The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - 3A NEWSBRIEFS WASHINGTON Feds cut interest rate for sixth time since September The Federal Reserve slashed a keyinterestrateyesterdaybythree- fourths of a percentage point, mov- ing aggressively to contain a credit crisis threateningto push the coun- try into a severe recession. , The latest action broughtthe fed- eral funds rate - the interest that banks charge each other - down to 2.25 percent, the lowest point since late 2004. It marked the second cut of three-fourths of a percentage point this year. The first occurred at an emergency meeting on Jan. 22 and was followed by a half-point cut at a regular meeting on Jan. 30. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have now cut the funds rate six times since last September, with the reductions becoming more aggressive since January as the central bank has faced growing turmoil in global financial markets. ALBANY, N.Y.. Paterson admits to multiple affairs The state's new governor revealed yesterday that he had affairswithseveralwomen, includ- ing a state employee. The confes- sion came a day after he took over from former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who was driven from office amid a prostitution scandal Gov. David Paterson said the affairs happened during a rough patch in his marriage, and that the employee did not work for him. He insisted he did not advance her career, andthatnocampaignorstate money was spent on the affairs. "I do not feel I have broken my commitment to the citizens of New York state," Paterson said at a news conference with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson. WASHINGTON Supreme Court considers second amendment The Supreme Court appeared ready yesterday to endorse the view that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own guns, but was less clear about whether to retain the District of Columbia's ban on handguns. The justices were aware of the historic nature of their under- taking, engaging in an extended 98-minute session of questions and answers that could yield the first definition of the meaning of the Second Amendment in its 216 years. A key justice, Anthony Kennedy, left little doubt abouthisview when he said early in the proceedings that the Second Amendment gives "a general right to bear arms." Several justices were skeptical that the Constitution, if it gives individuals' gun rights, could al- low a complete ban on handguns when, as Chief Justice John Rob- erts pointed out, those weapons are most suited for protection at home. BEIJING China: Dalai Lama allies sabotaging Olympics Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused supporters of the Dalai Lama on yesterday of organizing violent clashes in Tibet in hopes of sabotaging the Beijing Olympics and bolstering their campaign for independence in the Himalayan territory. The Dalai Lama urged his fol- lowers to remain peaceful, say- ing he would resign as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile if violence got out of control. But he also suggested China may have fomented unrest in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and nearby prov- inces to discredit him. - Compiled from Daily wire reports U Number of American service mem- bers who have died in the war in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. There were no deaths identi- fied yesterday. Lynndie England- apologizes for photos BERLIN (AP) - Lyndie England, the public face of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, told a German news magazine that she was sorry for appearing in photographs of detainees in the notorious Iraqi prison, and believes the scenes of torture and humiliation served as a powerful rallying point for anti-American insurgents. In an interview with the weekly magazine Stern con- ducted in English and posted on its Web site yesterday, England was both remorseful and unre- pentant - and conceded that the published photos surely incen'sed insurgents in Iraq. "I guess after the picture came out the insurgency picked up and Iraqis attacked the Americans and the British and they attacked in return and they were just killing each other. I felt bad about it ... no, I felt pissed off. If the media hadn't exposed the pictures to that extent, then thousands of lives would have been saved," she was quoted as saying. Asked how she could blame Afghan children killed in U.S. raid KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -U.S. forces raided a village near the border with Pakistan early today and killed six people, including two children and a woman, villagers and a govern- ment official said. The raid came a day after NATO said it killed about 12 insurgents in an airstrike in southern Afghanistan, denying accusations from two Afghan lawmakers that civilians were amongthe dead. Three men were also killed in today's raid, including one who used to work as a border police- man patrolling the region in between Afghanistan and Paki- stan, said Mirza Gul, a villager from Hom in Khost province, where the violence took place. One woman and two children were among the six killed, said Khibar Pashtun, a spokesman for the Khost governor. An official with the U.S.