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Sell ​​"pastissets", these little pastries Spanish with anise, not enough to Rasquera out of the crisis. So, to deal with a debt, 3 million euros and the high unemployment rate that strangle this small Catalan town located 140 km south of Barcelona, ​​the municipality intends to lease the land to grow … cannabis. And it legally.

Although unprecedented, this measure was approved on February 29 by the City Council as part of its "municipal action plan to combat the crisis in 2012". But with the controversy it raises, its adoption has been submitted to a local referendum. The approximately 940 residents of Rasquera are invited to respond, this Tuesday, April 10, the following question: "Do you agree with the anti-crisis plan approved by the municipality plenary session on February 29? "If 75% of voters are in favor of cannabis plants should be planted this summer on these lands Taragone, more traditionally devoted to olive trees, vineyards and herds of goats. An "opportunity" to absorb the debt This is the Barcelona Association of private consumption of cannabis (ABCDA) who in 2011 proposed to the municipality of such Rasquera cultivation. At the time, the organization, which advocates use "fun and therapeutic" of cannabis, is seeking farmland to provide for the consumption of its 5,000 members - a solution limiting, she said, the black market and crime linked to drug trafficking. Affiliated with the separatist party ERC Catalan left, the village mayor, Bernat Pellisa, then see the project in an "opportunity" to exit the village of the doldrums and create jobs. Leasing land for Indian hemp should indeed be ten times greater than land vested in traditional agriculture, he said. If the measure goes ahead, will pay 36,000 euros ABCDA at the signing of the agreement with the municipality of Rasquera and agree to pay 550,000 euros per year from July 2012 to land leasing, administrative costs and legal and security of the site. A sum which should allow the municipality to pay off its debts in two years. Two local public enterprises, serving as intermediaries between landowners and ABCDA, will be created. A security council, composed of firefighters and officials from the Interior Ministry, will also be responsible for verifying compliance with environmental standards and legal. Forty jobs will be created as well as a first step. A center of academic research on cannabis could even see the day Rasquera. In no case is "any advocacy of cannabis or give carte blanche to consumers," but assured Bernat Pellisa 29 February after the city council. The Mayor has already promised to resign if the referendum did not meet the 75% vote in favor. One way to prevent drug trafficking? Still, the municipal opposition, she does not hear things that way. Farnos Bernard, spokesman for the CiU, a federation of Catalan parties of center-right, on Tuesday told the Spanish news site ABC.es: "We hope people will vote and thus they demonstrate that this project is irresponsible. " Spanish police is also on guard. The proposed ABCDA plays, indeed, the ambiguity of the Spanish penal code that allows the private consumption and cultivation of cannabis, but prohibited its commercialization in all its forms. ABCDA in turn ensures that the production will be performed Rasquera intended only for consumption of its members who help fund the project. Problem: the police arrested a manager of the association for drug trafficking, after the discovery of 1, 3 kg of cannabis in the organization's headquarters in Barcelona, ​​for a value of 5400 euros. Catalonian regional police said an investigation had been opened against the structure in 2011 because she was suspected of selling cannabis on their premises. If ABCDA be the victim of police harassment, the current case could dampen the enthusiasm of the inhabitants of Rasquera asked to vote on Tuesday. However, if they ratify the project, the town will become the largest producer of cannabis legal in Europe.

(Photo taken from the main Twitter account @ siwaralassad)

While his cousin, the head of Syria, in the blood suppresses the rebellion for over a year in his country, he lays a romantic thriller. Siwar al-Assad, the novelist, and Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian head of state, are first cousins: their fathers are brothers.

The novelist, who lives in London, is a son of Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. Exiled to Europe after an attempted coup, Rifaat al-Assad is accused of having participated in the massacre of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Hama in 1982.

But Siwar al-Assad seems of different stuff. At 36, the manager of a chain of satellite TV based in London, Al-Alamia, published his first novel in French "Lost At Heart" (ed. Ink East). The story is that a UN employee who is investigating the conditions of his heart transplant in adolescence. The character at the same time trying to console a broken heart and break a crime committed by his father.

