Standard loan agreement

Over 10,000 people still missing in Japan
A man checks lists of evacuees at an evacuation center near a devastated area hit by massive earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan a week earlier, in Rikuzentakata. According to the latest toll, 6.400 people were found dead and 10.260 are missing. REUTERS/Kim Kyung Hoon Copyright © 2011 euronews

Opposition MP hospitalised by police in Algiers
Reports suggest that police have adopted aggressive tactics against protesters in Algiers According to eyewitnesses RCD opposition deputy, Tahar Besbes, has been hospitalised after being beaten up by police earlier. Boubakeur Derguini is an RCD MP he saw the incident: “He has been brutally assaulted by the security services, by a police officer. He was punched in the face, stunned on the spot, he lost consciousness. euronews: “Do you think the police have been heavy handed with the demonstrators?” Boubakeur Derguini: “ Definitely, police violence is up a notch. The more the people mobilise, like ourselves in the National Coordination for Change and Democracy, the more the security services seem bent on violence, they are carrying out orders: euronews : Mr Darguini, do you think that ordinary Algerians are losing interest in the protests? Boubakeur Darguini: “You have plain clothes police officers breaking up groups of over 3 people. No…Algerians are not losing interest. The police surrounded the square,so we moved to the next street, for me there are more people protesting today than one week ago.” Boubaker Derguini: “You have plainclothes police who dispersed groups that exceed the 3 people. So there’s no slowing in the mobilization . Today, even if the grid instead of May 1, protesters stormed the next street. visisblement And look like is more important than the last time Copyright © 2011 euronews

Moroccans call for change
With Morocco becoming the latest country to experience protests in its streets, at least 4,000 people turned out in the capital Rabat on Sunday calling for King Mohammed to give up some of his powers. Along with constitutional reforms, they want political prisoners released and a clamp down on government corruption. But there’s still general support for the royal family. One pro-democracy demonstrator said: “Today we are here to say that we are all Moroccans, we love our country, we love our king, but we are against corruption and economic and political monopoly.” Smaller protests were also held in Marrakesh and Casablanca; a group calling itself the February 20 Movement for Change was one of the organisers of the marches. Over the next few days the group says it plans to hold daily sit-ins in strategic areas. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Libya’s UN ambassador calls for tough sanctions
The UN Security Council has rarely seen anything like it, with hugs and embraces after an impassioned speech. The emotional address reduced its speaker, Libya’s UN ambassador, to tears as he denounced the man he called his friend and his brother. He said he initially “could not believe” Muammar Gaddafi’s troops were firing on protesters and called on sanctions now to be imposed. “Please United Nations, save Libya,” urged Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham. “No to bloodshed. No to the killing of innocents. We want a decisive, rapid and a courageous resolution from you.” His defection follows that of his deputy earlier this week as diplomatic activity increases against the Libyan leader. A vote on sanctions that calls on the International Criminal Court to investigate violence in Libya will be decided by the Security Council later today. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Obama attacks Iran over protest crackdown
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday condemned Iran’s crackdown on opposition protesters, urging Tehran to allow peaceful demonstrations. Obama told reporters in Washington that he supported the protesters’ push for democratic reforms and “their yearning for greater freedoms.” “(The Iranian) people should be able to express their opinions and their grievances and seek a more responsive government,” he said. “My hope and expectation is that we are going to continue to see the people of Iran have the courage to be able to express their yearning for greater freedoms and a more representative government.” But Obama, who has led international efforts to impose sanctions on Tehran because of its nuclear program, insisted the United States “cannot ultimately dictate what happens inside of Iran.” Copyright © 2011 euronews

Germany’s ‘cut and paste’ minister drops PhD
Germany’s beleaguered Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg temporarily dropped his PhD title on Friday amid claims of plagiarism. German media outlets have come forward with parts of the thesis which they say are of questionable origin, but zu Guttenberg denies deliberately copying parts of his law dissertation. He cancelled a key election rally in Saxony-Anhalt on Thursday but this morning he defended his actions. “Without question, it (the thesis) contains mistakes. And I am the most unhappy person for every single one of these mistakes,” zu Guttenberg told reporters in Berlin. “At no time, however, has there been a deliberate deception. Neither has there been a case where I deliberately did not mark the copyright.” In a recent poll, zu Guttenberg ranked as the country’s most popular politician. The aristocrat with a pop-star image has emerged unscathed from a number of setbacks over his handling of military affairs, including the death of a cadet aboard a naval training ship. This scandal, however, may cost him his job with the opposition leading calls for him to step down. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Merkel party retains German state but battle looms
Germany’s ruling conservatives are celebrating success in provincial elections but a tougher test lies ahead next week. The CDU emerged strongest in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its governing coalition there with the Social Democrats, the SPD, looks set to be renewed. That likelihood was confirmed by Sigmar Gabriel, the national leader of the left-of-centre SPD, which only managed third place in the poll. The runner-up was the far-left political movement Die Linke. Its candidate Wulf Gallert hopes the Social Democrats will join forces with his Left Party to run Saxony-Anhalt. For Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, it is so far so good, but the party risks suffering a major setback next weekend in the much bigger state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Seeing is believing: DIY glasses bring sight to thousands
These people in Malawi are queuing up to try on glasses that they can adjust themselves to suit their own eyesight. This means there is no need to see an optician. Copyright © 2011 euronews