The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - 3
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING
Viral disease kills
4,127 deer in 24
Michigan counties
Authorities in Michigan say
an insect-spread deer disease has
spread to at least 24 counties.
The Michigan Department of
Natural Resources and Michigan
State University announced new
. figures Monday on confirmed
cases of the illness.
It's called epizootic hemor-
rhagic disease and is untreatable.
The virus causes extensive inter-
nal bleeding and is transmitted by
a type of biting fly called a midge.
The disease is on the rise
nationwide because of hot, dry
weather.
HOUSTON
FBI investigating
officer who shot
double-amputee
The FBI will help investigate
what led a Houston police officer
to shoot and kill a wheelchair-
bound double amputee who was
agitated and threatening police
with what turned out to be a ball-
point pen, the city's police chief
said Monday..
Police Chief Charles McClel-
land also asked the community to
"reserve judgment" on the officer
and his actions this weekend at
the Healing Hands group home
for the mentally ill, and sought to
. reassure the public that all of the
city's officers are trained to deal
with people with mental prob-
lems.
Officer Matthew Marin shot
45-year-old Brian Claunch early
Saturday after responding to a call
that the one-armed, one-legged
man was causing a disturbance
inside the home. Police have said
Claunch cornered and threatened
Marin, who reportedly told inves-
tigators he didn't know the object
in Claunch's hand was a pen.
TEHRAN, Iran
Iran official says
country will
boycott Oscars
An Iranian film won an Oscar
in the foreign film category in Feb-
ruary. But Mohammed Hosseini
said the Islamic Republic would
not field an entry for next year's
awards due to the low-budget
video he dubbed "an intolerable
insult to the Prophet of Islam," the
semiofficial ISNA news agency
reported. Hosseini urged other
Islamic countries to also boycott.
He confirmed that the commit-
tee in charge of selecting Iran's
entry has already picked "Ye Hab-
beh Ghand," or "A Cube of Sugar"
- a film about a family wedding
turning into a funeral when the
groom's relative dies - to compete
for best foreign film.
Iranian director Asghar Far-
hadi won the 2012 Oscar for best
foreign film for his movie, "A Sep-
aration" - the first such prize for
Iran.
TRIPOLI, Libya
Libya appoints
military officers to
head militias
Libya's military command
appointed Monday a pair of army
officers to head two powerful
Islamist militias in the country's
east, part of the government's
push to rein in armed factions.
The move reflects the pressure
on the government to control or
disband the country's militias,
many of which it had relied upon
for securing Libya in the turmoil
following last year's ouster and
killing of longtime leader Moam-
mar Gadhafi.
Col. Ali al-Sheikhi, the spokes-
man for Libya's joint chiefs
of staff, told the news agency
LANA that the chiefs of the
Rafallah Sahati Brigade and the
Feb. 17 Brigade, two groups that
authorities had allowed to man-
age security in the eastern city of
Benghazi, would be replaced with
army commanders.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Scan dal continues
to embroil China
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at a high level meeting at United Nations headquarters Sept. 24, 2012.
Ahmadinej ad dismisses
Israel at United.. Nations
Bo Xilai's right-
hand man gets 15
years in prison
CHENGDU, China (AP) -
China has nearly mopped up a
murder scandal that has roiled
the country for months, but the
last step - dealing with a fallen
political star who was once
among the Communist Party's
most popular figures - will be
the most delicate of all.
Bo Xilai's former right-hand
man and police chief, Wang
Lijun, was sentenced Monday to
15 years in prison for making a
thwarted defection bid, and for
helping Bo's wife cover up the
murder of a British businessman.
Bo's wife and other figures in the
scandal were sentenced previ-
ously, and Beijing is keen to settle
the fate of Bo himself before a
once-a-decade change in leader-
ship expected nextmonth.
Ever since Wang's thwarted
defection bid at a U.S. consul-
ate in February made the scan-
dal public, the question of what
to do about Bo, then a powerful
party boss in Chongqing city,
has bedeviled Chinese leaders. It
strained relations among Com-
munist Party power brokers
just as they were cutting deals
to transfer of power to younger
leaders; deciding whether- ,to
prosecute him or merely purge
him from the party became part
of the bargaining.
Wang's trial and verdict bode
ill for Bo. The official account of
the trial implied that Bo ignored
his wife's involvement in the
murder after Wang told him
about it. Though it referred to Bo
by his position rather than his
name, the account marked the
first time in weeks of trials that
Bo was mentioned in anyway.
In sentencing Wang, the
court emphasized his help in
the murder investigation against
Bos wife, who was convicted
last month, and in exposing the
crimes of unspecified others.