"The Little Prince"

"Lost At Heart" is a "thriller compact, panting and amazing control for a first novel," said Alfred de Montesquiou who interviewed Siwar al-Assad to Paris Match. The journalist depicts a man "modest, sensitive, almost shy voice" during the interview.

Siwar al-Assad wrote in French, which for him is not only the "language of literature," but "also a more personal language, that [he] started to learn when going into exile in Switzerland, at age 8, by reading 'The Little Prince "by Saint-Exupery. Siwar al-Assad of Syria has left child, after the attempted coup of his father in 1982.

Law degree from the University of Paris-Sorbonne, Siwar al-Assad now heads Al-Alamia, a television channel that broadcasts entertainment and cultural programs in Arabic and in English. Its ties with Syria? "Bashar may well be my cousin, I have met only once in my life by chance. And I only went once in Syria this year, in May, "says he in Paris Match.

're Not going to see in this novel a door into the secret of the Assad family. The author admits, however, have "erased all the scenes that were happening in the Middle East" to avoid that "one can try to make a connection between me and the tragic events that through Syria for a year. "

Careful, it is not coincidence between the character of the father in the novel, a perpetrator to be elucidated, and the crimes is accused his own father, Rifaat al- Assad. "I never enquêterai on my father, it's not for me to do. Hama was there thirty years. If my father was really guilty, they would have charged for a long time, "said he in an interview with Paris Match. And the author eventually let go: "In writing my novel, I did not think me or my family. If some elements are similar, it is the unconscious … "

AFP - Talks between Iran and major powers on the controversial Iranian nuclear program resume Saturday in Istanbul, on a pessimistic note.

Iran said it was "disappointing" the attitude of Westerners, and the United States has raised its voice, calling on Tehran to show "serious".

The Western position "does not see the point to hope for" progress in these talks, told AFP on Friday a source close to the Iranian delegation, describing the attitude of the West "disheartening and disappointing."  

"We want an environment in which the Iranian government can demonstrate its seriousness and willingness to pursue serious negotiations," replied the deputy security advisor ; National White House, Ben Rhodes.

These discussions bring together the group "5 +1", the five permanent members of UN Security over Germany, and Iran. The previous talks in January 2011, in the same city of Istanbul, had been a failure.

The West suspects Iran prepare a nuclear weapon under cover of a civilian program, something Tehran strongly denies.  

The American press has reported in recent days for Westerners to ask Iran to stop enrichment to 20% of its uranium stocks, sending the e ; these stocks enriched abroad at that rate (estimated at 110 kilos), and close its underground plant Fordo (center), which ensures that enrichment.

Westerners believe that if Iran decides to build nuclear weapons, it could fairly quickly reconfigure the centrifuges Fordo, reaching 90% enrichment required.

Iran seeks to turn the lifting of international sanctions and EU and considers uranium enrichment as a "right" indisputable.

Ofer Bronstein is a veteran of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Former advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Fuad Ben Eliezer Labor at the time of negotiation of the Oslo Accords, he was part of the Israeli delegation during their signature at Washington in 1993. Bronstein was born in Israel and lives in Paris. He has a special feature with dual Israeli and French citizenship, he also holds a diplomatic passport given to it by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in person. The document is largely ceremonial but there Bronstein gives a symbolic importance.

He was invited to the first congress of "French Friends of Israel" held Tuesday, April 3 in the Parisian theater of Mutuality, at the initiative of groups of France-Israel Parliamentary Friendship in the National Assembly and Senate, with support from the France-Israel Foundation and the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF). 

Upon his arrival, he is attacked by a dozen activists of the Jewish Defence League who beat the face, the deal of "murderer", its proximity to accuse him that he & rsquo ; they call "the Doctor Abbas Holocaust denial", and summoned him to "leave France" even seeming to attribute some responsibility for the killings of the e Jewish School of Toulouse.

The incident occurred in front of numerous representatives of the Jewish community, the CRIF, which did not react. Bronstein is then asked to leave the gathering by the stewards.

