BBC news 2010-09-12 加文本

BBC news 2010-09-12

BBC News with Fiona MacDonald

Hours after ceremonies took place in the United States on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, protesters have been staging demonstrations over the building of an Islamic centre near Ground Zero, the place where the attacks happened. Our correspondent Matt Wells reports.

More than 1,000 protesters against the building of a planned Muslim cultural centre near Ground Zero are taking part in a rally organized by the Stop Islamization of America campaign. Some demonstrators from an earlier and similar-size event in favour of the project are mingling at back of the crowd, provoking some heated arguments. The heavy police presence is keeping order as a selection of speakers take the stage to denounce the role of Islam in the West. The 9/11 commemorations have been overshadowed by a debate with no compromise in sight.

At the commemorations which took place earlier, thousands of relatives of those killed in the 9/11 attacks gathered at Ground Zero where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. Laura Trevelyan was there.

A bell came after the moment of silence, marking the minute the first hijacked plane struck the north tower at the World Trade Center, then began the now familiar ritual, reading out the names of those who perished.

"James Patrick Berger. Steven Howard Berger. John P Bergin..."

This year's anniversary is fraught, overshadowed by Pastor Terry Jones's threat to burn copies of the Koran. This morning in New York, he reiterated that he backed down. But that's amplified the disagreement here over plans to build a Muslim community centre and mosque near Ground Zero.

Earlier President Obama said America was not at war with Islam but with al-Qaeda, which distorted religion.

The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says he's not going to let up on the government's tough austerity drive. Speaking at a trade fair in the city of Thessaloniki, he said it was a battle for the survival of Greece. From there, Malcolm Brabant reports.

There was no comfort for those hoping for an easing of the austerity measures apart from a vague promise that the state would continue to protect the vulnerable. Mr Papandreou's priority is to stimulate the economy, which many businesses complain is being strangled by tax rises and wage cuts because people simply aren't spending. Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and European Union to slash expenditure, Mr Papandreou has very little room for maneuver.

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir fired warning shots and teargas to break up protests by tens of thousands of people opposed to Indian rule. The demonstrations in the towns across the Kashmir valley began after prayers to celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid. In the capital Srinagar, a government building was set on fire and police barracks ransacked. Seventy people have died in protests in Kashmir in the past three months.

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The authorities in Tajikistan say border guards have shot dead at least 20 Islamist militants trying to enter the country from northern Afghanistan. A spokesman for the border guards said the militants, members of the Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan were hiding on an island in the river Pyandzh. He said the militants appeared to be fleeing an operation by international forces in Afghanistan.

Serbian prosecutors have charged nine former members of a Serbian paramilitary group with killing 43 ethnic Albanian civilians during the Kosovo conflict. The Belgrade-based prosecutors said the killings took place in western Kosovo in May 1999. The statement alleged that the nine members of the Jackals paramilitary group fired large numbers of bullets into the backs of their victims and burned the corpses.

The national airline of Zimbabwe has sacked its pilots after they defied a 24-hour ultimatum to return to work. The pilots and cabin crew of Air Zimbabwe have been on strike since Wednesday, demanding thousands of dollars in allowances that haven't been paid since February. The airline says it cannot afford to pay them. Brian Hungwe reports.

Air Zimbabwe chairman Mr Jonathan Kadzura says they are not going to entertain the pilots' demands, and the pilots should consider themselves fired. The Air Zimbabwe board will be meeting again next Tuesday to make the way forward. Mr Kadzura says other regional airlines and pilots will be engaged to help the situation as the national airline is losing half a million US dollars a day as a result of the strike. Besides, close to 1,000 stranded passengers have been booked into hotels after Air Zimbabwe flights were cancelled.

The American director Sofia Coppola has won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. She won the Golden Lion with her film Somewhere. It tells a story of a famous actor whose 11-year-old daughter makes him face up to the emptiness of his life.

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