LIBYA: The city came under the control of organized opposition to Gaddafi

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said his country was "completely calm" on Sunday, while an "independent National Council" was created to represent the towns controlled by the protesters, including several cities in the west.

In Washington, the United States declared themselves "ready" to provide "any assistance" to opponents while London has asked the Libyan leader to go "now."

In an exclusive statement given by telephone to the Serbian television station TV Pink, Colonel Gaddafi, in power for nearly 42 years, said that "Libya is completely calm."

"People have been killed by terrorist bands that definitely belong to Al-Qaeda", he just recognized the 13th day of an unprecedented revolt, noting that a "small group" of opponents was currently "circled".

Earlier announced the creation of an "independent national council", Benghazi (east), second largest city and stronghold of the challenge to represent "all the liberated cities of Libya."

This body will be "the face of Libya during the period of transition," said a spokesman for the Council Abdelhafez Ghoqa.

"The city councils of each function and it is out of question to divide Libya in the north, south, west or east, or tribal bases.The Council is in Benghazi because it is a liberated city, "said Ghoqa.

"The rest of Libya will be released by the Libyan people," he added, reiterating that Tripoli was the capital of Libya."We rely on the army to liberate Tripoli.

Several towns in the west are "the hands of the people" for several days and "preparing a march to liberate Tripoli", told Nalout (230 km west of the capital), a VIP member of the Revolutionary Committee of the city.

"The city was liberated from February 19, since it is managed by a revolutionary committee + + February 17 communities designated by the city," he told AFP Chaban Abu Sitta, a lawyer for the city, s' is placed "under the authority of the interim government of Benghazi.

A Zawiyah, 60 km west of the capital, the authorities organized a press trip for journalists "invited" by the regime, have been unpleasantly surprised to see thousands of protesters march, chanting "Down regime, we want freedom ". Witnesses said anti-Gaddafi demonstrators seemed to control the city.

Meanwhile, the United States declared themselves "ready" to "any assistance" to the opposition."We are ready to offer any assistance that anyone could want from the United States' opponents in Libya," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron has held that "it is time for Colonel Qaddafi to go, and go now."

The record of violence was difficult to assess. The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken of a thousand deaths.A Benghazi alone, 256 people were killed and 2,000 injured, according to doctors quoted in this city on Sunday by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Britain has imposed a freeze on assets of the Gaddafi family, evaluated according to the newspaper The Telegraph about 20 billion pounds (23.4 billion euros).

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also announced Sunday the freezing of assets of Gaddafi and his family and called for "an end to bloodshed" and resign.

In New York, the Security Council of the United Nations has adopted a series of tough sanctions against the Libyan leader and his relatives.

The resolution is "worthless," responded Colonel Gaddafi, sweeping and the freezing of assets abroad, a travel ban and an embargo on arms sales to Libya.

In Tripoli, crowds lined up at banks to withdraw the 500 dinars (about 400 dollars or 300 euros) promised the families by the government. This measure, announced Friday, was relayed by SMS in the city's most loyal to the regime.

At the airport in the capital of the huge crowds waiting to leave the country, "said airport director Yussef al-Jarbi.

Only drove into the town militia of Colonel Gaddafi, aboard 4X4.Checkpoints were set up in and around the capital, where bread and gasoline were rationed, according to a resident reached by telephone.

"There is no fire. The morale is good. Some young people want to hold a demonstration (...) but we are against, because if there are other events, Gaddafi will continue to kill us," said he said.

In the district of Tajoura, opponents were asked to shout "God is great" on rooftops in protest against the regime.

Faced with the chaos, the evacuation of foreign nationals still in difficult circumstances.Nearly 100,000 people, mostly Egyptian and Tunisian workers have already left the country through the Egyptian and Tunisian borders.

