In Madrid, thousands of demonstrators defied a ban on protests

AFP - Thousands of people packed the Puerta del Sol in Madrid hosted Friday at midnight by a "silent scream" to protest the ban, noting the 12 strokes of the clock one minute of silence symbolic ribbons of tape stuck on the mouth.

At exactly midnight, hit an impressive silence for a few seconds on the main square in the heart of the Spanish capital, crowded as the streets around.

The demonstrators, who occupied the premises since Tuesday when they planted a village of tents and tarpaulins, and have welcomed the truce that prohibits any political rally on the eve of local elections.

Then, very quickly, the seizures returned, amid percussion: "Now we're all illegal," shouted the crowd, estimated at 19.000 people according to a statement submitted to the agency Efe by a specialized company.

The police presence remained quiet, with only a few police cars parked in surrounding streets.

The organizers of the movement, born earlier this week to protest unemployment and the fallout from the economic crisis, had warned they were ready to defy the ban.

"We will stay on the site.This is not an event but a citizens' movement, had said Friday morning Juan Lopez, an unemployed 30-year and one of the spokespersons of the movement.

Two days ahead of local elections disastrous for the ruling Socialists, the government, very embarrassed, promised to act with restraint while "applying the law, which requires respect for the electoral truce.

Since Tuesday, the spontaneous movement brings together a mosaic of young people but also people from all backgrounds and all ages, unemployed, students, retirees, employees who took possession of the place.

Unique, colorful and pacifist movement, on behalf of the "right to be indignant," wants to be "apolitical" and denounced the collage stranglehold of the major parties on Spanish politics, social injustice, the "corruption of politicians ".

More importantly, it betrays the frustration of millions of Spaniards who face unemployment reached a record high of 21.19% and strikes nearly half the age of 25, salary cuts, fallout from the economic crisis.

The determination of the demonstrators on the eve of the weekend election, puts the government in a difficult position, forcing him to choose between a police very risky, or a flexibility that would surely earn him criticism.

"We will apply the law to guarantee the rights and freedom of all citizens," said Friday, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba.

The head of government Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has assured him that the government would show "understanding".

Throughout the week, protesters have gathered every day more numerous at the Puerta del Sol. The movement, to a lesser extent, has won most of the cities of Spain.And in a few days, it was structured.

A camp of plastic sheeting mounted on wooden structures and tents popped up on the spot, with "pit" dedicated to cooking, hospitality, health care, and also communication where any new "spokesperson" are trying to refine the message, sometimes blurry, of protesters.

In the queue in front of the booth dedicated to the signing of the petition of support, Maria Jesus Garcia, an employee of 40 years, told Friday it coming "because of unemployment. Especially the young."

"I will read the petition, and I'll sign," she said. "But they must continue after the elections. If they stop, it will be worth nothing."

CASE DSK: Emerging covet the IMF, the stronghold of Europeans

The debate over the estate of Dominique Strauss-Kahn to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has launched since Tuesday. There "is no longer able to lead the IMF," said Tuesday night, Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of State U.S. Treasury, before calling for a quick change at the head of the institution. Same story in France: "The question of succession will be resolved in the coming days," he said Wednesday Jean-Francois Cope, head of the UMP.

Must still agree on the name of a replacement.The departure of Dominique Strauss-Kahn is there an opportunity to put an end to more than 70 years of EU presidency IMF? Emerging countries hope to take this opportunity to promote one of their favorites, the South African Trevor Manuel and the Turkish Kemal Dervis.

For their part, Europeans want to perpetuate an unwritten rule in effect since 1944 that the IMF management amounts to one of their own and the presidency of the World Bank falls to an American.

But for several years, emerging countries reiterate that the world is not bipolar like in the 70s and should be taken into account.It is this new balance of power that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has also tried to reflect through the reform in 2008, voting rights at the IMF.

"Emerging markets now have more voice in the institution and therefore more weight on the designation of the future CEO", said FRANCE 24 Nicolas Dromel, associate researcher at Paris School of Economics.

"Earthquake with multiple aftershocks

In this, Europe contends that the timing is wrong."The first record of the future will be the crisis manager in the euro area and the Europeans believe that one of them will be more sensitive to this problem and better equipped to manage it," says Christine Rifflart, an economist at the French Observatory of conjunctures economic (OFCE), FRANCE 24."A European as Dominique Strauss-Kahn will have the necessary relationships to facilitate future agreements, including Greece and Ireland," adds Robert Wade, an expert on international organizations at the London School of Economics, FRANCE 24.

But beyond the European battlefield, the arrival of a representative of an emerging nation it change something for the operation of the IMF? "Dominique Strauss-Kahn has already done much to meet the demands of emerging economies such as to make the institution less dogmatic in his political allocation of loans," recalls Christine Rifflart. "The IMF has also put in place adequate filters to prevent the arrival of a president too heterodox," she adds.Moreover, "all candidates have been educated in the same high school and are awarded by the IMF," says Nicolas Dromel.

Still, the arrival of an emerging economy to head the IMF would be a powerful symbol and could act as "an earthquake with many aftershocks," says Robert Wade. "Once the barrier of the IMF will sell, there will be no reason to prevent leaders from emerging countries to take the lead of other international financial institutions", says British economist. Pre-square American Bank would he in turn threatened? In theory yes, but nothing is done."The United States has pushed for emerging countries take a greater role within the IMF and in return, they could thank them by giving them the leadership of the World Bank," said Robert Wade.

JUSTICE: What might Dominique Strauss-Kahn under U.S. law?

