LIBYA: Obama fixed the issues and the limits of U.S. involvement in Libya

Reuters - Barack Obama in a speech on the situation in Libya, said Monday that the U.S. would, in concert with their allies, seek to hasten the day when Moammar Gadhafi should step down, but he stressed they would not use direct force to overthrow him.

In a televised address to the nation, Bush, accused by many members of Congress not to have explained the role of the international coalition in Washington, defended its decision to intervene militarily in the conflict in Libya.

At the same time, he clarified the limits of the action of the United States and sought to counter the impression that he had no clear goals nor credible strategy out of the conflict.

"For generations, the United States plays a unique role as an anchor of international security and defending the fundamental freedoms." Bearing in mind the risks and costs of military intervention, we're obviously reluctant to use force to solve the many problems facing the planet. But when our interests and values ​​are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That's what happened in Libya over the past six weeks, " the president said.

"Libya is directly between Tunisia and Egypt, two countries that have inspired the world when their peoples have stood up to take control of their destiny. For over 40 years, the Libyan people is led by a tyrant, Muammar Gaddafi.It deprives its people of freedom, uses his wealth, murdering its opponents at home and abroad, and terrorizing innocent people in the world - including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.

GADDAFI DOES NOT "OVERNIGHT"

"Tonight, I am able to say that we stopped the progression of lethal Gaddafi," he said before a gathering of officers at the National Defense University in Washington, 10 days after ordering that the United States participating in Operation "Dawn of the Odyssey."

"We hit the air defenses (Gaddafi), which allowed the establishment of a no-fly zone.We targeted the tanks and other forces that were strangling the cities, and we cut to a large extent the supply lines, "he said.

The U.S. president also said that the award of U.S. Command in NATO would intervene on Wednesday.

"We will deprive the system of any weapon, interrupt his source of income, help the opposition, and we will work with other countries to hasten the day when Gaddafi will leave power," continued the president.

This, he said, "will not happen overnight," and he admitted that Qaddafi might be able to cling to power."Expanding our military mission to a regime change would be a mistake," he pointed out, however.

Obama spoke on the eve of the scheduled conference in London on Tuesday attended by 35 countries on the situation in Libya.

The issue of Obama's speech was to identify and clearly define the purpose and scope of the mission of the United States to Libya, to be understood by Americans, preoccupied with domestic economic problems, which are already of a dim view of the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

JAPAN: FAO publishes a guide of contaminated food

While states enact bans or tighter controls on imports of Japanese products, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) wants reassurance. Wednesday, it published a document to explain the effects of nuclear radiation on food.

Form of questions and answers, she tries - in partnership with the World Health Organization - to wring the neck of some misconceptions. Thus, products from Japan are not all health risk, according to the document.In addition, foods packaged before March 11 can be irradiated.

Leafy vegetables, the first victims

"In reaching our conclusions, we relied on the results reported by Japanese authorities," said Jean-Michel Poirson, head of food safety within FAO. According to these data, the highest risk foods are leafy vegetables - broccoli, cabbage, lettuce ... "Initially, the contamination spreads through the air, especially during rain, and settles on the leaves," says Jean-Michel Poirson.

A second wave is considered. Indeed, the radioactive material then interferes in the soil and can therefore infect roots - potatoes, carrots ...But it is too early to worry. "First, it's not the harvest season. Then, the authorities have banned any culture in areas where contamination has been observed," Jean-Michel Poirson relativized.

The two possible radiation

Then, there are several types of radiation. Two radioactive elements come into play, but with different effects. Iodine-131 - linked to thyroid cancer - is one whose levels are the highest observed vis-à-vis the Japanese standards in terms of radiation. Good news: the level of contamination of food with iodine-131 decreases quite rapidly."Within weeks, the health risk disappears almost entirely," says Jean-Michel Poirson.

The other component of this duo is more harmful radioactive. Cesium-137 can withstand for years. After the Chernobyl disaster, boars who consumed irradiated mushrooms have become the bearer of cesium 137. Therefore the document of the agency advised the Japanese hunt."According to preliminary results, the contamination with cesium 137 is however closer to the norm," said Jean-Michel Poirson.

