FRANCE: Gas shale: the Assembly vote against exploitation by hydraulic fracturing

French deputies adopted Wednesday by 287 votes against 186 the UMP bill prohibiting hydraulic fracturing technique for exploration and exploitation of gas and oil shale.

Groups UMP and New Centre (NC) voted for the text presented by Christian Jacob, the president of the UMP.The opposition, finding several provisions "ambiguous", voted against this bill that the Senate will look to turn on 1 June

The technique of hydraulic fracturing highly controversial because of its impact on the environment, is to liberate the carbides, inject large amounts of water mixed with sand and chemicals ajduvants.

The text, introduced by Christian Jacob, the president of the UMP, and as amended in committee, speaks only hydraulic fracturing and the repeal of the exploration permit who use them, which would pave the way for potentially using another technique.

The bill provides that the exclusive licensee of Research shall, within two months, state in a report to the administrative authority of the techniques used in their operations.

In case of non submission of the report or whether it is stated that the licensee uses hydraulic fracturing, the license granted by the Government will be repealed.

The Minister for Ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, who brought the government's support of this text, acknowledged that the licenses granted they have "not been in good terms" and "things have been made upside down. "

"With this text, it is an opportunity to go further in the implementation of the precautionary principle," she said, by ensuring, in connection with article 2 of the bill, it "is indeed abrogate all research permits that have no raison d'etre after the ban" of hydraulic fracturing.

The Socialist Group, which had seemed at first to accept the version of the text developed by the Committee on Sustainable Development, has backtracked.

"It is a text that does not legally," said Pascal Terrasse (PS)."We do not trust you," he said in calling for total repeal of all operating permits granted.

Several hundred people, including all the heads of associations and environmental movements, protested Tuesday in the vicinity of the National Assembly to protest against the proposed law as "poor".

Barack Obama outlines his solutions to fight against the U.S. deficit

Barack Obama has set Wednesday as a target of reducing the budget deficit of U.S. 4,000 billion dollars over 12 years or less.

His plan would reduce the deficit to 2.5% of GDP in 2015 and 2% by the end of the decade, sources said parliamentarians who read the draft before the President of the United States does not pronounce his speech.

Barack Obama told the leaders Democrats and Republicans in Congress before making his speech.Vice President Joe Biden will meet in early May the leaders of both parties to develop a definitive program for reducing the budget deficit by the end of June.

The head of the White House also wanted to begin discussions with parliamentarians Republicans and Democrats on the issue of worsening deficits budétaires.

He explained that the budget savings would be realized by combining spending cuts and increased revenue through higher taxes.

The U.S. president wants to end special tax benefits that were granted to the wealthiest classes of the time of his predecessor George W.Bush.

"I refuse to renew them again," he said.

Antiplane Ryan

It plans to achieve $ 770 billion in savings on expenditure items not related to security and $ 480 billion in savings on Medicaid and Medicare programs.An additional savings of at least 1,000 billion could be reached on these two programs by 2033.

Barack Obama said that his budget plan is to reduce the debt service of $ 1,000 billion.

He added that the Pentagon budget will be reviewed in order to eliminate unnecessary and increase efficiency.

The fiscal deficit of the United States is likely to reach 1,650 billion this year and U.S. president to a device by which budget cuts would be automatically activated if the budget targets were not achieved by 2014.

The goal is that deficits do not exceed 2.8% of GDP on average during the second half of the decade.This device is not the first, the other presidents that have implemented in the past.

A week earlier, Paul Ryan, Chairman of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives put forward a draft budget devoted a goal of deficit reduction of 4.400 billion.

Obama wanted to present a project that contrasts markedly with the Ryan plan, in that it wants to combine tax cuts with a complete overhaul of the Medicare system.

YEMEN: The security forces opened fire on protesters in Taiz

AFP - A protestor was killed Sunday by police firing on protesters demanding the departure of the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Taiz, south of Sana'a, eyewitnesses said.

The young man was mortally wounded in the chest as he tore a portrait of the Head of State, the witnesses said.

Police opened fire and threw tear gas to disperse demonstrators who tried to march on the governor's seat in this city, told AFP several of them.

