2 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 26, 2003
NATION/WORLD
Medicare reform bill passes narrowly NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTTO)N (AP) - Thes.everail of the Fhill's nmost contnvse'ria1
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Republican-controlled Congress
sent President Bush historic
Medicare legislation yesterday,
combining a new prescription drug
benefit with measures to control
costs before the baby boom genera-
tion reaches retirement age.
Bush is expected to sign the bill
with a flourish, then trumpet its enact-
ment during his bid for re-election next
year. "Because of the actions of the
Congress, the actions of members of
both political parties, the Medicare
system will be modern and it will be
strong," he said in Las Vegas shortly
after lawmakers broke years of grid-
lock on the issue.
But within hours of a 54-44 Senate
vote, Senate Democratic leader Tom
Daschle introduced legislation to repeal
provisions and to allow the importation
of lower-priced prescription drugs from
Canada and Western Europe. "This
debate is not over, it's just beginning,"
said the South Dakota Democrat.
Apart from a new prescription drug
benefit, the legislation invites private
firms to sell insurance coverage to 40
million Medicare beneficiaries.
While some supporters praised the
bill in glowing terms and some critics
denounced it with equal vehemence,
many lawmakers said the far-reaching
legislation had confronted them with a
difficult choice.
"This was not an easy vote for me,"
said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California,
one of 11 Democrats who supported
with the bill on final passage. "I know
there are doubters out there. ... All I say
"Because of the actions of the Congress, the
actions of members of both political parties,
the Medicare system will be modern and it
will be strong:'
- President Bush
to them is, give it a chance to work."
The complexity of the 681-page,
$395 billion measure - and the
two-year delay in implementing the
new drug coverage - have made it
subject to competing claims and
uncertain estimates.
For seniors obtaining drug coverage
through a stand-alone plan in 2006, for
example, officials estimate a benefit
with a $35 monthly premium and a
$250 annual deductible, followed by
75 percent coverage up to $2,250 in
costs. There would be a break in cover-
age over that level until costs reached
$5,100 - a gap of $2,850 - before
benefits resumed and began paying 95
percent of remaining costs.
But an official forecast by Congress'
budget experts envisioned a steady
increase in premiums and deductibles as
well as a widening of the coverage gap
in the following years, with insurance
payments growing as well.
NEW DELHI4"
India, Pakistan agree to indefinite cease-fire
India and Pakistan began a cease-fire between their armies at midnight yester-
day - the first such accord in 14 years.
The agreement, however, did not cover Indian security forces and Islamic mili-
tants in Kashmir, and there was no indication how long it would last or how effec-
tive it would be.
The two nations' armies - which trade machine-gun and mortar fire almost
daily - would observe the cease-fire along their entire frontier, the governments
said. That includes the international border that covers several western states in
India, the Line of Control dividing Jammu-Kashmir, and the frontier at the
Siachen Glacier. The start of the cease-fire coincides with the Eid-al-Fitr festival
that ended the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan confirmed
military chiefs agreed on the cease-fire, which he said was indefinite and "a posi-
tive development."
Neither side specified how long the truce would last. India said Monday an
enduring cease-fire would depend on Pakistan ending the infiltration of Islamic
militants into India's portion of Kashmir.
The largest Pakistan-based militant group battling in India's portion of the
divided Himalayan province said its men would keep on fighting.
J 19 T T d"14
Attacks on U.S. OTA, igeria
Liberian warlord expected to face charges
AP PHOTO
An Israeli security guard, seen behind Palestinians, stands next to a new section of the.
separation barrier Israel is building between Israel and Palestinian areas.
Paestinians, Iraelis
continue to argue over
violence, settlements
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Palestinian
officials plan to secure a pledge from militant
groups next week to halt all attacks against Israel,
which they will present along with a demand for
full implementation of the U.S.-backed "road
map" peace plan, the top Palestinian negotiator
said yesterday.
The comments by S.aeb Erekat, which were
welcomed by Israel, were the latest sign of
progress in efforts to halt three years of violence
and resume full-fledged peace talks.
