100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

February 28, 2013 - Image 3

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 2013-02-28

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thuesday, February 28, 2013 - 3A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thuesday, February 28, 2013 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
ROYAL OAK, Mich.
One killed in house
explosion north
of Detroit
A man has been killed in an
* explosion that destroyed a home
in a suburb north of Detroit.
The Oakland County medical
examiner's office says the death
and explosion in Royal Oak are
under investigation. No other
details about the victim were
released.
Residents along Cooper near
Woodward and 13 Mile Road say
they heard the explosion about 5
p.m. Wednesday and that it shook
their homes and shattered win-
dows.
CLINTON, Miss.
Michelle Obama
highlights obesity
progress in Miss.
Michelle Obama on Wednesday
congratulated this Southern state
for a more than 13 percent drop in
its child obesity rates, saying its
example should inspire the rest of
the country.
It's the reason she made Mis-
sissippi the first stop on a two-
day tour to promote her signature
effort, the anti-childhood obe-
sity campaign she launched three
years ago called "Let's Move."
In remarks at an elementary
school near Jackson, the first lady
cited new research showing that
childhood obesity rates among
elementary school pupils in the
state had declined by 13.3 percent
between 2005 and 2011.
"What's happeninghere in Mis-
sissippi is really what 'Let's Move'
is all about," she told an audience
of state officials, school nutrition
professionals and parents. She
urged them to keep on doing what
they've been doing.
DUBLIN
Algerian in 'Jihad
Jane' plot faces
U.S. extradition
An Algerian man wanted by
U.S. authorities over the abortive
"Jihad Jane" plot to assassinate a
Swedish artist is expected to face
extradition hearings in an Irish
courthouse Wednesday after his
surprise arrest.
Ali Charaf Damache, 47, had
just walked free from court after
three years in an Irish prisonwhen
detectives acting on an American
extradition warrant rearrested
and escorted him, handcuffed,
to an unmarked police car. Court
officials said he was expected to
face U.S. extradition demands
Thursday in Dublin High Court.
The FBI and U.S. Justice
Department accuse Damache of
being the ringleader behind an
unrealized 2009 conspiracy to
target artist Lars Vilks in Sweden
over his series of drawings depict-
ing the Muslim prophet Muham-
mad as a dog. Muslim extremists
in Iraq had offered a $100,000

reward for anyone who killed
Vilks, who was never attacked.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand
Loved ones salute
New Zealand dad
killed by shark
About 150 friends and family
of Adam Strange wrote messages
to him in the sand and stepped
into the water Thursday at a New
Zealand beach to say goodbye a
day after he was killed by a large
shark while training for an endur-
ance swim.
Strange, 46, was an award-
winning television and short
film director and the father of a
2-year-old girl. He was swimming
near popular Muriwai Beach on
Wednesday when he was attacked
by the shark that was possibly 14
feet (4 meters) long.
Police attempting to save him
raced out in inflatable boats and
fired gunshots at the enormous
predator, which they say rolled
away and disappeared. They
couldn't confirm if they'd killed
it. Police were able to recover
Strange's body.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

D iplomats make
compromises
to keep nuclear
discussion alive

ALESSANDRA TARANTINO/AP
Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Wednesday.
Pope addresses 150,000 in
address before resignation

Recalls joy,'
difficulties in
final audience
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope
Benedict XVI bid an emotional
farewell Wednesday on the
eve of his retirement, recalling
moments of "joy and light" dur-
ing his papacy, but also times of
difficulty when "it seemed like
the Lord was sleeping."
Some 150,000 people, many
waving banners proclaiming
"Grazie!" flooded St. Peter's
Square, eager to bear witness to
the final hours of a papacy that
will go down in history as the
first in 600 years to end in resig-
nation rather than death.
Benedict basked in the emo-
tional send-off, taking a long
victory lap around the square in
an open-sided car, and stopping
to kiss and bless half a dozen
babies. Seventy cardinals, some
tearful, sat in solemn attendance
- and gave him a standing ova-
tion at the end of his speech.
Benedict then made a quick
exit, forgoing the meet-and-
greet session that typically
follows his weekly general audi-
ence, as if to not prolong the
goodbye.
Given the weight of the
moment, Benedict also replaced
his usual Wednesday catechism
lesson with a heartfelt final
address, explaining once again
why he was retiring and assur-
ing his flock of 1.2 billion that he
was not abandoningthem.
"To love the church means
also to have the courage to take
difficult, painful decisions,
always keeping the good of the
church in mind, not oneself,"
Benedict said to thundering
applause.
He noted that a pontiff has no
privacy - neither as pope, nor
in his future role as emeritus
pope: "He belongs always and
forever to everyone, to the whole
church."
During his eight years as
pope, Benedict said he had had
"moments of joy and light, but
also moments that haven't been

