The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 3, 2013 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, October 3, 2013 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Doctor accused of
fraud to stay in jail
A Detroit-area cancer doctor
accused of intentionally misdi-
agnosing patients and ordering
unnecessary treatments will
remain in jail until trial, a judge
said Wednesday after prosecu-
tors insisted he might flee to the
Middle East.
Dr. Farid Fata, in custody since
Aug. 6, wanted the judge to lower
his $9 million bond to $500,000
and give him a chance to win
release. But the decision was
worse for the Oakland County
O man: No bond.
"Obviously there is a presump-
tion of innocence ... but the court
feels there is a serious risk of flight.
The charges are serious," U.S. Dis-
trict Judge Paul Borman said.
SEATTLE
Tesla Model S fire
worries investors
Flames that engulfed the front
end of a Tesla electric car near
Seattle also burned in the vehicle's
battery pack, making it difficult
for firefighters to extinguish the
blaze, according to documents
obtained by The Associated Press.
In an incident report released
under Washington state's public
records law, firefighters wrote
that they appeared to have Tues-
day's fire under control, but the
flames reignited. Crews found
that water seemed to intensify
the fire, so they began using a dry
chemical extinguisher.
After dismantling the front
end of the vehicle and puncturing
holes in the battery pack, crews
used a circular sawto cut an access
hole in the front section in order to
apply water to the battery, accord-
ing to documents. Only then was
the fire extinguished.
Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. fell
more than 6 percent Wednesday
after an Internet video showed
flames spewing from the vehicle,
which Tesla has touted as the
safest car in America.
CAIRO
Disrespecting flag
in Egypt could
lead to prison
Egypt's interim government
decided Wednesday that insult-
ing the flag and refusing to stand
for the national anthem is an
offense punishable by law.
The decree follows a media
fracas sparked by reports that an
ultraconservative Islamist sit-
ting on a committee to amend the
constitution refused to stand for a
moment of silence honoring police-
men killed on duty during a raid on
a militant stronghold last month.
It recalled earlier controversy
over reports that members of the
ultraconservative Salafi trendhave
refused to stand for the national
anthem for religious reasons.
MOSCOW
Activists charged
with piracy
Greenpeace said Wednesday
that 14 of its activists who were
detained after protesting at a
Russian oil platform have been
charged with piracy, a crime pun-
ishable by up to 15 years in prison.
L The environmental activists
from Argentina, Brazil, Britain,
Finland, the Netherlands, Poland,
Russia and Sweden were among
30 people from 18 countries who
were on board the Greenpeace
ship that was seized by the Rus-
sian coast guard following the
Sept. 18 protest. Those charged
Wednesday by the court in the
Arctic city of Murmansk included
13 Greenpeace activists and a free-
lance British video journalist.
Two of the activists had tried to
scale an offshore platform owned
by Russian state-controlled ener-
gy giant Gazprom to call attention
to the environmental risks of drill-
ing in Arctic waters.
More activists were expected
to be formally charged on Thurs-
day and Friday, Greenpeace said.
All 30 were being held in jails in
Murmansk, a port above the Arc-
tic Circle.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Candidates for
council debate
at League forum
EBRAHIM NOROOZI/AP
Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani waves after swearing in at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran in August. As Iran's
diplomatic profile rises with attempts to recalibrate its dealings with Washington, the Gulf rulers will have to make
adjustments, too, and that's not such an easy thing for the monarchs and sheiks to swallow.
Rouhani savs Iran is open to
iscussing nuclear activities
Iran's new president
has made overtures
to the West to cool
diplomatic tensions
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Presi-
dent Hassan Rouhani said
Wednesday that Iran is open to
discussing "details" of nuclear
activities including the enrich-
ment of uranium, hinting that
the Islamic Republic is willing
to broaden the terms of nego-
tiations with world powers.
He spoke shortly after receiv-
ing support from a wide range
of legislators for his policy of
reaching out to the West.
Rouhani emphasized Teh-
ran's longstanding position that
its fundamental right to enrich
uranium, a key ingredient of
nuclear weapons that Iran says
it needs for peaceful purposes,
is not up for discussion. But his
statement was a veiled hint that
Iran is open to negotiating on
the level of uranium enrichment
as part of a deal in return for
lifting of sanctions.
Rouhani was elected this
summer with the backing of
centrists and reformists, pledg-
ing a new approach to relations
with the West. During a visit to
New York for the U.N. General
Assembly last week, he held a
historic phone conversation
with President Barack Obama,
a gesture aimed at ending
three decades of estrangement
between the two countries.