"More than 51,000 people of various nationalities have been repatriated since 21 February," the other said Youssef al-Jarbi, director of the Tripoli airport where huge crowds were waiting to leave Libya in mid-heap clothing left behind by those parties without their business.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Fighting with heavy weapons in a district of Abidjan

The Ivorian crisis has taken a more violent turn Wednesday, with clashes involving heavy weaponry between forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and unidentified fighters in a district of Abidjan supports Alassane Ouattara.

Defence Forces and Security (FDS), loyal to Mr.Gbagbo, lead a "major operation" to "secure" the neighborhood of Abobo (north), told AFP a senior military official on condition of anonymity.

"Exchanges of heavy weapons" are held in the neighborhood where fighting, sporadic since January between the FDS and the gunmen have stepped up in recent days, he confirmed in the afternoon.

According to several residents contacted by AFP, fighting in the northern Abobo started around 16:00 (GMT) and ended around 20:30.

"It takes all the time", said one resident, adding that "everyone is locked up at home."A taxi driver said that the SDS had made earlier fired warning shots to residents returning home.

Ten elements of the Centre for Security Operations Command (Cecos), an elite unit of the SDS, were killed Tuesday night in Abobo in fighting after an ambush by "attackers," said a security source.

Witnesses reported a death toll will FDS side, and several civilian casualties.The body of a civilian shot dead lay in pools of blood in the morning near a service station.

A senior Cecos but assured on Wednesday that the unit had lost only three men, lamented "seven bullet wounds" in her womb and killed "seven attackers.

In the morning, the SDS were deployed in Abobo, blocking access to certain areas, while many streets were deserted and shops closed, noted AFP.

Dozens of people, especially women and children, then fled the area."I leave the area," a woman let go, sack on his head.

The government accuses Gbagbo of "rebels" to operate in this neighborhood before Tuesday's fighting, at least a dozen of SDS had been killed since January.

The camp Ouattara, combined with the former rebel New Forces (FN) controlling the northern Ivory Coast since 2002, denies any involvement in these actions.

Inspired by the examples of Egypt and Tunisia, supporters of Mr.Ouattara has turned up the heat last week calling for a "revolution" to hunt out.

More than 300 people have been killed since mid-December according to the UN in the violence that marked the crisis resulting from the November 28 presidential, between Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, President recognized by the international community.

Since Saturday, at least a dozen pro-Ouattara demonstrators were killed by the SDS, which dispersed the crowd with live ammunition, according to several sources, but also in Abobo areas in Kumasi and Treichville (south).

This renewed tension comes as African Union deploys fresh efforts for a solution to the crisis, so far found.

Monday and Tuesday, four African presidents to a panel appointed by the AU met Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara. Objective: To arrive by 28 February solutions "binding".

Group members, chaired by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (Mauritania), left the country since Tuesday evening and will meet in Nouakchott "in the coming days."

AU favors a peaceful settlement, but the former mediator Raila Odinga, Kenyan Prime Minister, has found that if economic sanctions fail to achieve "regime change, then of course the force will be used" as "West Africa has brandished the threat against Mr. Gbagbo.

Iran: Release of two German journalists detained for four months

Iran has released on Saturday after four months of custody, two German journalists who left for Germany on Sunday night with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle came specially to find them.

During his visit of several hours, the first by a minister of the EU in Iran for several years, Westerwelle was received by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi.

Mr Ahmadinejad also drew attention with Westerwelle "regional issues, the situation in Afghanistan and the need for cooperation against terrorism and drug trafficking," the Iranian presidency website.

During a brief joint press conference with Mr. Salehi, M.Westerwelle said the meeting between the two ministers had allowed "an" exchange of views and opinions, "the direct translation made by the Iranian television channel Press-TV in English.

"It was a meeting to get acquainted," he said, adding she had "not been time to discuss major issues."

Salehi for his part said that the visit of Mr. Westerwelle Tehran was to "strengthen bilateral relations" and that the two ministers had "agreed to further meetings already planned in the future."

He expressed the desire of Iran to "look to the future" in its relations with Germany, saying the two countries had "many issues to discuss."

Iran has been subjected since 2007 to severe political and economic sanctions imposed by the EU because of its controversial nuclear program, which prohibit particular high-level bilateral contacts with Tehran.