The arrest and prosecution of sexual assault, attempted rape and kidnapping of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sunday by the prosecutor of New York, raises several legal issues relating to sexual offenses. Decryption.

What's next court waiting DSK?

The IMF chief should be referred on Sunday at 19 pm (Paris time) before a U.S. judge in New York, with whom he will have the opportunity to speak. Former socialist minister denies all the charges alleged against him and will plead not guilty, told AFP his Washington lawyer, William Taylor. The magistrate will then decide on the release on bail of former minister or otherwise detained."In general, with regard to foreign nationals, who are by definition the risk to flee the United States to their country, mostly in cases of this magnitude, those accused remain in jail, at least for the time the judge to initiate the procedure, "says Emmanuel Saint-Martin, FRANCE 24's correspondent in New York. If the judge finds that the director will not escape justice, then it will be released on bail or without bail, on condition that he report at trial.

The head of the IMF has it a privilege?

"Theoretically, DSK is protected by an immunity for acts committed as part of his official duties in accordance with the operation of major international institutions.Remains whether it applied at the time of the alleged assault, "said Stanislas de Saint Hippolyte, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Washington. Indeed, the IMF Articles of Agreement (Article IX), showing that its officials" are not prosecuted for acts performed by them in exercising their official duties, "however, the Fund may decide to waive this immunity after meeting management.

If the allegations are true, what are the penalties incurred by Dominique Strauss-Kahn?

The fate of DSK depends on the nature of the crime by holding the "District Attorney" (floor New York).Charged with sexual assault, forcible confinement and one of attempted rape, the IMF chief "risk if convicted one year to twenty-five years in prison, according to the prosecutor's decision", said Stanislas de Saint Hippolyte.

Four scenarios could apply to Dominique Strauss-Kahn: sexual intercourse without consent of the victim. "This is the crime the less severely punished, ie one year in prison," said Stanislas de Saint Hippolyte. The second case involves sexual abuse. It may be a crime as a crime, punishable by up to fifteen years imprisonment. The third qualifier is rape, punishable by a sentence of twenty-five years in prison.Finally, any act of rape with "deviant", such as the practice of oral sex, is punishable by twenty-five years' imprisonment maximum.

GERMANY: After 18 months of trial, the former Nazi Demjanjuk soon learn his fate

AFP - The last great trial of Nazi crimes in Germany draws to a close one against John Demjanjuk, accused of involvement in the Holocaust as an extermination camp guard, whose verdict could fall Thursday.

After some 18 months of trial, a court in Munich (south) should indicate whether such a stateless person of Ukrainian descent aged 91 years is complicit in the murder of nearly 27,900 Jews at the Sobibor camp (Poland), where he was in custody six months in 1943, prosecutors said.

But the uncertainty was still up Thursday morning: the court must first decide on a defense motion that wants to present new evidence before closing the debate, said prosecutors Wednesday.

The prosecutor demanded six years in prison on the 15 he faces a maximum.The accused, who has remained silent, denying the facts, and his defense has claimed the acquittal of the "victim of German justice."

The prosecution had no direct witness or document compromising, if not a map showing its quality SS guard at Sobibor, challenged by the defense as a fake from the Soviet era.

For defense, there is no evidence that Demjanjuk was at Sobibor, and if there was a soldier of the Red Army prisoner of the Nazis, he acted only under duress.

Whatever the outcome, this trial may leave a "general feeling of frustration" and suspicion "partial justice" if the direct participation of the accused is not shown, commented to AFP Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld.

Demjanjuk, who was expelled two years ago the United States where he lived since the '50s, after a long legal battle centered on his health is shaky saying, attended the debates stretcher or wheelchair, and has not say a word.

He has already served eight years in prison in Israel, accused of being a guard at the Treblinka camp under the nickname "Ivan the Terrible."Sentenced to death in 1988 he was acquitted by the Israeli Supreme Court because of doubts about his identity.

His trial will be one of the last Nazi crimes, with that of the Hungarian Sandor Kepiro, 97, who has just started in Budapest.

But after Germany, Spain wants to try him for having been a guard in another concentration camp where prisoners have died in Spain.

Bin Laden enjoyed support in Pakistan, according to Obama

Barack Obama has revived debate on Sunday on the thesis of a possible government complicity in Islamabad about the presence of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil until his death on May 1, during a raid U.S. special forces.

"The Pakistani government must initiate an investigation"

The U.S. president said on CBS that the leader of al-Qaeda most likely disposed of support in Pakistan and urged the Pakistani government to investigate the subject.

"We think there should be a network of support in one form or another, for bin Laden inside Pakistan," he said in a television interview aired Sunday night on the show " 60 Minutes "CBS.

"But we do not know where," he added. We do not know if there could be people [who helped bin Laden, ed] within or outside the government.We need to investigate it and, more importantly, the Pakistani government must initiate an investigation. "

The founder of Al Qaeda, who masterminded the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, was killed on May 1 by U.S. special forces in his cache of Abbottabad, about sixty miles from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

The Americans want to interrogate the three widows of bin Laden captured in Abbottabad

Prior to the release of about Barack Obama, the U.S. administration, it seems, spared its ally Pakistan by saying it did not have evidence to suggest that Islamabad qu'Ousama knew bin Laden was living in a city stationed nearby before his death.

"I can tell you frankly that I have seen no evidence to suggest that political leaders, military or intelligence services were aware of [the hiding place] bin Laden," said Tom Donilon, Counsellor national security of the White House during the show "Meet the Press" on NBC.

The hiding of the head of Al-Qaeda must "be an investigation," but he had added.

