International news: Pastor travels to New York to challenge Islamic centre plan

The pastor who planned an "International Burn-a-Koran Day" was travelling to New York today to challenge plans for a controversial Islamic centre close to Ground Zero, as the world marked the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US.

Pastor Terry Jones was flying to New York in a bid to hold talks with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who is overseeing plans for the mosque.

Amid the furore over Mr Jones' book-burning threats, US President Barack Obama said today's anniversary should be a day not only to mourn the 9/11 victims but to show that Americans "are not at war against Islam".

"We're at war against terrorist organisations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts," he said.

Mr Jones, leader of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, said he had "a challenge to give to the imam in New York".

He had initially called off the bonfire, planned for today, on Thursday night, saying he had been promised the centre's location would be changed, but then admitted he was reconsidering after it emerged no such commitment was made by the imam.

Ex-PM made foreign minister

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was made Australia's new foreign minister.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who scraped victory in elections last month just weeks after she toppled Mr Rudd in an internal ruling party revolt, made the appointment today.

Diplomat quits embassy job

A ranking diplomat at the Iranian Embassy in Finland said he has quit his job to protest the Islamic Republic's treatment of its citizens.

Hossein Alizadeh, who was the deputy head at the embassy in Helsinki, said he informed them four days ago of his decision to quit.

Captain release demand denied

China's foreign minister demanded that Tokyo immediately release the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with two Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands. But a Japanese court ruled he can be held 10 more days.

Yang Jiechi made the demand to Ambassador Uichrio Niwa after the Japanese envoy was summoned for the third time over the crash.

The incident happened off Japan's Kuba island.

Bachelet tipped to lead agency

Chile's former president Michelle Bachelet is the front-runner to head the new UN agency to promote women's equality, several UN officials said.

Ms Bachelet was tipped as a possible leader when it was decided to merge four existing UN bodies into a single entity.

Gunmen kill 25 in drug gang attacks

Gunmen killed 25 people in a series of drug gang attacks in Ciudad Juarez, marking the deadliest day in more than two years for the Mexican city.

Farther east on the border, 85 inmates scaled the walls of a prison in Mexico's biggest jail break in recent memory.

But President Felipe Calderon hotly disputed a statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying Mexico resembled Colombia two decades ago.