The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Bond granted to
man caught with
$79k at airport
Federal prosecutors yesterday
appealed a magistrate's decision
to release on bond a man who was
arrested at Detroit Metropoli-
tan Airport while carrying nearly
$79,000 in cash and a computer con-
taming information about nuclear
materials and cyanide.
Sisayehiticha Dinssa, an unem-
ployed U.S. citizen born in Ethio-
pia, was arrested Nov. 14 after a
dog caught the scent of narcotics
on cash he was carrying, accord-
ing to an affidavit filed in U.S. Dis-
trict Court.
At a detention hearing yesterday,
Magistrate Judge Steven Whalen
ruled Dinssa could be released on a
$20,000 unsecured bond. Whalen
ordered Dinssa to surrender his
passport, abide by a curfew and
undergo mental health counseling
while living with his brother, Adud-
na Dinssa, in Scottsdale, Ariz.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo-
nid Feller argued that Dinssa was
a potential risk to the community
based on the evidence. He appealed
Whalen's decision, and Dinssa was
held pending a hearing at 5 p.m. yes-
terday before District Judge Paul
Borman.
BAGHDAD
After 25 years, Iraq
resumes diplomatic
relations with Syria
After nearly a quarter-century
of severed ties, Iraq said yesterday
it will resume diplomatic relations
with neighboring Syria. The move
is seen as a possible step toward
stemming some of the unrelenting
violence in Iraq, which claimed
another 100 lives yesterday.
The Iraqi and Syrian presidents
also received invitations from Irani-
an President Mahmoud Ahmadine-
jad to a weekend summit in Tehran
to tackle the chaos in Iraq, Iraqi
lawmakers said. Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani's spokesman said his
boss would attend but that Syrian
President Bashar Assad would not.
The invitation was thought to be
an attempt by Iran to counter U.S.
influence in the region.
NEW YORK
Home sales fall in
most of the country
The feeble U.S. housing market
showed more frailty when third-
quarter home sales plummeted in
38 states, hitting Nevada, Arizona,
Florida and California particularly
hard, government data showed on
yesterday.
The once-booming real estate
market's persistent weakness over
the past year has reined in expecta-
tions for economic growth buthasn't
been severe enough to offse a rising
stock market, lower gas prices and
improved consumer expectations.
LONDON
Health of poisoned
former KGB agent
deteriorating
A former KGB agent turned
Kremlin critic who was poisoned
three weeks ago was moved into
intensive care yesterday after his
condition deteriorated and his doc-
tor said the toxin has attacked his
bone marrow.
Col. Alexander Litvinenko, a
former KGB and Federal Security
Bureau agent, was under armed
guard at a London hospital, as
authorities investigated the poison-
ing that has all the hallmarks of a
Cold War thriller.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
'TIS THE SEASON
Bush mulls
next step for
troops
President calls
protests during
Indonesia trip
a sign of democracy
BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) - Presi-
dent Bush said yesterday he isn't
ready to decide between rival calls
to increase or scale back U.S. troops
in Iraq. Unruffled by street protests
against his policy, he said they were
a healthy sign of democracy in this
Muslim nation.
Facing growing disapproval at
home for the Iraq war, Bush heard
no criticism or demands for troop
cuts from Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The
Indonesian leader said the "global
community must be also responsi-
ble in solving the problems in Iraq"
along with the United States.
Awaiting the results of a Penta-
gon review and recommendations
from a special commission explor-
ing Iraq options, Bush refused to
tip his hand about any change in
the level of American forces in Iraq,
now at more than 140,000.
Back in the U.S., the Republican
chairman of the House Armed Ser-
vices Committee said more Iraqi
troops should be pushed to the front
lines. "We need to saddle those up
and deploy them to the fight," pri-
marily in Baghdad, said Rep. Dun-
can Hunter of California.
Prominent Democratshave called
for a timetable for troop withdraw-
als. Some Republicans - notably
potential Republican presidential
candidate John McCain - are urg-
ing a heavy buildup of forces to quell
the violence in Baghdad.
in Iraq
"I haven't made any decisions
about troop increases or troop
decreases, and won't until I hear
from a variety of sources," Bush
said, standing alongside Yudhoyono
at a news conference in the presi-
dential palace.
