FRANCE: Two French planes of humanitarian aid towards Benghazi

AFP - Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Monday morning that two French planes were leaving "in a few hours" to Benghazi, a city in eastern Libya in the hands of opponents of Colonel Gaddafi, referring to the beginning of a humanitarian operation " massive. "

"In a few hours, two planes will leave for Benghazi at the request of the French government with doctors, nurses, medical equipment, drugs. It will be the beginning of a massive humanitarian support to people in the liberated territories," he saidFillon on RTL.

Sunday, Washington, for his part said to be "ready" to provide "any assistance" to opponents of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

According to a report Sunday in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a total of 256 people were killed and 2,000 injured in Benghazi (1,000 km east of Tripoli), second largest city which is part of the challenge People on February 17.

And if the insurgency has managed to prevent chaos, most shops remain closed, as well as schools, while the port's activity is limited to the evacuation of foreigners.

Extending his remarks on the popular uprisings underway in several Arab countries, Francois Fillon has also questioned the manner in which France and Europe could "help these revolutions (...), which are far from be accomplished to bring the Arab people towards democracy. "

"This is an immediate issue" because "if Tunisia does not quickly an example of a successful transition to democracy, so it's a terrible signal that is sent to all countries of the region with consequences that can be the return of the darkest forces, "he warned.

"The role of France is to help is to support, it support, including on economic and financial terms, these countries moving towards democracy," insisted Francois Fillon.

UNITED STATES: Boeing and EADS suspended Washington's decision on tanker

AFP - The Pentagon is expected to unveil Thursday its decision on the mega-tanker contract from the U.S. Air Force, for which the U.S. aviation giant Boeing and Europe's EADS are competing for several years.

Several congressional sources said on condition of anonymity Wednesday that the decision on the contract of $ 35 billion was to be unveiled Thursday.

The solicitation is 179 tanker aircraft to replace the aging fleet of KC-135 U.S. Air Force from the 50.The Pentagon will buy these devices at a rate of 15 per year maximum and plans to spend $ 900 million in 2012.

According to Loren Thompson, an analyst at the Lexington Institute, a think tank based in Arlington, near Washington, EADS appears poised to win the contract.

The history of this tender is peppered with twists, including a spy scandal, and the contract was canceled twice, having been awarded to Boeing for the first time in 2003 and a second in 2008 to Airbus and Northrop Grumman.

EADS, the parent company of aircraft manufacturer Airbus, launches this time without a major trading partner, but with the support of hundreds of U.S. equipment.

EADS submitted a military version of its Airbus A330, the KC-45, it boasts as "the only real-tanker aircraft already in operation" while the version presented by the 767 Boeing is "on paper" and argues that its production in the United States would generate 48,000 jobs in the country.

The European firm announced last week it had revised its price down to steal the contract.

Boeing says his side as he presented the instrument ensure "better operational capabilities to U.S. combat aircraft with a fuel consumption 24% lower than the unit proposed by EADS," and that support 50,000 jobs in the United States.

In Congress, elected representatives of the States of Washington, Kansas (center), Missouri (center), Michigan (north) and South Carolina (southeast), where Boeing plants or subcontractors working with the manufacturer, have been campaigning for months for the selection of the American.

However, elected officials in Alabama (south) where the tanker would be assembled to support the European Airbus.

MIDDLE EAST: Iranian warships will make a "brief routine visit" in Syria

AFP - The visit of two Iranian warships in Syria is "routine" and will be "short term", said Sunday an Iranian diplomatic source told AFP. "It will be a routine visit, consistent with international law, which is part of cooperation between Iran and Syria," she said.

"The ships will remain a few days in the Syrian ports. The goal is to make training," the source said stressing that both countries were "bound by a strategic relationship."She says these warships have visited several countries including Oman and stopped in the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Egypt has allowed two Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal, announced Friday the official news agency MENA, the first since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, which Israel described as a "provocation."

