FRANCE: François Fillon will not participate in the debate on secularism

REUTERS - Prime Minister Francois Fillon will not participate on April 5 at the convention organized by the UMP on secularism, Matignon said Wednesday, adding that the decision had been taken long-standing agreement with Nicolas Sarkozy.

"He was fulfilling a long with the president that he would not go," they say at Matignon, confirming information given by the website of Le Figaro.

"This is not the place to express the government's position," says one in the entourage of Prime Minister.

The secretary general of the UMP Jean-Francois Cope had nevertheless invited the Prime Minister in this debate, says the website of Le Figaro.

François Fillon and Jean-Francois Cope had formally signed the peace on Tuesday, after the tensions caused by criticism of the secretary general of the UMP to the Prime Minister.

The "boss" of the majority party had accused the prime minister not to "play group" in distancing himself from the debate on secularism.

In an interview with Le Figaro, to be published Thursday, Jean-Francois Cope defends again organizing this debate controversial and arouses opposition from representatives of six major religions.

"When we have this debate on April 5, we finish with the hysteria of the debate on the debate leading finally to the real answers," he said.

"This debate will not give rise to confusion." My letter to a Muslim friend, published yesterday in L'Express, is the most honest answer to the fear of a possible drift, "he adds.

FORMULA 1: Sebastian Vettel started 2011 by winning the Australian Grand Prix

The German Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) won Sunday in Melbourne Australia Grand Prix Formula 1, first event of the season, ahead of Briton Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Russian Vitaly Petrov (Lotus Renault).

The reigning world champion, after dropping three in as many races on the circuit at Albert Park, has finally vanquished the curse of Australia and won the race handily. With a few laps left to his heir Hamilton, Vettel has occupied all the time the race leader.

He won with 22 seconds ahead of Columbia, giving the impression of having always dominated his subject.

Hamilton, earning 2nd, McLaren can thank for the outstanding work done in a few weeks.The MP4-26 (model 2011), completely out of touch during all the winter tests, achieved a dramatic increase in the favor of the change in its rear part.

Third, Vitaly Petrov continues its metamorphosis. The Russian, used weekends drafts last year, his first season in the discipline, has transcended Australia.

Obnoxious Perez

After a good qualifying Saturday, punctuated with a 6th place, Petrov has made a great start Sunday, allowing him to finish third, the first podium of his career in F1. A result which also marks the progression of Lotus Renault.

Fernando Alonso was fourth in a Ferrari not at the podium.Australian Mark Webber in the second Red Bull continues to run bad at his home GP, he finished in 5th place, just ahead of Jenson Button (McLaren, 6th), a great leader of the race.

Mexico's Sergio Perez (Sauber) completed a fantastic first race, he finished seventh, ahead of teammate Kamui Kobayashi of Japan. Brazilian Felipe Massa (Ferrari) is ninth, while Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), 10, has assembled the last point at stake

Mercedes has had a calamitous start to the season, with the abandonment of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher before the halfway point. Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica's replacement, injured in rally in February, has experienced first weekend very difficult, punctuated with a sad 14th place.

ISRAEL: One dead and thirty injured in an explosion in the heart of Jerusalem

A woman died and at least 25 others were injured in a bomb blast near the central bus station in Jerusalem. All the wounded were evacuated to hospitals in the city. Four of them are in serious condition.

The bomb, consisting of one kilogram of explosives and concealed in a bag, exploded at the passage of a bus that was heading towards the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim in the West Bank, according to AFP. Several witnesses said they saw a man drop the bag and run away. The attack has not yet been claimed.

"The bus station is next to a Orthodox neighborhood of the capital.It is a hotspot of the city, it is very crowded, especially early afternoon, shows Gallagher Fenwick, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Jerusalem. The people who perpetrated this attack have undoubtedly tried to reach as many people as possible. "

"This attack has literally shaken the city and the entire country, said the journalist. The mayor of Jerusalem asked the inhabitants of Jerusalem to resume their activities to" show the terrorists they have not won. "In the vicinity of site, people are shocked but not really surprised. "

The Israeli authorities sealed off the area.Police established a cordon around the bus and launched a search with dogs to find explosives that could be still hidden in the area.

