JAPAN: Authorities put all the nuclear reactors of the archipelago under surveillance

AFP - The Japanese government on Wednesday ordered an urgent check of all the country's nuclear reactors to ensure they do not meet one day the same damage as those endured by the power plant in Fukushima damaged by the earthquake of March 11 .

A letter to that effect, made public, was addressed by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Banri Kaieda, CEOs of the nine regional electricity companies in Japan and two other operators nuclear power plants.

Japan has more than 50 reactors, all located on the seafront, on an archipelago that is integrally threat of earthquakes.

The central Fukushima Daiichi (1 Fukushima, north-east) faces an extreme situation, power was cut off by the earthquake and tsunami, embedded generators and cooling devices turned off, all leading to overheating fuel, explosions and radiation leaks.
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As for facilities that are currently under arrest or under construction, they can not be used without having been vetted, "said Minister of Industry, Banri Kaieda, at a press conference partially televised.

The Department also requests that the exercises are conducted to train the teams to deal with such emergencies.

Measures will also be implemented to secure sources of emergency power and a means to cool the fuel, especially in cooling ponds.

The minister stressed that Japan could hardly do without nuclear power, given their needs and lack of resources.

"The nuclear electricity makes up 30% of production in Japan," he said.

The arrest of more than a dozen reactors after the earthquake of March 11 requires the company Tokyo Electric Power, which manages Fukushima Daiichi and supplies the capital, to schedule outages and forcing users to limit their consumption.

The 24-hour general strike marred by incidents in Athens

Clashes erupted Wednesday in central Athens between dozens of youths and riot police, splitting in two a procession of demonstrators protesting against the austerity as part of a general strike for 24 hours, was a journalist the AFP.

The security forces, deployed by cable to the Ministry of Finance, at the bottom of the central square of Syntagma fired tear gas to repel irritants and young people, who were of various projectiles.

The police then deployed to push beyond the square mass of protesters split into two incidents and many were coughing and choking.But échaufourrées continued down from the parliament with the firing of Molotov cocktails by young troublemakers.

Police said the various processions union in Athens and Piraeus have collected some 20,000 people, and more than 60,000 according to union estimates, a significant mobilization. In Salonika, the police amounted to some 16,000 demonstrators.

Some 5,000 policemen were deployed in central Athens against the possibility of such excesses, almost automatically give in recent years at events and in particular that had marred the last union demonstration accompanying a general strike on December 14.

The Minister of Citizen Protection, Christos Papoutsis on Tuesday called for calm and "responsibility" to safeguard the country's image in front of the "international community".

The demonstrations were organized by the two major power plants in the country, the GSEE and ADEDY private to the public, and by the communist trade union front Pame, as part of a day of action against the treatment of 24H austerity prescribed in the country by the Union duropéenne and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for his financial rescue.

MADAGASCAR: Back from exile compromise Marc Ravalomanana

AFP - Former President of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana was prevented from returning to Antananarivo on Saturday after being denied boarding at Johannesburg airport by an airline citing an order from the Malagasy civil aviation, was a journalist the AFP.

"I'm going to Madagascar for the sake of peace, not war, why does blocking me is here now?" Said the press Ravalomanana, visibly angry after the airline Airlink signified to him the refusal boarding at the airport OR Tambo.

A company employee showed him a letter from the Civil Aviation Authority Malagasy saying: "Marc Ravalomanana is persona non grata in Madagascar.Also to preserve public order, do not take on board ".

In Madagascar, at the airport Antanananarivo, several thousand supporters of Marc Ravalomanana had gathered Saturday morning in anticipation of the arrival of former president who had announced his return home today after two years of exile.

The Malagasy regime in place Rajoelina had estimated that his return was announced a "big bluff" and warned it would stop immediately deposed president if he continued to return.

EGYPT: The army promised a "peaceful transition" towards "an elected civilian power"

The army, custodian of power after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak promised on Saturday a "peaceful transition" towards "an elected civilian power" and pledged to respect international treaties signed by Egypt, whose agreements peace with Israel.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians continued into the evening to celebrate the fall of the rais, the day before fallen under pressure from the street after three decades in power, on Tahrir Square in Cairo, the epicenter of the revolt launched on 25 January.

The supreme council of the armed forces, an instance of military leaders who took control of the country, announced that the government appointed by Mr.Mubarak a few days before his departure remain in place to manage the current business.

Egypt "will remain committed to all its regional and international treaties," he said.Egypt is with Jordan, the only Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

The Jewish State, which did not hide his fears in recent days in Cairo to see emerge a new power hostile to the agreement, welcomed these "assurances", adding that the treaty was "a cornerstone for peace and stability throughout the Middle East. "

The army has also committed to a "peaceful transition of power" who "prepare the ground for an elected civilian authority to build a free democratic state," said the council in the text read by a soldier on TV State, without giving a timetable.