Mena said the application filed by the Iranian authorities stated that the two vessels were carrying any weapons or nuclear materials or chemical.

According to the official news agency Fars, the buildings in question are the Kharg, a supply ship and support of 33,000 tons, and Alvand, a patrol frigate, both of British construction.

The Kharg has a crew of 250 people and can accommodate up to three helicopters. The Alvand is armed with torpedoes and antiship missiles.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Shakhtar is sacked Rome

They came, they saw, they conquered. The Brazilians dominated Shakhtar Donetsk AS Roma in a match that was cut short for the Giallorossi on Wednesday, in the fourth round to move the Champions League. Ukrainians, far from being petrified by the two-month winter break when they are forced, reversed the game just one minute after the opener by the Romans (28th, Simone Perrotta) before taking it, 3 -2.

This is the Brazilian Jadson who undertook to deliver the two teams tied with a shot deflected by the unfortunate Nicolas Burdisso. Ten minutes later, the quota "do Brasil" Shakhtar drives the point home.At the edge of the area, Douglas Costa will play four defenders Italian Roma Doni and wrong a beautiful shot wound (1-2).

Too sure of him early in the game, the Roman club made the mistake of taking up a Ukrainian team that finished first in their group to Arsenal last December.

The fall of Rome

Especially since, its momentum, Shakhtar continues to rage.On a loose ball from Norwegian John Arne Riise, Costa transplanted into the shaft and serves caviar Luiz Adriano (41 ') which has only put the ball into the net (1-3).

But while the end of the European adventure seems to be emerging for the Romans, the French Jeremy Menez, who wrote a very good performance, give hope to his teammates. After the break, the former Monaco full-line rushes, fails to make the shirt and pull up a curling shot into the top corner (2-3).

The game finally balanced between a conquering and a Roma Shakhtar who wants to keep the advantage while seeking the killer cons. Yet the repeated incursions by Marco Borriello (70th, 90th), Francesco Totti (82) and Rodrigo Taddei (82) will achieve nothing.With their victory on the outside, the Ukrainians will host the March 8 a humiliated Roma who will also be without his strong man of the moment, Menezes, who was sentenced a second yellow card. The fall of Rome is announced ...

YEMEN: The opposition expressed its willingness to resume dialogue with the government

Reuters - Clashes erupted Sunday between Yemen security forces and anti-government protesters who tried to march on the presidential palace in Sanaa, witnesses said.

Shortly before the clashes, the opposition agreed to begin talks with Yemeni President Abdullah Saleh, who is trying to contain the wave of revolutions in the region.

"The Yemeni people want the fall of the regime", "the Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution," chanted the protesters at the rally attended by 1,000 people.Some dozens of them are then posted to march on the presidential palace.

In early February, tens of thousands of people had "day of anger" organized by the opposition to demand a regime change.

Clashes broke out recently between supporters and opponents of the government.

According to opposition leaders, ten demonstrators were arrested in Sanaa, the capital, and 120 were detained for the night in the city of Taiz where authorities broke up a demonstration Saturday.

Four people were injured in Sanaa where the police beat protesters with sticks they threw stones, witnesses said.

Saleh, in power for over thirty years and fears the aftershocks of the unprecedented wave of protest that affects several countries of the Arab world, has pledged to leave office at the end of his term in 2013 and promised that his son will not head the government. He invited the opposition to the discussions.

"The opposition does not reject the invitation of the President and is ready to sign an agreement in less than a week," said former Foreign Minister, Mohammed Basindwa, now a member of the opposition.

The talks should be held under the auspices of the West or the Gulf, he added however.

Instability in Yemen could be a risk to political and security for the Gulf States.The United States also rely on Yemen to fight against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

ALGERIA: After Tunisia and Egypt, the revolt of wind can blow on Algeria?

