Mexico City: A 20-year-old criminology student, the only candidate for the position, was designated as police chief in the violence-plagued town of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo, Mexican media reported Tuesday.
Marisol Valles Garcia took charge on Monday of security in the town, population 10,000, on the US border. The community is around 80 km east of Ciudad Juarez, itself regarded as the most violent city in Mexico.
The former mayor of Guadalupe Distrito Bravos, Jesus Manuel Lara Rodriguez, was killed on June 19 at his home in Ciudad Juarez, after receiving death threats.
Valles Garcia said she will not have to fight the drug gangs, which is the responsibility of other law enforcement agencies. Instead, she will pursue preventive programmes in neighbourhoods and schools, and she will be in charge of reclaiming public spaces for the community.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Violent protests have ‘weakened unions’ in retirement battle
French unions have been forced onto the back foot after clashes between a small hard core of violent protesters and police, according to a leading French labour expert.
The violence this week, amid huge country-wide strikes, blockades and demonstrations, has weakened the unions and played directly into the hands of the government, according to Bernard Vivier, director of France’s Higher Institute of Labour (a leading French thinktank).
“The unions are embarrassed by this violence, which is led by anarchist elements of the unions who want to derail any attempts to negotiate with the government,” he told FRANCE 24.
“It has put the brakes on the unions’ momentum, while they themselves recognise that reforms to the pension system are needed,” he added. “These violent protesters want to do anything possible to stop negotiations, and their actions have shot the protest movement in the foot.”
Official spokespeople from France’s major unions were unavailable for comment when this article was published.
Mostly peaceful
Footage and pictures of hooded youths and baton-wielding riot police have dominated international headlines.
However, Tuesday's protests, in which between one million people (according to police) and 3.5 million (according to unions) took to the streets on Tuesday, were largely peaceful.
Violence erupted on the fringes of some marches, notably in Lyon, where hundreds of masked rioters torched cars, smashed store windows and destroyed bus shelters.
In nine days of demonstrations and strikes, some 1,500 alleged rioters have been arrested, 428 after Tuesday’s clashes, according to the interior ministry.
Sporadic protests continued on Wednesday, with groups blocking access to regional airports at Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Clermont Ferrand.
The demonstrations, organised by France’s powerful trades unions, come as the French government was finalising a law to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
The law, which will likely be signed off by France’s upper house of parliament, the Senate, this week, would also raise the retirement threshold for a full pension from 65 to 67.
The protests are backed by the majority of French voters who want French President Nicolas Sarkozy to retreat on what was one of the primary planks of his 2007 presidential election campaign – which he won with broad public backing.
Government action
On Tuesday, Sarkozy sent in paramilitary police to clear blockades at France's fuel depots that this week caused a wave of panic-buying and shut down one in three petrol stations across the country.
"If this disorder is not ended quickly, the attempt to paralyse the country could have consequences for jobs by disrupting the normal functioning of the economy," Sarkozy told a cabinet meeting in remarks released by his office, adding his determination to push the pension reform through.
Three depots were peacefully reopened overnight, but protestors have blockaded several more.
"We will continue to unblock these depots as much as necessary," Hortefeux said. "We will not let the country be blockaded and we will not let the thugs go unpunished," he added, referring to those arrested in street riots.
A third day of violence broke out on Wednesday morning in Lyon and the Paris suburb of Nanterre, both the scenes of earlier clashes, where a handful of cars were set alight.
The government is hoping that the protests will gradually fizzle out, as a 10-day half-term holiday begins and schools, which have been the focus of much of the violence, shut their doors.
The violence this week, amid huge country-wide strikes, blockades and demonstrations, has weakened the unions and played directly into the hands of the government, according to Bernard Vivier, director of France’s Higher Institute of Labour (a leading French thinktank).
“The unions are embarrassed by this violence, which is led by anarchist elements of the unions who want to derail any attempts to negotiate with the government,” he told FRANCE 24.
“It has put the brakes on the unions’ momentum, while they themselves recognise that reforms to the pension system are needed,” he added. “These violent protesters want to do anything possible to stop negotiations, and their actions have shot the protest movement in the foot.”
Official spokespeople from France’s major unions were unavailable for comment when this article was published.
Mostly peaceful
Footage and pictures of hooded youths and baton-wielding riot police have dominated international headlines.
However, Tuesday's protests, in which between one million people (according to police) and 3.5 million (according to unions) took to the streets on Tuesday, were largely peaceful.
Violence erupted on the fringes of some marches, notably in Lyon, where hundreds of masked rioters torched cars, smashed store windows and destroyed bus shelters.
In nine days of demonstrations and strikes, some 1,500 alleged rioters have been arrested, 428 after Tuesday’s clashes, according to the interior ministry.
