4f The Michigan Daily- michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 3A
9 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
ROCHESTER, Mich.
Progress made
with striking profs
A The head of a union represent-
ing professors at a suburban Detroit
university says "good progress" is
being made toward resolving a fac-
ulty walkout.
The president of the Oakland
University chapter of the American
Association of University Profes-
sors said Monday talks with school
administrators made progress over
the weekend.
But Joel Russell cautioned that
"being close" to a deal doesn't mean
a new contract is imminent.
Russell spoke to The Associated
Press while marching in Detroit's
annual Labor Day parade.
Classes remain canceled at the
public four-year school in Roches-
ter. It has about 18,000 students.
The union authorized a strike
after the university proposed a
three-year wage freeze along with
cuts in health-insurance benefits.
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Suicide bombings
kill at least 17
Suicide attackers struck near a
Shiite mosque north of Baghdad
and a checkpoint west of the capi-
tal on Monday as bombings killed
at least 17 people nationwide.
The violence was concentrated
in former Sunni insurgent strong-
holds that have seen a sharp
decline in violence after local trib-
al leaders turned against al-Qaida
in Iraq. Despite the relative calm,
a series of deadly bombings have
raised concerns about a resur-
gence of violence as the U.S. mili-
tary scales back its presence, with
a full withdrawal planned by the
end of 2011.
The attacks - which mainly
targeted checkpoints and Iraqi
policemen - also highlighted the
weaknesses in the Iraqi security
forces, which are struggling to
prove they are ready to take over
from the Americans.
The deadliest attack was a sui-
cide car bomber who struck a line
of vehicles waiting to be inspected
before crossing a bridge near the
Anbar provincial capital of Rama-
di, police said.
MILWAUKEE, W.I.
Man arresfed,
connected to nine
killings
Milwaukee police said Monday
that they arrested a man connected
to the slayings of nine women dat-
ing back to 1986 by using a DNA
* sample he provided just last week.
Walter E. Ellis, 49, was taken
into custody after a struggle at a
motel on Saturday, said police Chief
Edward Flynn. Ellis was charged
with two counts of first-degree
intentional homicide and more
charges are expected, said Milwau-
kee County District Attorney John
Chisholm.
Police said Ellis' DNA was found
on the bodies of nine women who
were killed between 1986 and 2007
on the city's north side. Investiga-
tors believe eight of the women
were prostitutes and one was a
runaway. They ranged in age from
16 to 41.
Flynn said police used a warrant
to obtain Ellis' DNA on Friday, so
investigators had to move quickly
to test the evidence because Ellis
knew they were looking for him. He
was arrested in nearby Franklin.
ATLANTA, G.A.
* Zombies, aliens
try to break
'Thriller' record
It wasn't under the moonlight,
and it wasn't quite the funk of
40,000 years. But 900 zombies,
aliens and Star Wars Stormtroop-
ers boogeying to Michael Jackson's
"Thriller" might be a sight that
almost stops your heart.
The masquerade of sci-fi faith-
ful performed Michael Jackson's
signature "Thriller" music video
dance routine on Sunday. And if
officials approve, they will have set
a new Guinness World Record.
The crowd turned out in a down-
town Atlanta hotel ballroom dur-
ing Dragon Con, which is billed as
the country's largest convention
dedicated to science fiction, fanta-
sy, gaming, comics and more.
The iconic video played on ahuge
video screen as a Jackson lookalike
channeled the pop star in red jeans,
a red leather jacket, and white socks
and black penny loafers.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
UK court convicts three
of plot to blow up airliners
Joseph Kennedy speaks at a Celebration of Life Memorial Service for Sen. Edward
Kennedy at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Friday.
Joseph Kennedy will
not run for uncle's seat
Security officials
say plan was directly
linked to al-Qaida
LONDON (AP) - Three British
Muslims were convicted Monday
of plotting to murder thousands
by downing at least seven airliners
bound for the U.S. and Canada in
what was intended as the largest
terrorist attack since Sept.11.
A jury at a London court found
Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, Assad Sar-
war, 29, and Tanvir Hussain, 28,
guilty of conspiracy to murder by
detonating explosives on aircraft
while they were in-flight.
Four other alleged conspirators
- whom the prosecution said were
to have smuggled liquid explosives
onboard jetliners disguised as soft
drinks - were acquitted of con-
spiringto blow up planes. The jury
could not reach a verdict on an
eighth man.
British and U.S. security offi-
cials said the plan - unlike many
recent homegrown Ruropean
terrorist plots - was directly
linked to al-Qaida and guided
by senior Islamic militants in
Pakistan, who hoped to mount a
spectacular strike on the West.
The officials said British plot-
ters were likely just days away
from mounting their suicide
attacks when police rounded
up 25 people in dawn raids in
August 2006.
Their arrests led to travel
chaos as hundreds of jetliners
were grounded across Europe.
Discovery of the plot also trig-
gered changes to airport secu-
rity, including new restrictions
on the amount of liquids and gels
passengers can take onto flights.
Prosecutors said suspects had
identified seven specific flights
from London's Heathrow air-
port to New York, Washington,
Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto
and Montreal, as their targets.
British authorities estimate
that, if successful, around 2,000
passengers would have died. If
bombs were detonated over U.S.
and Canadian cities, hundreds
more would have been killed on
the ground.
Plotters planned to assemble
bombs in airplane toilets using
hydrogen peroxide-based explo-
sives injected into soda bottles.
"They were to be detonated
in-flight by suicide bombers,"
including several of the accused,
prosecutor Peter Wright said.
