The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, November 26, 2012 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, November 26, 2012 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS PLYMOUTH, Mich. Slinky celebrates 350 million sales Today, the 67-year-old Slinky is celebrating 350 million sales and a recent infusion of cash from a private equity firm that will enable it to grow its product line. "We view the Slinky as clearly an American icon. The simplic- ity of the product, the low cost of the product, the various styles the product is manufactured in, all lend itself to one genera- tion teaching the next genera- tion about Slinky. We don't run extensive radio and TV ads," said POOF-Slinky President Ray Dal- lavecchia Jr. The St. Clair Shores native and Michigan State University alum- nus bought the POOF brand, a toymaker best known for foam balls, in 1991 from Automotive Plastics Technologies. POOF was introduced in the early 80s as a division of Detroit Plastic Molding, an automotive supplier. ARLINGTON, Va. President Obama sets example for buying local President Barack Obama made a quick trip to a Virginia book- store for some Christmas shop- ping. The president took his daugh- ters, Sasha and Malia, to One More Page Books in Arlington, Va., on Saturday afternoon. The White House says Obama was promoting an effort called "small business Saturday" to encourage shoppers to patronize mom-and-pop businesses after Thanksgiving. At the store, Obama held up his BlackBerry, apparently look- ing up a book title as he spoke with shop owner Eileen McGer- vey. He said "preparation" was the key to his shopping. The White House says Obama bought 15 children's books that will be given as Christmas gifts to family members. DHAKA, Bangladesh Shiites targeted by bomb that kills 2, injures 35 Police say a bomb exploded at a Shiite religious procession in northwest Pakistan, killing at least two people and injuring some 35 others. Police official Javed Khan says the bomb exploded Sunday in the city of Dera Ismail Khan. The city is located near the South Waziristan tribal region where a similar bombing Saturday killed seven and wounded 30. Shiite Muslims are observing Ashoura, a feast that commemo- rates the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. The Sunni-Shiite schism over the heir to Muhammad dates back to that time, and Sunni extremists often target Shiites mourners during the season.. GENEVA Grammy-winning jazz basist, band injured in bus crash Grammy-winning jazz bassist Marcus Miller and several mem- bers of his band were injured when their bus overturned Sun- day on a busy highway in Swit- zerland, killing the driver, police said. The German-registered pri- vate bus tipped over as it drove into a bend on the A2 highway in central Switzerland and came to a rest on its side, police in the canton (state) of Uri said. The bus was carrying 13 people. The band was on its way from Monte Carlo to the Dutch town of Hengelo, the next stop on the American band's tour, where it was due to perform Monday. -Compiled from Daily wire reports Ahmed Gomaa/AP AnEgyptianprotesterrunsduringclasheswithsecurityforces,notpictured;nearTahrirSquareinCairo,Egypt, onSunday.President Mohammed Morsi edicts, which were announced on Thursday, place him above oversight of any kind, including that of the courts. Eptans protest as Morsi grabs for Increased powers GOP warms to idea of Rice as Sec. of State McCain: UN contrast to his previous stance that Rice wasn't qualified to ambassador 'not replace Hillary Rodhabo Clin- ton, who is expected to step the problem' in down soon as the top U.S. dip- lomat, and that he would do Benghazi incident "whatever is necessary" to block Rice's possible nomina- WASHINGTON (AP) - tion. Republican opposition to U.N. Rice is widely -seen as Ambassador Susan Rice as the Obama's first choice for the job next secretary of state began as secretary of State. As the to crack Sunday as Sen. John top Republican on the Senate McCain said she was "not the Armed Services Committee, problem" in the White House's McCain would have consid- handling ofthe Sept.11 attack in erable sway in the Senate's Libya and suggested he could be screening of Rice. persuaded to swing behind her Sen. Lindsey Graham, possible nomination. McCain's close friend and col- McCain's comments pro- league on the committee, told vide an opening for the Obama ABC "This Week" he still sus- administration, which strug- pects the White House inten- gled mightily in the weeks tionally glossed over obvious leading up to the Nov. 6 elec- terrorist links in the attack to tion to tamp down specula- keep voters from questioning tion of a cover-up involving the Obama's handling of national attack against the U.S. diplo- security. matic post in Benghazi. The But instead of repeating his assault killed four Americans, prior assertion that he was including the U.S. ambassador "dead set" against a Rice pro- to Libya. motion, Graham suggested he At issue is Rice's account looked forward to hearing her - as the administration's rep- out. If Rice were nominated, resentative on the Sunday "there will be a lot of ques- talk shows Sept. 16 - that the tions asked of her about this violence was the spontaneous event and others," said Graham, result of a mob angered by an R-S.C. anti-Muslim video