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Exports of cocoa from Ivory Coast, world's largest producer, resumed Tuesday, after being suspended because of international sanctions against former President Laurent Gbagbo, found the.

The first ship loaded with 1,700 tons of cocoa beans, left the port of Abidjan to the 1400 GMT heading to San Pedro (370 km west) where it will be loaded with between 7,000 and 8,000 tons, port officials said.

In January, Alassane Ouattara, former president recognized by the international community following the election of November 28, called for an embargo on exports of cocoa, to deprive of a major financial means to his rival Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to relinquish power .

The request, supported by European sanctions and followed by traders, depriving the world cocoa market, Ivory Coast, which accounts for 35% of world supply.

During the post-election crisis, about 500,000 tons of pods were accumulated in the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro.

The flood peak has reached the Mississippi River on Tuesday the U.S. city of Memphis, Tennessee (south), where it has been necessary to evacuate hundreds of families to achieve the level of water 14.6 meters, officials said.

The National Weather Service of the United States has indicated that the waters have reached that level, at dawn, a few inches shorter than the maximum recorded in 1937, and will continue at that level from 24 to 26 hours.
Previous experiences

Early this morning the river flow was 4.22 meters above the level that is considered flooding.

Hundreds of residents, both of West Memphis and Memphis, across the river in Arkansas, have been evacuated and housed in shelters, authorities said.

The city is protected by a levee system built after a major flood that occurred in 1927, which flooded more than eight million acres and killed 500 people.

Ten years later there was another, which marked the record when the water level today.

Thanks to the levees, the region is now better prepared to deal with the flooding of the Mississippi, the fourth largest river in the world and the largest in North America.

The melting of snow in the area of ​​the sources of the river and heavy rainfall recorded throughout its course in recent weeks have combined to produce a flood that flooded towns and farmland for hundreds of miles.
A city prepared

The main channel of the Mississippi is so large it does not absorb the flow of its tributaries, which in turn have inundated vast areas in the federal states of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and threatened with flooding to Mississippi and Louisiana.

In Louisiana, the Corps has already partially open a drain that diverts water from the Mississippi to Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans, relieving pressure on the levees protecting the city built for the most part, at lower than the same lake.

The last time you opened the drain, about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans, it was during the 1927 flood, and it opened yesterday, was the tenth since the work was completed in 1931.

First step forward not two referendum questions raised by President Rafael Correa on Tuesday when it has counted about 48% of the vote.

In the question posed to replace the governing body of the judiciary, the Plenum of the Judiciary, for a transitional body, a 44.55% of Ecuadorians voted no while a 44.28% did by itself .

As in the question on a new media law and creating a council to regulate the contents of the press, a 43.92% rejected the proposal and a 43.22% gave their approval.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said the network Teleamazonas that these questions "are also going to win the election because the numbers are very clear ... when you enter complete information will be absolutely clear that the self is bound to win in all questions ".

But the former president of the Constituent Assembly, Alberto Acosta, now in opposition, told the television network Ecuavisa "It was a showdown between David and Goliath and David ... apparently began to recover space in the counting of votes officers on the questions does not begin to approach and surpass themselves. "

Correa's older brother, Fabrizio, who is critical of the government, told the television network RTU that "we have lost the fear and democracy has triumphed in the country" while noting that "can not change the constitution, put him Justice hands and cover his mouth to the media when the majority has not approved the process. "

A total of 11.15 million Ecuadorians were called for the referendum of 10 questions, five of which involve constitutional changes and the other five legal changes. The latter must be processed by the Assembly.

The consultation, if approved, look for a profound transformation of the judiciary, accused by the government and the opposition of inefficient and impose new rules for journalists and media, the elimination of gambling and casinos and prohibition of the shows where animals are killed, as bulls, among others.