2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 4, 2004 NATION/WORLD 4 Eurove seeks new start with Bush NEWS IN BRIEF PARIS (AP) - European allies alienated by President Bush's first four years in power offered Wednesday to let bygones be bygones, saying they want to work with the new administration and seeking, right from Day 1, to get the new White House to listen more to overseas opinion. French President Jacques Chirac, in a congratulatory letter, said he hoped Bush's second term "will be the occa- sion for strengthening the French- American friendship." "We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership," wrote Chi- rac. He addressed the letter to "Dear George." German Chancellor Gerhard Schro- eder, who also clashed with Bush over Iraq, wrote the president a congratulato- ry letter expressing "great expectations" for renewed cooperation. "The world stands before great chal- lenges at the beginning of your second term: international terrorism, the dan- ger of weapons of mass destruction, regional crises - but also poverty, cli- mate change and epidemics threaten our security and stability," Schroeder wrote. "These challenges can only be mastered together." Another critic of the Iraq war, Span- ish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said his government wants "a relationship of efficient, constructive cooperation with the U.S. government and with President Bush, respecting the ideas of each side." Zapatero, who angered Washington by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, stayed up most of the night to watch as Republican red crept across the U.S. electoral map. Election interest in Europe was intense, as was the disappointment many felt over Bush's victory. Some saw it as proof that Europe and the United States are further apart than ever. "There is a major and lasting lack of understanding between the American people and the rest of the world, in both directions," said Hubert Vedrine, a for- mer French foreign minister. "Almost all nations, with perhaps three or four exceptions, wanted change." Others worried that Bush, strength- ened by a bigger win than in 2000 and backed by a Republican Congress, would turn a deaf ear to world concerns. "Europe will continue to criticize Bush the same way as earlier," said Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Pers- son. "But I do not believe that he will be more willing to listen." Bush allies in the war on terror took comfort in continuity. "From our point of view, the Bush administration is a known quantity," said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. "We've had a very good relationship with them for the last four years and I'm sure we'll be able to keep building on that over the next four." Russian President Vladimir Putin said a Bush victory would mean the BAGHDAD, Iraq Kidnappers take anther U.S. citizen Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman - the second U.S. citi- zen seized this week in Baghdad - and videotape yesterday showed the behead- ings of three Iraqi National Guardsmen and an Iraqi officer. Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing 12 miles south of the capital. A suicide driver detonated his vehicle at a checkpoint near Baghdad airport, injuring nine Iraqis and prompting U.S. troops to close the main route into the city for hours. U.S. jets were in action again late yesterday over Fallujah, striking insurgent targets in the northeastern and southern parts of the city where American forces are said to be gearing up for a major assault. Residents reported fierce exchanges of fire after midnight on the edge of the city. Gunmen killed a senior Oil Ministry official, Hussein Ali al-Fattal, after he left his house yesterday in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said. Al- Fattal was the general manager of a state-owned company that distributes petro- leum byproducts. Al-Jazeera television broadcast a threat by an unspecified armed group to strike oil installations and government buildings if the Americans launch an all-out assault on Fallujah. I I French President Jacques Chirac shares a word with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, left, last week. Chirac was among the European leaders who sought to mend ties with President Bush after his victory yesterday. American people had not given in to terrorist threats. "I would feel happy that the Ameri- can people have not allowed themselves to be scared and made the decision they considered reasonable," Putin said at a Kremlin news conference after talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Ber- lusconi. "Bush will keep up that policy that gives the' United States the role of pro- moting freedom in the world," Berlus- coni said. British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to work with Bush in the war on terrorism and in revitalizing the Middle East peace process, and called on Europe and the United States to Some say poll challengers were too tough POLLS .Continued from page 1A the lines. One of them said, 'You Ori- ental guys are taking too long to vote,' she said. Although the legal fund continues to tally its exiting poll surveys and has no firm estimate for the number of inci- ' dents, Fung said repeated requests from poll workers to check identification hin- dered the high turnout of Asian Ameri- can voters. With their patience worn thin by the inadequacy of their voting site, many simply left without voting, she said. "At this point, I don't know if this had any effect on the election, but the process still needs to be fixed since it's showing that it still can prevent people (from exercising) their vote," Fung said. A polling site at Cleveland Middle School in Detroit suffered some of the same difficulties, as the site had no translated ballots for Arabic speakers and lacked any interpreters. Election officer Susie Johnson said she could only resort to explaining slowly to non- English speaking voters how to vote. "We just keep repeating what's on the ballot until they understand," she added. Many non-English speaking voters managed to submit the ballot, though, with their family members functioning as interpreters. But in other polling sites across Detroit, University student volunteers monitoring the polling sites said they not only encountered deficient poll- ing sites, but also challengers from the Republican Party deliberately aiming to drive voters away through tactics of intimidation. "It was quiet in some places, but in other places there was faulty election machinery and attempts by challengers to intimidate voters, and challengers at some points had