ECONOMY: Hong Kong became a convert to the minimum wage without fervor

Hong Kong, a paradise for lovers of wild unfettered market? From 1 May, this image may take a lead in its liberal wing. For Labor Day, Hong-Kong authorities will establish a minimum wage. A revolution for the city-state accustomed to having no regulation of the labor market. So much so that besides the bosses, some of the employees and some unions are opposed.

This "minimum wage" sauce Hong Kong provides a minimum hourly wage of 28 Hong Kong dollars (2.43 euros). Its principle was passed in July 2010 and the government has fixed the amount in January. The authorities have decided to take this course in light of the growing wage inequality.Hong Kong has indeed been singled out by the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) has ranked in 2010, the last place of developed countries on equal pay.

And Hong Kong was also rather isolated internationally. "90% of countries have some sort of minimum wage," says FRANCE 24 John Richotte, Asia specialist for the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Even in Asia, the city-state was exceptional. Only Malaysia and Singapore do not yet have the minimum wage. "Malaysia has committed to build one by the end of the year," said John Richotte.Singapore, after hesitating a year ago, still holds.

Lobbying employers ready to fight

A victory would be in social work? The views of Hong Kong is much more mixed on the issue. "The lowest paid employees fear being laid off, not increased," reports the Hong Kong daily The Standard. Others fear losing some benefits such as paid leave. The unions expect to "historical events" in Hong Kong on May 1 to put pressure on employers.

The showdown promises to be severe indeed.The major fast-food chain in the country, Cafe de Coral, announced that the minimum wage would force it to revise downward its profit ... and probably to cut payroll. The employers' lobby, in any case, is developed. "So we have to reconnect with an unemployment rate before the crisis, establishing a minimum wage falls ill," said one CEO Hong Kong EconomyWatch on the site. But the threat of unemployment is not their only weapon. They also predict an inevitable increase in prices. Inflation in Hong Kong is already greater than 3% and the minimum wage would further increase prices. This would, according to employers, to negate the advantage of uen salary increase for workers."Actually this is not the minimum wage causes inflation, but inflation, which increases the minimum wage," says John Richotte. That prospect does not appeal to employers Hong Kong.

FRANCE: An employee of France Telecom himself on fire

AFP - An employee of France Telecom-Orange 57 years committed suicide Tuesday morning by burning themselves to death in the parking lot of a site near Bordeaux, has announced the leadership of the group told AFP.

"We are shocked to learn of the death of an employee of the professional agency of Bordeaux that ended his day by burning themselves to death this morning in the parking lot of the agency business Merignac," said group management.

"Rescuers arrived on the scene could only see the death of the employee aged 57 years," said the executive, adding that he mounted a psychological, and announcing the move "immediately" on the premises of the Executive Director of Orange France, Delphine Ernotte and human resources director Bruno Metling.

The communications manager of France Telecom in Aquitaine, Jean-Maurice Bentolila, said the tragedy had taken place without prior witnesses.

The man who committed suicide on the site Pichey Mérignac (Gironde) was the father of four children, told AFP Sebastian Crozier (CFE-CGC/Unsa), adding his voice trembling, that "the All the staff is completely overwhelmed with emotion "and that" all Bordeaux is in tears. "

The employee was a staff representative for the CFDT, and was "prevention specialist", that is to say, responsible for working conditions, hygiene and safety for several years, union sources said.

"This is a tragedy," he told AFP Pierre Dubois (CFDT), indicating that the employee, "a guy at home," committed suicide "to his duty assignment."

The CGT said his side that this suicide is "proof that all is not settled at France Telecom, despite what some have said."

The company had been marked by a social crisis of magnitude after a wave of suicides of more than thirty employees between January 2008 and late 2009, the group of some 100,000 employees in France. The management system in place from 2004 to encourage departing employees 22,000 in three years has been particularly implicated.

According to a statement from the Observatory of stress and mobility forced, created at the initiative of both unions Group (SOUTH and CFE-CGC/Unsa), there was a suicide in 2011, which occurred in January at the home of an employee, and 27 suicides and 16 attempts in 2010.Management does not keep count.

THAILAND - Cambodia: Bangkok and Phnom Penh compete again at their shared border

AFP - New fighting with heavy weapons erupted Friday Thai and Cambodian soldiers, killing six of them and ending two months of relative calm between the two countries competing for a border area.

As in previous violent clashes on February 4 to 7, both parties have mutually rejected responsibility for the incidents that erupted at dawn near the temples of Ta and Ta Krabei Muean Tom and lasted several hours.

"The Cambodian soldiers opened fire with assault rifles on Thailand's first and now they started to bombard us with artillery and we took appropriate measures of retaliation," he told AFP the Thai minister Defense Prawit Wongsuwon.

