Syrian army carried out mass arrests

.- The military on Tuesday tightened control of outbreaks of protest against President Bashar Al Asad and made mass arrests in Syria, while six opposition figures were released. "The army controls all the districts of Banias (northwest) and arrests remain in this city and neighboring towns and Marqab Bayda, "said Rami Abdel Rahman, president of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), based in London.

"This is the first government of Colombia that could end with the FARC"

The end of armed conflict that has plagued Colombia for more than half a century is closer than ever. The government of President Juan Manuel Santos is the first that can be raised "in a realistic way" to achieve this goal, according to Defense Minister says the South American country, Rodrigo Rivera (Pereira, 1963).

The gains in security in Colombia, he says, have managed to lower rates of violence and reduce the production of cocaine in his country, the world's largest producer. The Colombian government estimates suggest that cease to be in 2012. The Colombian politician, an attorney, visited Madrid before heading to Paris where he asked members of the G-8 "greater responsibility" in the fight against drug trafficking.

Tunisia and the exit strategy towards the first democratic elections

The Interim Government Tunisian break out of a dangerous impasse. Tuesday was in fact announced the creation of an ad hoc committee tasked with organizing the country's first democratic elections, scheduled for next July 24. The vote should get out of the constituent assembly charged with drafting the new institutional architecture to ferry the North African country out of the shadow of nearly thirty years of the regime of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

Pakistan: A bomb exploded outside a court

Two policemen, including a woman, were killed and five injured, Tuesday, May 10, the explosion of a bomb outside a court in north-western Pakistan. The bomb exploded outside the front gate of a district court in Nowshera, near the tribal stronghold of Taliban and Al Qaeda. "The blast killed two policemen, including a woman and wounded five others including two policemen," said the chief of district police.

Venezuela suffers new outage

Venezuela on Monday suffering from new problems with its electric grid, forcing power rationing in 19 of the 24 states, including the capital, probably until Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Electric Power, the cuts will be a minimum of three hours, while solving the shortcomings of the national electricity system in the west.

An electrical system failure on Monday left four states without power, and five partially affected, all close to the border with Colombia. Rationing has sparked unrest in Venezuela last year, around this time, suffered extensive power outages caused by the worst drought the country experienced in 45 years.

A trip to Tunis to save democracy

Not that bombers Djema el Fna succeed in their efforts to undermine the arrival of tourists in Morocco. So far in these first months of 2011 Morocco was the very nation that has best withstood the drop in tourists in the Arab and North African countries in general. And after the attack there was no escape for tourists, a sign that maybe it will be interpreted for what it is: a very serious incident but is not able to repeat frequently.

Tepco seeks financial aid from Tokyo

The operator of the plant in Fukushima, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), has formally requested Tuesday, May 10, using the Japanese government to deal with various financial burdens resulting from the nuclear accident of March 11. "Currently, we are taking steps to ensure an adequate supply of electricity and avoid cuts planned," assured the CEO of TEPCO, Masataka Shimizu, in a letter to Minister of Economy, Banri Kaieda.