easy. ... Moments of turbulent
seas and rough winds, as has
occurred in the history of the
church, when it seemed like the
Lord was sleeping."
But he said he never felt alone,
that God always guided him, and
he thanked his cardinals and
colleagues for their support and
for "understanding and respect-
ing this important decision."
The pope's tenure has been
beset by the clerical sex abuse
scandal, discord over everything
from priestly celibacy to wom-
en's ordination, and mostrecent-
ly the betrayal by his own butler,
who stole his private papers and
leaked them to a journalist.
Under a bright sun and blue
skies, the square was overflow-
ing with pilgrims and curiosity-
seekers. Those who couldn't get
in watched on giant TV screens
set up along the main boulevard
leading to the square. About
50,000 tickets were requested,
and in the end, the Vatican
estimated that 150,000 people
flocked to the farewell.
"It's difficult - the emo-
tion is so big," said Jan Marie, a
53-year-old Roman in his first
years as a seminarian. "We came
to support the pope's decision."
With chants of "Benedetto!"
the mood was far more buoy-
ant than during the pope's final
Sunday blessing. It recalled the
jubilant turnouts that often
accompanied him at World
Youth Days and events involv-
ing his predecessor, Pope John
Paul II.
Benedict has said he decided
to retire after realizing that, at
85, he simply didn't have the
"strength of mind or body" to
carry on.
"I have taken this step with
the full understanding of the
seriousness and also the nov-
elty of the decision, but with a
profound serenity in my soul,"
Benedict told the crowd.
He will meet Thursday morn-
ing with his cardinals for a final
time, then fly by helicopterto the
papal residence at Castel Gan-
dolfo south of Rome.
There, at 8 p.m., the doors of

the palazzo will close and the
Swiss Guards in attendance will
go off duty, their service pro-
tecting the head of the Catholic
Church over - for now.
Many of the cardinals who
will choose Benedict's successor
were in St. Peter's Square for his
final audience. Among them was
retired Los Angeles Cardinal
Roger Mahony, the object of a
grass-roots campaign in the U.S.
to persuade him to recuse him-
self for having covered up for
sexually abusive priests. Maho-
ny has said he will be among the
115 cardinals voting for the next
pope.
"God bless you," Mahony said
when asked by television crews
about the U.S. campaign.
Also in attendance were car-
dinals over 80, who can'tpartici-
pate in the conclave but will take
part in meetings next week to
discuss the problems facing the
church and the qualities needed
in a new pope.
"I am joining the entire
church in praying that the car-
dinal electors will have the help
of the Holy Spirit," 82-year-old
Spanish Cardinal Julian Her-
ranz said.
Herranz has been authorized
by the pope to brief voting-age
cardinals on his investigation
into the leaks of papal docu-
ments that exposed corruption
in the Vatican administration.
Vatican officials say cardinals
will begin meeting Monday to
decide when to set the date for
the conclave.
Still, the rank-and-file faith-
ful weren't so concerned with
the future: They wanted to savor
the final moments of a pope they
have known for years.
"I came to thank him for the
testimony that he has given the
church," said Maria Cristina
Chiarini, a 52-year-old home-
maker who traveled by train
from Lugo in central Italy with
about 60 members of her par-
ish. "There's nostalgia, human
nostalgia, but also comfort.
Because as Christians we have
hope. The Lord won't leave us
without a guide."

Iran hails
concessions as a
'turning point'
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP)
- World powers offered broader
concessions than ever to Iran
in attempts Wednesday to keep
alive diplomatic channels that
seek to rein in the Islamic Repub-
lic's nuclear program and pre-
vent it from building an atomic
weapon.
The offer was hailed by Saeed
Jalili, Iran's top official at diplo-
matic talks in Kazakhstan, who
said it represented a "turning
point" by world powers to com-
promise on Tehran's uranium
enrichment program after years
of delicate negotiationsthat near-
ly dissolved last June.
The proposal allows Iran to
keep a limited amount of highly
enriched uranium - but not
make any more - stops short of
demanding the full shutdown of
an underground nuclear facility,
and offers to remove some trade
sanctions that have hurt Iran's
economy.
Still, a senior U.S. official said,
crippling sanctions on Iran's oil
and financial industries would
remain in place as negotiations
continue. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss
the sensitive talks more candidly.
The latest offer marked a small
but significant shift from ear-
lier, harder-line proposals that
prompted Iran to dig in its heels
amid fears that an arms race in
neighboring states could sow yet
more instability in the already
turbulent Mideast. Israel has
repeatedly hinted its readiness to
strike Iranian nuclear facilities
- a military venture the United
States likely would be dragged
into.
The new offer also is expected
to force Iran to respond with a
reasonable plan of its own - or be
seen as a recalcitrant negotiator
unwilling to compromise.
The proposal "was more real-
istic than before and had tried
to get closer to the Iranian view-
point in some cases," Jalili told
reporters at the end of two days
of negotiations in Kazakhstan's
largest city, Almaty. "We consid-
er this positive - although there
is a long distance to reach the
suitable point."
British Foreign Minister Wil-
liam Hague called the talks "use-
ful" and said the new proposal
aimed "to build confidence on