"I think Cambodia is to take control of temples at the border," he added.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit has ordered an inquiry after three soldiers from his country were killed and ten others wounded in the fighting that has forced the evacuation of thousands of villagers on the Thai side.

Three soldiers were also killed and several wounded on the Cambodian side, as the spokesman of the Cambodian Ministry of Defence Chhum Socheat.

Phnom Penh has accused neighboring troops have penetrated 400 meters inside its territory.

Thai soldiers "launched an unprovoked attack," said government spokesman Phay Siphan.

"This is a new invasion of Cambodia by Thailand.We can not accept that. "

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in particular because of the presence of many mines left behind by decades of civil war in Cambodia.

In February, the fighting had mostly taken place a hundred miles to the east near the Khmer temple of Preah Vihear.

These ruins of the eleventh century, whose classification by UNESCO in 2008 had rekindled tensions within the sovereignty of Cambodia by a ruling of the International Court of Justice in 1962.

But the Thais its main access control, and both countries claim an area of ​​4.6 km2 below the building.

Analysts said the border dispute both sides are used to glorify the nationalist sentiments of the population.

Following the fighting in February, which had at least ten deaths, seven Cambodian side, the Security Council of the United Nations had called for a cease-fire permanent, but rejected the request from Phnom Penh to send peacekeepers on the border.

Both then neighbors had given their agreement to send observers to the border, after mediation organized by the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN).

But since the Thai military said that these observers were not welcome and they were never deployed.

Indonesia, which holds the rotating presidency of ASEAN, on Friday urged the two neighbors to "an immediate cessation of hostilities" and to "resolve their disputes by peaceful means."

Phnom Penh calls since February mediation to resolve these disputes, but Bangkok urges bilateral talks only.

Thailand secondly recently acknowledged using during the fighting in February controversial weapons, the "improved conventional munitions double effect" (DPICM), while insisting that they were not munition munition.

Coalition against weapons munitions (CMC) acted his part that it was indeed weapons munitions, denouncing their use.

NIGERIA - PRESIDENTIAL: Victory Goodluck Jonathan backdrop of riots in the North

The outgoing leader Goodluck Jonathan, won the presidential election in Nigeria, shaken Monday by rioting in the predominantly Muslim north, where the dead were enrgistrées.

Result of the 36 states of the Nigerian federation, the federal capital Abuja over, give 22 million votes out against 12 million in the second, a former military junta leader, Muhammadu Buhari, according to full results released Monday by the Electoral Commission National.

Jonathan also won over 25 per cent of the votes in more than two-thirds of the 36 states, a necessary condition for being declared the winner in the first round.

But the victory of Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian South, led to riots in the Muslim north.

"Deaths have been reported," particularly in Kano and in the neighboring state of Kaduna, said a security official, Yushau Shuaib, unable to give a more accurate assessment.

In a country marked by deep divisions and regional community, the rioters burned the house of Vice President Namadi Sambo in Zaria, Kaduna State, and that of the emir of the city, according to one resident.They also released many detainees.

"The protesters burned the residence of the Vice-President, the palace of the emir, before attacking the jail," said Mahmud Aliyu by telephone.

The first violence erupted Sunday after the vote, provoked by accusations of fraud against the camp of Mr. Jonathan.

Monday, they were still burning in Kano, the second largest city, and had won Jos in the Centre, and other cities.

In Kano, mobs armed with clubs, knives and boards faced soldiers, a shopping center was burned and shops and schools were closed.A curfew twenty-four hours was imposed in the neighboring state of Kaduna.

The crowd supported Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim North unsuccessful rival for the presidency of Jonathan, also attacked two suspected Christians.

In the city of Potiskum in Yobe State, north-east, witnesses reported that the crowd had tried to sacrifice a Christian passing a flaming tire around the neck but she was saved by residents.

"Young people set fires in the streets and burning the houses of supporters of the ruling party. Soldiers were called.The streets are deserted except for the demonstrators, "said one resident, Kabiru Usman.

Violence has also been reported in the cities of Kaduna, Zaria and Sokoto in the north, and Jos in the Centre, which marks the frontier between Christian and Muslim majorities and scene of frequent sectarian violence.

The main opposition party, Congress for Democratic Change which Mr.Buhari was the candidate has formally objected to the irregularities of the presidential result.

These accusations are contained in a complaint sent to the electoral commission said the party chairman, Tony Momoh.

Before the end of the count, the commission on Monday gave an advance Goodluck Jonathan as he is assured of winning. He came first in 22 of the 36 states of the federation with more than 21 million votes against 9,000,000 for Mr. Buhari, former head of a military junta in 1984-1985.

Although in general, observers judged the election on Saturday more honest than previous results in abnormally high for Mr.Jonathan, in its strongholds of South Christian, have cast doubt: the state of Akwa Ibom State gave him 95% of the vote and that of Bayelsa, his home state, 99.63%.

