An accident on a carnival float made a couple of dead

At least 16 people were killed in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (southeast) when a high voltage cable was accidentally touched a carnival float, according to local media on Monday, citing emergency services.

The accident occurred late Sunday in the small town of Bandeira do Sul, 5,000 inhabitants, when the cable broke and struck a car carrying an orchestra, according to the websites of newspapers O Globo and Estado de Sao Paulo .

"It was a disaster.There were many people on the float and we do not yet know the exact number of deaths or injuries, serious or light, "he told Globo Jose Balducci, a senior regional health issues.

According to a report of fire at least 12 people died instantly electrocuted.

Emergency services quoted by newspapers ensured that an unspecified number of serious injuries were transported to hospitals in the region.

Brazil prepares for major carnival festivities, which begin this weekend, but many traditional carnival floats roam the streets of the country in the days before the formal period of carnival.

A week ago a young man of 21 years died by falling four meters from the top of a tank on which he danced in a parade in the tourist area of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.

Carnival in Rio has also been threatened this year by an apparently accidental fire that erupted on Feb. 7 City of samba, a set of warehouses and workshops in the port area, destroying tanks and costumes for three nine samba schools taking part in parades on "sambodrome," scheduled this year on 6 and 7 March.

Solidarity with other groups and prices of hard work, the samba schools affected should, however, scroll normally.

Regarded as the greatest show on earth, the Rio carnival attracts hundreds of thousands of Brazilians and tourists and an important source of revenue for the city.

LIBYA: In another speech, Gaddafi accused the insurgents of serving the interests of Bin Laden

AFP - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Thursday in an audio message broadcast on television that the protesters were serving the interests of the leader of al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden, saying in addition not to leave office, it does he said that being moral.

On the tenth day of an unprecedented revolt in the country, Colonel addressed especially to the inhabitants of the city of Zawiyah (60 km west of Tripoli), according to state news agency Jana, "terrorists" several soldiers were slain by the "method (of the former terrorist leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq), Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

"These people have no real claims, their claims are those of bin Laden," said Colonel Gaddafi.

He presented his "condolences to the families of four security forces killed" in Zawiyah. "I wonder if bin Laden will help compensate the families" of victims, he added.

He also accused bin Laden and Al Qaeda to manipulate young people by giving them including "hallucinogenic pills".

"They take advantage of the young age of these people because legally they are not punishable," he said.

He urged residents to stop supporters of the leader of al-Qaeda and to bring him to justice.

To those who call him from power, he has held for 42 years, Colonel Qaddafi said that his power was only moral.

"I have no power to make laws or enforce the law.The Queen of England has no such authority. That is exactly my case, "he said.

"The situation is different from Egypt or Tunisia. Here, the authority is in your hands, hands of the people. You can change the authority as you want," he added.

Colonel Gaddafi came to power by toppling the old King Idris on September 1, 1969. In 1977 he was proclaimed the "Libyan", defining it as a "state of the masses" who rule through popular committees elected and given the single title of "Leader of the Revolution."

"Muammar Gaddafi has no official position he resigned.Muammar Gaddafi is the leader of the revolution is synonymous with sacrifice until the end of days ", he had already said Tuesday during a televised address to the nation.

Ten people were killed and dozens wounded on Thursday in the assault by security forces against Zawiyah, according to a provisional report issued by a Libyan newspaper.

Tuesday in his first public speech since the beginning of the uprising on February 15, the Libyan colonel vowed to punish the protesters in the blood.

Muammar Gaddafi was increasingly isolated on Thursday, faces opposition from the mistress of the country and ordered by the West to stop the bloodshed, saying the international community fear a humanitarian catastrophe due to the exodus.

Opponents seem to control the region from the Egyptian border to the town of Ajdabiya further west, to Tobruk, Derna and Benghazi, the epicenter of protest to 1,000 km east of Tripoli.

At least 300 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces and supporters of the regime according to official sources. But human rights organizations of human rights refer to a higher balance.

LIBYA: New clashes in Benghazi, where dozens of people were killed

AFP - At least 173 people were killed in Libya since the start of the protest on February 15 according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), while the movement of revolt against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in power for nearly 42 years, began Sunday reach Tripoli.

Most victims were killed in Benghazi, the second largest city 1,000 km east of Tripoli, but according to witnesses contacted by AFP, bloody clashes erupted Saturday in Musratha, 200 km east Capital.