"The Pakistanis have said they would open an investigation, said Donilon. It is a very important issue in Pakistan at this time. How does this have happened in Pakistan? We have to investigate that.We must work with the Pakistanis. "

Pakistani authorities, he added, must provide U.S. authorities with the information they have gathered in the residence where bin Laden was killed, and enable them to meet his three widows who are currently detained in Pakistan.

Islamabad has already promised an investigation

On Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani could deliver clarification on this point during his speech to parliament in Islamabad.

And its ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, has promised in the show "This Week" ABC that the Pakistani authorities would take action after investigation.

"Heads Will Roll, once the investigation is completed, he said.If proven incompetence, we'll tell you. But if, and God forbid, complicity are unearthed, we will apply the principle of zero tolerance. "

Despite the difficult relations between Washington and Islamabad, "we work closely with Pakistan in the cons-terrorism, said his side Tom Donilon.There were more terrorists and extremists captured or killed in Pakistan than in any other country "

American suspicions about the Pakistani intelligence

Pakistan, heavily dependent on billions of dollars of U.S. aid, is under pressure to explain how Bin Laden has been living so long in a garrison town so close to the capital without being flushed.

These questions reinforce the doubts about the relationship that could keep members of Pakistani intelligence (ISI) with Islamic extremists.

Pakistan vehemently denies any complicity and states have paid a heavy price for supporting the U.S. offensive launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Officials said Pakistani security service, the head of al-Qaeda could have lived more than seven years in Pakistan before he was killed on May 1 by U.S. commandos.

One of the widows of bin Laden told investigators that he had spent about two and a half years in a Pakistani village before moving to Abbottabad.

This woman, Amal Ahmed Abdoulfattah, said the leader of Al Qaeda and its relatives had lived five years in Abbottabad.

Donilon said Sunday that the death of Osama bin Laden was a "real blow" to Al Qaeda.

"With the measures we have taken during the assault on the home run against Pakistan and the death of Osama bin Laden, they are even more vulnerable," he said.

Washington said Saturday that the complex where bin Laden lived Ouassama housed a "command post and Active Control" operations of Al Qaeda.

"It sounds ridiculous, responded Sunday a senior Pakistani intelligence. He did not seem in the process of directing a terrorist network."

"That's bullshit," added a senior Pakistani security services asked about the active role played by bin Laden since Abbottabad.

FLYING RIO PARIS: A first body of Flight 447 passenger rescued

A first body of a victim's flight from Rio to Paris found in the wreckage of the aircraft could be remounted on board the vessel involved in research, announced Thursday the direction of the police.

The discovery of two black boxes from Flight 447, apparently in good condition, Sunday and Monday in the Atlantic, should help elucidate the causes of the accident, which has killed 228 on 1 June 2009.

The wreckage was located early April, 22 months after the accident, at 3,900 m depth and a dozen bodies were in a part of the fuselage of the Airbus.Fifty others were rescued at sea shortly after the disappearance of the aircraft.

Experts have warned that the recovery of the bodies was not guaranteed, some corpses can not resist any manipulation and transfer in the warmer waters of the Atlantic.

A first body was nevertheless rebounded Thursday.

Remained submerged for two years or to a depth of 3900 meters, this body, still strapped to a seat on the plane, "appears degraded," said the police in a statement.

Samples were made by investigators and will be sent next week to a laboratory for analysis to determine the possibility of identifying victims through DNA.

The police said that large uncertainties remain about the possibility of raising other body, attempts to lift itself down "in a particularly complex and hitherto unpublished."

Investigators as the families of the victims hope that the analysis of the two black boxes of the device will remove the mystery of the crash of Paris-Rio.If they prove workable, they could allow investigators to recover by late May the scenario of the disaster.

A patrol is gone Monday in Cayenne, French Guiana, to join the cable ship Ile de Sein offshore Brazil and recover the two black boxes, which are sealed. The recorders will then be sent to Paris, where their openness and analysis should begin within the next ten days.

FRANCE: Baptism of fire for Marine Le Pen's Parade FN 1-May

Marine Le Pen on Sunday urged the French to regain their "freedom" against the euro, globalization, immigration and insecurity in his first speech of May 1 as president of the National Front, before a crowd larger than last year.

"I am part of the historical struggles for freedom, fighting for millions of anonymous people who fell for her, Bouvines the Chemin des Dames, fighting major fates Republicans, Victor Schoelcher to Charles de Gaulle," he launched the President of the FN to his supporters gathered at Place des Pyramides Paris before the statue of Joan of Arc.

"Breaking the chains of the French people! Breaking the chains of denial," she added, asserting that "in a year," just days before the second round of presidential elections, "we'll just days before the spring of France! ".

The theme of freedom has returned to loop through the speech.

Marine Le Pen has called on France to "get rid of a European Union which has continued to weaken us and reduce our freedoms," then she slammed as usual Euro, "the collapse announced "would be taboo in public discourse.

Speaking of Frontex, the European structure responsible for auditing the EU borders, it launched "the house is open and we gave the keys to a stranger's garden (...) eager to see everyone settle in our house without our knowledge. "

Paying tribute to Joan of Arc, like his father years earlier, she drew a parallel between the Burgundians "in favor of annexation English" and that those "call now shills + +".

"After the debacle in France in 1940, as pacifism, but also the illusion of peace left to pay the price of the easement (...) Has led some to an unworthy French collaboration with the invader, "said Marine Le Pen, on the dais where leaders had taken up several of the FN, including Jean-Marie Le Pen, but not Gollnisch.

