2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 11, 2005 NATION/WORLD Rice responds to nuclear claims 6 Secretary of State urges North Korea to give up weapons LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that North Korea should return to disar- mament talks and avoid a path toward further international isolation. "The world has given them a way out and we hope they will take that way out," she said. Rice's comments came after North Korea stated explicitly that it has nuclear weapons and said that it needs them as protection against an increasingly hostile United States. "The North Koreans have been told by the president of the United States that the United States has no intention of attacking or invading North Korea," Rice said during a news conference here with European Union leaders. "There is a path for the North Kore- ans that would put them in a more reasonable relationship with the rest of the world," she said, referring to an international disarmament effort that includes the United States. Giving up nuclear weapons would offer hope for a better life to that coun- try's people, Rice said. North Korea is desperately poor, and people are fleeing the country to avoid starvation. The North Korean statement may be a bluff meant to put the United States back on its heels before the regime finally does return to the disarmament table. North Korea told a visiting U.S. congressional delegation last month that it would return to those six-nation talks. Asked to analyze the thinking in Pyongyang, Rice was almost dismissive. "I'm not sure anyone ever gets very far by trying to second-guess the motivation of the North Korean regime," she said. "The fact is that we have for some time taken account of the capacity of the North Koreans to perhaps have a few nuclear weapons," Rice said. "There's no definitive - I can't go into the intel- ligence here - but there's no definitive answers of how many, but this has been since the mid-90s that the United States has assumed that the North Koreans could make such steps. Traveling with President Bush to North Carolina Thursday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told report- ers, "It's rhetoric we've heard before. We remain committed to the six-party talks. We remain committed to a peaceful dip- lomatic resolution to the nuclear issue with regards to North Korea." Talking to reporters en route to Ire- land for a refueling stop, Rice noted that she previously had scheduled a meeting in Washington next Monday with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon and also said that she and Defense Sec- retary Donald H. Rumsfeld will see their Japanese counterparts soon, and will dis- cuss North Korea. AP PHOTO U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, addresses the media at the Klem conference center in Luxembourg, yesterday. Car bomb detonated in Baghdad WASHINGTON Senate votes to restrict some lawsuits The Senate approved a measure yesterday to help shield businesses from major class-action lawsuits like the ones that have been brought against tobacco companies, giving President Bush the first legislative victory of his second term. Under the legislation, long sought by big business, large multistate class action lawsuits could no longer be heard in small state courts. Such courts have handed out multimillion-dollar verdicts. Instead, the cases would be heard by federal judges, who have not proven as open to those type of lawsuits. The Senate passed the bill 72-26, and it now goes to the House. Bush called the bill a strong step forward. "Our country depends on a fair legal system that protects people who have been harmed without encouraging junk lawsuits that undermine confidence in our courts while hurting our economy," Bush said in a statement released in Pennsylvania where he was promoting his Social Security proposals. NICE, France U.S., NATO discuss more trainers for wars U.S. allies in Europe have so far mustered fewer than 100 trainers to go to Iraq to assist in the modest NATO mission there, but a top American general said yesterday he was hopeful they would offer several dozen more in the coming weeks. "We've asked for more than what has been provided so far," said Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees the effort to train and equip Iraq's security and military forces. Petraeus joined U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Nice for a meeting of NATO defense ministers. Later Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, speaking to reporters in Nice, said he hopes to see the total NATO commitment in Iraq rise to about 360, a figure that includes security personnel to protect the trainers. The NATO mission in Iraq, while small, aims to develop Iraq's military on a strategic level, rather than train individual soldiers. This includes efforts to set up military staff and officer colleges. Bush administration officials have also advocated the NATO mission as a way of pushing the alliance to transform into a more deployable, internationally involved force. VATICAN CITY Pope leaves hospital after 10 days of treatment Pope John Paul II left a Rome hospital in his white popemobile yesterday, 10 days after suffering breathing spasms that left him bedridden and rekindled debate about his ability to continue leading the Roman Catholic Church. Under heavy security, the 84-year-old pope was bundled into the vehicle inside a covered entrance to Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic to shield him from the winter chill. Police sealed off St. Peter's Square to tourists, and hundreds of cheering Romans lined the route to the Vatican. The pontiff waved to the crowds and blessed the faithful standing along the 2 1/2-mile route to the Vatican. His return was broadcast live on television. The bulletproof popemobile is equipped with a hydraulic lift, which makes it easier for the pontiff, who walks with difficulty, to get into than a limousine. