2 --The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 12, 2004 NATION/WORLD .4 WHO urges research with smallpox NEWS IN BRIEF * 9 HI__________NaFRMAUND_ THE__WORLD Experiments would entail genetic engineerini -l The Associated Press An influential World Health Organiza- tion committee is sending shock waves through the scientific community with its recommendation that researchers be permitted to conduct genetic-engineering experiments with the smallpox virus. The idea is to be able to better com- 1bat a disease that is considered a leading bioterror threat though it was publicly eradicated 25 years ago. The WHO had previously opposed ,such work for fear that a "superbug" ,might emerge. Because the disease is so deadly, the WHO has even at times recommended destroying the world's two known smallpox stockpiles, located in secure labs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and in the former Soviet Union. The recommended policy shift has reignited a debate over whether such research will help or hinder bioterror- ism defenses. The World Health Assembly - the ruling body of the 192-nation WHO - would make a final decision on whether to approve the experiments, which would include splicing a "marker" gene into the smallpox virus so its spread can be better tracked in the laboratory. The WHO com- mittee said allowing the genetic engineer- ing experiments would speed depletion of the remaining smallpox virus stocks. It has been U.S. policy to refrain from genetically engineering smallpox, but that would undoubtedly change if the WHO endorses such research. "It's absolutely the right decision," said Ken Alibek, a former top scientist in the Soviet biological weapons program who said the Soviets covertly developed smallpox as a weapon in the 1980s. Alibek, who defected to the Unit- ed States in 1992 and now teaches at George Mason University, said it's now possible to genetically engineer small- C-,)(C pox to render current vaccines useless. remaining samples. Today, it is propos- "The bad guys already know how to do ing to tinker with the virus in ways that it," Alibek said. "So why prohibit legiti- could produce an even more lethal small- FAiLLUJ Iiraq d mate research- ers to do research for protection?" Otherscien- tist argue that such research has little value and is too risky. "We have seen no evi- dence of a threat that would justify this research," says Sujatha "These bad guys already know how to do it.... So why prohibit legitimate researchers to do research for protection? - Ken Alibek Former top Soviet scientist pox strain. This is a devastating step backwards." Smallpox has plagued humans for centuries, and it's believed to have killed more people than all wars and epidem- ics combined. Death typically follows massive hemorrhaging. A similar debate was set Insurgents try to counter U.S. attack Insurgents tried to break through the U.S. cordon surrounding Fallujah yester- day as American forces launched an offensive against concentrations of militants in the south of the city. Some 600 insurgents, 18 U.S. troops and five Iraqi soldiers have been killed in the four-day assault, the U.S. military said. In an apparent bid to relieve pressure on their trapped allies, insurgents mounted major attacks in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city 220 miles to the north. Guerrillas assaulted nine police stations, overwhelming several, and battled U.S. and Iraqi troops around bridges across the Tigris River in the city, where a cur- few was imposed a day earlier. Elsewhere, a series of attacks throughout central Iraq underscored the nation's perilous security. In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded yesterday moments after a U.S. patrol passed on Saadoun Street, killing 17 bystanders and wounding 30. There were no U.S. casualties. Another car bomb exploded in Kirkuk as the governor's convoy was passing by, killing a bystander and wounding 14 people. JERUSALEM Israeli forces arrest nuclear whistle blower Byravan, executive director of the Council for Responsible Genetics, a Boston non- profit group. "A decade ago, the WHO was planning to destroy the world's last off last year when researcher Mark Buller of Saint Louis University announced that he had genet- ically engineered a mousepox virus that was designed to evade vaccines. Trade issues to dominate Bush's U.S. farm policy WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush will begin a second term barely a year after the United States had its first case of mad cow disease and as Japan and other countries maintain bans on U.S. beef. But even before the embargoes, Amer- icans began importing more food than they export, raising a broad front of trade issues that will dominate U.S. farm poli- cy the next four years. Only one cow, a Canadian-born Hol- stein, was confirmed to have been infect- ed. But it only took one to prompt Japan and more than three dozen other coun- tries to refuse U.S. beef, harming export sales and the farm economy they support. The administration's primary agriculture mission since