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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

LIBYA: In Paris, a hundred people denounce crimes Gaddafi

Abderahim, 32, is in France for several months. Tour guide in his country, he came to follow French courses in Montpellier, before initiating studies of Greco-Roman history. His father and sisters remained in Benghazi, a city in northern Libya, where dozens of people have died since the beginning of the protest movement, according to several organizations. "I'm very worried," said Abderrahim. It's four days as the Internet and telephones are cut off. I have not heard from my family. "

Beshah, an archaeologist of 44 years, he left the coastal city of Al-Bayda two years ago. He was only "occasionally" for news of loved ones. "The situation is catastrophic," he assures. It's war. Libyans were killed by mercenaries in Africa.Today, it is even more for the freedom that is manifest, but so that our people can stay alive. "

"Before yesterday with Tunisians, Egyptians yesterday, today with the Libyans"

Avenue de Suffren Paris, a few dozen meters from the Libyan embassy, a hundred people gathered Tuesday afternoon. Men, women, children ... "Gaddafi, murderer!" they shouted in chorus. Demonstrators waved pictures of victims of violent repression of demonstrations, circulating on the Internet.

The Libyans are only a few hundred in France, including many university students. Medicine, engineering, research ... Some came from Lyon or Strasbourg to warn about the situation of their country.Ahmed, sunglasses and hat on his head, follows last year and a half trained as a pilot line in Toulouse. "I have a scholarship from my government for my education, but I do not agree with this regime," he says. He prefers not to be photographed: not for himself but for his family and his younger brother stayed in Tripoli. He also discusses the "African mercenaries" who "enter houses, attack the girls, shooting at people."

Tunisians, Egyptians, Syrians and Algerians also came to express their solidarity. "We were two days ago with the Tunisian people, the Egyptian people yesterday, today and tomorrow with the Libyans we will certainly be with other people in the Arab world, says Boushaki, Franco-Tunisian.Even if Libya is in total isolation, the limited information we receive allows us to follow live the bloody events taking place. Muammar Gaddafi government for nearly 42 years, is a world record. He must go! "

"Libya has oil and gas"

Moved, Dhekra, a Tunisian, it provides also want to alert public opinion. Very active since the beginning of the revolution in Tunisia, it has created on Facebook about twenty pages noting the departure of ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the resignation of the French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, the France's ambassador in Tunis Boillon Boris ... "The movement is different revolutions Libyan Tunisian or Egyptian," she said.There, Saif al-Islam [a son of Muammar Gaddafi, ed] clearly says that if the challenge does not stop, he would kill everyone until the last. "

All hope now that Muammar Gaddafi will quickly leave power. Beshah dream of elections and democracy. In a country where most people would not live in misery. "What we miss most in Libya? Justice! Abderahim said. In recent years, Muammar Gaddafi has changed its foreign policy, but never his domestic policy. We are a rich country but a third of the population lives below the poverty, I am 32 years old and I can not buy a house. "

Ahmed, himself, is less optimistic."I hope the international community will stop these crimes, this is not the first of which Gaddafi is responsible. But Libya has oil and gas, so I doubt it ..."