TERRORISM: In a posthumous message, Bin Laden hails Arab revolutions

Osama Bin Laden hails the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, and called on Muslims to take advantage of this "rare historic opportunity" to lift, in a posthumous message audio captured by the U.S. central monitoring Islamist websites (SITE).

The message, posted on jihadist forums on Wednesday by the As-Sahab website, close to Al-Qaeda, takes 12 minutes and 37 seconds, and speaks to Muslims in the Arab revolutions in recent months.

Bin Laden recommends the establishment of a council to advise revolutionary and decide the best time to spread revolt in the Muslim world.

"Any delay could cause the loss of this opportunity and the trigger before the exact time would increase the number of victims," ​​said bin Laden yet, according to the SITE.

"I think the winds of change are blowing across the Muslim world with Allah's permission," says even the leader of Al Qaeda killed in Pakistan by U.S. commandos on May 2

According to a previous release of Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, the instigator of the attacks of September 11, 2001, posted this message a week before being killed in an attack by U.S. special forces against his residence north of Islamabad, where he was hiding, said SITE.

There is "a great and rare historical opportunity to raise with the Ummah (Islamic community) and free yourself from bondage decided by the executives, the law of men and Western domination," said Bin Laden registration with a photo of the former leader of Al Qaeda.

"This is a great sin and a vast ignorance of waste this opportunity that the Ummah has been waiting for decades. So use this advantage and destroy the idols and establish justice and faith," he adds.

In his message he refers to the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, but no mention of the uprisings in Libya, Syria and Yemen, bin Laden also warned against negotiations and compromise.

"To these revolutionary free in all countries stand firm in your initiative and be wary of negotiations, because there is no middle ground between the people of truth and the people of falsehood," he adds .

The Mississippi flood forced the authorities to carry out load shedding in Louisiana

U.S. authorities have opened a valve unloader on the Mississippi River in Louisiana (south), which recorded a historic flood in order to prevent further flooding of New Orleans, six years after Katrina.

The body of Engineers U.S. Army had previously announced it would open gradually from 3:00 p.m. (2000 GMT) the overflow channel of Morganza, Louisiana, to avoid a "wall of water "in the words of the governor of this state, Bobby Jindal, does descend on thousands of homes located along the Atchafalaya River.

"It may be more a marathon than a sprint," said Gen. Michael Walsh at a news conference in Morganza, stating that "enormous pressure weighing on the entire system."

The valve was opened when the river flow reached 42,500 cubic meters per second.This is only the second time since its construction in 1954 that emergency channel is open.

If all the floodway gates were open, the flow would reach a rate of 17,000 cubic meters per second, three times the volume of water that falls daily from Niagara Falls.

To avoid such a destructive flow, a single valve was opened Saturday to pass 280 cubic meters per second, one or two others could be Sunday.

Load shedding, which will supply water into the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to cause flooding of 1.2 million hectares but will save Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the martyred city of Hurricane just who is recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005, Governor Jindall.

New Orleans is protected by dikes upstream from six yards but the water has already reached 5.2 meters, and the worst floods in 70 years-that struck the central United States follow the course of the Mississippi south .

They have so far destroyed thousands of homes, farms and roads in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

In view of downloading, the authorities have carried out evacuations in rural areas will be affected, a sacrifice which the mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, said he was conscious.

"It's a tragic situation for everyone in America and of course for people who live in the Atchafalaya Basin and Morgan City.We wholeheartedly with them, "he said, noting that it would save his city.

Cindy Prejean, a resident of Gibson, a town a hundred miles from New Orleans, expects to see its home swim in 1.5 meters of water.

"What gives them the right to inundate us? Here there are so many neighborhoods, businesses and farms," ​​she told AFP.

According to forecasts, the opening of the channel load shedding could lead to peak at 4.5 meters in some neighborhoods.

The army said it would focus more on individuals than on the property.In anticipation, the American Red Cross has prepared thousands of places for evacuees.

Economically, the activity of the Port of New Orleans are continuing normally but 2,200 oil wells were threatened by floodwaters.

IMMIGRATION: The Tunisian migrants in the heart of a summit between France and Italy

AFP - President Nicolas Sarkozy met Tuesday in Rome, the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to try to ease tensions arising between France and Italy on the issue of immigrants from Tunisia, Libya and the acquisition of French in the Peninsula.

