IRAQ: Mutiny in a murderous detention facility in Baghdad

AFP - Ten suspected members of Al Qaeda and eight policemen were killed in Baghdad after a night in a prison riot caused by man accused of orchestrating the carnage last year in a church in the capital, has here Sunday morning.

The shooting occurred when security forces fear a resurgence of activity of the Iraqi branch of the Islamist, who might seek to avenge the death of the head of the organization, Osama bin Laden.

The mutiny, which lasted several hours in a detention center for counterterrorism unit of the Ministry of Interior, has killed four officers, including General Moayed al-Sayed, head of the unit for the sector Karrada, and four other officers said on condition of anonymity a senior Iraqi terrorist-cons.

It began when police were questioning an alleged leader of al Qaeda, al-Houthaifa Bataoui to try to obtain information on possible projects of reprisals by the organization.

Mr.Bataoui was accused of having coordinated the bloody attack on the Syrian Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad October 31, 2010, during which 44 worshipers, two priests and seven members of the security forces had died.

Upon his arrest in November with 11 other suspected members of Al Qaeda, it had been presented by the authorities as the leader to Baghdad of the Islamic State in Iraq, the local branch of Al Qaeda.

During his interrogation, Mr.Bataoui arrived shortly after midnight to grab the weapon of a lieutenant he has done before taking hostages and releasing nine other inmates, all members of the cell dismantled in November, the official said cons of terrorism.

The group then went to the office of General Saleh, who was shot in the head. Ten insurgents have seized more weapons and grenades.

Five inmates then tried to flee aboard a police car but were killed by special forces who arrived as reinforcements.The other five were holed up in the prison until the death of the last of them, around 4:30 (0130 GMT), said the official, who said a prisoner had been injured.

"The cell was dismantled in November accused of numerous terrorist operations, not only against the church," he told AFP."Many investigations were under way about them and that is why they were still detained in counter-terrorism unit."

The detention center housed 220 prisoners, including 38 suspected members of Al Qaeda.

An official with the Interior Ministry has reported five deaths, including four policemen and al-Houthaifa Bataoui and six wounded, including five policemen and an insurgent.

After the death of Osama bin Laden, security measures were tightened in Iraq, where al Qaeda still has the ability to conduct operations bloody, despite the setbacks that the organization has wiped recent years.

The Islamist is also suspected of being responsible for the suicide car bomb attack against a police station in Hilla, in which 24 policemen were killed Thursday.

This mutiny may again raise the question of the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security at least eight months of the departure of U.S. forces, which are still 45,000 men in Iraq

GAME VIDEO: Hold-up data over a giant 77 million users of Playstation Network

Sony is currently facing one of the most serious cases of computer security in recent years. One (or several) computer hacker had access to personal data of nearly 77 million subscribers to online gaming (Playstation Network) and online music (Qriocity) of the Japanese giant.

"A person could get your name, date of birth, address, email, password and ID," said Sony in a message posted on his blog Tuesday evening. The manufacturer of the Playstation game console adds that it is possible that the bank details of customers (billing addresses, credit card number) have also been compromised.A problem of such magnitude that Sony advises all users of its services to notify their bank and closely monitor the progress of their account.

The announcement was greeted by freshly fans of video games on Playstation. They were already, for a week without access to online services of their favorite console without knowing, until today, what was happening online. Sony has the vee the veil on this interruption in confirming that a computer intrusion had taken place between 17 and 19 April. This attack had pushed so close to all these services online.Having initially said that everything should return to normal within one or two days, the group now speaks more Japanese than a week at least to be able to resolve the problem.

A security server after drying?

"This information comes with six days of delay, Sony has absolutely no respect for these customers," protested a user on the blog of the Japanese manufacturer. Others threaten the electronics giant with legal action if their bank accounts would be emptied by hackers or the origin of the attack. United States, the case has even been taken up by politicians.The Democratic senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has sent to Sony executives a letter deploring the lack of open communication in this story. The Japanese group has, moreover, the FBI warned [the U.S. domestic intelligence service] days ago, according to The New York Times dated Wednesday.

