2 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 29, 2004 NATION/WORLD Hamas may be challenging Arafat in election NEWS IN BRIEF 'HEADLINES FROM A . Y . . RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Palestinians marked the fourth anni- versary of their uprising yesterday amid signs that the extremist Hamas group is preparing a political challenge to Yasser Arafat despite a series of Israeli military blows at the movement's leadership. Hamas published newspaper ads urging supporters to vote in upcoming municipal elections, saying "it's time for change." A Hamas leader indicated the group might try to unseat Arafat in presidential elec- tions, which have not yet been scheduled. Meanwhile, Palestinian militants released an Arab-Israeli television pro- ducer for CNN a day after his abduction in the Gaza Strip. It remained unclear why he was taken hostage. The kidnappingcoupled with Hamas's electoral challenge, were apt reflections of the state of affairs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after four years of fight- ing with Israel. The violence has left Arafat's Palestinian Authority severely weakened, leading to widespread chaos and boosting Hamas' popularity. "We need an evaluation of these four years," Palestinian Prime Minis- ter Ahmed Qureia said. "Where have we been right and where have we been wrong? What did we achieve and what didn't we achieve?" Qureia also called on Israel to reassess its policies. The uprising erupted on Sept. 28, 2000, after Ariel Sharonthen Israel's opposition leader, visited a sensitive Jerusalem hilltop revered by both Jews and Muslims. Pal- estinian riots broke out, and five months later Sharon defeated Ehud Barak in a special election for prime minister. The fighting has taken a heavy toll on both sides, killing more than 3,000 Pal- estinians and nearly 1,000 Israelis. In the latest violence, about 30 Israeli tanks moved into northern Gaza yes- terday night and fired several shells, witnesses said. The military said the purpose was to try to stop militants from shooting rockets at nearby Israeli towns. Earlier, the Israelis blew up a building next to the Gaza settlement of Netzarim, sa ying it contained a tunnel used by militants. No casualties were reported in either incident. Israel appears to have the upper hand in the fighting. It has confined Arafat to his West Bank headquarters for three years and killed hundreds of leading militants. The Palestinian economy is in tatters. In a sign of Palestinian weariness, a recent opinion poll by An-Najah Uni- versity found that two-thirds of Pales- tinians support a cease-fire with Israel. "The uprising has not been defeated, but it has not brought victory. Frankly, it is now closer to defeat than victory," commentator Hani al-Masri wrote in the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam. BAGHDAD, Iraq Seven hostages freed by insurgents Kidnappers released two female Italian aid workers and five other hostages yesterday, raising hopes for foreigners still in captivity. But insurgents showed no sign of easing their blood-soaked campaign against the U.S. presence in Iraq, staging a show of defiance in Samarra and striking twice with deadly force in Basra. Three Egyptian telecommunications workers abducted last week were among those freed yesterday, their parent company, Orascom, announced in Cairo. A fourth Egyptian in the group was released Monday and two others remain hostage. It was unclear what prompted the two separate groups of kidnappers to release their captives, including two Iraqis who had been seized with the Italian women, and whether any ransom was paid. The Italians were wearing full black veils that revealed only their eyes as they were received by the Italian Red Cross in a Baghdad neighborhood, according to video broadcast by the Arab news station Al-Jazeera. Looking dazed but smiling, Simona Torretta lifted her veil and repeated, "Thank you," in Arabic. Simona Pari hesitated before also lifting her veil. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Mental health centers filled after hurrcane It's not just roofs that have come apart and walls that are falling down. After four AP PHOTO CNN producer Riad All is greeted by members of his family upon his arrival in Mrar, his village in northern Israel, late yesterday, a day after being kid- napped. N. Korea claims to have nuclear arms hurricanes in six weeks, many people in Florida are suffering emotional break- downs. Mental health centers have been flooded with calls from people distraught, depressed or anxious, and authorities say suicides and domestic violence are up in some places. At an enormous, crowded relief station at a fairgrounds, one woman climbed out of her car before she reached the end of the line and began screaming, "I can't take this anymore! I don't want to do this anymore!" Relief workers calmed her before taking her to a hospital for treatment. For another woman, Delores Davis, the stress started taking its toll three weeks ago after Hurricahe Frances smashed her windows, flooded her carpets and forced her to throw away food she could not afford to replace. This week, after Hurricane Jeanne took a swipe at her apartment over the week- end, she found herself waiting again at a relief station under a relentless sun. She managed to get a bag of ice, but wondered where she might find water or a meal for her three children. Relief workers had no answers. WASHINGTON Court to decide on gov't seizure of property The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to decide when governments may seize peo- ple's homes and businesses for economic development projects, a key question as cash- strapped cities seek ways to generate tax revenue. At issue is the scope of the Fifth Amendment, which allows governments to take private property through eminent domain, provided the owner is given "just compensation and the land is for public use." Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Conn., filed a lawsuit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes to clear the way for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices. The resi- dents refused to budge, arguing it was an unjustified taking of their property. They argued the taking would be proper only if it served to revitalize slums or blighted areas dangerous to the public. WASHINGTON New $50 bill released, changes pled to $10 Coming to cash registers near you: Colorful new $50 bills sporting splashes of red, blue and yellow. Next up for a makeover, the government said yesterday: $10 bills. That would bring to three the number of greenbacks to undergo the color treat- ment in an effort to thwart counterfeiters. The new $10 is expected to be unveiled this spring and put into circulation in fall 2005, Thomas Ferguson, director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said. Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first treasury secretary, is expected to stay on the front of the new $10, officials said. Various efforts have emerged toput former Presi- dent Ronald Reagan on either the $10 bill or the $20 bill, or possibly the dime. 01 UNITED NATIONS (AP) - North Korea says it has turned the plutonium from 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods into nuclear weapons to serve as a deterrent against increasing U.S. nuclear threats and to prevent a nuclear war in north- east Asia. Warning that ue the danger of war --. We hav on the Korean peninsula "is snowballing," wasted fue Vice Foreign Minister Choe and transf Su Hon provided details Monday them into of the nuclear deterrent that he said North Korea has developed for Vice self-defense. In Washington, a State Department official said the administration takes Choe's claim seriously but added that it is impossible to verify in the absence of independent inspectors at North Korea's nuclear sites. The official, asking not to be identified, noted that the administration has said previously that North Korea has enough plutonium for the manufacture of several nuclear bombs. alreadyChoe told the U.N. Gen- ve Zd 8,000 l rods ormed arms. - Choe Su Hon e Foreign Minister, North Korea. eral Assembly's annual ministe- rial meeting that Pyongyang had "no other option but to possess a nuclear deter- rent-' - because of U.S. policies that he claimed were designed to "eliminate"North Korea and make it "a target of pre- to cope with the ever increasing U.S. nuclear threats and further, prevent a nuclear war in northeast Asia," he told a news conference after his speech. The United States has said it has no plans to attack the communist country. In his General Assembly speech and at the press conference with a small group of reporters, Choe blamed the United States for intensifying threats to attack the communist nation and destroying the basis for negotiations to resolve the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear program. He said North Korea is still ready to dismantle its nuclear program if Wash- ington abandons its "hostile policy" and is prepared to coexist peacefully. At the moment, however, he said "the ever intensifying U.S. hostile policy and the clandestine- nuclear- related experiments recently revealed in South Korea are constituting big stumbling blocks" and make it impos- sible for North Korea to participate in the continuation of six-nation talks on its nuclear program. North Korea said earlier this year that it had reprocessed the 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods and was increasing its "nuclear deterrent" but did not pro- vide any details. Choe was asked at the news confer- ence what was included in the nuclear deterrent. "We have already made clear that we have already reprocessed 8,000 wasted fuel rods and transformed them into arms," he said, without elaborat- ing on the kinds or numbers. When asked if the fuel had been turned into actual weapons, not just weapons-grade material, Choe said, "We declared that we weaponized this.", South Korean Deputy Foreign Min- ister Lee Soo-hyuck said in late April that it was estimated that eight nuclear bombs could be made if all 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods were reprocessed. Before the reprocessing, South Korea said it believed the North had enough nuclear material to build one or two nuclear bombs. 0 emptive nuclear strikes." Y "Our deterrent is, in all its intents and purposes, the self-defensive means - Compiled from Daily wire reports MARKET UPDATE TUE. CLOSE CHANGE DOW JONES 10,077.40 + 88.86 NASDAQ 1,869.87 + 9.99 S&P 500 1,110.06 +6.54 Go here _., rI S Itle Wc gttn 143 ttilu 0 www.fordvehicles.com/collegegrad www.michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Mondays during the spring and summer terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. Yearlong on-campus subscriptions are $40. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Midhigan 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. E-mail letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. -- -- -- - - - - - to get there 01 Here's the deal: one price, no haggling. 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