Morning Brief: Tension runs high in Jerusalem

Tue, 10/06/2009 - 8:07am

Top story: Several thousand police have been deployed on the streets of Jerusalem for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot after two days of rioting at the site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al-Sharif to Muslims.

Around 30 people were injured last week when Palestinian rioters threw stones a group of visitors entering the complex. The rioters believed the visitors were Jewish extremists seeking to take over the complex, which house the al Aqsa mosque. The Israeli government says they were just tourists. 

Rioting broke out again on Sunday and Monday and police closed the site to male worshippers under 50 after finding stockpiles of stones. The war of words has escalated as well with the Palestinian Authority accusing Israelis of trying to "Judaize" Jerusalem and the city's chief of police calling Palestinians "ungrateful" for rioting during Sukkot while order was maintained during Ramadan. 

Nobels: Three scientists whose work on light led to the development of fiber optics shared the Nobel Prize for physics.

Asia

  • The Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday's attack on a World Food Program office in Pakistan. 
  • Leader Kim Jong Il says North Korea may be willing to return to the six-party talks. 
  • The Sri Lankan government says it is taking steps to protect Tamil refugee camps from incoming monsoon rains. 

Middle East

  • Hamas leaders harshly criticized President Mahmoud Abbas for not pushing forward with the Goldstone Report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza. 
  • The dollar fell on a report -- since denied -- that Gulf States were in talks to replace it as the main currency of the oil trade. 
  • Two Lebanese men were jailed for planning to attack the Israeli embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

Europe

  • George Papandreou was sworn in as the new prime minister of Greece. 
  • Italy's constitutional court began deliberating on the legality of a law granting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity from prosecution. 
  • France and Kazakhstan signed a series of deals on military and energy cooperation. 

Americas

  • The interim Honduran government lifted its ban on protest marches and restrictions on the media. 
  • Former Costa Rican President Rafael Calderon was sentenced to five years in prison on corruption charges. 
  • Four Chilean military officers were charged with murder and covering up an illegal weapons deal during the early 1990s. 

Africa

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Keating | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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