both sides and move negotiations
forward."
"Ilook forward to further prog-
ress," Hague said in a statement.
Iran maintains it has the right
under international law to enrich
uranium to 20 percent -" a level
that can quickly be elevated into
use for nuclear warheads. Teh-
ran claims it needs that level of
enriched uranium for reactor
fuel and medical isotopes, and
has signaled it does not intend to
stop. U.N. nuclear inspectors last
week confirmed Iran has begun
a major upgrade of its program
at the country's main uranium
enrichment site.
Iran also insists, as a starting
point, that world powers must
recognize the republic's right
to enrich uranium, and Jalili
repeated Wednesday that Teh-
ran must be able to enrich to 20
percent.
"Whatever we need, we will of
course pursue that - whether it
is 5 percent or 20 percent," Jalili
said. "It is important to us to have
the 20 percent."
However, that remains a red
line to negotiators from the world
powers - the United States,
China, Russia, Britain, France
and Germany - who put their
continued demand that Iran end
any uranium enrichment that
nears or reaches 20 percent at the
heart of the new offer.
The senior U.S. official said
Iran would be required to restrict
its current stockpile of 20 percent
enriched uranium but, in a new
development, would be allowed
to keep enough to fuel a research
reactor in Tehran. Also, Iran
would have to suspend opera-
tions at its underground nuclear
facility at Fordo - and make it
difficult to restart it quickly -
but would no longer be required
to fully shut it down.
In return, the official said, the
U.S. and EU would lift a number
of unspecified sanctions on Iran,
which was hit with harsh trade
restrictions last year in Western
hopes they would force Tehran
to bend on its nuclear program.
Additionally, the U.N. Secu-
rity Council and the EU would
impose no new nuclear sanctions
against Iran.
However, the hardest-hitting
sanctions - on Iran's oil and finan-
cial industries - will remain in
place during the negotiations, the
official said. The tough sanctions
have caused unemployment and
inflation in Iran to skyrocket, while
depressing its daily oil output and
value of its currency, the rial.

JC Penney sales drop, again

TME EW UhE (CINE5E CU5I E
iAa qardRn o
RlWEOEN N T !OW
uclatwug i Ne IuAs.uE
I WE kREALOO
7 34-99-178
It6$. $IN STREET
VL HM AM netNIq Mn-TH
A00 A8 0 E K - ui si

Changes lead to
fourth straight
quarterly loss
NEW YORK (AP) - Boy, it
just wasn't J.C. Penney's year.
The mid-priced department
store chain reported another
much larger-than-expected loss
in the fiscal fourth quarter on a
nearly 30 percent plunge in rev-
enue in the latest sign shoppers
aren't happy with the changes
it's made in the past year.
The results mark a full year
of massive quarterly losses and
revenue declines that miss Wall
Street estimates since J.C. Pen-
ney Co. began a turnaround
strategy that included ditching
most of its coupons and sales
events in favor of everyday
low prices, bringing in hipper
designer brands such as Betsy
Johnson and remaking outdat-
ed stores.
The quarterly performance
puts additional pressure on
CEO Ron Johnson, the former
Apple Inc. executive who was
brought about a year ago to turn

the stodgy retailer that was los-
ing money into a hip and profit-
able company that can compete
with the likes of Macy's or
H&M. In the past year since
Johnson rolled out his plan,
though, even once loyal custom-
ers have strayed away from the
1,100-store chain.
While acknowledging that
Penney made some mistakes
during a conference call with
investors, Johnson said on
Wednesday that Penney will
start offering more sales in
stores - about 100 of the 600
or so the chain offered prior to
the turnaround plan. That's in
addition to the sales events that
the company said last month
that it would start offering dur-
ing holidays and other key sales
periods throughout the year.
"Experience is making mis-
takes and learning from them,
and I have learned a lot," John-
son said. "We worked really
hard and tried many things to
help the customer understand
that she shop any time on her
terms. But we learned she pre-
fers a sale. At times, she loves a
coupon. And she always needs a

reference price."
Teresa Cansell agrees. She
used to make the 45-mile trek
from her farm near Leon, Kan.,
to a Penney store in Wichita
about once a month. But since
Penney started making changes
last year, she's only been twice.
And on her latest trip in Decem-
ber, shewalked outemptyhand-
ed because she couldn't find a
leather jacket she wanted.
"I loved the old J.C. Penney.
I liked the coupons," Cansell,
53, said. "I used to go to Pen-
ney every time I got them in the
mail. I would buy a ton of stuff."
Penney's results show that
other shoppers feel the same
way. During the fourth quar-
ter that ended Feb. 2, Penney's
revenue at stores opened at
least a year - a figure the retail
industry uses to measure of a
store's health - dropped 31.7
percent.
That's on top of hefty drops
in the previous three quarters
of 26.1 percent in the third, 21.7
percent inthe second and 19 per-
cent in the first. And it's steeper
than the decline of 26.1 percent
Wall Street had expected.

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan