. The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, January 15, 2010 - 3
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The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, January 15, 2010 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Feds give money to
Mich. to tear down
blighted buildings
The federal government award-
ed Michigan $223.9 million yes-
terday to help tear down blighted
buildings and revitalize neighbor-
hoods in a dozen cities including
Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint.
The U.S. Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development
announced the money as part of $2
billion in Recovery Act funding to
states, local governments and non-
profit housing developers.
Michigan's proposal won it the
largest single grant - 11 percent
of the total awarded nationwide,
Housing Secretary Shaun Dono-
van said at a news conference with
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm
and dozens of other officials.
Some other states got more
money in total, but it was in grants
to several communities or groups
that applied separately.
GENEVA
Website helps
locate earthquake
victims in Haiti
More than 5,000 people reg-
istered on a special Red Cross
Web site a few hours after it was
launched to help Haitians find loved
ones missing in the earthquake, an
official said yesterday.
The quick response was aided by
people spreading the link on social
networks such as Facebook and
Twitter, but also by the fact that
many satellite Internet connections
in the Caribbean nation appear to
be working, said Marcal Izard, a
spokesman for the International
Committee of the Red Cross.
"The list is growing rapidly. We
now have around 5,000 names on
it," Izard told The Associated Press.
"Over 210 persons registered from
Haiti itself, which is a very good
result in such a short period."
Of those, about 200 were search-
ing for missing family members,
while SO people logged on to say
they had survived Tuesday's mag-
nitude 7.0 quake near the capital,
Port-au-Prince.
Many visitors to the site were
from the United States and Canada,
which have large Haitian commu-
nities, Izard said.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Hundreds added to
terrorist watch list
A law enforcement official says
' airlines have been told to do more
of the toughened screening put in
place after the attempted Christ-
mas Day terrorist attack aboard a
Detroit-bound flight.
The official says airlines have
been told more federal air marshals
willbeoninternationalflightsbound
forthe U.S. and airports should con-
duct more random screening.
The official says hundreds more
names have been added to the ter-
rorist watch list since Dec. 25.
All of these measures are in
responseto the ongoingthreatfrom
al-Qaida overseas. The official, who
was not authorized to discuss the
measures, spoke anonymously.
KIEV, Ukraine
Ukraine election to
determine relations
with Russia
The front-runners in Ukraine's
presidential race have vowed to
revive ties with Russia if elected -
a strong signal that Sunday's vote
could mark the end of the Western-
oriented leadership ushered in by
Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia
Tynmoshenko, who sought to pull
Ukraine out of Russia's sphere of
influence and toward Europe dur-
ing the Orange movement, said in
a last-minute appeal to voters that
as president she would work closely
with Moscow.
Polls show Tymoshenko trailing
pro-Russian opposition leader Vik-
tor Yanukovych, the Orange forces'
most prominent foe, in the closing
hours of the contest for Ukraine's
highest office.
Over the past year, Tymoshenko
has developed a personal rapport
with her Russian counterpart and
formernemesis,VladimirPutin. She
has also courted voters, especially in
the country's Russian-speakingeast
andsouth, who want an end to ten-
sions between Russia and Ukraine.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Haiti relief efforts snarled, as
im any as 50,000 believed dead
Concerns abound
over getting water,
food to survivors
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
- Doctors and search dogs, troops
and rescue teams flew to this dev-
astated land of dazed, dead and
dying people Thursday, finding
bottlenecks everywhere, begin-
ning at a main airport short on jet
fuel and ramp space and without a
control tower.
The international Red Cross
estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people
were killed in Tuesday's cataclys-
mic earthquake, based on informa-
tion from the Haitian Red Cross
and government officials. Hard-
pressed recovery teams resorted to
using bulldozers to transport loads
of dead.
Worries mounted, meanwhile,
about food and water for the sur-
vivors. "People have been almost
fighting for water," aid worker
Fevil Dubien said as he distributed
water from a truck in a northern
Port-au-Prince neighborhood.
From Virginia, from France,
from China, a handful of rescue
teams were able to get down to
work, scouring the rubble for sur-
vivors. In one "small miracle,"
searchers pulled a security guard
alive from beneath the collapsed
concrete floors of the U.N. peace-
keeping headquarters, where many
others were entombed.
But the silence of the dead oth-
erwise was overwhelming in a
city where uncounted bodies lit-
tered the streets in the 80-degree
heat, and dust-caked arms and
legs reached, frozen and lifeless,
from the ruins. Outside the Gen-
eral Hospital morgue, hundreds
of collected corpses blanketed the
parking lot, as the grief-stricken
searched among them for loved
ones. Brazilian U.N. peacekeepers,
key to city security, were trying to
organize mass burials.
Patience already was wear-
ing thin among the poorest who
were waiting for aid, said David
Wimhurst, spokesman for the U.N.
peacekeeping mission.
