The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, October 23, 2006 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS KHARTOUM, Sudan Sudan orders U.N. envoy to leave The Sudanese government yesterday ordered the chief U.N. envoy out of the country after he wrote that Sudan's army had suf- fered major losses in recent fight- ing in Darfur. Jan Pronk was given 72 hours to leave - an order that is likely to complicate international efforts to halt the killings, rapes and other atrocities in the strife-torn region of western Sudan. "The presence of the United Nations is vital to hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Dar- fur region," said a European Union spokesman, Amadeu Altafaj Tar- dio, in Brussels. In a statement distributed by the official Sudan News Agency, the country's Foreign Ministry accused Pronk of demonstrating "enmity to the Sudanese govern- ment and the armed forces" and of involvement in unspecified activi- ties "that are incompatible with his mission." In New York, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary- General Kofi Annan had received a letter from the Sudanese gov- ernment asking that Pronk be removed from the post. HOUSTON Enron CEO carries burden of company's collapse, scandal Ken Lay's death wiped away his convictions. Andrew Fastow got a reduced six-year sentence. That leaves former CEO Jeffrey Skilling as the sole top Enron Corp. execu- tive who could be given at least 20 years in prison when he is sen- tented today for helping orches- trate the biggest corporate scandal in U.S. history. In addition to the legal conse- quences of his actions, the burden of lost jobs, worthless pension plans and ruined lives that result- ed from Enron's 2001 collapse has now shifted solely onto Skilling's shoulders. Lay's death and the lighter than expected sentence handed last month to Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer, will work against Skilling when he faces sen- tencing, former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz said. HAMTRAMCK, Mich. Court gives Muslim woman choice: Take 0 off veil or drop case A devout Muslim woman from Detroit says a judge forced her to choose between her small-claims case and her religious conviction. Ginnnah Muhammad, 42, wore a niqab - ascarfandveil thatcovers her head and face, leaving only the eyes visible - during a court hearing earlier this month in Hamtramck, a city surrounded by Detroit. Muhammad was contesting a $2,750 charge from a rental-car company to repair avehicle that she said had been broken into by thieves. District Judge Paul Paruk told her he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness and gave her a choice: take off the veil while tes- tifying or have the case dismissed. She kept it on. PANAMA CITY, Panama Voters approve canal expansion Voters overwhelmingly approved the largest modernization plan in the 92-year history of the Panama Canal on yesterday, backing a multi-billion dollar expansion that will allow the world's largest ships to squeeze through the shortcut between the seas. About 79 percent of Panama- nians voted in favor the canal expansion, with 66 percent of 4,416 polling stations reporting, accord- ing to preliminary results released by the country's electoral tribunal. Early returns pointed to a dis- mally low turnout with nearly 60 percent of the country's more than 2.1 million voters abstaining. - Compiled from Daily wire reports TABLE ,UMER 17 Number of states, including Michigan, warned of con- taminated egg salad made by Ballard's Farm Sausage, as reported by The Associated Press. The company said it found traces of a bacteria on the salad that can cause fatal infections in infants and the elderly. POWDER-PUFF PITCH LSA junior Carlie Kleinman hands off the football as sororities Alpa Delta Pi and Delta Delta Delta battle each other during yesterday's fraternity and sorority Mud Bowl tournament on Palmer Field. Tri-Delt emerged victorious, winning the flag foot- ball game 21-6. Obama says he is considering running for president in 2008 Questions persuade senator to mull political ambitions WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged yesterday he was considering a run for president in 2008, back- ing off previous statements that he would not do so. The Illinois Democrat said he could no longer stand by the statements he made after his 2004 election and earlier this year that he would serve a full six-year term in Congress. He said he would not make a deci- sion until after the Nov. 7 elec- tions. "That was how I was thinking at that time," said Obama, when asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about his previous statements. "Given the responses that I've been getting over the last several months, I have thought about the possibility" although not withthe seriousness or depth required, he said. "My main focus right now is in the '06. ... After November 7, I'll sit down, I'll sit down and consider, and if at some point I change my mind, I will make a public announcement and every- body will be able to go at me." Obama was largely unknown outside Illinois when he burst onto the national scene with a widely acclaimed address at the 2004 Democratic National Con- vention. In recent weeks, his political stock has been rising as a poten- tially viable centrist candidate for president in 2008 after for- mer Virginia Gov. Mark Warner announced earlier this month that he was bowing out of the race. In a recent issue of Time magazine, Obama's face fills the cover next to the headline, "Why Barack Obama Could Be The Next President." He is currently on a tour promoting his latest book, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream." Yesterday, Obama dismissed notions that he might not be ready to run for president because of his limited experi- ence in national politics. He agreed the job requires a "cer- tain soberness and seriousness" and "can't be something you pursue on the basis of vanity and ambition." "I'm not sure anyone is ready to be president before they're president," Obama said. "I trust the judgment of the American people. "We have a long and rigorous process. Should I decide to run, if I ever did decide to run, I'll be confident that I'll be run through the paces pretty good," Obama said. GOP losses could threaten Bush agenda With a 15-seat gain, and investigations. Theprsdn and chief politi- Democrats could block cal strategist Karl Rove last week expressed renewed confidence of White House goals retaining both House and Senate; others are not so upbeat. WASHINGTON (AP) - The "All of our numbers look pretty White House is bracing for guer- bad and there's no question that rilla warfare on the homefront there's a jet stream in our face," politically if Republicans lose con- said House Majority Leader John trol of the House, the Senate or Boehner (R-Ohio). both - and with it, the president's Furthermore, some of Bush's ability to shape and dominate the fighting in the trenches is likely to national agenda. be with fellow Republicans as they Republicans are battling to keep seek to find a new standard bearer control of Congress. But polls and for 2008 - and distance them- analysts in both parties increas- selves from an unpopular war, the ingly suggest Democrats will cap- unpopular president who waged ture the House and possibly the it and congressional scandals that Senate on Election Day Nov. 7. include inappropriate e-mails to Democrats need a 15-seat pick- House pages from ex-Rep. Mark up to regain the House and a gain Foley (R-Fla.). of six seats to-claim the Senate. "There's no question that the Everything could change over- Republican coalition is stressed night for President Bush, who has over the way Washington has governed for most of the past six been handling fiscal matters, the years with a Republican Congress Foley affair, the Iraq war," said and with little support from Dem- GOP consultant ScottsReed. "All of ocrats. these are coming "Every ses- "He will have the together at the sion you change same time" the way you do capacity to say Already, business with y Republicans are the Congress. no to Democratic showing divi- And you test the legislation but he sions on Iraq mood of the Con- policy. Fresh gress, find out won't have the skepticism has what their appe- come from Sen- tite will be. But capacity to say yes ate Armed Set- it doesn't change vices Chairman your priorities," to his own legisla- John Warner of the president told tion." Virginia, Texas ABC News. Sen. Kay Bailey Former Presi- DAVID GERGEN, Hutchison and dent Clinton former White House adviser former Secretary had to deal with of State James A. the Democrats' and Harvard professor Baker III, a long- loss of control of time Bush family Congress in 1994. But Clinton had loyalist. something Bush does not: six more If Republicans lose their major- years to regain his footing. ities, it will be that much harder Bush has barely over two years for Bush to hold together already left. The loss of either house in splintering GOP cohesion on Iraq. voting next month could hasten Bush has been quoted by jour- Bush's descent into a lame-duck nalist Bob Woodward as saying, presidency. "I'll stay in Iraq even if the only "If he loses one house here, support I have left is from my wife President Bush will enter the last and my dog." A Democratic take- two years very wounded," said over and Republican defections David Gergen, a former White could make that day seem closer. House adviser who served in the Whilerthe Senate has been dif- administrations of Presidents ficult for Bush, even with GOP Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. control, the House for most of his "He will have the capacity to presidency has delivered for him. say no to Democratic legislation, That could be about to change. but he won't have the capacity to The White House traditionally say yes to his own legislation," said loes seats in midterm congressio- Gergen, who teaches at Harvard nal races. The most recent excep- University's Kennedy School of tion was 2002, when Bush's party Government. picked up seats. Democratic victories essen- Many Democrats seethe upcom- tially could block Bush's remain- ing elections as a mirror image of ing agenda and usher in a period 1994, with the parties reversed. of intense partisan bickering over Then, Republicans rallied behind nearly every measure to come firebrand Rep. Newt Gingrich of before Congress. Georgia, announced a "Contract Loss of either chamber also with America," and stormed to vic- could subject his administration tory, seizing both House and Sen- to endless congressional inquiries ate from Democrats. Poll finds little support for U.S. among majority of Iraqi youth State Department survey: Most young Iraqis believe American troops should pull out WASHINGTON (AP) - Majorities of Iraqi youth in Arab regions of the country believe security would improve and violence decrease if the U.S.-led forces left immediately, according to a State Department poll that provides a window into the grim warnings provided to policymakers. The survey - unclassified, but marked "For Offi- cial U.S. Government Use Only" - also finds that Iraqi leaders may face particular difficulty recruit- ing young Sunni Arabs to join the stumbling secu- rity forces. Strong majorities of 15- to 29-year-olds in two Arab Sunni areas - Mosul and Tikrit-Baquba - would oppose joining the Iraqi army or police. The poll has its shortcomings; regional samples are small and the results do not say how many people refused to respond to questions. The private polling firm hired by the State Department also was not able to interview residents of al-Anbar, a Sunni-dominat- ed province and an insurgent stronghold. But the findings of the summer survey - circulat- ed to policymakers last month and obtained by The Associated Press last week - nevertheless provide a solemn reminder of the difficulty that the U.S.- backed Iraqi government faces as it tries to add eth- nic diversity to its security institutions. As Iraqi leaders try to diversify the ethnic and religious backgrounds of their security forces, the department's opinion analysis said that Arab Sunnis may be particularly hard to recruit. In Sunni areas, "confidence in the Iraqi army and police is low, and majorities oppose enlisting in either force," the analysis said. "Even recruitment in Arab Shia areas could present challenges as sizable num- bers of local youth express support" for local militias, "thus clouding the issue of loyalty to national forces." The analysis was headlined "Youth In Iraq's Arab Sunni Regions Not Eager to Enlist in National Army, Police" and highlighted views from those areas. Yet in its assessment of the broader picture for Iraq, which includes Kurds and Arab Shiites, there were pieces of good news: A majority of young Iraqis would be willing to join the security forces or sup- port a family member who did, the survey found. On Thursday, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said a two-month old U.S.-Iraqi bid to quell the violence in the Iraqi capital did "not met our overall expectations."