Barack Obama begins his European tour

AFP - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived Monday morning in Ireland, the first stage of a European tour a week and land of his ancestors, has been a photographer for AFP on board the presidential plane Air Force One.

The President's plane, which is accompanied by his wife Michelle landed in Dublin about 9:30 (0830 GMT), slightly earlier than expected.

Mr.Obama, who planned to stay 24 hours in Ireland, will hold talks with President Mary McAleese and Prime Minister Enda Kenny, while Ireland is facing a serious economic crisis.

But the highlight of his visit to the island, under high security to be its displacement in the small village of Moneygall, which is from his great-great-great grandfather.

Cobbler's son, the grandfather of Obama, Falmouth Kearney, lived in this village located 130 km from Dublin up to 19 years in 1850 before emigrating to the United States, driven by famine like of thousands of his countrymen.

In this village, waiting for Obama as the prodigal son, still lives a distant cousin of the president, Henry Healy, an accountant for 26 years.

Obama is expected late in the day to speak outdoors on the steps of the Bank of Ireland, in the center of the capital which are expected tens of thousands of people.

On Tuesday, Obama is expected in London.

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Israeli Prime Minister rules out any withdrawal to 1967 borders

AFP - Israel has disappointed on Thursday rejected a call by U.S. President Barack Obama to the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state on extending Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, while the Palestinians reacted with caution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out immediately any "withdrawal to 1967 lines," while refraining from frontally oppose to Obama before the meet Friday in Washington.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel for its part to "give the peace process the chance it deserves," the Palestinian leadership calling for "an emergency meeting."

In a highly anticipated speech on the Middle East, Mr.Obama voted for the first time on Thursday for a Palestinian state based on the lines of June 1967, that is to say, the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with exchanges in which both parties would agree to establish secure and recognized borders for both states," said Obama.

But Mr.Netanyahu expressed hope that Obama "would reaffirm commitments" U.S. 2004 "Israel would not withdraw to the June 1967 lines indefensible," said an official statement issued before his departure for the United States.

He emphasized here that these "commitments had received overwhelming support from both houses of Congress," in allusion to the support is often arranged in the past Israel to the U.S. House, before which he is scheduled to speak next Tuesday.

Benjamin Netanyahu has categorically ruled out that the "major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria" are found on the Palestinian side of the border, referring to the major Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank.

He referred to a letter from U.S. President George W.Bush in 2004 to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the time excluding a pure and simple return to the armistice lines of Israel before the war of June 1967, implying an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem.

According to his entourage, the Israeli prime minister was "disappointed" by the stance of U.S. President on a number of subjects in the first place "because it did not address the problem of refugees" as Israel hear it, that is to say, excluding the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.

A senior Israeli official has however downplayed the differences between the two leaders, pointing out that Mr.Obama reiterated the U.S. opposition to the approach of the Palestinians to recognize their state before the UN in September without a peace agreement first.

"We're not worried, but further clarification will be needed," said the official who requested anonymity.

Palestinian side, the spokesman of President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, called "Netanyahu's opposition to a return to 1967 borders blow to the efforts of Obama and rejection of peace in the Middle East."

The spokesman also condemned the green light on Thursday by a planning commission of the Interior Ministry to build 1,520 new homes in two neighborhoods of Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem and annexed.

For its part, the spokesman of the Islamist movement Hamas in power in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, called on Bush to "perform concrete actions to protect the rights of Palestinians and the Arab nation."

Mr Abu Zuhri also rejected calls from U.S. President to resume peace negotiations and recognize Israel.

For its part, the head of British diplomacy William Hague has supported the position of Mr. Obama.

"I particularly support the clear message that the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutual exchanges accepted," he said.

IRELAND: Queen Elizabeth II will visit historic and highly monitored in Dublin

Queen Elizabeth II Tuesday began a historic visit to Ireland under surveillance, the first movement of a British monarch since independence in 1922 was troubled by the threat from dissident republicans.

The police are on the warpath in both London and Dublin and Belfast, fearing that Republican dissidents opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland will build upon the movement to attempt a resounding action.

No fewer than 10,000 police and troops deployed in Ireland for a visit and several people were arrested in recent days, suspected of belonging to the dissident republican movement.

On Monday, a bomb threat from dissident Irish republicans caused a commotion of battle police in London. The "Mall" that leads to Buckingham Palace was closed for several hours after an alert, which proved unfounded.

The fear of an assassination of a dissident group was reinforced by threats brandished late April by a masked man at a rally in Londonderry, Northern Ireland."The queen is not welcome," he had started, saying speak on behalf of the Real IRA who is credited with the recent increase of attacks in Ulster, including the murder of a police officer in April.

The tumultuous relationship between Irish and British have largely subsided since the peace accords of 1998 and the first visit by a British monarch since 1911 figure is a gesture of reconciliation.But resentment still against the former colonial power.

