The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - 3
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DETROIT
Senators ask Kerry
to prevent nuclear
waste storage
under Lake Huron
U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow
and Carl Levin of Michigan are
asking Secretary of State John
Kerry to intervene in a Canadian
planto store nuclear waste under-
ground near Lake Huron.
Ontario Power Generation
proposes a radioactive waste dis-
posal facility at the Bruce nuclear
power site in the city of Kincar-
dine. If approved, it would house
more than 200,000 cubic feet of
waste about a mile from the lake.
In a letter Monday to Kerry, the
Democratic senators say they're
concerned how storing so much
radioactive material that close to
the lake would affect the environ-
ment and industries such as fish-
ing and tourism.
TRENTON, N.J
Gov. Christie
drops appeal
to stop gay
marriage law
Gov. Chris Christie dropped
his fight against gay marriage in
New Jersey on Monday, fram-
ing the decision in a pragmatic
way: No point in fighting a losing
battle.
Just hours after gay couples
began exchanging vows with the
blessing of New Jersey's Supreme
Court, Christie announced he
was withdrawing his appeal to
the high court.
New Jersey is the 14th state to
legalize gay marriage.
As the Republican governor
seeks re-election two weeks from
now and ponders a run for presi-
dent in 2016, Christie's decision
holds both risks and benefits for
him.
SPARKS, Nev.
Nevada middle
school student
kills teacher,
wounds students
Police say a Nevada middle
school boy used a semi-automatic
handgun to wound two students
and kill a math teacher before
turning the weapon on himself.
The shooting occurred about 15
minutes before the opening bell
at Sparks Middle School on Mon-
day. The student's name wasn't
released, and his motive for the
shooting wasn't known.
Teacher Michael Landsberry
was being hailed as a hero for try-
ing to protect children from their
gun-wielding classmate outside
the school. Twenty to 30 horrified
students witnessed the shooting
as they returned to classes from a
weeklong fall break.
CANBERRA, Australia
Local Australian
parliament allows
gay-marriage
A provincial parliament on
Tuesday passed the first law
allowing same-sex marriage in
Australia, but it could be short-
lived with the federal government
threatening a court challenge.
The Australian Capital Territo-
ry parliament passed the law with
the support of lawmakers from
the province's governing Labor
and Greens parties. All eight
opposition Liberal Party law-
makers in the 17-seat Legislative
Assembly voted against the bill.
The first marriages could
take place in the national capital
Canberra in December, but fed-
eral Attorney General George
Brandis, a member of the Liberal
Party, said his government has
legal advice that the legislation is
invalid.
Australian Capital Territory
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher
refused a request from Brandis
to wait on allowing any same-sex
marriages until the High Court
ruled on the law's constitutional
validity.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Leyland retires
from position as
Tigers manager
ROB5GRIFFITH/AP
Firefighters control flames along the roadside at Bilpin, 47 miles west of Sydney, Australia. Authorities have warned
that hotter weather and increased winds are expected and are preparing for the conditions to worsen.
Bus bombing sparks fear
about SochiOly-mpics
Suicide attack in
Russia adds to
security fears
MOSCOW (AP) - A female
suicide bomber blew herself up
on a city bus in southern Russia
on Monday, killing six people
and injuring about 30, officials
said. The attack in Volgograd
added to security fears ahead
of the Winter Olympics in
Sochi.
The suspected bomber was
from the North Caucasus,
a region in southern Russia
where an Islamic insurgency
has been simmering for more
than a decade following two
separatist wars in Chechnya. A
local official said the suspect-
ed attacker was married to an
Islamic militant.
Volgograd lies 650 kilome-
ters (400 miles) to the north-
east of the North Caucasus,
while Sochi sits to the west
along the Black Sea.
No one immediately claimed
responsibility for Monday's
suicide bombing, but it was the
first outside the North Cauca-
sus since Chechen rebel leader
Doku Umarov three months
ago called for a resumption of
attacks on civilians and urged
militants to target the Sochi
Games, which are to be held in
February.
Russia in past years has
seen a series of terror attacks
on buses, airplanes and other
forms of transportation, some
of them carried out by sui-
cide bombers. The last suicide
attack on a bus was in 2008.
Twin bombings on the Mos-
cow subway in March 2010
carried out by female suicide
bombers killed 40 people
and wounded more than 120.
In January 2011, a male sui-
cide bomber struck Moscow's
Domodedovo Airport, killing 37
people and injuring more than
180.
Umarov, who had claimed
responsibility for the 2010 and
2011 bombings, ordered a halt
to attacks on civilian targets
because of the mass street
protests against President
Vladimir Putin in the winter of
2011-12. He reversed that order
in July.
