Human Rights.

Appeals were launched in Tripoli to take advantage of the Friday prayer and be heard in the capital, where the opposition has already tried last week to raise in several neighborhoods.

Near rebel Tajoura in the east of the capital, clashes between the forces of order to a hundred protesters chanting slogans against the regime.The police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, witnesses said.

On the Green Square, in downtown, hundreds of pro-Gaddafi expressed their support for the "Guide of the Revolution," an AFP journalist. Limited clashes took place between small groups of demonstrators pro and anti-Gaddafi nearby, said a witness.

The 18th day of revolt against the Libyan leader, the insurgents advancing along the coast after two days of fierce fighting, including at Brega.

"The plan is to move slowly in their direction to push them back. We do not want to fight, we want to impose psychological pressure (...).But if we must kill to win this battle, we will do, "he told AFP Colonel Bashir Abdelkader.

A little farther east, Captain al-Chouaib Akaki, who joined the opposition camp, worried at the idea of fighting to come, inevitably fratricide.

"We try to limit losses on both sides. In Libya, we are all parents. We are a nation of tribes. We all have family in Sirte," Colonel Gaddafi's stronghold situated between Tripoli and Benghazi, he said .

The opposition was also expressed in Benghazi to demand the departure of Colonel Gaddafi.Some 5,000 Libyans were requested by the court after a sermon in which the imam has promised that "victory is near".

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday that the world was "disgusted" by the violence against the Libyans, warning that the United States were examining "all (their) options" in this crisis.

According to the Libyan League for Human Rights, the repression has already 6,000 dead.

LIBYA: The international community puts more pressure on Gaddafi

The opposition controlled vast territories Monday in Libya, including major oil fields, the Gaddafi colènel remaining deaf to the growing pressure from the international community considering all options including the military.

The 14th day of unprecedented upheaval, Muammar Qaddafi and his forces no longer control that Tripoli and its region.According to European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger, major Libyan oil fields are now "under the control of tribes and interim forces who returned to power."

The opposition has announced the imminent resumption of oil exports from the east under its control, with the departure of a ship bound for China.

The international community sought ways to end the instability in the country and reflected such a ban airspace.

The U.S. military positions in naval and air forces around Libya, the Pentagon said, adding that its planners were studying various options.

"We're repositioning forces to have the flexibility necessary once the decisions have been taken," said Pentagon spokesman, Dave Laplane.

The chief diplomat Hillary Clinton said that no military action involving U.S. ships were expected in the country.

A spokesman for the White House held that "exile" of the leader was also "a possibility".

President Barack Obama received for his part, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the situation.

In France, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said that all options were under consideration, including that of the ban on flights over the territory of Libya which would however require the involvement of NATO and UN approval. "I know that evokes military solutions, these solutions are being evaluated by the French government," he said.

Italy has supported a ban on flights over Libya.

After the United Nations and the United States, the European Union on Monday adopted an arms embargo against Libya and a freeze on assets and visa bans against Colonel Qadhafi and 25 of his relatives.

The United States has blocked $ 30 billion of assets since the Libyan sanctions announced Friday by the White House, said a senior Treasury official in Washington.

Information obtained from witnesses, air raids on forces loyal to Qadhafi were denied by the Libyan authorities.

These days, flights suspected of being linked to arms trafficking between Belarus and Libya have been identified by the International Institute for Peace Research in Stockholm.

Facing increasing pressure from the international community, Gaddafi, in power for over 40 years, remained adamant.

"My people adore me. They died to protect me," he said in an interview with ABC television.

The West is preparing to help the opposition, which created an "independent National Council" to represent "the liberated cities.

This body will be "the face of Libya during the transition period," said his spokesman Abdelhafez Ghoqa, while the EU has indicated that in the process of "making contacts" with the Libyan authorities in transition.

"We rely on the army to liberate Tripoli," saidGhoqa.

Apart from the East, the opposition claimed control of several towns around the capital and in the west, including Nalout (230 km west of Tripoli) and Zawiyah (60 km west of the capital ).

The strategic cities of Misrata, east, and Gherien the south, also seem under control of the opposition.