to be physically removed by the police," said LSA senior Ryan Bates, an electoral organizer with the grassroots community group Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength. Of the Republican challengers at his polling location, Bates said all three were from Texas and intentionally hid their credentials in order to create the appearance that they were election offi- cials. He added that they then intimidat- ed voters by looming over them when casting ballots and interfering with their paper work, he added. "At one point, there was a problem where a women's ballot was spoiled, and she asked the challenger if she could have another one. And with a direct quote from the challenger, 'This isn't Afghanistan, you don't get to vote twice here,' " Bates said. Republicans have said their chal- lengers monitor the elections to pre- vent voter fraud, and they sued Detroit officials Tuesday for allegedly barring some challengers from the polls. Even with the end of election day, problems with the voting system still seem to be cropping up everywhere. Starting her day of work in the morn- ing at the U Club in the Union yesterday, LSA senior Rita Schiesser said her man- ager found an interesting surprise when he opened the restaurant. "He found two metal boxes with bal- lots in them.... There were about 1,700 ballots in them," she said. The ballots were picked up by the Ann Arbor City Clerk's office after her man- ager informed them, but Schiesser said she can only imagine how many ballot boxes are just waiting to be found. The clerk's office was unable to com- ment on the forgotten ballots. YOUTH Continued from page 1A candidate won, so much as which party was elected," said Engineering fresh- man Sean Murphy, who voted absentee in Massachusetts. In some states, youth voters turned out just as much as older voters in propor- tion to their population. In the 10 most contested "battleground" states, youth turnout was 64 percent, up 13 percent- age points from the 2000 election. "Young people are definitely more interested than they were four years ago. They're more invested in their community," Teresi said. She said young people have more concerns tied into the election, for example the war in Iraq and how they plan to pay for college. The economy and the possibility of a draft were issues that motivated LSA freshman George Thomas to vote. "The issues that most concerned me were jobs, the war in Iraq, tax cuts for the rich and a possible draft," Thomas said. Other students, like LSA freshman Alyse Dunn, voted because of contro- versial proposals on the ballot. "I voted in Ohio. I was most con- cerned with the proposal that would ban gay marriage," Dunn said. Ohio Issue 1, the proposal that bans same-sex marriage in the state, passed with 62 percent of the vote. Exit polls show that among voters ages 18 through 29, 51 percent voted 'yes' and 49 per- cent voted 'no.' More than 100 organizations in the Youth Vote Coalition devoted their efforts to raising youth participation in the election. Partners in the Coalition include MTV's "Choose or Lose," Proj- ect Vote Smart, Speak Out, and World Wrestling Entertainment's "Smack- down Your Vote!" The organizations had a goal of bringing 20 million youths out to the polls. The Youth Vote Coalition set up field sites in Ann Arbor and East Lansing to help build local coalitions, which focused mainly on door knocking and calling young voters. FOOD FOR THOUGHT Winter Soldier investigation PAR IS, France Arafat's health worsens, Palestinian officials say Yasser Arafat's condition deteriorated significantly Tuesday, and doctors treat- ing him at a Paris hospital remain unsure what has caused the 75-year-old Palestin- ian leader's illness, Palestinian officials said early today. The Palestinian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed an Israeli TV report that Arafat was in very serious condition. They said details would be dis- closed at a previously planned news conference scheduled for today at 10 a.m. Arafat, who has been ill for three weeks, was flown to a French military hospital on Friday after passing out briefly at his West Bank headquarters. Mohammed Dahlan, a former Palestinian security chief in Paris with a group of Arafat aides, denied, however, that Arafat's condition has worsened. "The pres- ident's condition is stable," he told reporters. Arafat initially was said to have been suffering a severe case of influenza, but later was diagnosed with having blood abnormalities and trouble with his diges-I tion. Palestinian officials insist leukemia has been ruled out, but say doctors remain uncertain what is causing Arafat's illness. WASHINGTON Court considers age discrimination lawsuits Note to lawyers: It's probably best not to bring up the infirmities of the elderly when arguing an age discrimination case before the white-haired Supreme Court justices. Attorney Glen Nager tried it and got a cold reception Wednesday as justices debated standards for on-the-job age discrimination lawsuits. The stakes in the case are huge for businesses, because a loss in the case would open them up to more lawsuits when layoffs or other cutbacks hurt older workers. Nager, in asking the court to limit lawsuits, said age discrimination claims are different from race and gender bias cases. Treading not so gingerly, he told the court, "It's painful," considering justices' ages, to point out that older employees have different mental and physical abilities. The justices, whose average age is 70, seemed unamused. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reminded the Washington lawyer that artists like the composer Giuseppe Verdi did their best work in their 70s. AMSTERDAM, Netherlands Police arrest suspects in m er's kiling Police arrested eight more suspected Islamic radicals yesterday in the slaying ofi a Dutch filmmaker who criticized Muslim customs. Lawmakers questioned why authorities hadn't kept tabs on the alleged killer, who had a record of violent crime and contacts with a group under surveillance. The arrests were made in the 24 hours since Theo van Gogh was slain while cycling down an Amsterdam street yesterday - believed to be the first Islamic terrorist attack in the Netherlands. Six of the detainees are of Moroccan ancestry, one is Algerian and the last has dual Spanish-Moroccan nationality, prosecution spokeswoman Dop Kruimel said. Compiled from Daily wire reports MARKET UPDATE WED. CLOSE CHANGE "PrAr"T"M w : 1W DOW JONEs 10,035.73 - NASDAQ 1,984.79 18.66 + 0.05 +4.92 4 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. 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