The suspected bomber was
from Dagestan, one of the pre-
dominantly Muslim repub-
lics in the North Caucasus,
said Vladimir Markin, the
spokesman for the Investiga-
tive Committee, Russia's main
investigative agency.
In a statement, he identi-
fied the suspect as 30-year-old
Naida Asiyalova. Russian state
television showed pictures of
Asiyalova's passport.
In Dagestan, the center
of the insurgency, bombings
and shootings occur almost
daily. Most of them target law
enforcement officers, not civil-
ians. The Tsarnaev brothers,
accused of carrying out the
Boston Marathon bombings,
have roots in Dagestan and
Chechnya.
Rasul Temirbekov, a spokes-
man for the Investigative Com-
mittee's branch in Dagestan,
said the suspected bomber was
married to an ethnic Russian,
Dmitry Sokolov, whom she had
met while both were university
students in Moscow.
She encouraged him to
become a rebel, and he quickly
gained a reputation as an expert
in explosives, Temirbekov said.
Sokolov, whose nom de guerre
is Abdul Jabbar, has been on
the run
Temirbekov said that the
suspected suicide bomber had a
fatal bone illness.
Video broadcast on state
tossiya television showed that
Monday's explosion occurred
as the bus was moving in the far
right lane of a divided six-lane
road. The video, taken from a
vehicle traveling behind the
bus, showed a burst of flame
and gray smoke. Fragments of
what appeared to be window
frames and other parts of the
bus were left scattered across
the road.
When the bus came to a stop,.
the video showed many passen-
gers jumping out.
Markin said seven people
died, including the suicide
bomber, and 33 asked for medi-
cal assistance, 28of whom were
hospitalized. Emergency offi-
cials said about 40 people were
on the bus.
The local government on
Monday placed security forces
in the Volgograd region on high
alert for 15 days.
After eight seasons,
Leyland moves on
from Detroit,
DETROIT (AP) - A picture
of Jim Leyland's face stared out
from the video board at an empty
Comerica Park, next to that
familiar Olde English "D" and a
message thatsaid simply: "Thank
You Jim."
After eight seasons manag-
ing the Tigers, including three
division titles and two Ameri-
can League pennants, Leyland
stepped down Monday. His voice
cracking at times, his hands
wiping away tears at others, he
announced his departure two
days after Detroit was eliminated
by Boston in the AL champion-
ship series. .
"It'sbeen a thrill," the 68-year-
old Leyland said during a news
conference at the ballpark. "I
came here to change talent to
team, and I think with the help of
this entire organization, I think
we've done that. We've won quite
a bit. I'm very grateful to have
been a small part of that."
Leyland made his managerial
debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates
in 1986, and from Barry Bonds to
Miguel Cabrera, he's managed
some of the sport's biggest stars
and been involved in some of
baseball's most memorable games
over the pastquarter-century.
In 1992, his Pirates lost Game 7
of the NLCS whenAtlantarallied
in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Five years later, Leyland won his
only World Series title as manag-
er when his Florida Marlins beat
Cleveland in an l-inning thriller
in Game 7.
He's experienced some of the
highest highs the game has to
offer, but also endured difficult
rebuilding periods in both Pitts-
burgh and Florida.
After one season with the
Colorado Rockies, Leyland
didn't manage at all from
2000-05 before Detroit hired
him. Leyland led the Tigers to
the World Series immediately
after taking over in 2006, los-
ing to St. Louis in five games.
The Tigers went to the World
Series again in 2012 but were
swept by San Francisco.
Leyland worked under one-
year contracts the last couple
of years, saying he was content
to wait until after the season to
address his status. He was reflec-
tive late this season, mentioning
to reporters that he had already
managed the Tigers longer than
he had expected they would keep
him, but he also said in Septem-
ber that he still loved the atmo-
sphere, the competition and his
team.
In fact, he'd actually told gen-
eral manager Dave Dombrowski
in early September that he didn't
want to return as manager. He
expects to remain with the orga-
nization in some capacity after
going 700-597 as Tigers manager.
"I'm not totally retiring today,
I'm just not going to be in the
dugout anymore," Leyland said.
"Ihope and pray that you give the
next manager the same respect
and the same chance that you
gave me."
Leyland says his health is fine,
butit's time to stop managing. He
said he started weighing his deci-
sion around June.
"I started thinking this was
getting a little rough. I thought
that the fuel was getting a little
low," Leyland said. "I knew that
I'd get through it because I knew
we'd be playing for something."
The Tigers figure to contend
again next year, which may lead
Dombrowski to look for a prov-
en commodity who can come in
and manage. Kirk Gibson, who
led Detroit to the 1984 World
Series title as a player, is now
managing in Arizona, but Dia-
mondbacks president Derrick
Hall tried to quash any specula-
tion that Gibson would return
to the Tigers.