posted on The subtle shift in GOP tenor YouTube. She said she relied on on Rice could be the result of talking points provided by the internal grumblings on how far intelligence community that totake party opposition. Demo- were later discredited. crats picked up extra seats in "I think she deserves the the election to maintain their ability and the opportunity to narrow majority, making it that explain herself and her posi- much harder for the remain- tion," McCain, R-Ariz., told ing 45 Republicans to block the "Fox News Sunday." "But she's president's nominees. not the problem. The problem One senior GOP Senate aide is the president of the United said Sunday that Republicans States" who misled the public hadn't united against Rice and on terrorist involvement. were not convinced that she McCain's remarks were in was worth going after. Teenager dies, marks first death reported from street battles CAIRO (AP) - Support- ers and opponents of Egypt's president on Sunday grew more entrenched in their poten- tially destabilizing battle over the Islamist leader's move to assume near absolute powers, with neither side appearing willing to back down as the stock market plunged amid the' fresh turmoil. The standoff poses one of the hardest tests for the nation's lib- eral and secular opposition since Hosni Mubarak's ouster nearly two years ago. Failure to sustain protests and eventually force Mohammed Morsi to loosen con- trol could consign it to long-term irrelevance. Clashes between the two sides spilled onto the streets for a third day since the president issued edicts that make him immune to oversight of any kind, including that of the courts. A teenager was killed and at least 40 people were wounded when a group of anti-Morsi pro- testers tried to storm the local offices of the political arm of the president's Muslim Broth- erhood in the Nile Delta city of Damanhoor, according to secu- rity officials. It was the first reported death from the street battles that erupted across much of the nation on Friday, the day after Morsi's decrees were announced. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonym- ity because they were not autho- rized to speak to the media, identified the boy as 15-year-old Islam Hamdi Abdel-Maqsood. The tensions also dealt a fresh blow to the economy, which has suffered due to the problems plaguing the Arab world's most populous nation since Mubarak's ouster. Egypt's benchmark EGX30 stock index dropped 9.59 per- centage points Sunday in the first trading session since Morsi issued his decrees. The losses were among the biggest since the turbulent days and weeks imme- diately after Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising last year. The loss in the value of shares was estimated at close to $5 billion. The judiciary, the main target of the edicts, has pushed back, calling the decrees a power grab and an "assault" on the branch's independence. Judges and pros- ecutors stayed away from many courts in Cairo and other cities on Sunday. . But the nation's highest judi- cial body, the Supreme Judiciary Council, watered down its oppo- sition to the decrees on Sunday. It told judges and prosecutors to return to work and announced that its members would meet with Morsi on Monday to try to persuade him to restrict immu- nity to major state decisions like declaring war or martial law or breaking diplomatic relations with foreign nations. Ugandan officials mediate for Congo gov't and rebels Ugandan Defence Minister says Uganda, Rwanda will also benefit KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Congolese officials are in talks Sunday with representatives of M23, the rebel group that last week took control of the eastern Congo city of Goma, according to Ugandan officials. Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga said that he is mediating. discussions to help both sides reach a settlement that would end a violent rebel- lion that has sucked in Uganda and Rwanda, which both face charges of backingthe rebels. M23 President Jean-Marie Runiga is leading the rebels in the talks, according to Rene Abandi, M23's head of external relations. Abandi said M23 representa- tives met with Congolese Presi- dent Joseph Kabila in a tense, two-hour meeting that was also attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. "He tried to accuse us and we also tried to accuse him," Abandi said of the meeting with Kabila on Saturday. "It was a meeting to have a common understanding of the principle of negotiation. (Kabila) said he's ready to nego- tiate directly with us." But some Congolese officials in the capital Kinshasa have said there will be no talks with the rebels unless they quit Goma. A regional summit of the Inter- national Conference on the Great Lakes Region in Kampala - attended by both Kabila and Museveni - on Saturday called on the rebels to leave Goma and urged Kabila to listen to the "legitimate grievances" of M23. Despite the regional leaders' demands for the rebel forces to withdraw from Goma, M23 sol- diers were visibly in control of the city Sunday. M23 also still held Sake, a contested town 15 miles west of Goma. The Congo- lese army attacked the town Sat- urday, but M23 retained control. M23 President Runiga said that withdrawal from Goma was "under consideration" and, while M23 did not oppose the idea "in