9 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, March 31 2009 -- 3
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Henderson takes
the reins at GM
General Motors Corp.'s new
chief executive said yesterday
there's a greater risk that the
company will have to reorganize
through bankruptcy, because of
greater demands from the Obama
administration to get debt off its
balance sheet.
Fritz Henderson told reporters
on aconferencecall thatthe compa-
ny would still prefer to restructure
outside of court, but the various
support mechanisms Obama out-
lined yesterday would provide a
better cushion for the company
to reorganize under a court-order
bankruptcy if necessary.
"We were encouraged, we talk-
ed to the auto task force about ulti-
mately bringingthe consumer back
in the game," he said.
O President Obama said he would
give GM additional days to present
and make progress on restructur-
ing plans that are expected to go
further than what was submitted
in Feburary. He also introduced
a program that would guarantee
warranties of GM and Chrysler
LLC vehicles going forward, and
would allow people purchasing
new cars this year to write off the
sales and excise tax of the vehicle.
"We understand what the game
plan is," Henderson said. "Whether
out of court or in court, either way,
they'll be there to support us."
DETROIT
* City newspapers
cut back on delivery
Michigan's two largest newspa-
pers were missing from front porch-
es yesterday as the Detroit Free
Press and The Detroit News began
an era of reduced home delivery
and announced a plan to eventually
transmittheirprinteditionstothou-
sands of new electronic devices.
The newspapers were hawked
for free on sidewalks and streets
for one day only to remind people
that the News and Free Press
are not going out of business but
undergoing significant change at a
time of vanishing ad revenue and a
deep recession.
The papers will continue to be
printedandsoldeachday,buthome
deliveryis limited to Thursday, Fri-
day and Sunday, the biggest ad days
of the week. Subscribers can see
the exact print version online on
* any day, and free content is avail-
able atfreep.comanddetnews.com.
DUND, Afghanistan
Suicide bomber's
attack kills nine
A suicide bomber wearing a
police uniform blew himself up
inside a police headquarters in
southern Afghanistan yesterday,
killing nine people and wounding
eight, an official said.
Five officers and four civilians
died in the attack in Dund district,
about10 miles (15kilometers) south
of Kandahar city, the Interior Min-
istry said in a statement.
The attack comes as the United
States prepares to send 21,000
additional troops to Afghanistan
to bolster the 38,000 American
forces already in the country.
President Barack Obama last week
announced a new strategy for the
Afghanistan-Pakistan region with
a goal to "disrupt, dismantle and
defeat" al-Qaida.
Intotal,there arearecord 70,000
internationalforcesinAfghanistan.
BOSTON
Cops shoot boy who
killed his sisters
Two sisters and the brother who
killed them with a kitchen knife
will share a single funeral service
and be buried together.
Samantha Revelus, 17, and her
sister, Bianca, 5, were killed at their
Milton home Saturday. Police shot
the girls' brother, Kerby Revelus,
23, after an officer saw him decapi-
tate the younger girl. A surviving
sister, 9-year-old Saraphina, was
recovering at a Boston hospital
Monday after having surgery.
Ernst Guerrier, a Boston attor-
ney and family friend, said he
spent Monday morning with par-
ents Regine and Vronze Revelus as
they made plans to bury the three
together.
"They are still dealing with the
shock and disbelief of losing three
of their children," said Guerrier.
Guerriersaidtherewasnothingto
indicate Kerby Revelus "was capable
of something like this or that this
tragedy could have been prevented."
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Obama rejects auto plans, demands cuts
GM gets 60 days,
Chrysler gets 30 days
to restructure
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Barack Obama asserted
unprecedented government con-
trol over the auto industry yester-
day, bluntly rejecting turnaround,
plans by General Motors Corp. and
Chrysler LLC, demanding fresh
concessions for long-term federal
aid and raising the possibility of
quick bankruptcy for either ailing
auto giant.
Obama took the extraordinary
step of announcing the govern-
ment will back new car warranties
issued by both GM and Chrysler,
an attempt to reassure consumers
their U.S.-made purchases will be
protected even if the companies
don't survive.
"I am absolutely committed to
working with Congress and the
auto companies to meet one goal:
The United States of America will
lead the world in building the next
generation of clean cars," Obama
said in his first extended remarks
on the industry since taking office
nearly 10 weeks ago. And yet, he
added, "our auto industry is not
moving in the right direction fast
enough to succeed."
Obama, flanked by several
administration officials at the
White House, announced a short-
term infusion of cash for the firms,
and said it could be the last for one
or both.
Chrysler, judged by the admin-
istration as too small to survive,
got 30 days' worth of funds to com-
plete a partnership with Fiat SpA,
the Italian manufacturer, or some
other automaker.
GM got assurances of 60 days'
worth of federal financing to try
and revise its turnaround plan
undernewmanagementwith heavy
government participation. That
would involve concessions from its
union workers and bondholders.
The administration engineered the
ouster of longtime CEO Rick Wag-
oner over the weekend, an indica-
tion of its deep involvement in an
industry that once stood as a sym-
bol of American capitalism.
Obama's announcement under-
scored the extent to which auto-
makers have been added to the list
of large corporations now operat-
ing under a level of government
control that seemed unthinkable
less than a year ago. Since last
fell, the Bush and Obama admin-
istrations, often acting in concert
with the Federal Reserve, have
engineered the takeover of hous-
ing titans Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, seized a large stake in several
banks and installed a new CEO at
bailed-out insurance giant Ameri-
can International Group.
Other presidents have forced
showdowns with major industries,
with mixed results. Harry Tru-
man's decision to nationalize the
steel industry on the eve of a strike
in 1952 was ruled unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court. But Ronald
Reagan succeeded in busting the
air traffic controllers' union three
decades later.
