LIBYA - Feature: In Misrata, the fighting is taking place amid a ruined city

Misrata reached April 12, Matthieu Mabin and Alexandra Fox, FRANCE 24 correspondents, are alongside the rebellion Libyan Misrata when she comes back to a neighborhood to the forces of Colonel Gaddafi.

Beach shoes and sweatpants, five weeks ago, insurgents Misrata were students, dentists and masons. Today they have become combatants. This is the case of Muhammad, who fights in his neighborhood, close to his own house: "I stay in my city to defend it. If someone comes to you and tries to kill you, what do you do? You defend yourself! We only defend themselves by fighting .... "

Within days, the fighting turned into a battlefield Misrata."Look at the streets of Tripoli on 6 or 7 miles, everything is destroyed, nothing remains," said Muhamad.

The battles are played out street by street, house by house, and leave behind a city totally devastated.

LIBYA: In Doha, the "contact group" trying to prevent the stagnation of the conflict Libyan

The foreign ministers of the "contact group" on Libya will meet in Qatar on Wednesday when the stalemate of the situation causes a tension among the allies.

On the eve of this meeting, France and Great Britain, who were at the forefront of military intervention in the sky Libyan Tuesday urged NATO to step up its raids to destroy heavy weapons forces of Muammar Gaddafi.

In Luxembourg, where he attended a meeting of European ministers, Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister said Tuesday that NATO, which took over the United States, Great Britain and France March 31, did not play its role adequately.

"NATO has absolutely wanted to conduct this operation on the military.Well now, there is now (...) It is not acceptable Misrata can continue to be under fire from the bombing of Qaddafi's troops, "he said.

His British counterpart, William Hague, also requested that the Alliance is intensifying its efforts."We must maintain and strengthen our efforts within NATO," said the Foreign Secretary.

For more than three weeks after the first air strikes against the regular forces Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi is still in place and the insurgents, whose representatives will travel to Qatar, do not seem able to overthrow him by force.

With the failure of mediation attempts by the African Union, the prospects for a compromise were parallel remote.

"A new Somalia?"

Established at the London conference, March 29, the "contact group" on Libya to fly the political aspect of the Allied intervention.

Representatives of the National Transitional Council (CNT), established by the rebels in their stronghold of Benghazi (East), will be heard by the Ministers in Doha.

They should also hold talks with Musa Kusa, a former Libyan foreign minister who defected and fled to London last month, said the British government.Koussa was concerned that his country from becoming "another Somalia".

The Doha meeting comes as the stalemate threat and that the humanitarian crisis is accentuated in Misrata, the last major town held by rebels in western Libya and besieged for weeks the troops of Muammar Gaddafi.

At least 250 people died in six weeks in this city located 220 km east of Tripoli.

"When one pulls gun on Misrata is that there are many guns that must be identified and neutralized (...) It should be on it more efficient," stressed Alain Juppe.

NATO, which has intensified its air attacks during the weekend around Misrata and Ajdabiah, destroying several tanks forces Gaddafi rejects criticism of the French and British.

In a statement, she said it "vigorously conducts its military operations in Libya under the mandate given to it" and that "the pace of operations is determined by the need to protect the civilian population."

Late Tuesday night, the Alliance announced that its air force had destroyed five tanks in the area of ​​Misrata."Our aviation continues to strike targets around Misrata regime," the Canadian General Charles Bouchard, Commander of NATO.

The rebels have announced they have demanded weapons to countries that have recognized their Transitional National Council as the sole representative of the country, namely France, Qatar and Italy.

"We presented a list of military equipment and technology we need," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, official spokesman of the CNT in Benghazi.

COTE D'IVOIRE: The battle continues Abidjan, Laurent Gbagbo called for "resistance" against France

The battle of Abidjan Saturday saw a new rise in power with the attack against the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, the headquarters of the president recognized by the international community, Alassane Ouattara, by men of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo.

His spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, however, strongly denied in the evening to AFP that the attack was carried out by his forces: "This is absolutely false.There was no attack of Golf, "he said, calling the incident an" imaginary attack. "

"President Gbagbo called for resistance against the bombing and the actions of the French army in Ivory Coast, because ultimately it is the French army that attacked us," he also said Ahoua Don Mello.

