Debt Fight Over, Obama Promises Action on Jobs

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

Having ceded considerable ground to Republicans in the debt ceiling fight, President Obama set out Tuesday to reclaim the initiative on the economy, promising a new effort to spur job creation while seeking to position himself as a proven voice of reason in an era of ideological overreach.

After being cloistered in Washington for a month haggling with Congressional leaders, Mr. Obama will embark on a bus tour of the Midwest the week of Aug. 15 — a chance to show his commitment to reviving the economy in a region of important electoral battlegrounds, and to turn the page from the tangled, often toxic, debate in the capital.

On the policy front, Mr. Obama shifted quickly to pushing Congress to adopt a raft of familiar measures to stimulate the flagging economy, including extending the payroll tax suspension for workers, beefing up benefits for the unemployed, approving trade agreements and investing in infrastructure projects.

“While deficit reduction is part of that agenda, it is not the whole agenda,” a grim-faced Mr. Obama said in the Rose Garden moments after the Senate approved the debt limit deal. “Growing the economy isn’t just about cutting spending.” He later added: “That’s not how we’re going to get past this recession. We’re going to have to do more than that.”

But the debt ceiling plan, with its emphasis on cutting government spending, underscores the constrained atmosphere in which Mr. Obama is operating. While he promised on Tuesday to present new ideas to encourage companies to hire workers, a senior aide acknowledged that Mr. Obama had no “magic beads.”

And given the polarized climate on Capitol Hill, winning legislative approval of his initiatives, already daunting in most cases, will be that much more challenging.

Mr. Obama’s embrace of deficit reduction provides him an opportunity to help win back the independent voters who were crucial to his victory in 2008. But the president may need to do some repair work with Democrats angered by the deep cuts in the plan — and a perception, held by some liberals, that Mr. Obama was rolled by the Republicans in the House.

On Wednesday, he will attend a Democratic fund-raiser in Chicago on the eve of his 50th birthday, his first chance since the end of the debt showdown to frame a contrast with the Republicans in a purely political environment.

“There are parts of the base that are discouraged,” Ted Strickland, a former Democratic governor of Ohio, said in an interview. “I don’t know that it’s the result of any personal animosity toward the president, but going forward it’s going to be important for him to inspire us, lead us, challenge us and be a real leader.”

White House officials dispute that the president is in trouble with Democratic voters, whom they say support the debt compromise by solid margins. But there was considerable fence-mending among important Democratic constituency groups. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Obama met with leaders of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. at the White House, while other Democrats scrambled to explain the positive aspects of the deal to influence liberal groups.

Compared with previous landmark legislation, Mr. Obama was uncharacteristically low key in the wake of the Senate vote, in effect keeping the deal at arm’s length. He signed the bill, known as the Budget Control Act of 2011, into law in the Oval Office, with only a few advisers watching and no Congressional leaders on hand. Only a White House photographer recorded the moment. Aside from his remarks in the Rose Garden, he gave no interviews.

While Mr. Obama is hitting the road, White House officials said he would not promote the deal, about which he himself has said he has qualms. If anything, he seems likely to let the matter drop for at least a few days. As one senior aide said, “You want to let the acid out of the air after it’s over.”

Still, heading into an election year, Mr. Obama’s advisers say he will be able to point to his role in the debt negotiations as proof of his ability to be a mature, responsible leader who is able to rise above Washington’s relentlessly partisan fray. The president alluded to that on Tuesday, saying it should not take a “timer ticking down” to disaster to get Republicans and Democrats to work together.

“Voters may have chosen divided government,” Mr. Obama said, “but they sure didn’t vote for dysfunctional government.”

David Axelrod, one of Mr. Obama’s closest advisers, said the negotiations showed that “he’s been willing throughout the presidency to forgo scoring the cheap political point to serve the larger interest.”

After Labor Day, the White House also plans to hold town-hall-style meetings where Mr. Obama can talk about the issues, like Medicare and Medicaid, that dominated the recent fiscal debate and will resurface again when a Congressional committee convenes to hash out a second set of deficit-cutting measures. The president will also challenge Republicans to propose their own ideas for reviving the job market.

Mr. Obama’s willingness to engage in serious deficit reduction, aides said, could buy him credibility for his other economic proposals. But Mr. Obama is unlikely to unveil any major new stimulus proposals, since he has exhausted most of the obvious policy options.

“Did he just find a little bit of oxygen to pursue a portion of his economic agenda?” said Jared Bernstein, a former chief economic adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “He may be able to move some helpful things, but even if he can’t, he can certainly go out and push for them.”

The relief in the corridors of the West Wing that an economic calamity had been averted was palpable. But few officials disputed that the deadlock had been a costly distraction from the administration’s agenda. Party surveys show that Mr. Obama has been sullied — along with all politicians in Washington — with independent voters.

The vote tally in the House and the Senate, while stronger than many administration officials had expected only days ago, underscored deep divisions among Democrats across the country. In some states, there was a split between urban and rural legislators, while in other battleground states, entire delegations opposed the plan.

But Jim Messina, the manager of the president’s re-election bid, said the discord among Democrats in Washington did not reflect what campaign officials were hearing from rank-and-file supporters of the president through nightly telephone calls and door-knocking.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm, and I don’t see anything as contentious as this coming down the pike in terms of an intraparty situation,” said David Plouffe, a senior adviser to the president. “There will be a unified, motivated and very aggressive Democratic Party supporting the president next year.”

Fuente: nytimes.com

After Hosni Mubarak’s trial, an uncharted political path in Egypt

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

The trial of Hosni Mubarak, his sons and associates is a transformative event for Egypt and a moment of triumph for the thousands of young Egyptians who called so loudly for the strongman to step down.

The moment may be short-lived, however, as few of these young activists have taken the uprising to the next level and organized themselves politically for elections this fall.

Sally Sami is the exception. In January, the 32-year-old was one of a handful of youthful organizers calling for people to protest against the regime. Blogging as “Salamander” (others used handles such as Sandmonkey and GSquare) it was Ms. Sami who cheekily called for people to come out and demonstrate against Egypt’s brutal police on the country’s national Police Day, Jan. 25.

The result was combustion as thousands emerged to confront the surprised police. A few were killed in the melee that followed, and the uprising was launched. Poems were written about Ms. Sami, and the rest is history.

Six months later, you’ll find Ms. Sami a block and a half from Tahrir Square, at a big desk in the small second-floor offices of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. Created in March, the centre-left party claims more than 20,000 members in 19 of the country’s 27 governorates.

That, however, is nothing compared with the strength of the SDP’s main political opponents: the Muslim Brotherhood and the remnants of the former ruling National Democratic Party. There also are a few decrepit old opposition parties and a gaggle of new ones, much like the SDP.

The revolutionary unity that gave the protesters strength ended soon after the president’s ouster.

“It’s natural for people to have different visions of what Egypt should look like,” Ms. Sami said.

It’s also natural, she acknowledged, for many not to want to make a life out of politics.

Those who did get involved were divided even over when they would like to participate in the first truly free election.

“We’re stuck with a short time to organize and reach the grassroots,” Ms. Sami complained. “But we didn’t want support for the revolution to wane if we waited too long.”

“We’ve already lost a lot of the enthusiasm,” she acknowledged. “Yes, I’m worried.”

During the uprising, the activists were proud of not having any leaders. They revelled in their anarchy.

Today, except for the new Free Egyptians party created by business tycoon Nabil Sawiris, none of Egypt’s parties has what one would call a charismatic leader.

“We have a lot of good people here,” Ms. Sami said, referring to her colleagues in the SDP. “We reject the idea of an individual leader.”

That may be a noble but impractical sentiment. “I don’t see them gaining much ground without some serious funding and charismatic leadership,” said Karim Alrawi, a playwright and human rights activist.

“We will win,” insisted Ms. Sami, “when we mobilize people around a cause or a policy.”

The goal isn’t so much to win this time, she said, as it is to get people activated – in any political party, in their community, in their professional syndicate. “The country has been a one-party state for so long, people don’t know how to be active.”

Except, that is, for the Muslim Brotherhood. Its people are at the helm of most of the country’s professional syndicates and have a vast network of charitable groups and sports clubs with which to cultivate supporters.

This Ramadan, for example, Egypt’s poor are turning for meals to tables set out by the Muslim Brothers. Ms. Sami said she expects the Brotherhood to take a third of the seats in parliament.

Interestingly, the Brotherhood also is divided, with many young supporters identifying with the secular activists. Therein may lie the best hope of some success for the SDP and other new parties – an alliance between secular activists and the youth of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Together they are strong,” Mr. Alrawi said, “divided they become subsumed by political rifts. That is already happening and is undermining the effectiveness of the revolution.”

Ms. Sami acknowledged the appeal of such an alliance. But after last Friday, when hundreds of thousands of Islamists took over Tahrir Square and called for an Islamic state, “it’s become harder to convince party members” that an alliance is a good thing.

Ms. Sami admits to uncharacteristic frustration. The people she is trying to reach “are giving up very quickly,” she said.

The trial of the tyrant Mubarak may give the young politicians a boost, but it’s unlikely to make a big difference.

Ms. Sami has faced big odds before and come out the winner.

“We’re looking down the road” she said, rationalizing her circumstances. “This isn’t going to be the last election.”

“At least I hope not.”

Fuente: theglobeandmail.com

Botched Yemen airstrikes harms anti-militant fight

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni government airstrikes that accidentally killed 40 people last week, including four army officers and a tribal sheik, brought an abrupt halt to the largest military effort yet to dislodge al-Qaida-linked militants from a key southern town, officials and tribal fighters said Tuesday.

The airstrikes, which took place late Friday just east of the town of Zinjibar near Yemen’s south coast, outraged pro-government fighters, prompting them to withdraw from the military offensive against Islamist militants.

The collapse of the offensive on Zinjibar will likely raise concerns among American officials, who worry that Yemen’s active al-Qaida branch and other militant groups are exploiting political upheaval in the impoverished country to step up operations against the West.