"He apparently got credit for
turning against" Bo andhis wife,
said Dali Yang, director of the
University of Chicago Center in
Beijing. "The revelation against
Bo Xilai provides ground for the
central leadership to dismiss Bo
formally and, if they choose to
do so, presumably to bring crim-
inal charges."
Debating Bo's fate is one
of the issues that has delayed
announcement of a National
Party Congress, a pivotal event
in installing the new generation
of leaders.'With verdicts in for
Wang and Bo's wife out of the
way, leaders are next expected to
announce dates for the congress
and for a preparatory meetingto
deal with Bo.
"The lack of a date for the
congress appears to be evidence
still of divisions over Bo and the
final leadership lineup, as well
as questions of political reform
and other sensitive issues," said
Jean-Pierre Cabestan, head of
the department of government
and international studies at
Hong Kong Baptist University.
Bo's case is extremely sen-
sitive because of his political
pedigree and his popularity.
The son of one of the commu-
nist state's founding fathers,
Bo has deep connections across
the party, government and mili-
tary. He was one of 25 Polit-
buro members and became
popular nationwide through
high-profile policies in Chongq-
ing, including a crackdown
on organized crime run with
police chief Wang.
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nian president White House press secre-
tary Jay Carney responded to
fends nuclear Ahmadinejad's remarks, tell-
ing a midday news briefing,
tram at General "Well, President Ahmadine-
jad says foolish, offensive and
Assembly sometimes unintelligible things
with great regularity. What he
W YORK (AP) - Iranian should focus on is the failure of
tnt Mahmoud Ahma- his government of Iran to abide
I on Monday dismissed by its international obligations,
of military action to abide by United Nations
Iran's nuclear program, Security Council resolutions."
g that his country's proj- U.N. Secretary-General Ban
nrich uranium is only for Ki-moon had met with Ahma-
ul purposes and saying dinejad on Sunday and "urged
an has no worries about a Iran to take the measures
e Israeli attack. necessary to build interna-
adinejad spoke before tional confidence in the exclu-
p of editors and news sively peaceful nature of its
ives after his arrival in nuclear program," U.N. spokes-
ork for the annual U.N. man Martin Nesirky said. The
i Assembly. He told the U.N. chief also raised the poten-
hat it was not too late for tially harmful consequences of
se with the United States inflammatory rhetoric ."from
lve differences. various countries in the Middle
in his remarks, Ahma- East," Nesirky said.
I sought to delegitimize On other topics in his meet-
ly Israel's historic ties to ing with editors, Ahmadinejad
ddle East and its politi- said that Iran favors a negoti-
d military power in the ated settlement to the civil war
and the world, saying in Syria, and denied that Tehran
raelis "do not even enter is providing weapons or training
ration for Iran." to the government of President
adamentally, we do not Bashar Assad, as Assad's oppo-
eriously threats of the nents and others have alleged.
s," Ahmadinejad said. "We like and love both sides,
elieve the Zionists see and we see both sides as broth-
lves at a dead end and ers," he said. He referred to the
rant to find an adven- conflict in Syria as "tribal" fight-
get out of this dead end. ing and said that international
we are fully ready to "meddling from the outside has
ourselves, we do not take made the situation even harder."
hreats seriously." He refused to say whether Iran
iadinejad declared Isra- would accept a government not
no place in the Middle led by the Assad regime, which
aying that Iran has been for years has been Iran's closest
fqr thousands of years ally in the Middle East.
he modern state of Israel Ahmadinejad met journalists
sted only for the last 60 in the mid-town hotel where he
ars. "They have no roots was saying. It was Ahmadine-
n history," he said. jad's eighth visit to the U.N.
gathering held each September,
which he cited as proof that he
is open to understanding other
countries' views.
In spite of his assertions on
the importance of dialogue and
respect for others, Ahmadinejad
presented a hard line in many
areas. He refused to speak of
the state of Israel by name and
instead referred only to the
"Zionists," and when asked
about author Salman Rushdie
he made no attempt to distance
himself from recent renewed
threats on the author's life ema-
nating from an Iranian semi-
official religious foundation. "If
he is in the U.S., you should not
broadcast it for his own safety,"
Ahmadinejad said.
He said this would be his last
trip to New York as president of
Iran, because his term is ending
and he is barred from seeking a
third consecutive term. But he
did not rule out staying active
in Iranian politics and said he
might return as part of future
Iranian delegations to New
York.
Ahmadinejad said the argu-
ment over Iran's nuclear pro-
gram was a political rather than
a legal matter and needs to be
resolved politically.
"We are not expecting that
a 33-year-old problem between
America and Iran to be resolved
in speedy discussions, but we do
believe in dialogue."
Later in the day, Ahma-
dinejad took aim at both the
United States and Israel while
addressing a high-level U.N.
meeting promoting the rule
of law, accusing Washington
of shielding what he called a
nuclear-armed "fake regime."