The latest addition to the list,
the once-proud auto industry, has
struggled with foreign competi-
tion for more than a generation,
then was further battered by the
recession and credit crisis grip-
ping the economy. Obama said
400,000 industry jobs have been
lost in the past year alone, many in
Michigan.
Under Fritz Henderson, newly
named as CEO, General Motors
issued a statement saying it hopes
to avoid bankruptcy, but will "take
whatever steps are necessary to
successfully restructure the com-
pany, which could include a court-
supervised process."
Chrysler Chairman Bob Nardelli
sought to assure customers, deal-
ers, suppliers and employees that
the automaker "will operate 'busi-
ness as usual' over the next 30
days" while working closely with
the government and Fiat to secure
the support of stakeholders.
Speaking from the White House, President Barack Obama calls on the auto indus
try yesterday to make further cuts in exchange for long-term federal aid.
Int'l. conference aims
to bring stability to
Afghanistan, region
Rescue workers carry an injured Pakistani police officer outside a police training school on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan yes-
terday. Gunmen armed with rifles and hand grenades attacked a the school Monday, killing 11 officers and wounding dozens.
Sdie in bloody siege at
Paklstan police academy
Meeting of 72 nations
convened hastily,
despite lofty goals
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
(AP) - A 72-nation conference on
Afghanistan will launch a broader
international commitment to the
security of the region, including
neighboring Pakistan, special
U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke
said yesterday.
The hastily convened confer-
ence opening today in this Dutch
city brings together all the coun-
tries bordering Afghanistan,
including Iran, and all nations
contributing troops to the NATO-
led international force fighting
Taliban insurgents.
It will be opened by U.N. Sec-
retary-General Ban Ki-moon and
Afghan President Hamid Rarzai.
"We have great expectations,"
Karzai said after arriving yester-
day night. "I'm sure there will be
support for Afghanistan ... and
that together, Afghanistan and
the international community
will strive and succeed towards
the completion of this journey
together."
With the meeting scheduled
to last just seven hours including
lunch, few countries will be able to
give a nuanced analysis on the con-
ference's stated theme: a compre-
hensive review of Afghan strategy
in a regional context. Most will not
have a chance to speak at all.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clintonwas expectedtooutlinethe
policy review unveiled last week
by President Barack Obama. The
president said he will send an extra
17,000 soldiers and 4,000 advisers
to train Afghan military forces,
plus hundreds more civilians to
work on development issues. More
than half of the 70,000 troops now
in Afghanistan are Americans.
Despite its brevity, Holbrooke
said the "big tent meeting" in The
Hague is "tremendously impor-
tant," and its success already was
guaranteed by the lengthy list of
attendees.
"The very fact that they are here
signals that the world has not for-
gotten Afghanistan, and that now
we know that Pakistan is part of
the issue," he said.
Of the 73 nations invited, only
Uzbekistan has declined to come,
organizers said Monday.
Holbrooke called the confer-
ence "the launch point for the
international recommitment to
the effort in Afghanistan and
western Pakistan."
Unlike previous international
conferences, the Hague meeting
was not intended to raise money or
troops - issues that may be raised
at subsequent meetings including a
NATO summit next weekend.
But Holbrooke said the U.S.
administration is devoting much
thought to financing the Afghan
operation.
- Pakistan security
officials say militant
groups destabilizing
the country
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -
Black-clad Pakistani commandos
overpowered a group of militants
who had seized a police academy,
took cadets hostage and killed
at least six of them yesterday
in a dramatic challenge to the
civilian government that faces
U.S. pressure to defeat Islamic
extremists.
The security forces stormed
the compound on the outskirts of
Lahore to end the eight-hour siege
by the grenade-throwing gun-
men, with three militants blow-
ing themselves up and authorities
arresting four, officials said. At
least three other unidentified bod-
ies were recovered.
Pakistan's top civilian security
official said militant groups were
"destabilizing the country," sug-
gesting the plot may have originat-
ed with Pakistani Taliban leader
Baitullah Mehsud.
Meanwhile, a Taliban member
claiming to speak on behalf of a
shadowylittle-knowngroup called
the Fedayeen al-Islam said it was
behind the attack.
Earlier this month, gunmen
ambushed Sri Lanka's cricket team
in Lahore, killing seven people and
underscoring militants' ability to
wreak havoc far from Pakistan's
northwestern regions bordering
Afghanistan where al-Qaida and
the Taliban have proliferated.
Both Lahore attacks followed a
crackdown on the Pakistani group
Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the
November 2008 siege in Mumbai,
India, that killed 164. There has
been speculation that Monday's
raid was revenge for the crack-
down.
The primary victims of both
attacks were Pakistan's under-
manned and underequipped
police, a militant strategy that
appears designed to expose state
institutions as weak.
Pakistan's inability to prevent
the attack appeared to be an intel-
ligence failure. Nonetheless, a mas-
sive response was quickly mounted
yesterday, one that included army
soldiers, armored vehicles and
helicopters.
The siege ended after security
forces cornered several militants
on the top floor of a building in the
compound, where the gunmen had
held about 35 hostages. Afterward,
the security forces fired their guns
in the air in celebration, shouting
"God is great!"
"The eight hours were like eight
centuries," said Mohammad Sal-
man, 23, a recruit who had holed
up in the building. "It was like I
died several times. I had made up
my mind that it was all over."
Interior MinistrychiefRehman
Malik suggested the culprit could
have been Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a
Punjab-based, al-Qaida-linked
Sunni extremist group implicat-
ed in several other attacks in the
country.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is one of sev-
eral militant groups that operate
well beyond Pakistan's northwest.
Some of them, including Lashkar-
e-Taiba, have their roots in the
Kashmir dispute with India, and
Pakistani spy agencies are believed
to have helped establish them.
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