The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
EAST LANSING, Mich.
Fraternity fires
force 30 students
to evacuate house
Authorities say they had to
break down doors and rouse
drunken students during fires at
a fraternity near Michigan State
University.
No one was injured early Friday
after a party at Theta Chi fraterni-
ty, although the 30 residents were
not allowed back in.
East Lansing Fire Marshal Bob
Pratt tells TV station WLNS that
the fraternity had sprinklers. Oth-
erwise, he says there would have
been fatalities. The series of fires
is believed to have been intention-
ally set.
Theta Chi's alumni corporation
issued a statement, saying it's sad
that an "assault" on the fraternity
took place.
PHOENIX
$33M Mexican
drug ring busted
Arizona authorities have dis-
mantled a "massive" drug traffick-
ing ring responsible for smuggling
more than $33 million worth of
drugs through the state's western
desert every month for distribu-
tion nationwide, officials said yes-
terday.
The ring is believed be tied
to the Sinaloa cartel - Mexico's
most powerful - and responsible
for smuggling more than 3.3 mil-
lion pounds of marijuana, 20,000
pounds of cocaine and 10,000
pounds of heroin into the U.S.
through Arizona over the past five
years, according to U.S. Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement.
Their efforts in that time gen-
erated an estimated $2 billion,
according to ICE.
ICE's Homeland Security
Investigations and the Pinal
County Sheriff's Office arrested
22 suspected smugglers tied to
the ring on Thursday, the latest of
three busts they say have brought
it down following a 17-month
investigation dubbed "Operation
Pipeline Express."
SALT LAKE CITY
Supreme Court
avoids dispute of
highway crosses
The Supreme Court ruled yes-
terday that it would not hear an
appeal of aruling that12-foot-high
crosses along Utah highways in
honor of dead state troopers vio-
late the Constitution.
The justices' 8-1vote rejected an
appealfromUtah and astate troop-
ers' group that wanted the court
to throw out the ruling and take a
more permissive view of religious
symbols on public land. Since 1998,
the private Utah Highway Patrol
Association has paid for and erect-
ed 14 memorial crosses designed to
honor state troopers who had died
inthe lineofduty.
O Eleven are on state lands and
three are on private property. The
Texas-based American Atheists
Inc. and three of its Utah members
sued the state in 2005, alleging an
improper mixing of government
and religion because the white
crosses bear brown and gold bee-
hive-shaped shield of the Utah
Highway Patrol.
TRIPOLI, Libya
Libya names new
prime minister
Libya's interim leadership has
chosen an electronics engineer
from Tripoli as the country's new
prime minister.
Abdel-Rahim al-Keeb was cho-
sen yesterday by 51 members of
the National Transitional Council
and will appoint a new Cabinet
in coming days. The new govern-
ment is to run Libya in the coming
months and to pave the way for
general elections.
Jalal el-Gallal, an NTC spokes-
man, says al-Keeb received 26
votes. He says the NTC wanted to
form a new interim government
after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi
because its initial members start-
ed out as an impromptu group.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Palestinians gain
full membership
in UNESCO
SEAN DEMPSEY/AP
Bishop of London Dr Richard Chartres talks to protesters as the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral Graeme Knowles listens at
the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstration outside St Paul's Cathedral, London Sunday Oct. 30, 2011.
Cathedral Dean resign s
over 'ccp'protesters
X- Q/
St. Paul's leaders
split in decision to
evict protesters
LONDON (AP) - The Dean
of St. Paul's Cathedral quit yes-
terday, the second high-profile
clergy member to step down
over anti-capitalist protests that
have spilled across the historic
church's grounds.
The resignation of Graeme
Knowles leaves the cathedral
without a leader and will delay
its planned legal action to evict
the protest camp - though the
neighborhood's governing body
says it will formally ask the pro-
testers today to leave, and will
go to court if they refuse.
Knowles said his position had
become "untenable" as criticism
of the cathedral mounted in
the press and in public opinion.
Knowles had urged protesters to
leave the cathedral area to allow
it to reopen its doors.
Officials shut the church to
the public on Oct. 21, saying
demonstrators' tents were a
health and safety hazard. It was
the first time the 300-year-old
London church had closed since
German planes bombed the city
during World War II. After a
public outcry, it reopened Friday.