"Such figures above 95% seem invented and raise serious questions about the credibility of the election," said Jibrin Ibrahim of the NGO Centre for Democracy and Development.

These results confirmed a clear division between the pro-Muslim north and Christian south Buhari pro-Jonathan.

In the North, many hoped a victory by Mr.Buhari, 69, to revive a North economically marginalized by the oil rich south of the country's most populous country.

Goodluck Jonathan, 53, is a candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) won the first round every presidential since the end of military rule in 1999.

AFGHANISTAN: A suicide attack against a military base kills nine soldiers

Nine soldiers, four and five Afghan Force NATO in Afghanistan (ISAF) were killed Saturday in a suicide attack claimed by Taliban insurgents in the headquarters of the Afghan army to the east the country.

"Five ISAF soldiers were killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan," said the NATO force said in a statement without specifying their nationality.

A spokesman for ISAF, Major Tim James, confirmed to AFP that the attack in question was the suicide bombing in the morning in the headquarters of the Afghan army to the east located in the area Gambires near Jalalabad, the largest city in eastern Afghanistan.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed that "four Afghan soldiers were killed and eight people injured, four translators" during the attack.

The ministry said the attack was perpetrated by a suicide bomber who donned a military uniform.

One hundred soldiers of the ISAF, primarily responsible for advising the Afghan army, stationed at this base in the province of Laghman, according to Commander James ISAF.

One of the worst attacks against NATO since 2001

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, contacted by AFP, claimed the attack, among the deadliest for the NATO forces since their arrival in the country in late 2001.

Six NATO soldiers were killed Dec. 12 in southern Afghanistan during an attack.

The attack against the Afghan base is the tenth suicide attack in Afghanistan since early April.It is also the fifth in three days targeting Afghan security forces and international across the country.

On Friday, a suicide bomber managed to penetrate the headquarters, in principle secure, the police in Kandahar, the southern Afghan city, killing the police chief of the province of the same name and two of his bodyguards.

More than 130 000 soldiers present

NATO must send Afghan forces gradually, starting in July and by late 2014, the responsibility for security throughout the territory.

Some 132,000 soldiers from the NATO support the Kabul government against the insurgency since late 2001 by the Taliban, ousted by an international coalition.

Suicide bombings and small mines placed along the road are the favorite weapons the insurgents have focused primarily on the police and Afghan army and foreign troops, but are also numerous civilian casualties.

On 14 March, at least 36 people were killed and forty wounded in a Taliban suicide attack against a military recruiting center in Kunduz, one of the major cities of northern Afghanistan.

The city of Jalalabad was the scene, February 19, one of the most deadly attacks perpetrated in the country in recent years, when many Taliban suicide bombers stormed a bank where police came to collect their wages.Thirty-eight people were killed and 70 injured.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned against a precipitous withdrawal of NATO forces and warned that spring 2011 would probably be "violent" because of Taliban efforts to resume their offensive.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Economic recovery depends on the activity of the port of Abidjan

Reopened for three days, the Autonomous Port of Abidjan (PAA), the main entrance and exit of goods to and from destinations all over West Africa, is still far from knowing the influx of large days. On the docks, dozens of containers waiting vessels absent. After more than a week of consecutive closing the outbreak of the battle between the Forces of Abidjan republic of Cote d'Ivoire (FRCI) support Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo recognized by the international community, and supporters of the former President Laurent Gbagbo, the site, now secured by armored white United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), is almost deserted.

Some experts, however, the recovery of the activity of AAP could take place quickly."It all depends on the resumption of banking business and improving security conditions in the country for the delivery of goods for import and export," explains an economic journalist in Ivory Coast. For the rest, in fact, everything seems in place: the port of the Ivorian economic capital has not been subject to looting in the midst of the chaos that reigned in the city during the assault by the palace and FRCI the presidential residence, unlike the residential neighborhoods of Cocody and Plateau. A stock of tens of thousands of tons of cocoa there would otherwise be stored, allowing immediate resumption of naval rotations upon confirmation of the return to calm.As for the sanctions that had been taken against the Autonomous Port of Abidjan by the European Union at the height of the post-election crisis in Ivory Coast, they were removed before the final assault, as a boost to President-elect Alassane Ouattara .

THEATRE: Bertrand Cantat will not mount on Canadian boards

The former singer of Black Desire, Bertrand Cantat, convicted in Lithuania for beating to death his girlfriend in 2003, will play either in Montreal or Ottawa, said Friday the direction of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM), following a wave of protests.

The singer was supposed to happen in the play "The Women - Trachiniae, Electra and Antigone" by Sophocles, directed by Quebec-born Lebanese Wajdi Mouawad.This friend had been commissioned to compose music to make a rock touch to the show.