Export bans bit surprising

FAO also notes that high levels of contamination were observed up to 100 km from the Miyagi prefecture (where the central Fukushima). "But no, for now, no indication that cultures outside of Japan have been affected," Jean-Michel Poirson tempers. Import bans issued by the U.S. or Australia do not surprise the expert. Thursday, Singapore has even said they found traces of radioactivity in imported foods."The scope of these measures corresponds to foods that are prohibited for sale to Japan," he says.

JAPAN: Smoke escapes from the reactor 2 Fukushima, stable situation for No. 3

AFP - As the smoke began to leak late Monday afternoon from the reactor 2 of the Fukushima nuclear power plant (north-eastern Japan) but that coming out of the reactor 3 was arrested, said Nuclear Safety Agency.

"Around 6:20 p.m. (9:20 GMT), white smoke began to emerge from a crack in the roof of the reactor 2," said a spokesman.

Repairs were underway at the reactor to reactivate some of the equipment, especially in the control room.

Two hours earlier, another smoke from gray to black, had begun to escape from the reactor 3, but it did not last.

"TEPCO has informed us that the black smoke came from the reactor 3, but it stopped at 6:02 p.m. ET radiation levels remained stable," said a spokesman for the agency.

The agency gave no explanation of the origin of this incident, but according to experts, it was not steam but with smoke from something that burned.

Unit 3 has sustained the most damage after the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March: the roof top was completely destroyed by a huge explosion last week due to an accumulation of hydrogen resulting from operations of depressurization .

Unit 3 is the most worrying because it contains MOX fuel, a mixture of plutonium oxide and uranium derived from recycled products, which releases are considered more harmful than those from a uranium-based fuel .

LIBYA: Gaddafi sent his troops to reconquer Misrata

AFP - Troops of Muammar Qaddafi continued to pound the insurgents on Wednesday in the western and eastern Libya, while the Security Council agreed on a draft resolution providing for an exclusion zone air over the country who will vote Thursday.

"A draft resolution has been developed ...But this does not mean it is etched in stone, "said one UN diplomat that the 15 member countries can still change the text.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said the Security Council of the United Nations should consider "going beyond a simple no-fly zone".

Colonel Gaddafi prepares a "real genocide" in Libya, had earlier warned the Libyan Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbachi, who defected to the plan, calling for a rapid response from the international community, which was delaying for several days .

Wednesday, Muammar Gaddafi announced that his forces would deliver Thursday "decisive battle" to win Misrata, third largest city, 150 km east of Tripoli, which the insurgents said they were always in control, despite offensive pro-Gaddafi who was, according to them, at least four dead and ten wounded.

"The battle began today in Misrata and tomorrow it will be the decisive battle," said the Libyan leader, according to pictures broadcast by state television.

Gaddafi has also excluded the "dialogue" with rebels it has assimilated to agents of Al Qaeda in an interview published by French daily Le Figaro on Thursday, and felt that the National Transitional Council (CNT) created by opponents of Benghazi, "worthless".

The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for the cessation of violence and warned that "killing innocent and unarmed people is a crime against humanity" whose leaders have to face justice.

After managing to take several towns in recent days, loyalists bombarded by air and land Ajdabiya, the last lock of the rebels at 160 km south of their stronghold of Benghazi in the east, witnesses said.At least 26 people have been killed since Tuesday, said a doctor.

"The fighting was terrifying," recalled Dr. Mohammad Abdelkarim, reached by telephone, adding that the hospital had received 22 dead Tuesday, mostly civilians, and four insurgents on Wednesday.

The hospital itself was hit by a shell and some staff was evacuated to Benghazi, according to another doctor.But supporters of Gaddafi Wednesday controlled the road between the two cities.

In the evening, state television has ensured that the city was "purged" of the rebels.

"They practice a scorched earth policy", denounced Jamal Mansour, commander of the rebels in the city, "the tanks bombard so intense and sustained, and earlier there were air raids."