Immigration and Review of the Treaty of Schengen free movement will be the most sensitive points of the summit, taking place in the bucolic setting of the Villa Madama, sixteenth century mansion surrounded by gardens on the banks of the Tiber.

France "does not suspend Schengen" but "review the safeguard clauses in special circumstances," he assured Henry Guaino, special adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Italy supports a kind of "technical control" to determine how the treaty was adapted to current realities, "said chief diplomat Italian Franco Frattini

On 17 April, Paris had raised the ire of Rome in suspending the movement of trains from the Italian town of Ventimiglia to France, saying that a train with onboard demonstrators wanting accompany Tunisian immigrants posed a risk to public .

France was upset by Italy, which has decided to grant residence permits of six months to more than 20,000 Tunisians arrived on its shores since January so they can join "friends and family" in France and elsewhere in Europe.

Other friction: Libya, where the peak position of France upset Italy, the former colonial power which it has significant economic interests.

Again, following a winded departure from Italy, which has been reluctant to release his ally Muammar Gaddafi, the positions converge: both countries have officially recognized the Libyan rebellion and sent military advisers on the spot.

Finally, MM.Sarkozy and Berlusconi should address the "problem" of the thirst for acquisition of French groups in the peninsula: LVMH and Bulgari grabbed the dairy group Lactalis is party to storm the local giant Parmalat.

All these topics should be addressed during this summit-flash, which begins at 0900 GMT and will result in a joint press conference expected around 1030 GMT.

TECHNOLOGY: Samsung cons-attack and in turn drags Apple to court for plagiarism

Reuters - Samsung Electronics has filed several complaints against Apple accusing it of plagiarism in the design of the iPhone and iPad, making shot after shot for a similar procedure against him by the firm at the apple.

The California group was asked last week the opening of proceedings against its South Korean rival, whom he accuses of having "slavishly" copy successful models in its range of phones and tablets Galaxy.

In a statement, Samsung said Friday that the iPhone and iPad violating 10 patents owned by itself and requires its U.S. rival put an end to plagiarism and he compensates.

"Samsung strongly responds to the legal proceedings launched against us to protect our intellectual property and ensure the continuation of our innovation and our growth in the area of ​​mobile communication," can you read.

This escalation could jeopardize relations between the two companies, providing Samsung Group Cupertino, fleas and other LCDs.

Last year, Apple was the second South Korean client behind Japan's Sony with about 6,200 billion won of sales (3.9 billion euros), and looks set to become its first customer this year.

Ten complaints were filed before the justices South Korean, Japanese and German concerns a system for reducing energy consumption during data transmission or 3G technology to reduce errors during the transmission.

BURKINA FASO: Mutiny on the presidential guard of disorder in Ouagadougou

AFP - The head of state of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaore left Ouagadougou facing a mutiny by soldiers of his presidential guard to his hometown, located about thirty miles north of the capital, officials said Friday, a military source .

President Compaore, in power for 24 years, who usually resides at the presidential palace in Ouagadougou which is a party mutiny, has left on the night of Thursday to Friday to visit Ziniaré, the city where he was born, the source said.

Dozens of soldiers from the presidential regiment divided two barracks in the capital, including one inside the walls of the residence of Mr.Compaore, mutinied on Thursday evening to protest against non-payment of premium housing that was promised to them.

They took to the streets, firing into the air, looted many shops in the city center and torched the home of General Diendiéré Gilbert, Chief of Staff of Blaise Compaore as well as that of two other officers , said a journalist from AFP.

Several people, civilians, have been "slightly injured" when looting the home of one of those officers, according to a military source.

The mutiny was then extended to three other barracks in Ouagadougou.

"Discussions were held with the rebels and they are trying to lay down their weapons," a military source said an AFP reporter who did hear gunfire in the morning near the three barracks.

Late March, soldiers angry protesting against the conviction and imprisonment of some of their comrades charged in sex cases and rape, had seized weapons in war garrisons in several cities, including Ouagadougou.

They had already fired in the air in the streets, looted shops and released some of their imprisoned comrades.

After these incidents, President Compaore had met all the components of its army, privates to generals, and announced the "end of the crisis" after these meetings.