Security has crumbled across Yemen since the popular uprising seeking to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power began in January. Armed tribesmen opposed to the government are battling security forces in some areas, while al-Qaida-linked militants have overrun several towns in the south, including Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province.

After clashing with the militants for months, the military launched a fresh offensive last week with a joint force of army troops and pro-government tribesmen from the region to reclaim Zinjibar, security officials said.

Tribal loyalties are paramount in Yemen, and the approach seeks to leverage this in the fight against the militants. Tribes throughout restive Abyan province have increasingly turned against the militants, whom they consider outsiders trying to seize control of tribal territory.

Over the last month, tribal fighters have pushed militants from two other towns in the province, Lawdar and Wudia, security officials and tribal leaders said.

Last week, tribal fighters advanced with government troops on Zinjibar, the provincial capital, reaching the city’s eastern outskirts and taking over a government communications building when they were hit with at least three airstrikes.

While officials confirmed the death count last week, the deaths of high-ranking leaders were not made public until Tuesday.

Ali Gaadani, a regional security chief in Abyan, said the dead included two colonels, a lieutenant colonel, a major and a powerful sheik from one of the tribes participating in the campaign, the Nahee.

The strikes brought the campaign to a halt, Gaadani said. The tribal fighters withdrew and returned to their villages to bury their dead, he said. Since then, the militants have solidified their control over the town.

Mohammed Gaadani, a fighter who survived the strikes, said they destroyed the fighters’ morale and undermined their trust in the Yemeni government, especially since he said his forces had notified the government of their location.

«It was not just one strike or two, but three in a row!» Gaadani said. «This has made people very doubtful.»

He said the tribes had not yet decided whether to resume the offensive, but that they first demand a government apology.

Military officials said last week that the strikes appeared to have been made in error. A Defense Ministry official said Tuesday that an investigation is under way.

Fuente: AP

China Rating Agency Downgrades US Debt

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

China’s Dagong Global Credit Rating has cut its credit rating on U.S. sovereign debt to A from A+, Chen Jialin, general manager of the international department at the firm confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday.

The agency has also put the U.S. on negative outlook, China’s main news agency Xinhua reported earlier. The decision came despite the U.S. raising the debt ceiling and averting a default, and even as both Fitch and Moody’s re-affirmed the U.S.’s Triple-A rating.

According to Xinhua, Dagong’s decision was based on «the fact that the U.S. national debt growth had outpaced economic growth and fiscal revenue, hurting the country’s debt-paying ability.»

China’s central bank, on the other hand, welcomed the U.S. debt deal on Wednesday though official media have issued several scathing commentaries in recent days accusing the U.S. of not doing enough to cut its debt. China is the largest holder of U.S. Treasurys and has foreign exchange reserves of $3.2 trillion.

Dagong’s ratings cut though is unlikely to have any major implications in the bond market, given that most investors rely on ratings from the big three firms – Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.

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Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s biggest fixed income managers, also said Dagong’s ratings lacked transparency.

«The challenge with that rating agency out of China is that there’s not a lot of transparency and so it’s a little difficult to take too much out of that,» Michael Hasenstab, senior vice president and portfolio manager of the international bond department at the firm told CNBC on Wednesday.

Hasenstab, however, said Dagong’s action raised an important issue that politicians had been unable to deal decisively with the debt issue and the bruising political fight had hurt confidence in the U.S.

«(The) process, I think, has unnerved the markets and unnerved the world,» he said.

Fuente: CNBC.com

Egypt-Sinai-Gaza: The triangular threat to Israel

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

Until the new Egyptian regime stabilizes, the border area shared by Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip will likely be a focus for increased terrorist activity.

Last week’s attack on the gas pipeline in the El- Arish area in northern Sinai was the fifth such attack in the past six months. According to reports in the Egyptian press, four armed, masked men infiltrated the gas terminal, blew it up and escaped without disclosing their identities. The explosion caused serious damage to the pipeline, even more extensive than the damage caused in the attack of the previous week.

Although no organization has taken responsibility for the series of attacks, all of which had a similar modus operandi, various elements in Egypt have pointed an accusing finger at terrorist organizations based in the Gaza Strip: al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad and Jaish al-Islam.

At this stage, it is not clear whether Palestinian Salafist elements in Gaza are behind the incidents, or whether it is Egyptian opposition elements. In any case, the ongoing nature of the attacks, their timing, the choice of targets, and the perpetrators’ successful escape all indicate that the planners have exploited the governmental vacuum created in Egypt following the fall of the Mubarak government and the weakness of the Egyptian security forces, which are focusing their efforts on major cities throughout the country.

Additionally, it is evident that the target was chosen because of its essential role in Israel-Egypt bilateral economic relations.

These events, along with the sharp increase in smuggling of advanced weapons through Sinai to the Gaza Strip, make the Sinai area a security challenge for Israel because of the likely strategic consequences of the new Egyptian regime’s looser control in the vast peninsula.

Furthermore, the special gas agreements signed between Israel and the previous regime have recently come under strong criticism in Egypt. Various media channels have reported intentions of placing the former oil minister, who was in charge of maintaining the gas agreements, on trial on charges of “wasting public money” to the tune of $714 million. They have also reported a plan by the current administration to conduct a “reassessment” of the gas export agreements with Israel, with the goal of increasing the country’s revenues. In early July, the Egyptian finance minister announced his intention to raise the price of gas to Israel by some NIS 2.5 billion, and another senior Egyptian official even offered an assessment that the attacks on the gas pipeline were “expected to continue unless implementation of the [gas] agreement in its present format is not halted.”

Even without the planned changes in the agreements, the immediate damage of these attacks is already being felt in Israel. As a result of the intermittent gas supply and the use of more expensive fuels such as fuel oil and diesel, National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau estimates that electricity prices will rise by some 20 percent, and the Israel Electric Company has stated that the cost of these changes to the economy is liable to reach some NIS 3b.-3.5b.

ASIDE FROM the immediate economic damages, the series of attacks is an indication of the additional security risks that are liable to stem from the new situation in Egypt. The Sinai is likely to become a “no-man’s land” from a security point of view, where terrorist organizations will be able to maneuver more easily. Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, head of IDF Military Intelligence, recently observed that Egyptian security forces “are losing control over the Sinai region,” reflecting the concern of security officials in Israel about the reported sharp increase in terrorist attacks in the Sinai.

Most of these terror attacks are a direct challenge to Egyptian control of the area. For example, in early January, Beduin armed with anti-tank missiles attacked the police station in Sheikh Zawid, near the Gaza border; four days later, the headquarters of Amn a-Dawla (Egyptian state security) in Rafah was attacked and burned down, and in May, it became known that dozens of armed Beduin had taken control of the Nuweiba port and prevented the transit of passengers and goods. There was also a report about the involvement of 400 al-Qaida activists in planning terrorist acts in Egypt and Sinai.

In fact, it is evident that the shaky security situation in the Sinai has already affected Israel. A report published by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in May stated that terrorist organizations were exploiting the governmental chaos in the Sinai to smuggle large quantities of weapons into the Gaza Strip. IDF intelligence officials reported that Egypt had recently stopped building the physical barrier to prevent smuggling in the Philadelphi Corridor, in contravention of the agreement it had with Israel on this issue.

In addition, it has been reported that in the past six months, Beduin smugglers have exploited the wide-open border in Rafah and the absence of Egyptian security forces in the vast expanses of the Sinai to smuggle rockets to Gaza. This has increased the number of rockets held by terrorist elements from 5,000 at the end of 2010 to some 10,000. In addition, the quantity of standard explosives smuggled into the Gaza Strip over the past half-year is three times the quantity smuggled in all of 2010.

THE RECENT developments only sharpen the need for Israeli political and security officials to conduct an in-depth examination of the situation in light of a possible strategic shift in relations with Egypt. This would likely require new military and security arrangements on the southern front, quiet for over 30 years. At the same time, the accepted assessment in Israel thus far is that even if relations with Egypt are not as close as they were for most of Mubarak’s rule, the new regime in Egypt will continue to adhere to the peace treaty.

Nonetheless, until the new regime stabilizes and as long as the Egyptian security apparatus is occupied primarily with the uprising aftermath in the large cities, the border area shared by Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip will likely continue to be a focus for increased terrorist activity against Israeli targets.

Fuente: jpost.com

Killing of General Vexes Rebels in Libya

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

BENGHAZI, Libya — In a mourning tent for the Libyan rebels’ top military leader, who was assassinated last week in mysterious circumstances, relatives and members of his tribe warned on Tuesday of dire consequences, including violence, if rebel leaders did not move quickly to find his killers.

The relatives, including three of his sons, warned that the provisional rebel government, the Transitional National Council, was moving too slowly to form a committee to investigate the death the commander, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes. General Younes and two colleagues were shot to death by unknown gunmen on Thursday.

“A week passed with no information,” said one of the sons, who demanded that his first name not be published. “What we cannot take by law, we’ll take by arms.”

Other people at the gathering spoke in more measured terms but also warned of untold consequences if the Transitional National Council failed to identify the killers and explain their motives. Their admonitions deepened the sense of crisis around the rebel leaders, who are facing homegrown strife while struggling to root out what they say is a well-armed fifth column of supporters of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who lurk in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

In western Libya, seven rebel fighters were killed and dozens were injured near the city of Zlitan as rebels fought soldiers loyal to Colonel Qaddafi, Reuters reported. Late Monday night, one of the colonel’s sons, Seif al-Islam Qaddafi, said in his first television appearance in weeks that his father’s forces had no intention of giving up, regardless of whether NATO withdrew. “The fighting will continue until all of Libya is liberated,” he said.

In Benghazi on Tuesday, the second day of Ramadan, the city settled into different routines and coped with new challenges. Calls to bring armed men under central control were fueled by accusations that General Younes was killed by a person in one of the dozens of armed militias in the rebel areas.

A spokesman for the rebels, Shamsiddin Abdul Molah, said that the effort to organize the fighters was already under way. He said they had been given 10 days to abide by a decree and register with the rebel government’s Interior Ministry.