Jewish settlers are proposing
their own plan, which calls for
dismantling the Palestinian
Authority and incorporating
the West Bank into Israel. The
plan, which has little chance of
success, demonstrated the
many pressures on Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Palestinian factions,
In Washing
Bush admin
decided yes
reduce U.S.
guarantees1
Palestinians must dismantle the militant
groups, but they have avoided such a move, say-
ing that would risk civil war.
While Israel has not formally committed to a
cease-fire, officials appear to have eased off the
insistence that Palestinian militant groups be dis-
armed. And its response to two fatal attacks in the
last week has been subdued.
Momentum has seemed to be building toward a
renewal of talks since Palestinian Prime Minister
Ahmed Qureia formed a government two weeks
ago. But efforts to arrange a
ltheQureia-Sharon summit have
ton, stumbled.
nilstration In an interview with The
Associated Press, Qureia
sterday to insisted Israel show move-
loan ment on Palestinian
demands, including halting
to Israel. construction of a West Bank
security barrier, for the
meeting to take place.
Sharon said he will not accept preconditions.
Sharon, however, came under more pressure
yesterday.
In Washington, the Bush administration
decided yesterday to reduce U.S. loan guaran-
tees to Israel by $289.5 million as a way of
registering its disapproval of Israeli actions
on the West Bank.
The cut will be made from $9 billion in U.S.
guarantees over three years. The guarantees are
designed to help the battered Israeli economy by
making it easier for Israel to acquire loans at
favorable rates.
The sum represents the cost of part of the West
Bank barrier along the route that the United States
has criticized. Israel says the barrier is needed to
keep out suicide bombers; the Palestinians call it a
land grab.
soldiers fall as
violence against
Iraqis increases
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - With U.S. troops heavily
armed and bunkered behind concrete and razor wire,
guerrillas are pointing their guns at softer targets like
Iraqi police and civilians, top U.S. military and civilian
officials said yesterday.
American officials expect attacks on Iraqis working with
the coalition to surge as the U.S.-led administration begins
handing power to local leaders.
After dark, three large explosions shook the center of
Baghdad from the city's western half. The blasts trig-
gered a warning siren in the "Green Zone" housing the
U.S. headquarters.
A coalition spokeswoman said the blasts occurred
outside of the zone at a police station, a bus station and
a third, unknown location. She had no information on
casualties. The area is less than a half-mile from the
"Green Zone."
"The security situation has changed," said top U.S. admin-
istrator Paul Bremer at a press conference with Gen. John
Abizaid, the chief of the U.S. Central Command whose area
of responsibility includes Iraq.
Bremer said coalition troops would do their best to protect
upcoming leadership debates and caucuses.
"We have to anticipate that there will be a level of terror-
ism in the months ahead," he said. "As the process of
democracy moves forward over the next several months,
they may try to attack the institutions of democracy."
Abizaid said the number of daily attacks on coalition
forces dropped by about half over the past two weeks.
But another U.S. military official, Col. William Dar-
ley, said attacks peaked at more than 40 per day about
two weeks ago and have since dropped to about 30 per
day - about the same as in October and well over the
number in August and September.
More than five dozen U.S. troops were killed by hostile
fire in November, more than any other month since the end
of major combat in Iraq on May 1.
Since operations began in Iraq, 297 U.S. service
members have died of hostile action, including 183
since May 1 when President Bush declared an end to
major fighting.
Hotspots Fallujah and Ramadi, two Sunni-dominated
cities west of Baghdad, have seen fewer attacks recently, but
unrest has persisted in the capital and spread north to Mosul
and Kirkuk.
The guerrillas, whom Abizaid described as regional cells
of ex-Baath Party loyalists, have launched devastating
strikes on the Iraqi police. The intent, the officials said, is to
intimidate Iraqis.
"If they can't reach the coalition, they go after the people
they can touch," Darley said.
