I

2A - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 12, 2003

NATION/WORLD

4


Al- aida
attacs
may strike
U.S. allies
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State
Department is warning of possible al-
Qaida attacks against Americans over-
seas, particularly in Europe or Eurasia,
in connection with the second anniver-
sary of Sept. 11.
"We are seeing increasing indications
that al-Qaida is preparing to strike U.S.
interests abroad," the State Department
said in a statement distributed yesterday.
The statement cited the second anniver-
sary of the Sept. 11 attacks as a concern.
American officials played down the
relevance of the new Osama bin Laden
videotape in the new State Department
warning. Bin Laden appeared in a video-
tape aired on the Arab Al-Jazeera televi-
sion network Wednesday.
Some taped messages from al-Qaida
leaders are thought to announce a com-
ing attack; however, intelligence officials
said the latest message appeared to be a
propaganda effort.
President Bush said the tape "reminds
us that the war on terror goes on."
"You can't negotiate with these peo-
ple," Bush said. "The only way to deal
with them is to find them and bring
them to justice"
Despite the warning about possible
attacks abroad, U.S. officials had no
plans to raise the color-code terrorism
threat alert at home.
"The information and analysis that we
are dealing with mostly in this report
was the possibility of attacks overseas,"
said State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher during a press briefing.
One intelligence official, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity, said a
recent report suggested Americans in
Europe could be a target. But that report
provided no specifics.
In past months, al-Qaida and its affili-
ates have carried out bombings in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Casablanca,
Morocco, and Bali, Indonesia, the State
Department said.
"We therefore assess that European or
Eurasian locations could be venues for
the next round of attacks, possibly to
closely coincide with the" anniversary,
the department said.
N Korean
nuclear
plan-t halts


NEWS IN BRIEF

nl

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE.ORL
WASHINGTON
Bush discourages expulsion of Arafat
The Bush administration has notified Israel it is opposed to the expul-
sion of Yasser Arafat even though "he is part of the problem and not part of
the solution" in the tense standoff with the Palestinians.
"We think that it would not be helpful to expel him because it would just
give him another stage to play on," spokesman Richard Boucher said as
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government threatened to oust Arafat from
the West Bank.
"The Israeli government is very clear on what our views are on these
things and I think understands clearly our position," Boucher said.
While the administration tried to restrain Israel, Secretary of State Colin
Powell said there must be a freeze on Jewish settlements and the removal
of unauthorized outposts on the West Bank.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera, the satellite network that blankets the
Arab world, Powell also said "there are problems" with the security fence
Israel is constructing to separate itself from Palestinian-held territories.
Still, Powell said in an interview Wednesday that was released yesterday,
"it is very difficult to get these obligations met or dealt with in the pres-
ence of continuing acts of terror on the part of Hamas and other organiza-
tions."
ROME
More than 4,000 Italians die in heatwave
At least 4,175 more elderly Italians died this summer compared with the same
period last year, Italy said yesterday, in its first official report on the number of
deaths related to the blistering heat wave that swept through Europe.
The toll was the second-highest after France, where the government reported a
startling 11,435 deaths. The Italian Health Ministry warned the figure could go as
high as 5,000 once all data are in.
While stopping short of blaming the deaths entirely on the heat, officials
stressed the scorching temperatures played a key role.
"The relationship between heat and mortality can certainly be established," said
Enrico Garaci, president of the ministry's Superior Health Institute, which com-
piled a report based on mortality data from Italy's 21 largest cities that was
expanded to a national estimate.
Garaci said the heat may have directly caused some deaths and worsened exist-
ing illnesses and conditions. Health officials were still studying the data.
The institute estimated 34,071 people over 65 died nationwide from July 16 to
Aug. 15, compared to 29,896 in 2002 - a 14 percent increase.

LONDON
Deaths by smoking
deemed global crisis
About as many people are now dying
from smoking in the developing world as
in industrialized nations, according to the
most thorough estimate to date of global
deaths caused by tobacco.
The research, published this week in
The Lancet medical journal, concludes
that 4.84 million people died from smok-
ing worldwide in 2000 -2.41 million in
developing countries and 2.43 million in
rich nations.
"This study is the first to quantify that
the 21st century's 'brown plague' is strik-
ing the world's middle- and low-income
countries with an intensity equal to that
which has already been felt in the world's
high-income nations and is, in fact, on,
the verge of surpassing ii,' said John Sef-
frin, chief executive officer of the Ameri-
can Cancer Society.
Experts say the study will likely spur,
governments - especially those in
developing countries - to pursue anti-
smoking health policies.
WACUIN.TAN

homeowners out of the market.
Concerned about rising loan delin-
quencies and foreclosures, Fannie
Mae has begun requiring a 10 percent
down payment for 30-year mortgages
on such homes, plus a fee of one-half
of 1 percent of the loan amount. Pre-
viously, people could put no money
down and paid no fee.
For those who cannot afford 10 per-
cent, Fannie Mae has introduced a 20-
year loan requiring a 5 percent down
payment. However, monthly payments
are higher.
WASHINGTON
Researchers find way
to keep blood longer
A little dab of sugar may double the
shelf life of blood platelets, a lifesaving
clotting component that is in chronic
short supply because of spoilage.
Harvard University researchers report
this week in the journal Science that lab-
oratory tests show that putting a small
amount of galactose, a type of sugar, into
isolated platelets allows the blood com-
ponents to be refrigerated and usefully
preserved for at least 12 days.
That more than doubles the shelf life
of the current routine, which is to store
the platelets at room temperature for only
five days. Because of spoilage, more
than 25 percent of all platelets taken from
donated blood must be discarded.
- Compiled from Daily wire reports.

S

d XO3 91 1I
production New loan procedure
deters home buyers

$ 300 t b
on the system that
does everything
a college student
needs:*
Well, almost.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Plutonium
reprocessing activity at a key North
Korean site has apparently ceased, U.S.
officials said yesterday.
It is unclear why the North Koreans
stopped work at their reprocessing plant
at Yongbyon, the officials said, speaking
on the condition of anonymity.
Presumably, they either chose- to stop
or had technical problems at the plant.
Unless something broke, the plant could
be restarted at any time.
The plant turns spent nuclear fuel rods
into plutonium that can be used in
nuclear weapons. It's the only one the
North Koreans are known to have. At the
same site is a nuclear reactor that can
make the spent fuel rods.
Also yesterday, officials said
North Korea appears to be develop-
ing a new intermediate-range ballis-
tic missile capable of reaching the
United States. The missile hasn't
been tested.
The North Korean move at its
nuclear site in Yongbyon was first
reported in yesterday's edition of
the Los Angeles Times.
The U.S. officials declined to say
precisely when activity at the Yong-
byon stopped, although other offi-
cials had said as recently as last
month that low-level reprocessing
was under way.
The North Koreans restarted the
reactor at Yongbyon in late Febru-
ary. They are also thought to have
accessed some 8,000 ready-to-
reprocess spent fuel rods that had
been in storage.
Reprocessing work may have
begun sometime in the late spring
or summer.
It is unclear whether North Korea
could have reprocessed enough
spent fuel to make a nuclear
weapon. Washington estimates they
already have at least one or two.
Experts had previously estimated that
v_ - ..aL t . a . 1.... n ,.1 .. .. /

Manufactured homes are a popular
choice for low-income families, but new
regulations from mortgage giant Fannie
Mae could price some of those would-be

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