Crisis talks fail in Tunisia

Supporters and opponents of Tunisia's Islamist-led government were expected to flood the streets of the capital in rival rallies yesterday marking national women's day, after a bid to resolve a weeks-old crisis foundered.
The government led by the Islamist Ennahda party and its detractors have been locked in a bitter feud sparked by the murder in July of an opposition politician, the second such killing this year.
The government has called on its supporters to gather yesterday in the capital's central Habib Bourguiba Avenue, epicentre of the 2011 uprising. The opposition has called a rival rally from 1700 GMT to be attended by members of the powerful UGTT trade union confederation and a number of women's groups.