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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.