The question is how such a misadventure Digital was possible. Sony does not fit, for now, not in the details of this computer attack. Silence does not prevent Internet users multiply hypotheses. The track most credible, as the U.S. expert Brian Krebs security, appears related to recent change of server centralization of information ax players in the Playstation network.Sony has actually done in late March, an update to the Playstation Network to open all users access to a new server hitherto reserved for a small minority of developers. However, the security of the server left it seems to be desired. Many Internet users were thus found that the server change made it possible to enter credit card numbers cans and perform as if nothing had happened, shop online. Is that on this occasion that hackers were able to easily recover data from all users of the PlayStation Network?

YEMEN: The Security Council is launching a "call for restraint" but fails on a statement

AFP - The Security Council of the UN, which met Tuesday for the first time on the situation in Yemen, failed to agree on a joint statement, some diplomats expressing their "concern" about the bloody repression of Yemeni regime.

A press statement was drafted by Germany and Lebanon, two members of the Security Council, but was eventually blocked by a minority, diplomats have said.

"There was a call for restraint and we heard some disturbing reports on Yemen," he told reporters Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the UN.

"The members of the Security Council had a discussion that was worth it," she said without further detail.

Since late January, the violent protest of the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh has more than 125 deaths among the protesters.

The ambassador added that the Council had expressed its support for the mediation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), charged with finding a solution to the crisis in Yemen, where the president clings to power despite a strong challenge from the street .

"We expressed our concern about the deteriorating situation in Yemen and we called for restraint and dialogue," said Peter Wittig, German ambassador to the UN, led to the meeting.

However, he did not specify if it was the German position or that of the Security Council.

Before the meeting, he told reporters that negotiations were not "bogged down" and that "any further bloodshed would be avoided."

The foreign ministers of the GCC began Tuesday night in Abu Dhabi meeting with a delegation from the Yemeni regime on how to find a political solution to the crisis in their southern neighbor.

JAPAN: At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei continues to fall

AFP - The Tokyo Stock Exchange Tuesday lived one of the worst days in its history, the Nikkei collapsing of 10.55% in a stampede of investors against a backdrop of worsening nuclear crisis in Japan.

At the close, the Nikkei 225 index of blue chips plunged by 1015.34 points to 8605.15 points, suffering, in percentage, the third largest drop since its inception more than a half century.

The broader Topix index of all securities in the first table, which covers businesses in a broader number of sectors, its share fell to 9.47%, losing 80.23 points to 766.73 points.

The activity reached a record high of 5.78 billion shares traded on the primary market, representing an activity nearly tripled compared to normal.

The Nikkei had dropped 6.18% Monday, three days after an earthquake and tsunami that devastated the north-eastern Japan, destroying or damaging infrastructure and production facilities.

On Tuesday, the index began the day sharply down and displayed in sharp decline of 6.45% in mid-session.

But it is a real wave of panic that rose on the market to resume 0330 GMT, after the government had admitted that the level of radioactivity measured at the Fukushima nuclear power was dangerous to health.

None has appeared spared.

Among the electronics giants, Panasonic collapsed 11.27% to 866 yen and Sony of 8.86% to 2,324 yen.

Automaker Toyota declined 7.40% to 3,065 yen, its rival Nissan fell 3.32% less than candid to 698 yen, as Honda was down 3.90% to 2,974 yen.

Construction firms, which had surged Monday with the prospects of major work needed to rebuild the devastated north-east by an earthquake and tsunami, fell heavily in their turn, like real estate.

JAPAN: The north-east of the country hit by a massive tsunami, the Pacific on alert

AFP - A powerful earthquake - a magnitude 8.9 - struck Friday northeastern Japan, a major triggering a tsunami several yards on the Pacific coast which has so far killed four people and a dozen missing.

