LIBYA: The insurgents forced back towards the town of Ben Jawad

Syria: The government has submitted his resignation to President Bashar al-Assad, who accepted it. Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri, who headed the government since 2003, has been charged with handling current business. The composition of the new government should be known by the end of the week. Bashar al-Assad will address the nation Wednesday for the first time since the start of the contest. Libya: The insurgents were repulsed by Ben Jawad, east of Sirte, the hometown of Muammar Gaddafi, the cons-offensive by the armed forces. The latter are accused of killing at least 142 people in their offensive in Misrata, according to a doctor at the hospital in the city.Two loud explosions also rocked Tripoli in the area of ​​residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and seven others were heard in Tajura, a suburb east of the capital, according to an AFP reporter and witnesses. United Kingdom: A forty countries and organizations met in London in the wake of military strikes in Libya have shown their unity to build the country's political future around an almost unanimous conclusion: "Gaddafi has to leave."
Among them, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, but several Arab countries, including Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE.

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SYRIA: Impatiens, the Syrian youth trying to break the silence

The wall of silence is cracking. "Deraa is Syria," "We sacrifice ourselves for Deraa," "God, Syria, and freedom is everything" ... The slogans continue to resonate in Dera in the region Harouan (South) where the dispute appears to show no signs of weakness despite the violent repression of the Syrian authorities that killed more than 100 deaths in one week.

Believing themselves immune from any challenge, the regime in Damascus is seen now faced with the uprising of youth galvanized by the revolutionary wave that swept the Arab world. March 18, protesters defied the military and much feared secret services (the "Mukhabarat") by setting fire to public buildings Deraa, city yet acquired the ruling Baath Party.Since then the movement has spread to Hama, Damascus, Latakia, Banias or Hassakeh. A month ago, yet the head of state Bashar al-Assad assured in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that his country is guarded against any form of rebellion. "We're out of it, certified it by speaking of the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt. The Syrians do not rebel. It's a matter of ideology." A sealed system to challenge ideology Actually, people had resigned to decades of silence imposed an iron hand by the Baath party in power since 1963 which has made Syria one of States most of the locked region."The Syrian system does not accept the challenge, said Thursday on France Info radio waves Gilles Kepel, head of the chair Middle East-Mediterranean Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Paris. It has to one side a president who is young, friendly, loves to talk with intellectuals and academics, and, on the other, the resilience of a system of power inherited from the father [Hafez al-Assad] is absolutely ruthless. " The last Syrian rebellion began in 1982 in Hama, the fourth largest city. The then president, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, had ordered the army to crush the uprising, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 dead.During the 1980s, nearly 70,000 people were missing. Since the establishment of a state of emergency in 1963, protests are banned, intellectuals and political opponents routinely jailed. Nearly 4,500 political prisoners are currently in Syrian jails, according to the Foundation for Defense of Human Rights in Syria. "Young people are expecting a 180 degree turn" Faced with pressure from the street, President Al-Assad, who has not yet announced publicly, was shown on Thursday, more inclined to make concessions.Through the voice of his advisor Boussaïna Shaaban, the strong man of Damascus announced consider canceling the state of emergency and set up mechanisms "effective" to fight against corruption. Inadequate gestures of openness, according Ajlani Mohammed, director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Paris and an expert on Syria. "Youth has waited too long, says he told FRANCE 24. She wanted the president to go further, faster in the reforms, he dismisses all the caciques who enriched themselves at the time of his father. It has been ten years since the public expects.Young people were expecting a 180 degree turn. "Arrived at the head of the country to the death of his father in 2000, Bashar al-Assad succeeded in imposing on the nomenklatura political-military importance of economic reforms, opening up Syria the market economy. But this rapid liberalization has mainly had the effect of widening social inequalities and enhancing the close of the al-Assad. Syria has "not yet slipped into the red zone," said Mohammed Ajlani, but time is short. "If al-Assad is taking bold economic and social decisions, a way out of crisis then offer himself to him who will go through compromise and negotiation.If the power of new represses any movement in the blood, it will not work much longer. "

NUCLEAR: Bad habits Tepco recall woes of BP in Louisiana

Tokyo Electric Power, better known under the name of TEPCO, tries to restore its image. His vice-president, Norio tsuzumi, has for the first time apologized Tuesday to the Japanese for "anxiety and noise that [this] company has caused to nearby residents of plants, those in the prefecture Fukushima and the country as a whole. "

An almost perfect timing: since Monday, efforts to contain the risk of nuclear power plant in Fukushima seem to bear fruit. Financial markets even as subscribing, 24 hours later, the action of TEPCO gained 16% to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Yet the Japanese are ready to let bygones be bygones?