In Tripoli, checkpoints were set up in and around the capital by militant pro-Gaddafi and bread and gasoline were rationed, according to one resident.

Beyond sanctions, Hillary Clinton claimed on Monday that are prepared "additional measures for the Qaddafi government accountable, to provide humanitarian assistance and support for the Libyan people in their quest for a transition to democracy."

The United States will send two teams of humanitarian border with Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, "she announced, while the International Red Cross has demanded immediate access to the west of Libya.

France is sending two aircraft to Benghazi to provide humanitarian aid and the World Food Program has announced the shipment of 80 tons of high energy biscuits.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is conducting a preliminary investigation into the violence in Libya, prior to any investigation for crimes against humanity.

The UN chief Ban Ki-moon spoke of a balance of a thousand deaths.

Nearly 110.000 people, mostly Egyptian and Tunisian workers have already fled the country, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Oil prices fell Monday in New York, the commitment of Saudi Arabia to ensure the stability of a market worried about oil production in Libya has calmed tensions.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of light sweet crude for April delivery finished at 96.97 dollars, down 91 cents from Friday.

THEATRE: Men, Gods and Caesar ...

With 11 nominations at the 36th ceremony of Caesar, the film by Xavier Beauvois' Of Men and Gods "collect in advance the honors of the profession that brand again its distance from the box office by ignoring" Little Tissues "from Guillaume Canet and "Camping 2" Fabien Onteniente.

After a great year for cinema hexagonal (over 206 million cinema admissions, 35% for French films), appointments spend yet most beautiful successes of 2010, "Potiche" to "Tour "from" The Heartbreaker "to" The Ghost Writer "by Roman Polanski.

The Academy of Caesar accompanies the unexpected triumph of the film by Xavier Beauvois (more than 3 million viewers), already crowned by the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, "Of Men and Gods," which recounts the fate of the monks of Tibehirine , abducted and murdered in Algeria in 1996, is quoted in ten categories.

It is proposed to Cesar for best film, best director, best original screenplay, best sound, picture editing, best costumes, sets, best actor Lambert Wilson and twice for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Michael Lonsdale and Olivier Rabourdin.

Nominees in major categories:

Best Film
"The Heartbreaker" by Pascal Chaumeil, "The Name of the people" by Michel Leclerc, "The Ghost Writer" by Roman Polanski; "Tour" Mathieu Amalric, "Of Men and Gods" by Xavier Beauvois; "Gainsbourg, life heroic "by Joann Sfar;" Mammuth "Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern.Dr. Nolan, "The Social Network" by David Fincher, "Invictus" by Clint Eastwood, "Bright Star" by Jane Campion; "Heartbeats" by Xavier Dolan, "In his eyes" by Juan Jose Campanella; "Illegal" d Olivier Masset Depasse.

Best First Film
Simon Werner disappeared "Fabrice Gobert," The Heartbreaker "by Pascal Chaumeil," Gainsbourg, heroic life "by Joann Sfar;" All That Glitters "Géraldine Nakache
"Turk's Head" by Pascal Elbe

A Caesar of honor will be awarded by the Academy to the American director Quentin Tarantino during the Feb. 25 ceremony will be broadcast live at 21:00 Clear Channel Canal +.

LIBYA: The challenge wins Tripoli, ransacked several government buildings in the capital

The seat has a TV and radio public were ransacked by demonstrators Sunday in Tripoli where police stations and local revolutionary committees were set on fire, reported the AFP witnesses reached by telephone.

"A room that housed the television station Al-Jamahiriya Radio 2 and Al-Shababia was ransacked," said a witness told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The diffusion of television was suspended Sunday night, resumed Monday.

Al-Jamahariya 2 second public channel, and radio Al-Shababia had been launched by a son of Libyan leader Muammar, Seif al-Islam in 2008, before being nationalized in the future.

Moreover, according to several testimonies gathered by the AFP, public buildings were burned in the capital Sunday night, including police and local revolutionary committees in several neighborhoods, including near the square in downtown Green where violent confrontations took place at night between pro-and anti-regime.

The "Hall of the People", a building located near downtown and where are often organized events and formal meetings, was also burned, told AFP Tripolitan who lives nearby.