A committee was already formed, he added, to investigate the assassination of the general, who was once the interior minister in the Qaddafi government, though the spokesman referred questions about the committee to the public prosecutor.

Nearly every detail of the killings seems to be in dispute. The only point of agreement seems to be that the three men were killed on Thursday after General Younes left the front lines, near the city of Brega, to be questioned by a judicial committee.

The speakers in the mourning tent — relatives and members of various tribes, including the general’s own — suggested that the rebel authorities still had an opportunity to investigate the killings and to prevent an insurrection. The wide variety of groups in the tent seemed intended to convey unity.

Several people mentioned February 17, the date the rebels use to mark their uprising, to appeal to a larger cause. There were several attempts to calm heated rhetoric. When one young man stood up and asked members of General Younes’s tribe to gather after sunset with their weapons in a show of force, several tribal elders told him to quiet down.

One recurring demand seemed like a plea for transparency or a sign of lost confidence in the rebel leaders.

Many said that the investigators needed to look at all the rebel officials, including senior member of the government, and that any suspects should be prevented from travel abroad.

Fuente: nytimes.com

Outside Pressure Builds on Syria

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

Syria’s diplomatic isolation deepened Tuesday in the aftermath of an intense military assault on the city of Hama and other hotbeds of the nearly five-month-old antigovernment uprising.

Russia, an important ally of Syria, signaled new support for possible Security Council action, Syrian democracy activists received a warm welcome in Washington, Italy withdrew its ambassador to Damascus, and the United Nations Secretary General and top rights official both issued blunt rebukes of Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The developments came as news services reported Syrian artillery forces had begun shelling and shooting in Hama for the third day in a row. Reuters quoted unidentified Hama residents as saying shells hit at least two neighborhoods after nightly Ramadan prayers, and that protesters who had tried to mass in another part of Hama were scattered by bullet fire. Casualties were not known.

By some estimates, more than 100 Syrians have died since Sunday, the majority of them in Hama, as the Mr. Assad’s military forces expanded an effort to thoroughly crush the uprising against him. More than 1,400 Syrians have been killed since the uprising began in March.

At the United Nations, the Security Council convened for a second day to discuss possible action that would punish Syria. Russia and China, two of the Council’s permanent members, had threatened previously to veto a proposed resolution, but Kremlin officials in Moscow suggested on Tuesday that they might have softened their position. Whether that means Russia might now support a Security Council resolution or some lesser form of reprimand aimed at Syria remained unclear.

“We are not categorically against everything,” Sergei Vershinin, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, told reporters in Moscow. “We are categorically against what doesn’t help bring forward a peaceful settlement.”

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, made some of his strongest criticisms yet, saying through a spokesman that he believed the Syrian president had “lost all sense of humanity.”

Earlier in Geneva, Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, criticized what she called the Syrian government’s effort to shield the brutality of its crackdown from public view by banning outside news coverage and preventing a U.N. fact-finding mission from visiting.

“The world is watching, and the international community is gravely concerned,” she said, according to Agence France-Presse. “The government has been trying to keep the world blind about the alarming situation in the country, but they are not succeeding.”

In Washington, the Obama administration, which has toughened its line toward Syria in recent weeks, officially welcomed Syrian democracy advocates based in the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with them on Tuesday as more American lawmakers called for punitive steps against Mr. Assad and his officials, beyond the economic and travel sanctions already imposed.

The American antipathy for Mr. Assad was also on display at the confirmation hearing in Washington for Robert S. Ford, the American ambassador to Syria, who called the crackdown on protesters “brutal” and “outrageous.” Mr. Ford, who has been serving in Syria since January under a recess appointment by President Obama, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the behavior of Mr. Assad’s government «has been atrocious» and that Syrians were already planning for the day when he is longer president.

At the United Nations, news of the escalating violence appeared to have broken a deadlock over Syria that had lasted since May. Diplomats spent Tuesday attempting to sort out exactly what form a condemnation might take.

Fuente: nytimes.com/

More takeovers in the water works

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

The sale of Northumbrian to Li Ka-Shing could be just the start of a wave of deals in the water industry

After weeks of speculation and uncertainty, the board of Northumbrian Water yesterday unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the 665p-per-share cash offer from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI).

The deal represents a 26.4 per cent premium to the share price before the takeover talks became public in late June, valuing the FTSE 250-listed utility at £4.7bn.

It also puts paid to warnings that the industry’s most recent regulatory price review – which runs from 2010 to 2015 – set conditions so tough they would materially affect the industry’s ability to attract investment. And with the watchdog Ofwat softening its stance on mergers and acquisitions, the CKI/Northumbrian deal could be the vanguard of a spell of consolidation in the fragmented water sector.

Sir Derek Wanless, the chairman of Northumbrian Water, yesterday described CKI’s offer as being priced at an «attractive premium» to both the regulated capital value and the group’s pre-offer share price.

«Whilst Northumbrian would have a strong future as an independent company, the offer fairly values the current and future prospects of the company,» Sir Derek said.

CKI confirmed that Northumbrian would be incorporated into a new company, to be called UK Water, with the existing management team remaining in place.

H L Kam, the group managing director of CKI and a director of UK Water, said: «We attach great importance to the skills and experience of the existing management and employees of Northumbrian and believe they will be an important factor in the continuing success of the Northumbrian Group.»

CKI already owns a spread of infrastructure assets in the UK, including electricity networks that it bought from the French group EDF for £5.8bn last year.

But to avoid a Competition Commission referral for the Northumbrian deal, the group is off-loading its other water-sector asset, Cambridge Water, to HSBC for £74m. The decision on Cambridge Water reflects Ofwat’s historical reluctance to allow mergers in the sector, borne out of its concern to maintain a broad base of performance comparators. But earlier this year the regulator’s chief executive, Regina Finn, hinted at a relaxation of merger controls as part of wider plans to boost competition in the sector. And there is now a growing expectation across the once-sleepy industry of major changes to come.

In part, it is the stringencies of Ofwat’s own most recent price and investment review – know as PR09 – that is piling pressure on water companies and nudging the sector towards consolidation.

Duncan Michie, a director in the utilities consulting practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, is expecting more takeover talks, among both listed and unlisted companies.

«The Northumbrian deal demonstrates that in spite of PR09, there is still value in the water sector,» Mr Michie said.

«And there’s a whole range of potential efficiencies that water companies can’t fully exploit at the moment, but which they will be able to take advantage of as we see changes to the merger regime,» he added.

The next step could be either typical consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, or it could be the adoption of new models for exploiting economies of scale, such as joint ventures, or resource-sharing arrangements, or water trading across the industry’s traditionally discrete geographical regions.

«We are at the point where there is pressure to innovate, either through consolidation or through thinking of new ways of getting the benefits of scale,» Mr Michie said.

There is certainly considerable support for deregulation among some of the biggest players in the water sector.

Tony Wray, the chief executive of FTSE 100-listed Severn Trent, has long been a vocal proponent of change, calling for the sector’s 21 companies to come down to as few as 10, and for water trading to make the most of scarce resources.

According to Mr Wray, such developments are the only way to meet the challenge of climate change.

«To guarantee security of supply and manage the effects of flooding we need more efficient networks, and that is best achieved by having some consolidation,» he told The Independent. «Consolidation could also deliver greater capital efficiency – which is significant because tens of billions of pounds worth of investment are still required.»

There are already signs of movement. Industry insiders are discussing HSBC’s likely sale of Cambridge Water. Agbar is reportedly looking to sell its 70 per cent holding in Bristol Water, which abuts both Severn Trent and Wessex Water territory. And there is also growing speculation about the future of Veolia’s three water-only subsidiaries. «We may be at the start, but it is not going to be an overnight transformation,» Mr Wray said. «It will be a gradual change in response to the challenge about how the industry finances its massive capital requirements.»

Meanwhile, although the water sector’s long-term, stable returns are looking more attractive than ever – even compared with once-reliable sovereign debt – there are significant questions about where the finance for future consolidation deals might come from.

Deep-pocketed CKI may not be affected by the credit crunch. But the infrastructure funds that have snapped up the majority of Britain’s once-listed water companies have relied on the kind of cheap debt that is in short supply in the aftermath of the credit crunch.

«There aren’t that many CKIs around so the interesting question is whether the infrastructure funds will come back into the market,» Doug King, a vice chairman at Deloitte, said. «There are attractive investments, and there will continue to be; whether there are the right buyers is questionable.»

There is also another slug of regulatory uncertainty to contend with. Although PR09 has set out thereturns for the five years up to 2015, Ofwat is also exploring options for boosting retail competition, and there is also a Government white paper that will look at the long-term shape of the industry. That white paper is due to be published in November.

«You could take the view that the Government and regulator will be sensible, but most infrastructure funds would want clarity from the white paper before doing anything significant,» Mr King said.

So, while the uncertainty over Northumbrian Water’s future appears finally to be settled, the upheavals for the industry as a whole may just be only beginning.

Fuente: independent.co.uk

Italy recalls ambassador to Syria

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

Italy has become the first European Union country to recall its ambassador to Syria in protest at the repression of anti-government demonstrations and urged other nations do the same.

Meanwhile Russia said it would not oppose a United Nations resolution to condemn the violence.

Italy is the first EU nation to withdraw its ambassador, although the EU has been tightening sanctions and imposed asset freezes and travel bans against five additional Syrian military and government officials this week.

At the UN headquarters in New York, the Security Council began negotiating a text on Tuesday after failing for more than three months to make any statement on the Syrian violence – except to condemn the attacks on the US and French embassies in Damascus.

During talks that dragged late into the evening, the council was negotiating on the wording of a European-drafted resolution that was updated with proposals from Brazil and others in what several ambassadors called a positive step.

India’s UN ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri, the current council president, had said the goal was to reach tentative agreement on a text that could be sent to capitals overnight and then tackle the divisive issue of whether it should be adopted as a legally-binding resolution or a weaker presidential statement.

