The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Mondav November 12. 2007 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS BAGHDAD Sunni insurgents ambush al-Qaida militants Former Sunni insurgents asked the U.S. to stay away, then ambushed members of al-Qaida in Iraq, killing18 in a battle that raged for hours north of Baghdad, an ex- insurgent leader and Iraqi police said yesterday. L The Islamic Army in Iraq sent r advance word to Iraqi police c requesting that U.S. helicopters d keep out of the area since its fighters had no uniforms and were indistin- e guishable from al-Qaida, according c to the police and a top Islamic Army a leader known as Abu Ibrahim. t Abu Ibrahim told The Associ- 1 ated Press that his fighters killed 18 b al-Qaida militants and captured 16 t in the fight southeast of Samarra, a mostly Sunni city about 60 miles fa north of Baghdad. a b PHNOM PENH, Cambodia B Genocide D suspects detained t st Police detained the ex-foreign p minister of the brutal 1970s Khmer E Rouge regime and his wife on Mon- day and brought them to Cambo- t dia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal Monday to face charges, an official said. - Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, are both accused of involvement in the slayings of polit- ical opponents during the 1975-79 radical communist regime, accord- ing to documents from prosecutors seen by The Associated Press. Ieng Thirith served as the regime's min- ister for social affairs. Police detained the couple at their Phnom Penh residence at dawn. Officers later brought them to tribunal offices, where they were tomake aninitial appearance before the judges later Monday, said tribu- nal spokesman Reach Sambath. He did not elaborate on the charges they would face. WACO, Texas Pres. Bush honors troops with speech Marking his fifth Veterans Day since the invasion of Iraq, President Bush honored U.S. troops past and present at a tearful ceremony yes- terday for four Texans who died there. The White House had said Bush was going to also use his Veterans Day speech to scold Congress for not sending him a veterans spend- ing bill. But the president finished without any reference to the bill or Congress. "In their sorrow, these families need to know - and families all across our nation of the fallen - need to know that your loved ones served a cause that is good and just and noble," Bush said. "And as their commander in chief, I make you this promise: Their sacrifice will not be in vain." YANGON, Myanmar U.N. investigator claims he'll override Myanmar ban A U.N. human rights envoy arrived yesterday in Myanmar on a mission to get inside the country's prisons to determine the numbers of people killed and detained since the military P regime's crackdown on pro- democracy protesters. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.'s independent rights investigator for Myanmar, had been barred from visiting the country since Novem- her 2003. "If they don't give me full coop- eration, I'll go to the plane, and I'll go out," he said recently after the government gave him a green light to visit the country for five days. Pinheiro has submitted a proposed itinerary for his visit to the Myanmar government. - Compiled from Daily wire reports 3,.861 Budget woes stall other state issues Environmental, energy concerns overshadowed by financial crisis LANSING (AP) - The state egislature's nearly year-round umble with Michigan's budget risis has overshadowed efforts to Jo much of anything else. Most legislation concerning nergy, the environment, health are and other issues not immedi- tely related to the state budget or axes has been stalled more than l0 months, since little time has een left to focus on such mat- ers. Lawmakers could begin moving aster on some non-budget issues fter they return from what could e a two-week break this month. .ut it's unlikely any major policy hanges will be addressed until ecember. "The state budget should be heir No. 1 priority, so setting that traight is good," says James Clift, olicy director for the Michigan nvironmental Council. "But it's unfortunate it's taken his long." Several Democratic and Repub- lican lawmakers from both cham- bers have been absorbed in the state budget and related finan- cial issues, brought on in part by Michigan's struggling economy and what some consider an out-of- whack tax structure. It's been one of the tough- est, longest and messiest budget debates in modern Michigan his- tory. The new Legislature convened in January knowing the budget would consume the early part of the session. But the budget problem grew almost weekly, ballooning to a projected $1.75 billion deficit by summer. Michigan budget debates are typically wrapped up by July or August, well in advance of fiscal years that start in October. But as autumn slowly turns to winter, lawmakers still haven't finished the job for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. An unprecedented four-hour government shutdown highlighted the budget crisis in the early hours of Oct. 1. A 30-day emergency extension was passed to delay the start of the new budget year to Nov. 1. GRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL SiNGAPoRE Explore this unique opportunity to train as a physician or physician-scientist in Asia Created through an exciting partnership between Duke University School of Medicine and the National University of Singapore (NUS), one of world's top universities in Asia, the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (Duke-NUS GMS) offers a rare opportunity for talented students to train in global medicine and research in Singapore. Moreover, graduates are awarded an American M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree granted by Duke University. Outstanding candidates of all nationalities who hold a Bachelors, Masters or PhD degree in any academic discipline enter a rigorous 4-year course. This includes one year of research with renowned international scientists. Duke-NUS GMS embraces the Duke curriculum with active involvement from Duke University's teaching and research faculty. By 2009, a new multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art campus and research facilities will be completed in Singapore. Applications for 2008 are now open until December 2007. So seize this opportunity to find out more about our program in Asia as well as the various scholarship and financial aid programs available to students. Topic : Training Physician-Scientists for the Biomedical Age SPEAKER SandyCook,PhD sDanudculum Date : Friday; 1f6th November 07 Time : 11.30Oam -1.30pm Venue : University of Michigan Career Center's Program Room 3200 Student Activities Building 515 E. Jefferson Ann Arbor Refreshments will be available. Due to limited capacity, all guests are requested to pre-register at www.gms.edu.sg A collaboration of: Due oUnisersity Schooi soMedicne Rankedamonig the top 6 AmericaaaScoolsbythe 2007 U.S. News & Wold Report National University of Singapore Ranked a mingthe world's top 20 uiieorsities byithe 006 TimeHigher daionSuispplementu DUKE-NUS GRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL SINGAPORE Enquiry Hotline (US): 919-668 6502 (Singapore): 65-6516 5550 Email: info@gms.edu.sg The Fr. Gabriel Richard Lectures Calling us to examine current issues in~ light of our faith via teCt fc oa Tuesday, November 13, 2007 4:00 pm-1014 Tisch Hall by Dr. Eugene McCarraher Associate Professor of Humanities and History Villanova University Eugene McCarraher received his Ph.D. in American History from Rutgers University. He is the author of Christian Critics: Religion and the Impasse in Modern American Social Thought. In addition to articles for scholarly journals, Dr. McCarraher writes essays and reviews for Commonweal; Books and Culture; and In These Times. His research and teaching interests include the relationship of economics, culture, and religion; the intersection of politics and literature the history of radical or utopian movements; and the cultural and intellectual history of modern America. McCarraher is currently working on a cultural history of corporate capitalism in the United States. Co-Sponsored by: Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, LSA Department of History President's Initiative on Ethics in Public Life, and St. Mary Student Parish Number of American service mem- bers who have died in the war in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. No new deaths were identi- fied over the weekend. h I A