"Our troops are trying to rebuild after suffering a barbaric attack of the rebels backed by the UN and Licorne," he added.

Conducted after a relatively quiet day in Abidjan, the shooting against the Golf Hotel are the first aimed directly at the hotel where Mr. entrenchedOuattara and his government since the beginning of the post-election crisis in Ivory Coast, there are more than four months.

"We are being attacked with heavy weapons and light. It shook the walls, the staff are being evacuated in the basement," said a hotel employee. According to several witnesses, the fire started before 5:00 p.m. local and GMT and was completed shortly after 18:00.

Defence Forces and Security (SDS pro-Gbagbo) "are now attacking us and trying to push them," said a veteran Republican Forces of Mr. Ouattara.

"The shots are very, very close. Snipers fired bursts of Kalashnikov.The pro-Gbagbo attack us on all fronts ", including from the opposite edge of the lagoon along the Golf Hotel, said a resident of the Golf Hotel.

"Before the attack on the golf hotel, a convoy of soldiers FRCI Forces (Republican, pro-Ouattara) was ambushed as he left the hotel to Abobo (north of Abijan)," he told AFP an official military camp Ouattara.

"There are at least four dead and ten wounded," he added.It was not immediately possible to confirm this assessment.

Peacekeepers defending HQ Ouattara returned fire Saturday after the mortar attack, said the UN mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI).

"It came from the other side of the lagoon (south of the hotel) and the residence of President Gbagbo (located in the same district of Cocody)," said Hamadoun Toure, spokesman of the UNOCI.

"In accordance with their mandate to protect the golf hotel where the president and his team Ouattara, peacekeepers have responded by targeting the source of the shots coming from the other side of the Lagoon.We purposely avoided the residence of President Gbagbo, "added the spokesman.

In Washington, the spokesman for the State Department reiterated on Saturday condemned the violence perpetrated by the forces of Laurent Gbagbo, describing his attempts to negotiate a "ruse to regroup and rearm.

On the ground, a lull prevailed in Abidjan Saturday after heavy fighting the previous day's heavy machine gun and small arms fire that raged on the perimeter that includes the residence of Mr. Gbagbo, the RTI and the school gendarmerie.

Laurent Gbagbo's troops are fighting hard in the fiefs they held and where they enjoy a degree of mobility, according to testimony consistent.

Alassane Ouattara troops trying to secure the rest of the economic capital that suffers from a serious food situation.

The organization of human rights Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused forces pro-Ouattara and the pro-Gbagbo of committing massacres in western Ivory Coast, claiming possession of new evidence of atrocities already denounced by the UN and NGOs.

Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara raped or killed hundreds of people and burned villages in late March in western Côte d'Ivoire, HRW said in a report published in New York.

The NGO also claims to have evidence of atrocities committed by the forces of Laurent Gbagbo, including a massacre at Blolequin March 28 more than a hundred men, women and children from northern Côte d'Ivoire and neighboring countries .On the 29th, ten of the same origin were killed and eight Togolese Guiglo in a village near Blolequin, HRW added.

In this context, the UN and the French Licorne force have confirmed their presence Saturday in the strategic port of Abidjan after the lifting of European sanctions, announced Friday against two major ports of Côte d'Ivoire - Abidjan San Pedro - as well as against several related companies including the cocoa sector.

Large stocks of cocoa beans, the main source of foreign currency, the world's largest producer, have been waiting for weeks to go for export.

On the other hand, an Air France flight arrived Saturday morning at the Abidjan airport, according to a French military source, who for the resumption of commercial flights is "effective."

LIBYA: Gaddafi After the message, the White House calls for "action, not words"

AFP - The White House insisted Wednesday Muammar Gaddafi deeds and not words after receiving a message from the leader following the withdrawal of U.S. fighter planes to Libya.

"We can confirm that there was a letter, obviously not the first" the Libyan leader, told reporters the spokesman of President Barack Obama, Jay Carney, aboard Air Force One carrying President Philadelphia (Pennsylvania East) for a meeting focused on the economy.