He now describes himself "deeply shocked by the violence of a tiny group that claims to extremist movements banned in Israel because of their positions openly racist, but even more by the absence reactions of officials present, "seeing" a new ominous sign of radicalization. " He claims to be the third time the threat of Jewish Defence League (JDL) and instructed his lawyer to file a complaint.

Many French politicians of both left and right spoke at the event, including Alain Juppe, foreign minister.

Some participants report that the minister was booed when he criticized the "colonization" by Israel and the West Bank said they then heard slogans in support of Marine Le Pen, without being able to identify pre precisely their origin.

Reached by France 24 on Friday, the secretary general of the CRIF, Haim Musicant, "condemns this incident," adding, "this is not the JDL to decide who should enter or not into this kind of meeting. " 

Credit: International Forum for Peace.

AFP - Saturday Mediapart published a document attributed to a former Libyan dignitary saying the regime of Muammar Gaddafi had agreed in 2006 to fund up to "50 million" pre-campaign ; Presidential Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007.

In this document in Arabic, signed by Musa Kusa, former head of intelligence services outside Libya, now in exile, it is reported an "agreement in principle" for " ; support the campaign of presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, for an amount valued at fifty million euros ". March 12, Mr. Sarkozy had described as "grotesque" possible funding of his presidential campaign in 2007 by Muammar Gaddafi.

In this note, surrounded by a green frame, written in Arabic and translated by Mediapart, Mr. Koussa confirms a "tentative agreement" on the "instructions issued by the liaison office of the General People's Committee for approval to support the candidate's campaign for election pre ; dential, Nicolas Sarkozy, for an amount valued at fifty million euros ". Mr. Koussa was Foreign Minister of Muammar Qaddafi, before his defection and his departure for Europe. He added that this agreement is consequent to the "Minutes of the meeting held on 6/10/2006, attended on our side the Director of Libyan intelligence (Abdallah Senussi, ed) and President of Libyan African investment fund (Bashir Saleh, ed), and the French side and Mr. Brice Hortefeux Ziad Takieddine ". The lawyer Ziad Takieddine, cited by Mediapart, said his client "does not e ; silent not present at the meeting indicated in the document "but that" it believes that this document is credible, given the date and the people who appear ".

Good news for "Bourbon fans": the last adventure of Bourbon Kid, "The Book of Death" (Sonatine), thriller cult became an anonymous author, whose first three volumes were sold 330,000 copies, released in a world premiere in France on April 26.

Pulled 25,000 copies, this crazy thriller released in France even before Britain where lives his mysterious author, who intends to "thank his readers for their French loyalty, "said Livres Hebdo.

"The book of death" closes the saga of hallucinatory adventures of serial killer Bourbon Kid, which operates in the imaginary South American city of Santa Mondega, mark thugs, formidable villains, vampires and werewolves. 

The three previous volumes totaled 330,000 sales in France, including 90,000 in large format and 160,000 in the pocket first, "the unnamed book," the magazine.

Bourbon Kid, whose saga began on the internet in 2007, has a Facebook page, Twitter account, a fan club, blogs devoted to it, derivatives bearing his image started by a small company, Soybean Films, who prepares a clip on the 4th Volume.

After "The book unnamed" in 2010, Mr. Anonymous - who writes in English - released "The Eye of the Moon" and "The Devil's graveyard", published in France in 2011 Sonatine Editions, who swear not know the identity of the novelist. 

Who is behind this enigmatic author? A stranger, a famous artist, a famous writer?

Right out of the "Book unnamed", Internet users have made Paris more or less crazy about the identity of this Machiavellian novelist: Quentin Tarantino, David Bowie, Tony Blair, Prince Charles …

Hollywood did not wait. Producer Don Murphy has acquired the film rights of the "Book without a name".