Those attacks include two car bombs at police stations
last weekend, the assassination Saturday of a police colonel
and the killing Sunday of a police chief.
The shift in guerrilla targets follows a decision by the
U.S. command to aggressively pursue insurgents before
they can strike.
Speaking in Washington on yesterday, Defense Secre-
tary Donald H. Rumsfeld cited a long list of statistics
on the results of recent U.S. efforts to defeat the insur-
gency - including a rare reference to numbers of
opposition fighters killed.
He said that last week alone, U.S.-led forces conducted
nearly 12,000 patrols and more than 230 raids.
LONDON
U.N. reports AIDS
epidemic spreading
The HIV/AIDS epidemic contin-
ues its devastating march across the
globe, with more deaths and infec-
tions this year than ever before,
according to a U.N. report released
yesterday.
The report by UNAIDS, the U.N.
agency responsible for coordinating
global efforts to fight the disease,
said the epidemic killed more than 3
million people in 2003. Around 5
million more acquired the human
immunodeficiency virus, or HIV,
bringing the number of people living
with the virus to between 34 million
and 46 million.
"This is an epidemic that at the start
was a white middle-class gay man's dis-
ease. Today, if you use a stereotype, the
face of AIDS is a young woman from
Africa," Peter Piot, executive director of
UNAIDS, told a news conference in
London.
LOS ANGELES
Jackson's attorney
threatens accusers
Michael Jackson's attorney vowed to
"land like a ton of bricks" on anyone
who attacks the singer and charged that
the molestation allegations against him
were motivated by money, saying Jack-
son "is not going to be a pinata."
"If anybody doesn't think based upon
what's happened so far that the true
motivation of these charges and these
allegations is anything but money and
the seeking of money, is living in their
own Neverland," attorney Mark Gera-
gos said, referring to the singer's story-
book playland.
Geragos' pledge to mount a defense
against those who damage Jackson's
reputation followed revelations that he
and the entertainer were secretly video-
taped while flying on a private jet.
NEW YORK
Concorde arrives at
New York museum
Six years after setting a speed
record for a commercial jet crossing
the Atlantic, a British Airways Con-
corde took a slow boat yesterday up
New York harbor to its new home at a
waterside museum.
Lashed to the deck of a gray barge,
the slender white jetliner rode under the
"Verrazano Bridge and past the Statue of
Liberty, made a brief pirouette for the
television cameras off lower Manhattan
and moved majestically up the Hudson
to the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum.
The aircraft, one of 13 Concordes,
will become a permanent exhibit.
- Compiled from Daily wire reports.
Nigeria's influential president set tough terms yesterday for two African pariahs,
pledging to "persuade" indicted war criminal Charles Taylor to surrender for trial
if Liberia asks and to bar Zimbabwe's president from an international summit.
Olusegun Obasanjo's comments came in a rare interview by the leader of
Africa's most populous nation, conducted under a shade tree at his farm amid
strutting peacocks and a sunning baby crocodile.
The Nigerian leader has strongly resisted U.S. congressional pressure to turn
ousted Liberian president Taylor over for prosecution on a U.N.-backed indictment
for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone.
A former warlord blamed in much of the recent bloodshed in West Africa, Tay-
lor has lived in exile in southern Nigeria since August, when he fled under interna-
tional pressure and a rebel siege of Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
The Liberian government that succeeded Taylor has not said it wants him
for trial. Instead, interim leader Gyude Bryant, appointed under an Aug. 18
peace deal, has said Taylor should go to neighboring Sierra Leone to face
charges there.
-
including Hamas and Islam-
ic Jihad, have agreed to attend a conference
beginning Dec. 2 in Cairo, Egypt. The
groups, which have carried out scores of
deadly attacks on Israelis, are expected to
commit to a cease-fire then, Erekat said.
Whether a truce can last will depend on Israel's
response, he added. "I think there is a very clear-
cut obligation on the Palestinian side, saying that
we will stop violence against Israelis," he said.
"Right under that, it says Israelis will stop vio-
lence against the Palestinians. ... That is the key."