After lengthy discussions, the ambassadors broke for the evening and agreed to resume negotiations on Wednesday after receiving guidance from their capitals. Lesser-ranking diplomats said one key unresolved issue was how to address the violence against unarmed civilians and attacks on Syrian security forces.

The Europeans and the US insist that the Syrian government’s violence against unarmed civilians, which account for the vast number of casualties, cannot be equated with the attacks on security forces, the diplomats said.

Russia’s government softened its stance, indicating it would not oppose a resolution. Last month, Russia and China had threatened to veto the original European resolution that would have condemned the Syrian attacks, effectively blocking it.

The Europeans and US want a resolution but diplomats said other council members including India, Brazil and South Africa wanted a presidential statement.

Fuente:

Lawyer: Norway Attacker Makes ‘Unrealistic’ Demands

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

The Norwegian man who has confessed to killing 77 in the twin attacks in his country last month has presented a list of demands he wants to exchange for sharing information about his alleged crime.

The defense lawyer for Anders Behring Breivik told reporters Tuesday that his client has made a long list of «unrealistic» demands that show he does not know how society works. Attorney Geir Lippestad said that among the demands is the complete overthrow of European societies.

Lippestad described Breivik as a cold person, who justifies the mass killing of young people in one of the attacks on a youth camp as a necessary part of war against a Muslim invasion of Europe. He said his client has demanded to be examined by a Japanese psychiatrist because he believes the Japanese understand the idea and values of honor better than Europeans.

Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo Tuesday said police are still trying to determine if Breivik acted alone. During questioning, Breivik has indicated he carried out the attacks as part of an anti-Muslim movement.

If convicted of terrorism charges, Breivik could face up to 21 years in prison. But alternative arrangements could keep him behind the bars longer.

Breivik was a member of the anti-immigrant Progress Party between 1999 and 2006. Party leader Siv Jensen told the Associated Press Tuesday that Breivik’s anti-Muslim views are «perversely unique» and not linked to her party.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday attended the funeral of Somali-Norwegian Mona Abdinur, one of the youths attending the camp that was organized by the Labor Party. She was one of 69 people Breivik allegedly gunned down after killing eight with a bomb set off in Oslo’s government complex.

Fuente: voanews.com

Debt crisis to be focus in UniCredit results

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

MILAN, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Investors will look past UniCredit SpA’s expected higher second-quarter net profit on Thursday to focus on the reaction of Italy’s biggest bank to the sovereign debt crisis it and other lenders are enduring.

UniCredit and other Italian banks, which are big holders of domestic government bonds, have been pummelled as investors dump Italian assets.

Fears are mounting that the euro zone crisis is spreading to Italy with its debt mountain, at 1.6 trillion euros ($2.28 trillion), one of the world’s biggest. Many investors are targeting banking stocks as a proxy to cut exposure to the country.

Shares in UniCredit, Italy’s biggest international banking player, have fallen 23 percent since the start of July, when funds started selling off Italian banks and government bonds. The stock fell almost 6 percent on Tuesday alone.

By comparison, the STOXX Europe 600 banking index is down 9 percent since the start of last month. UniCredit will be the first big Italian bank to post results since the sell-off began.

Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni has said the sharp drop is due to speculative short-selling that bears no relation to Italy’s fundamentals or the health of its banks.

UniCredit and other banks are facing rising funding costs as investors demand a hefty and growing premium to hold Italian debt. The higher costs are seen as cutting into lenders’ earnings.

«We no longer believe Italian banks are a play on interest rates and the factors affecting their performance are now largely beyond their control,» Santander analysts wrote in a research report.

Analysts say investors will be especially keen for details on when UniCredit will produce a new business plan and if it could raise capital.

UniCredit is the only big bank to stay out of the latest round of Italian capital increases. They have totalled 11 billion euros and are aimed at meeting Basel III capital requirements ahead of time.

Analysts polled by the bank have forecast second-quarter net profit of 471 million euros on average, helped by a rise in net interest income. The 2010 figure was 148 million euros after a hefty goodwill impairment.

($1=.7017 euro)

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Fuente: Reuters

‘A strong alliance is the key to success for all,’ Uruguay’s Mujica

Felipe Ago 3, 2011

A positive emphasis on being neighbourly, keenly came through during the press conference given by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and President of Uruguay, José Mujica on Tuesday at the Government House.

Mujica underlined that “a strong alliance is the key to success for all, enabling all of us to win,” as the pair met to sign bilateral agreements.

Fernández de Kirchner added that “being partners means winning, winning on both parts.”

The presidential pair were meeting for talks at the Government House, to “strengthen bilateral relations and increasing a mutual collaboration between both nations.”

Mujica mentioned that the people of Uruguay “should not feel like strangers in Argentina,” and emphasized that now is the time to “strengthen our alliance,” underlining that “for too many decades have we been living with our backs to one another, concentrating on Europe and things that are far away from us.”
Following meetings, the Argentine and Uruguayan presidential pair moved on to the Women’s Hall to sign energy and navigability agreements, and signing an agreement to dredge the Uruguay and La Plata rivers, amongst others.

Later, during the lunch hosted by the Bicentenary Museum, in the basement of the Government House, the Argentine head of State further affirmed the friendly relationship between Argentina and Uruguay. “I’d like to state that you, Pepe (Mujica), your presence here shows the reconstruction of the friendship between our nations,” said Fernández de Kirchner.

She furthered that “we have the necessity to reconstruct and strengthen our friendship, the alliance between our countries and governments.”

Finally, the Argentine President informed of a new railway line project between the nations, stating “in a few days we will conduct a very important ceremony between Argentina and Uruguay which will put the new railway project in place, which marks a historic moment for both countries.”

The president of Uruguay arrived this morning to Jorge Newbery Metropolitan airport, accompanied by his Foreign Minister Luis Almagro and other members of cabinet.

The group were received by Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman and the ambassador to Uruguay in Buenos Aires, Alejandro Pomi Barriola.

Fuente: buenosairesherald.com/

Pfizer global drug sales fall, spark concern

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc showed further weakness in its main business of prescription medicines, sending shares down more than 3 percent on concern over future growth as the company prepares to divest better-performing non-pharmaceuticals businesses.

The world’s largest drugmaker saw sales declines in primary care, specialty care, branded generic and oncology medicines during the second quarter. One of the few bright spots was that drug sales grew in emerging markets. (For a graphic on Pfizer’s earnings, see: http://r.reuters.com/vuf92s )

That could mean it is more vulnerable ahead of the U.S. patent expiration in November on its top-selling Lipitor cholesterol fighter. Generic competition has already begun to chip away at overseas sales of the $10 billion-a-year drug.

Pfizer said global prescription drug sales fell 3 percent in the quarter to $14.64 billion, and were down 7 percent after stripping out the benefit of the weaker dollar. Lipitor worldwide sales fell 8 percent to $2.59 billion.

Those declines were partly offset by a stronger performance in its animal health and nutritional products business. But Pfizer plans to divest those units in the next year or two, through a sale or spin-off. The combined value of the businesses could exceed $16 billion.

«We believe these businesses are worth more outside of Pfizer than in Pfizer,» Chief Executive Ian Read said in an interview. He added the company was focusing instead on promising medicines now in development.

Pfizer earned $2.61 billion, or 33 cents per share in the quarter. That compared with $2.48 billion or 31 cents per share a year ago.

Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 60 cents per share. Analysts on average expected 59 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Results were helped by a lower effective tax rate of 29 percent, from 32 percent a year ago, due to extension of a federal research and development credit.

Total revenue fell 1 percent to $16.98 billion, matching Wall Street expectations, but would have fallen 5 percent if not for the weaker dollar, which boosts overseas sales.

Pfizer shares fell 3.5 percent at $18.36 in afternoon trade, leading a 1.7 percent decline for the drug sector.

Morningstar analyst Damien Conover said the stock was hurt by disappointment Pfizer did not report better-than-expected sales, as rivals like Bristol-Myers Squibb did in the quarter, and by a surprisingly high level of expenses.

PIPELINE POTENTIAL

Wall Street has been sour on Pfizer for much of the past five years due to its steadily falling earnings, plunging share price and its inability to create big-selling new medicines. But some investors had begun to look for new growth opportunities in an improving experimental drug pipeline and cost savings derived from its 2009 purchase of rival Wyeth.

Over the past year, Pfizer shares have risen 20 percent, twice the advance seen for the drug sector.

«If you look at the pipeline there’s a lot of exciting things going on,» said CLSA analyst David Maris, referring to Pfizer’s experimental drugs for rheumatoid arthritis, lung cancer and blood clots that are now in late-stage trials.

Upcoming data on Pfizer’s rheumatoid arthritis drug tofacitinib is critical for the company, said Edward Jones analyst Linda Bannister.

The pill works by blocking a protein called Jak-3 and could be deemed more convenient than Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade and other treatments that are injected or infused.

«The big thing this year is the Jak-3,» Bannister said. «People are paying close attention to that.»

For the first time, Pfizer’s animal health products crossed the $1 billion mark, with sales jumping 18 percent to $1.06 billion — bolstered by the company’s recent acquisition of King Pharmaceuticals and its Alpharma brands.

Sales of consumer healthcare products, including its Robitussen cough medicines acquired through its purchase of Wyeth, rose 6 percent to $721 million. Revenue from nutritional products rose 4 percent to $493 million.

Pfizer earlier this year said it would cut as much as 25 percent of its $8 billion to $8.5 billion research budget to deliver on a 2012 profit forecast.

The drugmaker on Tuesday reaffirmed its 2011 profit forecast of $2.16 to $2.26 per share, excluding special items. It predicted earnings in 2012 of $2.25 to $2.35 per share — reflecting stable or improved earnings the first full year Lipitor faces U.S. generics.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson and Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Dave Zimmerman and Matthew Lewis)

Italy under fire in widening euro debt crisis

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

ROME (Reuters) – Financial market pressure on Italy intensified on Tuesday, sucking Europe’s second biggest debtor nation deeper into the euro area danger zone and prompting emergency consultations in Rome and among European capitals.