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said at midday Thursday that the frail pope had recovered completely from the breathing crisis. LONDON Prince Charles to marry Camilla Bowles Prince Charles said Thursday he will marry his divorced lover Camilla Parker. Bowles in April, putting an official seal on a long romance that Princess Diana blamed for the breakdown of her tempestuous marriage to the heir to the throne. The announcement ruled out the possibility that she would become queen. The Prince of Wales and Parker Bowles will marry Friday, April 8, at Windsor Castle, said the Clarence House, Charles's residence and office. During a visit to London's financial district Thursday, Charles accepted con- gratulations on his pending nuptials. "Thank you very much, you're so kind." he said. "L am-very excited.' One of Charles's titles is Duke of Cornwall, so Parker Bowles will use the title Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall after the marriage. - Compiled from Daily wire reports I I www.michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. 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. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan 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. 6 Blast in square kills at least two Iraqis; no U.S. casualties reported BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A car bomb detonated by remote control exploded in a crowded central Bagh- dad square yesterday moments after an American military convoy passed, killing at least two Iraqis and wound- ing two others, the U.S. Army said. There were no U.S. casualties. South of the capital, the bodies of 20 Iraqi truck drivers who had been shot were found dumped on a road, their hands bound behind their backs, police Capt. Ahmed Ismail said. Some of the trucks were owned by the gov- ernment, Ismail said. With violence on the rise after the Jan. 30 election, Iraqi authorities announced the country's borders would be sealed for five days this month around the time of a major Shiite religious holiday. Last year during the holiday, about 180 people were killed in suicide attacks at Shiite shrines. Most of the latest attacks have been against Iraq's security forces in a bid to undermine public confidence after police and soldiers managed to pre- vent catastrophic attacks during the elections. Gunmen fired on an Iraqi police patrol yesterday in Baqouba, north of Baghdad, setting off a gunbattle that killed a civilian bystander and wound- ed two police officers, a security offi- cial said. Assailants also gunned down a police lieutenant in Baqouba, the official said. Five bodies in Iraqi National Guard uniforms were found yesterday in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of Baghdad. Hospital director Ala al Ani said residents reported that the slain. men were among 13 guardsmen who went missing recently. Two insurgents were killed yester- day in clashes with U.S. forces north of Ramadi, residents and hospital officials said. U.S. forces sealed off access to the town of Sufiya and took up positions in houses and on rooftops. In Salman Pak, southeast of Bagh- dad, insurgents attacked Iraqi police- men who came to look for weapons, showering them with machine-gun fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds, police said. "Gunfire was engulfing us," said Abeer Ihsan, a policeman who was among 13 wounded in the six-hour battle. Evidence of another attack on Iraqi security troops surfaced yesterday in an insurgent video showing gunmen shooting to death four blindfolded men who identified themselves as Iraqi policemen. The video, which was obtained byi Associated Press Television News, showed the four young men sitting cross-legged on the floor of a room. A date stamp on the video indicated it was recorded Feb. 3. It was unclear where the police- men had been captured. The men in the video were seen in what appeared1 to be a remote desert area, kneeling down with their hands tied behind their backs and wearing blindfolds. Several gunmen with assault rifles standing just steps away from the captives fire repeatedly at the men one by one, shooting them in the back1 of their heads. A body was found riddled with bul- lets in Mosul, police said, and in the northern oil center of Kirkuk, a roadside bomb exploded several minutes after a U.S. military patrol passed, killing one Iraqi, police said. In Baghdad, gunmen shot to death a hospital receptionist. CDC:Flu vaccine supply sti short WASHINGTON (AP) - It's not too late to get a flu shot if you can find one, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday. While some states still have short- ages, others have an ample supply and should exercise "common sense" in distributing the vaccine, with priority given to high-risk individuals, includ- ing elderly, children, those with chronic health conditions and health care work- ers, said Dr. Julie Gerberding. "Don't waste it," she urged local and state health officials during her appearance before the House Govern- ment Reform Committee. People are talking about a nation- wide surplus, she said, but "funda- mentally, we don't have enough." Gerberding and Jesse Goodman, director of the FDA's Center for Bio- logics, Evaluation and Research, tried to reassure lawmakers their agencies are working to prevent a repeat of this year's flu vaccination shortage. It occurred after British health officials shut down Chiron Corp.'s plant in Liv- erpool, England, that was to have pro- vided about half of the U.S. shots. U.S. health officials put restrictions on who was eligible for shots, but it was estimated that about 98 million high-risk people did not get them. Over the past few months, more than half of the states dropped all their restrictions. Public officials have been urging the federal government to do the same, but Gerberding said that would be premature because some NEWS Farayha Arrine, Managing Editor 763-2459, news@michigandally.com EDITORS: Melissa Benton, Donn M. 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