Several Algerian cities could be drama, February 12, events "for democratic change." In any case, the meaning of the appeal launched by an unprecedented coalition of political parties and civil society associations.

For the opponent Fodil Boumal, member of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy and host of the Facebook Res Publica II, "the goal is the break, leaving the government and the establishment of genuine democracy. " Objective has already struck the ban including brandished by the municipality in Algiers.The rally, however, must take place on May 1 instead of the center of the city.

A similar event has been held in Algiers in January at the invitation of an opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (RCD). Offset by a large police presence, protesters had not yet made not far away. Surrounded by police, 300 people were left stranded at the party headquarters.The opposition had complained about forty injured in the clashes that followed as authorities were seven police officers injured.

A call that leaves some skeptical observers

Hafidh Daamache, deputy editor of the newspaper El-Khabar Arabic expression, is skeptical about the success of a new event, banned in the capital. "Here, people think for themselves, their housing, their jobs." Northern residents more mobilized - particularly the people of Kabylie - fail to enter the capital, he says. "The place from May 1 can be locked with 300 policemen. And the road to Algiers entries are few and easy to hang.On the east entrance, there are at least five dams. "

Organizers concede: "If we compare with Tunisia and Egypt, it will not Tahrir Square," says in a burst of laughter Abdelmoumen Khelil, Secretary General of the Algerian League of Human Rights.

Optimistic, yet it ensures that the dynamics of the opposition is changing. "The Coordination brings together people who are not accustomed to talk together," says Fodil Boumal."The event is already a success, having attracted a mobilization, the vibrancy of public debate, is already a victory," added Khelil Abdelmoumen.

Algeria can it be carried away by the momentum of Tunisia?

In a country where the opposition is very divided and difficult to mobilize, the very fact that different movements together like a step forward. Journalist Nicole Chevillard, Algeria specialist and editor of the journal International Risk, remains doubtful. She notes that already, the organizing movement splits. "There are so divisive. The power to manipulate public opinion by using false pretenses and avatars for years.This explains the distrust of the Algerians, "she says.

Although the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings have marked the minds of activists, all agree, however, assert that the Algerian situation is too different to be compared. "In Algeria, the issue is not so much that people can not speak, but nobody listens," explains Nicole Chevillard.

She remains surprised by the multiplication of sacrifices that followed the suicide by fire of Mohammed Bouazizi Tunisia. "It is not at all part of local culture, or Arabic also!" She says.Sign of discouragement which would have reached its climax, these acts of desperation he could agree with those who ensures that Algeria is living a real change? "At the stage where is Algeria, it will take time, says Khelil Abdelmoumen. But people would like that to change."

EGYPT: Negotiations begin between the regime and opposition

AFP - The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the main components of the Egyptian opposition, announced in a statement on the night from Saturday to Sunday to have decided to "initiate dialogue" with the heads of power "to find out how they are willing to accept the demands of the people. "

A Hizbullah official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "a meeting is scheduled between officials of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Vice-President Omar Suleiman," without specifying the date.

"Desiring to preserve the interests of the nation and its institutions and concerned with preserving the country's independence and their rejection of any international or regional interference in our internal affairs, we decided to start a dialogue session to see how they are willing to accept the demands of the people. "

Brothers and want to distance itself from Iran in particular has called for the establishment of an Islamic regime in Egypt.

Leaders of the movement have repeatedly said this week that the Muslim Brotherhood "will not" present a candidate in upcoming presidential elections scheduled for September.

Mr. Sulaiman announced Thursday that the Muslim Brothers were invited to the dialogue that began with representatives of various political forces on democratic reforms.He said that "it is a valuable opportunity" for the Islamist movement.

This is the first time that the Egyptian regime called the Brothers, his nemesis, the dialogue to find a solution to the unprecedented popular protest that has continued for 12 days demanding the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

Mr.Suleiman met in recent days several prominent independent and opposition to discuss ways to end the political crisis facing the country.

