BBC news 2010-10-03 加文本

BBC news 2010-10-03

BBC News with Nick Kelly

Hundreds of thousands of people across France have taken to the streets to demonstrate against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to raise the retirement age. Trade unions say nearly three million people turned out in scores of demonstrations, but the government say less than a million people took part. It's the third day of protests in the past month. Hugh Schofield reports.

The pension reform goes before the upper house of parliament, the Senate, on Tuesday with President Sarkozy insisting that its central provision, raising the minimum retirement age by two years to 62, is non-negotiable. According to the government, the only way that the French pension system can remain economically viable, given longer life expectancy, is that people work for more years. However, opponents, including the Socialist Party, say the changes are unjust and that the pension system can be preserved if higher taxes are levied on financial institutions and on the better-off.

Prosecutors in Mexico say gunmen have kidnapped 22 people in the beach resort of Acapulco. The prosecutor's office said the group from the neighbouring state of Michoacan had been abducted on Thursday, but it didn't know the motive for the kidnapping or who was responsible. From Mexico City, here is Julian Miglierini.

The authorities say that the group of 22 men had just arrived from the city of Morelia. As they were looking for a hotel, they were approached by a number of armed men who took them captive. Since then, there has been no information as to their whereabouts. Although this is the first time that a mass kidnapping has happened in the city, Acapulco has seen its reputation as one of Mexico's top beach resorts dented by increased violence attributed to drug cartels. Clashes between rival drug gangs and confrontations with the security forces have become frequent over recent months.

Grenades have been thrown at three key institutions in the city of Monterrey in northern Mexico. Police said the targets appeared to be the US consulate, a courthouse and a prison.

Thousands of trade unionists and supporters of civil rights have taken part in a mass rally in Washington in what's seen as response to a previous demonstration by right-wing groups. Organisers call it a One Nation rally to rekindle enthusiasm for President Obama in the face of attacks from conservatives. This report from Iain MacKenzie.

Among those on the stage were the civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, along with the singer Harry Belafonte. They were joined by representatives from various progressive groups in the fields of education and labour relations. Organisers said the event was not intended to be political, but those attending were overwhelmingly supporters of Barack Obama's Democratic Party. Many hope that the One Nation rally will help rekindle some of the energy and fighting spirit that helped propel their candidate into the White House two years ago.

Iain MacKenzie reporting.

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The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Friday's bomb attacks in the capital Abuja, which killed 12 people, had nothing to do with the struggle for justice in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The rebel group Mend, which says it's fighting for a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth, has been blamed for the attacks, but Mr Jonathan said the perpetrators used the struggles of the Niger Delta to camouflage criminality.

Police in Pakistan say an Islamic scholar and psychiatrist, Mohammad Khan, has been shot dead in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police say at least two gunmen entered a hospital where Dr Khan was working and opened fire. Dr Khan was due to become vice chancellor of the proposed Swat Valley Islamic University and had criticised religious extremism.

Months of political deadlock in the Netherlands seem to be drawing to an end after members of the Christian Democrats Party approved a deal to form a conservative Dutch government with the Liberals. The coalition is supported by the party of the controversial anti-Islamist politician Geert Wilders, who goes on trial on Monday on charges of inciting hatred. Geraldine Coughlin reports.

The Christian Democrats plan to join a minority cabinet led by the Liberal VVD Party with tacit support from Geert Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom Party on passing legislation and policy. The trio has announced a blueprint to curtail immigration and to make major spending cuts. At a convention on Saturday, a majority of Christian Democrats voted in favour of a resolution to work with the Freedom Party, but there was significant opposition. Christian Democrat MPs will make a final decision next week.

And Iran says it's arrested a number of nuclear spies suspected of being behind cyber attacks on its nuclear programme. Last Sunday, Iran said a complex computer worm, the Stuxnet, had targeted its nuclear facilities at Bushehr.

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