Opposition stronghold, Benghazi became the scene of "massacres," said Fathi Terbeel, one of the protest organizers, on Al Jazeera."It looks like a war zone opened between protesters and security forces."

In the Libyan capital, dozens of lawyers have participated in a sit-in protest against repression in court, witnesses and opposition websites. Many residents were food reserves while traders emptied their shops for fear of coming events.

Members of revolutionary committees in plainclothes patrolling the streets of Tripoli, very few moving sometimes in cars without license plates, according to other witnesses.Clashes also took place Sunday at Zaouia, 60 km west of Tripoli, the sources said.

According to the director of HRW's office in London, Tom Porteous, "at least 173" people have been killed since Tuesday. This statement is based on hospital sources in four cities in eastern countries including Benghazi, he said, adding that it was incomplete because a number of communication difficulties in the country.

According to an AFP count compiled from various sources Libyan stock of protest against the regime of Colonel Gaddafi was at least 77 dead, mostly in Benghazi.In this city, thousands of people protested in court, told AFP Mohammed Mughrabi, a lawyer.

Security services, quoted by state news agency Jana reported that clashes were continuing around a barracks in Benghazi, causing deaths and injuries among the attackers and the military. Witnesses said several protesters were killed Saturday in an attempted attack against the barracks.

"We asked the Red Cross to send field hospitals. We can no longer cope," said Mr. Mughrabi."It seems that the Libyan leader has ordered his security forces to end the protests at all costs, and the Libyans are now paying the price with their lives," Amnesty International has denounced.

Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi said Libya was "right to take all measures" to preserve the unity of the country, during a meeting with ambassadors of European Union countries in Tripoli according to the agency Jana.

The Arab League has called for his part in a statement "to cease immediately all acts of violence."The Permanent Representative of Libya to the League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, announced he was resigning to join "the revolution" and to protest against "violence against demonstrators" in his country.

Many western countries were preparing to evacuate their citizens, while Turkey has already repatriated more than 500 people since Saturday, saying some have been targets of violence in Benghazi. According to a union official Tunisian, hundreds of Tunisians have left Libya on Sunday to take refuge in their country and run "a real massacre."

Muammar Gaddafi has made no official statement since the beginning of the movement.Libyan state television announced that Seif al-Islam, a son, would speak Sunday night.

A Musratha third largest city, the police were supported Saturday by "African mercenaries" who "shot (have) on the crowd without distinction", according to testimony consistent.

In addition, a senior Libyan official said Sunday that a "group of Islamic extremists" was holding hostage members of law enforcement and citizens in Al-Baida, in Eastern countries, demanding the lifting of head around it.

Meanwhile, authorities announced they had arrested dozens of Arab nationals belonging to a "network" with a mission to destabilize the country, according to Jana.

According to the Hungarian presidency of the EU, the Libyan authorities have summoned a representative of the EU to threaten to Tripoli to stop its cooperation in the fight against immigration if Europe continues to "encourage" unprecedented events in the countries.

Despite these threats, Europeans strongly condemned the bloody suppression of protests. "We call for restraint, we urge an end to violence and dialogue," said the head of European diplomacy Ashton.

A U.S. customs official gunned down in Monterrey

AFP - A member of the U.S. Agency Customs and immigration (ICE) was gunned down in Mexico Tuesday "in the exercise of his duties" by "unknown assailants" and a second is in a state serious, it was learned from official sources and Mexican American.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said she was "deeply saddened by the news" of the assault by bullets with the two victims were American agents, one of whom subsequently died from his injuries .

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs has "condemned" this act of violence in which "an agency official U.S. Customs and immigraton (ICE) was killed and another injured.

They "have been targeted in the exercise of their functions by unknown assailants while they were driving between Mexico City and Monterrey," Napolitano said, adding that the injured officer "was shot in the arm and leg and is in stable condition. "

"The U.S. agency responsible for law enforcement are working closely with Mexican authorities who are investigating the shooting, to ensure that the perpetrators of this horrendous crime are caught as quickly as possible," adds it.

The shooting occurred in a context of increasing violence in recent days in Mexico, ravaged by war between drug cartels for control of territory and by repression of drug trafficking conducted by the army for four years.

More than 34,600 people died in violence related to drugs since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed the army and federal police to fight cartels.

