EGYPT – REPORT: In pictures: Bibles burned and charred walls of a Coptic church in Giza

 

Lost at the end of a dusty alley of Giza, the Coptic church Kordossa neighborhood seems strangely quiet Sunday, August 18, a few hours of Sunday mass. Simply push the heavy iron gate in a painting depicting the Archangel Michael to enter any anxiety that plagues the Christian minority in Egypt since the crushing of protests conducive to Islamist ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The church is more than an empty shell, with arches and blackened ceiling show a violent fire. Some benches half charred were pushed into a corner of the building, the remains of religious robes and Arabic-language Bibles are visible among the ashes. The caretaker of the church, Reda Abdallah, shows team FRANCE 24 the extent of damage and returns to the course of the attack, which occurred on Aug. 14 , t last, at the same time gave the Egyptian forces storm the main camp to the pro-Morsi Rabaa mosque in Cairo.

"Islamiya, Islamiya" "We first heard the cries out … The cries of an angry crowd chanting" Islamiya, Islamiya! ' and chanting slogans against our pope [the Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II] and General Al-Sissi. There were about a thousand people, mostly young people from 20 to 25 years, but also some older people. Many of them were armed with sticks and knives, they came here directly after ransacked the local police, "recalls Reda Abdallah.

Faced with this hysterical crowd, the keeper had no choice but to escape through the back door. The locks of the outer portal did not take long face the attackers. Between 16:30 and 18 pm, they have methodically vandalized the entire site, setting fire to the church and the adjoining room parties, while scoring Islamist slogans on the walls outside. Three people were injured in the attack. Not a police officer came to investigate on the spot

The young Coptic Korollos Khalil attended the scene from the roof of his house, which adjoins one of the buildings burned. He also reviews the way his father was busy frantically to water the inside wall of the housing to prevent it from catching fire in turn. "I could not even touch the wall with my hand it was so hot!" Exclaims the child of eight years, still shocked by the violence of the attack.

His parents tried to alert the authorities. In vain.

"My husband and I called the police a hundred times. Sometimes the police said they were coming … but they never came, "says the mother of Korollos Khalil. The caretaker of the church confirmed that no police officer has visited the site to investigate between the date of the attack on 14 August, and the arrival of the team of FRANCE 24 , Aug. 18.

Abandoned to their fate, the Coptic Kordossa could not count on the solidarity of the immediate vicinity – predominantly Muslim. Elsam Ahmed, who lives 20 meters from the church, said he received two wounded Copts home. The man of fifty years described the attackers as "addicts, lowlifes, thieves took away fridges and everything they could find."

Despite the vocal support of the Patriarch Tawadros II General Al-Sissi, the Coptic Kerdassa fear being released by the police in the event of another attack pro-Morsi. "We are afraid for our children, our fate is in God's hands," says Reda Abdallah with a resigned air.

Detroit is the largest American city to go bankrupt

 

Last act of the agony of the "Motor City". The city of Detroit, the birthplace of the American automobile industry, declared Thursday, July 18 bankrupt – the largest bankruptcy of a city in the history of the United States . The debt of the largest city in Michigan is estimated at 18.5 billion dollars (14 billion euros)! Governor Snyder has found that there was no other solution.

"I take this difficult decision so that the people of Detroit have access to basic public services and for Detroit to start over on a solid financial foundation that will allow it to grow the future, "said Rick Snyder, Governor of the State of Michigan, in a statement.

Before Detroit, major cities such as New York, Cleveland and Philadelphia found themselves on the brink of bankruptcy, but Detroit is the first American city to officially seek the protection of bankruptcy. 

U.S. President Barack Obama told by a spokesman for the White House that he was following the situation closely. But, unlike what happened with the great crisis of 2008, during which the federal government decided to bail out manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler , with billions of dollars, the president did not promise this time.

Detroit was once synonymous with industrial know-how. The giants of the automobile industry had developed from 1941 to 1945 to produce tanks, planes and ammunition, which had earned the city the nickname "arsenal of democracy" ,. Now synonymous with decline, ruin, crime, the city has seen its population melt gradually from 1.8 million in 1950 to 700,000 today. Now a third of the population lives in poverty and 20% are unemployed.

City destroyed

The loss of manufacturing jobs, the exodus of white residents to the suburbs, which accelerated after the race riots of the 60s, have left the city devastated. Today, Detroit has more than two for active retirees. With a quarter of abandoned buildings in some areas, no other American city has focused more heavily the burden of de-industrialization.