This building is located not far from downtown, at the entrance of the residential district of Hay al-Andalus.

In the night, heavy gunfire were heard in several neighborhoods of Tripoli and clashes between opponents and supporters of the Libyan leader had taken place including the Green Square Tripoli, witnesses said.

Violence during demonstrations against the power of Libya Muammar Gaddafi took at least 233 deaths since February 15, HRW said Monday, following a warning from the leader's son Seif al-Islam against the risks of " civil war "in the country.

Benghazi, the second largest city 1,000 km east of Tripoli, is the center of the revolt for six days and for Sunday alone 60 people were killed, according to Human Rights Watch.

The protests have won the capital Sunday.

"Libya is at a crossroads.Either we are hearing today on reforms, or we do not mourn 84 deaths but thousands and there will be rivers of blood throughout Libya, "said Seif al-Islam during a televised speech on the night Sunday to Monday, saying the country is on the verge of "civil war".

He repeated several times the figure of 84 dead in violence in Libya and said the balance sheets provided by "foreign media" were "greatly exaggerated".

Since the beginning of the protest movement in Libya, his father, Colonel Gaddafi, who has for 42 years without a power-sharing in this oil-rich country, made no public intervention.

G20 SUMMIT: The French presidency is trying to defuse controversy

In Paris, during the G20 summit, he will essentially issue of imbalances in the global economy. But the G20 central bankers will also discuss raw materials and exchange rate policy.

For two days, finance ministers of the club of the 20 richest states accompanied by the presidents of their respective central banks will try to harmonize their violins.But political differences and strong business fueled by the turmoil caused by the economic crisis may clutter the discussion.

The three points of contention that the G20 Finance:

- The global economic imbalances

One of the issues of this summit is to assess the reality of economic disparity between the G20 countries to better redistribute the fruits of global growth. The goal is laudable, but to reach the participants at the G20 in Paris will have to agree on concrete indicators.

This is where things could get tougher.Five possible criteria have been identified: current account balance, real exchange rates, foreign exchange reserves, deficit and public debt, and private savings. One particularly problematic: the balance of current accounts in which the trade balance plays an important role. States like China or Germany fear that eventually they blame their strong exports. The French Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde, has already started clearing the ground Thursday at a conference in Paris organized by the Institute of International Finance. "What we do not want is to tell any country: stop being competitive, stop exporting," she said.It evokes rather "guidelines" ... more consensual and more blurred.

- The regulation of commodity markets

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold. He wants to make the fight against speculation in commodity markets its workhorse at the head of the G20. "There will be a debate about it," he confirmed the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.

But the debate is likely to be stormy, for the role of speculation in the surge in commodity prices is not consensus. Early 2011, a study by the European Commission concluded that there was no correlation between the two.Countries like Brazil and Argentina, leading producers of raw materials are, moreover, strongly opposed to regulation of prices and fear that France is trying to impose one. So, Christine Lagarde had again put water into wine Nicolas Sarkozy. "It does not propose a price administration, not at all," she said without specifying what France wanted.

- Policy Exchange

The war being waged for nearly a year the United States and China on the undervaluation of the yuan remains a central concern. In this regard, Christine Lagarde reiterated that China "should let its currency appreciate more freely."But for Beijing not to input summit in the dock, she returned with another idea to which China is more favorable.

So France should advocate a greater role for the Yuan. It should propose that the Chinese currency is part of IMF's currency basket - called Special Drawing Right - which is replacing gold in large international transactions. One way for France to indicate that the Chinese currency should be treated with the same consideration as the dollar.

AFGHANISTAN: A shopping center in Kabul hit by suicide attack

AFP - At least two Afghan guards were killed Monday in a suicide bombing at the entrance of a shopping center in Kabul, said on television, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

The bomber had driven his explosives belt when he was stopped by guards at the entrance of the Kabul City Center, said Zemaraï Bashary the private Tolo television channel.

"Two guards were killed and others wounded.There is only one attacker who blew himself up, "he added.

"Two guards of the mall were killed and two others were injured," he confirmed on site to the press on police chief of Kabul, Mohammad Ayoub Salang.

