Carroll County Times

NATION/WORLD Wednesday, September 8, 2010, Page A5

Nation
Pressure on Fla. pastor rises
Leaders: Burning
Quran could hurt
troops, Americans
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The
government turned up the
pressure Tuesday on the head
of a small Florida church who
plans to burn copies of the
Quran Sept. 11, warning him
AP PHOTO that doing so could endanger
U.S. troops and Americans
Part of Twin Towers positioned everywhere.
Construction workers watch as an original But the Rev. Terry Jones in-
sisted he would go ahead with
piece of the Twin Towers, known as a “tri-
his plans, despite criticism
dent,” is lowered into its permanent loca-
from the top U.S. general in
tion at the 9/11 Memorial Museum at Afghanistan, the White House
ground zero in New York Tuesday. and the State Department, as
well as a host of religious lead-
Colorado fire forced residents ers.
to make mad dash for safety Jones, who is known for
posting signs proclaiming that
Islam is the devil’s religion,
says the Constitution gives him
the right to publicly set fire to
the book that Muslims con-
sider the word of God.
Gen. David Petraeus warned
Tuesday in an e-mail to The
Associated Press that “images
of the burning of a Quran
would undoubtedly be used by
extremists in Afghanistan —
and around the world — to in-
flame public opinion and incite
violence.” It was a rare exam-
ple of a military commander
taking a position on a domestic
political matter.
Jones responded that he is
also concerned but is “won-
dering, ‘When do we stop?’”
He refused to cancel the
protest set for Saturday at his
Dove World Outreach Center,
a church that espouses an anti-
Islam philosophy.
“Instead of us backing
down, maybe it’s to
time to stand up.”
Rev. Terry Jones
On burning the Quran Sept. 11
“How much do we back “We think that these are
down? How many times do we provocative acts,” Crowley
back down?” Jones told the AP. said. “We would like to see
“Instead of us backing down, more Americans stand up and
maybe it’s to time to stand up. say that this is inconsistent
Maybe it’s time to send a mes- with our American values; in
sage to radical Islam that we fact, these actions themselves
will not tolerate their behav- are un-American.”
ior.” At the White House,
Still, Jones said he will pray spokesman Robert Gibbs
echoed the concerns raised by
about his decision.
State Department spokes- Petraeus. “Any type of activity
man P.J. Crowley said the ad- like that, that puts our troops
ministration hoped Americans in harm’s way, would be a con-
would stand up and condemn cern to this administration,”
the church’s plan. Gibbs told reporters.

BOULDER, Colo. — David Myers knew it was

time to leave when he looked out into the forest
and spotted bright red flames towering skyward.
Then came a blinding cloud of smoke and a deaf-
ening roar as the fire ripped through the wilder-
ness.
Myers was among about 3,500 people who des-
perately fled the fire after it erupted in a tinder-
dry canyon northwest of Boulder Monday and
swallowed up dozens of homes. Residents packed
everything they could into their cars and sped
down narrow, winding roads to safety, encounter-
ing a vicious firestorm that melted the bumper of
one couple’s van.
Authorities said Tuesday night they counted
92 structures that have been destroyed and an-
other eight that have been damaged. It’s unclear
how many were homes.
Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency
Tuesday as officials nearly doubled the fire’s esti-
mated size to more than 7,100 acres, or 11 square
miles, after better mapping.

Chicago’s longtime mayor

won’t run for re-election
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Richard M.
Daley, who has presided over the nation’s third-
largest city for 21 years, like his father did before
him, announced Tuesday he will
not run for a seventh term, saying
the time “just feels right.”
Daley, 68, said he had been
thinking about not running for
several months and became com-
fortable with his decision over the
last several weeks.
“It just feels right,” Daley said at
a news conference, his smiling
DALEY wife Maggie standing by his side. AP PHOTOS
“I’ve always believed that every
person, especially public officials, must under- Commuters leave a suburban train at the Saint Lazare railway station in Paris Tuesday. French unions launched a
stand when it’s time to move on. For me, that time major strike Tuesday over unpopular conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age
is now.” from 60 to 62, with walkouts causing headaches for travelers and commuters all over France.

