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 CJvLRED IT -UMUNION, ForYour Best Choice in Financial Services :Free online banking 24/7 - ATMs on campus s mcu.org 'Three campus branches email:umcu@umcu.org ' StudentViSA credit card phone: 734-662-8200 'VISA Check Card 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?"