The U.S. president, Barack Obama, praised in the evening that promise a return to civilian rule and respect for international obligations of Egypt.

"This government and the governors will continue to work until a new government is formed," added the council, headed by Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, 75, the new strongman of the country.

The government held its first meeting Sunday since the resignation of Mr. Mubarak, the agency Mena.

In the evening, tens of thousands of people were still gathered in Tahrir Square.In a friendly atmosphere, they listened to a group sing Arabic folk music and patriotic songs.

Earlier, many volunteers, armed with brooms and bags, had engaged in cleaning the place."Yesterday I showed today, I'm building," proclaimed sheets taped to their clothes.

The Army has cleared barricades and barbed wire around the square and cranes removed the carcasses of burned cars, reminders of the violent clashes between police and demonstrators, and between pro-and anti-Mubarak, during the revolt killed at least 300 deaths, according to UN and Human Rights Watch.

A Ismailiya, a large town on the Suez Canal, hundreds of police in protest against corruption in their ranks.

But 600 prisoners escaped Saturday from a prison in Cairo after the riots, according to security services who report several casualties.

On the Judiciary, the Attorney General has banned the former Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif and the current Minister of Information Anas el-Fekkai leave the country "in light of complaints filed against them," Mena reported , without elaborating on what they were accused. Public television has announced shortly after the resignation of Mr. Fekkai.

Despite the euphoria and uncertainty, life resumed its course. The curfew has been eased: it will begin at midnight instead of 20:00 (1800 GMT) and lasted until 6:00 am (0400 GMT). The Cairo Stock Exchange, closed since Jan. 27, should reopen Wednesday, said on state television.

The announcement of the resignation of Mr.Mubarak intervened in the 18th day of the uprising, while over a million people demonstrating against the rais through Egypt, a country of more than 80 million people. According to his party, he left Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh (Sinai), where he has a residence.

Saudi Arabia, who had supported Mr.Mubarak during the revolt, Saturday welcomed the "peaceful transition", and the organization of Islamic Conference has "welcomed" the Egyptians and urged other Arab and Muslim leaders to accelerate their reforms.

Beyond Egypt, the announcement of the fall of the regime has caused an explosion of joy in many countries of the region, especially in Tunis, where a similar protest movement had driven President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali four weeks earlier.

In Yemen, thousands of young people demonstrated on Saturday in Sana'a to call for resignation of President Ali Abdallah Saleh, and Gaza, close to 2,000 students of the Islamist movement Hamas celebrated the fall of Mr. Mubarak.A thousand Israeli Arabs have also marched in Nazareth (northern Israel).

KOREA: Talks between the two Koreas ended in failure

The talks between senior military officers South and North Korea have ended abruptly Wednesday without reaching an agreement, when the delegation from Pyongyang walked out of the meeting, said the South Korean Ministry of Defense.

This meeting between the two neighbors was the first since the deadly bombing in November from an island in South Korea by forces from Pyongyang, which had heightened tensions between the two neighbors.

The delegation from North Korea crossed the border ten minutes after leaving the negotiating table, taking place since yesterday in a border village in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), told AFP spokesman department.

"They did not even try to discuss a future meeting of this kind.Given the current situation, we can say that the talks have failed, "he added.

No official explanation was advanced to explain this sudden departure, according to the spokesman.

An official with the Ministry of Defence, quoted by Yonhap news agency, attributed the failure of the meeting to "differences over the agenda."

According to another official, quoted by YTN television, the atmosphere "was pretty emotional."

South Korea demanded during the meeting that the North apologizes and pledges to punish those responsible for two serious incidents in 2010: the sinking of a corvette South Korean who killed 46 people and the bombing November 23 (4 people including 2 soldiers).

Pyongyang denies being behind the sinking, as acknowledged by an international investigation.As for the bombing, it was undertaken in retaliation for the South Korean military exercises in which shells were fired into the waters of North Korea, said North.

Pyongyang wanted the meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday should make a commitment to "stop all military action could be interpreted as a provocation by the other party".

These talks were also to set the date, place and agenda of an upcoming meeting with high-level contacts, probably the Ministers of Defence.

Wednesday morning, Seoul announced it had agreed to open talks with Pyongyang on the meetings of families separated since the Korean War (1950-1953), under the auspices of the Red Cross.

But Seoul bound these discussions, proposed by Pyongyang, the conclusion of military talks this Wednesday.