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NEWS BRIEFS
MOGADISHU, Somalia
Ethiopian forces
under attack in
Somali capital
Gunmen attacked Ethiopian
troops supporting the Somali gov-
ernment yesterday, witnesses said,
in the second straight day of vio-
lence in a city struggling to emerge
from more than a decade of chaos.
The unrest comes at a precari-
ous time for Somalia's transitional
administration, which is trying to
assert some control for the first time
in a capital that has seen little more
than chaos in the 15 years since clan
warlords toppled a dictatorship and
then turned on each other.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip
Fatah holds massive
rally in Gaza, sends
message to Hamas
Tens of thousands of Fatah sup-
porters packed Gaza's main soc-
cer stadium yesterday in a show of
strength to boost the movement
in its increasingly violent struggle
against the Islamic militant group
Hamas.
The demonstration came as
masked Fatah gunmen released a
video of a kidnapped Hamas offi-
cial, threatening to expand attacks
against Hamas if it rejects calls to
disband its militia in the Gaza Strip.
Fatah and Hamas have been
locked in a bloody struggle for con-
trol of the Palestinian government
since the Islamic group won par-
liamentary elections last year. The
victory ended four decades of Fatah
political domination, though the
group still controls the powerful
Palestinian presidency.
Yesterday's gathering was the
largestFatahdemonstrationinGaza
since 1994.
WARSAW, Poland
Polish archbishop
quits over ties to
communist-era
secret police
Warsaw's new archbishop
abruptly resigned yesterday over
revelations thathe cooperated with
Poland's communist-era secret
police, stunning worshippers by
sadly yielding the archbishop's
throne just minutes before he was
to be formally installed.
To cries of "No, no!" and "Stay
with us!" in and outside St. John's
Cathedral, a despondent Stanislaw
Wielgus read from a letter to Pope
Benedict XVI in which he offered
his resignation "after reflecting
deeply and assessing my personal
situation."
The Vatican said Wielgus' past
actions had "gravely compro-
mised his authority" as one of the
top church officials in this deeply
Roman Catholic country.
LONDON
Israeli foreign

ministry rejects
claim it will use
nukes against Iran
A British newspaper reported
yesterday that Israel has drafted
plans to strike as many as three tar-
gets in Iran with low-yield nuclear
weapons, aiming to halt Tehran's
uranium enrichment program. The
Israeli Foreign Ministry denied the
report.
Citing multiple unidentified
Israelimilitarysources,TheSunday
Times said the proposals involved
using so-called "bunker-buster"
nuclear weapons to attack nuclear
facilities at three sites south of the
Iranian capital.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
I37
The number of pet rats
found aboard a California
resident's 29-foot sailboat
yesterday, The Associated
Press reported. The man,
who lived on the boat, had
been found in June living
with 1,300 rats in a one-
bedroom house.

Monday, January 8, 2007 - 3A
Scientists find stem cell source
in a less controversial place

Researchers say cells
from amniotic fluid
are as promising as
those from embryos
(AP) - Scientists reported yes-
terday they had found a plentiful
source of stem cells in the fluid that
cushions babies in the womb and
produced a variety of tissue types
from these cells - sidestepping
the controversy over destroying
embryos for research.
Researchers at Wake Forest
University and Harvard Univer-
sity reported the stem cells they
ALLISON GHAMAN/Dai del rmamitcfuiyoae
Mayasa Suki instructs children in kakizome, a traditional Japanese calligraphy, at drew from amniotic fluid donated
a cultural festival organized by the University's International Center on Saturday. by pregnant women hold much the
Other activities included origam, cooking demonstrations and storytelling. same promise as embryonic stem
Pelosi says Democrats might slice
Iraq funding if Bush seeks troop hike

cells. They reported they were able
to extract the stem cells without
harm to mother or fetus and turn
their discovery into several dif-
ferent tissue cell types, including
brain, liver and bone.
"Our hope is that these cells will
provide a valuable resource for
tissue repair and for engineered
organs as well," said Dr. Anthony
Atala, a senior researcher on the
project.
It took Atala's team some seven
years of research to determine the
cells they found were truly stem
cells that "can be used to produce
a broad range of cells that may be
valuable for therapy."
However, the scientists noted
they still don't know exactly how
many different cell types can be
made from the stem cells found in

amniotic fluid. They also said that
even preliminary tests in patients
are years away.
Still, Atala said the research
reported in the scientific journal
Nature Biotechnology expands
far beyond similar work discussed
at a heart research conference in
November. There, Swiss researcher
Simon Hoerstrup said he managed
to turn amniotic fluid stem cells into
heart cells that could be grown into
replacement valves. Hoerstrup has
yet to publish his work in a scientific
journal.
Atala said the new research has
found even more promising stem
cells with the potential to turn
into many more medically useful
replacement parts.
"We have other cell lines cook-
ing," Atala said.

Some caution against
letting Congress
control strategy
WASHINGTON (AP) - Demo-
crats now running Congress will
not give President Bush a blank
check to wage war in Iraq, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yester-
day, suggesting they could deny
him the money should he call for
additional troops.
Yet Pelosi's second-in-command
and a Senate leader on foreign
affairs questioned the wisdom and
legality of using the power of the
purse to thwart the White House
as Bush prepared to announce his
revised war strategy this week -
perhaps on Wednesday.
Republicans, now in the minor-
ity, said more troops were needed
to get a handle on the spiraling
violence in Iraq. They also cast
doubt whether Democrats would
- or could - block the president's
plans. "Congress is incapable of
micromanaging the tactics in the
war," said Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
Pelosi made clear that her party
supported boosting the overall

size of the military "to protect
the American people against any
threats to our interests, wherever
they may occur. That's differ-
ent, though, from adding troops
to Iraq." She also said Democrats
would not cut off money for those
troops already in Iraq.
But'dollars for a further buildup
in Iraq - Bush's expected plan
could send as many as 20,000
additional U.S. troops - will get
the strictest of scrutiny, she said.
"The burden is on the president
to justify any additional resources
for a mission," said Pelosi (D-Calif.)
"Congress is ready to use its consti-
tutional authority of oversight to
question what is the justification for
this spending, what are the results
we are receiving."
"There's not a carte blanche, a
blank check for him to do what-
ever he wishes there," she added
in an interview taped Saturday and
broadcast yesterday.
Asked about Pelosi's remarks,
White House spokesman Alex
Conant said Bush welcomed any
ideas on Iraq that "lead to success."
"We're glad the speaker wants us
to succeed in Iraq," he said.
Bush was putting the finishing
touches on his new policy over the

N.M. gov gets bleak assessment
of Darfur on trip to Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson
got a bleak assessment of the dete-
riorating situation in Darfur as he
arrived in the Sudanese capital yes-
terday, hoping to lay the ground-
work for peace in the region.
On a 17-hour overnight flight,
the former U.S. ambassador and
possible presidential candidate
to the United Nations worked on

a plan to broker a cease-fire, con-
tinue the flow of humanitarian
aide and persuade Sudanese Presi-
dent Omar al-Bashir to allow U.N.
peacekeepers.
On arrival, Cameron Hume, the
top U.S. diplomat in Sudan, laid out
Richardson's challenge. "I don't
think anybody's strategy is work-
ing," Hume told Richardson at the
airport.

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