then has been to get those bans lifted. A lot more than beef is at issue, howev- er. Two years before last December's mad tow case, a surplus of farm exports over imports - which had been the nation's bulwark against even larger overall trade deficits - disappeared. At the same time, Congress was passing an election-year farm bill with the most generous govern- ment subsidies ever awarded to growers. Those two developments will drive newly revived talks on trade liberalization by World Trade Organization members. "This next term will be a really big term for whoever is the secretary of agri- culture, because these issues come to a head in the WTO talks, which will prob- ably wrap up in 2007, and that's about the same timing of the new farm bill," said Gary Hufbauer, a trade specialist at the Institute for International Economics, a Washington think tank. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has said she would like to stay on the job, and Bush hasn't indicated any dissatis- faction or desire for her to leave. "I think he's made clear he will be mak- ing decisions on personnel in the coming weeks," Veneman told reporters this week. "In the meantime, we continue to do our jobs as well as we possibly can." Besides finalizing deals to resume U.S. beef exports to Japan and Taiwan, officials are working on reopening U.S. borders for Canadian beef, which was banned in May 2003 after a single case of mad cow was confirmed there. Restrictions have been eased, but not completely. Trade will drive debate on Capitol Hill, where international disputes over sub- sidies for U.S. producers could prompt lawmakers to make changes to programs in the 2002 farm bill, although it's more likely the changes would come when Congress begins writing the new farm bill in 2006. Lawmakers expect to begin hearings on the new bill next year. Third World countries are demanding in the upcoming WTO talks that the Unit- ed States and Europe end their subsidies, not just those that support farmers but also government help with selling exports. Heavily armed police commandos stormed a Jerusalem church compound and arrested Israeli nuclear program whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu yesterday, drawing harsh condemnation from the Anglican Church to which he belongs. Vanunu, who was released seven months ago after completing an 18-year prison sentence for treason, was arrested on suspicion of revealing classified information, police said. He was taken before a magistrate, who ordered him confined to the church hostel under house arrest for seven days. "This is a disgrace to Israeli democracy!" Vanunu shouted to journalists as he was led into court. "They want to punish me again. They cannot punish me twice. I suffered 18 years in prison. I have the right to be free." Analysts said the arrest of Vanunu - who has repeatedly defied orders not to give interviews - may be an Israeli attempt to suppress discussion of its nuclear program at a time of increasing international efforts to block Iran from going nuclear. ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast After evacuation of foreigners, violence ends Staring with tears in their eyes, Ivory Coast's people emerged from their homes yes- terday to survey the wreckage of five days of violent upheaval and stock up on food. France and other Western nations flew out hundreds of their nationals in a sec- ond round of evacuations, while South Africa convened urgent talks, warning the crisis could destabilize West Africa. The commercial capital, Abidjan, experienced the first day of calm since anti- foreigner mobs took to the streets tomorrow after a sudden, deadly clash between the forces of Ivory Coast and its former colonial ruler, France. Some shops reopened and traffic returned to streets strewn with charred vehi- cles and the remnants of roadblocks. Residents crowded supermarkets and waited in long lines to withdraw cash from ATMs. ATLANTA Delta pilots agree to salary cuts for five years Delta Air Lines pilots have agreed to slash their salaries by nearly a third and forgo pay raises for five years to help the struggling airline avoid bankruptcy, their union announced yesterday. The $1 billion in annual wage concessions from Delta's 7,000 pilots is a huge victory for the Atlanta-based airline, which has lost more than $6 billion since early 2001. The plan received 79 percent support from pilots who voted over 10 days by phone and over the Internet. Voting ended at noon yesterday. The agreement, which becomes effective Dec. 1, was tentatively reached by union leaders and Delta after 15 months of negotiations. - Compiled from Daily wire reports r A MARKET UPDATE T H U R . CLOSE C._H RANGE DOw JONES 10,469.83 +84.36 NASDAQ 2,061.27 +26.71 ................. I ยง&EAoo +10.57 I I 9 What Do These Leaders Have in Common? If you thought pharmacy was only filling prescriptions, think again. The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy has been 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. 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