The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
JERUSALEM
Suicide bombing
is first in Israel in
nine months
After nine months without a sui-
cide bombing in Israel, a Palestinian
walked from Egypt across the open
desert border, hitched a ride from a
wary Israeli motorist and then blew
himself up on yesterday inside a
bakery in the Red Sea resort town of
Eilat, Israeli officials said.
Three Israelis who worked in the
bakery were killed by the blast; it
was the first time that Eilat, isolated
at the very southern tip of Israel, has
ever been hit by a suicide bombing.
The town was apparently a tar-
get because Israel's web of defenses
and travel restrictions on Palestin-
ians has made it extremely difficult
for bombers to reach Israel from
the West Bank, the source of virtu-
ally all suicide bombings in Israel in
recent years.
The attack also complicated the
latest effort to restart Israeli-Pal-
estinian negotiations, which have
languished for six years. The United
States will be the host of talks on
Friday that will include European,
Russian, and U.N. officials, but the
White House said in a statement on
Monday that if the Palestinian gov-
ernment failed to prevent terrorism,
it would "undermine the aspirations
of the Palestinian people for a state
of their own."
BAGHDAD
Religious cult
targeted in battle
Iraqi officials said yesterday that
U.S.-backed Iraqitroopshadtarget-
ed a messianic cult called "Soldiers
of Heaven" in a weekend battle that
left 200 fighters dead, including the
group's leader, near the Shiite holy
city of Najaf. A military commander
said hundreds of gunmen planned
to disguise themselves as pilgrims
and kill clerics on the holiest day of
the Shiite calendar.
The Iraqi government spokes-
man, Ali al-Dabbagh, said the raid
on Sunday in date-palm orchards
on the city's outskirts was aimed
against the fringe Shiite cult that
some Iraqi officials said had links
to Saddam Hussein loyalists and
foreign fighters. Officials said the
group, which included families,
was hoping the violence it planned
would force the return of the "hid-
den imam," a 9th-century Shiite
saint who Shiites believe will come
again to bring peace and justice to
the world.
U.S. and British jets played a
major role in the fighting, dropping
500-pound bombs on the militants'
positions, but President Bush said
the battle was an indication that
Iraqis were beginning to take con-
trol.
LANSING
Lawmakers renew
push for ban on
smoking
State lawmakers are reviving a
push to ban smoking in Michigan's
bars, restaurants and workplaces.
Earlier efforts have been snuffed
out in the Legislature for nearly
seven years. But supporters hope a
power shift inside the Capitol and
momentum from a U.S. surgeon
general's report will add Michigan
to the growing list of states with
tough anti-smoking laws.
WASHINGTON
Witnesses allege
Libby knew about
CIA agent
Former White House press sec-
retary Ari Fleischer testified yester-
day he first heard that a prominent
war critic's wife worked at the CIA
from vice presidential aide I. Lewis
"Scooter" Libby. He said he thought
the information might help deflect
critical questions from reporters.
Fleischer said Libby told him
about Valerie Plame's job at the CIA
over a lunch in the White House
mess on July 7,2003. But Libby has
told investigators he thought he
first learned about Plame on July 10
from NBC reporter Tim Russert.
Four other government witness-
es also have said they discussed
Plame with Libby before July 10.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Hackers prepare to
pounce as Vista arrives
Co
tr
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sy
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ing sys
most s
tory. N
test jus
Wh,
dows
ago, so
hunted
glory,
now so
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and sp
-- carr
are co
traded
mputer whizzes security companies, who say they
are providing a service, and by
'ade holes they nefarious hackers and thieves.
Vista, which will be installed on
rd in operating millions of new PCs starting today,
provides the latest target.
stems for cash This month, iDefense Labs, a
subsidiary of the technology com-
pany VeriSign, said it was offering
By BRAD STONE $8,000 for the first six researchers
The New York Times to find holes in Vista, and $4,000
more for the so-called exploit, the
rosoft says its new operat- programneeded totake advantage
tem, Windows Vista, is the of the weakness.
ecure in the company's his- IDefense sells such informa-
ow the bounty hunters will tion to corporations and govern-
t how secure it is. ment agencies, which have already
en its predecessor, Win- begunusingVista, sothey can pro-
XP, was released five years tect their own systems.
:ftware bugs were typically Companies like Microsoft do
I by hackers for fame and not endorse such bounty pro-
not financial reward. But grams, but they have even bigger
)ftware vulnerabilities - as problems: the willingness of Inter-
tolen credit-card numbers net criminals to spend large sums
ammable e-mail addresses for early knowledge of software
y real financial value and flaws that could provide an open-
mmonly bought, sold and ing for identity-theft schemes and
online, both by legitimate spam attacks.
The Japanese security firm
Trend Micro said in December
that it had found a Vista flaw for
sale on a Romanian Web forum for
$50,000. Security experts say that
the price is plausible, and that they
regularly see hackers on public
bulletin boards or private online
chat rooms trying to sell the holes
they have discovered, and the cod-
ing to exploit them.
Especially prized are so-called
zero-dayexploits,bitsofdisruption
coding that spread immediately
because there is no known defense.
Software vendors have tradi-
tionally asked security research-
ers to alert them first when they
find bugs in their software, so that
they could issue a fix, or patch, and
protect the general public. But now
researchers contend that their time
and effort are worth much more.
"To find a vulnerability, you
have to do a lot of hard work,"
said Evgeny Legerov, founder of
a small security firm, Gleg Ltd.,
in Moscow.
Latest injuries overwhelmed
Barbaro's sagging recovery
By JOE DRAPE Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race
TheNew York Times Course in Baltimore. His fractured
right hind leg dangled awkwardly
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - In while his jockey, Edgar Prado, tried
eight months of waiting for Barbaro's to soothe him.
shattered bones to heal, the horse's In recent weeks, Barbaro's ail-
owners and his veterinarian said they ments had become overwhelming:
had not seen the Kentucky Derby- complications with his left hind leg
winning colt become so uncomfort- lingered, an abscess in his right hind
able that he would refuse to lie down heel was discovered last week and,
and rest. Until Sunday night., finally, a new case of the painful and
So yesterday morning, the own- often fatal condition called laminitis
ers, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, and developed in both of his front feet.
veterinarian, Dr. Dean Richardson, "That left him with not a good leg
decided enough was enough. At to stand on," Richardson said yester-
10:30 a.m., Barbaro was euthanized, day at anemotional news conference
ending an extraordinary effort to here at the George D. Widener Hos-
save the life of a remarkable race- pital for Large Animals. "He was just
horse whose saga had gripped people a different horse. You could see he
around the world. was upset. That was the difference.
Many had watched in early May It was more than we wanted to put
as Barbaro dispatched 19 opponents him through."
in the Kentucky Derby in dominating The Jacksons were red-eyed as
fashion, by a six and a half lengths. they explained that it had become
His resume summoned memories clear their horse could not live with-
of Affirmed, Seattle Slew and Sec- out pain after a setback over the
retariat, the last three winners of weekend that required a risky sur-
the Triple Crown. But two weeks gical procedure on his right hind
after that triumph, on May 20, many leg. The couple had spent tons of
more were horrified when Barbaro thousands of dollars trying to save
pulled up in the opening yards of the Barbaro's life.
L
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FORTUNE
100 BEST
COMPANIES
TO WORK FORRNI
1.2
Millions of dollars it would
cost to remove outdated speed
limit signs that say 65 miles per
hour. The posted speed limit
on major Michigan freeways in
miles per hour. The Michigan
state legislature recently decided
to raise the official speed limit to
70, according to the Detroit Free
Press.
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