Sporadic protests continued on Wednesday, with groups blocking access to regional airports at Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Clermont Ferrand.
The demonstrations, organised by France’s powerful trades unions, come as the French government was finalising a law to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
The law, which will likely be signed off by France’s upper house of parliament, the Senate, this week, would also raise the retirement threshold for a full pension from 65 to 67.
The protests are backed by the majority of French voters who want French President Nicolas Sarkozy to retreat on what was one of the primary planks of his 2007 presidential election campaign – which he won with broad public backing.
Government action
On Tuesday, Sarkozy sent in paramilitary police to clear blockades at France's fuel depots that this week caused a wave of panic-buying and shut down one in three petrol stations across the country.
"If this disorder is not ended quickly, the attempt to paralyse the country could have consequences for jobs by disrupting the normal functioning of the economy," Sarkozy told a cabinet meeting in remarks released by his office, adding his determination to push the pension reform through.
Three depots were peacefully reopened overnight, but protestors have blockaded several more.
"We will continue to unblock these depots as much as necessary," Hortefeux said. "We will not let the country be blockaded and we will not let the thugs go unpunished," he added, referring to those arrested in street riots.
A third day of violence broke out on Wednesday morning in Lyon and the Paris suburb of Nanterre, both the scenes of earlier clashes, where a handful of cars were set alight.
The government is hoping that the protests will gradually fizzle out, as a 10-day half-term holiday begins and schools, which have been the focus of much of the violence, shut their doors.
Military recruiters told to accept gay applicants
WASHINGTON – The Defense Department said Tuesday that it is accepting openly gay recruits, but is warning applicants they might not be allowed to stick around for long.
Following last week's court ruling that struck down a 1993 law banning gays from serving openly, the military has suspended enforcement of the rule known as "don't ask, don't tell." The Justice Department is appealing the decision and has asked the courts for a temporary stay on the ruling.
The Defense Department said it would comply with the law and had frozen any discharge cases. But at least one case was reported of a man being turned away from an Army recruiting office in Austin, Texas.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith on Tuesday confirmed that recruiters had been given top-level guidance to accept applicants who say they are gay.
Recruiters also have been told to inform potential recruits that the moratorium on enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" could be reversed at any point, if the ruling is appealed or the court grants a stay, she said.
The uncertain status of the law has caused much confusion within an institution that has historically discriminated against gays. Before the 1993 law, the Defense Department banned gays entirely and declared them incompatible with military service.
Douglas Smith, spokesman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command based at Fort Knox, Ky., said even before the ruling recruiters did not ask applicants about their sexual orientation. The difference now is that recruiters will process those who say they are gay.
"If they were to self admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change," Smith said.
He said the enlistment process takes time and recruiters have been told to inform those who are openly gay that they could be declared ineligible if the law is upheld on appeal.
"U.S. Army Recruiting Command is going to follow the law, whatever the law is at the time," he said.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, who had ordered the military to stop enforcing "don't ask, don't tell," was expected to deny the administration's request to delay her order. That would send the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
After Phillips' ruling last week, Omar Lopez — discharged from the Navy in 2006 after admitting his gay status to his military doctor — walked into an Army recruiting office in Austin and asked if he could re-enlist. He said he was up front, even showing the recruiters his Navy discharge papers.
"They just said, `I can't let you re-enlist because we haven't got anything down from the chain of command,'" Lopez, 29, told the AP in a telephone interview. "They were courteous and apologetic, but they couldn't help me."
Smith was unable to confirm the account. She said guidance on gay applicants had been issued to recruiting commands on Oct. 15.
____
Associated Press writer Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.
Following last week's court ruling that struck down a 1993 law banning gays from serving openly, the military has suspended enforcement of the rule known as "don't ask, don't tell." The Justice Department is appealing the decision and has asked the courts for a temporary stay on the ruling.
The Defense Department said it would comply with the law and had frozen any discharge cases. But at least one case was reported of a man being turned away from an Army recruiting office in Austin, Texas.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith on Tuesday confirmed that recruiters had been given top-level guidance to accept applicants who say they are gay.
Recruiters also have been told to inform potential recruits that the moratorium on enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell" could be reversed at any point, if the ruling is appealed or the court grants a stay, she said.
The uncertain status of the law has caused much confusion within an institution that has historically discriminated against gays. Before the 1993 law, the Defense Department banned gays entirely and declared them incompatible with military service.
Douglas Smith, spokesman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command based at Fort Knox, Ky., said even before the ruling recruiters did not ask applicants about their sexual orientation. The difference now is that recruiters will process those who say they are gay.
"If they were to self admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change," Smith said.
He said the enlistment process takes time and recruiters have been told to inform those who are openly gay that they could be declared ineligible if the law is upheld on appeal.