The decision to present the show without Bertrand Cantat, or cancel the production, will be announced on 18 April by the director, said at a press conference the director of TNM Lorraine Pintal.

Bertrand Cantat, lead singer of former Black Desire, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for beating Lithuania in 2003 death of actress Marie Trintignant, daughter of Jean-Louis Trintignant.Transferred to France, he was released in 2007.

In Canada, a law banned for life entry to any foreigner convicted outside the country, an offense punished in Canada for at least ten years in prison. It therefore applies to the former lead singer of Black Desire, because Canadian law punishes manslaughter by life imprisonment.

Bertrand Cantat should happen in this room in Avignon in July, which the project was dropped after singer Jean-Louis Trintignant said not to participate in an event "occurs when the man who killed his daughter."

COTE D'IVOIRE: The humanitarian emergency takes precedence over the political conflict

Food shortages, poor access to health care, electricity cuts, water, gas ... After four months of political degradation between Alassane Ouattara, President recognized by the international community, and Laurent Gbagbo, outgoing president, "the Ivorian humanitarian situation has become absolutely tragic to civilians," said Elisabeth Byrs on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Office Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UN.

Caught between two fires, the population is paying the brunt of this conflict post-election. It now days that separate the end of reserves of food and medicines.In Abidjan, as in Western countries, the humanitarian emergency is gradually taking precedence over the political conflict.

Humanitarians blocked by the fighting

Unfortunately, many NGOs on the ground, as Action against Hunger (ACF), are unable to work due to insecurity. Its members have to stay cooped up, "are helpless", laments Francois Danel, director of ACF posted at Man in the West. "It is extremely dangerous to go out for the moment and it is beyond question that our teams risk their lives," he says."It's outrageous they can not fulfill its humanitarian role because the two camps have not adopted a clear stand to protect civilians."

Even admission of impotence - medical this time - from Doctors Without Borders (MSF). For six days, teams of NGOs, posted in Abobo, a district north of Abidjan, are unable to get potential patients - no ambulance can circulate. "The injured are out of reach," said Lawrence Sury, Deputy Head of Emergency Operations at MSF, who reported to France24.com what his team unreachable since Monday."The Abidjan phoning our teams to come and look for injured patients, but it's impossible," he says. "The team still treats 30 to 40 casualties per day, but these are mainly people in the vicinity or brought in carts by residents."

For civilians, holed up at home and frightened by continued firing, the situation became unbearable. Jean-Paul, a resident of the neighborhood of Abobo, tells the hell of everyday life. "We survive," he says. "All the shops are closed, there are more markets, I can not buy food.I did not reserve a few days and I have nothing to eat. "For security reasons, he separated from his wife and daughter, have fled to Ghana. As for him, he decided to stay in Abidjan to "protect his house against looters."

West hit by mass exodus

Like John Paul, "many Ivorians fleeing the fighting and send their families in Liberia and Ghana," said Francois Danel. The latter is also concerned about the movements (mass) population that also affect Western countries - especially Duékoué strategic city and gateway to the main area of ​​cocoa production. Today the town is deserted by its inhabitants.Some 20,000 of them took refuge in the precincts of the Catholic Mission after the massacre of 800 people on 29 March. An exodus "among many others," blows the Director of ACF. "Between Man and Duékoué, whole villages were emptied of their population," he laments. Since the conflict began, more than a million civilians have been displaced by fighting between forces loyal to both candidates in the presidential election of November 2010, reports the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR).

"These outflows are always synonymous with extreme insecurity," worries the director of ACF.Because if they do not leave the country, these people - consisting mainly of women and children - crowded into refugee camps where the seats are missing. Some were accommodated in shelters. "At Duekoue, living conditions are extremely difficult and by far the most disturbing, access to water is increasingly problematic and food becomes scarce," said Francois Danel after spending a few days.

Moreover, MSF is concerned about the number of newly arriving wounded to medical facilities in the region. "Between March 28 and April 3, 146 wounded arrived at Bangolo and Duékoué 285" lists Lawrence Sury.And continuing: "New wounded continue to arrive, despite the end of the offensive zone. This indicates that the violence continues. If this is indeed the case, the humanitarian disaster will quickly turn into disaster."

IRELAND: A Catholic police officer killed by a bomb in Northern Ireland

AFP - A Catholic police officer was killed Saturday by a bomb apparently placed under his car in Omagh, Northern Ireland, told AFP a local politician.

"One policeman was killed outside his home by an explosive device placed apparently it under his car," said the official told AFP on condition of anonymity said the victim, confession Catholic, had finished his police training only three weeks ago.

The information was confirmed by a local MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, interviewed by British broadcaster Sky News.

"A bomb was placed under the car of a young Catholic police officer, who recently joined the police in Northern Ireland," said the elected.

"The bomb exploded and unfortunately it seems that the young policeman was killed," he added.