Morning Shinbun Friday September 10

Qur’an burning: Nato troops shoot at Afghan protesters

Man reported to have been shot dead in Faizabad, northern Afghanistan, after crowds attack a Nato base

Ewen MacAskill, Richard Adams in Washington and Kate Connolly in Berlin

guardian.co.uk, Friday 10 September 2010 11.20 BST  

A protester against plans by a US pastor to burn copies of the Qur’an is reported to have been shot dead in northern Afghanistan after crowds attacked a Nato base.

The man was killed in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, according to a provincial government spokesman, when thousands of worshippers poured on to the streets after Eid prayers in mosques.

The crowds were estimated to number around 10,000 people. Some had hurled stones at a Nato base run by Germans and a protester was shot when troops inside opened fire, the spokesman, Amin Sohail, said.

USA

Florida pastor says he’s reconsidering plan to burn Korans



By Krissah Thompson and Tara Bahrampour

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, September 10, 2010; 3:59 AM

The pastor of a small Florida church who had planned to burn copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks said Thursday that he would cancel the event – at least for now – hours after President Obama condemned it as a “recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda” and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates telephoned the minister as a worldwide fury grew.

At a chaotic news conference in Gainesville, the Rev. Terry Jones said he gave up his plans after reaching a deal to stop the construction of an Islamic center near Ground Zero.

Marine Corps seeks to use buddy ethic to stem rise in suicides

52 Marines killed themselves last year, compared with 42 the previous year. The corps wants Marines to rescue other Marines from the edge, just as they would come to their aid in combat.

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

September 10, 2010

Reporting from Helmand province, Afghanistan – The young Marine had just gotten a Dear John letter from a woman he had described as “my everything.” Days later, he killed himself while on guard duty here in Helmand province.

None of his buddies, even those who had known him since boot camp, had seen the signs of the man’s downward emotional spiral.

The pain of his death was visible on their faces as Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the senior enlisted man in the Marine Corps, delivered a message he has repeated at a dozen bases and outposts throughout this dangerous Afghan desert region: Marines are committing suicide in record numbers, and something has to be done about it.

Europe

The Germans who want the Wall back

Residents of an exclusive neighbourhood are rebuilding parts of the Communists’ most notorious structure

By Tony Paterson Friday, 10 September 2010

The once communist-controlled, Prussian city of Potsdam lies only a few kilometres from Germany’s formerly divided capital, yet two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the elegant ex-garrison town has become home to the country’s rich and famous with stratospheric property prices to match.

But when Germany marks the 20th anniversary of its reunification next month, the wealthy denizens of Potsdam will be celebrating the event behind bits of a new and self-constructed “Berlin Wall” that runs along sections of the old divide to keep the common public away from their luxury homes.<

The UN calls for direct talks between Serbia and Kosovo

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution calling for dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. However, a dispute over the presence of Kosovo officials at the session underlined ongoing tensions.  

DIPLOMACY | 10.09.2010

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution that calls on Serbia to enter direct talks with Kosovo.

The resolution adopted on Thursday was the result of a compromise between Serbia and the 27-member European Union. Serbia hopes to join the EU and after weeks of diplomatic pressure, dropped elements of the resolution that directly challenged Kosovo’s independence.

The United Nations has asked the European Union to take a leading role in “facilitating a process of dialogue” between Serbia and Kosovo to settle their sovereignty dispute.

Middle East

Iran to release one of three captured US hikers

Iran is to free on Saturday one of three detained American hikers accused of espionage, officials in Tehran say.

The BBC 10 September 201

An Iranian official named her as Sarah Shourd, 31. No reason has been given for her release.

She was seized with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 27, last July. Tehran accuses them of entering illegally and having links to US intelligence.

The hikers’ families say they were in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region and unintentionally crossed the border.

Asia

China-Japan sea dispute escalates as Beijing demands fisherman’s release

Beijing moves to reassert sovereignty over islets in East China Sea after trawler’s collision with Japanese coastguard  

Reuters

guardian.co.uk, Friday 10 September 2010 08.02 BST

A territorial row between China and Japan escalated today when Beijing ordered the release of a fishing boat captain seized by Japan in disputed waters.

China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, summoned the Japanese ambassador, Uichiro Niwa, and made a “solemn representation and protest” over the sea dispute that has ruptured relations between two of Asia’s biggest economies.

The captain was arrested after his trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard boats near islets claimed by both countries in the East China Sea, drawing strong formal protests from Beijing. No one was injured in the incident.

Blind activist freed from jail – but China is still watching



By Clifford Coonan in Beijing  Friday, 10 September 2010

A blind activist jailed after highlighting the plight of women in his area, including forced abortions and other abuses, was released from a Chinese prison yesterday but remained under heavy surveillance.

Chen Guangcheng, 39, was imprisoned in 2006 on what supporters said were trumped-up charges of disturbing the peace and traffic offences. His case marked the start of a government crackdown on activist lawyers.

Africa

Clinton: Sudan a ticking time bomb

US secretary of state calls southern independence “inevitable” and warns that the north may not accept the vote.

Aljazeera  

Sudan is a “ticking time bomb” in the run-up to a scheduled January vote on independence for the country’s oil-rich south, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said.

She said it was “inevitable” that the south would vote to break away and form an independent state.

She told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday that the US, the African Union and other international partners are trying to ensure the vote goes smoothly.

“The [north-south] situation is a ticking time bomb of enormous consequence,” Clinton said.

“The south is not quite capable of summoning the resources to do [the referendum], and the north has been preoccupied and is not inclined to do it, because it’s pretty clear what the outcome will be.”

The referendum would be the capstone of a 2005 peace agreement between the government in Khartoum and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the main opposition group in the south.

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