Italian and Spanish bond yields hit their highest levels in 14 years, with five-year Italian yields reaching the same level as Spain’s in a sign Rome is overtaking Madrid as a key focus of investors’ concern about debt sustainability.

Italy’s stock index fell 2.5 percent to its lowest in more than 27 months, dragged down by banks that have heavy exposure to Italian debt. European shares hit a 9-month low amid worries that slowing economic growth will make it even harder to overcome the euro zone’s debt troubles.

«The fear of the market is that the world is going into recession again … and in the euro zone the peripheral markets are the ones that will suffer most,» said Alessandro Giansanti, strategist at ING in Amsterdam.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti chaired a meeting of the Financial Stability Committee — made up of representatives of the government, the Bank of Italy, market regulator Consob and insurance authority ISVAP — a day before Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is due to break his silence and address parliament.

In a statement after the meeting, the committee said Italy’s financial system remained solid thanks to recent action to strengthen the capital base and liquidity reserves of Italian banks, but it would continue to monitor developments.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero postponed his departure for vacation to monitor economic developments after the risk premium on his country’s debt over benchmark German bonds rose to a euro lifetime high of more than 4.0 percentage points.

Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said he would meet Tremonti in Luxembourg on Wednesday, as it became increasingly clear that a second Greek bailout agreed on July 21 had brought no respite for the currency bloc. The European Commission said monetary affairs chief Olli Rehn, who is on vacation in Finland, would speak to Tremonti later on Wednesday.

Spain’s economy ministry told Reuters it was in contact with fellow European governments — particularly Germany, Italy and France — about the situation in the markets.

Zapatero last week called an early general election for November 20. The conservative opposition Popular Party has a 14-point lead over his Socialists in opinion polls, but any narrowing toward an indecisive result could spook investors.

Elsewhere in Europe, leading policymakers are on summer holiday after agreeing last month on a second financial rescue for Greece, the worst hit euro zone debtor, that was meant to buy calm in the markets at least until September.

VERBAL SUPPORT

International bodies offered Italy and Spain verbal support.

The European Commission said both Rome and Madrid were taking necessary action to keep their economies on track and «we are confident in their abilities.»

The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a rich nations’ intergovernmental think-tank, told Reuters that Italy had its public finances under control and was taking the right decisions to reduce its deficit.

«Therefore it does not need foreign savings to finance its deficits and therefore it is OK,» OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said in an interview in Athens, noting that Italy had a high domestic savings rate.

Italy is in the firing line partly because, at 120 percent of economic output, it has the highest debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio of any euro zone nation except Greece, which is nearing 160 percent.

But political instability in Rome’s center-right coalition has whipped up market concern, with Berlusconi on trial for alleged tax evasion and sexual relations with a minor, and Tremonti under fire over his use of an apartment owned by an aide under investigation for alleged corruption.

Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi, due to take over as head of the European Central Bank in November, met Italian President Giorgio Napolitano for the second time in a week in a sign of the gravity of the financial situation.

Amid the turmoil, Italian market regulator Consob requested information from Deutsche Bank on a recent massive reduction of its holdings of Italian bonds, according to the economy ministry.

Deutsche’s second quarter results showed it had cut its net Italian sovereign exposure from 8 billion euros at the end of 2010 to 997 million euros by the start of July, the ministry said in a statement.

The euro zone and the International Monetary Fund have already had to grant bailouts to Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Tiny Cyprus may be next in line due to its banks’ exposure to Greek debt, and the economic fallout from an explosion last month that destroyed its sole electrical power station.

Brussels sought to counter reports that Italy may not contribute to the next round of aid for Greece because its own borrowing costs are now well above the 3.5 percent rate at which the money will be lent on to Athens.

«All euro zone member states are committed to paying into the next tranche of aid for Greece,» European Commission spokeswoman Chantal Hughes told a news briefing, citing Italy and Spain.

«However, if any country is faced with higher funding costs at that point in time, when the next tranche of aid would be funded, there is a mechanism in place to ensure that they are compensated for it,» she said.

Reuters reported last week that Italy was considering «stepping out» of funding the next Greek tranche or using the compensation mechanism.

The OECD said the latest European rescue deal for Greece would only slightly reduce the country’s debt and it would take a generation to cut it to more sustainable levels.

However, it said the extra official financial support agreed and maturity extensions for public loans and private sector bonds would give Greece the time needed to implement fundamental fiscal and structural reforms.

«We will support the Greek government for a full generation, which is what it is going to take to get those numbers of lower debt-to-GDP,» Gurria said.

Many economists say the EU deal was insufficient and Greece will need a hard restructuring to halve its debt ratio to about 80 percent of GDP to make it sustainable.

(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Athens, William James in London, Carlos Ruano and Sarah Morris in Madrid and Justyna Pawlak and Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels; writing by Paul Taylor; editing by Janet McBride/Mike Peacock/Ron Askew)

Faltering consumer spending to weigh on growth

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumer spending dropped in June for the first time in nearly two years and incomes barely rose, signs the economy lacked momentum as the second quarter drew to a close.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday consumer spending slipped 0.2 percent, the first decline since September 2009, after edging up 0.1 percent in May. Adjusted for inflation, spending was flat after a 0.1 percent decline.

Incomes rose just 0.1 percent.

«It certainly gets us off on a very soft footing for the third quarter and does call into question a bit the notion of a second-half pick-up,» said Julia Coronado, North America chief economist at BNP Paribas in New York. «We are not seeing it yet going into the third quarter.»

The data, which was incorporated in a report on U.S. economic growth on Friday that showed the economy expanded at less than a 1 percent annual rate over the first half of the year, was the latest to underscore the recovery’s frail state.

A report on Monday showed manufacturing activity hit a two-year low in July, leading some economists to dial back expectations for growth over the second half of the year.

For the third-quarter, many economists have scaled back growth estimates to around 2.5 percent from 3 percent.

«If the recovery is ever going to gain speed, it will have to come from households deciding they want to spend money again,» said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.

There is little sign that consumers are willing to do that just yet. Motor vehicle sales rose in line with cautious expectations in July from June’s lows.

«We’re seeing that consumer confidence is pretty fragile right now because of everything that’s happened in the past few months,» said General Motors’ U.S. sales chief Don Johnson.

Companies from a wide range of U.S. industries told similar stories on Tuesday of slowing sales and bleak outlooks.

Wireless services provider MetroPCS Communications Inc said it was having a tough time holding onto customers and forecast its subscriber numbers would worsen in the current quarter, while conglomerate Emerson Electric Co said its industrial businesses were slowing amid sluggish growth in the United States and Europe.

U.S. stocks fell on the weak spending report, while prices for Treasury debt rallied both on the data and the approval of a deficit-cutting deal by Congress, with the yield on the 30-year government bond dropping below 4 percent.

Gold raced to an all-time high of $1,640.39 an ounce and the dollar firmed broadly as the uncertain economic outlook led investors to search for a safe haven.

WEIGHING RECESSION RISKS

Consumer spending is being held back by a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, and the labor market’s health could determine how fast the economy recovers its footing.

Employment grew by just 18,000 positions in June and a report on Friday is expected to show only a further 85,000 were added in July.

Budget cuts could prove a headwind for the economy, although forecaster Macroeconomic Advisers said the impact from the plan approved on Tuesday would likely trim only an average of 0.1 percentage point off GDP growth over the next 10 years.

However, if agreement is not reached on a planned second round of reductions, automatic cuts would be imposed that would curb GDP growth in 2013 by 0.8 percentage point, it said.

The dour data in the last few days have spurred talk the economy could tumble into a fresh recession.

Federal Reserve officials gather next week to appraise the state of the economy, but officials have signaled a reluctance to build on their aggressive monetary stimulus.

There were some relatively optimistic economic signs on Tuesday.

Borrowing by small U.S. businesses jumped in June to the highest level in more than three years and a gauge within the spending report showed inflation subsiding.

The so-called PCE price index, which the Fed monitors closely, fell 0.2 percent, its first drop since June. A core index, which excludes food and energy costs, rose a tame 0.1 percent.

«That’s a little relief for consumers and hopefully over time that will lead to a little bit of momentum in consumer spending,» said BNP Paribas’ Coronado.

(Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Scioli y Mariotto encabezarán encuentros con jóvenes militantes en Berisso y Ensenada

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

El gobernador bonaerense, Daniel Scioli, junto al candidato a vicegobernador, Gabriel Mariotto, se reunirán mañana con jóvenes militantes en los municipios de Berisso y Ensenada.
A partir de las 17, el mandatario provincial y el titular de la Autoridad Federal de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual, encabezarán, en compañía del intendente de Ensenada, Mario Secco, un encuentro de militantes del Frente para la Victoria y la Corriente Nacional de la Militancia Peronista.

La actividad se realizará en el Club Astillero Río Santiago, de Avenida Horacio Cestino Nº 774.

Posteriormente, cerca de las 19, Scioli y Mariotto se trasladarán a Berisso, en donde realizarán junto al intendente local Enrique Slezack, el 1º Encuentro “1.000 Voces Militantes de Nuestra Provincia”.

En la actividad que se llevará a cabo en el predio del Gimnasio Municipal de calle 9 y 169, se espera la participación de los intendentes, Patricio Mussi (Berazategui), Gustavo Arrieta (Cañuelas), Fernando Gray (Esteban Echeverría), Gustavo Sobrero (Lobos), Fernando Carballo (Magdalena), Aníbal Regueiro (Presidente Perón) y Francisco Gutiérrez (Quilmes).
Fuente: diariohoy.net

Revelan que una de las francesas asesinadas agonizó durante varias horas

Felipe Ago 2, 2011

De acuerdo con los peritos, Houria Moumni vio matar a su amiga y trató de huir, tropezó y se cayó. Fue ejecutada de un tiro en la espalda, pero el tiro la atravesó y no murió en el acto. Hoy se espera la llegada de los familiares

El plomo de un calibre 22, completamente aplastado, con la cual mataron a la turista francesa fue encontrado entre unas piedras del suelo rocoso, propio de los cerros de la Quebrada de San Lorenzo en el lugar donde fueron hallados los cuerpos de Moumni y Cassandre Bouvier.

