'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Five days of riots last week in a town in Tunisia's impoverished interior wounded hundreds of people and deepened the rift between the two most powerful forces in this North African country: the moderate Islamist ruling party and the main labor union.
Leaked conversations mentioning alcohol bans and the imposition of religious law have raised fears that Tunisia's new government may not be as moderate as it appears, especially in the context of mob attacks on the U.S. Embassy that coincided with the killing of the American ambassador in neighboring Libya.
Syrian troops shelled and raided opposition strongholds nationwide on Tuesday, activists said, prompting an urgent appeal by international envoy Kofi Annan to the Syrian regime to halt violence and give his truce plan a chance.
Iran and six world powers have agreed to meet on April 13 for new talks about Tehran's nuclear program, but the failure of previous meetings and disputes over what should be discussed are keeping them from choosing a venue, diplomats told the Associated Press on Monday.
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND | Governments that call themselves democratic often fear democracy in practice, leaving it up to their people to seize the initiative, as last year's Arab Spring revolutions across the Arab world have shown.
A moderate, once-banned Islamist party in Tunisia was on track Tuesday to win the largest number of seats in the first elections prompted by the Arab Spring uprisings, according to partial results.