But without disclosing the content of the message, Mr.Carney said that Obama had been saying for weeks that a cease-fire in Libya would depend "acts and not words (and) an end to violence."

"The words, this is not the same as action," insisted the spokesman.

Earlier Wednesday, state news agency Jana announced that Colonel Gaddafi had "Wednesday sent a message to President Barack Obama after the withdrawal of U.S. coalition aggressive colonialist cross against Libya," the agency said without give details on the contents of the message.

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

CHINA: dissident artist Ai Weiwei arrested at Beijing airport

AFP - The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, outspoken government critic, was arrested when he was about to board a plane for Hong Kong and police raided his studio outside Beijing, have announced its employees on Twitter.

The arrest of Ai Weiwei, 53, comes just days after he announced his intention to move abroad to avoid being harassed by the time the authorities have further strengthened their crackdown on people criticizing the regime.On Tuesday, he spoke German.

Have announced in mid-February the cancellation of his first major exhibition held in China in March, organizers had explained to him that the timing was inappropriate and they wanted to reschedule.

According to messages on Twitter accounts assistant to the artist, police visited his studio in the District Caochangdi equipped with a search warrant.

Eight of his assistants were taken by police for questioning while his wife was under police surveillance at their homes, according to these same sources.

The mobile phone of the artist was off Sunday and did not answer the phone at his studio in Beijing.

In January, the artist's studio in the suburbs of Shanghai had been demolished. Ai was briefly placed under house arrest last November for trying to "celebrate" with her fans announcing the forced demolition.

Have defended many humanitarian causes and won renown with a broad inquiry into the collapses of school buildings during the earthquake in Sichuan province (southwest) in 2008, apparently related to corruption.

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.

UK: Hundreds of thousands of Britons in the streets against the austerity plans

AFP - Britons are descended en masse on Saturday in the streets of London to say no to austerity, a manifestation of a magnitude rare in a country not customary for such demonstrations social, but tarnished by vandals.

The unions, who dreamed of making this day a milestone in the mobilization against the austerity policy, believe they have won their bet, even if they complain clashes with police at the march, which ended in nine arrests five policemen injured.

"We are absolutely delighted: there are hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps half a million, welcomed Paul Nowak, an official of the organization.

A spokesman for the Confederation of British unions, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said that "between 250,000 and 300,000 people" had responded, and some media evoked in the absence of police estimates, 400,000 to 500,000 participants.

"This is the biggest event in London for a generation," enthused the union Unite.

This rally is actually the largest in London since the war against Iraq, which brought together nearly one million people in 2003.It is also the largest social movement since the riots two decades ago and which precipitated the fall of Margaret Thatcher.

A large police contingent had been set up by the TUC, in addition to the 4,500 police officers mobilized, not to relive the excesses of student demonstrations this fall, who had stunned the British.

But clashes have broken out anyway in the march. Disrupters were attacked with paint and glass bottles of stores and banks and smashed windows, around Oxford Street, a major shopping street.

Bulbs filled with ammonia were thrown at the police, police said.The Ritz has been made the target of projectiles and activists broke into the famous department store Fortnum & Mason.

Unions have bitterly deplored the violence scenes, especially as the parade itself was held for more than five hours in a friendly atmosphere.

Many had come with family, strollers and vuvuzelas, the famous horns used by fans at football matches in South Africa.

Scots played the bagpipes and musicians and dancers have joined the march, giving it an air of carnival.

"Do not break Britain," "Defending our public services," proclaimed the banners.

"I'm here because the government wants us to pay to repair what did the bankers.It is currently building a society where the rich are even more, and weak, the poor, "said Gillian Siddons, a retiree of 60 years.

"People are gathered today the spokespeople of Great Britain deep," shouted the leader of the opposition Labour Ed Miliband as a warning to the government, which imposed a cure to the country of unprecedented stringency with wage freeze for civil servants and removal of more than 300,000 public sector jobs.

"Of course people are worried and even angry at times, but we inherited an economic situation that we must take steps to bring public finances back in balance," pleaded the Minister of Education Michael Gove.