The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 12, 2012 -- 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
WARREN, Mich.
Two injured in
battery explosion
at GM facility
Two employees were injured
yesterday in a lithium battery
explosion that forced the evacu-
ation of about 80 others at a Gen-
eral Motors Co. facility north of
Detroit, authorities said.
The explosion occurred dur-
ing extreme testing of an experi-
mental battery in a test chamber
at the Alternative Energy Center
laboratory at the GM Tech Cen-
ter in Warren, the automaker
said in a statement.
It also caused a small fire that
was quickly extinguished.
YAKIMA, Wash.
Government and
tribes agree to $1
billion settlement
The federal government will
pay more than $1 billion to set-
tle a series of lawsuits brought
by American Indian tribes over
mismanagement of tribal money
and trust lands, under a settle-
ment announced yesterday.
The agreement resolves claims
brought by 41 tribes from across
the country to reclaim money
lost in mismanaged accounts and
from royalties for oil, gas, graz-
ing and timber rights on tribal
lands.
Negotiations continue on doz-
ens of other cases.
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia
Strong quake does
not cause tsunami
Cries of panic and fervent
prayers rang out yesterday as
Indonesians rushed toward high
ground after two strong earth-
quakes raised fears of a killer
tsunami.
Alerts were raised as far away
as Afrlttitd--Australia butthis
time the big waves didn't come.
In western Indonesia, dis-
traught women ran into the
streets clinging to crying chil-
dren as back-to-back tsunami
warnings revived memories of
the 2004 disaster that claimed
230,000 lives in nearly a dozen
countries. Others screamed
"God is great" as they poured
from their homes or searched
frantically for family members.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
World waits for North
Korean rocket launch
People rejoice during a special service for Trayvon Martin held at a chapel in Sanford, Fla., yesterday.v
Zimmerman charged with 2nd-
degree murder in Martin killing
Controversial
launch to occur in
five-day window
PYONGYANG, North Korea
(AP) - Fighter jets roared
through the skies over down-
town Pyongyang today as the
world watched to see whether
North Korea would defy inter-
national warnings and launch a
long-range rocket over the Yel-
low Sea.
The five-day window for the
launch of a rocket mounted
with an observation satellite
opened today as North Koreans
woke to details about develop-
ments at a Workers' Party con-
ference where leader Kim Jong
Un ascended to top posts and
brought with him a new genera-
tion of officials.
His father, Kim Jong II, was
granted the posthumous title of
"eternal general secretary" at
the special one-day party con-
ference yesterday. The immor-
talization of the late leader
provided a glimpse into how
North Korea will handle the
nation's second hereditary suc-
cession and indicates he will
be honored much in the same
way his father, Kim Il Sung, was
made "eternal president" follow-
ing his 1994 death.
Footage on state TV today
showed Kim Jong Un seated at
the front of the conference with
white statues of his grandfather
and a new statue of his father
in his trademark khaki work
ensemble, one arm on his hip.
There was no word this morn-
ing on the timing of the contro-
versial launch, which the North
has said will takeplacesometime
between Thursday and Monday.
In 2009, a similar launch from an
east coast site took place on the
second day of a five-day window.
The United States, Japan,
Britain and others say the launch
would constitute a provocation
and would violate U.N. Secu-
rity Council resolutions banning
North Korea from developing its
nuclear and missile programs.
Experts say the Unha-3 carri-
er is similar to the type of rocket
that could be used to fire a mis-
sile mounted with a nuclear war-
head to strike the U.S. or other
targets.
The launch and Kim's formal
ascension to top posts comes
during a week of events leading
up to celebrations Sunday mark-
ing the 100th anniversary of the
birth of his grandfather, late
President Kim Il Sung.
The centennial is a major
milestone in the nation Kim
founded in 1948, and the streets
of the capital, Pyongyang, were
awash with new posters, ban-
ners and the national flag. The
streets were busy with women
clad in traditional Korean dress-
es and children waving red flags.