Waves of 10 feet swept the coasts of the prefecture of Sendai, reported the media, which broadcast pictures of flooded houses and cars under water in coastal cities.

The provisional results, according to media reports, is four dead and many wounded and eight missing in a landslide.

But according to the images of television, the toll expected to rise and the Department of Defense has dispatched ships for relief.

A tsunami warning was also issued on almost all coasts of the Pacific by the U.S. Centers for tsunami evacuation order was triggered Mariana Islands.

The quake, measuring 8.9 according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) who had previously estimated at 7.9 and 8.8, occurred at 24.4 km depth to 2:46 p.m. ( 5:46 GMT) and a hundred miles off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture.

"We have been shaken so violently that he had to cling to not fall," testified an official of the municipality of Kurihara, hardest hit in this prefecture.

"We could not get away from the building because the tremors did not stop to succeed," she told AFP by telephone.

Nuclear power plants in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were automatically adopted, said its operator, the company Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), which serves the capital.

The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, has ensured that no radioactive leak was found.

Networks of fixed and mobile telecommunications were heavily disrupted, noted AFP.

In Tokyo, located some 380 km away, the skyscrapers built on special earthquake resistant structures, have pitched very long after the earthquake that lasted for more than two minutes.

A roof collapsed Friday on a building in central Tokyo where 600 students participated in a graduation ceremony, leaving many injured, according to firefighters and the media.

In offices and homes, objects fell from shelves, elevators have been stopped automatically, while millions of people rushed into the streets.

Ten fires were reported in the capital, and there were several casualties in the media.

In the Tokyo area, a refinery was on fire Iichihara, according to images broadcast on Japanese television.

Narita International Airport, located about fifty kilometers east of Tokyo, has suspended the traffic and decided to evacuate the buildings.

The rail and road transport were also disrupted in large parts of the archipelago.

Shinkansen express trains were stopped across the northeast and the motorways of the Tokyo area closed a few minutes after the earthquake.

According to Jiji Press, the parking lot of the Disney Resort, located on the eastern outskirts of the capital, was under the waters of the nearby ocean.

In Tokyo, four million homes were without power, according to media reports.

"I was in the office, on the tenth floor of my building. The walls began to tremble, then all the furniture. I never knew that here I was scared!" Said Horikane Saki, an employee Office of Ginza down with his colleagues a few minutes after the quake.

Thousands of residents and employees of this district of shops and business were still massed in the streets over an hour and a half after the earthquake, fearing aftershocks.

LIBYA: The ICC opened an investigation for crimes against humanity against Gaddafi

AFP - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Thursday an investigation for crimes against humanity in Libya, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi for his son and several senior Libyan officials.

"We would like to announce that March 3, 2011 the prosecutor's office decided to open an investigation into crimes allegedly committed against humanity in Libya since February 15," said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo in a press conference at The Hague.

"We have identified certain individuals who enjoy a de facto authority," said Mr.Moreno-Ocampo added, referring to Qaddafi, his inner circle, including his son. "

The prosecutor also cited "the foreign minister, the head of the regime's security and military intelligence, the chief of personal security of Mr.Gaddafi and head of the organization of internal security ", without giving names.

"We want to take this opportunity to notify that if the forces under their command have committed crimes, they could be held criminally responsible," continued the prosecutor.

The Security Council UN was Saturday, in a resolution, before the prosecutor of the ICC of the situation in Libya, whereas "systematic attacks" against the civilian population of this country "may be treated as crimes against humanity ".

According to the Libyan League for Human Rights, the repression was 6,000 dead, 3,000 in Tripoli and 2.Benghazi-000 to a balance sheet significantly larger in the latter city, that killed 220 to 250 put forward by local hospital officials and the ICRC.