"At least 250 people were injured by gunfire or poisoned by tear-gassed by the police," said one witness.

Thousands of protesters camped since mid-February in the center of Taiz, Sana'a and demanding as in Aden (south) the fall of the regime of President Saleh, in power for 32 years.

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.

AFGHANISTAN: NATO accused of killing 65 civilians in eastern DRC

Sixty-five civilians, including about forty children, were killed by NATO forces in mid-February in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, according to revised figures provided Sunday by a fact-finding mission appointed by President Hamid Karzai.

A total of 21 boys, 19 girls, 10 women and 15 adult men were killed in the series of operations conducted by NATO forces in Kunar province, said the mission in a statement quoted by the Afghan presidency.

Mr.Karzai ordered the government officials responsible for security to raise this issue with international forces, add services without more details.

In response, the spokesman for the NATO force in Afghanistan (ISAF), Lieutenant Colonel John Dorrian, said he was "deeply sorry" for "civilian casualties that could have resulted from this operation."

But he disputed the outcome of the fact-finding mission, saying only five to seven civilians may have been injured.Investigations into this matter were continuing, he added.

On Thursday, the inquiry commission announced that 62 civilians had been killed in these operations in the district of Ghaziabad.

On 20 February, President Karzai, saying relying on information from the Afghan intelligence service (NDS), has said that ISAF had killed "50 civilians" during several days of operations in Kunar.

The international force, consisting of about 132,000 soldiers to two-thirds American, is regularly accused by the authorities of killing civilians in its air operations and ground against insurgents, which she admits sometimes after investigation.

The death of these civilians builds resentment of the population against foreign forces, more than nine years after their arrival in the country.

Civilians bear the brunt of the Afghan conflict. At least 2,400 were killed in 2010 by the Afghan NGO (ARM Afghan Rights Monitor) and 3,200 were injured.

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.

NUCLEAR POWER: The entry into force of the START Treaty sealed the rebuilding of Russian-American relations

The new Russian-American treaty of nuclear disarmament START signed April 8, 2010 came into force on Saturday, after the exchange of instruments of ratification between the chiefs of diplomacy of both countries.

"Today we have exchanged instruments of ratification of a treaty reducing nuclear dangers imposed on the Russian and American peoples and the world," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a ceremony with his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the annual security conference in Munich (southern Germany).

The treaty is the centerpiece of the "restart" of relations between Washington and Moscow after tensions emerged at the end of the presidency of Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush. It was signed by MM.Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in Prague in April 2010 after lengthy negotiations.

This treaty is valid for ten years and renewable for five years provided that each country can deploy up to 1,550 warheads, a reduction of 30% over 2002.

It allows the resumption of mutually verifiable nuclear arsenals of both superpowers, interrupted in late 2009 at the expiration of the previous bilateral agreement on disarmament, in 1991.

It has however been criticized for its lack of ambition, because it ignores the thousands of nuclear warheads stockpiled by Russia and the United States.

Although six other countries (excluding North Korea whose capabilities are still embryonic) have nuclear weapons, Washington and Moscow still hold over 90% of the world's nuclear arsenals.

And it sets limits for vectors (missiles and bombers at long range) actually deployed - 700 countries by over 100 in reserve - more or less correspond to the reality on the ground already, the Russians were already below this threshold and the Americans very little above.

Mr.Lavrov told the Munich conference that the agreement would improve "international stability".

Whatever the limitations or reservations, the event marks a new era symbolically called for by his vows before the same conference two years ago the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, namely to "press the button "to restart the Russian-American relations.

These had been damaged by the war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008.The U.S. intervention in Iraq in 2003 and criticism of Vladimir Putin against the American tendency to dictate to the world his behavior at that same forum in Munich in 2007, had already deteriorated relations between the two former Cold War adversaries .

This treaty will allow Washington to go to Moscow for further discussions on limiting short-range weapons as well as the famous stock mothballed nuclear warheads, which he will one day get rid of too, as confirmed Saturday Clinton.

The treaty was not ratified without difficulty and is accompanied by documents which are reported reserves of Moscow.

The fundamental point of disagreement concerns the decision of the Obama administration to pursue construction of a European missile shield. Russia said it would accept the project unless they can participate in their own right.