A senior city police had earlier said that several armed men stormed the Kabul City Center, and that an explosion had been heard.

Ten days ago, a suicide attack claimed by Taliban insurgents had killed eight people in a supermarket in the center of the capital, in an area close to many embassies where many Westerners live.

If security in the Afghan capital has generally improved over the past two years, Kabul is still the target of bombings and attacks often claimed by the Taliban and specifically targeting Afghan and international forces and foreign civilians sometimes.

EGYPT: Strong mobilization of anti-Mubarak despite threats of power

Despite the threat of power to involve the army in case of "chaos", the protesters remained very much involved, Tahrir Square in Cairo Thursday for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who has failed to quell a revolt unprecedented.

The 17th day of the uprising against Mr.Mubarak, in power for nearly 30 years, protesters chanted early morning "The people want to topple the regime," motto of the protest.

"Alaa (eldest son of the president), told Dad that a quarter of a century, enough!" They shouted Tahrir Square, occupied day and night and became the symbol of the movement.

Many carried pictures of "martyrs" killed during the violence that killed about 300 people according to a report from the UN and Human Rights Watch since the beginning of the movement.

Defying the power has toughened their tone on Wednesday against the demonstrators set up new tents on the square, according to an AFP photographer.

The Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday held up the military threat, saying the military institution, considered as neutral, would take place "in case of chaos to take things in hand".

The British daily The Guardian has however reported testimony accusing the military of having been held incommunicado hundreds of demonstrators and to have tortured some.

Protesters spent the night on both sides of the road leading to Parliament, and Thursday morning, the two entries of this road were blocked.

"No to (Omar) Suleiman!", The Vice-President (ex-intelligence chief), "No to American agents", "No to Israeli spies", "Down with Mubarak," they chanted.

Hundreds of protesters surrounded Parliament on Wednesday and the government headquarters, located opposite the center of Cairo.

"If we do not die here, we will die in prison. I'd rather die here," Attiya told AFP Abu El-Ela, a graduate of 24 years of work.

Now the pressure, the White House said that the pursuit of popular mobilization showed that political reforms were still not sufficient, while the State Department urged the Egyptian army to continue to exercise restraint.

Mr.Aboul Gheit, whose country is one of the main U.S. allies in the region, accused the U.S. of seeking to "impose" their will to Egypt in demanding immediate reforms, in an interview on U.S. television PBS.

The calm seemed to be back on Thursday at El Kharga, a town 400 km south of Cairo, where five people injured yesterday in clashes between demonstrators and police who used live bullets, died, according to medical sources. There was also a hundred injured.

Tuesday, Vice-President Suleiman had estimated that an immediate end to the regime "would mean chaos," remarks immediately denounced by the Muslim Brotherhood who ensured that the demonstrations "will continue whatever the threats."

The army, the backbone of the regime, has been named January 28 as reinforcements of police, in particular to enforce the curfew still in force in Cairo, Alexandria (north) and Suez (east).

The situation returned to normal as in Assiut, south of Cairo, where a railway track and a highway linking the northern and southern Iraq, demonstrators blocked Wednesday by anti-Mubarak, have been reopened.

Protesters had also ransacked a government building in Port Said (northeast), the Mediterranean entrance of the Suez Canal.

The protesters still demand the immediate departure of Mr. Mubarak, 82, who has promised to fade at the end of his term in September without appease the protesters.

A political protest were joined by social movements on wages or working conditions in the arsenals of Port Said, in private companies working on the Suez Canal (east) or at the Cairo airport.

Since February 3, events occur most frequently in the tranquility.Clashes between police and protesters during the first days, then between pro and anti Mubarak February 2, however, have claimed nearly 300 lives, according to the UN and HRW, and thousands injured.

The cybermilitant Wael Ghonim, became an icon of the Egyptian revolt after spending twelve days in prison, promised Thursday that he would not make policy and that it "would amount to a normal life once the (...) Egyptians have realized their dream. "

ITALY: Four children die in a fire at an encampment of Roma

Four children aged three, five, seven and eleven years died Sunday in a fire in a camp of Roma in the Italian capital, told AFP spokesman Fire of Rome.