IVORY COAST: A demonstration pro-Ouattara violently dispersed in Abidjan

At least three youths were shot dead and several were wounded Saturday in Abidjan when security forces loyal to Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo out broke up a demonstration in support of Alassane Ouattara, witnesses said.

When the elements of the Defence Forces and Security (FDS) "arrived at the roundabout" of Mayor of Abobo (north, the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara), "they fired on the crowd, people 's is scattered, but they pursued people, "he told AFP capita.

"Three youths were shot dead" in the vicinity of the roundabout, he said, citing several wounded.This assessment was confirmed by two other witnesses.

The popular neighborhood of Abobo since January has been the scene of clashes which killed at least a dozen SDS.

The camp of Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo accepted by much of the international community had called on Saturday in demonstrations in Abidjan and throughout the country, along the lines of the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, from Gbagbo to power.

TUNISIA - FRANCE: Business Tunisian parents Alliot-Marie revive the controversy

AFP - The parents of Michele Alliot-Marie bought Dec. 30, in full journey controversial foreign minister in Tunisia, shares owned by businessman Aziz Miled in a company, said Tuesday the weekly Duck chains.

Michèle Alliot-Marie defended her parents and immediately spoke out against the "excesses" of new attacks against it.

"Their privacy is theirs.The acquisitions they make for themselves than they are for, and nobody else, "she said in a statement.

Bernard and his wife Mary, aged 94 and 92 years were already minority partners (with about 13% of capital) in the real estate company (SCI) which Ikram owned Tunisian Aziz Miled their friend and his son Karim, as the satirical newspaper.

Also according to the weekly, Miled sold them, December 30, Sentido Beach Hotel in Tabarka, all their shares of the SCI.The Minister was also present in the hotel, the newspaper said.

"Everyone would be honored to avoid falling into the excesses which do not grow those that are appropriate," responded the chief diplomat, saying "could not conceive that we can address the family policy and in this case to my parents. "

"I assumed the attacks, even unfair, even unfounded, even personal (...). When you have finished moving my life, including private, fine-tooth comb is that of my parents that investigation, "she said.

According to the newspaper, which is the source of previous revelations about the theft of the minister and his family aboard the private plane of M.Miled late December, the exact amount of the transaction spouse Mary is not known.

In a statement sent to AFP, Bernard Marie explained himself on this transaction. "Mr. Miled is one of my friends. The transactions we conduct with my wife and I do not watch it and do we," he said, customs clearance and his daughter.

"On the occasion of Christmas, I proposed to my girl that we went to Tunisia rather than Dordogne as we had originally planned. We stayed from Dec. 25 to Jan. 2 at the hotel Tabarka (north-western Tunisia, ed), and I paid the hotel bill myself as flights Paris-Tunis-Paris had been settled by my daughter, "said MrMary.

"I am committed since the summer with Mr. Miled in a transaction that involves the purchase of a SCI, which owns an option to purchase an apartment under construction. This stay in Tabarka (north West of Tunisia) for Christmas gave me the opportunity to certify the signatures of my wife and myself on the surrender of shares, "said Mary.

Michèle Alliot-Marie has faced calls for his resignation for having proposed a security cooperation with Tunisia and have used twice during his Christmas vacation in Tunisia, the plane of Aziz Miled, while the revolution Jasmine began.

This was presented as a close brother of the deposed president.But it is not on the list of Tunisian officials of the former regime whose assets freeze was requested by the European Union.

The minister had claimed the bonds of friendship between her parents and herself to Mr. Miled, who came to visit them in France. She had defended him, saying that Mr. Miled had been victim of the system financially Ben Ali.

President Nicolas Sarkozy had defended his minister, while acknowledging that "this was not the best idea to go in Tunisia" at this time.

Many Socialist leaders have criticized the minister, the MP Pierre Moscovici asking again Tuesday the resignation of Michele Alliot-Marie.

IRAQ: At least 30 killed in a suicide attack near the town of Samarra

AFP - At least 30 people were killed and 28 wounded Saturday by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive vest in a bus of Shiite pilgrims near Samarra north of Baghdad, security sources and medical.