The parade before the speech was attended by 3,200 people between the police and 20,000 according to the FN. Numbers increased compared to last year (2,000 and 8,000 according to police by FN).

AFGHANISTAN: Eight ISAF soldiers killed by an Afghan military airport in Kabul

Eight soldiers from the NATO force in Afghanistan (ISAF) and a sub-contractor were killed Wednesday during a shooting at a military airport in Kabul, said the training mission to NATO in Afghanistan ( NTM-A) in a statement.

"Eight soldiers of ISAF and a sub-contractor were killed" during small arms fire at the Kabul airport, which "houses the Training Center of NATO air," said NTM- Who depends on the ISAF.

Command of ISAF in turn had previously announced that six foreign soldiers were killed in a shooting at the training center.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense attributed the shooting to a dispute between a military pilot in Afghanistan and foreign troops, saying the pilot had been shot. The Taliban on their side said that one of their activists "employee" on the base had led an attack.

BURKINA FASO - EXCLUSIVE: These military ready to take up arms if Compaore does not honor its commitments

AFP - Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, whose country has been faced with mutinies of soldiers, has assigned the Ministry of Defence in the new government, whose composition was announced Thursday night, according to decrees read on state television RTB.

"The president of the (Burkina Faso) Faso, supreme commander of armed, took office as Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs," reads one of the decrees.

This position is particularly sensitive in the present context, the regime of President Compaore, a soldier who seized power in a coup in 1987, facing more than a month to the mutinies of soldiers who received up his own personal guard.

These riots occurred in parallel with other protest movements of most of society in Burkina Faso which began in late February.

Fifteen new ministers enter this government comprises 29 ministers (against 38 previously), all members of the ruling party or the presidential movement.This is the team most ressérée history of Burkina Faso.

Djibril Bassolé, former joint mediator of the UN and African Union (AU) for Darfur (Sudan), was appointed foreign minister.

Economy and finance back to Lucien Marie-Noel Bembamba, brother-in-chief of the State, Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security, Jerome Bougouma, another close to Blaise Compaore.

The new team includes three women appointed to the Ministries of National Education, Social Action and Promotion of Women.

This government was formed by the new Prime Minister Luc Adolphe Tiao, a journalist by training and former ambassador to Burkina Paris, appointed Monday to replace Tertius Zongo, who was fired after a mutiny within the leader's own presidential guard of State, April 14.

Mr.Compaore had also replaced the main army officials, including Chief of Staff.

The new team of faithful head of state, while many observers had expected an opening to members of civil society and opposition, will have to try to stem a wave of protest unprecedented in history of the country.

Since late February, all segments of the population, youth, students, judges, soldiers, traders, expressed with varying degrees of violence across the country against Compaore's regime and the high cost of living while most of the 16 million Burkinabe live with about 1.5 euro per day.

Balance: At least six deaths, injuries, looting, damage to property.

A year after the oil spill in Louisiana, the risk is always present

A year after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, oil has been dispersed and enhanced security, but the United States is not safe from another disaster, told AFP that the admiral had led the government's efforts against the oil spill.

"We can never prevent a disaster from taking place here," said retired Admiral Thad Allen, who has worked on various oil spills since the 80s and led relief operations after the explosion of the oil platform , April 20, 2010, off the coast of Louisiana.

The accident had caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history.BP, operator of the platform, could not prevent the spill of some 4.9 million barrels of crude in the Gulf of Mexico.

"And we're still cleaning," said Mr. Allen told AFP. "But the quantities are much smaller than those we have known, limited mostly to swampy areas," upsetting the nesting birds in the reeds still polluted the coast of the Southeast, according to Mr.Allen.

Over 1,700 km of wetlands and beaches of the Gulf have been polluted and more than 6,000 birds died, according to the American Council for the Defence of natural resources, while 2,000 people are still working to clean the first wetlands to be affected by oil spill.

The U.S. government said at the time a moratorium on offshore drilling and a few months later, the Department of the Interior has tightened rules against companies wanting to acquire a drilling permit.

"This is obviously an improvement over the previous situation, but we can never prevent such an event happen," he said.

Mr.Allen retired in June but stayed on the scene to carry out the plan of government support Obama until the wellbore BP is declared "dead" in September.

"It was clear that this crisis would not be resolved quickly," says Allen, urging the U.S. not to repeat the mistakes of the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez, which had spilled 50,000 tons of oil Wed

"Two to three years after the Exxon Valdez, it has invested heavily in research and development against these risks," according to Thad Allen.

"And while we focus on tanker accidents, the industry has changed and went to drill deeper and deeper."

"We should not let that happen.We should focus on innovation and technological improvements to track changes in the industry, "says Allen.

NIGERIA - PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Goodluck Jonathan at the top of the partial results

AFP - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan took out a big lead Sunday in the presidential race, winning in at least 20 of the 36 states, and could win the first round in this election, whose effectiveness has been praised overall by observers.

The final results of the election on Saturday, known in 30 states, gave Mr. Jonathan winner in 20 states, while its main rival, former junta leader Muhammadu Buhari, won the votes in 9 states, and Nuhu Ribadu, who led the anti-corruption agency in Nigeria, was leading in the State.

Voting took place Saturday in a relative calm, with sporadic incidents that have not made a victim.Observers have generally welcomed the successful conduct of this election, which marks a positive break after a series of fraudulent elections.

"There is consensus that this is a new beginning, after irregularities in the 2007 presidential election," said Clement Nwankmo, coordinator of a local group of observers.