After a month of a revolt that has turned into civil war, Mr.Gaddafi, who refuses to leave office after more than four decades of unchallenged rule, vowed Tuesday to "crush the enemy," while one of his son, Seif al-Islam, promised: "in 48 hours everything will be finished. "

The White House called on Libyan authorities to protect journalists, four reporters from the New York Times is missing in the country, presumably kidnapped by followers of MrGaddafi.

Faced with the breakthrough of loyalist troops, an ever-increasing flow of Libyans, entire families piled into cars weighed down by luggage, hurry to the Egyptian border.

The regular forces were also attacked with heavy weapons Zentena the town, 145 km southwest of Tripoli, according to one witness reached by telephone."There are shots of tanks a few miles south of the city and firing Grad missiles and clashes with light weapons," he said.

The Organization of Islamic Conference, which comprises 57 members with more than one billion Muslims, has announced an emergency meeting Saturday in Libya.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Forces loyal to Gbagbo launched the offensive on the neighborhood of Abobo

AFP - Forces loyal to Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo continued out a major offensive on Saturday night, including heavy weapons in the neighborhood of Abobo, a stronghold of his rival Alassane Ouattara and nest of insurgents open Abidjan.

Ouattara camp denounced the "indiscriminate killing" of "innocent civilians", describing the operation, the first major since the beginning of the post-election crisis in late November, an "offensive of desperation" of power.

This sharp deterioration of the situation comes two days after a summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa confirmed that the political deadlock: if the AU has recognized as President-elect MrOuattara, Gbagbo's camp has categorically rejected this position.

The offensive was launched on Saturday morning in the area pro-Ouattara Abobo (north of Abidjan) where insurgents are known as "commando invisible" in recent weeks have taken control of large areas.

The objective of the Defence Forces and Security (FDS) loyal to Mr Gbagbo is to "rid Abobo terrorists," said a source at the headquarters."It's make or break," she told AFP.

Most populous district of Abidjan, in the city with some 1.5 million inhabitants, Abobo has become the epicenter of the crisis, which left nearly 400 dead in the country according to the UN.

At around 12:00 (GMT), firing with heavy weapons were heard in Abobo, located north of the residential district of Cocody, one of the centers of power that houses the residence of Mr.Gbagbo.

A resident of Abobo told AFP he had seen in the late morning ride to Abobo four tanks, four troop transports "filled with soldiers," and "two pick-up with mortars.

Another resident saw "two tanks opened a convoy and two which closed drawing, drawing."

In the vicinity of the Gare d'Abobo, "there are exchanges of gunfire from tanks and Kalashnikov," reported a resident of the area, with streets deserted quickly.

By early evening, the fighting continued in various sectors.

In the sub-Dokui Plateau in southern Abobo near Cocody, a resident spoke mortar fire, "we're all locked up at home. No one can escape.It's really terrifying. "

The spokesman for the Gbagbo government, Ahoua Don Mello, admitted qu'Abobo placed under curfew Friday night with the neighboring Anyama, was "full of rebels."

Patrick Achi, government spokesman Ouattara, Gbagbo's camp is "in its logic of indiscriminate killing" because "they are cornered, their backs to the wall. They only have the specter of civil war, to encourage terror ".

"At one kilometer (Abobo), they shoot shells, blindly, falling on civilian houses.The majority of those killed are innocent civilians, they are not military confrontation against soldiers, "he added.

Moreover, a Ghanaian from the UN mission was wounded Saturday in Abidjan when the attack on a civilian vehicle of UNOCI, which burned in Cocody, said the UN force. Several witnesses identified the attackers as "young patriots" pro-Gbagbo.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ouattara chained meetings with its regional allies.After Nigeria, he was expected to Burkina and Senegal.

In an interview Friday night in Abuja, he thanked for its support Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the current president of the Peace and Security of the AU and the Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS).

This regional organization had threatened to end in December to use force to oust Gbagbo.

TUNISIA: Court dissolves the RCD, the party of former President Ben Ali

AFP - The Court of First Instance in Tunis on Wednesday announced the dissolution of the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) party of former president Ben Ali, causing an explosion of joy in the room, noted AFP.