Este hallazgo permite descartar a los investigadores la hipótesis de que las turistas francesas habrían estado secuestradas en algún lugar otro lugar entre los días 15 y 29 de julio, cuando encontraron sus cuerpos.

Ayer, el juez Martín Pérez estuvo en el lugar del hecho para ver dónde habían encontrado la bala y junto a peritos dela Brigadade Investigaciones, y con la luz del día pudo darse una idea de cómo fueron ejecutadas las turistas francesas.

Además, este lunes se supo que las chicas, el día anterior al trágico viernes 15, habían participado de una cabalgata e nla Quebrada de la Horqueta en el extremo opuesto y muy lejos de San Lorenzo. Esto se sabe porque una de las dos le hizo el comentario a la recepcionista del Hostal Del Cerro, donde se alojaron hasta que salieron hacia su muerte.

Cabe señalar que desde el sábado, policías de la Brigada hicieron un relevamiento entre la gente que vende artesanías, y que trabajan en las confiterías, y los guías de cabalgatas y caminatas que hay en la Quebrada de San Lorenzo, mostrando una foto de una de las víctimas y exhibiendo cuatro o cinco identikits de varones, según informa el diario Clarín.

Los “cordobeses” son un grupo de jóvenes que subieron al cerro apenas 5 minutos después que las chicas francesas y se los busca porque creen que podrían tener información vital para el caso.

Fuente: Infobae

Explosión, derrumbe y una persona atrapada por una pérdida de gas en Ramos Mejía

Felipe Ago 2, 2011

Una persona quedó atrapada por el derrumbe de su casa tras una explosión, se presume, por efecto de una perdida de gas, en Ramos Mejía, en el partido bonaerense de La Matanza.

El hecho ocurrió a medianoche en la calle Cervantes al 1400, en el barrio Constitución.

El rescate de la persona atrapada para ser trasladada al Hospital Paroissien, un anciano de alrededor de 70 años, se dificultó por el estado en que quedó la vivienda.

Está a cargo de las actuaciones la comisaría Segunda de Ramos Mejía.

Fuente: Télam

URBA: un paso adelante en la Asamblea

Felipe Ago 2, 2011

La Asamblea Extraordinaria de la URBA, finalmente, decidió en votación que los Plares de 21 a 23 años, y que cobren beca del Enard o de la Secretaría de Deportes, podrán jugar en el torneo de Buenos Aires.

La medida se aprobó tal como había sido mandada desde el Consejo Directivo y comenzará a regir el 1° de enero de 2012. Los primeros dos puntos fueron aprobados con el 68% de los votos (se necesitaba el 66%, al menos, para el asentimiento), mientras que el tercer punto, ante la partida de varios representantes de los clubes que habían votado en los ítems anteriores por la negativa, se definió por un 75%. Cabe destacar que ese punto, el de la reglamentación, necesitaba mayoría simple.

En limpio. En este momento, todos pueden jugar en la URBA. A partir del año que viene los Plares de 21 a 23 años (si cumplen 24 ese año, ya quedan inhibidos), y que cobren beca del Enard o de la Secretaría de Deportes, podrán jugar. Es decir, que la Unión Argentina de Rugby no pagará más la mitad de esas becas, como lo hacía hasta mayo, sino que estará en su totalidad a cargo de la Secretaría, o si se necesita con ayuda del Enard. De este modo, lo que se había determinado en abril que era la imposibilidad de los becados de representar a sus clubes por percibir dinero, quedó derogada.

En el caso de los mayores de 23 años, en 2012, existirá la excepción de que sólo uno por club podrá jugar. Pero a partir de 2013 no habrá más excepciones para mayores de 23 años, salvo un pedido específico de la UAR y que tiene que ser aprobado por el Consejo Directivo de la URBA. Esta medida, cabe destacar, también se aplica sobre los jugadores de Seven. Estos temas fueron los que más polvareda levantaron en la Asamblea, que por momentos volvió a tener esa disputa profesionalismo-amateurismo de la que tantó se habló el último tiempo.

«Es una salida más concreta. Esperemos que pueda durar y no ir de Asamblea en Asamblea. Se marca otro camino. Yo el conflicto no lo veo, sino que hay posiciones distintas. Veremos si genera o no problemas esto recién en 15 días, un mes o dos meses», afirmó a Scrum Carlos Campagnoli, presidente de la URBA y hombre de Curupaytí.

Al término de la votación de los primeros dos puntos del orden del día, varios representantes de clubes (entre otros Regatas, Mariano Moreno y Atlético del Rosario), dejaron la sede de la URBA y mostraron con algunas frases su disconformidad por lo resuelto minutos antes. «Costó construir algo en 100 años, y ahora en 10 se va a destruir como todo lo que hace el profesionalismo», afirmó un dirigente. Otro, en tono irónico, enfatizó: «Ganó el rugby».

Pero para llegar a esta resolución hubo un largo camino en la jornada de Pacheco de Melo 2120. Todo comenzó cerca de las 19, con la llegada de los representantes de la mayoría de los clubes. Saludos, conversaciones formales y kick-off para la Asamblea Extraordinaria, que contó con la ausencia de sólo cuatro delegados de las 68 instituciones que podían votar.

Las distintas opiniones por un momento hicieron llevar a varios representantes a solicitar que se pase a un cuarto intermedio y que la Asamblea tenga continuidad en otra oportunidad. No obstante, el pedido no tuvo quórum y, por mayoría, se decidió poner un punto final a la situación. El día para votar era hoy, y así se dio. «Alguna decisión había que tomar», aseguró Campagnoli.

Así, entonces, se pasó al Punto 1. Ahí se aprobó la derogación de las resoluciones realizadas en anteriores Asambleas (18 de mayo de 2009, 28 de abril de 2010 y 15 de abril de 2011). Luego, el turno del Punto 2, en el que finalmente se dio el visto bueno para que los Plares que tengan entre 21 y 23 años, y que reciban la beca del Enard o de la Secretaría de Deportes, puedan jugar. También se permite excepciones, por pedido fundado de la UAR, que primero en 2012 será un mayor de 23 años por club, y que a partir de 2013 será por solicitud expresa de la entidad madre, y que el Consejo Directivo de la URBA deberá aprobar o rechazar.

Luego fue el turno de votar el Punto 3, en el que se habló detalladamente de la reglamentación. Para este momento varios de los representantes de los clubes ya se habían ido de la sede de Pacheco de Melo, por lo que la decisión ganadora contó con el 75% de los votos.

«Ahora empieza lo peor», confesó otro dirigente. ¿El motivo? Ya empezaron las especulaciones con fisuras en la Unión, luego de toda esta disputa que llevaba más de 2 años. En tanto, Campagnoli opinó que «hemos presentado esta orden del día, con la intervención del Consejo, y que se haya aceptado me hace sentir bien. La propuesta fue aceptada por los clubes». Y agregó: «Cada uno puede tomar una decisión personal. Espero que ninguno se vaya del Consejo, porque cuando uno entra ya empieza a trabajar para todo el rugby y no para una posición personal. Incluso yo asumí con una posición y ahora estoy trabajando para todo el rugby de Buenos Aires».

Se dio un paso adelante, es verdad. Ambas posturas extremas tuvieron que ceder, aunque está claro que no hubo un consenso absoluto. Pero, por lo menos, hay una medida concreta y se llegó a darle un punto final a un conflicto que tenía en vilo al rugby argentino

Fuente: nuestrorugby.com.ar/

Massive rout spells trouble for Wall Street

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 turned negative for the year on Tuesday as the wrangling over the U.S. debt ceiling faded and investors turned their attention to the stalling economy.

The broad-based index fell for a seventh day and crashed through the key 200-day moving average in an ominous sign for markets. The seven days of losses mark the longest losing streak since October 2008.

«It is going to be a long week,» said Jim Maguire Jr., a NYSE floor trader at E.H. Smith Jacobs. «The bid is not here in the market.»

The selloff accelerated into the close as volume jumped well above average. The fall was broad-based, with four stocks falling for every one rising on the New York Stock Exchange.

The index also broke through its 2-1/2 year uptrend line from its bear market low in March 2009. Thursday was the index’s worst day in a year.

For a graphic on the S&P 500 see, graphic http://r.reuters.com/dug92s.

Investors seemed to find little to cheer after the U.S. Senate agreed to a deal to raise the debt ceiling because of the possibility it will not stave off a downgrade of the U.S. government’s triple-A rating.

«Investors have made the shift from Washington to what I’m calling economic realities,» said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at The Davidson Cos. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Composite volume on the NYSE, the Amex and the Nasdaq reached 9.5 billion shares, well above this year’s daily average of around 7.5 billion.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 265.87 points, or 2.19 percent, to 11,866.62. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.SPX> dropped 32.89 points, or 2.56 percent, to 1,254.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 75.37 points, or 2.75 percent, to 2,669.24.

Shortly after the vote, Fitch Ratings said the agreement to raise the U.S. borrowing capacity means the risk of a sovereign default is «extremely low» and commensurate with a AAA rating. But it warned Washington must reduce its debt or face a downgrade.

Industrial and consumer discretionary shares were among hardest hit, with the S&P industrial and discretionary indexes <.GSPI> <.GSPD> down more than 3 percent.

A government report showed U.S. consumer spending fell unexpectedly in June for the first decline in nearly two years as incomes barely rose.

On Monday a survey on U.S. factory activity suggested manufacturing stalled in July. The survey followed similarly weak reports from Asia and Europe and came after U.S. growth calculations were sharply cut for the first half of the year.

The government’s key monthly jobs report for July is due on Friday and will be closely watched by investors.

European debt problems returned to the forefront after French bank BNP Paribas SA took a $768.3 million write-down linked to Greece’s debt woes.

