You may have run across them through the streets of Paris ... They, are the Niqabitch. Two young woman in her twenties who had the idea of shock parade to show their disapproval of the law on banning the full veil in public, adopted by the MPs on September 14.

In an article published Thursday on Rue89, they explained: "To wear the burqa would have been too simple. So we asked ourselves the following question: how would the authorities deal with women wearing a burqa and a Minishort? And to clarify: "We do not seek to attack or degrade the image of Muslim fundamentalists-all the trip. But rather to challenge the elected officials of the Republic who went after the passing of this law that is believed to be largely unconstitutional ... And finally, LOL it is not (funny) to denounce (this way)? "

These two activists also point out they do not feel directly concerned by the law, therefore, have marched to the Ministry of Defence or the Socialist Party. Will this cause any reaction in high places? In any case, within hours, their work has spread across the Net like wildfire ... and is indeed a bomb.

France is ready to negotiate with the al-Qaeda-linked group that holds seven hostages in the Sahara desert, Defense Minister Herve Morin said.

“We are waiting for the demands of al-Qaeda in order to discuss” the matter, Morin said in an interview today with Canal-Plus television.

The hostages, five workers from Vinci SA’s Satom subsidiary and one Areva SA employee and his wife, were kidnapped Sept. 16 in Arlit, near a uranium mine in northern Niger, the companies have said. French officials say they think they’ve been moved to somewhere in Mali. Five of the hostages are French, one is Togolese, and one Madagascan.

Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, a terror group that operates in the southern Sahara desert, has issued two statements claiming the kidnapping.

France has sent two reconnaissance aircraft to Niger to help locate the hostages.

“As in all hostage cases, negotiations are complex, they are difficult, they are uncertain,” Morin said. “I am not more optimistic than yesterday, but I’m not more pessimistic either.”

Agence France-Presse reported over the weekend that an unnamed Malian said he’d seen the hostages, and that they are alive.

Taponier (left) and Ghesquière (AFP).

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the new demands made by a Taliban group that is holding captive two French television journalists, Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, translator Mohammed Reza, and the group’s driver. They were taken in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul, in December.
...In a statement on one of their Web sites, the Taliban said they sent the Afghan government a list of detainees whose release they demanded in exchange for the French prisoners. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan submitted a list of very ordinary prisoners to the French government for release in exchange for the two French citizens and their Afghan colleagues. But the French government showed no interest, consideration or compassion for the release of its citizens. There is no other option.

“If those involved in this issue do not show swiftness and urgency, then the life of the French will face danger,” said the Pashto-language statement, which was widely translated by Afghan and Pakistani news outlets.

France Television, which owns France 3, had been withholding the identities of Ghesquière, 47, and Taponier, 46, explaining that it was doing so to protect their safety. After the release of the video, the France 3 Web site said, the families of the hostages gave permission for the release of names and photographs of the two French journalists. 

Image via Wikipedia

Afghan Taliban militants, holding two French journalists since December, have said in a video they'd kill the captives if France doesn't meet their demands.

The Taliban demands include the release some detainees in France, CNN reported.

The two journalists were shown separately in video clips posted online, the report said.

A statement said the journalists, their translator and driver would be killed if the video is not shown on French television, the report said. Only the voices of the journalists are heard on the video.

The Taliban in a written statement said it has submitted a list of the "most ordinary detainees to the government of France for release as an exchange for the two Frenchmen and their Algerian colleague," the CNN report said. "There is no other option for the release of the said detainees except the option of detainees exchange."