"All publishers that I had contacted had refused my first manuscript," Mr. Anonymous explained in an interview in writing to The Express in 2011. "It took me a few chapters on the internet and the proposed purchase online. It sold 34 copies in the first month, then word-of-mouth has bled away sales. "

("The Book of Death" - Anonymous - translated from English by Diniz Galhos - Sonatine Editions - 400 p. - 21 euros - Released April 26)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran to know what attitude to adopt vis-à-vis its opponents. He also asked to "tighten the noose security" around the city of Homs and also kept informed of the presence of foreign journalists in the district of Baba Amr, a time in the hands of insurgents. He downloaded pieces of British and American pop music while controlling a bulletproof vest, while his wife exchanged Louboutin shoes on the Internet with a friend and asked a Lebanese friend of bring him the DVD of the second part of the movie "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

These various information has filtered through some 3,000 emails, dating from June 2011 to February 2012, which would come from personal mailboxes of Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma al-Assad. They were intercepted by opponents of Syrian and forwarded to the Guardian. The British newspaper published excerpts in the evening of March 14.

The variety of information collected openly revealed the discrepancy between the couple's lavish lifestyle al-Assad in Damascus - the first lady has spent tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry, chandeliers and curtains on the websites of the chic boutiques of London's Chelsea - and the chaotic situation in the country. Restrictions of food and oil, imposed on Syrians seem far from the concerns of the presidential palace. This gap as it appears through the electronic trading has not prevented the media adviser to President Bashar al-Assad to recommend to insist, in his speech of de ; last December, the fact that "the president lives the same life as the people and sympathized with his sufferings."

This reveals that the same mail communications adviser urged the President to deliver a speech "powerful and violent," to disclose details of military capabilities the country to impress the people, and build on the Islamic fervor of the Syrians.

The information contained in this correspondence does reveal, however, no state secret. They suggest, however, read some funny exchanges between the president and his wife. Asma al-Assad would have written, for example, in December 2011 as observers of the Arab League were in Homs to see the extent of repression: "If we are stronger together we will overcome all … I love you … ".

For his part, Bashar al-Assad had sent his wife a Blake Shelton song which begins: "My heart is broken, I messed up everything, the person I've been lately is not one I would like to be. " Maneuver or self-deprecating charm to his wife, whom he met while studying in London? The irony is however indisputable when sending to one of his closest advisers a humorous video depicting, by means of a small car and cookie, how the Syrian regime has hidden his tanks to observers of the Arab League (see below).

To prove the authenticity of this series of emails, the newspaper The Guardian reports have come into contact with ten foreign interlocutors have exchanged messages with the Syrian leader and his wife via these mailboxes (sam@alshahba.com ak@alshahba.com for President and for his wife).

Read the entire record in the Guardian here: http://www.guardian.co.fr / world / assad-mails

AFP-A attack, the third in two days, Sunday was the victims in Aleppo, on the eve of the shipment to Syria of experts appointed by Kofi Annan to negotiate the establishment of an observer mission to end the violence that, according to an NGO, more than 9,000 deaths in one year.

The attack in Aleppo (north), the second of its kind in this city recently won by the anti-regime protest started a year ago in Syria, came a day after two bombings attributed s by the authorities to "terrorists" who have left dozens dead and wounded in Damascus. 

"The suicide car piégéea held in the district of Aleppo Souleimanyieh near the headquarters of the security policy" causing deaths and injuries, said ; Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH), while state television has evoked an explosion "terrorist" in this neighborhood.

In the capital, dozens of Syrians gathered in the neighborhood of Qassaa, in memory of the victims killed yesterday, accusing the leaders of Qatar and Saudi support for arming the rebels, ê ; be responsible for "blood flowing" in the country.

According to state television, funerals began early Sunday afternoon in a mosquéed Damascus. 

"We reject the liberty that we want to bring Hamad (Ben Jassem Al-Thani, Qatari Prime Minister), the Gulf and Saudi Arabia", told state television a inhabitant of Qassaa home to many Christians.

"They failed because Muslims and Christians are united," shouted another, who accused the Arab satellite channels of inciting violence in Syria.

"We tell Hamad our morale high, Hamad is shaped by the United States and Israel," added another resident.

The official Syrian press has started to turn an attack against these two countries. 

"Terrorism and Hamad (Saudi King Abdallah) al-Saud is not the first one, the crime of blood from their resentment, we already know (…) we heard their calls and their incentives, "the official newspaper did Saura.

"The Syrians, who died through the fault of the oil monarchies and emirs of betrayal, not forgive. Our blood flowing every day contains a message, that message must be sent in the right direction, "warned the newspaper.