Knowles' resignation follows
that last week of Giles Fraser, a
senior St. Paul's Cathedral priest
who had welcomed the anti-
capitalist demonstrators to set
up camp outside the landmark,
inspired by New York's Occupy
Wall Street movement. He said
he resigned because he feared
moves to evict the protesters
could end in violence.
A part-time chaplain, Fraser
Dyer, also resigned last week,
saying he was "embarrassed" by
the decision to take legal action
to try to evict the protesters.
Senior clergy have been
divided over how to handle the
scores of tents set up outside
the iconic cathedral near the
River Thames in central Lon-
don. Demonstrators erected the
tents Oct. 15, during a thwarted
attempt to stage a protest out-
side the nearby London Stock
Exchange.
The protesters said Knowles'
resignation showed that the
management of St. Paul's is
"obviously deeply divided" over
the protests. But in a statement
on the Occupy London website,
the movement said it had never
called for any "scalps" from the
clergy.
"Our cause has never been
directed at the staff of the cathe-
dral," the group said. It called
for an "open and transparent
dialogue" between demonstra-
tors and those urging campers
to move.
Knowles, 60, called the past
two weeks a "testing time" and
said his decision to step down
did not come easily.
"Since the arrival of the pro-
testers' camp outside the cathe-
dral, we have all been put under
a great deal of strain and have
faced what would appear to be
some insurmountable issues,"
he said in a statement. "I hope
and pray that under new leader-
ship these issues might continue
to be addressed and that there
might be a swift and peaceful
resolution."
St. Paul's officials said
Knowles made his decision
known on Sunday night and has
already removed himself from
operations.
On Sunday, clergymen and
demonstrators held talks aimed
at avoiding a violent confronta-
tion over the camp.
Both the church and the local
authority, the City of London
Corporation, announced last
week they were going to court
to clear scores of tents from a
pedestrianized square and foot-
path outside the cathedral.
But cathedral spokesman Rob
Marshall said legal proceed-
ings had not yet started, and
the governing chapter "is now
discussing a range of options in
the wake of the resignation of
the dean."
Knowles' resignation does
not affect the separate legal
action by the City of London
Corporation, which is seeking
eviction on the grounds that the
protest is an "unreasonable user
of the highway."
It said it would issue aletter to
the protesters on Tuesday ask-
ing them to remove their tents.
If they refuse, the Corporation
will go to court in a bid to get
an injunction to clear the camp.
Many expect the legal process
to be lengthy and complex.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams, leader of
the Anglican church, called
Knowles' decision to step down
"very sad news."
"The events of the last cou-
ple of weeks have shown very
clearly how decisions made
in good faith by good people
under unusual pressure can
have utterly unforeseen and
unwelcome consequences, and
the clergy of St. Paul's deserve
our understanding in these cir-
cumstances," he said in a state-
ment.
U.S. responds with
refusal to make $60
million payment
PARIS (AP) - Palestine won its
greatest international endorse-
ment yet yesterday, full member-
ship in UNESCO, but the move
will cost the agency one-fifth of
its funding and some fear will
send Mideast peace efforts off a
cliff.
In an unusually dramatic ses-
sion at the Paris-based United
Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization, there
were cheers for "yes" votes and
grumbles for the "no's" and
abstentions. When the results
were in, many delegates jumped
to their feet and applauded and
someone let out a cry ofLonglive
Palestine!" in French.
"Joy fills my heart. This is real-
ly a historic moment," said Pal-
estinian Foreign Minister Riad
Malki. "It's the return of he who
was banished."
But the jubilation was quickly
pierced by reality: The United
States said it wouldn't make a $60
million payment to fill out its con-
tributions for this year and would
suspend all future funding.
UNESCO depends heavily on
that money - Washington pro-
vides 22 percent of its budget -
but has survived without it in the
past: The United States pulled
out of UNESCO under President
Ronald Reagan, rejoining two
decades later under President
George W. Bush.
Yesterday's vote was a grand
symbolic victory for the Pales-
tinians, but it alone won't make
Palestine a state. The issues of
borders for an eventual Palestin-
ian state, security, a solution for
Palestinian refugees, the fate of
Jerusalem and other disputes that
have thwarted Middle East peace
for decades remain unresolved.
Some argued it would even make
it harder for the Palestinians to
reach their goal.