In his remarks Wednesday
after meeting with the Cabinet,
Rouhani said Iran has drawn
up a "precise plan" to put on the
table at the next round of talks
with the five permanent mem-
bers of the U.N. Security Coun-
cil plus Germany in Geneva later
this month.
"Iran's enrichment right is
not negotiable but we must enter
into talks to see what would the
other side proposes to us about
the details," he said.
Uranium enrichment is a
technology that can be used to
produce nuclear fuel but further
enrichment makes it suitable for
use in nuclear weapons.
The U.S. and its allies fear
that uranium enrichment could
be used in developing a nuclear
weapons capacity. Iran says its
program is peaceful and geared
toward generating electricity
and producing isotopes to treat
cancer patients.
Foreign ministers of Iran and
the six-nation group - the U.S.,
Britain, France, Germany, Rus-
sia and China - met in New York
last week in a first meeting since
Rouhani was elected president
in June. The next round of talks
willbe held Oct.15-16 in Geneva.
Rouhani has reached out to
the West, hoping that his policy
of moderation and easing ten-
sions with the outside world will
lead to a nuclear deal.
Over 230 lawmakers, out of a
total of 290, signed a statement
Tuesday to endorse Rouhani's
policy of detente and interac-
tion, signaling that he enjoys
support from both moderates
and conservatives within the
ruling establishment.
Iran's Supreme Leader Aya-
tollah Ali Khamenei, who has
the final say on all state mat-
ters, has supported a strategy
of "heroic flexibility" in foreign
policy, opening the way for Rou-
hani's outreach.
Rouhani reiterated Iran's
pledge that it's not seeking
nuclear weapons, and that it
will keep its nuclear facilities
open to inspection by the Inter-
national Atomic Energy Agency,
the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog
group.
"This is our principle: to keep
doors of our nuclear facilities
open to IAEA inspection," he
said. "We have nothing to hide.
Our record is clean and our
hands are open."
Iran is living under U.N.
sanctions as well as tough U.S.-
led oil and banking sanctions
that have slashed oil exports by
half and shut Tehran out of the
international financial system.
Rouhani said he was not
surprised to see Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanya-
hu expressing anger at Iran's
"charm offensive."
Netanyahu on Tuesday called
Rouhani "a wolf in sheep's
clothing" and accused the lead-
er of being "a loyal servant of the
regime" who has done nothing
to stop Iran's nuclear program
since he took office in June.
"Such remarks show that we
are moving in the right direc-
tion," Rouhani said. "When
Israel sees that its sword doesn't
work and that wisdom has pre-
vailed in the world and that
the Iranian people's message of
peace is heard . they definitely
get angry."
Spending, safety,
transporation
among key topics
By FARONE RASHEED
Daily StaffReporter
On Wednesday night, the
League of Women Voters
hosted a second forum featur-
ing Ann Arbor City Council
candidates - this time host-
ing hopefuls from Wards 1
and 2 - to discuss a range of
issues, including city infra-
structure, downtown devel-
opment and transportation.
The event, which comple-
ments Tuesday night's debate
with representatives from
Wards 3 and 5, is in anticipa-
tion of the Ann Arbor City
Council elections on Nov. 5.
In the first round of debates
Wednesday, incumbent Sabra
Briere (D) faced off indepen-
dent candidate Jeff Hayner to
garner votes in Ward 1.
The two first discussed
crosswalk safety, a topic
sparked by the recent automo-
bile incident in which a bicy-
clist was struck at a crosswalk
on Plymouth Road. Hayner
called for increased education
about crosswalk safety backed
by more effective police
enforcement.
"The City Council's respon-
sibility should be to put the
proper amount of money into
educating the public - drivers
and pedestrians and bicyclists
- so we can share the streets
safely," Hayner said.
While Briere agreed thatcthe
issue needed to be dealt with,
she said she wasn't sure how to
proceed, since most of the inci-
dents stem from irresponsible
behavior, rather than unsafe
crosswalk policies.
Hayner addressed city
infrastructure, which he
said was overdue for needed
repairs to old and unsat-
isfactory roads, pipes and
draining systems. Briere
acknowledged these con-
cerns, but pointed to the
complexities and realities in
approaching such issues.
"We could do what people
in the past have advised - and
that is tear up the streets, put
in giant systems to conduct
the storm water quickly away
from the neighborhoods - but
we believe that damages the
river. Everything we do is a
moving picture," she said.
Hayner also supported
an expanded regional-bus-
transit system, as long as the
regional parties would be will-
ing and able to pay theirshares
equally. Briere acknowledged
that there would be a problem
expanding the current system
without also funding it - a
cost decision the community
needs to confront and decide
on together, she said.
In reference to the fund-
ing of the Downtown Devel-
opment Association, Briere
stood by her past position to
put a cap on DDA funding.