European shares hit their lowest close in 11 months, with selling concentrated on Spain’s IBEX <.IBEX> and Italy’s FTSE MIB <.FTMIB>, which hit a 27-month low.

Drug company Pfizer Inc reported a second-quarter profit that beat expectations by a penny and affirmed its full-year profit view. Shares of the Dow component fell 4.6 percent to $18.14.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Escándalo en el máximo tribunal

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

El candidato presidencial de la Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), Ricardo Alfonsín, ha pedido la dimisión del magistrado de la Corte Suprema Raúl Zaffaroni, para que explique, desde fuera del máximo órgano jurisdiccional argentino, cómo es posible que al menos cuatro apartamentos de su propiedad, en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, estén alquilados a negocios de prostitución.
Zaffaroni, de 71 años de edad y uno de los jueces más famosos de Argentina, es miembro de la Corte Suprema desde 2003, no niega ser el dueño de esos apartamentos pero mantiene que un apoderado y una agencia inmobiliaria son quienes se encargan de buscar inquilinos, sin que él tenga el menor conocimiento o contacto con ellos.

El escándalo se inició hace dos semanas cuando el diario Perfil planteó que dos céntricos prostíbulos, en el mejor barrio de la ciudad, estaban instalados en apartamentos propiedad del juez. Posteriores investigaciones por parte de la ONG La Alameda, dedicada a la lucha contra la prostitución, ampliaron el número de locales propiedad del juez donde se ejercía la prostitución hasta cuatro pisos diferentes. La ONG presentó inmediatamente una denuncia contra la trata de mujeres.

El director de Perfil, Jorge Fontevecchia, uno de los periodistas más conocidos del país, escribió este domingo un artículo titulado «La noticia no deseada» en el que explica que no existe ninguna animosidad contra el juez Zaffaroni, sino que, bien al contrario, ha contado siempre con su respeto como juez garantista y con su admiración por sus méritos jurídicos. Pero «el periodismo no es una profesión para hacer amistades», escribe Fontevecchia.

Zaffaroni, calificado muchas veces como el magistrado de la Corte Suprema más cercano a los Kirchner, en algunos de cuyos actos políticos se dejó ver en ocasiones, ha explicado en Página 12 que es propietario de 15 inmuebles en la ciudad que figuran en sus declaraciones patrimoniales. «Es obvio que no puedo administrarlos personalmente, de modo que tengo un apoderado y una inmobiliaria que los alquila. Me limito a recibir lo que me paga».

El juez anuncia que ha dado instrucciones para «verificar» lo que pasa y pedir a los inquilinos que abandonen los apartamentos implicados inmediatamente. En caso contrario, presentará la correspondiente denuncia. Zaffaroni se lamenta de que ni el diario Perfil ni la ONG La Alameda acudieran a él antes de hacer públicos los datos de que disponían.

La Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación está integrada por un presidente, Ricardo Lorenzetti; una vicepresidenta, Elena Highton de Nolasco; y cuatro ministros o magistrados, además del propio Zaffaroni: Carlos Fayt, Enrique Petracci, Juan Carlos Maqueda y Carmen Argibay. Bajo la presidencia de Lorenzetti, de 56 años, y con el actual equipo, la Corte se ha convertido en una de las instituciones más respetadas e independientes de Argentina.

«Precisamente por eso, porque la Corte Suprema es una institución prestigiada, es por lo que creemos que el ministro Zaffaroni, aunque no haya delito, debe dimitir, evitando que se perjudique la justicia», ha explicado Ricardo Alfonsín.

«Estamos ante un caso que tiene que ser investigado y del que se deducirán responsabilidades. Esto puede ser, en el mejor de los casos, un papelón y el peor un delito», ha precisado Alfonsín. Al candidato radical le resulta, además, «difícil» creer que «el propietario de seis departamentos no sepa cuál es el destino que se les da cuando los alquila».

La diputada Elisa Carrió, caracterizada por su lucha contra la corrupción, se ha expresado con cautela y ha recordado que, según la Constitución argentina, «lo que corresponde es que Zaffaroni se someta a un juicio político en el Congreso». Carrió ha recordado que su grupo denunció en su día la participación de Zaffaroni en actos del kirchnerismo y en tareas de asesoramiento.
Fuente: elpais.com

Detalles del video de Silvina Luna

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

Pese al intenso trabajo de sus abogados, Martín Leguizamón y Mariano Cúneo Libarona, el video de Silvina Luna sigue recorriendo los sitios web, y ahora, en una versión mejorada.

Cuando se conoció la noticia de este material, fue un boom en internet, pero no sólo en Argentina, sino también en Estados Unidos y en Europa.

Ahora, mientras Silvina disfruta de unas vacaciones en el viejo continente junto a sus amigas, el video se sigue propagando en alta definición.

Galería:

En el portal norteamericano «Egotastic», integra el ranking de los videos más hot desde hace una semana, y ya se mostraron encantados con Luna, a quien le dedicaron un mural de fotos en su honor.

¿Qué dirá Silvina de todo esto?

Fuente: infobae.com

El superávit gemelo en caída libre

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

Se habla de “superávit gemelo” cuando éste tiene lugar tanto en lo fiscal como en lo comercial (mayores ingresos en concepto de exportaciones que de importaciones).

Y fue precisamente éste superávit gemelo el que daría sustento al famoso “modelo K”, si el poder político de turno hubiera tenido alguna mínima intención de administrar un país y no de enriquecerse lo mas posible exclusivamente él y sus bandas asociadas.

Hace varios meses, muchos analistas venimos advirtiendo acerca del falaz discurso oficial cuando proclama superávit fiscal y comercial.

Como se explicara infinidad de veces desde este medio, el supuesto superávit es el resultado de una siniestra combinación entre contabilidad creativa, manipulación de datos, falsificación de la proyección presupuestaria y especulación, en la que el impuesto inflacionario tiene “todo” que ver.

Mientras el gasto público crece cada vez mas en sintonía con la arbitraria interpretación de la teoría keynesiana y otras, manifestada en varios discursos de barricada por la Sra. Cristina Fernández de que “gobernar es gastar”, el resultado primario del sector público nacional luce en franco deterioro si se compara con el mismo período del 2010.

De enero a junio de 2011 el déficit acumulado fue de unos 2.200 millones de pesos, mientras que en el mismo período del año pasado cerró en equilibrio.

A esto se suma el dato de que la “ayudita” del Banco Central para cubrir las falencias del Tesoro, fue más del doble. Mientras en el primer semestre del 2010 fue de unos 1.500 millones de pesos, a igual período de 2011 fue de 3.500 millones de pesos.

El gasto interanual superó el 30%.

Lo interesante del proceso es que sobre los impuestos que verdaderamente sostienen el regresivo sistema tributario, tales como el IVA, Impuesto al Cheque, Impuesto a los Combustibles, Impuestos Internos, y los vinculados a las importaciones, decreció la recaudación.
Los gastos que mas se acentuaron fueron los discrecionales (por fuera del presupuesto), los subsidios (más del 50% interanual),

Asimismo, crecieron las erogaciones inherentes al funcionamiento del aparato estatal (que podrían explicar gran parte de lo que el gobierno gusta llamar “disminución de la desocupación” y “reducción del índice de pobreza”). Pero que no es real, claro. Sin embargo, se mantienen más o menos constantes los gastos en concepto de Asignación Universal por Hijo, salarios, adquisición de bienes, Jubilaciones, Universidades, Fondo Federal Solidario.

Los importes transferidos a las provincias son inferiores a la inflación y crecieron un 9% en el semestre, equilibrando el gasto acelerado en subsidios.

Finalmente cabe señalar que el hecho de estar atravesando un año electoral es un dato que incide de manera muy significativa, ya que cuanto mayor sea la proximidad al mes de octubre, mayor será el gasto público, sobre todo si persiste el resultado comicial que se viene planteando hasta ahora en las diferentes provincias.

El nuevo gobierno, sea éste u otro, no contará decididamente con superávit gemelo, y este escenario solo induce a esperar que las nuevas autoridades que asuman cuenten con equipos verdaderamente capacitados como para salir de este escenario haciendo el menor daño posible a la población. Para esto también habrá que observar cuidadosamente cómo se van desencadenando los acontecimientos a nivel internacional.

Fuente: Nidia G. Osimani/periodicotribuna.com.ar

14 muertos sociales en la Argentina de Cristina

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

En un inusitado espiral de violencia, contamos 14 (catorce) muertos que ya se llevan contabilizados por represión o por permisión especulativa, seguida de represión y/o anarquía consecuente, durante este último período de mandato de Cristina Fernández.

¿El kirchnerismo ha montado un plan sistemático de represión y/o muerte a cualquiera que proteste en contra de algún gobernador o intendente adicto a la administración nacional?

Mientras esto ocurre, puede verse diariamente cómo se permiten piquetes de sindicalistas amigos de gobierno, cortes de ruta de punteros oficialistas, piquetes de tranqueras de dirigentes amigos a “oligarcas” sembradores de hortalizas (a los que se le cobra convenientemente un “porcentaje”), y, más en el centro de Buenos Aires, cortes de calles y avenidas a diario, con total protección policial, siempre, claro, que esto beneficie al oficialismo cristinista.

No ocurre lo mismo si las manifestaciones son para observar la falta de políticas sociales, o el feudalismo explotador de los gobernadores “patrones” del norte, o protectores de multinacionales mineras. Ahí vemos palazo limpio, a la antigua…

De manera sucinta el especial de violencia social (no ya política como en los ´70) va increscendo de manera alarmante.

Estos son los hechos que ameritan, a esta altura, no solo el reclamo de la intervención de la autoridades judiciales (que evidentemente están en connivencia con el poder político o, en su caso, aterrorizados de ser despedidos si no lo están) sino una averiguación de índole político. En concreto, una investigación a los efectos de ver si existe un plan para discernir entre “adictos al Ejecutivo” o “réprobos del modelo”.

De concretarse una ilación en el sentido anterior, debería sin más promoverse el juicio político inmediato a la señora Fernández.