White House spokesman Jay
Carney called UNESCO's deci-
sion "premature" and said it
undermines the international
community's efforts toward
a comprehensive Middle East
peace plan. He called it a distrac-
tion from the goal of restarting
direct negotiations between Isra-
el and the Palestinians.
Israeli Ambassador Nimrod
Barkan said the decision did "a
great disservice to international
law and to chances for peace."
"UNESCO deals in science,
not science fiction," he said in
a speech to delegates after the
vote. "However, a large number
of member states, though most
emphatically less than two-thirds
of the member states of this orga-
nization, have adopted a science
fiction version of reality."
His government said it was
reconsidering its cooperation
with UNESCO.
The request to grant Palestine
full membership passed 107-14,
with 52 abstentions. Eighty-one
votes were needed for approval
- or two-thirds of the 173 eli-
gible member delegations pres-
ent. There are now 195 members
in al.
In a surprise, France voted
"yes" - and the room erupted in
cheers. It was joined by Ireland,
Austria and the Arab states. The
"no" votes included the United
States, Israel, Sweden, the Neth-
erlands and Germany, while
many American allies abstained,
including Japan, Britain and New
Zealand.
Yesterday's vote is definitive,
and the membership formally
takes effect when Palestine signs
UNESCO's founding charter.
It is part of a broader Palestin-
ian quest for greater international
recognition in hopes of moving
closer to statehood through chan-
nels other than simply negotia-
tions with Israel.
There, however, are concerns
that strategy could backfire.
Before the vote, Israel's outspoken
foreign minister, Avigdor Lieber-
man, said that if the measure
passed, Israel should cut off ties
with the Palestinian Authority.
It was not clear whether he was
voicing government policy.
By contrast, Malki said he
hoped the vote would only pro-
vide momentum for the Palestin-
ians' quest for statehood. But he
added that it was no substitute
for the Palestinians' more high-
profile request for admission to
the United Nations.
The Obama administration
has vowed to use its veto power
in the Security Council to quash
Palestinian membership in the
broade'.N., but hadbeedhop-
ing it wouldn't come to that since
wielding its veto could under-
mine the United States' typically
pivotal role as negotiator between
Israel and the Palestinians.
However, Malki, indicated
Monday that he thought he had
enough support to win a Security
Council vote, which has not yet
been scheduled.
UNESCO, like many U.N.
agencies, is a part of the world
body but has separate member-
ship procedures and can make
its own decisions about which
countries belong. The disconnect
between memberships is rare
but not unprecedented. Two tiny
Pacific island nations - the Cook
Islands and Niue - are members
of UNESCO but not the U.N.,
while Liechtenstein belongs to
the larger world body but not the
cultural agency.
Honda cuts production
in U.S., Canada in half
Vehicle production tered by the strong yen and
production disruptions from
reduced until Nov. the March tsunami disaster.
The automaker, which
10 or later makes the Accord and Civic
sedans, said yesterday that net
DETROIT (AP) - Parts profit for the July-September
shortages from three months fiscal second quarter fell to
of catastrophic flooding in 60.4 billion yen ($788 million).
Thailand have forced Honda to Quarterly sales sank 16.3
cut U.S. and Canadian factory percent from a year earlier
production by 50 percent for to 1.885 trillion yen ($24.6
the second time this year, the billion), with sales in North
automaker said yesterday. America falling the most -
The cuts, which come just 22.3 percent.
as Honda was recovering Flooding in Thailand, where
from the March 11 earthquake Honda has parts suppliers and
and tsunami in Japan, will assembly lines, made it too dif-
run from Wednesday at least ficult to forecast earnings for
through Nov. 10 as Honda tries the full fiscal year through
to find alternate sources for March 2012. A projection will
microprocessors that are made be announced when itbecomes
in Thailand. available, the company said.
The flooding, which began Honda also said it will stop
in July and has forced many all production in the U.S. and
auto parts plants to close, also Canada for one day on Nov.
affected Toyota Motor Co., 11, and all Saturday overtime
which cut overtime for produc- work will be canceled through
tion in North America through November. Spokesman Ed
the end of this week. Miller said it's too early to
Honda Motor Co.'s tell if there will be a repeat of
announcement comes the same model shortages that occurred
day the Japanese automaker during the summer and early
announced that its quarterly fall due to parts shortages from
profit tumbled 56 percent, bat- the earthquake and tsunami.