"They want us to provide them
with help, which is, of course, what
we want to do," he said. But they see
U.N. vehicles patrolling the streets
to maintain calm, and not delivering
aid, and "they're slowly getting more
angry and impatient," he said.
In Washington, President
Barack Obama announced "one
of the largest relief efforts in our
recent history," starting with $100
million in aid. The U.S. Southern
Command reported the first 100
of a planned 900 paratroopers of
the 82nd Airborne Division land-
ed in Haiti from North Carolina
on Thursday to support disaster
relief, to be followed this week-
end by more than 2,000 Mgrines.
The American troops "will relieve
pressure" on overworked U.N. ele-
ments, Wimhurst said.
From Europe, Asia and the
Americas, other governments, the
U.N. and private aid groups were
sending planeloads of high-energy
biscuits and other food, tons of
water, tents, blankets, water-puri-
fication gear, heavy equipment for
removing debris, helicopters and
other transport, and teams of hun-
dreds of search-and-rescue, medi-
CARL JUSTE/THE MIAMI HERALD/AP
A young girl gets medical attention for her injuries yesterday in Petionville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
cal and other specialists.
But two days after much of this
ramshackle city was shattered, the
global helping hand was slowed by
the poor roads, airport and seaport
of a wretchedly poor nation.
Some 60 aid flights had arrived by
midday Thursday, but they then had
to contend with the chokepoint of an
overloaded Toussaint LOuverture
International Airport. At midday,
the Federal Aviation Administration
said it was temporarily halting all
civilian flights from the U.S. at Hai-
ti's request, because the airport was
jammed and jet fuel was limited for
return flights. The control tower had
been destroyed in Tuesday's tremor,
complicating air traffic. Civilian
relief flights were later allowed to
resume.
"There's only so much concrete"
for parking planes, U.S. Air Force
Col. Buck Elton said at the airport.
"It's a constant puzzle of trying to
move aircraft in and out."
Teams that did land then had to
navigate Haiti's inadequate roads,
sometimes blocked by debris or
by quake survivors looking for
safe open areas as aftershocks
still rumbled through the city. The
U.N. World Food Program said the
quake-damaged seaport made ship
deliveries of aid impossible.
The looting of shops that broke
out after the 7.0-magnitude quake
struck late Tuesday afternoon
added to concerns. The Brazilian
military warned aid convoys to add
security to guard against looting
by the desperate population.
"There is no other way to get
provisions," American Red Cross
representative Matt Marek said of
the store looting. "Even if you have
money, those resources are going
to be exhausted in a few days."
The city's "ti-marchant," mostly
women who sell food on the streets,
were expected to run out soon. Red
Cross officials have estimated one-
third of Haiti's 9 million people are
in need of aid.
Obama taps Clinton,
Bush to lead Haitian
fundraising efforts
With open field,
Dems consider
entering race
for governor
Former presidents
often enlisted to
help after disasters
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Barack Obama has tapped
former Presidents George W. Bush
and Bill Clinton to lead private sec-
tor fundraising efforts for Haiti.
Enlisting ex-presidents' help in
responding to a natural disaster is
just what Bush did in 2004 after a
tsunami ripped across Asia. Back
then, it was Clinton and former
President George H.W. Bush who
assisted in relief efforts.
In a joint statement, George
W. Bush and Clinton said, "In the
days and weeks ahead, we will
draw attention to the many ways
American citizens and businesses
can help meet the urgent needs of
the Haitian people."
"Americans have a long history
of showing compassion and gen-
erosity in the wake of tragedy,"
they said. "We thank the Ameri-
can people for rallying to help
our neighbors in the Caribbean
in their hour of suffering - and
throughout the journey of rebuild-
ing their nation.
White House political director
Patrick Gaspard said officials have
been inundated with requests
from Americans looking to help.
The administration has launched a
wide-ranging outreach campaign,
particularly in areas with a large
Haitian-American population, to
coordinate those efforts.
With the full extent of the dev-
astation still unknown, Gaspard
said cash is the most urgent need.
CHARLES DHARAPAK/
President Barack Obama makes a statement about the earthquake in Haiti yester-
day at the White House in Washington.
Stupak among those
who may throw their
hat in the ring
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The
surprising withdrawal of Lt. Gov.
John Cherry from the Michigan
governor's race presented a gold-
en opportunity to other Demo-
crats who thought they'd have to
wait years to run.
But they don't have much time
to decide if they're in or out.
Some of the five Republicans
in the race are poised to begin
running ads in February, giv-
ing them the chance to make
the first favorable impression
on voters. And whichever of the
uncommitted Democrats jumps
into race first could grab the
biggest share of donations and
endorsements, leaving latecom-
ers with crumbs.