North Korea invited doz-
ens of journalists to report on
the events designed not only to
honor Kim Il Sung but also to
demonstrate unity as Kim Jong
Un consolidates power. The
Taedong River flyover of fighter
jets was practice for a military
parade, officials said. North
Korea's army celebrates its 80th
anniversary later this month.
The expected satellite launch
is one of the marquee events this
week. North Korean space offi-
cials call the launch of the Unha-
3 rocket, mounted with an Earth
observation satellite, a "gift" to
Kim Il Sung. They said Wednes-
day that the final step of inject-
ing fuel into the three-stage
rocket was under way in the
coastal hamlet of Tongchang-ri.
"We are injecting fuel as we
speak," Paek Chang Ho, chief of
the space committee's General
Command Center, told report-
ers given a chance Wednesday
tovisit the controlcenter outside
Pyongyang.
Neighborhood
watchman turns
himself in
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - The
neighborhood watch volunteer
who shot Trayvon Martin to
death had been out of touch
and, his ex-lawyer says, "a little
bit over the edge" before his
arrest on a second-degree mur-
der charge.
As George Zimmerman
turned himself in yesterday
in the Feb. 26 shooting of the
unarmed black teen, experts
offered this advice: Stop talk-
ing.
"My advice to the client
would be, 'Save it for the trial. It
can't help you."' said Roy Kahn,
a Miami defense attorney,.
The 28-year-old Sanford
man was in custody in Florida
after a puzzling disappearance
that had his lawyers express-
ing concern for his health
and Announcing they couldn't
represent him anymore. Zim-
merman had called special
prosecutor Angela Corey, his
former lawyers said, had an
off-the-record chat with a Fox
News Channel host and put up
a website asking supporters for
money.
"It would not be in a client's
best interest to give any state-
ment before it's his time to tes-
tify at trial," Kahn said. "For
him to give a statement, since
he already has given an inter-
view to the police, any addi-
tional statement at the State
Attorney's Office would just
create the possibility of him
creating conflict with his previ-
ous statements."
Zimmerman's new attorney,
Mark O'Mara, said after his
client's arrest yesterday that
Zimmerman "is very concerned
about the charges, but he is
OK."
"I'm not concerned about
his mental well being," O'Mara
said.
Former lawyers Craig Son-
ner and Hal Uhrig on Tues-
day portrayed Zimmerman as
erratic, said he hadn't returned
their calls and texts and was
buckling under the pressure
thathas built in the month since
the shooting.
Jack Schafer, a professor at
Western Illinois University
and a former FBI behavioral
analyst, said Zimmerman's
behavior shouldn't cause undue
concern. After all, Schafer said,
he wasn't charged with any
crime and was free to go wher-
ever he wanted after he spoke to
authorities after the shooting.
"If I were him, I'd go some-
where in hiding," said Schafer.
"His life is at risk, not by juris-
prudence, but by angry people
who are rushing to judgment."
Leslie Garfield, a Pace Uni-
versity law professor in New
York, said Zimmerman's behav-
ior over the last 48 hours should
not affect his prosecution.
"Whatever else goes on
behind the scenes before charg-
es aren't really a factor," she
said. "All that should matter is
what his intentions were at the
time of the shooting."
Zimmerman showed the
strain in his own words on his
website, bearing the American
flag.
"As a result of the incident
and subsequent media cov-
erage, I have been forced to
leave my home, my school,
my employer, my family and
ultimately, my entire life," he
wrote. "This website's sole pur-
pose is to ensure my supporters
they are receiving my full atten-
tion without any intermediar-
ies."
Kahn said anything Zim-
merman says now, to Corey or
the public, could be taken the
wrong way.
"The only thing he can do is
make the case worse for himself
if he says something stupid," he
said. "It may not be incriminat-
ing, but if it's stupid, even if it's
an insignificant fact that shows
it's something he lied about,
that's enough for them to say,
'Well, he's lying."'