principle," no decision had been taken yet, accord- ing to M23 spokesman Lt. Col. Vianney Kazarama, speaking to the Associated Press. Runiga is still in Kampala and no official response to the demands from the regional summit is expected before his return to Congo, said Kazarama in Goma. "We are waiting to hear from Runiga when he will be back from Kampala," said Kazarama. "Since May we have asked to meet with President Kabila," said Amani Kabasha, M23's deputyspokesman. "At least now there has been contact. The door is open for talks to find the dura- ble peace that eastern Congo needs." Government troops remain in Minova, 15 miles south of Sake, following a failed attack on M23 last Thursday. Unruly Congo army soldiers had looted residents for the third night running, according to a United Nations official in the town who insisted upon anonym- ity because he is not autho- rized to speak to the press. U.N.. peacekeepers patrolled Minova throughout the night to protect civilians from the rampaging government troops. In Minova, Congo Gen. Fran- cois Olenga, who was recently named head of the Congolese army, held meetings with area commanders . "The country is in danger. We cannot defend our country with traitors," said Olenga to The Associated Press. Pickup trucks packed with Congolese army soldiers armed with automatic rifles and rock- et propelled grenades sped through Minova to regroup at the local soccer stadium. Army soldiers were also walking in the streets, looking for food. Some army soldiers were selling ciga- rettes on the side of the road. An M23 communique sent Saturday night claimed that gov- ernment regiments were mov- ing into attack positions around rebel-held territory. Martin Meissner/AP - FILE In this Dec. 16,2009file photo, smoke rises from apower plant in Germany. A UN report on greenhouse gases reminded world govermments. Nov. 21, 2012 that their efforts to fight climate change are far from enough to meet their goal of limiting global warmingto 2 degrees C. Expiration of Kyoto Protocol adds pressure to UN's climate talks Developing countries at risk to not be able to adapt to climate change DOHA, Qatar (AP) - As nearly 200 countries meet in oil- and-gas-rich Qatar for annual talks starting Monday on slow- ing global warming, one of the main challenges will be raising climate aid for poor countries at a time when budgets are strained by financial turmoil. Rich countries have deliv- ered nearly $30 billion in grants and loans promised in 2009, but. those commitments expire this year. And a Green Climate Fund designed to channel up to $100 billion annually to poor coun- tries has yet to begin operating. Borrowing a buzzword from the U.S. budget debate, Tim Gore of the British charity Oxfam said developing countries, including island nations for whom rising sea levels pose a threat to their existence, stand before a "cli- mate fiscal cliff?" "So what we need for those countries in the next two weeks are firm commitments from rich countries to keep giving money to help them to adapt to climate change," he told The Associated Press on Sunday. Creating a structure for cli- mate financing has so far been one of the few tangible outcomes of the two-decade-old U.N. cli- mate talks, which have failed in their main purpose: reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists say are warming the planet, melting ice caps, gla- ciers and permafrost, shifting weather patterns and raising sea levels. The only binding treaty to limit such emissions, the Kyoto Protocol, expires this year, so agreeing on an extension is seen as the most urgent task by envi- ronment ministers and climate officials meeting in the Qatari capital. However, only the European Union and a few other coun- tries are willing to join a second commitment period with new emissions targets. And the EU's 'chief negotiator, Artur. Runge- Metzger, admitted that such a small group is not going to make a big difference in the fight against climate change. "I think we cover at most 14 percent of global emissions," he said. The U.S. rejected Kyoto because it didn't cover rapidly growing economies such as China and India. Some hope for stronger commitments from U.S. delegates in Doha as work begins on -drafting a new global treaty that would also apply to develop- ing countries including China, the world's top carbon emitter. That treaty is supposed to be adopted in 2015 and take effect five years later. - Climate financing is a side issue but a controversial one that often deepens the rich-poor divide that has hampered the U.N. climate talks since their launch in 1992. Critics of the U.N. process see the climate nego- tiations asa cover for attempts to redistribute wealth. Runge-Metzger said the EU is prepared to continue support- ing poorer nations in converting to cleaner energy sources and in adapting to a shifting climate, despite the debt crisis roiling Europe. But he couldn't prom- ise that the EU would present any new pledges in Doha and said developing countries must present detailed "bankable pro- grams" before they can expect any money. Sometimes, developing coun- tries seem to be saying, "OK give us a blank check," he told AP. Climate aid activists bristled at that statement, saying many developing countries have already indicated what type of programs and projects need funding.