Asked specifically whether there
were any risks in increasing U.S.
troops, Bush said, "There's no need
to comment on something that may
not happen. Butcif it were to happen,
I will tell you the upsides and down-
side."
A study of options is under way by
aPentagongroup for Gen.Peter Pace,
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. Those options include sending
more U.S. troops, reducingthe force
but staying longer or simply pulling
out, The Washington Post reported
yesterday.
Indonesia was the last foreign
stop on Bush's eight-day, postelec-
tion journey that also has taken
him to Singapore and Vietnam. He
met in Hanoi with world leaders to
seek a common strategy for talks
aimed at encouraging North Korea
to abandon its nuclear weapons pro-
gram.
Concerns for Bush's safety in
Indonesia were heightened after
police warned of an increased risk
of attack by al-Qaida-linked mili-
tants. Bush is widely disliked in this
country because of strong U.S. sup-
port for Israel and because of the
invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Demonstrations by Islamic hard-
liners, students, housewives and
taxi drivers have been staged every
day this month and nearly 10,000
protesters turned out yesterday..
some holding banners that read
"Bush is a terrorist!" and "You're
not welcome here!"
Cassius and Coco Catallo pause to drop some money the Salvation Army bucket in front of Nichols Arcade as bell rioter and
Ann Arbor resident Goin Robinson's looks on. This is Robinson's second year working with the chartiy.
News Corp. cancels
Simpson book,, show
O.J.'s 'If I Did It'
drew heavy
criticism from
victims' families
NEW YORK (AP) - After a fire-
storm of criticism, News. Corp.
said yesterday that it has canceled
the O.J. Simpson book and TV spe-
cial "If I Did It."
"I and senior management agree
with the American public that this
was an ill-considered project,"
said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.
chairman. "We are sorry for any
pain that this has caused the fami-
lies of Ron Goldman and Nicole
Brown Simpson."
A dozen Fox affiliates had
already said they would not air the
two-part sweeps month special,
planned for next week before the
Nov. 30 publication of the book by
ReganBooks. The publishing house
is a HarperCollins imprint owned
- like the Fox network - by News
Corp.
In both the book and show,
Simpson speaks in hypothetical
terms about how he would have
committed the 1994 slayings of
his ex-wife Nicole and her friend
Goldman.
Relatives of the victims have
lashed out at the now scuttled pub-
lication and broadcast plans.
"He destroyed my son and
took from my family Ron's future
and life. And for that I'll hate him
always and find him despicable,"
Fred Goldman told ABC last week.
The industry trade publication
Broadcasting & Cable editorial-
ized against the show yesterday,
saying "Fox should cancel this evil
sweeps stunt."
One of the nation's largest
superstore chains, Borders Group
Inc., said last week it would donate
any profits on the book to charity.
Simpson was acquitted in 1995
of murder in a case that became
its own TV drama. The former
football star and announcer was
later found liable for the deaths in
a wrongful death lawsuit filed by
the Goldman family.
Judith Regan, publisher of "If
I Did It," said she considered the
book to be Simpson's confession.
The television special was to air
on two of the final three nights of
the November sweeps, when rat-
ings are watched closely to set
local advertising rates. It has been
a particularly tough fall for Fox,
which has seen none of its new
shows catch on and is waiting for
the January bows of "American
Idol" and "24."
The closest precedent for such
an about-face came when CBS
yanked a miniseries about Ron-
ald Reagan from its schedule in
2003 when complaints were raised
about its accuracy. The Reagan
series was seen on its sister pre-
mium-cable channel, Showtime,
instead.
One station manager who had
said he wasn't airing the special
said he was concerned that wheth-
er or not Simpson was guilty, he'd
still be profiting from murders.
EU proposes ban on
toys with dog, cat fur
Commission says fur
is labeled as coming
from another animal
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The
European Union proposed a ban
yesterday on the sale and import
of dog and cat fur in all 25 member
nations, saying it has been found in
some clothing, toys and other items
on sale in Europe.