"Let me be very clear: an act of violence against personnel from ICE, or anyone working for the Department of Homeland Security, is an attack against all those who serve our country and put their lives at risk to our security "Napolitano wrote.

It was unclear Tuesday night whether the two officers had been specifically targeted because they worked for the U.S. government.

EGYPT: The army suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament

Reuters - The Supreme Council of the armed forces to power in Egypt, on Sunday announced the suspension of the Constitution and the dissolution of parliament and outlined a transition timetable in the next six months.

In a statement read on state television, the military, which Hosni Mubarak has entrusted the reins of the country by resigning Friday, also announced the formation
a commission to amend the constitution and whose conclusions will be submitted to a referendum.

They say they will remain in power for a period of six months or until the next legislative and presidential elections."The supreme council of the armed forces manage the affairs of the country for a temporary period of six months or until after elections to upper and lower houses of parliament and a presidential election," say the military in their
statement.

Other decisions announced two days after the start of Hosni Mubarak, the two Houses of Parliament is dissolved and a commission is created to amend certain clauses of the constitution.

The opposition demands include the repeal of Article 76 which regulates drastically candidates in the presidential elections which Hosni Mubarak himself had proposed the cancellation in his final address to the nation on Thursday night.

It would also restrict the number of presidential terms, currently unlimited.

"A victory for the revolution"

The council adds that his military chief, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, will represent Egypt abroad and reaffirmed that Egypt is bound by its international treaties and obligations.

The college emphasizes military organization authorizing it to enact legislation during the transition period.He said that Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, appointed by Hosni
Mubarak in the first days of the dispute, will remain in office until the formation of a new government.

The latter said that the Egyptian military would define the role of Omar Suleiman, who was appointed vice-president Mubarak but whose functions have become uncertain.

In resigning, Friday, Rais has indeed given the power to the supreme council of the armed forces, and the largest entirely clear what the current powers of Suleiman.

For the opponent Ayman Nour, who had dared defy Hosni Mubarak in the presidential election of 2005, these measures should meet the challenge.

"This is a victory for the revolution," he told Reuters after the announcement of the military council.
 

JORDAN: "These accusations against the Queen Rania is also a disavowal of the political class"

"I am closely monitoring developments in Tunisia and pray for stability and peace for his people," twitter January 15 Queen Rania of Jordan. His country has not yet been saved by the protest movement that shook the Arab world, and Queen now finds itself on the frontline. In a statement released earlier this week, 36 individuals belonging to the great Bedouin tribes accuse him of "corruption".They argue, among other things, Rania al-Abdullah, herself of Palestinian origin, have facilitated the granting Jordanian citizenship to 78,000 Palestinians since 2005.

Jordan "will sooner or later the target of an uprising similar to Tunisia and Egypt," say those tribal leaders who want a "trial of the corrupt who have looted the country, whoever they are and whatever are their rank and importance. " "We continue to be loyal to the Hashemite throne, but we believe that King Abdullah II must end the abuse of his wife and family, they continue.Otherwise, the throne will be in danger. "

According Hasni Abidi, specialist and director of the Arab Centre for Studies and Research of the Arab and Mediterranean (CERMAM) in Geneva, Switzerland, these charges reflect, as in other Arab countries, a severe denial of class policy.

FRANCE 24: Tribal leaders are directly Queen Rania of Jordan in their release, accusing him of "corruption". Why is this a turning point in the criticism of the regime?

Hasni Abidi, That queen is referred namely a first in Jordan. So far, no one dared make the slightest criticism or reservation about the conduct of King Abdullah II and his family [the criticism of the royal family can be punished by a sentence of three years in prison, Ed].Recent events in Egypt and Tunisia, where we talked about leaders, their families and the wife of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, have undoubtedly contributed to this red line is crossed into Jordan.

The wife of King Hussein [Queen Noor, Ed], father of Abdallah II, was far behind, while Queen Rania has an important role. It is also visible than was Leila Trabelsi Tunisia, although it is mainly involved in issues related to education or literacy. King Abdullah II wanted to use it to modernize the country's image, and it has worked elsewhere in Europe or the United States. But this has had adverse effects on the domestic scene.There have been many articles on the expensive wardrobe of Queen Rania, its designers, it is part of the Board of the Economic Forum in Davos ... It began to grate on people.

FRANCE 24: The corruption charges against the Queen Rania are credible?

