2 -- The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 5, 2001 NATION/WORLD Bush pledges $3B in layoff aid WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, saying terrorism has "sent a shock wave throughout our econ- omy" pledged yesterday to extend unemployment ben- efits aid provide $3 billion in emergency aid to workers laid off because of the assaults. With fresh signs of trouble in the economy, Bush said he and other political leaders "hear the cries of those who have been laid off" Unemployment benefits will be extended by 13 weeks in states hit hardest by the attacks, Bush told Labor Department employees. He also used the appearance at the department to encourage states to sign up children for a government-run health care pro- gram. The program already has roughly $11 billion available and unclaimed by the states. Earlier, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment benefits shot up last week to the highest level in nine years. The travel and tourism industries were particularly hard hit. More than 200,000 layoffs have been announced since Sept. 11, one slight measure of the attacks' impact. Democrats questioned whether Bush was doing enough to help workers. "It's a step in the right direc- tion," said House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.). Bush's plans for emergency aid was one element of efforts by the administration and Congress to boost the economy. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said he wanted to work with Congress on a stimulus package in the range of $60 billion to $75 bil- lion, including business and individual tax cuts. Key lawmakers were invited to the White House for follow- up meetings yesterday. "Now is not the time to be timid," Bush said. "It's time to be wise." Officials familiar with details of Bush's emergency aid package provided these details: The $3 billion in new funding would be made avail- able through the states under an existing program of emergency grants to meet a variety of needs, including health insurance, day care and job training. Individuals who were working on Sept. 11 and are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits would qualify, and would also be required to enroll in government-run training programs. The president also was expected to stress that $6 billion already exists in a variety of job training program. At least some of the $3 billion would come from the money Congress has already approved for national recovery, meaning it can be released at the stroke of the president's pen. Separately, the president was expected to invite gov- ernors to apply for federal funds for a government-run program that provides health care for children. One official said the government has $11 billion earmarked for the program that has not been claimed by any of the states, and that Bush would announce a stream- lined review process at the Department of Health and Human Services. The additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits would be made available to states where joblessness has risen by 30 percent since the end of August. The benefits would also be extended to states in which the president declared a national emergency or major dis- aster declaration in connection with the attacks. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), said he told Bush the proposals seemed fine, but he cau- tioned: "I'm not sure that it covers all of the different needs we have with regard to people who fall through the cracks." NEWS IN BRIEF JERUSALEM Sharon warns U.S. not to harm Israel Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon aimed unusually harsh words at the Unit- ed States yesterday after a string of Palestinian attacks, urging Washington not to "appease" Arab states at Israel's expense. Sharon stopped just short of canceling a U.S.-backed cease-fire, but said that Israeli security forces would do whatever is necessary to protect Israeli citizens. "From now on we will count only on ourselves," he told a news conference. Sharon's remarks indicated a shift in policy that could undercut Washington's efforts to bring Arab and Muslim states into an international coalition against Islamic militants suspected of carrying out the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States. The prime minister said Israel would fight terrorism without letup, dropping Israel's earlier promise to suspend military strikes against Pales- tinians as part of a truce deal sought by Washington. The tough words followed an attack by a Palestinian gunman, who killed three Israelis at a bus station in northern Israel before he was gunned down. The attack in the city of Afula, just across from the West Bank town of Jenin, came just minutes after senior Israeli and Palestinian officials completed an appar- ently fruitless meeting about implementing the latest truce, declared Sept.26 to try to end a year of fighting. WASHINGTON Energy prices expected to drop for winter Most Americans hard hit by the economy's downturn have one less thing to worry about: energy prices. With plenty of supplies and weak demand, the government predicted yesterday the cost of gasoline, heating fuel and electricity all should be much tower this winter than last. That's in sharp contrast to a year ago, when short supplies and spikes in demand saw prices soar. The Energy Information Administration's winter fuels report said that prices have been declining and should continue to do so in the coming months because of solid inventories and sagging energy demand triggered by the poor economy. The most striking turnaround is seen in natural gas prices, expected to average about a third of what they were last winter on the wholesale market, Gas is used to heat more than 56 million homes, especially in the Midwest. A typical household using natural gas is expected to spend about a third less this winter for heating, a savings of about $320 over last winter, said the agency. Homes using heating oil and propane are likely to see costs drop 17 to 23 per- cent, a savings of at least $170. Firestone recalls 3.5 million tires WASHINGTON (AP) - Bridge- stone/Firestone Inc. agreed yesterday to recall 3.5 million more Wilder- ness AT tires mounted on sport utili- ty vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered the tire maker to replace the tires after a 11/2-year inves- tigation. The recall involves the P235/75R15 and P255/70R16 Wilderness AT tires manufactured before 1998 that were supplied as, original equipment to Ford Motor Co. or sold as replacement tires for other SUV brands. Bridgestone/Firestone says only about 768,000 of the tires are still on the market. Many of the tires have already been replaced by the owners or as part of a replacement plan announced in May by Ford in response to the August 2000 recall of '6.5 million Bridgestone/Firestone tires. "We do not agree with NHTSA's findings," Bridgestone/Firestone CEO John Lampe said in a state- ment. "Our testing and science show our tires perform extremely well. However, we have decided that it is in the