THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012
PAGE 3A
NEWS OF THE WORLD
AFRICA
Associated Press
Islamist sect attacks, destroys checkpoint in Nigerian city
KANO, Nigeria — Multiple explosions rocked a highway checkpoint in Nigeria's second-largest city, witnesses said Wednesday, just over a month after a radical Islamist sect claimed an attack there that left at least 185 people dead.
After that, he said, he heard gun
The attacks raise fears that the sect, Boko Haram, is taking root in the northern city of Kano.
Resident Ali Garba, a 32-year-old bus driver, said he heard at least six explosions as he was preparing to head to the mosque for dawn prayers in a densely populated Kano neighborhood.
fire for about two hours. By the time he left his house, the military had cordoned his neighborhood to prepare for searches, forcing him back into his home.
There were no casualties and four suspects were arrested during searches, said military spokesman Lt. Kedichi Iweha, who declined to comment further.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is carrying out increasingly sophisticated
and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law and avenge Muslim killings in Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.
Meanwhile Wednesday, authorities in the northeast Nigeria's Yobe state blamed the sect for the shooting death of one man and the wounding of another.
The attack occurred during curfew hours, he said, likely reducing its impact.
This year, the feared sect is blamed for killing at least 304 people, according to an Associated Press count. At least 185 people died in Kano last month in the group's deadliest assault yet.
ASIA
Avalanches kill, trap soldiers at a Kashmir military camp
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SRINAGAR, India — Two massive avalanches in snowbound regions of Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 16 soldiers, and at least three others were feared trapped in a military camp that was partially buried under snow, an official said Thursday.
Col. K.S. Grewal said three of the soldiers were killed in the mountainous area of Sonmarg and 13 were killed at a large army camp in Dawar, a town close to the heavily militarized cease-fire line that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Indian troops are stationed along this de-facto border.
Both avalanches took place late
Wednesday night, and state officials warned more may occur in mountain areas.
Rescue workers in Dawar pulled out 13 survivors who were being treated at a local army hospital, Grewal said. Three soldiers there were still believed to be trapped under the snow, he said.
Ali warned of more avalanches across mountainous parts of Indian Kashmir.
Army rescue teams from other parts of the region were trying to reach the Dawar army camp but were delayed by heavy fog, snow and cloud cover. Grewal said.
At least 25 army vehicles and 17 barracks were damaged in the avalanche, said Amir Ali, a state government disaster management official.
A Kashmiri villager slips as he clears snow off the roof of his house in Gagangeri, India, Thursday.
MIDDLE EAST
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Twelve are dead after a powerful car bomb tore through a dozen vehicles waiting to transport passengers from the city of Peshawar to other areas of the country at a bus terminal Thursday. Some of the minibuses were blackened and destroyed. There were 32 wounded, including women and children, officials said.
Car bomb kills 12, wounds 32 at Pakistani bus terminal
Violence has dropped off in Peshawar and some other areas of Pakistan over the past year following offensives against the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest. But bombings and shootings still occur with regularity, especially in the border regions, and no
one is predicting victory against the militants
Peshawar is located close to the Afghan border, the main sanctuary for Pakistani Taliban fighters at war with the government.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast. Some of the minibuses were blackened and destroyed. The dead included two children.
The car bomb was loaded with nearly 100 pounds of explosives, city police chief Sirai Ahmed said.
It's unclear why the bus terminal was targeted. Most militant attacks are aimed at security force or government targets, but markets and other
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A rescue worker looks at the wreckage of a vehicle damaged by a bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan on Thursday.
public places have also been hit
EUROPE
Poland wants US to return Holocaust barrack display
WARSAW, Poland — Polish and U.S. officials are engaged in intense talks to determine the fate of a sensitive object: a barrack that once housed doomed prisoners at the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp and is now on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
because it is too fragile.
