This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Europeans commemorate the building of the Berlin Wall, 50 years ago

Workers build part of the Berlin Wall 50 years ago, August 13, 1961 (AP)

When the Soviets suddenly erected the Berlin wall, separating East and West Berlin, the two populations diverged. When the wall fell twenty years ago, it was even more shocking to the East Germans, because their country disappeared, and with it their own identities. Now, younger generations of East Germans are beginning to ask questions about why it happened, and why it lasted so long. PressEurop

Turkish army forces on high alert near the Syrian border

In recent days, the Turkish army summoned hundreds of officers for reserve duty, placing them in bases near the border with Syria, where they remain on high alert. The protests and the bloodshed continued on Friday. 13 protesters were shot to death by President Assad’s security forces, when live fire was shot at thousands of worshippers on their way home from Friday prayers. Increasingly, the Syrian uprising is turning from an internal affair to a regional one, and a potential regional war, with Iran and Iraq siding with Syria against Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the other gulf states. Haaretz

Abbas envisions US peacekeeping role in new Palestinian state

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad have been giving conflicting signals as to whether they will seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September. Abbas gave his vision of security in a future Palestinian state, saying that a third party comprised of NATO forces under US command would take responsibility. Jerusalem Post

Cost of protecting Jerusalem settlements at $11,000 per resident

In traditional Arab neighborhoods near the Old City where tensions run particularly high, it costs $22 million to provide security roughly 2,000 Israelis – or $11,000 per resident, according to an Israeli group opposed to the settlements. This comes at a time when Israel’s government is facing unprecendent public protests over the soaring cost of housing. CS Monitor

US threatens to cut off aid to Gaza after Hamas crackdown

The U.S. will cut $100 million in American aid money to Paletinians in Gaza, if Hamas continues with “unwarrented audits” of local American nonprofit organizations. Hamas shut down one such organization, the U.S.-financed International Medical Corps, after it refused to submit to a Hamas audit. AP

Why won’t Germans have more babies?

Anemic birth rate in German (Spiegel)

Germany is a country where fewer children are being born despite all official efforts to reverse the trend. For years, administrations in Berlin have tried to encourage Germans to have more children. Indeed, the Merkel administration has been particularly active on this issue, with generous parental leave benefits, that have already cost the government almost €15 billion. But no matter how much money the state throws at the problem, Germans just won’t have children. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, birth rate is a very interesting issue, since a high birth rate, combined with low infant mortality, provides cannon fodder for the next war. Since WW II, Sunni Muslim states and Israel have had explosive birth rates, while birth rates have declined in many other nations. Spiegel

Violent protests break out in southwest China town

There are tens of thousands of regional protests in China every year, and the number has been growing. (See my 2005 article, “China approaches Civil War”) Some are ethnic (e.g., Han Chinese versus Tibetans or Uighurs), but most of them are along the fault line between peasants and government elite. On Thursday, thousands of Chinese took to the streets of Qianxi, Guizhou, in southwestern China, with some smashing police vehicles in protest of rough handling by government officials. China reported almost 90,000 such “mass incidents” of riots, protests, mass petitions and other acts of unrest in 2011, up from 60,000 in 2006. Reuters and China Daily

France, Italy, Spain, Belgium attempt to ban short selling

Hoping to stem the growing financial crisis in Europe, four countries — France, Italy, Spain, Belgium — are blaming the “speculators,” and trying to end speculation by imposing bans on short selling. In short selling, an investors “bets” that the price of the stock will go down. The way it works is that the investor borrows shares of the stock from his stock broker and then sells the stock, promising to buy it back in a fixed period, like 90 days. If the price goes down in the meantime, the investor makes money. Bloomberg