A previous review of the sources had reported 27 dead.

"The bomber ran on board the bus stopped at a checkpoint a few kilometers from Samarra, and detonated his explosive vest inside the vehicle," said a police official.

"We received 30 bodies, including two women, and 28 wounded including two women," said an official at the General Hospital of the Sunni city of Samarra, 110 km north of Baghdad.

The pilgrims were returning from a ceremony of mourning for a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra and "the victims are all Iraqi.This is the bus passengers and bystanders, "said the driver of an ambulance.

The soldiers forbade journalists from approaching the site of the attack and the hospital.

Samarra which houses the mausoleum are buried the 10th and 11th imams revered by Shia Twelver Ali al-Hadi (827-868) and Hassan al-Askari (847-874) in which the faithful commemorate the death Saturday.

The destruction of the Samarra shrine bombing in February 2006 had triggered violence between Shiites and Sunnis in which tens of thousands of people had been killed.

Thursday, nine Shiite pilgrims were killed and 39 wounded by a bomb planted on a road north of Baghdad.

In January, six cars had exploded bombs in less than a week, leaving at least 57 dead and nearly 300 injured pilgrims who traveled to an annual ceremony of mourning and whipping in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south Baghdad.

Attacks in recent weeks show that the sectarian conflict in Iraq still lingers within one year of departure of the last U.S. military contingent.

The Samarra bombing is the deadliest in Iraq since Jan. 27 when a car bomb has killed 48 during a funeral in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.

The month of January was particularly bloody, with a total of 259 deaths (159 civilians, 55 policemen and 45 soldiers) according to official figures, the worst toll since 273 died in September 2010.

This upsurge of violence in contrast to the relative calm observed in November since the conclusion of an agreement to share power between different factions and the formation in December the government of Nouri al-Maliki.

Mr Maliki accused "terrorist apostates" in his vocabulary term for Al-Qaeda, which is violently anti-Shiite, of being the perpetrators of the attack Shiites.

Shiite pilgrimages have been repeatedly targeted by Sunni armed groups since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, caused by the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

EGYPT: The mobilization anti-Mubarak shows no signs of slowing

The protest against President Hosni Mubarak has stepped up Tuesday with a parade of hundreds of thousands of people in Cairo and the provinces, the most important events since the beginning of the movement on January 25.

In Cairo, Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolt, was crowded.Mobilization showed no sign of abating despite the chilly nights, fatigue and spartan living conditions on the roundabout has become a village of tents removed.

The crowd was a triumphant reception at cybermilitant and part of Google Wael Ghonim, released Monday after 12 days "blindfolded" in the hands of the much feared state security services.

"I like to call it the revolution Facebook but after seeing people here, I would say that the revolution of the Egyptian people.It's great, "said the younger man, surrounded by thousands of demonstrators.

Become a symbol of protest, Wael Ghonim confirmed in an interview on Dream 2 TV station that he was the administrator of the Facebook page "We are all Khaled Said", named after a young man beaten to death by police, a move that played a key role in launching the movement.

"I'm not a hero, you are the hero is you who have stayed here on the spot," he told the demonstrators.

"The people want to topple the regime" could be read on banners."We are the people we are the power," some chanted.

According to an AFP photographer Tahrir Square, the number of demonstrators exceeded that of previous rallies. According to witnesses in Alexandria, he was the same in the big city of northern Egypt.

"None of our requests has been heard," said Mohammad Nizar, 36, Tahrir Square. "They have announced a wage increase. They try to fool ourselves. It is a pot of wine policy to reduce people to silence."

In an attempt at appeasement, M.Mubarak, 82 years and almost 30 years as head of state, announced the creation of a commission to amend the Constitution, under the "national dialogue" began Sunday between the government and opposition, including for the first time, the Muslim Brotherhood, bete noire of the regime so far.