Westerwelle departed for Germany immediately after the talks, about 2:00 local Sunday (2230 GMT Saturday) with the two journalists released, Marcus Hellwig, Jens Koch, the newspaper Bild am Sonntag (BAMS).

The two Germans held in Tabriz (northwest) since October 10, 2010, arrived by plane to Tehran in early evening."No comment," replied one of them to journalists who asked them questions.

Before their release, they were each sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 20 months which was immediately converted to a fine of 500 million rials (50,000 dollars), according to the judicial authority who said they were convinced "crime against national security".

The two journalists were arrested in Tabriz while interviewing the son and attorney-Ashtiani Sakineh Mohammadi, an Iranian woman sentenced to stoning in a case of murder and adultery and for which the international community 's is mobilized.

The Iranian authorities accused them of being entered Iran with tourist visas, without asking permission and special press visa that foreign journalists must obtain in order to work in Iran.

The Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, imprisoned in Tabriz, was sentenced to death by two courts in 2006 for his involvement in the murder of her husband and adulterers. His murder conviction was reduced to 10 years in prison on appeal in 2007 but his sentence of stoning for adultery was upheld by another court of appeal. The court decided to review his case and has not yet delivered its final verdict.

ALGERIA: Prime Minister announces the lifting of emergency rule by the end of February

Algerian Prime Minister and Secretary General of the National Democratic Rally (RND, Liberal) Ahmed Ouyahia announced Wednesday in Algiers in late February before the lifting of the state of emergency in force for 19 years.

"The lifting of emergency rule take place before the end of this month along with the announcement of several decisions regarding housing, employment and management of the administration," saidOuyahia, quoted by news agency APS, the opening of a meeting of the presidential alliance.

The state of emergency was proclaimed in 1992 at the beginning of the decade of Islamist violence that killed at least 150,000 dead.

Besides the RND, the presidential alliance, created in 2002 to support President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, includes the National Liberation Front (FLN, nationalist) and the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP, Islamist).

She holds an absolute majority in Parliament.

Ouyahia also said that it was "not ignore the events taking place in the Arab and Islamic countries."

He stressed "the need to provide adequate solutions to the problems of Algerian youth."

The announcement of Mr.Ouyahia occurs after an event which was attended by 12 February some 2,000 people in central Algiers.

The marches are banned in the Algerian capital and protesters were prevented from scrolling by deploying some 30,000 police officers.

The opposition in the National Coordination for Change and Democracy (NCCD) has called for a new event for February 19.

This coordination includes opposition parties, the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights and representatives of civil society.

Mr.Bouteflika announced February 3 the lifting of emergency rule "in the very near future" at a Council of Ministers.

He then instructed the government to tackle "without delay" to develop "appropriate texts that will enable the State to continue the fight against terrorism."

EGYPT: Protesters keep up pressure on the army Tahrir Square

Reuters - Thousands of people returned on Tahrir Square in Cairo Sunday when the army tried to disperse demonstrators who have pledged to take the roundabout, the epicenter of the revolution, until the army takes its promises, witnesses said.

"The army and the people are united," "Revolution, revolution until victory", they chanted.Earlier, the head of the military police had called on protesters to dismantle their tents and leave the room to allow life to return to normal.

While military police encircled the demonstrators in the center of the roundabout to avoid disrupting traffic, the protesters were guiding the cars to another end of the square.

The Army tries to restore order

The army, which ensures respect the demands of protesters whose mobilization has brought down the regime of Hosni Mubarak, called on the occupants of the Tahrir Square to return home to allow life to take its course.

In the wake of protests launched January 25, traffic around the roundabout was interrupted on January 28.

"On the square, the square, we demand our rights to the place," had earlier chanted some 2,000 protesters as the army encircled the crowd.

Despite the departure of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, protesters' main demand, some have warned that they would remain Tahrir Square to protect the revolution and put
pressure on the supreme council of the armed forces, which now assumes power.