In addition, the city was rocked by corruption scandals over the years. Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit and ex-rising star of the Democratic Party, is in prison after being convicted of several corruption, including rigging bids, then his tenure.

The murder rate is at its highest level in nearly 40 years, only one third of the ambulance fleet was commissioned in the first quarter of 2013, and some 78,000 abandoned buildings in the city created , ent "problems additional public safety and reduce the quality of life in the city," said Michigan Governor in his letter.

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Crash in San Francisco: a third victim has died

 

A third person, injured July 6 in the crash of Asiana flight 214 to San Francisco, succumbed to his injuries, said Friday the San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH).

The victim, a "minor" whose condition was "critical" for a week, died Friday morning, said in a statement setting .

His death adds to those of two Chinese girls, declared dead the day of the crash.

"A minor who was injured in the crash of Asiana Airlines died this morning. This is a girl who was in critical condition and died of his injuries, "said the hospital.

"Parents have asked us not to give additional information (on the victim) for the moment," added the facility.

Two injured treated SFGH, which hosted the largest number of injuries after the accident, are still in critical condition.

The first results of the investigation into the cause of the crash, led by the U.S. Agency Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), indicate that the aircraft was much too slow and too low in its approach to the runway.

The tail section broke off after hitting a dike separating the trail of a body of water. The plane then crashed into the stomach, before catching fire.

The pilot of the plane, which was being qualified on the Boeing 777 co-pilot and his instructor, which was the first flight as a trainer, have started talking among themselves low speed of the aircraft at the last minute, less than ten seconds before the crash, according to conversations recorded by the black boxes.

The Asiana Airlines flight 214, the second South Korean company, was carrying 307 people, 123 of which are from the accident unscathed.

AFP

EGYPT: Cairo foiled attacks against France and the United States

 

A source close to Al-Qaeda cell dismantled last weekend in Egypt, preparing for suicide car bomb against the embassies of France and United States in Cairo for "protest against the military intervention of France in Mali", reported Wednesday's national news agency MENA, quoting sources close to the investigation.

Saturday, Egyptian authorities announced the arrest of three Egyptian militants close to al-Qaeda. The defendants were in possession of 10 kg of aluminum nitrate, used to make bombs, had said the interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, during a press conference at Cairo without specifying the nationality of suspects. The official MENA news agency had in turn assured that the suspects were Egyptians.

According to the survey of the security services, the three members of the arrested cells are part of the prisoners who escaped detention in the early days of the revolt, in January 2011 , Egypt.

Two of them had been extradited to Algeria and Iran in 2009 and imprisoned in Egypt. The three members of the cell would be recognized in contact with Al-Qaeda but denied planning attacks, according to the findings of the survey cited by Mena.

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Pope Francis wants "to ensure the legal protection of the embryo"

 

Francis asked Pope solemnly Sunday "a legal guarantee of the embryo", "to protect every human being from the first moment of his existence."

At the prayer of the Regina Coeli, the Pope, who had never spoken explicitly of these sensitive subjects, defined as "the defense of the sanctity of human life" as a central theme of "Year of Faith", which will be the center of a ceremony at the Vatican on 15 and 16 June

The Pope greeted the participants in Rome a great popular works from different parishes and "pro-life" members of organizations from several places in Europe.  

Francis, whose conservative positions on these issues we knew when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, was prompted to keep "living everyone's attention on the very important topic of respect life from conception. "

Some 30,000 people (according to the organizers) marched in the morning, starting from the Colosseum to Castel Sant'Angelo, a few meters from the Vatican.

The Pope referred to a collection of signatures currently underway in the Italian parishes to support the initiative "Uno di noi" proposed to the European Union through the motions for life.

He paid tribute to the struggle "to ensure legal protection for the embryo, thus protecting every human being from the first moment of its existence." 

The pope said the Vatican will take place on 15 and 16 June Day "Evangelium Vitae" ("Gospel of Life"), a "special moment for all those who to defending the sacredness of life. " On this occasion, he will celebrate a Mass in St. Peter's Square.

The subject of the defense of life – abortion, euthanasia, bioethics – is highly confrontational between the Catholic Church and the societies of the West.