La gravedad de estos hechos lo justifica:

– Indoamericano.

– Vilariño (Policía Federal libera zona)

– Jujuy (Gobernador K Barrionuevo)

– Aborígenes Qom (Gildo Insfran)

– Mariano Ferreyra (Pedraza – UF – De Vido)

– Franco Almiron y Sergio Cáceres (Policía de Scioli)

– Carrasco y Cárdenas (Bariloche – radicales K)

– Docentes de Santa Cruz (gobierno provincial K)

Cabe recordar que la metodología del Proceso de Reorganización Nacional no consistía en evitar la violencia, sino, administrarla a favor de los objetivos predeterminados.

No hace falta que mueran 9.000 personas, con 14 bastan, con una en realidad basta, si existe ordenes en el sentido que la violencia es administrada no en el marco de la ley, sino, en el marco de intereses facciosos.

Lamentablemente, es lo que estamos presenciando, y quedan cadáveres como documentos de esta nueva tragedia, dado que, cuando las condiciones económicas coyunturales impliquen cambios en las políticas de subsidios o planes de trabajo inexistentes, la situación social recrudecerá, y ya estamos viendo cuales son los “métodos” elegidos por los gobernantes oficialistas.

Por otra parte, no podemos pensar que los piquetes “oficiales” vayan a cesar, ni los aprietes de sindicalistas amigos.

Esta caldera a presión ya la vivimos en los años ´70.

¿Queremos una tragedia social, a tiempo vista de la tragedia política que vivimos en los años ´90?

Fuente: José Terenzio/periodicotribuna.com.ar

Obras en avenida Perito Moreno

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

Mauricio Macri inauguró las obras de remodelación de esa avenida, que optimizan las calzadas, veredas y cloacas de cde la villa 1-11-14 y mejoran la habitabilidad de cuatro comunas porteñas.
El jefe de Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, inauguró oficialmente hoy las obras de remodelación de la Avenida Perito Moreno que mejoran las condiciones de habitabilidad de cuatro comunas porteñas, con la optimización de calzada y veredas y el tendido de cloacas para beneficio de los vecinos de la Villa 1-11-14.

“Esta obra integra nuestro Plan de Movilidad Sustentable que incluye los carriles preferenciales, contracarriles para el transporte público, el Metrobús, las bicisendas y ciclovías, la peatonalización y la ampliación de red de subtes”, puntualizó Macri.

Dijo que los trabajos “dan mayor accesibilidad al Sur de la Ciudad y cumple con un desafío de integrar esta zona con el Norte” que se está cumpliendo con la creación del Polo Tecnológico de Parque de los Patricios, la primera etapa del Hospital de Lugano, el Polo Educativo de la Comuna 8, entre otros objetivos realizados.

“Estamos comprometidos por este voto de confianza que nos dio la gente para este nuevo período de gestión que vamos a agradecer con trabajo y poniendo acento en el sur, sin descuidar ningún barrio”, subrayó Macri.

El acto se realizó en la Plaza José Martí, ubicada en Perito Moreno y Mariano Acosta (Bajo Flores), donde Macri estuvo acompañado por la vicejefa electa, María Eugenia Vidal, el jefe de Gabinete, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, el ministro de Desarrollo Urbano, Daniel Chain, el legislador electo Sergio Bergman y el presidente de AUSA, Gustavo Matta y Trejo, cuyo organismo tuvo a su cargo los trabajos.

“Esta obra cumple con los objetivos que nos hemos trazado desde nuestro primer día de gestión que es seguir acortando la brecha entre el Norte y el Sur para hacer que los barrios de este lado se parezcan más al resto de la Ciudad”, afirmó Vidal.

La Ministra destacó que “hacía más de 30 años que no se hacía nada” para mejorar esta vía de tránsito pesado y su entorno urbanístico y afirmó que “son 5 kilómetros y medio de inclusión que muestra que, cuando uno quiere, las cosas se pueden hacer”.

“Hoy le entregamos esta obra a los vecinos y representa otro paso más adelante”, añadió.

La obra se realizó en tres etapas y abarca 5,5km de recorrido lineal, entre Amancio Alcorta y Zuviría (altura Au 25 de Mayo).

La Avenida Perito Moreno integra la Red de Tránsito Pesado y su puesta en valor colabora con ayuda a desagotar el paso de camiones de la Avenida 27 de Febrero, una arteria lindante al curso del Riachuelo que está diseñada para ser un paseo.

El mejoramiento abarcó además el recambio del paquete estructural y ejecución del hormigonado de la calzada, con color terracota, que identifica a la red de tránsito pesado de la ciudad. Se ensancharon las veredas y se construyó un boulevard de 0,80 metro que facilita los cruces peatonales.

Incorporó nuevo equipamiento urbano en los espacios lindantes a la traza; veredas, sendas peatonales, lugares de esparcimiento, refugios para pasajeros de transporte público, iluminación y señalización. Además, se parquizó, forestó y readecuó el sistema de desagües pluviales.

También se revitalizó la plaza ubicada en Zuviría y se creó un espacio para práctica de deportes a la altura de Varela, con cancha de fútbol, voley y una pista de skate.

Se instalaron cloacas faltantes en el margen de la villa 1-11-14 y se pusieron en valor los puentes peatonales existentes sobre la Av. Perito Moreno, entre las calles Varela y Cruz.
Fuente: lapoliticaonline.com

“Es importante recordar que todos tenemos dentro de nosotros la magia.”

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

Joanne Kathleen Rowling

Suspenden el acto de Cristina en Ferro

Chiara Ago 2, 2011

El Gobierno quería realizar una masiva movilización el próximo sábado en el estadio de Ferro para revertir el clima adverso que generaron las derrotas en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires y Santa Fe. La dirigencia del PJ bonaerense no habría adherido al pedido de la Casa Rosada.

Fuente: lapoliticaonline.com

Jujuy aprobó la ley de expropiación de tierras

Felipe Ago 2, 2011

La Cámara de Diputados de esa provincia sancionó esta madrugada la ley 5.679 por la cual se expropiaron 40 hectáreas a la empresa Ingenio Ledesma. El predio, ubicado en Libertador General San Martín, será destinado a la construcción de viviendas.

La Cámara de Diputados jujeña sancionó esta madrugada la ley 5.679 por la cual se expropian 40 hectáreas a la empresa Ingenio Ledesma para la construcción de viviendas. El predio está ubicado en la ciudad de Libertador General San Martín.

A través de una resolución, se creó una comisión Parlamentaria Extraordinaria Investigadora de la represión policial que dejó tres civiles y un policía muerto la semana pasada en esa ciudad. A su vez, este grupo de trabajo investigará también la continuidad de la usurpación del terreno.

La sesión que comenzó anoche con la presencia de 46 de los 48 legisladores se prolongó hasta las primeras horas de hoy. En ella, el presidente del bloque del PJ, Rubén Rivarola, relató en el recinto la participación que tuvo en las negociaciones con los dirigentes sociales de la Corriente Clasista y Combativa, protagonista de la ocupación de un predio de 15 hectáreas del Ingenio Ledesma.

Por su lado, el diputado radical Pablo Baca, describió las necesidades de viviendas en todo el territorio jujeño, señalando que Libertador San Martín no es la única ciudad que registra carencias.

El quid de la sesión fue la sanción de la norma que declara de utilidad pública y sujeta a expropiación una fracción de 40 hectáreas, ubicada en el departamento de Ledesma, propiedad de la Empresa Ledesma SAAI.

Según esa medida, el valor de la propiedad será dispuesto de conformidad a la valuación definitiva que efectuará el Tribunal de Tasaciones de la provincia de acuerdo a la Ley 3018.

Se destaca en la norma que la fracción de inmueble «será destinada a satisfacer necesidades sociales en el marco de las leyes 2903 y 3169».

El Poder Ejecutivo señaló en la norma de elevación del proyecto a la Legislatura que «la inexistencia de inmuebles en algunas zonas urbanas de la provincia de propiedad del Estado Provincial, limitan el crecimiento rural de las poblaciones, especialmente en los sectores más carenciados de estas, quienes no poseen medios económicos suficientes para la adquisición de terrenos privados».

El Poder Ejecutivo había enviado a la Legislatura otros dos proyectos de expropiación de tierras en Fraile Pintado y Pampa Blanca, que no fueron tratados.

Fuente: El Argentino

Una mujer policía mató a un delincuente que trató de robarle el auto en Villa Luro

Felipe Ago 2, 2011

Una mujer policía mató esta mañana a un delincuente que le quiso robar su automóvil en el barrio porteño de Villa Luro, junto con dos cómplices.

La mujer, de la comisaría 42, repelió a los tiros el intento de robo del que fue víctima en la esquina de Ramón Falcón y Corvalán, según informaron a DyN fuentes policiales.

Como resultado del tiroteo, uno de los ladrones murió, otro fue detenido y otro escapó pero se sospecha que estaría herido de bala.

La policía resultó ilesa, de acuerdo a lo indicado por voceros oficiales. El hecho ocurrió en la jurisdicción de la comisaría 44.

Fuente: Diario Hoy

La 9, del Rorro

Felipe Ago 2, 2011

“Vengo a pelear el campeonato; me gustaría hacer Varios goles”. Así Se presentó López.Confianza, es lo que le brindó Sebastián Méndez a su nuevo delantero: Hernán Rodrigo López.

El DT le asignó, nada más y nada menos, que el número 9 en la espalda para la temporada 2011-2012, por lo que el uruguayo deberá retribuirle el buen gesto con lo que mejor sabe hacer: “En lo personal me gustaría hacer varios goles, soy de hacerme cargo de los penales, pero no es una obsesión”. El Rorro arribó al Taladro con el fin de reemplazar a la gran promesa del equipo, el Chuky Ferreyra (estará disputando el Mundial Sub 20, al menos las primeras cinco fechas). “Vengo a pelear el campeonato, hay equipos que se reforzaron muy bien, pero el torneo va a ser parejo”, concluyó tras abrochar su llegada.

Fuente: Olé