"U.S. Army Recruiting Command is going to follow the law, whatever the law is at the time," he said.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, who had ordered the military to stop enforcing "don't ask, don't tell," was expected to deny the administration's request to delay her order. That would send the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
After Phillips' ruling last week, Omar Lopez — discharged from the Navy in 2006 after admitting his gay status to his military doctor — walked into an Army recruiting office in Austin and asked if he could re-enlist. He said he was up front, even showing the recruiters his Navy discharge papers.
"They just said, `I can't let you re-enlist because we haven't got anything down from the chain of command,'" Lopez, 29, told the AP in a telephone interview. "They were courteous and apologetic, but they couldn't help me."
Smith was unable to confirm the account. She said guidance on gay applicants had been issued to recruiting commands on Oct. 15.
____
Associated Press writer Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.
Up to 500,000 public sector jobs could go by 2014-15 due to the changes, according to the Office for Budgetary Responsibility.
The pension age will rise sooner than expected, some incapacity benefits will be time limited and other money clawed back through changes to tax credits and housing benefit.
A new bank levy will also be brought in - with full details due on Thursday.
Mr Osborne said the four year cuts were guided by fairness, reform and growth.
Continue reading the main story
The Spending Review: Making It Clear
Reaction and analysisLive
Key points at-a-glance
What it means
Osborne: 'Hard road, better future'Watch
The 19% average cuts to departmental budgets were less severe than the 25% expected - thanks to bigger savings from the welfare budget, the chancellor told MPs.
He claimed this meant his plans were less than the 20% cuts Labour had planned ahead of the general election.
Unveiling his Spending Review in the Commons, which includes £81bn in spending cuts, he told MPs: "Today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt."
He added: "It is a hard road, but it leads to a better future."
Universal benefits for pensioners will be retained exactly as budgeted for by the previous government and the temporary increase in the cold weather payment will be made permanent.
Continue reading the main story
Spending Review documents
PDF download
Spending Review[1.96MB]
Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
Download the reader here
Documents hosted by Direct.gov.uk
But a planned rise in state pension age for men and women to 66 by the year 2020, will be brought forward, with a gradual increase in the State Pension Age from 65 to 66, starting in 2018.
Up to 500,000 public sector jobs could go by 2014-15 due to the changes, according to the Office for Budgetary Responsibility.
Mr Osborne has not set out in detail where the jobs will go but he admitted there will be some redundancies in the public sector, which he said were unavoidable when the country had run out of money.
Bank levy
He has set out extensive cuts to individual government departments - including:
Home Office - 6% cuts, with police spending down by 4% each year of the spending settlement
Foreign Office - 24% cut through reduction in the number of Whitehall-based diplomats and back office costs
HM Revenue and Customs - 15% through the better use of new technology and greater efficiency
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
The chancellor's big surprise announcement is that the state pension age will rise for both men and women to 66 ”
Nick Robinson
BBC political editor
Read Nick Robinson's analysis
Mark Easton: It's not 'just the economy, stupid'
Robert Peston: Sack lessons for government
The Department for International Development's budget will rise to £11.5bn over the next four years, reaching 0.7% of national income in 2013.
Each government department will next month publish a business plan setting out reform plans for the next four years.
Plans for a 1,500 place new prison have been dropped, he said.
The government will also deliver £6bn of Whitehall savings - double the £3bn promised earlier, said the chancellor.
There will be overall savings in funding to local councils of 7.1%, but ring-fencing of all local government revenue grants will end from April next year, except for simplified schools grants and a public health grant.
The Spending Review is the culmination of months of heated negotiations with ministers over their departmental budgets and comes a day after the Ministry of Defence and the BBC learned their financial fate.
'Irresponsible gamble'
The MoD is facing cuts of 8% - less than most other departments but enough to mean 42,000 service personnel and civil servants will lose their jobs over the next five years and high-profile equipment such as Harrier jump jets, the Ark Royal aircraft carrier and Nimrod spy planes will be scrapped.
The BBC has been told it must freeze the licence fee for six years and take over the cost of the World Service, currently funded by the Foreign Office, and the Welsh language TV channel S4C. This adds up to an estimated 16% cut in the BBC's budget in real terms.
The chancellor insists tough action on spending is needed to stave off a debt crisis - and that the private sector will create new jobs to fill the void.
Labour would also have had to make major cuts if it had won the general election, but the party insists Mr Osborne's plans are too aggressive and risk tipping the country into a "double dip" recession.
Continue reading the main story
A special BBC News season examining the approaching cuts to public sector spending
The Spending Review: Making It Clear
Labour leader Ed Miliband accused the chancellor of taking an "irresponsible gamble with our economy and, indeed, many of the frontline services people rely on."