MEDIA: The wall of the New York Times paid no fee if it

The information site most visited in the world, the New York Times, came on Monday in a new era. That of charges. A bet that it hopes the famous American newspaper, should not cause him to lose the nearly 30 million unique visitors per month used to receiving their daily dose of information without spending a penny. To achieve this, the paper has introduced a subscription system considered complicated and very porous by more than one user.

The purpose of the New York Times is not to make that pay the most "addicted" to his readers. "It is above all an investment in the future," wrote on the site on Monday, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the newspaper's editor.For now, the reader does not pay until the 21st article retrieved within a month. In addition, users can continue reading without counting it comes from an article on Twitter, Facebook or blog. He even entitled to five free visits per day from search engines. Besides those who subscribe to the paper version also free access to the site.

Proliferation of avoidance strategies

To be faced with "wall" of the fee must be a major consumer of the site. And the New York Times is not kind to those he calls "the most loyal readers."They will pay $ 15 per month for access to the site and the application on smartphone, $ 25 for the site and the iPad version and $ 35 for all. The Times does not ask for her hand as $ 13 per month for the gathering offers all its services.

Yet, despite the flexibility of the model for "casual readers," the transition to fee has not been smooth. Soon, workarounds Wall paying emerged.

The first to have found the technical gap in the wall is a Canadian computer - the subscription system was tested one week in Canada before its worldwide deployment. He has published last week, a small code to never have to pay.Another user has created a Twitter feed that publishes links to all articles of daily life, allowing them free access. Finally, two former Google employees have set up "New York Times for a nickel" [The New York Times for anything, Ed], a site that lets you view the newspaper without paying.

NYT vs. Murdoch

Why then have paid $ 40 million charge as a wall pierced? The New York Times has asked two former Twitter and Google to stop their initiatives, but stating that he would not complain in court."There will always be some clever to circumvent the system," concedes, a philosopher, a spokesman for the newspaper.

A laissez-faire seems surprising at first, but if we look at the fate of the other big wall project fee, that of the Murdoch empire is finally in line with the era of time. In June 2010, the media tycoon Robert Murdoch decided to erect a model paying much more binding on all its publications. For the British Times, one of its flagship, while paying the passage was rare: 21 million monthly visitors it passed in late 2010, to 2.5 million. A destiny that the New York Times that claims to be the reference on the Net does not surely know.

JAPAN: "It is quite possible that the yen continues to rise"

France24.com: How do you explain the surge in the yen against the dollar?

Danielle Schweissgut: The markets anticipate that the Japanese will repatriate some of their money. These are mainly insurance companies, which will have enormous needs. These companies have placed their currencies around the world and will have to convert them into yen, which will increase demand and thus raising the price of local currency.

F24: The government has denounced speculation ...

DS: Yes, because for now, insurance companies are still assessing the cost of this disaster and have not begun to repatriate that money.So these are speculators who plan what will happen to buy yen in dollars, therefore raising the price of the Japanese currency against the greenback.

F24: Can we expect the yen continues to rise?

DS: That's entirely possible. When everyone has an update on the money to pay insurers and organize the reconstruction, the actual movement of money will start, thus putting further pressure on the yen.

F24: Who suffers the most from this surge in the yen?

DS: This is in theory a bad news for Japanese companies whose business is export oriented. The yen is more expensive, more products would be difficult to sell abroad.In practice, Japanese companies should get out. Indeed, the soaring yen is not new: the course had already appreciated the yen against the dollar last year, and a similar phenomenon occurred after the Kobe earthquake in 1995. These firms have adapted by investing heavily in innovation and positioning themselves in niche markets - where there is little competition, which reduces the importance of the yen.

F24: What can the authorities to counter this surge?

DS: The levers are now in the hands of the Central Bank, which can handle them in two ways. First, it can flood the market by issuing yen, which should lower the value of money.That's what she started, but for now, this has not prevented speculation. The other lever, the central bank could now operate, is to directly intervene by selling yen and buying, as any player in the market in order to counterbalance the speculation.

FRANCE: Prison sought against Jean-Marie Le Pen for the sign "No to Islam '

A sentence of imprisonment was necessary Tuesday before the correctional court of Nanterre against Jean-Marie Le Pen for having, by campaign posters, incited hatred against the Muslim population and people of Algerian origin.