Hayner noted the inevitability
of growth, but also acknowl-
edged downtown growth as
a significant concern to the
community.
"I think the downtown is
getting pretty big, and when
I go door-to-door people are
concerned about it," Hayner
said.
Incumbent Jane Lumm
(I-Ward 2) debated Demo-
crat candidate Kirk Westphal
and Independent candidate
Conrad Brown, an LSA senior
and a member of the newly-
formed Mixed-Use Party.
Lumm expressed a need
to align city spending with
the needs of its citizens by
focusing on basic amenities
and services to the public,
including public safety, fixing
streets, addressing water and
sewage infrastructure, as well
as tackling the pedestrian
ordinance.
"It is all about priorities in
so many ways," Lumm said.
Westphal, a government
consultant and chair of the
City Planning Commission,
identified long-term economic
prosperity, proactive neigh-
borhood engagement and an
better budgeting process as
three focus areas - stress-
ing city revenue, community
awareness and council prior-
ity and efficiency in defining
and explaining the city's
major problems.
"I'm not an advocate or
somebody driving for a single
issue - I'm a data person,"
Westphal said.
Brown, a member of the
newly formed Mixed Use
Party and current University
student, reiterated the party's
most central concerns, includ-
ing infrastructure and urban
sprawl. He also articulated
a need to limit the amount of
tax dollars controlled byelect-
ed officials in the downtown
authority and exercise cau-
tion towards investing public
funds in private interests.
"Growing up in Flint, Mich-
igan has given me a unique
perspective on what govern-
ment and fiscal mismanage-
ment will do to a town as once
vibrant and proud as Flint,"
Brown said.
U.S . and global stocks fall over
fears of protracted gov. shutdown
Concerns linger over
potential sovereign
default if debt ceiling
isn't raised
NEW YORK (AP) - Fear of
a protracted U.S. government
shutdown is making global
investors increasingly nervous.
U.S. and European stock mar-
kets fell Wednesday as investors
and world leaders worried about
the threat to the global econo-
my. Europe's top central banker
called the partial shutdown
"a risk if protracted." Boston's
Federal Reserve Bank presi-
dent cited the budget battle as
a reason the Fed refused to pull
back its economic stimulus last
month, and President Barack
Obama appeared on financial
network CNBC to urge Con-
gress to pass a budget and avoid
derailing the nation's economic
recovery.
After shrugging off the first
day of the shutdown Tuesday,
Wall Street made it clear on the
second day that it was more and
more nervous that the budget
fight could turn into something
worse, a failure to raise the
nation's borrowing limit.
"I'm not going out there and
beating my chest and saying the
world is coming to an end here,"
said Brad McMillan, the Chief
Investment Officer at Common-
wealth Financial, an investment
adviser. "But we face the pos-
sibility for significantly greater
disruptions."
The looming crisis has been
growing for weeks. Republicans
in the House of Representatives
are insisting that Democrats
negotiate over a new health
care law as part of the budget
talks. Senate Democrats, led by
Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada, insist that Republicans
pass a straightforward tempo-
rary funding bill with no strings
attached.
The political gridlock could
prevent the U.S. government
from borrowing more money
to cover its bills and pay back
creditors later this month. The
financial market sees that as a
disastrous move that could send
the U.S. into recession.
On Wednesday, the major
indexes opened sharply
lower, as U.S. lawmak-
ers appearing unwilling to
yield in their entrenched
positions. After Obama
summoned Congressional
leaders to the White House
later in the morning, the
market started to recoup
some of its losses, but the
recovery faded throughout
the afternoon.
"The markets are sending
a loud message to Washing-
ton lawmakers to get their
act together and resolve the
budget crisis," said Peter
Cardillo, chief market econ-
omist at Rockwell Global
Capital.
The Dow Jones industrial
average ended the day down
58.56 points, or 0.4 percent,
at 15,133.14 points. The Stan-
dard & Poor's 500 index fell
1.13 points, or 0.1 percent, to
1,693.87. The Nasdaq com-
posite declined 2.96 points,
or 0.1 percent, to 3,815.02.
Six of 10 industry sectors in
the S&P 500 fell. Declines were
led by the makers of consumer
staples and industrial compa-
nies.
Defense companies, which
rely on government contracts
for a large part of their revenue,
led declines for industrial com-
panies. Raytheon fell $1.73, or
2.2 percent, to $76.08. Lockheed
Martin dropped $2.42, or 1.9
percent, to $125.
Earlier, European Central
Bank head Mario Draghi said
that the partial U.S. government
shutdown was a risk to eco-
nomic recoveries in the U.S. and
globally.
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