The European Commission - the
bloc's executive body - said the dog
and cat fur had either been falsely
labeled as coming from another ani-
mal or was hidden within the prod-
ucla.
"Just the idea of young chil-
dren playing with toys which have
been made with dog and cat fur is
something we cannot accept," said
Markos Kyprianou, the body's con-
sumer protectioncommissioner. "In
Europe, as you know, cats and dogs
are considered companion animals
and nothing else."
Fifteen member states already
ban dog and cat fur sales. However,
a December 2005 investigation by
the Australian group Humane Soci-
ety International showed dog and
cat fur being used in products in the
Czech Republic - a member of the
EU since 2004.
Iranian president invites
Iraq, Syria to summit
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Middle East leaders
gather in Tehran
to discuss violence,
U.S. role in war
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadine-
jad invited his Iraqi and Syrian
counterparts to a weekend sum-
mit in Tehran to tackle the chaos
in Iraq, where violence is hurtling
toward civil war, four key law-
makers told The Associated Press
on yesterday.
The diplomatic gambit coincid-
ed with a groundbreaking visit to
Baghdad by Syrian Foreign Min-
ister Walid Moallem, who was
challenged over Damascus' role
in supporting the Sunni insur-
gency. The Iraqi government said
diplomatic relations between the
two countries - severed nearly a
quarter-century ago - would be
restored by today.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki told the Syrian envoy
that Damascus should not let its
disputes with the United States
be played out in Iraq, where the
chaos and bloodshed has become
"a danger that threatens all, not
Iraq only."
Although a spokesman for the
Iraqi president said Syrian Presi-
dent Bashar Assad would-not be
attending the summit, the Ira-
nian move appeared designed
to upstage possible American
efforts to reach out to Tehran and
Damascus in a wider effort to sub-
due runaway violence in Iraq.
Johns Hopkins doctors pull off
first quintuple kidney transplant
WWW.GLOBALORGASM.ORG
There have been count-
less theories on how to
end war, but perhaps none
as appealing as this site's.
Globalorgasm.org founders Donna
Sheehan and Paul Reffell believe
that if enough people orgasm at the
same time while thinking about
peace, the positive energy output
will alter the energy field of Earth,
ending all aggression and killing.
The Sychronized Global Orgasm
is set to take place on Dec. 22,
The website's authors espe-
cially encourage participation in
countries with weapons of mass
destruction.
Rec
BAL
surgeo
five do
desper
receive
pital of
as the
transpl
All f
and tw
as wer(
women
man at
prehen
10 part
ipients doing well Maine, Maryland, West Virginia,
Florida and California.
after complex Several triple transplants have
been done at Johns Hopkins, but
kidney swap hospital officials said the five simul-
taneous transplants performed last
TIMORE (AP) - It took 12 Tuesday were a first.
ns, six operating rooms and Four of the sick patients had
nors to pull it off, but five approached Johns Hopkins with a
atestrangerssimultaneously relative who was willing to donate
d new organs in what hos- a kidney but was an incompatible
fficials yestserday described donor. The fifth patient had been
first-ever quintuple kidney on a waiting list for a kidney from
ant. a dead person.
ive recipients - three men Together, those nine people and
o women - were doing fine, an "altruistic donor" - someone
e the five organ donors, all willing to give a kidney to any-
, said Eric Vohr, a spokes- one who needed it - had enough
t the Johns Hopkins Com- matched kidneys among them to
sive Transplant Center. The pull off a complex, five-way swap.
icipants came from Canada, Once the swap was agreed to,
the transplants were done all at the
same time to prevent anyone from
backing out later or in case some- 4
one fell ill.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, direc-
tor of Hopkins' transplant center
and head of the transplant team,
pronounced the interlocking deal
"a demonstration to the rest of the 6 8
country that this is what's possible
when people work together."a 4
Sheila Thornton, 63, of Edge-
wood, said she felt "just joy, joy,
it's almost inexplicable," after she
learned she would receive a kidney
from Sandra Loevner, 63, of Saraso-
ta, Fla., whom she had never met.5
"That really hit home," Thorn-
ton said of receiving a lifesaving
gift from a stranger. "How do you
thank somebody?"