Lennon killer denied parole
in New York for sixth time
BUFFALO, N.Y. — John Lennon’s killer was
again denied parole in New York, nearly 30 years
after gunning down the ex- Beatle outside the
musician’s New York City apartment building.
A parole board decided not to release Mark
David Chapman after interviewing him Tuesday
by teleconference at Attica Correctional Facility
in upstate New York.
It was Chapman’s sixth appearance before the
board since becoming eligible for parole in 2000.
He will be eligible again in 2012.
Chapman, 55, had been scheduled to appear last
month, but the hearing was postponed by parole
officials, who said at the time they were awaiting
additional information. They did not elaborate.
Non-word ‘refudiate’
gets most online searches
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Merriam-Webster’s
“Word of the Summer” is not even a word. That’s
something no one can “refudiate.”
Sarah Palin’s attempt to splice “refute” and “re-
pudiate” on a news show and in a Twitter mes-
sage in July sparked more searches on the
publisher’s online dictionary during the summer
than most real words did. But don’t expect all the
interest in “refudiate” to lead to an actual dic-
tionary entry.
“It’s an interesting blend, but no, ‘refudiate’ is
not a real word,” said John Morse, Merriam-Web-
ster’s president and publisher.
The former Alaska governor has laughed off
criticisms about her pseudo-word, noting that
Shakespeare also coined new words.
— Associated Press
Striking back
Employees in London, France fill streets to protest raise in retirement age
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — French strikers disrupted
trains and planes, hospitals and mail de-
livery Tuesday amid massive street
protests over plans to raise the retirement
age. Across the English Channel, London
subway workers unhappy with staff cuts
walked off the job.
The protests look like the prelude to a
season of strikes in Europe, from Spain
to the Czech Republic, as heavily in-
debted governments cut costs and chip
away at some cherished but costly bene-
fits that underpin the European good life
— a scaling-back process that has gained
urgency with Greece’s $140 billion
bailout.
In France, where people poured into the
streets in 220 cities, setting off flares and
beating drums, a banner in the southern
port city of Marseille called for Europe-
wide solidarity: “Let’s Refuse Austerity
Plans!” The Interior Ministry said more
than 1.1 million people demonstrated
throughout France, while the CFDT union
put the number at 2.5 million.
Some commuters were annoyed by the
disruptions, even in strike-inured France.
“I’m just getting tired of this because
this is not the first time,” said Henda Fersi,
a passenger at the Part-Dieu train station
in Lyon in southeast France. “I understand
the strikers’ point of view but, still, they
put us in a difficult situation and we’re
penalized.”
French protesters are angry about the
government’s plan to do away with the
near-sacred promise of retirement at 60,
forcing people to work until 62 because
they are living longer.
The goal is to bring the money-drain-
ing pension system back into the black by
2018.
As debate on the subject opened in par-
liament, Labor Minister Eric Woerth said
the plan was one “of courage and reason”
and that it is the “duty of the state” to save
the pension system. He later told TF1 tel-
evision that the president would an-
nounce minor changes to the reform
today, though its fundamentals would re-
main the same.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon re-
minded the French that it could be worse:
In nearly all European countries, the cur-
rent debate is over raising the retirement
age to 67 or 68, he said. Cyclists wait at a junction on the
Germany has decided to bump the re- Embankment in London Tuesday. A
tirement age from 65 to 67, for example, strike by London Underground
and the U.S. Social Security system is workers has shut down much of the
gradually raising the retirement age to 67. city’s subway system.

World
EU denounces plans fense of their system of justice. Abbas asks U.S.
to stone Iranian widow Iraq reveals recovered for help in dispute
tional crossfire over Iran’s stoning wartime artifacts
TEHRAN, Iran — The interna- RAMAL LAH, West Bank —
Palestinian President Mahmoud
sentence for a woman convicted BAGHDAD — Iraq displayed Abbas said he has asked the U.S.
of adultery intensified Tuesday hundreds of recovered artifacts to settle a dispute with Israel over
with a top European Union offi- Tuesday that were among the settlement expansion that is
cial calling it “barbaric” and an country’s looted heritage and span threatening to derail Mideast
Iranian spokesman saying it’s the ages from a 4,400-year-old peace talks.
about punishing a criminal and statue of a Sumerian king to a Israel’s 10- month partial freeze
not a human rights issue. chrome-plated AK-47 bearing Sad- on new construction in West
The sharp words from both dam Hussein’s image. Bank settlements ends Sept. 26,
sides provide a snapshot of the The 542 pieces are among the and Israeli officials have indicated
dispute: Western leaders are most recent artifacts recovered they will not extend the freeze as
ramping up pressure to call off the from a heartbreaking frenzy of is. Abbas has said he’ll quit peace
sentence for Sakineh Mohammadi looting at museums and archaeo- talks with Israel unless the re-
Ashtiani and Iran is framing it as a logical sites after the 2003 U.S.-led strictions remain in place.
matter for its own courts and so- invasion and in earlier years of war The Obama administration has
AP PHOTO
ciety. and upheaval. promised an active role in the
Brazil celebrates its independence The case of the 43-year- old The thefts swept a stunning talks, Abbas told reporters ac-
mother of two also spills over into array of priceless antiquities into companying him on his way back
A supporter of the Worker Party’s presidential candidate Dilma larger and even more complex is- the hands of collectors abroad. from Washington.
Rousseff waves a Brazilian flag during Brazil’s Independence sues for Iran’s Islamic leaders So far, 5,000 items stolen since
Day parade in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday. of national sovereignty and de- 2003 have been recovered. — Associated Press