fallout

from Tunisia's political turmoil gathers momentum.

State media in Burma have published their first direct criticism of the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi since her release from house arrest after elections last November. A

commentary

in state-run newspapers came after a statement by Aung San Suu Kyi's party on Western sanctions on Burma. Here's Vivien Marsh.

Since Aung San Suu Kyi's release, the military-backed authorities in Burma have shown little reaction to her frequent public appearances and contacts with foreign media and officials. That silence is now at an end.

The newspaper commentary came days after her party, the NLD, refused to advocate the lifting of Western sanctions, saying they primarily affected Burma's rulers, not the people.

It said that if she and the NLD ignored the country's march towards democracy, then they would meet what it called their "tragic end".

Swiss voters have decided in a referendum to

retain

the current system which allows army-issue weapons to be kept at home. It means several million Swiss men won't have to deliver their weapons into army arsenals. A coalition of civil and religious groups and centre-left parties had wanted the system overturned, arguing that Switzerland has one of Europe's highest gun-related suicide rates. But traditionalists said banning the weapons would have broken the long-standing trust between the Swiss people and the army.