"The bodies were charred and half it could be that there is a fifth victim," he said."Checks are under way, the fire has just been extinguished," he added.

ANSA news agency reported, four others are missing.

The fire broke out, for reasons still unknown, around 8:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) in a hut in a camp located along the Appia Nuova, one of the great arteries from the Porta San Giovanni, in the east of the city towards the airport of Ciampino.

According to NGOs, ten thousands of Roma living in the Italian capital and its suburbs.Most live in illegal settlements whose next closure was announced last year by the city of Rome.

Three new legal settlements, as there are already seven around the Italian capital, must be built by late 2011 with the aim to host 6000 Roma.

Wikileaks: The Mubarak of Egypt under scrutiny of U.S. diplomatic cables

Quarantine of diplomatic cables on Egypt made public by the website Wikileaks between late January and early February depicts a power elite profoundly disconnected from the people. The authorities there seem to be paralyzed by power struggles and very timid on the issue of human rights. Review in detail the main themes raised in these confidential diplomatic exchanges.

Hosni Mubarak: Egyptian The Rais is portrayed as an old wolf of the policy that is clinging to power at any cost, in a long cable in May 2009 dedicated to him.According to the American ambassador stationed in Cairo, he is obsessed by the "threat" of the Muslim Brotherhood and considers Iran "as its main adversary" in the region. The great ideals like human rights do "not interested". Another message of January 2010 provides that he will represent in the 2011 presidential election and that "obviously will be reelected" ...

Inheritance: "This is the topic of conversation in the corridors of power," it said repeatedly in these diplomatic cables. Struggles clan seem to dominate the energy of all those close to Hosni Mubarak.The personality of the president's son, Gamal Mubarak, is considered the main fault line. "The army does not support Gamal and never let settle a dynastic succession," says a cable and September 2008. Better: a parliamentary assured a U.S. representative in 2007, that the only way to resolve the problem of succession would probably one day be "a military coup."

Human Rights: The issue of police violence is one of the most often discussed in these diplomatic cables that run from 2005 to February 2010. The representatives of the Egyptian government then respond systematically denial.On January 31, 2010, the director of security services, Hassan Abdel Rahman, said as there had been no "abuse of prisoners in the last ten years." The Embassy of the United States, however, noted that from 2007, the courts more readily grasp of police brutality case. But the only convictions are generally the "underlings". Between 2005 and 2010, the conclusion is often the same: "Torture and police brutality are rampant and widespread"

Army: A diplomatic cable in 2008 described the army as a body of the state's declining influence that attaches primarily to its economic privileges.U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey estimated that the population no longer sees the army as the nation's elite. Above all, the diplomat believes that the power of the military is primarily economic - investment real estate, among others - that politics of economic privatization undertaken by the president especially irritates the military institution.

Public opinion: On several occasions, diplomatic cables echo the growing public resentment against Hosni Mubarak. Cable in particular relating to violent protests in the city of Mahalla in 2008, stresses that the term "corruption and disdain are on everyone's lips."Upon arrival of Mohamed el-Baradei in Egypt in February 2010, a diplomatic cable emphasizes that for the population, it represents a "viable alternative to a corrupt system."

AFRICAN UNION: Nicolas Sarkozy says stand "alongside Egyptian and Tunisian peoples"

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Sunday in Addis Ababa African leaders to learn from the riots in Tunisia and Egypt to "forestall" the desire for change and renewed their populations, as patron of the G8 and G20 support the mainland.

For the first performance of a French head of state before a summit of African Union (AU), Mr.Sarkozy has taken advantage of events that stir Africa for weeks to deliver to the audience of heads of state and government of which he was the guest of honor councils "friend" of France for good governance and democracy.

Widely criticized in France for too long argued against the street ousted regime of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the President reiterated that he stood "with friendship and respect along with the Tunisians and Egyptians" , which he praised the "yearning" to change.

As in the statement released Saturday evening with British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he also condemned "violence from whatever source, (which) is never the solution."

On the sixth day of revolt in Egypt, a report identifying Sunday more than 100 deaths and 2,000 wounded, mainly civilians, since the beginning of the contest.