"The court of first instance in Tunis decided to disband the Democratic Constitutional Rally and liquidate its assets and funds" through the ministry of finance, said the ruling was greeted by a huge roar of hundreds of people in the room.

Mixing with the anthem, the slogans have blended immediately: "RCD releases!", "Tunisia free!", "O martyr, we continue the fight."

Lawyers dress and youth wrapped in national flags mingled with the crowd that was growing visibly surrounding the building.

The court began its review last week's action by the Interior Ministry.

At the trial his lawyer, Faouzi Ben Mrad, was called "the dissolution of the RCD and the seizure of his property inside and outside the country, he had earned money by pillaging people ".

Already suspended Feb. 6 for all activities and meetings, RCD claimed over two million members in 10 million.

Since the leak of the President January 14, Tunisians had continued to demonstrate to demand the dissolution of the party symbol of the state police during the 23-year regime of Ben Ali.

Six days after the fall of the regime, the transitional government of Mohammed Ghannouchi announced January 20 that the state would take possession of "movable and immovable property" of the RCD and proceed with the separation of state and RCD.

Its imposing headquarters in the heart of Tunis was one of the first symbolic targets of the revolution that was to take the regime and its leader.

RCD was founded February 27, 1988 by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on the remains of the Neo-Destour, who had led the country to independence under the leadership of President Habib Bourguiba.

Four days after his flight to Saudi Arabia, former President Ben Ali was struck on the head of the RCD, but had not been replaced.

During the 2009 presidential election, the "candidate Ben Ali won 89.62% of the vote.

Member of the Socialist International since 1989, the RCD has been excluded on January 17 at the request of the French Socialists.

COTE D'IVOIRE: AU panel requires "an immediate halt to the killings" in the country

The president of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, arrived Saturday in Abidjan to meet with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and leaving his rival Alassane Ouattara in full outbreak of violence in the country, officials said a source close to the AU.

Jean Ping arrived Saturday morning with the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the AU, Ramtane Lamamra. They must meet successively Laurent Gbagbo, Alassane Ouattara and the president of the Constitutional Council N'Dré Paul Yao ", told the AFP that source.

Sent by the panel of African leaders on the Ivorian crisis, Mr. Ping must give a "message" to Mr. Gbagbo and Mr.Ouattara, President recognized by the international community, including the AU.

Following a meeting in Nouakchott, the panel, chaired by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (Mauritania), on Friday called for "an immediate end to killings" while the country is experiencing an explosion of violence over the past two weeks.

The Security Council UN fears a "resurgence of civil war" caused by the crisis resulting from the presidency in November.

Mr. Ouattara was declared winner by the electoral commission and the UN, but the Constitutional Council invalidated some of these results and Gbagbo declared elected.

ATHLETICS: Teddy Tamgho ready for two big jumps in Paris

With less than three days after the opening European Championship Indoor Athletics to be held in Paris from 4 to 6 March, Teddy Tamgho made his decision: "I double in Bercy. This means, in other words, the world record in the triple jump indoors (with 17.91 m) also will start on the length. "It took me three days to stop my decision. I talked with Ivan [Pedroso, his coach, Ed]. I really want, I want to enjoy myself."

But that said participation in two disciplines said double risk of injury ... A hypothesis that Teddy scans, however, a backhander, taking the example of the great Usain Bolt, a triple Olympic champion in 2008: "Bolt threefold: 100m, 200m and 4x100m with series, quarters, semis and finals.It is stronger and does not hurt. "In 2004 and 2008 also, the Russian Tatyana Lebedeva took down every time, two Olympic medals in the triple jump and long jump." She showed she could do both so why not me? "asks he.

After the raid conducted by the French athletes at the European Championships in Barcelona last summer, during which Teddy Tamgho had won "that" one bronze, athletics tricolor therefore lives on a cloud. Bercy also displays full for three days of competition ahead. The news this Parisian delights from Cameroon who undertakes any form of complacency: "Barcelona is finished.Now I think these championships, with the line of sight and the World Games in London. "