African Morning News

By RFI:French hit movie, The Artist, could add a coveted Oscar to its string of awards after it earned four nominations in Los Angeles on Tuesday for Best Film, Best Actor for Jean Dujardin, Best Supporting Actress for Bérénice Bejo and Best Director for Michael Hazanavicius. The winners will be announced at the star-studded ceremony on 26 February.The Artist has already been nominated for best film by the Directors Guild of America and won the top prize from the Producers Guild of America last week - both seen as key indicators of Oscar's glory.

By RFI:Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara starts a three-day visit to France on Wednesday. The trip, during which he will sign a security accord with Paris, is seen as marking the end of 10 years of stormy relations with his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo.Ouattara can expect a warm reception from French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée Palace but the high point of the visit will be on Thursday when he will sign a new “defence and security agreement”.It will see France’s military force in Côte d’Ivoire, known as Licorne (Unicorn), reduced to 300 troops, whose official mission will be to train their Ivorian counterparts.

AfricaNews-The Panthers of Gabon and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia opened their Group C matches at the on-going AFCON 2012 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in style. Playing in front of their home crowd and their President and wife, Mr and Mrs Ali Ben Mbongo, the Gabonese led by Pierre-Emirick Aubameyang came into the game with a lot of verve against a modest Mena of Niger.Aubameyang scored the opening goal in the 30th minute, and Stephane N'Guema Ndo got Gabon’s second in the 45th minute. Gabon, who fielded a 5-4-1 formation, with Eric Mouloungui filling the lone striker role, started this game comfortably and took control from the start.

CAIRO,  (Xinhua) -- Egyptian lawmakers elected Mohamed Saad Katatni, secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), as speaker of the new People's Assembly (lower house of parliament) at the first session of the legislature on Monday.Katatni won 399 out of 503 valid votes to defeat three other candidates, announced Mahmoud Sakka, the oldest deputy from Al- Wafd Party who temporarily presided over the first session. The meeting began at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) Monday.

CAIRO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League on Sunday asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy and to set up a national unity government within two months.The initiative, announced after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers, said Assad should transfer power to the country's first vice president with a national unity government to be formed in two months.The pan-Arab body, which also asked the United Nations on Sunday to support its fresh initiative, weighed more on the Syrian government, as analysts said, in a bid to resolve the country's crisis as soon as possible.

Aljazeera-Reports of explosions and gunfire near police station in city where attacks last week killed at least 178 people.Explosions and gunfire were reported early on Tuesday from an area near a police station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, where co-ordinated attacks and gun battles last week killed about 178 people.The AFP news agency reported early on Tuesday that its correspondent heard a series of blasts and gunshots coming from an area where a mobile police headquarters is located. Details were not immediately clear and police were not available for comment.

Aljazeera-Foreign minister says league is implementing a foreign conspiracy, as Gulf states withdraw from observer mission.Syria has accused the Arab League of implementing a foreign conspiracy against the country, after a new initiative by the organisation called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down to end bloodshed in the country.Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign ministry, told a press conference on Tuesday that the Arab proposal was a violation of his country's sovereignty, and attacked the league for its efforts to take its plan to the United Nations.

BBC-At least 13 people have been killed and 62 wounded in four separate car bomb attacks in Shia districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police have said.Eight died when a bomb blew up close to day labourers waiting for jobs in Sadr City. Minutes later, a blast about 3km (1.9 miles) away killed another two.Later, car bombs exploded in Shula and Hurriya, killing three.There has been a rise in attacks in Iraq since US troops left last month, leaving as many as 170 people dead.The violence has come amid a marked deterioration in Iraq's fragile political process, with the country's most prominent Sunni Arab politician being sought by the authorities on terrorism charges.

China is a country hybrid urban and rural, developed and underdeveloped. And its mode of economic production and distribution of food of all kinds of food to weapons, this hybridity is felt. Chinese products in general have a reputation for poor quality. But their prices are often affordable as an economic system known as "dumping." It produces a lot in lower quality and low price. It makes money faster especially in countries, many in low income.
Paradoxically, Chinese products flooding the world: in Italy in Dakar, the United States to South Africa, Thailand to Iran. No country is immune.
For a reason related to the low prices and misleading appearance of quality, people buy.