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with the help of secular forces, an unexpected threat has emerged: the increasing boldness of ultraconservative Muslims known loosely as Salafis, who want to turn this North African country of 10 million into a strict Islamic state.
• Tunisia's hardcore Salafis are estimated to number only in the tens of thousands. But their organized and frequent protests against perceived insults to Islam, especially by artists, have rocked the country and succeeded in mobilizing disaffected and angry youth much more effectively than secular opposition parties.
• Experts warn that an economic downturn could turn these spasms of religious-tinged rage into the new language of the opposition. Tunisia's economy shrank by 2 percent last year and unemployment stands at 18 percent -- even higher among young people.
• "There's no question that unemployment aggravates the situation," said William Lawrence, the North Africa representative for the International Crisis Group think tank. "They go to Salafism because they have nowhere better to go socially, politically and spiritually."
• ___

• LONDON (AP) -- Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
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• CHASING THE ELUSIVE GOLD
• The U.S. men's gymnastics team is looking to win its first team gold since 1984 when it hits the mat Monday morning.
• Danell Leyva will anchor the Americans in the event, which begins at 11:30 a.m. local time.
• ___

• SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois authorities took the unusual step of searching guards and other prison employees for contraband as they left at least seven facilities last week, sparking worker allegations that the checks may have been reprisals for complaints about overcrowding and understaffing and inside information leaked to the news media, workers and union officials told The Associated Press.

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