The stakes are high for a number of Japanese electricity.These days, TEPCO has been accused of concealing information about the magnitude of the threat and to have been negligent in the maintenance of these plants. "The media has been very critical of the company," says FRANCE 24 Evelyn Dourille-Feer, a specialist on Japan at the CEPII. Shadow of a similar fate to that of BP, media and business mired in the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, flat on Tepco.

Tokyo Electric Power symbolizes the Japanese dependence of their countries towards nuclear power.The group built its first plant in 1971 and now supplies electricity to more than 30 million Japanese, mostly in the Tokyo area. Its energy empire makes it the fourth group in the world in this sector (behind Germany's E. ON, EDF French and German RWE).

Hazardous communication

But Tepco especially behind a reputation as a liar patented. In 2002, its CEO, Nobuya Minami, had to resign following a case of falsification of reports. Between 1977 and 2002, Tokyo Electric Power had returned to the state nearly 200 falsified documents to conceal a series of incidents within its nuclear plants.

A scandal that has dented the credibility of the sustainable group."Today, the Japanese are still very wary of what TEPCO said," said Evelyne Dourille-Feer.

Political power could take the bad reputation of TEPCO to make a perfect scapegoat.The government has explained on Tuesday that the group would have to compensate all the farmers around damaged plants. The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, also complained last week that TEPCO had been slow to inform a new fire in one of these plants.

This is not the first time the authorities are attacking Tepco. Shortly before the earthquake, the group had agreed that all necessary safety measures in case of event impérvu had not been taken within its facilities. Incidentally, the Japanese have learned that false documents had been forwarded to the Japanese Nuclear Safety Agency on February 28, less than two weeks before the earthquake.Twenty state officials are on the premises of TEPCO last week to monitor that no information escapes them this time.

For now, Tepco defends itself by arguing that his plants have withstood the earthquake and the damage caused by the tsunami. A double disaster was difficult to predict, does she know. But the best way to get out of Tepco without too much damage is "to succeed in mastering the nuclear issue as soon as possible", says Evelyn Dourille-Feer.

Photo credit: J.Morganized / Flickr

JAPAN: The toll of the earthquake and tsunami stands at more than 6,000 dead

AFP - Japan has resumed operations on Friday to try to cool the reactors at the Fukushima plant, where the situation seemed to have stabilized a week after the earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 6,400 confirmed dead.

The balance of the worst earthquake ever recorded in the islands will continue to worsen as more than 10,000 people were officially unaccounted for, police said.

Despite an unprecedented mobilization of 80,000 soldiers and rescue workers, the hopes of finding survivors have almost vanished, especially since a cold snap affecting the devastated area.

For the first time since the crisis began, experts have noted an encouraging development in the central Fukushima, four of six reactors were seriously damaged by explosions and fires.

"The situation remains very serious in the plant. But there was no significant worsening since yesterday," said Andrew Graham, Special Advisor to Director General International Atomic Energy Agency (AIAE).

The situation "has not deteriorated, which is positive.But it is still possible they are getting worse, "he said.

At midday, several tanker trucks equipped with water cannon have started to pour tens of tons of water on the reactor 3 in order to prevent the fuel rods to melt and thus prevent a major nuclear accident.

These operations started Thursday have been "a positive," said a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO).

"Our priority remains the reactor 3," confirmed the government's spokesman Yukio Edano.

In this reactor whose outer structure was destroyed by an explosion of hydrogen, the storage pool of spent fuel, located outside the containment building was damaged.

The bars must be stored constantly submerged under penalty of heat and cause radioactive releases.

Operations are also designed to cool the reactors 1, 2 and 4 and the storage pool of the latter.

Tepco parallel attempts to restore, with temporary power lines, the electricity supply to the plant "to restart the reactor coolant pumps and fill swimming pools."

These systems broke down when the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the protection of the marine plant built in the 1970s.

If Japan asks, 450 military U.S. nuclear experts stand ready to intervene, said the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, who said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the developments.

France and Russia have also offered their assistance.

Meanwhile, many cities continued to organize the departure of their nationals present in the area at risk and in the huge megalopolis of Tokyo, located within 250 km of Fukushima.

Those who do not leave Japan find refuge in the south of the archipelago, especially in Osaka, the second city in the country where, for example, Germany has installed a temporary embassy.

The activity has significantly reduced since the beginning of the week in the capital, where many firms operate in slow motion and even the auctions were suspended tuna at Tsukiji, the largest fish market in the world. But no panic has seized the people of Tokyo, who have stored food in case they should be confined to their homes.

The streets of the capital are usually illuminated at night in some areas plunged into darkness due to power limitations."The thriving metropolis radiating and became a city of darkness, scarcity and apprehension," lamented the daily Japan Times.

The government has assured that the operations of aid to some 440,000 victims would be improved to respond to complaints about shortages of drinking water and food.

The cold and snow fell in recent days on the north-east complicate the task of the 80,000 soldiers, police and rescue workers mobilized on the ground.

