Headlines

• Ennahdha and Major Opposition Parties Sign Roadmap Agreement
• PDCI calls upon all countries, parties, and movements that value democracy to support the democratic transition in Tunisia with whatever political, diplomatic, and economic resources they can provide 

  Tunis, Oct. 5.─ All major opposition parties and two of the three parties in Tunisia's governing coalition today signed a roadmap agreement intended to lead the country out of its nearly ten-week political crisis.

The roadmap plan drafted by a group of civil society organizations calls for government and political leaders to meet for direct negotiations, and mandates that the current government resign three weeks from the first session of talks in favor of group of technocratic leaders to be chosen during the dialogue.

Leaders of Ennahdha, the largest party in the ruling coalition, and Ettakatol, one of its governing partners, both signed the agreement at a ceremony today in Tunis. Most opposition parties, including Nidaa Tounes and members of the Popular Front coalition, also signed on.

• Formation seen as snub to Yingluck assembly
• Participatory democracy: About 45 civic groups Sunday launched their own political reform body which will work in parallel with the government's reform forum   

Bangkok, Sept.16.─ Officially called the People Assembly Reforming Thailand (Part), the body has been formed to push for a "just, secure and happy society".

Its formation is seen by observers as a snub to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's political reform initiative that kicked off in the absence of the opposition Democrat Party.

At the launch, a temporary 16-member committee was unveiled and the panel is expected to start its work next week.

 Guatemala City, May 5.─ President Otto Perez Molina (photo) imposed a state of siege on four municipalities in the eastern part of the country following the abduction of 23 police officers and the killing of another cop, the Guatemalan government said Thursday.

The measure allows authorities to restrict mobility and public gatherings for the next 30 days in San Rafael Las Flores and Castillas, Santa Rosa province; and Xelajpan and Maraquescuintla, Jalapa.

Seoul, Apr. 4.─ North Korea's army said Thursday that it had received approval for a "cutting edge" nuclear strike on the United States, adding that the situation on the Korean Peninsula had reached an explosive stage.

The threat followed the North's move Wednesday to ban South Korean workers from a joint industrial complex that has long stood as a symbol of the tenuous peace on the peninsula.