Outbreak of violence between Israel and Gaza

The attack comes at a particularly tense between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Since Saturday, about fifty rockets were launched from Gaza into southern Israel. The Israeli army responded Tuesday and Wednesday, killing eight Palestinians, including two minors, two civilians and four Islamic Jihad fighters.

"In response, Islamic Jihad promised to touch the heart of Israel, said Gauthier Rybinski, a specialist in international political FRANCE 24.But it is too early to attribute the attack to this group.

"We will take precautions to try to prevent this crime from perpetuating itself once again in Jerusalem, for his part said Avi Pazner, spokesman for the Israeli government, on the antenna FRANCE 24 .

The heart of Jerusalem had not been touched by terrorism for several years. The latest attack began at 6 March 2008, when a Palestinian attacked a center of West Jerusalem yeshiva, killing eight people.

FRANCE 24 has decided to temporarily close the debate in this page because of violence or offensive nature of some comments posted.

Liveblogging: Launch of international offensive in Libya

What you should remember:

The French army has carried out its first shot against the forces of Muammar Gaddafi at 17:45 (GMT +1, Paris time).
Earlier in the afternoon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that fighter jets had entered French airspace to prevent the Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces to attack the city of Benghazi, a stronghold of the opposition.


The statement by the French head of state concluded an international summit on the situation in Libya, which gathered in Paris this Saturday the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Prime Minister David Cameron and many Arab and European politicians.
A military plane was shot Saturday morning while flying over the city of Benghazi. The aircraft belongs to the opponents of Muammar Gaddafi.
According to the insurgents in Benghazi, forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombed roads leading into town. The regime denies the accusations and says its planes remained on the ground, according to the cease-fire it announced Friday.

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EGYPT: The security services were dissolved state

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has decided to discontinue the services of the State Security, the backbone of the repressive system under Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday the official MENA news agency.

"The Interior Minister Mansur al-Issawi has today decided to remove all administrative divisions and offices of state security in all provinces," the agency reported.

The Minister also decided to create a new security institution, called the "National Security", whose role will be to "preserve national security and fight against terrorism."

The unpopular state security was notably accused of spying on the private life and political activities of the population, torture and participate in electoral fraud.

SAUDI ARABIA: Authorities deployed a vast apparatus of preventive security

AFP - The security forces were deployed en masse on Friday in Riyadh and other Saudi cities where no event was reported, despite a call Facebook a "day of anger" in the oil kingdom.

The United States, the main ally of Saudi Arabia had called again Thursday to respect freedom of expression in the kingdom after an incident that left three wounded in eastern countries, where most minority Shiite.

Militants had launched on social networks Facebook and Twitter calls for a demonstration in an upscale neighborhood north of the Saudi capital after Friday prayers.These calls also apply to other cities like Jeddah and Dammam in the west to the east.

These unidentified militants demanding the establishment of elected institutions to replace the Shura consultative council whose members are appointed by the king and government, also left to the discretion of the sovereign.

But no event was reported earlier this afternoon in Riyadh or other cities of the kingdom.

The capital was gridded from morning by security forces, and dozens of police cars took up positions in Olaya, a commercial area in northern Riyadh.

Around the mosque where a demonstration was to start, hundreds of police were deployed and checked the identities of drivers.

No events have been reported in Jeddah, the major port city in western kingdom.

The situation was also quiet in the eastern province, according to a witness.

The police were heavily deployed in the Shiite region where three protesters were injured Thursday night when police dispersed a demonstration in Al-Qatif calling for the release of prisoners, witnesses said.

But according to a Saudi official, a protester fired at police who returned fire."The man was wounded and arrested," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The Shiites, who form 10% of the estimated 28 million Saudis consider themselves victims of discrimination in the kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty which advocates a strict vision of Islam.

Saudi authorities have recently reminded that demonstrations were banned in the kingdom.

A view that their American ally disagrees: "What we told the Saudis and everyone in the region (Middle East) is that we will support a set of universal values," he Thursday said Ben Rhodes, an advisor to President Barack Obama.

These values ​​include "the right to assemble peacefully, freedom of expression," he said.

The activists behind the calls for protest, often based abroad, also demand a minimum wage to 10,000 riyals (2,667 dollars) and job creation for Saudis in a country where unemployment is estimated at more than 10% and 30% among those aged 20 to 30 years.