"The army is the backbone of Egypt. The solution is not to make us leave the place.It must meet our demands, "said a protester in a loudspeaker.

Some protesters, more than 30 leaders of the movement were arrested and taken near the Egyptian Museum, located near the square.

The army, called by Mubarak on January 28 last to come support the police overwhelmed by the situation, has remained generally neutral and withdrawn during the revolution.

"There is no hostility between the people and armed forces. We ask you not to take our son. It is a peaceful demonstration," said one protester.

INTERNET: Syria restores access to Facebook and YouTube

Facebook is back in Syria and the White House was delighted. FRANCE 24 Observers have confirmed that this was the subject of many tweets since Tuesday afternoon after two and a half years of censorship, the Syrians can again log on to Facebook. An adviser to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has even split congratulations to Damascus for this gesture.

But the star network social web, often cited for his alleged role in important events in Tunisia and Egypt, is not the only one to be available again in Syria.YouTube, the online video platform owned by Google, has also resurfaced after many years of enforced absence on the Web Syrian.

Two symbolic gestures that the Syrians were discovered by themselves. Authorities have not actually announced officially the lifting of censorship. "It's an important gesture, but not sufficient for a variety of other sites, less known, continue to be inaccessible," said Bassam al-Kadi, a FRANCE 24 Observer based in Damascus and site manager Syrian Women Observatory .

This is particularly the case for Elaph, the largest online newspaper in the Arab world, or Asharq al-Awsat, one of the most renowned Arabic dailies.The Syrian authorities are not ready to let their people have unlimited access to the global network. Why then this leniency toward Facebook and YouTube?

Less censorship for more control

Several commentators believe that the authorities' decision to Damascene Facebook and YouTube is a gesture of appeasement to the people. It would be better safe than sorry and have reasoned President Bashar el-Assad. "For sure this decision is a direct consequence of events in Egypt and Tunisia", recognizes Nourane Kuli, another Syrian Observer for FRANCE 24.

However, the explanation does not seem satisfactory."In my opinion, the main reasons are that the authorities can better control what is going on these sites and they also realized that censorship was not necessarily effective," said Bassam al-Kadi. Indeed, part of the population - as in Egypt and Tunisia - were already using proven methods to circumvent censorship (proxy, virtual networks, etc.)..

Still, making Facebook accessible to all is not without risk to the Syrian regime, but it is a risk that seems perfectly calculated and controlled. "The situation here is very different from Egypt or Tunisia.The use of the Internet is not the same, there is no real activists on social networks which makes sites like Facebook less useful, "concludes Bassam al-Kadi.

Unemployment has a very slight decrease

AFP - The official unemployment rate in the United States fell to 9% in January, its lowest level since April 2009, despite increased hiring whose mediocre testified Friday the government's monthly report on employment.

A thorough review of data from the Labor Department suggest that still leaves the rally on the employment front is not as good as it seems and that the slowdown in hiring is less serious than it seems.

The figures appear in fact disturbed by bad winter weather that raged in several regions and a change in the sample population used to calculate the unemployment rate.

"In short, none of these figures are reliable," said Ian Shepherdson economist, the research institute HFE.

We must therefore await the numbers and revisions will be published in early March or early April to get a clearer view of the situation.

The White House has also called for "not conclude too much from a single monthly report," even if economic growth strengthens.

Nigel Gault, the firm IHS Global Insight, January figures conceal "an underlying improvement in the labor market buried under snow and ice."

Compared to December, unemployment fell 0.4 percentage points formally, while the median forecast of analysts gave a recovery rate at 9.5%.

The report, however, shows a modest increase in the proportion of active employees, 0.1 percentage points over December, to 58.4%, less than a year earlier (58.5%), when unemployment reached 9 , 7%.

In addition, the net job creation month (36,000) was four times less than expected by analysts, and three times lower than in December.

The private sector, object of attention, appears to have established that 50,000 net jobs.It is his worst since the beginning of the upturn in employment in March, according to new estimates by the ministry.