"The election was held in conditions even better" than as laws of April 9, already felt Saturday Slovene Alojz Peterle, head of the mission of the European Union.

The known results include those officially announced by Abuja those reported by the states themselves and, finally, those of local media and NGOs.

To win, the candidate with the most votes must also obtain at least a quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of the 36 states or 24 states, in the words of the Constitution.

Nigeria, most populous country in Africa with 155 million inhabitants, has 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and that includes its surroundings.

Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President became head of state in May 2010 following the death of his predecessor Umaru Yar'Adua (2007-2010), a Muslim, a Christian South, candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP).This party dominates the political scene and won the first round every presidential since 1999.

Elected vice president in 2007, Jonathan is a doctor of zoology 53 years old, known for constantly wearing the hat.

The country has had such a new electoral register containing the electronic fingerprints of more than 73 million subscribers. The previous list was riddled with ghost voters.

A coalition of local observers nevertheless reported irregularities concerning the voting of voters minors, the unusually high turnout and suspicions of ballot stuffing important.

Partial results of the election were also emerge a clear division between the Muslim north, which voted for the former military junta leader (1984-1985) Muhammadu Buhari, and the Christian south favor Goodluck Jonathan, waving the spectrum of religious and ethnic divisions.

Muhammadu Buhari was reported Saturday in "news of election fraud, ballot stuffing in some places."

Tensions have arisen in the North where voters were afraid of fraud from the camp of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) Goodluck Jonathan.

"There is good news and bad news in this presidential election. The good news is that we count actual votes and people are interested.The bad news is that the country is seriously divided, North against South, "said Chidi Odinkalu, the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Many analysts had warned against this scenario in a country as turbulent as Nigeria, which has more than 250 ethnic groups.

In the Muslim north, many believe that the reelection of Jonathan would be a breach of an unwritten rule in the People's Democratic Party (PDP), providing for rotation of power between North and South.

The final results of parliamentary April 9 have not yet been proclaimed. April 26 will be the elections of state governors and regional assemblies.

BAHRAIN: Two Shiite opposition parties threatened to dissolve

The Department of Justice and Islamic Affairs of Bahrain has launched a lawsuit to dissolve the two parties of the Shiite opposition, including the powerful Al-Wefaq, a month after the end of the protest in the kingdom, reported Thursday the official agency BNA.

The lawsuit relates to "Islamic Action Association and Al-Wefaq," the agency said, accusing the two Shia groups have "seriously violated the rules of the Constitution and the laws and have been activities that have affected the civil peace and national unity. "

These two associations have also "encouraged institutions to non-compliance," the agency said, quoting a ministry statement.

Al-Wefaq was the main opposition group in parliament, where it controlled 18 of 40 seats. It was during the events of mid-February to mid-March, called for political reforms to transform Bahrain into a genuine constitutional monarchy where the Prime Minister is the head of the parliamentary majority.

The Islamic Action Association has also joined the protest, led mainly by Shiites, the majority among the local population against the Sunni dynasty of the Al-Khalifa.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Firing missiles on Gbagbo's residence, his camp denounces assassination attempt

The residence of Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan was partially destroyed Sunday by missiles fired from helicopters UNOCI and the French Licorne force, said a spokesman for the outgoing president of Ivory Coast. The helicopters fired on the tanks inside the presidential palace and outside the residence. He did not say if Laurent Gbagbo was on site at the time of the attack.

"French helicopters and the UN continued to fire on the residence of President Gbagbo, who is partially destroyed," said Reuters spokesman said, Ahoua Don Mello."There is a thick smoke but we have no other details on the damage caused. "

A resident of Cocody said he saw "a French helicopter fire four missiles in the area of ​​the residence shortly before 17:00 (GMT). A resident of the neighborhood Youpougon (West Shelf separated by the lagoon) has reported seeing "three Helicopters fire on the presidency.""For several minutes, black smoke rises into the sky towards the palace," he added.

A Reuters correspondent on the French military base of Port-Bouet, near the airport, fifteen kilometers from the residence of Gbagbo said he heard loud explosions echoed from the combat zone.He said that four helicopters, two of UNOCI and two of the Force Licorne, "led the attacks.

Gbagbo's camp talking about an assassination attempt, invokes UNOCI's mandate

France has "no other purpose" than to "assassinate" the outgoing president, Laurent Gbagbo, has responded to AFP Ahoua Don Mello, denouncing the shooting of the French Licorne force "on the residence of the Chief State ".

"France was looking for excuses to réattaquer, she has gathered," he said, referring in particular to an attack Saturday on the headquarters of Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo, whose camp has denied being responsible.

"We take the operation to neutralize the heavy weapons wherever they are. UNOCI and Licorne have begun to target targets in several places, especially near the presidential palace and near the presidential residence," replied the spokesman of UNOCI, Hamadoun Toure. "Over the past three or four days, there was a use of heavy weapons against civilians and peacekeepers. The firing against the head of UNOCI continued, hence the need to react to protect civilians in accordance with our mandate, "he added.

The shootings have targeted as "camps where recognition exercises have identified heavy weapons," according to Mr Touré.

LIBYA: UN calls for end to hostilities in Misrata

The international community mobilized Thursday to help the people of Misrata, Libyan city besieged by the forces of Colonel Gaddafi that Washington once again called upon to relinquish power.

While the front line between rebel and loyalist forces has stabilized over the last week in the region of Brega (east), the town of Misrata, shelled relentlessly for a month and a half by the regular army, is now the object of attention.

Following in the footsteps of NATO, which has made Misrata his "number one priority," the UN has called for a cessation of hostilities around the city.