The prosecutor, Yvon Tallec, has left it to the fourteenth chamber, captured on direct quotation by the Movement against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), determine the quantum of sentence and the amount a fine.

The poster in question was a fully veiled woman beside a map of France covered the Algerian flag on which rose the minarets shaped missiles, with the title "No to Islam".

In the last regional elections in February 2010, the movement "Youth" National Front had released the posters in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur and on its website and then across France.

At the time, the case had sparked protests from Algeria.

In early December, the Paris court had exonerated Jean-Marie Le Pen, prosecuted for the same actions by the League against Racism and Antisemitism and SOS Racisme, without addressing the merits of the case, dismissing the two associations pure questions of form.

At the hearing in Nanterre, MRAP's lawyer, Khaled Lasbeur, produced a video of a speech on 7 March 2010 in which Jean-Marie Le Pen "claims authorship of the poster, thereby constituting the offense of incitement to hatred, "the prosecutor.

For his part, counsel for the National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen, Mr. Wallerand de Saint Just, said that the poster in question said: "No to Islam" and not Islam.

On the speech of Jean-Marie Le Pen, his lawyer conceded that his client justified the poster, but it does not prove that it "was the author, editor of internet sites who posted the sign, printer or Gluer these posters. "

"This is a baseless accusation that Mr. Le Pen.A politician has the right to say that Islamism is a danger for France! "Said Mr. Wallerand St. Just.

The decision was taken under advisement on April 5.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Violence earn Yamoussoukro, political capital

AFP - Former Ivorian rebels allied with Alassane Ouattara, who hold the north, took Friday two localities in the west under the control of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, while violence has won Yamoussoukro, political capital, Abidjan after .

Torn from the November 28 presidential between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, head of state recognized by the international community, the country descends from a week in the violence.

In the aftermath of fighting in Zouan-Hounien between elements of the former rebel New Forces (FN) and Defence Forces and Security (FDS) loyal to Mr.Gbagbo, the FN held Friday, "the whole city," one resident testified.

An official of the SDS in the area confirmed the capture of this town near the Liberian border by the opponent, but spoke of a "tactical withdrawal".

All units pre-positioned on the SDS old front line from west to east cutting the country since the clashes of 2002-2003 are "on alert", he added.

Going a little further south, the FN has also taken on Friday the small village of Bin Houyé, residents said.Farther south, in the same area, fighting raged throughout the day at the entrance to the great city of Toulépleu, witnesses said.

Fighting in the west but also in Abidjan have pushed 24 hours some 5,000 Ivorians flee to Liberia, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. This movement of population brings to nearly 45,000 the number of refugees in Liberia.

In Yamoussoukro (center), and political capital city symbol, the exchange of gunfire during the night left several people injured in the area of pro-Ouattara Dioulabougou, residents said, referring to shootings and firing "at the heavy weapons. "

In Abidjan, the neighborhood of Abobo (north), in favor of Mr.Ouattara, increasingly resembled a war zone after three days of fighting, including rocket launchers, between SDS and insurgents.

"There are bodies everywhere," said one pensioner, terrified.

Tanks were deployed but residents reported a lull on Friday.

Thousands of families fled terrorized however Abobo.Bundles on the head or shoulder, people were walking along a highway along the city zoo in the south.

"We can not stay there! Children cry," he told a mother.

The Gbagbo government has accused the "rebels" FN have "infiltrated" Abobo and other popular areas, with the complicity of the UN mission in the country, UNOCI.

Charles Ble Goude, minister and leader of the "patriotic" pro-Gbagbo, has called on young people to organize themselves into "self-defense committees" to prevent "by all means" to move UNOCI.

"Today it is not the rebels that we are at war, that UNOCI which we did," he said before about 3.000 people gathered in the district of Yopougon (west), the bastion of his champion.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "strongly deplored" the threats and demanded their "immediate cessation".

At Yopougon also clashes erupted in the morning. Young pro-Ouattara burned a bus and "patriots" have responded by burning several mini-cars ("gbakas"), a mode of transportation deemed controlled by the opposing camp, according to several witnesses. Clashes continued throughout the day.

EGYPT: New mass demonstrations are expected across the country

Further demonstrations are planned Friday in Egypt at the invitation of the protest movement that hopes to make the day of departure of President Hosni Mubarak, after 10 days of protests and unprecedented bloodshed in the country.