"You can buy a little bit more
time as long as everybody else is
still up in the air on this," politi-
cal strategist Tom Shields of
Marketing Resources Group said
yesterday. "But when those cam-
paign committees start forming,
and people start raising money
and getting commitments, that's
when you need to either fish or
cut bait."
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak hears the
clock ticking. Although he has a
safe congressional seat and pow-
erful committee assignments,
the Democrat from Menominee
is considering running for gov-
ernor.
"This isn't something that
presents itself very often," Stu-
pak told The Associated Press.
"You have to take a look at it."
He's heading to Detroit on
today to meet with party activ-
ists and get a better feel for
whether he wants to run. At the
same time, he is deeply involved
in negotiations over the federal
health care overhaul bill and lan-
guage restricting how abortions
are covered by insurance.
A run for governor "is appeal-
ing, but from a practical point
of view, can you do it with this
compressed time line we have?
Health care compresses it even
more," Stupak said. He noted that
GOP gubernatorial candidate and
fellow congressman Pete Hoek-
stra faces some of the same con-
straints, "but he's at least been
out there another year."
Stupak knows his opposition
to abortion could prove a hurdle
to getting the nomination. The
former state trooper also is a
gun-rights advocate. But he has
spoken with former U.S. Rep.
David Bonior, an abortion oppo-
nent who ran in the 2002 Demo-
cratic governor's race, and said
he's encouraged so far.
Among the others eyeing
the race, University of Michi-
gan Regent Denise Ilitch spent
Wednesday evening introducing
herself at a Democratic mixer in
Grand Rapids after discussing a
possible run with White House
and Democratic Governors Asso-
ciation officials in Washington
the night before.
A text-messaging campaign with
the Red Cross had raised $5 mil-
lion dollars as of yesterday eve-
ning. A $10 donation can be made
by texting "HAITI" to "90999."
Gaspard, a Haitian-American,
said the impoverished island
nation will require long-term
humanitarian assistance.
"There is going to be a need to
sustain this effort over time," he
said.
Obama cited the success of the
tsunami relief efforts in his deci-
sion to mobilize the former presi-
dents, White House spokesman
Robert Gibbs said. The president
placed calls to both Bush and Clin-
ton Wednesday.
Gibbs said the Obama adminis-
tration's criticism of Bush's actions
during the response to Hurricane
Katrina were irrelevant.
"I think if you asked George
Bush whether the government
acted up to its ability in respond-
ing to Katrina, I think the answer
to that would be 'no,"' Gibbs said.
"The actions that were taken to
deal with the humanitarian crisis
from the tsunami, on the other
hand, I think worked quite well."
Report: Targeted Pakistani Taliban leader alive
The death of
Hakimullah Mehsud
would be a major
victory for U.S.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - The lead-
er of the Pakistani Taliban was
apparently targeted in a U.S. mis-
sile strike on a meeting of militant
commanders close to the Afghan
border yesterday, but he escaped
unhurt, Pakistani officials and
militants said. Twelve insurgents
were believed killed.
The death of Hakimullah Meh-
sud would be a major victory for
both for Washington and Islamabad
in their fight against Islamist mili-
tants. Mehsud appeared on a video
released last week sittingnext to the
Jordanian militant who killed seven
CIA employees ina suicide attack in
December in Afghanistan.
Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban
movement, which is linked to al-
Qaida and the Taliban across the
border in Afghanistan, has also
claimed responsibility for scores
of bloody suicide bombings in
Pakistan in recent months against
military, civilian and government
targets.
The U.S. missile strike was the
eighth such attack in two weeks in
Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal
region, an unprecedented volley
of drone attacks since the CIA-
led program began in earnest two
years ago. The surge signals the
Obama administration's reliance
on the tactic despite official protest
from Islamabad.
One or more unmanned U.S spy
planes fired at least two missiles
into a large complex that had been
used as a religious school in the
past in the Pasalkot area close to
the border with South Waziristan
soon after dawn broke, Pakistani
intelligence officials said.
The dead militants included two
foreigners, while at least eight oth-
ers were wounded, said the offi-
cials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because they are not
authorized to speak to the media
on the record.
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S.
special envoy to Pakistan and
Afghanistan, said that he had no
information on the strike but that
Mehsud's death would be a good
thing. America does not acknowl-
edge to being behind the program
and its officials rarely talk about it
directly.
"He either is, or was, a very bad
person," Holbrooke told foreign
correspondents in the capital,
Islamabad.
Three Pakistani intelligence
officials and four militants told the
AP that Mehsud was not among
the dead.
He had been expected to attend
the meeting, but authorities were
still trying to determine whether
he ever made it to the session, the
officials said. They cited wireless
communications intercepts track-
ing Mehsud's movements.
The militants said Mehsud was
alive, safe and traveling. They
spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the
subject and for personal security
reasons.