A young Mexican woman who gained worldwide attention last year when she took over as police chief in a town plagued by drug-related violence has been sacked for abandoning her post. Marisol Valles was hailed as Mexico’s bravest woman in October when she became head of public security in the border town of Praxedis G. Guerrero. Ignacio De Los Reyes reports.
Marisol Valles, a 20-year-old criminology student, became police chief in a town when nobody else was willing to take the job. Her appointment six months ago made her a
sensation
worldwide. But the mayor of Praxedis Guerrero said she hasn’t come back to work since last Wednesday, when she took personal leave to take care of her baby. Local activists told the BBC that Mrs Valles and her family had fled to the United States after receiving threats of kidnapping.
The Sri Lankan military has built a new divisional headquarters on a former Tamil Tiger graveyard. The cemetery, which contained the bodies of about 2,000 Tamil Tiger fighters, had earlier been
flatten
ed. An army official told the BBC that the site was owned by the government and had been
allocate
d to the military. He didn’t mention the site's previous use in a report of Friday’s opening ceremony on his website.
The toy manufacturer Mattel has closed its flagship Barbie store in Shanghai just two years after it opened to much fanfare. The pink-theme, six-floor