-led coalition said he had no imme- diate comment but that officials were preparing a statement., The raid began just after midnight early today and lasted about an hour, said Gul. Ground troops first arrived with a trans- lator, then more later came by helicopter, said Khadim Khan, a familymember. The governor of Khost prov- ince, Arsallah Jamal, has pre- viously called on U.S. forces to seek Afghan assistance before launching nighttime raids, say- ing Afghans would be in a posi- tion to "reduce mistakes." Going back as far as 2002, President Hamid Karzai has publicly and repeatedly accused the U.S. of heavy-handedness in its counterterrorism operations. The U.S. has said over the years that it has modified tactics to cut down on civilian deaths. NATO's International Secu- rity Assistance Force said the only people killed in Monday's airstrikes in southern Helmand province were militants who had fired on alliance troops. "The air attack took place in an isolated area where there was no housing or civilian activ- ity," NATO said. "There was no evidence of civilian casualties, which would have been clearly seenbyISAF, andtherehavebeen no reports by hospitals in the region of any injuries, or requests for medical aid received." DadMohammadKhanandMir Wall Khan, the two Afghan law- makers who said civilians were killed, were in the capital, Kabul, at the time of the strike and relied on reports from local Afghans. Insurgents and some Afghan civilians hostile to the presence of foreign troops sometimes exaggerate accounts of civilian deaths caused by international forces, or make up claims alto- gether. Independent verification of battlefield casualties is diffi- cult because the areas are remote and dangerous for travel. Meanwhile, some of the 3,200 U.S. Marines slated for a seven- month deployment to Afghan- istan's volatile south continued arriving at the region's largest base following a call from Cana- da for more troops. the media for the controversy, she said it wasn't her who leaked the photos. "Yeah, I took the photos but I didn't make it worldwide. Yes, I was in five or six pictures and I took some pictures, and those pictures were shameful and degrading to the Iraqis and to our government," she said, according to the report. "And I feel sorry and wrong about what I did. But it would not have escalated to what it did all over the world if it wouldn't have been for someone leaking it to the media." England, who was a private first class, was in several images taken in late 2003 by U.S. guards at Abu Ghraib. One showed her holding a naked prisoner on a leash, while in others she posed with a pyramid of naked detain- ees and pointed at the genitals of a prisoner while a cigarette hung from the corner of her mouth. Asked by the magazine if what appened at Abu Ghraib was a scandal or something that hap- pens during wartime, England said it was the latter. PROPOSAL 2 From Page 1A decision," he said. "This is a law that was designed to exclude black, Lati- no, and Native American students. To uphold it without even giving those students a day in court is outra- geous." At a hearing last month attorney Margaret Nelson argued on behalf of Attorney General Mike Cox that Pro- posal 2 eliminates race- and gender- baseddiscrimination. She said the plaintiffs weren't seeking protection from discrimina- tion but preferential treatment in the admissions process instead. When Proposal 2 passed in Michi- gan with 58 percent of the vote in Nov. 2006, other states, including California and Texas, had already passed similar proposals. None of the bans have been overturned. TRUMKA From Page 1A Trumka said rising education costs have also been a major burden on the lower and middle classes, cit- ing research showing that people between ages 24 and34 spend abouta quarter of their income on debt, mak- ing it difficult for them to eventually become homeowners. "It doesn't have to be this way," he said. "Workers, families, and unions, can rebuild and restore the American dream." The lecture drew union workers from the area. one of those workers, Daisy Jackson, a member of Child Care Union in Wayne County, said the lecture was an important one for college students to hear. "If we let our young people under- stand this, they can get a better understanding of health care and the importance of having a union and why America is falling apart," she -said. Billie Rohl, program administra- tor for the University's Labor Stud- ies Center, said Trumka was asked to speak at the University to foster open communication between organized labor and the University. "Organized labor is stepping up to support what they view as a lack of interest at the University," she said. "We want to be sure that there is still a link to labor studies at the Univer- sity." Kilpatrick refuses to step down DETROIT (AP) - A defi- ant Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick quickly rejected the City Coun- cil's call yesterday for him to resign because of accusations that he lied under oath about not having an affair. "You take a whole dayto dis- cuss an issue like this," he said. "My reaction is: This is over. It has no effect. It's not binding. Let's get back to work." The resolution, passed 7-1, amounted to a "no-confidence" vote because the council lacks the power to force Kilpatrick to step down. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is investigating whether the mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty lied under oath when they tes- tified in a whistle-blowers' lawsuit that they had not had a physical relationship. students & interns (:0min-t[ new. York Cil com ive EDUCATIONAL HOUSING SERVICES Q UA L ITY S T UDENTL V NG NEW YORK CITY'S #1 RESOURCE FOR STUDENT HOUSING 1-800-297-4694 WWW.STU DENTa OUSING. 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