In the city of Katahama, refugees trying to withstand temperatures fell to 0 degrees in a social center where there is no electricity, no gas, no water."We have flashlights for the night and we we wind up in blankets," he testified Kikuo Nomura, 70.

These extreme conditions also undermine the health of people evacuated the most vulnerable like the elderly and children, of whom 100,000 are homeless, according to the organization Save The Children.

The G7 finance ministers have expressed their solidarity with Japan deciding to take action "concerted" on the foreign exchange market to contain soaring yen.The announcement had an immediate effect: the dollar has fallen over 80 yen in Tokyo Friday, the day after a record at 76.36 yen.

In a speech on the situation in Japan, the president Barack Obama gave the order to conduct a "comprehensive review" of nuclear safety in the United States.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Allied Ouattara take position in western

AFP - Allied Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo recognized by the international community, took a fourth place Sunday in western countries with forces loyal to the outgoing Head of State Laurent Gbagbo said on from both sides.

At the end of fighting, the "rebel" New Forces (FN) "took the town of Doke, between Toulépleu and Bloléquin," he told AFP pro-Gbagbo militia, joined by telephone from Abidjan.

"Our troops are currently stationed in Doke," confirmed a senior FN based in Man, the main town of the "Great West" Ivorian border of Liberia.

Since mid-February, the FN, who held the north since 2002, and took four towns in the west, making them most was the town of Toulepleu, fell on March 6 after a battle against the Defence Forces and Security (FDS) loyal to Mr.Gbagbo and the militia who support them.

The objective of the pro-Ouattara is to take the city of Bloléquin, about ten miles Doke, which would open access to the center-west and the port of San Pedro (south-west), the largest port export of cocoa in the world.

"They are moving towards Bloléquin," said the pro-Gbagbo militia, describing the fighters FN as "well equipped" with "rocket launchers, machine guns".

"We are preparing to defend with SDS Bloléquin Bloléquin because after they count up Guiglo and Duekoue," two strategic towns in the region, he said.

Guillaume Soro, leader of the FN and Prime Minister Mr.Ouattara, had made this week in the West, calling his men to "secure" area and drive out the "mercenaries" pro-Gbagbo.

"We received orders from the Prime Minister. We will not lay down their arms," ​​the official added FN.

The western region is crossed by the former front line between the north of FN-controlled south Gbagbo camp.

Renewed fighting in the most unstable region of the country comes as Abidjan was itself the scene of armed clashes between insurgents and pro-Ouattara SDS, in the district of Abobo (north), stronghold of the rival M . Gbagbo.

The SDS has led an offensive Saturday to Abobo, which resulted in the death of ten people but did not seem to have made time move the lines on the ground.

Yemen: President Saleh promised a new constitution and a parliamentary system

AFP - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, subjected to growing popular opposition, promised Thursday a referendum by the end of 2011 on a new constitution paving the way for a parliamentary system demanded by the opposition.

Speaking to thousands gathered in Sanaa, M.Saleh also pledged to "continue to protect" the protesters, whether for or against his regime, after clashes that left at least two dead in violence in the country.

"I propose a new initiative to prevent the country's insurgency," said the Yemeni president, announcing "a referendum before the end of the year on a new constitution clearly stipulates the separation of powers."

He said the Constitution should "establish a parliamentary system, giving all executive powers to a government elected by Parliament in late 2011 or early 2012."

The mandate of MrSaleh, in power for 32 years ending in 2013.

Last week, the head of state, an ally of the United States in the fight against the followers of Osama bin Laden in the region, but increasingly politically isolated, rejected a plan proposed by the crisis opposition for departure before the end of the year.

The opposition had declared then determined to oust him.

Wednesday, medical sources have assured that a young man wounded by police Tuesday night before the University of Sanaa, where camping since February 21 angry students, died in hospital.

The Interior Minister Rashid Metahar Masri denied but Amnesty International has confirmed the death of a protester, calling on authorities to end the night attacks against the demonstrators.

The same day, an official security services said a supporter of the regime had been killed in the province of Hadramout, in south-eastern Yemen.

The U.S. expressed "deep concern" over violence in Yemen."We remain deeply concerned over the continuing violence in Yemen, and we continue to call the security forces, as the demonstrators to show restraint and to refrain from violence," said Mark Toner, a door Speaker of the State Department.

The deteriorating situation in Yemen, a poor country on the Arabian peninsula, had prompted the U.S. State Department to advise its nationals to leave the country.London and Ottawa have also urged their nationals to leave.

The Yemeni regime is challenged since late January with events in Sana'a, Taiz, Aden and the rest of the country.

Since the beginning of the protest movement late January against the regime of President Saleh, thirty people were killed in the violence, according to Amnesty International.