best interest of our company, our employees, our dealers and our customers if we replace the limited number of tires in question and close this chapter in the company's history." Ford spokesman Ken Zino said the automaker would consider trying to recover some of the $3 billion cost of the replacement program from Bridge- stone/Firestone as a result of the latest recall, although no decision had been made. Most of the tires are original equip- ment on the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer. The recall does not apply to other sizes of Wilderness AT tires or those supplied to other manufacturers as original equipment. In a statement, NHTSA said those tires that are not involved have different design features and have not experi- enced as many tread separations. Explosion in France may 'a U U Surrounded by corruption, can one woman remain good orw ill she become w, ruthless to survive? Ce Good crson of S~echwan By Bertolt Brecht - Directed by Malcolm Tulip October 4 - 6 & 11 - 13 at 8pm - October 7 & 14 at 2pm Trueblood Theatre General Admission $15 - Students $7 with ID League Ticket Office * 734-764-2538 UM School of Music - Department of Theatre and Drama : "Don't let your get ahead of ESTABLISHED 1939 615 E. LIBERTY OFF STATE 668-9329 M-F 8:30-5:20 SAT UNTIL 4:20 WAREHOUSE' SALE October 7-10, 2001 9:00 AM-8:00 PM Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center 799 N. Hewitt Road Ypsilanti, MI 48197-1701 Fashions from the pages of the J.Crew Catalog up to 70% off!! (No)thing over 39.99!) *excluding leather & cashmere Directions: From I-94 East: Take Exit 181 (Michigan Ave.) Turn right onto Michigan Ave. Follow Michigan Ave. until you reach Hewitt Rd. Turn left onto Hewitt Rd. and the Convocation Center will be on the right. From I-94 West: Take Exit 181 (Michigan Ave.) Turn have been terrorism TOULOUSE, France (AP) - France's environment minister said yesterday that a chemical plant blast last month that killed 29 people may have been a terrorist attack. Yves Cochet's comments came after revelations that a man found dead at the site in Toulouse was known to police for possible Islam- ic fundamentalist sympathies and was involved in altercations before the blast with workers displaying the American flag in sympathy with victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. "A new piece of information reached us today which shows that there might have been a terrorist ori- gin" to the blast, Cochet said on LCI television. "We are not ruling out any hypothesis, including that of an accident." Cochet did not say what the new piece of information was, and his ministry did not immediate- ly return a call for comment. Last week, Toulouse's prosecutor, who is leading the investigation, said he was "99 percent certain that the Sept. 21 explosion at the AZF chemical fertilizer plant was acci- dental." Investigating magistrates visited the explosion site Tuesday, and police are still questioning plant employees. News reports yesterday quoted police officials as saying that Has- san Jandoubi, 35, a French national born in Tunisia and working at the plant, was found dead at the scene. The reports said Jandoubi was hired to work at the AZF plant by a subcontractor shortly before the explosion, as little as five days before, according to Le Figaro. It said he was believed to have been involved in altercations on the eve and morning of the blast with work- ers displaying the U.S. flag. Police officials refused to com- ment on reports concerning Jan- doubi, with some saying they were disturbed by a rash of imprecise media reports on the investigation, which is not yet complete. In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper, an investigator said it took five days to get permission to search Jandoubi's apartment, a delay that "spoiled" the investigation. "The apartment had been com- pletely cleaned out. No clothes, no photos, nothing," said the investiga- tor, who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity. "If we had been allowed to do our jobs, per- haps there wouldn't be this uncer- tainty." Police say there are followers of several Islamic groups in the low- income Toulouse suburb of Mirail. One police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the groups "have woven networks that MINNEAPOLIS Northwest Airlines offers discount fares People waiting to fly on the cheap got their chance yesterday as airlines began deeply discounting tickets to help rebuild passenger loads that have been down sharply since the Sept. 11- terrorist attacks. Delta Air Lines kicked off the glob- al fare sale, and Northwest Airlines quickly matched. Terry Trippler, an airline expert with OneTravel.com, said he expected other airlines would follow suit. "This is the clearance sale. There are some people who will never travel at any price and there are some people who have a price at which they will travel. For many people, not all of them, this is the price that will get them to travel," Trippler said. Northwest, for example, was offering roundtrips between New York and Los Angeles for $279, Minneapolis-Boston for $251 and Detroit-Dallas for $251. TOKYO Koizumi to allay fears of militarism Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to visit China and South Korea in the coming days in an effort to allay fears that his nation is becoming more militaristic as it gears up to support a U.S.-led strike against terrorism. Koizumi also hopes to repair the damage caused by a controversial textbook's treatment of World War H The U.S. bishops' group that sets religious policy for Roman Catholics in this country and serves as the church's national voice on social and political issues is poised to elect its first black president,'Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of the Belleville diocese in southern Illinois. Gregory also serves as the vice president of the United States Con- ference of Catholic Bishops, and is expected to ascend to the group's top post when the bishops hold their fall meeting next month in Washington. Since 1966, every conference vice president but one has been elected president. In that one exception, the vice president refused to be a candidate, said con- ference spokesman William Ryan, declining further comment on the election. - Compiledfrom Daily wire reports. t and his own visit to a war memorial, which together put relations with Japan's two neighbors on their worst footing in years. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Koizumi expects to meet with Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Monday and with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung on Oct. 15. Beijing and Seoul rebuffed a similar summit offer from Koizumi a few months ago. NEWARK, N.J. Roman Catholics to elect black president The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $100. Winter term (January through April) is $105, yearlong (September through April) is $180. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. 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