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.