The road map calls for a series of steps leading
to an independent Palestinian state by 2005.
Israel is required to halt settlement activity
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which the
Palestinians claim for their state, and with-
draw from autonomous areas occupied during
the fighting.
WWW.MHGANDAILYUM
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The University of Michigan College of Literature,
Science, and the Arts presents a public
lecture and reception
Between Commitment
and Consumerism:
Art in Postwar
Europe and America
Al ex Potts
Max Loehrr
Collegiate Professor
of History of Art ..
. . . . . . . . ',iy , ' R
ECONOMY
Continued from Page 1.
Bush, who wants the economy on
firm footing as he heads into the 2004
re-election campaign, said the GDP
report shows "the economy of ours is
reacting to our policy. ... The tax relief
we passed is working."
Democrats, however, blame Bush's
poor handling of the economy for the
loss of 2.3 million jobs since he took
office in January 2001.
In October, the unemployment rate
improved fractionally, to 6 percent, as
the economy added jobs for a third
straight month.
Steady improvements in job creation
and in capital investment are crucial
ingredients for the economic recovery
to be sustained, economists said.
Consumers, meanwhile, continue to
do their part to keeping the economy
going. They boosted spending in the
third quarter at a 6.4 percent rate.
from the 6.6 percent rate previously
estimated.
Especially encouraging was a 18.4
percent growth rate in business invest-
ment in new equipment and software
in the third quarter. That was even
stronger than the 15.4 percent pace
previously estimated and up from 8.3
percent in the second quarter.
Spending on residential projects grew
at a whopping 22.7 percent pace in the
third quarter, also better than the 20.4
percent first estimated and up from 6.6
percent in the second quarter.
Fewer cuts to business inventories in
the third quarter resulted in a 0.16 per-
centage-point increase to GDP in that
three-month period, compared with a
0.67 percentage-point reduction to
GDP as previously estimated.
Another factor in the upward revision
to GDP in the third quarter: slightly
stronger spending by state and local
governments. These governmental bod-
ies boosted spending at a 2.3 percent
NEWS Shabina S. Khatri, Managing Editor
763.2459, newsomichigandaIy com
EDITORS: C. Price Jones, Kylene Kiang, Jennifer Misthal, Jordan Schrader
STAFF: Farayha Arrine, Jeremy Berkowitz, David Branson, Ashley Dinges, Adhirej Dutt, Sara Eber, Victoria Edwards, Margaret Engoren, Cianna
Freeman, Alison Go, Michael Gurovitsch, Aymar Jean, Carmen Johnson, Michael Kan, Andrew Kaplan, Emily Kraack, Tomislav Ladika, Evan McGarvey,
Naila Moreira, Jameel Naqvi, Kristin Ostby, Mona Rafeeq, Adam Rosen, Karen Schwartz, Maria Sprow, Dan Trudeau, Trista Van Tine, Ryan Vicko
OPINION Aubrey Henretty, Zac Peskowitz, Editors
763.0379, opinlon@michigandally com
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Daniel Adams, Sravya Chirumamilla, Jason PesHck, Jess Piskor
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Krishnamurthy, Andy Kula, Suhael Momin, Laura Platt, Ben Royal, Courtney Taymour
CARTOONISTS: Sam Butler, Colin Daly
COLUMNISTS: Steve Cotner, Johanna Hanink, Joel Hoard, An Paul, Hussain Rahim, Lauren Strayer
SPORTS J. Brady McCollough, Managing Editor
764.8585, sportsemichgandallycom
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ARTS Todd Weiser, Managing Editor
763.0379, artspage@michIgandally.com
EDITORS: Jason Roberts, Scott Serilla
WEEKEND MAGAZINE EDITORS: Charles Paradis, Rebecca Ramsey
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8
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PHOTO Tony Ding, Brett Mountain, Managing Edit
764.0563, photo@michigandally.com
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ONLINE Geoffrey Fink, Managing Edi
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ors
itor
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