Have Saoura then denounced "the dens, advice and thrones that bring death and destruction in our cities and our homes," referring particularly to the Syrian National Council (CNS, opposition) and the Gulf monarchies.

Saturday, an Arab diplomat had told AFP that Riyadh acheminait, via Jordan, military equipment to equip the Syrian army deserters free (ASL), an information " categorically denied "by Jordan. 

Moreover, the official SANA news agency, reported Saturday the death of two "terrorists" killed in the explosion of car bomb in the camp of Palestinian refugees Yarmouk, on the southern outskirts of Damascus.

In Geneva, the UN envoy and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, "decided to send a mission to Damascus to discuss the modalities of a mechanism observation and other practical steps to set up (…) some of his proposals, including an immediate end to violence and killings, "said Ahmed Fawzi, spokesman Mr. Annan.

These experts will start Monday in Geneva and New York to join Syria, he said.

The UN must also participate this weekend in a mission to assess humanitarian needs in Syria under the leadership of the government.

On the ground, abuses by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad against militants and civilians continued Sunday with an assault on a town in the Province of Idleb (northwest), where four soldiers were killed, according to OSDH.

In the capital, security officials and Chabbiha (militias loyal to the regime) were forcibly dispersed a demonstration organized by the Coordinating Committee for Democratic National Change (CCCND, Opposition). The opponent Mohammad Sayed Rassass "was beaten and arrested along with several young," said the OSDH.

In addition, one civilian was killed in Deraa, cradle of the protest in the South.

Moreover, cities and Atareb Aazaz were bombed since dawn, according to Mohammad al-Halabi, a spokesman for the local committees of militants in the region of Aleppo.

"The city of Atareb, on the border of the province of Idleb is subjected to bombardment for 33 days because the regime is trying to take control of the region 'Idleb, "he said, contacted by AFP via Skype. 

The city of Aazaz, also bombed, "represents a strategic challenge because, due to its proximity to the Turkish border, many injured civilians and deserters transiting, "he said.

Some 200 Syrians crossed the Turkish border on Saturday to flee the violence in their country, bringing to 15,900 the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey, reported Sunday the Turkish news agency Anatolia.

The violence has done since March 15, 2011, according to OSDH, more than 9,000 dead in Syria, shaken by an unprecedented revolt.

AFP - The Assize Court of Paris delivered Wednesday acquitted and five sentences of 4 to 8 years in prison in the trial of six Somalis tried for the hostage-taking of the yacht Carré d'As in 2008 in the Gulf Aden.

These penalties are much lower than 6 to 16 years in prison, which had been requested by the prosecution, deemed "particularly serious" by the defense who had pleaded for the acquittal of two defendants and for other extenuating circumstances.

Lawyers and defendants are mostly congratulated the announcement of the verdict."Thanks," he said in French, before issuing a desire to shake hands with the former hostages.

Jean-Yves Delanne, 63 years old salt known as "Captain Haddock", and his wife Bernadette, who reside in Polynesia, had then welcomed the six men, wishing them "good luck".

In their first statement, the couple Delanne were surprised by their humanity with regard to these six young Somalis, according to their statements, they had not ever disrespect.

The former hostages had nevertheless straightforwardly explained the facts, the roles of each other, situations, fear of Mrs. Delanne and "rants" of her husband.

AFP - The U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing won an order Sunday unprecedented 50 long-haul 777 to $ 18 billion of the Emirates, the opening of the Dubai Airshow.

At the same time the United Arab Emirates did raise the stakes in their negotiations with the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault to buy 60 Rafale combat aircraft by opposing the Eurofighter built by a European consortium.

Emirates Airlines has ordered 50 Boeing 777-300 ER, said its CEO, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, during a press conference.The list price of the 777-300 ER is 284 million.

Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East and one of the carriers whose growth is fastest in the world, has a fleet of 160 aircraft and a backlog of nearly 200 aircraft.

Sheikh Maktoum also announced it has taken an option on twenty additional units, if it occurs one day, bring eight billion euros of additional Boeing.