"The situation on the ground is critical for a large number of people who are in immediate need of food, water and emergency medical assistance," said assistant general secretary of the UN Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos. "The ability to leave the city is now a matter of life or death."

Rebels and humanitarian alert for weeks the international community to the plight of some 300,000 inhabitants of this city, several hundred were killed or wounded by fighting in their view.

The rebel military commander, Gen. Abdel Fattah Younes, was charged Tuesday in very harsh terms the Atlantic Alliance to "let people die of Misrata.More generally, he expressed his disappointment at the action of NATO, which took control of military operations last Thursday.

Piqued, NATO had promised to "do everything possible to protect civilians in Misrata," according to a UN mandate, but stressed that the Gaddafi regime was using human shields, making air strikes delicate.

To relieve the population will be replenished Misrata by the Sea by insurgents from Benghazi, 260 nautical miles (480 km) further east, had said Wednesday the French Minister of Defence Gerard Longuet.

"Previously, the reading of the embargo was that no boat could not supply any city," he said.

In the military port of Benghazi two fishing vessels and a tug waiting on Thursday that the swell to head back to Misrata calm, despite the firing forces of Tripoli, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.

"We sent the first ships a month ago. We are in contact with Misrata by satellite phone. They tell us what they need, if we find we can and organized convoys of ships," explains the AFP Captain Mustapha Omar.

"The first trips, we have not had any problems. Then we have repeatedly had to turn back because of the warships of Gaddafi.But the French navy has escorted two weeks ago, one of our boats, "said Capt. Omar." That we will never forget. "

The U.S. has meanwhile rejected curtly demands of Colonel Gaddafi, who in a long letter urged Washington to end the allied air strikes by the U.S. media.

"There is no mystery about what is expected to present Mr.Gaddafi, "retorted the chief diplomat Hillary Clinton at a press conference:" Earlier the bloodshed cease, and the better for everybody. "

Gaddafi should opt for a cease-fire, withdrawal of his troops, and "a decision must be made for its departure from power and (...) leaving Libya," she insisted.

The U.S. military had withdrawn Monday that fighter jets were involved in the international operation in Libya.It should now provide more than had intended to conduct air refueling missions as well as jamming and surveillance.

The next meeting of the Contact Group on Libya-established to ensure "political leadership" from the international civilian and military action in Libya, with Nato for "arm" - will be held April 13 in Doha, said Thursday the head of French diplomacy, Alain Juppe.

The Libyan regime, target since February 15 of a popular uprising that turned into a civil war, said he was ready for dialogue provided that the rebels disarm.

On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim, accused British forces of bombing oil installations in the field of Al-Sarir (southeast). These strikes have killed three and wounded and material damage on the pipeline leading to the oil port of Tobruk controlled by the rebels, he said.

The previous day, a tanker had left the region of Tobruk with the first shipment of oil under rebel control since the airstrikes began mid-March.

In three days, three Boeing aircraft makes emergency landing in the U.S.

The United States experienced in the space of three days, three emergency landings of Boeing aircraft including the cabin atmosphere was no longer breathing without an oxygen mask, the latest being the one Sunday in New York of American Airlines aircraft.

A Boeing 757 that connected Boston (Massachusetts, North-East) to the island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, had to land at JFK airport in New York in mid-day, told the AFP a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (FAA), Jim Peters.

"The crew reported a loss of cabin pressure," said the spokesman, adding that the reason was unknown.

No passenger or crew member was injured, he added.

American Airlines could not be reached Sunday to give his version.

Friday afternoon, another spectacular incident had hit a Boeing 737 operated by Southwest Airlines, part of the roof was torn off after shortly after takeoff from Phoenix (Arizona, Southwest).

The plane, headed for Sacramento, California (West) had landed on an air base in Yuma (Arizona). A member of the crew and a passenger were slightly injured.

The incident has led Southwest to inspect 79 Boeing 737s.Sunday, the company said in a statement it had found "small cracks below the surface" on two planes.

Friday morning, another American Airlines plane, a Boeing 737 between Washington to Chicago, landed in the airport emergency Dayton (Ohio Northern) after the disappearance of four passengers, while many others felt sick.The origin of the problem was not disclosed.

These incidents come one month after the deactivation by the United States, imitated by Canada and France, systems that supply oxygen in the toilets of some models of aircraft, for fear that they are terrorists.

The FAA then estimated that the depressurization event was "extremely rare" in aircraft.

INTERNET: Microsoft launches assault against Google in Europe

AFP - The U.S. computer group Microsoft has openly declared war in Europe with his compatriot and great rival Google on Internet, by filing Thursday for the first time in its history, a complaint with the European Commission for abusing its dominant position.

Brad Smith, vice president of Microsoft, announced the complaint in a blog published on the website of the group in Redmond.

It has been confirmed by the services of EU Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, who already have a formal investigation against Google open since November.

Brad Smith accuses Google of using "an increasing number of technical measures" to "build walls" preventing proper access to certain content to Internet search engines online competitor of his.

It "blocks of content and data that competitors need to provide search results to consumers and to attract advertisers," source of income for the free services on the Internet, he acknowledges, with several examples support.

Brad Smith evokes including restrictions on access to online video site YouTube to search engines other than Google Search or the multifunction phones using Microsoft software.

Ultimately, Google and reinforces the dominance of Google Search, whose market share in Europe is estimated at 95%, against 5% for Bing, the search engine from Microsoft.

The Commission had already received several complaints in the past against Google.His investigation is focused for now on two markets where the giant internet hyperdominant in Europe, research and online advertising.

