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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."