Prime Minister Enrico Letta has made reviving growth and cutting soaring youth unemployment his priorities but confidence in his government has dropped sharply, according to polls. Many felt the government wasn't doing enough to create new jobs. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) FIOM METALWORKERS UNION SECRETARY GENERAL, MAURIZIO LANDINI, SAYING: "We need to start over with more investment. If we don't boost public and private investments, there will be no new jobs." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) DEMONSTRATOR, ANNA POGGIO, SAYING: "We think the government really needs to address this issue, the issue of employment. The country really needs it as you can see here in the square today." Letta's uneasy coalition government is the outcome of two months of political stalemate, after February's general election produced no clear winner. He has to balance the priorities of his diverse coalition with pledges to keep the country's budget deficit below European Union limits.
Sectarian violence intensifies in Iraq with a series of car bombings targeting Sunni Muslim areas of the country. Nineteen people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a commercial complex in the predominantly Sunni Amiriya district in the west of Baghdad. The blast followed two explosions outside a Sunni mosque in the city of Baquba earlier in the day. Elsewhere, four people were killed when a roadside bomb went off next to a coffee shop in the western city of Falluja. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED EYEWITNESS, SAYING: "This is a coffee shop and restaurant. Those who attacked us didn't threaten us before to tell us the reason for the attack. They just suddenly blew up the restaurant and killed these people. May Allah bless the victim's souls and compensate them with paradise. " Friday's attacks come after a string of bombings in Shia neighbourhoods of Baghdad on Wednesday and Thursday. The conflict in neighbouring Syria, where mostly Sunni rebels are trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad, who follows the Alawite offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has put further pressure on Iraq's delicate intercommunal balance.
Sectarian tension erupts into violence once again in Egypt. Overnight riot police moved in to stop clashes between Muslims and Christians in the second city Alexandria after one died and dozens were wounded. The two sides threw firebombs and fireworks at each other before security forces intervened. What started as a family feud escalated into street battles outside this Coptic church. Police arrested eight people after about two hours of fighting, according to a security source. Tensions have risen between Muslims and Christians in the two years since Mubarak's overthrow. Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 84 million population and have complained that the authorities have failed to protect them since Mubarak was ousted, giving radical Islamists a free hand. The election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last June exacerbated the Christian community's fears. Last month at least five people were killed and 80 injured after a funeral service for four Christians killed in another bout of sectarian violence.
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