The most prominent opponent in Egypt, the former director general of the International Agency for Atomic Energy Mohamed ElBaradei, was not invited to the dialogue so far.

He demanded a resignation of President Mubarak before any dialogue on the country's political future.

TUNISIA: The Interior Minister made the household within the security services

The Interior Ministry raided by nearly 2 000 people, attacks against schools and colleges, protesters harassed ... In recent days, the incident - and rumors of incidents - are multiplying in Tunisia. The interior minister of the transitional government, Farhat Rajhi, tried to calm the situation on Tuesday night, speaking on television and in dismissing some thirty senior security services.

"Day after day we hear of attacks, kidnappings and violence against innocent Tunisians, wrote on his blog Lina Ben Mhenni, professor at the University of Tunis. The dictator is gone but the plan is still there.Officers of State Security, supported by militia have sown terror in the country. "

A week marred by incidents

Tuesday, they are different schools of Tunis, the capital and its suburbs that have panicked. "The gangs are terrorizing the colleges and high schools," as this Wednesday the Tunisian daily Le Temps.

English teacher in a school district Bardo - High School November 7th, renamed the school in the revolution of the 14th-January - Nabila Lakhdar Serian said that chaotic day. "Members of the former regime came in some institutions they hit the teachers, students and terrorized everyone.My high school was not attacked but friends called us to tell us to go home. Everyone was panicking. "

The day before, is the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior which was in turn attacked, this time by a crowd of over 2000 people. "Rashid Ammar [Chief of Defence Staff, note] and I escaped by a miracle, said the interior minister in person on television. Without the anti-terrorist units, the attackers would have killed us."Farhat Rajhi, which was stolen coat, his glasses and his computer during the attack, said the attackers "were armed, drunk and drugged."

At Kasserine, in central-west, the same day, several buildings, including the sub-prefecture, were ransacked. On Friday, demonstrators from within the country were violently evicted from the esplanade of the Kasbah, Tunis, where they camped for several days.

"They sow mayhem to slow change"

For Tunisians, there is no doubt that members of the former regime are behind these incidents. "We are living a revolution, said Hatem Frikha, a manager in a consulting and player associations.We just dropped a police state. It is normal for a fringe of the former regime does not want to let things take their course. "

"These people try to mess to slow the pace of change, Hatem Frikha analysis. They want to save some time either to try to rebuild their virginity, or to run away ..."

Alleging a conspiracy against the state after the attack on the Interior Ministry, Farhat Rajhi acknowledged in his address to the private channel Hannibal TV that "evil comes from within.""Fifty invaders, many of whom were armed, were arrested before being released, showing a fail-safe and collusion between the attackers and the law enforcement agencies," he said.

It is for this reason that 34 senior security officials, including heads of national security, safety and general presidential security, was retired Tuesday.Meanwhile, seven new directors were appointed to head various departments of national security.

Farhat Rajhi, the "new face of the police"

These ads and the general tone of the new interior minister, who spoke in Tunisian dialect, seem to have convinced some of the population. "Farhat Rajhi is a very sympathetic character, charming," says Nabila Lakhdar Serian. It embodies a new face of the police. " "The interior minister gave a very interesting speech, confirms Hatem Frikha. It is unanimously behind him."

On Wednesday, the calm seems to income in the country.An authorized source at the Interior Ministry, quoted by the Agence Tunis-Afrique Presse (TAP), has also denied rumors of child abductions, which have proliferated on Tuesday. A hotline was made available to the public by the Ministry of Interior.

Police also made a comeback in the Tunisian streets. After several days of strikes, wage increases were granted on Tuesday, agents of security services. Schools are functioning normally.

"We still always in fear because we are in a transitional period," says Nabila Lakhdar Serian.We do not want an abortion militias our revolution. "" There are incidents, but the situation is quite manageable, assured of his side Hatem Frikha. The police and army are playing their role. The general trend is very positive. "