Hasni Abidi: I do not think Rania of Jordan could be accused of corruption because it is not responsible for any economic issue. Within the Royal Palace, close to the king or counselors, who have a say on these topics can benefit. Corruption exists, but not at what took place in Tunisia and Egypt.When he came to power, Abdullah has also conducted an operation "clean hands" in some jurisdictions, to drive out the profiteers.

FRANCE 24: What explains these large tribes also speak today so virulent?

Hasni Abidi: The tribes have an important weight in Jordan, they are the traditional mainstay of the monarchy. The stability of the scheme is based on their loyalty and allegiance and it is very rare that they do act of political revenge. In criticizing the Queen Rania now they criticize the king.

Several factors explain this position. First, the economic and social situation is very bad, Jordan is more related to the global economic situation as Egypt.Political instability is also high, with repeated changes of government. But mostly it sounds like a repudiation of the political class in general, like what is happening in other Arab countries. The tribes expressed their discontent and demand a change.

They may also try to redeem themselves: they have long been taxed to the second column and supporting the royal palace against all odds ...

FRANCE 24: These allegations against the Queen they threaten the future of the scheme?

Hasni Abidi: The Jordanian army is very strong and the system too. Jordan operates a system of fuses, if the discontent is widespread, the king can make a jump, changing government ...There are also many fault lines within the Jordanian society, nearly half the population is of Palestinian origin.This affects the mobilization, the feeling of allegiance to the country is very important and nobody dares to yell too loudly for fear of being labeled a "traitor."

Since the beginning of the protest movement, there have been major changes: Abdullah II appointed a new prime minister, Marouf Bakhit, who was retired [the new government was sworn in on Wednesday, Ed], he announced lower prices of food and fuel while the finances of the state are not looking good [debt represents 60% of GDP and the credit rating agency Moody's has revised the rating of the country from stable to negative Tuesday , Ed]. This reflects the weakness of the regime, but also because it is sensitive to people's demands.This year, for example, neither the king nor the queen Rania not have gone to Davos. The Jordanian regime is more attentive to its population than other Arab regimes.

INDIA: The Indian Navy with 52 prisoners after a raid on a pirate ship

AFP - The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have arrested over 50 people on board a pirate ship, after a shootout Sunday in the Indian Ocean, said the Indian Ministry of Defence.

"There were 52 people in total," he told AFP a spokesman of the Ministry of Defence, MrNambiar, who did not specify the nationality of those arrested or the exact number of pirates among them.

The arrests took place on a Thai fishing boat, caught six months ago off the coast of Somalia, which is presumably the basis for hackers to launch attacks against ships, the ministry said.

Mumbai police will interrogate persons arrested upon arrival in this port city.

Navy and Indian Coast Guard were sent in pursuit of pirates after a Greek-flagged ship had reported being attacked about 100 nautical miles west of Kavaratti, off the Indian state of Kerala ( south-west).

Indian boats chased two boats lighter and faster, which led them to the ship for a base for pirates, the statement said.

"Exchanges of gunfire were brief but decisive. The pirates quickly lost the urge to fight and hoisted the white flag to surrender," the ministry said.

"A group of pirates and crew members held hostage on board the boat were," he said.

Somalia is known to be a base for pirates who roam the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, more and more away from their coasts, seizing ships they hold with their crews for ransom.

THEATER: "MIDInight in Paris" by Woody Allen opening the next Cannes Film Festival

AFP - The latest Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris" including the First Lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will be screened on opening the 64th Cannes Film Festival May 11, organizers announced Wednesday.

"It's Midnight In Paris + +, the new film by Woody Allen will open the Cannes Film Festival May 11 next in the great room light in the presence of the jury chaired by Robert De Niro" the statement said.

The film will be released the same day in theaters in France.

It will be "a priori out of competition, Woody Allen refusing on principle to be included," he told AFP the general delegate Thierry Fremaux Festival, which has still trying to convince him "until the last moment."

The official selection will be announced in mid-April, he said.

"Midnight in Paris + + is a wonderful love letter to Paris," Mr Fremaux said in a statement.

"This is a work in which Woody Allen deepens the questions in his latest film: our relationship to history, art, pleasure and life.For his 41st feature film, he again showed a great inspiration, "he adds.

Furthermore Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who holds is his first movie role, this "romantic comedy," shot last summer in the French capital, met the French actor Marion Cotillard, Lea Seydoux and Gad Elmaleh, and an important distribution International starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates and Adrien Brody.