The survey on employment and those on unemployment are not consistent since it is generally accepted that a minimum of approximately 150,000 net job creation per month is needed to reduce unemployment.

The number of jobs created in January was therefore likely to be revised upwards in a month, tens of thousands of people that the bad weather prevented them from going to work to receive their pay has been is excluded from the calculation of the department.

The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke said Thursday that more than a year and a half after the end of the recession, we still could not consider the economic recovery as "very prepared" because of the slow improving employment.

The country has regained a million jobs over almost 8.7 million officially destroyed from December 2007 to February 2010.

Taking into account, in addition, positions that could not be created because of the crisis, are 11.4 million jobs we need today in the U.S. economy to reduce unemployment to its level before the recession (5.0% in December 2007), calculates Heidi Shirholz, the Economic Policy Institute.

To return to this level in five years, the economy would "create 285,000 jobs a month for 60 months without interruption," she adds, while employment increased by only 93,000 jobs per months on average since March.

EGYPT: The irreducible Tahrir Square are not about to sleep

A few hours after the end of the event that brought together nearly one million Egyptians in Cairo, nearly ten of thousands of protesters are still present on Tahrir Square towards which all eyes converge.

Armed with tents and sleeping bags, hundreds of them, including women and young children, are sleeping on the ground. "I come every day protest last week on this site. Tonight I will sleep here in the middle of my countrymen because it is a memorable day," said Hamdy, an unemployed 49 year old .He said the movement might take a more violent turn on Friday, after prayers, if the will of the people is not heard.

A strong smell of burning from several areas of the vast square, where fires were lit to protect against the cold. But the atmosphere gradually warms to the announcement of the impending speech by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak's voice echoing in the square

It is almost 23 o'clock, when the voice of rai finally resonates through speakers instead and radios made by protesters. In a painful hiss, the voice of rai, so unpopular in those places, however, has been listened gravely.Unsurprisingly, just concluded, the statement raises a very strong backlash.

Some Cairenes, frustrated by the reaction of President Mubarak, kneel and take his head with both hands. Others hide their faces with their flags. Hosni Mubarak, who has held power for 30 years, has announced he will not abandon the presidency before the next presidential election scheduled for September 2011.

Instead, bit busy until then because of the late hour, suddenly caught fire. Spontaneously, protesters come alive to form more compact groups, to better block against the regime. "He does not want to leave, but he will leave. We are left," they cry, unanimous.Later, a group led by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood slogan chanted demanding that Mubarak is "tried and sentenced to death." Alerted by the commotion visible from several kilometers Tahrir, foreign journalists who had deserted the flock up, cameras in hand, to gather initial reactions.

"He does not understand"

Came from Alexandria, to live a "historic day", Rawan, a young student in international business, is struggling to hide his disappointment. "We were millions in the streets today across Egypt to tell him to go, but Mubarak did not understand, he does not listen to the people," she laments.

For his part, Omar despair.This philosophy student fears the effects of the status quo. "If Mubarak persists, demonstrations continue. Our economy and our future will be so threatened," he says. He said the president must withdraw and leave a transitional government amend the constitution and hold a presidential election.

Tomorrow we will be even more

Already, a call for new events is launched. "We'll come back tomorrow, we will remain a week if necessary, or even a year. Mubarak is 30 years remained in power," quips Karim, a hairdresser at home aged 21. His forehead still bears the scars of the violent demonstration on 28 January during which a policeman hit him with a wooden club."I do not want a step backwards, says he visibly upset by the speech. We suffer, we, the poor Egyptians, and we can not get out until this corrupt regime will remain in place. "

Reconstructed as a seller of cigarettes on the sly Tahrir Square, like many Cairenes, Karim invites you to its customers for the next day. "You see, tomorrow we will be even more than today," he said before vanishing into the crowd of demonstrators. Around 3 am, the voices of the protesters were still ringing in the neighborhood of Tahrir Square, which is aptly named because it is the place of the "Liberation".