At the time of the independence of Ireland, London has retained in her lap the province of Northern Ireland, mostly Protestant.

Sinn Féin, often accused of links with the IRA (Catholic separatists), found the visit "premature," before acknowledging that it represented a "unique opportunity" to establish "a new relationship based on equality and mutual respect ", joining the majority sentiment.81% of Irish people are friendly to visitors, according to a survey.

Tuesday, Elizabeth II is to lay a wreath at the "Garden of Remembrance (Memorial Garden), erected in honor of victims of the war of independence," a powerful symbol of reconciliation, "the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.

She must decide Wednesday night a highly anticipated speech, joined for the occasion by Prime Minister David Cameron and the head of British diplomacy, William Hague. The movement will end Friday.

PAKISTAN: At least 80 dead in an attack to avenge the death of bin Laden

AFP - Two suicide bombers killed Friday at least 80 people by detonating bombs in the middle of police cadets who went on leave in the north-west Pakistan, the Taliban is claiming a "first attack" in revenge for Osama bin Laden.

These insurgents, who have pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and making an extremely deadly bombing campaign in Pakistan, had promised reprisals against Islamabad and its security forces, whom they accuse of complicity in the deadly U.S. raid Ben Laden 11 days ago in the north.

At dawn, Shabqadar, a village northwest, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his bomb when the cadets, who were dressed in their civilian clothes, were preparing to board the minibus to take them home for 10 days of leave, told AFP Nisar Khan Marwat, the police chief of District Charsadda.

The blast targeted a training center of the Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary police unit responsible for monitoring the borders.

Then, just as police and rescue workers had gathered to help the wounded, another suicide bomber on a motorcycle led a second massacre.

"At least 80 people died, 69 members of the Frontier Constabulary, and 11 civilians," said Bashir Ahmed Bilour, minister without portfolio in the province of Pakhtunkhwa-Khyber, where the tragedy occurred. Over 140 others were injured, one quarantine between life and death, according to medical sources.

"I was sitting in a minibus and waited for my colleagues," he told AFP Ahmad Ali, a cadet injured contacted by telephone to the hospital."I heard someone shout 'Allah Akbar!" (God is greatest!) Before a loud explosion, "he recalls.

"Then I heard a second, so I jumped from the van, I was bleeding," recalls Ahmad Ali yet.

This is the deadliest attack this year in Pakistan.

"This is a first action to avenge the martyrdom of Osama, it was conducted by two of our fighters," said the telephone to AFP Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Movement of Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

"Expect more massive attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan," he threatened.

TTP, which has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in 2007, is primarily responsible for the wave of more than 450 attacks, mostly suicide, who made more than 4.300 deaths across the country in nearly four years. In summer 2007, right after bin Laden himself, TTP had declared jihad on Islamabad for supporting Washington in its "war against terrorism."

Shabqadar is located near the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, Pakistani Taliban stronghold and the main sanctuary in the world of Al Qaeda.These areas are also the basis behind the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network in particular, bete noire of American soldiers who make up two thirds of international forces in Afghanistan.

Training camps of the Pakistani Taliban in the tribal areas are also used by Al Qaeda, who are then trained its suicide bombers who perpetrated the attacks or attempted to commit the United States or Europe, those of September 11, 2001 to those in London in 2005, to Madrid in 2004, and Times Square in New York in 2010.

It is in these mountainous border regions Experts believed ten years to find Bin Laden and not in the tidy town of Abbottabad garrison, two hours drive north of Islamabad.

That's when a lightning raid of 79 elite U.S. soldiers had dug in and killed the night of 1 to May 2

This unilateral operation performed under the auspices of the CIA who said he had not wanted to warn Islamabad for fear of leaks, has sparked a new skirmish between Washington and its allies.

The most senior U.S. officials asked Pakistan to investigate how could bin Laden into hiding for several years without complicity at the highest level in a garrison town populated by about 10,000 soldiers.Charges that Islamabad has described as "absurd", claiming that Pakistan is the country that pays the heaviest price for the "war against terrorism", with the bombing campaign of al-Qaeda loyalists.

Public opinion is overwhelmingly anti-American, whereas the U.S. has "imported" their war against Al Qaeda in Pakistan after an abortive campaign in Afghanistan.

Additional signs of defiance, Islamabad, Washington has threatened Thursday to reconsider its cooperation in fighting terrorism, and number 2 of the Pakistani Army, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, overturned Friday a planned visit to the United States "because of the climate prevail ".

JUSTICE: The prosecution will request a cons Christine Lagarde in the case Tapie

The Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Jean-Louis Nadal, on Tuesday urged the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) to open an investigation against the Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde for abuse of authority in the arbitration favorably to Bernard Tapie.