On Monday, the Head of State promised a 15% increase in salaries of civil servants and pensions from 1 April.

He also called for the formation of a commission of inquiry into the violence of February 2, Tahrir Square, where deadly clashes have pitted pro-and anti-Mubarak.

The opposition denies particular articles of the Constitution related to very restrictive conditions of candidacy for the presidency and the presidency.

In all cases, policy-including the announcement on 1 February the President he would not seek a sixth term in September and have not calmed the anger of the protesters still demand the immediate departure of Mr Mubarak .

Scenarios of his departure are considered by the foreign press.The site of the German weekly Der Spiegel wrote that he could come and perform "a medical extension in Germany.

The German Government has assured that there was "no formal application or informal request" to that effect.

Tuesday, the U.S. has deemed "crucial" that Egypt is moving towards a democratic transition "in good order," while France has called for "the emergence of democratic forces" for a transition that must take place "without violence and as quickly as possible. "

In Cairo, new shops and restaurants have reopened and many Cairenes resumed the way to work.The curfew remains in force in the capital, Alexandria and Suez (is) 20:00 (1800 GMT) to 6:00 am (0400 GMT).

Since February 3, events occur most frequently in the tranquility.

Clashes between police and demonstrators during the first days of protest, and between activists for and against Hosni Mubarak's February 2, killed nearly 300 people dead, according to UN and Human Rights Watch, and thousands injured.

The crisis could be costly to the economy's most populous country in the Middle East - at least $ 310 million per day according to Credit Agricole - the instability that has scared off tourists and could cool the ardor lasting foreign investors.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian central bank has injected "large dollar amounts" in the market to curb speculation that has put pressure on the Egyptian pound.

The Cairo Stock Exchange, closed since Jan. 30, should reopen on 13 February.

FRANCE: Carlos Ghosn explained the case of industrial espionage at Renault

REUTERS - Renault has followed the "usual process" by maintaining secrecy for several months on the internal investigation that led him to dismiss three of its officers suspected of espionage on its electric car program, said Carlos Ghosn, the CEO, in an interview published in the Sunday newspaper.

The prosecution announced January 14 the opening of a preliminary police investigation on this issue.Renault had filed a complaint against X for the day "for acts that constitute industrial espionage, bribery, embezzlement, theft and handling stolen goods, committed by an organized gang."

Ghosn aware since August 2010

If the first public information about the suspicions of the group date from the early, early internal warnings date back nearly five months.

"In late August, the ethics group, Christian Husson, who is also our general counsel, and the boss of Renault's safety came to see me," said Carlos Ghosn in the interview with JDD."They have shared information of very high concern about the integrity of some of our senior staff."

Asked to explain the reasons which led the group to keep the information confidential, he said that "Renault has very specific procedures for such cases.""I decided that the usual process would be used," he adds.

He refused to specify if Renault has used a private investigator to conduct its own investigations.

"Everything we have is now in the hands of justice," says he.

"We were unbeatable"

"It is not for me to go here into details of what we did. But we were blameless in relation to the law," he says.

"An investigation services spy-cons has been open since last week. I repeat, they have all the elements.Today, we expect that justice do its job, "he says.

The three officers covered by the suspicions of Renault, laid off at first, were dismissed. They have since announced the filing of a complaint for malicious prosecution or defamation case to case.

"His target is our strategy in the electric car", explains Carlos Ghosn in the Sunday newspaper. "We launched in 2006 in the most total skepticism.Today, we are the only ones in the world to manufacture both the battery, motors and chargers, to produce the whole system. "

"When a manufacturer is in technological advance, do not be naïve, ca lot of people interested."

He stated that the leaks do not correspond to information "technology" but it could be information on the "economic model" Renault's electric.

Carlos Ghosn assurance that it had "no doubt" the identity of the recipient of such information.

"We await the results of the investigation which I'm told it should last several months," he said.