It seeks to verify if it promotes its own services and penalizes those of competitors in the results provided by its search engine, or if it imposes exclusivity to advertising partners.

In the immediate future, its services have "taken note" of the new complaint, saying they would like the procedure provided, request a response to Google.

They will then assess whether or not to include it in the file, allowing Microsoft to be more involved in the investigation.

For its part, Google is "not surprised," he assured his spokesman in Brussels, Al Verney, recalling that one of the subsidiaries of Microsoft had been "one of the first plaintiffs in Brussels.

The group suggested all along that Microsoft is behind his troubles in Europe.

Upon revelation of the first complaints, he noted that two of them were related to the group from Redmond: the Internet portal Ciao, acquired by Microsoft in 2008, and that of Foundem compare prices, part of him as association lobbying ICOMP.

From this point of view, the complaint of Microsoft clarifies the debate.

She is also a backlash, because a few years ago, the positions were exactly reversed: it's Microsoft that was in the sights of Brussels for abuse of dominant position, at the time because of its Internet Explorer browser, and Google on the side of plaintiffs.

The standoff lasted for years, and Microsoft had to pay heavy fines.

Brad Smith acknowledged Thursday "irony" of the situation, but assured that Microsoft had not taken his decision lightly. Google "should not be allowed to continue practices that restrict innovation and offer competing services," he stressed, saying "hope" that Brussels' decision to stop. "

LIBYA: NATO takes command, the coalition strikes Sirte and Tripoli, the insurgents argue

AFP - The inhabitants fled in Sirte on Sunday hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in fear of air raids of the coalition and the arrival of the rebels advancing rapidly toward the west taking advantage of the disarray of the government forces.

NATO has announced to take "immediate" command of all military operations in Libya, which were hitherto were conducted by a coalition led by the United States, France and Great Britain.

"We do not stop until you have freed Misrata, Tripoli and then!"

Sunday morning, the rebels took over the oil terminal at Ras Lanuf (east), according to AFP journalists.This town is located 210 km west of Ajdabiya, strategic crossroads recovered Saturday by the rebels.

The pro-Gaddafi "fled last night after the air strike," said an insurgent, Mohsen Omar, 30. "They fled, and now we are pursuing.It does not stop until you have freed Misrata, Tripoli and then! "

Pro-government forces retreated towards Gaddafi in Sirte, 200 km further west, along a flat coast and desert difficult to defend without heavy artillery or aircraft.

The rebels were in the late afternoon Nofilia, a small town between sea and desert, 110 km of Sirte, and more than 400 km from their stronghold, Benghazi.

They expect the bombing to Sirte international venture, while dozens of families fleeing the city towards Tripoli in fear of air raids and the international arrival of the rebels, said a journalist from AFP .

In the evening, a coalition air raid took place in Sirte, where armed men in military uniform and some in civilian clothes, were traveling in dozens of pick-up bearing pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The day before, the city had already been the target of intense airstrikes.

Raids to facilitate the advance of rebel troops

Explosions and gunfire were also heard DCA in Tripoli around 18.30 GMT Sunday, according to an AFP journalist.Libyan television confirmed the raids on Tripoli and Sirte coalition.

To the west, the French fighter planes led Sunday air strikes against Libyan armored vehicles and "a major ammunition depot" in the regions and Misrata Zentena, announced the French army.

Saturday, resuming and Ajdabiya Site Brega Petroleum neighbor had set up the first victory of the rebels since the start of international intervention on March 19, reversing the trend after a long week of retreat and stagnation.

Since Thursday, the raids have "prepared the battlefield" and the officers and soldiers who joined the rebellion played a major role, coordinating their attacks with the coalition, according to a rebel spokesman in Benghazi, Chamseddine Abdoulmolah.

According to the insurgents, the oil fields they control areas currently produce 100,000 to 130,000 barrels per day.The opposition plans to export oil by "less than a week," said a rebel spokesman, Ali Tarhoni, adding that the rebellion has delegated to the Qatar market.

NATO runs military operations in Libya

Accused of having launched a war without an exit strategy in Libya, U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the developments, stating that the intervention was "targeted and being successful."

NATO, already responsible for enforcing the arms embargo and the no-fly zone over Libya, decided to take command of all military operations in Libya.

"We asked the senior operational command of NATO to implement the execution of this operation immediately," said Sunday night the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

With the approach of the contact group meeting in London on Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a Franco-British initiative for a political solution.

Italy, the former colonial power, has announced that it is also a plan, which provides an exile of Colonel Gaddafi."Even within the regime, there are people working on this solution," the foreign minister, Franco Frattini.

Benedict XVI has called for opening "an immediate dialogue" to reach a cease-fire in Libya.

A first boat carrying African migrants from Libya, with on board nearly 300 people, arrived Sunday in southern Italy and was followed by three others, according to the coastguard and humanitarian organizations.

Rome said he feared a wave of at least 200,000 to 300,000 immigrants from tip of Muammar Gaddafi has warned that thousands of migrants could reach Europe.

LIBYA: Several loud explosions heard in Tripoli

Firing of the air defense and several loud bangs were heard Thursday morning in Tripoli, the sixth day of the offensive of the international coalition, according to an AFP journalist.

The DCA went into action at 4:30 GMT and several loud explosions resounded then, according to an AFP journalist who was unable to identify the origin of the blasts.

The coalition had conducted air raids on Wednesday night in Tripoli.Of flak and fighter aircraft noise had been heard above the city, according to AFP journalists.