Jean-Louis Nadal before the petitions committee of the RGC, said the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Within a month, it should rule on the case and determine if the complaint is admissible.

If this were the case, the Attorney General immediately seize the commission investigating the RGC, which would conduct its investigation, before a possible referral to the RGC.

A few weeks ago, Socialist deputies sent a letter to Mr.Nadal to get a referral to the RGC.

They were the choice of the Minister of Economy to resort to arbitration in settling this matter, rather than relying on traditional justice in this case the Court of Appeal of Paris.

Jean-Louis Nadal gave the Ministry of Economy, the Court of Auditors and the Finance Committee of the National Assembly until April 20 to submit additional elements relating to the award of the arbitral tribunal.

"All these pieces allowed the Attorney General pointed out many reasons to suspect the regularity or legality of settlement by arbitration dispute that may characterize the crime of abuse of authority," the prosecutor general.

In late 2007, Christine Lagarde ordered the appointment of three umpires to decide once and for all the litigation between sprawling Bernard Tapie twelve years at Credit Lyonnais in connection with the sale of Adidas.

After six months of work in July 2008, the arbitral tribunal had sentenced the Consortium de Réalisation (CDR, managing the liabilities of the bank) to pay 240 million euros in compensation to Mr Tapie, with an additional one hundred million euros in interest and 45 million for pain and suffering. This decision was then outraged many members left.

MOROCCO: AQIM denies his involvement in the fatal attack Marrakech

AFP - Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has denied any involvement in the fatal attack April 28 in Marrakech, Morocco, in a statement broadcast by a private agency Mauritanian information online, Nouakchott Information Agency ( ANI).

In this text, dated Friday published in Arabic, AQIM recalls the attack that killed 17 people, including 8 French and then the information released by the Moroccan authorities describing the main suspect as "an admirer of al-Qaida."

"We deny any connection with the explosion and say no way being involved in this operation," says the regional branch of the Islamist network.

This statement could not immediately be authenticated but the NIA has regularly published in the past releases or statements from members of AQIM have never been disproved.

FRANCE: The bodies of victims of the attack in Marrakesh returnees in Paris

AFP - The bodies of eight French killed in the attack in Marrakesh, which killed 16 people April 28, were repatriated Tuesday in France, where President Sarkozy paid tribute to them and promised their families that "crime" would not "go unpunished".

The plane carrying the body, chartered by the French state, landed shortly before 5:00 p.m. Tuesday at Orly.

The eight coffins draped with the tricolor flag were aligned on the tarmac.Nicolas Sarkozy, came with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, welcomed the families and relatives, then was collected before the coffins before the Republican Guard n'entonne La Marseillaise.

In a very personal speech, in which each victim, including a 10 year old girl, Camille, was mentioned by name, the Head of State promised that the "crime" of the attack would not remain "unpunished" .

"France, I say here I say it before returning the bodies of eight French with a little girl of ten years, I say to you who will now have to live with this pain but with this terrible feeling inside ourselves tonight, France will not let this crime go unpunished, "Sarkozy said.

"Terrorists, my dear compatriots, now know they will have no respite, nowhere, never.Wherever they are, wherever they are hiding they are sought after, followed the trail, flushed out by all means and they will be accountable for their crimes, "he said in an allusion to the death of Chief Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, who was killed Sunday by U.S. commandos in Pakistan.

After his speech, the President spoke about thirty minutes with families in honor of the flag of the airport.

In the morning at the Marrakech airport, shortly before the departure of the plane to Paris, the families had gathered in the intimate, attended by the Moroccan Interior Minister Taieb Cherkaoui, and French diplomats.

"I have a hatred of terrorists, terrorists are not the defenders of Islam", told the press the father of a victim who did not give his name.

A remote-controlled bomb blew coffee on April 28, the Argana, on the Jamaa El Fna, the Mecca of tourism in Marrakech, killing 16 dead and 21 wounded.

Besides the eight French, three Moroccans, a Briton, a Canadian, a Dutchman, one Portuguese and one Swiss were killed in the attack, the deadliest in Morocco since 2003.

The attack was not claimed, and no arrests have been announced, but the involvement of the likes of Al Qaeda in the region was discussed.

The Moroccan authorities have reiterated Monday that they favored the track Al Qaeda."We're still on the track announced that conjured up acquaintances with Al-Qaeda," he told AFP spokesman Khalid Naciri government.

The day of the attack, King Mohammed VI had ordered a prompt and transparent investigation and asked that the public is kept informed of its progress.

Among the tracks contained the sketch of a suspect to statements made by two Dutch tourists.It would be an Arab, young, clean shaven and with long hair who was seen at the Cafe Argana, minutes before the explosion.

All the French wounded in the attack have been repatriated to France, said Tuesday the embassy of France. The latter have been medicalized in two planes Tuesday morning.

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.

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.