SOMALIA: Allied forces take over a position insurgents Shebab

The pro-government forces resumed Saturday Somali control of a border town with Kenya as part of a major offensive against insurgents Shebab has caused many deaths in the ranks of the African Union force in Mogadishu .

Saturday morning, a coalition of allied forces in TFG troops chased the insurgent town of Bulo Hawo, located on the border with Kenya and Ethiopia, according to several sources.

"We have total control" of the city, told the press Khalif Abdi Mohamed, head of the local district.

Shebab a commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the withdrawal of insurgent fighters in the city Saturday, but added that it was a strategic withdrawal.

"We will resume Bulo Hawo.Shebab troops who have withdrawn for military reasons are not far away, "he said.

The Shebab, who profess allegiance to Al Qaeda, control most of southern and central Somalia and vowed the loss of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) backed by the international community.

The pro-government troops who retook the city are made up of militiamen led by local warlord Barre Shire Hirale and members of the armed group Jamaa wal Sunnah Sufi Ahlu, supported, according to several security sources interviewed by AFP, by elements of the Ethiopian army who carried out artillery fire during the fighting.

Bulo Hawo, which adjoins the Kenyan town of Mandera, had already been taken to Shebab in October 2010 before being abandoned a few weeks later by pro-government forces on substantive disagreements with the TFG.

The recent fighting in Bulo Hawo were triggered at the same time as the offensive by government forces and African Union force (AMISOM) in Mogadishu from 19 February.

The simultaneous opening of these fronts - a third was opened in Beledweyne (center-west) - is it seems to stretch the lines Shebab and prevent them from concentrating all their troops in Mogadishu.

After controlling a network of trenches and tunnels in Mogadishu, used by insurgents for their supply and infiltration operations, the TFG forces and the Burundian contingent of AMISOM had delivered Feb. 23 to resume a bloody battle strategic positions in the north of the city.

According to military sources corroborating Amisom recorded in this offensive the biggest losses since its deployment in March 2007, well beyond the eight deaths officially accepted by the force.

"The official date given is completely false.In fact, 43 soldiers of the Burundian contingent of AMISOM were killed, four others were missing and 110 were wounded during the latest offensive joint Somali government in Mogadishu-Amisom, "he told AFP a military source Mogadishu, who requested anonymity, contacted by telephone.

A senior Amisom and the commander of the force refused Saturday to Nairobi to reveal the exact number of casualties in their ranks, preferring to emphasize the importance of the positions listed the insurgents, including the building of the former Ministry of Defence, which dominates the north of the capital, and the former dairy plant.

"The positions we have conquered the past two weeks break the grip of militant extremists in Mogadishu," has provided to the press Wafula Wamunyinyi, deputy representative for Somalia of the Committee of the African Union.

TECHNOLOGY: An iPad 2 to pull the rug from under the competition

iPad return. In all likelihood, Apple prepares to unveil on Wednesday a new version of its touch pad. Although the Cupertino giant has revealed nothing about the content of his great Mass in San Francisco, nobody seems to doubt the imminent landing of a successor to his new machine profits.

Apple has thus already stopped building the first generation of its tablet pictures unofficial successor of the iPad circulating on the Web and even the characteristics of the new product in the Apple brand appear to be known by specialized websites .

However, the current version of the iPad outrageously already dominates the market shelves in the United States.She holds 84% market share and reported $ 9.6 billion in 2010 to its creator, or 12% of its turnover.

Apple typically an annual renewal

The world is there really need a new iPad? The star of Apple toy is, indeed, on sale for a year. Consumers have really had the time of his weary of their gadget?

That's not counting with an old tradition of Apple. The computer giant is indeed a great frequenter of the annual renewal of its flagship products.The iPhone 3G was announced in July 2008 when the original iPhone was introduced in January 2007.

Most importantly, this time the competition - Google's head - has responded more quickly than it did on the smartphone market. It was not until over a year and a half for the first serious contender to the iPhone - "made in Google" - is sold.

The Internet giant this time it seems ready to draw an army of Android tablets (the operating system of Google, Ed). Moreover, in 2011, a dozen competitors to the iPad should appear. RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, the IT group and HP are also ready to join the party.A slew of competitors who all claim that their product will surpass the first iPad.

And Steve Jobs in all this?

Apple should introduce a new tablet supposed to erase the imperfections that make butter competition. The iPad 2 would be well equipped with two cameras (front and back) so you can take pictures and make video-conferencing. It should also be thinner, lighter and have a processor (engine of the machine, Ed) more powerful.

Finally, the big question of this show has nothing to do with technology.Steve Jobs, now removed from his position as CEO for health reasons, he will present on stage? He had been absent due to health problems, presentation of the iPhone 3G. The market does not he had a grudge at the time since Apple's stock was up 5% after the announcement of the new iPhone. Will he be willing to forgive and forget a second time?