Health spending and international development will also be protected from cuts - and Mr Osborne has pledged funding for big infrastructure projects like London's Crossrail project and the Mersey Gateway road bridge between Runcorn and Widnes.
But Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has confirmed a £30bn 10-mile barrage across the Severn estuary, intended to generate renewable electricity, has been axed on the grounds of cost.
What is your reaction to the cuts already announced? Will you be watching the chancellor's statement? Send us your comments using the form below and if you are willing to be interviewed by the BBC, please leave a contact number. It will not be published.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.
A new bank levy will also be brought in - with full details due on Thursday.
Mr Osborne said the four year cuts were guided by fairness, reform and growth.
Continue reading the main story
The Spending Review: Making It Clear
Reaction and analysisLive
Key points at-a-glance
What it means
Osborne: 'Hard road, better future'Watch
The 19% average cuts to departmental budgets were less severe than the 25% expected - thanks to bigger savings from the welfare budget, the chancellor told MPs.
He claimed this meant his plans were less than the 20% cuts Labour had planned ahead of the general election.
Unveiling his Spending Review in the Commons, which includes £81bn in spending cuts, he told MPs: "Today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt."
He added: "It is a hard road, but it leads to a better future."
Universal benefits for pensioners will be retained exactly as budgeted for by the previous government and the temporary increase in the cold weather payment will be made permanent.
Continue reading the main story
Spending Review documents
PDF download
Spending Review[1.96MB]
Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
Download the reader here
Documents hosted by Direct.gov.uk
But a planned rise in state pension age for men and women to 66 by the year 2020, will be brought forward, with a gradual increase in the State Pension Age from 65 to 66, starting in 2018.
Up to 500,000 public sector jobs could go by 2014-15 due to the changes, according to the Office for Budgetary Responsibility.
Mr Osborne has not set out in detail where the jobs will go but he admitted there will be some redundancies in the public sector, which he said were unavoidable when the country had run out of money.
Bank levy
He has set out extensive cuts to individual government departments - including:
Home Office - 6% cuts, with police spending down by 4% each year of the spending settlement
Foreign Office - 24% cut through reduction in the number of Whitehall-based diplomats and back office costs
HM Revenue and Customs - 15% through the better use of new technology and greater efficiency
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
The chancellor's big surprise announcement is that the state pension age will rise for both men and women to 66 ”
Nick Robinson
BBC political editor
Read Nick Robinson's analysis
Mark Easton: It's not 'just the economy, stupid'
Robert Peston: Sack lessons for government
The Department for International Development's budget will rise to £11.5bn over the next four years, reaching 0.7% of national income in 2013.
Each government department will next month publish a business plan setting out reform plans for the next four years.
Plans for a 1,500 place new prison have been dropped, he said.
The government will also deliver £6bn of Whitehall savings - double the £3bn promised earlier, said the chancellor.
There will be overall savings in funding to local councils of 7.1%, but ring-fencing of all local government revenue grants will end from April next year, except for simplified schools grants and a public health grant.
The Spending Review is the culmination of months of heated negotiations with ministers over their departmental budgets and comes a day after the Ministry of Defence and the BBC learned their financial fate.
'Irresponsible gamble'
The MoD is facing cuts of 8% - less than most other departments but enough to mean 42,000 service personnel and civil servants will lose their jobs over the next five years and high-profile equipment such as Harrier jump jets, the Ark Royal aircraft carrier and Nimrod spy planes will be scrapped.
The BBC has been told it must freeze the licence fee for six years and take over the cost of the World Service, currently funded by the Foreign Office, and the Welsh language TV channel S4C. This adds up to an estimated 16% cut in the BBC's budget in real terms.
The chancellor insists tough action on spending is needed to stave off a debt crisis - and that the private sector will create new jobs to fill the void.
Labour would also have had to make major cuts if it had won the general election, but the party insists Mr Osborne's plans are too aggressive and risk tipping the country into a "double dip" recession.
Continue reading the main story
A special BBC News season examining the approaching cuts to public sector spending
The Spending Review: Making It Clear
Labour leader Ed Miliband accused the chancellor of taking an "irresponsible gamble with our economy and, indeed, many of the frontline services people rely on."
Health spending and international development will also be protected from cuts - and Mr Osborne has pledged funding for big infrastructure projects like London's Crossrail project and the Mersey Gateway road bridge between Runcorn and Widnes.
But Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has confirmed a £30bn 10-mile barrage across the Severn estuary, intended to generate renewable electricity, has been axed on the grounds of cost.
What is your reaction to the cuts already announced? Will you be watching the chancellor's statement? Send us your comments using the form below and if you are willing to be interviewed by the BBC, please leave a contact number. It will not be published.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.
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