Tests by scientists who repli-
cated the bombs in a laboratory
showed the devices could produce
powerful explosions, though there
is no evidence that the terrorist
cell had perfected the technique.
Wright told the trial that the
group's suicide attacks were
planned by "men with the cold-
eyed certainty of the fanatic" and
intended as "a violent and deadly
statement of intent that would
have a truly global impact."
He said the plot would have
caused "a civilian death toll from
t; U-j
Start build
to Pr(
terrorism on an almost unprec-
edented scale."
All eight defendants had denied
most charges against them, claim-
ing they were planning a stunt
- and not a terrorist attack - to
expose failings in Western foreign
policy.
Prosecutors were unable to pro-
duce evidence that the men had
produced a single viable bomb.
The trial was the second to take
place in a case which has frustrat-
ed prosecutors.
Last year, Ali, Sarwar and Hus-
sain were convicted of conspira-
cy to murder, but the jury could
not reach a verdict on whether
they specifically targeted air-
craft. The jury at that trial failed
to reach verdicts against other
four defendants.
Jurors on Monday cleared
Donald Stewart-Whyte, 23, of all
charges. They found Umar Islam,
31, guilty of a charge of conspira-
cy to murder, but could not decide
if he was involved in targeting
aircraft.
Decision is expected
to widen the field of
candidates
Former Rep. Joseph P. Ken-
nedy II, the eldest son of Robert F.
Kennedy, announced Monday he
would not run for the U.S. Senate
seat held for nearly 50 years by his
late uncle, Rdward . Kennedy.
In a statement, the former six-
term congressman said he cares
about those seeking decent hous-
ing, fair wages and health care.
But he added, "The best way for
me to contribute to those causes
is by continuing my work at
Citizens Energy Corp."The non-
profit organization provides free
heating oil to the poor, but Ken-
nedy likely would have faced
campaign questions about fuel it
received from Venezuelan Presi-
dent Hugo Chavez - a persistent
U.S. critic.Yet Kennedy also may
have garnered support from the
legions of Massachusetts Demo-
crats who long supported his
uncle, as well as national follow-
ers of his father, who was a U.S.
senator from New York when he
was assassinated in June 1968 as
he sought the Democratic presi-
dential nomination.
"My father called politics an
honorable profession, and I have
profound respect for those who
choose to advance the causes of
social and economic justice in
elective office," the 56-year-old
Kennedy said.
The decision is expected to
widen the field of announced can-
didates for the late senator's seat.
It became vacant Aug. 25, when
Edward Kennedy died of brain
cancer at age 77.
Three veteran Massachusetts
congressmen - Reps. Michael
Capuano, Edward J. Markey and
John Tierney - have said they are
considering campaigns but would
not run against a member of the
Kennedy family. The senator's
widow, Vicki, had previously ruled
out a campaign.
In a fiery speech Monday morn-
ing to a Boston labor breakfast,
Capuano sought to distinguish
himself from unnamed competi-
tors.
"Everybody loves you today,"
the congressman told a crowd of
about 400, including Tierney and
Markey. "Everybody's for prevail-
ing wage, everybody's for (project-
labor agreements), everybody's for
this, that and the other thing. Me
too. That'sgood. But when itcomes
time to make the tough decisions,
that's when you start to figure
who's with you and who's not."
Markey said before addressing
the crowd that le was still weigh-
ing a race, highlighting his stature
as a 33-year member of the House,
honorary title as dean of the New
England delegation and chairman-
ship of the House Select Commit-
tee for Energy Independence.
"And I have to weigh that in bal-
ancing it against how effective I
can be as a senator," he said. "But I
will not consider it unless Joe Ken-
nedy does not run."
Former Rep. Martin Meehan,
who is now chancellor of the Uni-
versity of Massachusetts-Lowell
but still has nearly $5 million in his
campaign account, had also said he
would defer to Kennedy, but he has
been lukewarm about a campaign
even if Kennedy declined to run.
Another Democrat, Rep. Ste-
phen Lynch, said at the breakfast
it's "likely" he will be announc-
ing his candidacy during the next
week. The former ironworker, who
lives in blue-collar South Boston,
said he wanted to wait until after
Labor Day.
"I probably won't fit in in the
U.S. Senate, but, I think that, in
a lot of cases, the people of Mas-
sachusetts don't want a senator
to fit in. They want them to stand
out, and I offer through my experi-
ence," Lynch said.
Lynch recalled twice being laid
off from shipbuilding and auto-
making jobs, adding, "I share the
experience that a lot of others are
feeling right now."
Attorney General Martha Coak-
ley became the first high-profile
Democrat to declare for the seat
when she announced her candida-
cy last week. She wasted little time
in flexing her political muscle.
RELEASE DATE- Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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1 Cansecs sf that may be 36 Grads of 53 Bkin taper
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14 Quartet before S 5 Brit's raincoat 41 Pres. advisory daughter, in
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sonK1-
DATING IN COLLEGE GROUP
An opportunity for college students to talk in small groups
with local psychologist, Cheryl Barget, Ph.D., about dating
relationships. There will be a presentation of recent
scientific findings about heterosexual relationships.
Bring your questions.
Several dates available.
Visit www.windwoodcenter.com for more information.
Please call (734) 622-0406 to register.
Registration limited. $25.00
The Windwood Center
330 East Liberty Street, Suite 3C
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
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as an infant
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who played
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films
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layer
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mater
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By Alan E. Parrish
(c)2009TribuneMeasservices, Inc.
08/11/091