Organizers hope to raise as Jan. 28, one million people after the weekly Muslim prayer at the beginning of the afternoon.

According to the journalist Christiane Amanpour of the ABC, the Vice-President of Egypt Omar Suleiman, met during an interview with Mr.Mubarak in Cairo, told him that the army deployed reinforcements would use "never" force against the population.

After dismissing the appeal of the regime "illegitimate" dialogue, brotherhood Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, reviled by the authorities, felt that the calls for negotiations "will not affect the mass rallies planned Friday to bring down the regime ".

The opposition, composed also of secular parties and movements from civil society as the National Coalition for the change that has formed around the Nobel Peace Mohamed ElBaradei, has made the immediate departure of Mr Mubarak's condition to negotiate with the regime.

Mr.Sulaiman said that the request amounted to a "call to chaos" and urged the protesters to leave the Tahrir Square, the epicenter of protest in Cairo.

On the night of Thursday to Friday on Tahrir Square, thousands of protesters have again defied the curfew at night, camping in tents and warming themselves around fires after a day of intermittent clashes between opponents and supporters of M .Mubarak.

The latter, according to Ms. Amanpour, assured to have "enough to be president," said wanted to "give up power now, but he could not do so for fear that the country could descend into chaos."

For its part, the New York Times has assured Washington that talks with Egyptian officials the terms of an immediate departure of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to a transitional government led by Omar Suleiman, a project to gather support of the Egyptian army.

Mr.Mubarak said Tuesday he does not be seeking a sixth term in the presidential elections of September but this ad has not softened street.

At the same time, the authorities opted for the hard way by arresting seven young leaders of the protest movement, after meeting with Mohamed ElBaradei, the opponent, according to relatives.

At least eight people were killed and over 800 injured Wednesday and Thursday morning in violent clashes between the two camps.More than 300 people died in the first week of protest, according to an unconfirmed report of the UN.

Dozens of foreign journalists were beaten, arrested or intimidated these days, and no television has broadcast images live from Tahrir Square on the night of Thursday to Friday.

A foreigner of unknown nationality was beaten to death nearby, witnesses and rescue services.

Thursday, hundreds of supporters of the regime armed with clubs, knives and some guns, prevented the entrance for several hours on the place of reinforcements or supplies to opponents who are holed up.

The army, the backbone of the system, monitors without intervene.It is rarely intervened to disperse the players or try to save people assaulted.

Other supporters of the plan, posted on the bridge on October 6, threw stones and Molotov cocktails on the opponents. Pavers and curb stone were used as projectiles and barricades were erected.

The authority has rejected accusations that he orchestrated the violence, pointing to the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition force.

The West has condemned these attacks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned "in strongest terms" attacks against journalists, calling on security forces to protect them.She also called for "serious negotiations" between the immediate government and opposition "to a peaceful transition and in good order" in Egypt.

In Berlin, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was "outrageous and totally unacceptable" the repression in Egypt against the media and human rights.

Faced with the alarming situation, Western leaders are maintaining pressure on Mr. Mubarak in calling for an immediate transition of power.

The international community also continues to assist its citizens to leave the country.

Despite the troubles, the Pentagon has assured he would not stop supplying arms to its ally Egypt.Its annual military support amounted to $ 1.3 billion.

U.S. intelligence has warned the Obama administration unrest in Egypt in late 2010, said Thursday before Congress an intelligence official.

Mr. Mubarak, 82, is accused of all evils in this country of 83 million people-poverty, unemployment, deprivation of liberty and police state.

This wave of social protest and political unprecedented swept Egypt since January 25, after Tunisia, which has seen the flight of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali under pressure from the street.

FOOTBALL: The Egyptian Football Federation postponed games at the weekend

The Egyptian Football Federation (EFA) announced it would suspend the championship games of the weekend because of anti-government protests taking place across the country for several days.

On the website of the federation, to which access is denied since this morning, no official reason has been mentioned. The statement said only that the games provided on Friday and Saturday were postponed to a later date.

In Tunisia, where the regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown, the national championship has been suspended since January 9. The friendly match, to be held on February 9 between Algeria and Tunisia, in Tunis, however, was maintained.No decision has yet been taken on the friendly, laid the same day in Cairo between Egypt and the United States.