"We would not grant permis-
sion (to the Tigers to talk to Gib-
son) if asked because we want
him here, and he told me this
morning he has no interest in
leaving," Hall said.
Detroit's players found out
about Leyland's departure after
Saturday night's game in Boston,
where the Red Sox won Game 6
to take the series.
"You've got your head down,
you lost and the season's over,
and then Jim dropped that bomb
on us," outfielder Torii Hunter
said. "I just had a feeling that it
could have been his last year. All
year, he was kind of emotional,
and Ijust felt it."
Leyland said there was no
announcement Saturday because
he wanted the focus to be on the
victorious Red Sox. However, he
was honest about how much this
defeat hurt.
"With all due respect to the
Boston Red Sox - who earned
it, they won it, they deserve to be
where they are - I truly believe
the Detroit Tigers should be
playing here tomorrow," Leyland
said. "This is one that's going to
stick with me, this is one that
really hurts, because I really felt
like we letcit get away."
When Leyland arrived at the
Tigers' spring training camp this
year, it marked 50 seasons since
he first showed up there as an
18-year-old prospect. His play-
ing career never amounted to
much, but his accomplishments
as a manager over more than two
decades have been impressive.
Thick smog persists in China,
highways and schools shut down
Pollution in China
reaches an all time
high, cause for
concern
BEIJING (AP) - Visibility
shrank to less than half a foot-
ball field and small-particle
pollution soared to a record 40
times higher than an interna-
tional safety standard in one
northern Chinese city as the
region entered its high-smog
season.
The manager for U.S. jazz
singer Patti Austin, meanwhile,
said the singer had canceled a
concert in Beijing because of
an asthma attack likely linked
to pollution.
Winter typically brings the
worst air pollution to northern
China because of a combina-
tion of weather conditions and
an increase in the burning of
coal for homes and municipal
heating systems, which usually
starts on a specific date.
For the large northern city
of Harbin, the city's heating
systems kicked in on Sun-
day, and on Monday visibility
there was less than 50 meters
(yards), according to state
media.
"I couldn't see anything out-
side the window of my apart-
ment, and I thought it was
snowing," Wu Kai, 33, a house-
wife and mother of a baby boy,
said in a telephone interview
from Harbin. "Then I realized
it wasn't snow. I have not seen
the sun for a long time."
She said her husband went to
work in a mask, that he could
barely see a few meters (yards)
ahead of him and that his usual
bus had stopped running.
"It's scary, too dangerous.
How could people drive or
walk on such a day?"
The density of fine particu-
late matter, PM2.5, used as an
indicator of air quality was
well above 600 micrograms per
cubic meter - including sever-
al readings of exactly 1,000 -
for several monitoring stations
in Harbin, according to figures
posted on the website of Chi-
na's environmental protection
agency.
They were the first known
readings of 1,000 since China
began releasing figures on
PM2.5 in January 2012, and it
was not immediately clear if
the devices used for monitor-
ing could give readings higher
than that.
A safe level under WHO
guidelines is 25 micrograms
per cubic meter.
Primary and middle schools
and some highways were
closed, said authorities in the
city, which is in China's north-
ernmost province bordering
Russia. At least 40 flights to
destinations in southern China
and Beijing among others were
canceled or postponed at Har-
bin's Taiping International Air-
port on Monday morning.
Austin's management team
said the 63-year-old singer
had been treated in a hospital
Friday morning for an asthma
attack in combination with a
respiratory infection.
She returned to her hotel
later Friday to rest, but was
unable to perform at her Bei-
jing concert scheduled for
Friday evening. Her Saturday
night concert in Shanghai went
ahead.
Her manager, Barry Orms,
said Monday that Austin, as an
asthma sufferer, would have
been "affected by the amount
of pollution."
He said that it wasn't their
goal to place blame, and that
"Patti has expressed our belief
that the Chinese government
can be a leader in this very
important issue."
On the morning ahead of her
concert Friday, Beijing's air
was visibly polluted, with the
city's environmental monitor-
ing center warning children,
the elderly and those with
respiratory illnesses to reduce
outdoor activity.
China's major cities have
some of the world's worst
smog. The government was
long indifferent to the environ-
ment as it pursued economic
development, but has begun
launching some anti-pollution
initiatives after mounting pub-
lic frustration.
Last month, China's Cabinet
released an action plan that
aims to make a small reduc-
tion in the country's heavy
reliance on coal to below 65
percent of total energy usage
by 2017.
According to Chinese gov-
ernment statistics, coal con-
sumption accounted- for 68.4
percent of total energy use in
2011.
I