By early evening, a loud explosion occurred on a basis of the Libyan army in the region Tajoura, 32 km east of Tripoli, witnesses said AFP.

These witnesses saw flames rising over the military base after the explosion.

The Libyan news agency Jana said last year that the international coalition raids on the eastern outskirts of Tripoli on Wednesday night had "targeted a residential area," making a "significant number of civilian deaths".

LIBYA: The international coalition bombed Tripoli, civilians are afraid of abuses

Reuters - A coalition of five Western armies began Saturday to bomb targets in Libya to try to compel the forces of Muammar Qadhafi to cease fire and stop attacks against civilians.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who bloodily suppressed the rebellion in eastern part of the country a month ago, called it aggression "colonial", comparing it to a crusade.

Libyan state television has reported 48 dead and 150 wounded in air raids and firing of these missiles launched several ships and submarines in the Mediterranean, it is not possible to verify the information.

France, Great Britain, the United States, Italy and Canada to participate now in operation dubbed "Dawn of the Odyssey," the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion Iraq in 2003.Qatar has pledged to get involved and several other European and Arab countries are also ready to participate in this action.

Its objective is, under resolution 1973 adopted on Thursday by the Security Council of the UN to introduce a no-fly zone and to impose a cease-fire.

In a televised address shortly after the first strikes, Muammar Gaddafi said that the Mediterranean and North Africa was now a "battlefield" and that air and sea targets, military or civilian, were now exposed to a real danger in the region.

"It is now necessary to open all deposits and arm the masses with any type of weapon to defend the independence, unity and honor of Libya," he added.

Meanwhile, state television said that Libya was ending its efforts to block illegal immigrants en route to Europe.

More than 110 missiles

The French Air Force struck first in the wake of the Paris summit, which gathered Saturday at the Elysee leaders from 22 countries and organizations, including UN, EU and Arab League.

Twenty French planes took part in the operation over a wide area around Benghazi, destroying several tanks and armored vehicles of the loyalist forces, said the MoD.

Starting at 19:00 GMT, warships and submarines, British and American fired over 110 Tomahawk missiles against more than 20 sites in Libya, and Qaddafi's air defenses were severely damaged, an official of the Security Council National American.

China and Russia, who abstained without veto in the vote on Resolution 1973, deplored the military action.

Explosions and gunfire were heard fed air defense in the early hours Sunday in Tripoli.

Libyan television showed images of a hospital that she did not identify where she was admitted as victims of "the colonial enemy." You could see ten bodies wrapped in blue and white sheets and several wounded, one seriously.

Relief and fear

Residents of Tripoli reported an explosion near the neighborhood of Tadjoura, where the opposition has on several occasions last month.A Misrata, 200 km east of Tripoli, residents have said that air base outside the city had been hit by strikes in the West.

In Benghazi, the second largest city, a Reuters reporter heard an explosion and fire air defense without being able to determine their origin.

In the stronghold of the insurgency threatened by loyalist forces, the people welcomed the first international hits with a mixture of relief and apprehension.

"We welcome France, Great Britain, the United States and Arab countries that sided with Libya. But Gaddafi will unleash his wrath against civilians.The West needs to hit hard, "said Khalid Ghourfali an every officer of 38 years.

Libyan officials say the media that targets civilians, including a hospital, were bombed in Tripoli, Sirte and Benghazi, and Zouarah Misrata and there are civilian casualties in the capital.

In the southern suburbs of Tripoli, thousands of supporters converged on the colonel army camp in Bab al Azizia, forming a human shield in the base of Gaddafi.

The international operation has led Germany's reserves - which is not involved in the operation but requires the implementation of resolution 1973 - and many military analysts, who fear a protracted civil war.

Phase

In conclusion of the Paris summit, Western leaders have said that Muammar Gaddafi they had not left the choice of intervention by not complying with the ultimatum of the international community for a cease-fire.

The objective of the coalition is not taking control of Libya, but to help a people in "mortal danger" facing "the madness of a regime that has lost all (...) legitimacy, "said Nicolas Sarkozy.

"The door of diplomacy will reopen when the attacks cease," added the French president, but his foreign minister Alain Juppe, there is "little hope" that Colonel pandering to the UN .

On a visit to Brazil, President Barack Obama stressed the limited nature of U.S. intervention and reiterated that no ground troops would be deployed.

Washington admitted that he took command of the first intervention phase, hoping to quickly transfer the command to other countries.

LIBYA: The G8 failed to agree on the establishment of a no-fly zone

The foreign ministers of the G8 in Paris on Tuesday called for new measures to the UN to "further pressure" on Muammar Gaddafi, Alain Juppe announced at the end of their work.

"We agree to ask the Security Council to increase its pressure on Colonel Gaddafi," said Alain Juppe to the press.

But the written conclusions of the meeting did not mention the option of a no-fly zone, in which several countries, including Germany, were opposed.

"The ministers have asked Muammar Gaddafi to respect the legitimate claims of the Libyan people for their fundamental rights, freedom of expression and a representative form of government.They warned against the tragic consequences of his refusal, "these findings indicate.

"The Ministers welcomed the fact that the Security Council of the United Nations urgently examine a wide range of measures to protect people against attacks by Libyan forces of Muammar Gaddafi," said the text also.

"They also agreed that the Security Council should increase the pressure to encourage Muammar Gaddafi to leave, including economic measures," he adds.

Alain Juppe had announced on Tuesday morning that the G8 countries were unable to agree on the principle of military intervention in Libya, desired by France.Paris and London last week evoked the possibility of targeted air strikes, carried out with the approval of the Security Council, or a no-fly zone.