John Paul II and Benedict XVI had adopted intransigent positions on these "non-negotiable values" that takes positions unambiguously Argentine Pope, who had never expressed directly on these themes since he was elected to the throne of Peter.

For the Church, life is a gift from God, abortion and euthanasia can not be accepted in any way. Differences between theologians then express the position to adopt towards people who use it, many theologians today insisting on an attitude of "mercy."

AFP

FRANCE: deadly collapse of a building in Reims

 

The toll could still rise. The collapse of a portion of a residential building in Reims Sunday left at least two dead and 10 injured after an explosion likely caused by gas, according to several sources.

"There are two dead and 10 wounded," including one in serious condition told AFP firefighters. The prefect of the Marne Michel Bernard, meanwhile, said on BFM-TV antenna that there was "significant debris clearing" implying the number of victims could be revised upwards.

The cause of the accident remains uncertain for now. "The investigation will determine the (…) the assumption is gas, but this is only a hypothesis," insisted the sub-prefect.

The building, which dates from 1960, has a forty apartments, ten have suffered significant damage.

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UNITED STATES: Mark Zuckerberg would like to get involved in politics

 

Mark Zuckerberg decided to throw in the U.S. political arena. According to several Anglo-Saxon media, the young billionaire Facebook founder and director participates in the creation of a Super Pac (committee to influence political decisions on certain topics) multi-business leaders in Silicon Valley.

To go from king of social networks master lobbyist, Mark Zuckerberg seek to equip the Super Pac an envelope of $ 50 million, according to the "Wall Street Journal" Tuesday 26 March. An amount that would be on track to meet with the support of leaders for the small world of new technologies such as Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn professional social network.

Contacted by several American media, Facebook declined to comment on the information. The "Wall Street Journal" as the U.S. site Politico information, believe that Mark Zuckerberg has formalized this initiative in the coming weeks.

A Super Pac exists, the United States, for one or more officially promote very specific themes, unlike lobbies trying to defend corporate interests. The initiative promoted by Mark Zuckerberg within this framework: the first mission of the new political committee is to advocate, support checks in favor of a reform of the procedure naturalization of foreigners.

A traditional workhorse in Silicon Valley. Sector companies seeking new technologies, in fact, constantly attracting foreign talent to stay on top of innovation, said the U.S. site Silicon Valley Business Journal. Brain quest available that may be hindered by the difficulty encountered by some foreigners to get a work visa.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and billionaire right?

According to the British newspaper "Daily Telegraph", which first reported the interest of Mark Zuckerberg for the field of possible policy reform immigration laws would be a first step. The idol of Silicon Valley and his fellow Super Pac would also reform the education system and strengthen support for research.

But, as shown by the presidential campaign of 2012, a Super Pac is often politically colored. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has received substantial financial support from several of them. Does this mean that if Mark Zuckerberg will unveil its political heart beats to the left or right?

Not necessarily because such a committee does not have to show affiliation to one of the two major American parties. Still advisors who have, according to the political website The Hill, was approached to help these entrepreneurs to make their way in Washington are rather arcane connotations right. Two of them, Jon Lerner and Rob Jesmer, are powerbrokers from the right wing of the Republican Party. The third, Joe Lockhart, looks rather to the left as it was one of those responsible for media relations for former President Bill Clinton.

The presence of a majority of advisors would come right, in fact, confirm that the affinities conservative we ready Mark Zuckerberg. In February 2013, the founder of Facebook was organized at his home in California for an evening fundraiser for Chris Christie, the Republican governor of the state of moderate New Jersey.

VATICAN: Pope Meeting between François unique and Benedict XVI in an atmosphere of "family"

 

Ten days after his election, Pope François met Saturday at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, Benedict XVI's predecessor, became "Pope emetic rite "in the wake of the waiver to the papal throne in late February.

The pontiff Argentina, aged 76, arrived shortly before 11:30 (10:30 GMT) by helicopter to the papal summer residence, near the lake of Albano, where he was greeted at the descent of the aircraft by Benedict XVI.  

The two men in white were hugged and then went to pray together in the chapel of the papal palace of the seventeenth century, before a private meeting of three quarters of an hour followed by lunch in pre presence of the two secretaries.

The atmosphere was "family," said the Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi.

When the pope and his predecessor went to the chapel to pray, Benedict XVI presented to Pope Francis kneelers at the altar, the place of honor reserved e to the pontiff, but he declined the offer, said Father Lombardi.