On 23 February, King Abdullah announced a package of social measures for more than 35 billion dollars. Other Gulf states have followed suit and Thursday, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has provided financial support of $ 20 billion in Bahrain and Oman, two members most affected by the wave of revolt.

Obama lifted the suspension of military trials at Guantanamo Exception

The U.S. president Barack Obama will lift the suspension of new military trials at Guantanamo exception and decided to rules governing the indefinite detention of prisoners in U.S. military base on the island of Cuba, said Monday the White House .

"The Defense Secretary will issue a decree annulling its previous suspension of the submission of new charges in military courts," said the American presidency in a statement.

The suspension of new military trials at Guantanamo had been one of the earliest actions of President Obama, the very day he took office January 20, 2009.

In the case of Guantanamo detainees who have been neither charged nor convicted and are not likely to be transferred to a third country, Obama gave the order to conduct "regular reviews crossings," and detailed process.

The White House, however, assured that "the administration remains committed to closing the prison at Guantanamo and maintain a system of legal custody, and based on sustainable principles."

She also renewed the commitment of the administration to try to try selected detainees in federal courts.

On January 22, 2009, Obama had signed a decree ordering the closure in the year of the prison of his predecessor, George W. Bush.But this promise was not fulfilled, largely because of congressional initiatives.

After putting a spoke in the wheels of Obama by prohibiting the coming of Guantanamo detainees on American soil for anything other than trial, the Congress decided in December to ban the Pentagon in 2011 to use its funds to close Guantanamo and in particular for any "transfer, release or assistance" to inmates in the United States.

TUNISIA: The election of a Constituent Assembly announced for July 24

AFP - The Tunisian President Fouad Mebazaa Acting announced Thursday evening in a televised address to the nation, the election July 24 for a Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution for the post-Ben Ali.

"We announce today entered a new era (...) through a new political system that breaks definitively with the former regime," saidMebazaa.

To do so, elections will be held July 24 for "the formation of a National Constituent Assembly (ANC) who will prepare a new constitution," he added.

"Place to work and stop sit-ins, including the Kasbah (the government district in the heart of Tunis), reacted Ali Ben Romdhane, deputy secretary general of the powerful trade union UGTT (General Union of Tunisian workers) who had contributed to the events that brought down Ben Ali.

"We will work with other political forces to help the public authority to carry out its mission.The agenda is clear, there is more blur, "he told AFP.

"This is a victory of the people and the revolution," he told AFP Hamma Hammami, head of the Tunisian Communist Workers Party (PCOT), while expressing reservations about the particular period "too short four and a half months "he said in the election of the ANC.

Mr. Mebazaa implicitly also announced the dissolution of the current Constitution that "no longer meets the aspirations of the people after the revolution" of January 14 (the fall and flight of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali) and "an obstacle to transparent elections. "

Mr.Mebazaa, whose interim mandate expires on March 15 under the current Constitution, said he would stay in place "Contrary to rumors" that he had lent the intention to withdraw.

"I pledge to continue my mission (...) to the deadline of 15 March," he said.

The interim president and the transitional government, which must be the new Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, will form the "public authority" whose actions "cease the day of the election of the Constituent National Assembly," Has he said.

In view of this election, detailed the president, "a special electoral system" be prepared "at the latest before the end of March" by the "High Committee for the achievement of the revolution, political reform and democratic transition. "

The High Commission now comprises two bodies: the Council and the Commission of Experts, told AFP its chairman, Ben Achour Yadh.

The text will be voting "the subject of consultations within the Council of the High Commission, composed of personalities, representatives of political parties and civil society organizations" who participated in the revolution or have sustained " .

This seems clearly out of the process the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) party of Ben Ali, suspended pending its dissolution by the court.

The acting president urged Tunisians to "get back to work" when the economy is being impacted by problems that peppered the popular uprising that led to the escape of Ben Ali.

A source close to the government, Beji Caid Essebsi expected to announce Friday its transitional government, a cabinet of "technocrats" after the resignation of five ministers two days, two representatives of opposition parties.

This will be the third government since the fall of Ben Ali, the first two having been led by Mohammed Ghannouchi.