His remarks prompted a walk-
out by Israel's U.N. Ambassador
Ron Prosor.
New SARS -like virus
found in Middle East
At least one person
killed in Saudi
Arabia
LONDON (AP) - Global
health officials are closely moni-
toring a new respiratory virus
related to SARS that is believed
to have killed at least one person
in Saudi Arabia and left a Qatari
citizen in critical condition in
London.
The germ is a coronavirus,
from a family of viruses that
cause the common cold as well
as SARS, the severe acute respi-
ratory syndrome that killed
some 800 people, mostly in Asia,
in a 2003 epidemic.
In the latest case, British offi-
cials alerted the World Health
Organization on Saturday of the
new virus in a man who trans-
ferred from Qatar to be treated
in London. He had recently trav-
eled to Saudi Arabia and is now
being treated in an intensive
care unit after suffering kidney
failure.
WHO said virus samples from
the patient are almost identical
to those of a 60-year-old Saudi
national who died earlier this
year. The agency isn't currently
recommending travel restric-
tions and said the source of infec-
tion remains unknown. Still, the
situation has raised concerns
ahead of next month's annual
Hajj pilgrimage, which brings
millions of peopleto Saudi Arabia
from around the world.
Health officials don't know
yet whether the virus could
spread as rapidly as SARS did
or if it might kill as many peo-
ple. SARS, which first jumped
to humans from civet cats in
China, hit more than 30 coun-
tries worldwide after spreading
from Hong Kong.
"It's still (in the) very early
days," said Gregory Hartl,
a, WHO spokesman. "At the
moment, we have two sporadic
cases and there are still a lot of
holes to be filled in."
He added it was unclear how
the virus spreads. Coronavi-
ruses are typically spread in
the air but Hartl said scientists
were considering the possibility
that the patients were infected
directly by animals. He said
there was no evidence yet of any
human-to-human transmission.
New York City hospitals crack down
on junk food in vending machines
Bloomberg trying
to eliminate
unhealthy food
NEW YORK (AP) - People
nervously waiting around in
New York City hospitals for
loved ones to come out of sur-
gery can't smoke. In a few
months from now, they can't
have a supersized fast-food soda.
And soon, they won't even be
able to get a candy bar out of the
vending machine or a piece of
fried chicken from the cafeteria.
In one of his latest health
campaigns, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg is aiming to banish
sugary and fatty foods from both
public and private hospitals.
In recent years, the city's 15
public hospitals have cut calories
in patients' meals and restricted
the sale of sugary drinks and
unhealthy snacks at vending
machines. But now the city is.
tackling hospital cafeteria food,
too. And the Healthy Hospital
Food Initiative is expanding its
reach: In the past year, 16 private
hospitals have signed on.
Earlier this month, the city
moved to ban the sale of big
sodas and other sugary drinks
at fast-food restaurants and the-
aters, beginning in March. Crit-
ics say the hospital initiative is
yet another sign that Bloomberg
is running a "nanny state," even
though the guidelines are volun-
tary and other cities - including
Boston - have undertaken simi-
lar efforts.
Hospitals say it would be
hypocritical of them to serve
unhealthy food to patients who
are often suffering from obesity
and other health problems.
"If there's any place that
should not allow smoking or try
to make you eat healthy, you
would think it'd be the hospi-
talk," Bloomberg said Monday.
"We're doing what we should
do and you'll see, I think, most
of the private hospitals go along
with it."
The cafeteria crackdown will
ban deep fryers, make leafy
green salads a mandatory option
and allow only healthy snacks
to be stocked near the cafeteria
entrance and at cash registers.
At least half of all sandwiches
and salads must be made or
served with whole grains. Half-
size sandwich portions must be
available for sale.
"People sometimes right now
don't have healthy options," said
Christine Curtis, the city Health
Department's director of nutri-
tion strategy. "So you are there at
2 in the morning and maybe your
only choice is soda and chips."
Marcelle Scott brought her
own chips and soda into the
lobby of Manhattan's privately
operated St. Luke's-Roosevelt
Hospital - there was no vending
machine in sight - as she waited
for her daughter to give birth
Monday. It wasn't the first time
the unemployed security guard
from the Bronx got the "munch-
ies" for junk food to keep calm
while awaiting the outcome of a
loved one's medical procedure.
"I like my Snickers and my
Mars Bars - especially if I'm
nervous for somebody who's
inside," she said.
Most hospitals have already
overhauled their vending
machines by allowing only two
types of 12-ounce high-calo-
rie beverages at each vending
machine - and they must be fea-
tured on the lowest rack. Hospi-
tal vending machines have also
swapped out most baked goods
for snacks like granola bars and
nuts.
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