"We are brothers, we pray together," said Francis, faithful to its image of simplicity and humility. 

During their private meeting, the two men have probably talked about the challenges facing the Catholic Church, especially in the wake of the scandal "VatiLeaks" and whose acuity has led Benoy , t XVI, 85, to resign, saying that the state of his forces was no longer compatible with the exercise of its functions.

The last day of his pontificate, February 28, Benedict XVI is committed to evidence of "unconditional submission" to his successor.

He lived in Castel Gandolfo until April, the time to complete the repairs to the Mater Ecclesiae convent, located in the enclave Vatican, where he settled with books and orange. 

The waiver of a previous pontiff, a rare thing, was in December 1294, when Celestine V had decided to abandon the head of the Catholic Church, their silver medal win five months , s he took office, to find his life as a hermit. He died a year and a half later.

But nothing indicates that Celestin had then met his successor, Boniface VIII, which made this meeting in Castel Gandolfo a "first" in the history of the Church.

In 1415, Gregory XII had also resigned under pressure from the Council of Pisa, in order to end the Great Schism, but forced forced departure was more akin to a evidence that a voluntary surrender.

Reuters

GOLF: Ryder Cup: Europe retains his title after a historic rise

AFP

Sunday, September 30, on the path of Medinah Country Club in Illinois, the United States, the European team has retained the Ryder Cup after an incredible comeback. 10-6 led by the Americans at the onset of the last day, the Europeans were able to reverse the situation. They have won six of the first eight meetings to finally win 14.5 points to 13.5. This is the first time in the history of the competition, which takes place every two years, the Old Continent was able to fill such a gap.

The German Martin Kaymer has raised the point of victory by winning against Steve Stricker with a step ahead. "It's indescribable, I was so nervous about both the last three holes. I love it. This is exceptional, "said the golfer.

In the final game of the day, the American champion Tiger Woods missed the opportunity to obtain equality before the Italian Francesco Molinari. The former world number one particular missed a putt on the 18th it was easy and last hole.

Tribute to Severiano Ballesteros

To retain their trophy, Europeans have shown a strong team spirit. Players have especially praised the Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros, who died of cancer in May 2011. During the meetings, they wore a white polo shirt with blue sleeves on the image of Ballesteros during his victory at St Andrews in 1984.

"We wanted to do it for Seve," said the Englishman Luke Donald. "I had no doubt that he was with me today, otherwise I would not have won any match," said teammate Spaniard Sergio Garcia.

The next edition of the Ryder Cup will be held in Scotland in 2014. France will host the competition in 2018 on the Gulf of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

FRANCE 24 with despatches

UNITED STATES: An anti-jihad campaign authorized in the New York subway

 

An advertising campaign comparing radical Islamists to wild will be spread over the walls of the subway in New York on Monday, a conservative blogger who received the endorsement of the American justice system.

"In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel, fight jihad, "reads the provocative posters. The conservative writer Pamela Geller, already known to have militated against an Islamic center to be built near the site of the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been successful U.S. courts to conduct this new campaign.

"Hands tied"

Posters should be put up on the walls of a dozen stations from Monday. Describing the message "insulting" the direction of the New York subway had first refused to exhibit signs of Pamela Geller. But justice has authorized the U.S. saying it was protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion and expression.

"We have their hands tied," said the spokesman Metro New York The Associated Press, adding that the board was now " obliged to publish this campaign. "

It should last a month, at a cost of 6000 dollars per show (about 4600 euros). In San Francisco, the same posters were displayed during a similar campaign in bus, sparking a public backlash. Several posters were vandalized, users replacing the phrase slogan "defeat jihad" by "overcoming racism."

"Islamoréalisme"

Pamela Geller is not his first attempt. Organization, "American Freedom Defense Initiative" (Initiative for American freedom), had already launched an advertising campaign in New York with the slogan: "It is not Islamophobia but the islamoréalisme. "

Pamela Geller has also announced that it would file a complaint against the Washington Metro. The administrative authority for transportation in the U.S. capital has refused to publish the posters when violent protests against anti-Islam video shake the Muslim world.

Considered "the figurehead of the most visible and the most flamboyant of the anti-Muslim" U.S., according to the agency specialized in monitoring extremist groups, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Pamela Geller says she is not worried about re-violence that have claimed the lives of over 30 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.

"I do not intend to sacrifice my freedom just to not offend the savages," she says.