But if he had requested by name Saturday to President Hosni Mubarak to make changes, Nicolas Sarkozy has used a cryptic tone Sunday to discuss the crisis in Egypt, drowned in a parable on democracy for all its African counterparts.

"France respects the sovereignty and the right of peoples to determine themselves (...) But there are values that are universal (...) all politicians must reckon with them, "he said while the AU has appointed to head the President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has led over thirty years his country with an iron fist.

"In today's world, we can not govern like that of yesterday. This change, or it is sudden, the door is open at one time or another, to violence. Or this change, it precedes, accompanies it and then it can be accomplished smoothly (...) The peaceful, France wishes, "he told the French president.

Regaining his cap pattern of G8 and G20, Nicolas Sarkozy has been renewing its support to Africa.And first to his old claim to get a permanent seat on the Security Council of the UN.

In response to the president of its General Assembly, the Swiss Joseph Deiss, who has raised the sea serpent UN, the President has challenged the UN to achieve reform in 2011. "Do it this year, do not wait," he told him the applause, "to acknowledge billion Africans in the place they deserve and France will support you!"

To wrest support from Africa to his struggle for control of money markets or raw materials, Mr.Sarkozy also called for the establishment of the much contested tax on financial transactions, according to him only possibility to keep the aid commitments to poor countries.

"France is ready to implement innovative financing, even if other countries do not follow it," he said.

African leaders warmly welcomed the French promises. Chairman of the AU Commission Jean Ping said he "is confident that the G20 allows Africa to play its full role" and the President of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika hailed Nicolas Sarkozy a "true friend of Africa ".

EGYPT: Noor, the miracle of Egyptian Web

Since Thursday night, almost full (about 90%) of the Web is hamstrung by the Egyptian authorities. But Noor, an Internet service provider (ISP), appears to have passed between the cracks. Even if the connection is erratic hosted sites, the vast majority of websites hosted by the Egyptian ISPs are always accessible.

This preferential treatment has prompted many reactions on Twitter, where users Egyptian argue that maintaining the sites hosted by Noor is a partnership between the company to the authorities in Cairo.Although it is not a public company, Noor is one of the figureheads of technological development desired by the Mubarak government and has signed many trade agreements with major economic entities.

In August 2004, in an interview published by the newspaper "Al-Mougaz" and taken over by the "newsletter" of the ISP, its founder, Basel Dalloul, welcomed the success of his group, four years after its launch: "The Egyptian government asked me five years ago to seek investment opportunities in the framework of President Mubarak of Egypt to the 'hub' of information technology."

A cog in the Egyptian economy

Oil companies Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) and ExxonMobil, among others, use the services of Noor, like the Egyptian Exchange. Although it is not the market leader among users "lambda" Noor is through these partnerships, a significant cog in the economy.

This strategic deployment, begun by the group since the early 2000s, is the brainchild of Basel Dalloul. The latter, who just resell Magnet Interactive Group after having been in ten years, a respected technology sector, decided to answer the call of the Egyptian government.His first challenge: to democratize the use of Internet in a country where the Web is still confidential and where it is estimated the total number of Internet users within 500 000.

Developed through a partnership with Telecom Egypt, Noor, founded in 2000, moved quickly to a vast majority of users access the Web Basic (dial-up), via telephone lines from the incumbent operator in Egypt.

A service that will eventually give up, because of the large number of licenses granted by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to ISPs.

Supplier of Coca-Cola, Toyota and Nestle

Beginning in 2004, while operators like Orascom, getting down to expand their services to individuals, Noor establishes partnerships with many market players in the country. It now provides internal access to the Internet to many groups based in Egypt, including Coca-Cola, Toyota, Renault, Mitsubishi, FedEx, Nestle, Bristol Myers or Lafarge.

Today, the park Egyptian Internet has grown considerably and is flirting with the 17 million users, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).And since Thursday evening, the four main providers of Internet access, Link Egypt, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone / Raya, and Etisalat Misr had their broadband networks suspended. Only a few lines "dial-up seem to escape the blackout. ADSL proposed by Noor, meanwhile, is still "online" yet.