COTE D'IVOIRE: the pro-Ouattara control the last bastion of pro-Gbagbo in Abidjan

AFP - Yopougon in the west of Abidjan, the last stronghold of militiamen loyal to ousted President Laurent Gbagbo, is now entirely under the control of the forces of the new leader Alassane Ouattara of State, announced late Wednesday authorities Ivorian.

"This is the only sector that remains (to be conquered, Ed) and the whole area is now permanently occupied by us," said the Ivorian television TCI commander Cherif Ousmane, operations officer in the military republican Coast Ivory (FRCI).

Yopougon was the last neighborhood that escaped the control of the forces of the new power.Militiamen loyal to Laurent Gbagbo made it their stronghold and fought again in the morning in the area of ​​the naval base in southeastern district, bordering the lagoon.

Guillaume Soro on site

Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Guillaume Soro, visited the premises in the afternoon.

"I saw the streets littered with corpses. Militiamen At HQ, we saw a makeshift cemetery. I guess all the abuses that have occurred. I'm still in shock from all the dead, all dead," he said on the TCI.

"The militiamen executed civilians, if you had a name that was not correct. I find this unacceptable," he said.

"Everything Yopougon throughout Abidjan must be secure.I count on you, "Guillaume Soro launched his troops.

AFP journalists accompanying a team from the Ivorian Red Cross noted Wednesday that dozens of bodies, riddled with bullets and burned or reduced to skeletons, littered the streets of several areas of this vast neighborhood of more than one million inhabitants.

Corpses and mass graves

Mass graves contained the bodies of residents killed by militiamen, according to testimony gathered by residents told AFP.Of half-naked body lying on the ground: the militia for some residents, neighborhood youth killed by FRCI according to others.

In two days, the bodies of more than 60 people killed in recent violence have been recovered by the team of the Red Cross.

The area was Wednesday unrecognizable stalls that have not been looted and burned retain their iron curtain fell, garbage are collected over a long time. Yopougon has nothing to do with Abidjan, where life has returned to normal and it brings back even with the morning traffic jams.

"The mercenaries and pro-Gbagbo militias have been taken out of harm's way (...).Yopougon just been released, "said the captain on the TCI Alla Kouakou Leon, spokesman for the MoD, calling the area" from which fortress had desperately caciques Gbagbo camp.

He also warned against "criminals and bandits" armed and in uniform, who claim to belong to FRCI, ensuring that steps were taken to "neutralize".

President Ouattara, in power since April 11 arrest of Mr.Gbagbo, had threatened on April 22 to "disarm by force" the last remaining armed groups, must not file a "fast" guns.

Three independent international experts, commissioned by the UN to investigate serious violations of human rights allegedly committed in Côte d'Ivoire since the presidential election on Nov. 28, arrived Wednesday in Abidjan and remain in the country until the end of May.

CINEMA: The 64th Cannes Film Festival Unveils Official Selection

Follow the announcement at 11 am on the Twitter account and wire CultureF24 # Cannes2011

AFP - A little less than a month before the opening festivities, the 64th Cannes Film Festival unveiled Thursday at 11:00 the selection of films that will compete for the prestigious Palme d'Or awarded by a jury chaired this year by the American Robert De Niro.

The official selection includes twenty films competing for the Palme, and the twenty works of the Un Certain Regard, chaired by Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica.

Among the possible present, the names rumored breath Danish director Lars Von Trier, the Italian Nani Moretti, the Dardenne brothers, and the French side, Marjan Satrapi, Zem Roschy Mathieu Kassowitz or ...

The selection also includes special screenings, midnight screenings of films shown out of competition.Some have already been released in dribs and drabs by the festival.

"Midnight in Paris", the latest Woody Allen with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, will be screened in the festival's opening on May 11

U.S. director Gus Van Sant's award at Cannes for "Elephant" and "Paranoid Park" will open Un Certain Regard with "Restless". This film explores the relationship of two teenagers, played by Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hooper.

The organizers also announced a special evening will be dedicated May 17 in Jean-Paul Belmondo, in the presence of the actor.The latter, which should be surrounded by his many friends in the cinema, including attending the premiere of the documentary and Jeff Vincent Perrot Domenech "Belmondo, Directions ...".

A Palme d'Honor - awarded to an important director, but never crowned by the festival - will be handed to the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci at the opening ceremony.

French actress Mélanie Laurent officiate as Master of Ceremonies for the evening and for the closing ceremony on May 22

RUGBY - SIX NATIONS TOURNAMENT: France enters into a disastrous tournament on a high note

AFP - England won the Six Nations rugby despite defeat (8-24) in Ireland after victory (28-9) XV de France against Wales (halftime: 11-6 ), Saturday at the Stade de France during the 5th and final day.

The British, who had not won the event since 2003, however, have missed the Grand Slam after their defeat Saturday in Dublin.

The XV de la Rose, which was thus raised Bookmark nations of the Northern Hemisphere for the World 2011 in New Zealand (September 9 to October 23), ahead of France (2nd), Ireland (3rd ), Wales (4th), Scotland (5th) and Italy (6th) after the defeat (8-21) Saturday at Edinburgh Italians.

The French led 11-6 at the break thanks to an essay by Lionel Nallet and two penalties from Morgan Parra, against one for James Hook. The Welsh fly-half added three points after the break before lining Nallet on a new ball recovery.

Parra transformed and added a penalty to respond to that success by Hook few minutes earlier. The temporary exclusion of the opener facilitated the task of the French who added a third try by Vincent Clerc, transformed by Parra.

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".