Poland is demanding the return of the artifact, which has been on loan to the Washington museum for more than 20 years and is an important object in its permanent exhibition. But the U.S. museum is resisting the demand, saying the valuable object shouldn't be moved partly
"Due to the barrack's size and the complexity of its installation, removing and transporting it to Poland presents special difficulties, including potentially damaging the artifact," the U.S. Holocaust museum said in a statement.
Under a law passed in 2003 that safeguards cultural heritage in wars, any historic object on loan abroad must return to Poland every five years for inspection. While Poland appears open to renewing the loan, it says the barracks must return — at least temporarily.
The director of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, Piotr Cywinski, accuses the U.S. institution of violating the terms of a 20-year loan on the barracks, saying the loan expired in 2009.
"We have indicated many times that this half of the barracks must return, that there is no other solution in accordance with the law." Cywinski said. "It's a very important object, not just for Washington but for the integrity of Birkenau, the last authentic site of Holocaust remembrance among all the major death camps."
STUDENT SENATE
Amendment to protect students privacy rights
Student Senate's Rights Committee passed a bill Wednesday night with amendments to the Code of Rights and Regulations that officially extends and modernizes students' expression and privacy rights.
Originally, the bill also had an amendment that would have extended the University's power to discipline students for off-campus activities that "has had or may have an adverse affect on the health, safety, or security of any member of the University community."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Del. Robert Marshall, R-Prince William, holds up papers during his presentation on his Parenthood bill during a meeting of the Senate Education and Health committee at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday.
The full Senate will vote on the amendments at its regular meeting Wednesday, Feb. 29.
Committee chairman Aaron Harris spoke against the amendment, saying it wasn't necessary due to the override of federal law. He thought the amendment was an attempt by the University to limit students' rights. The committee voted to strike out the amendment and pass the rest of the bill.
POLITICS
Vikaas Shanker
The committee also rejected a bill that would have eliminated Student Senate seats reserved for Greek organizations and organizations that aren't registered with the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
Satire roasts proposed bill
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHMOND. Va.—Once the word "transvaginal" became a big joke on "Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," it wasn't long before Virginia's conservative Republicans realized they had overreached on abortion.
Gov. Bob McDonnell and GOP state lawmakers Wednesday abandoned a bill requiring women to undergo an intrusive type of sonogram before an abortion — an abrupt reversal that demonstrated the power of political satire and illustrated again how combustible the issue of women's reproductive health has become over the past few weeks.
"You never want to get on the wrong side of popular culture," said Steve Jarding, a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Democratic consultant who has run campaigns in Virginia. He added: "When people are laughing at you, you know you've gone too far."
At issue was a bill pushed by antiabortion lawmakers that would have required women seeking an abortion to undergo a transvaginal sonogram, in which a wand is inserted in the vagina to yield an image of the fetus. The procedure differs from an abdominal sonogram, in which a wand is rubbed over the woman's belly.
Seven states have laws mandating some form of pre-abortion ultrasound exam. The Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion-related issues, said none of the ultrasound laws in other states explicitly require the transvaginal procedure.
macher's state issues manager, said several of the laws, including a Texas measure recently upheld in federal court, effectively leave doctors with no option but the transvaginal procedure. That's because an abdominal sonogram does not produce the detailed image of a first-trimester pregnancy that is required by some of the laws, Nash said.
However, Elizabeth Nash, Gutt-
ODD NEWS
Man arrested for making a burger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MADISON, Wis. — Police say a Wisconsin man took the Denny's restaurant chain slogan "American's diner is always open" too far, marching into one of the restaurants, announcing he was the new boss and cooking himself dinner.
James Summers walked into a Madison Denny's on Tuesday dressed in a maroon tie and black trench coat and carrying a briefcase, according to police. He strode into the manager's office, told her he was the new general manager and then fixed himself a burger, fries and a soda before police arrived.
"This is why you don't dine and dash, kiddies," Summers yelled out to diners as officers took him away, police said in a release.
Police found a stun gun in a hip holster under his coat and crack pipes in his briefcase, a criminal complaint showed. Prosecutors charged him Wednesday with disorderly conduct and possession of
Brant challenged him, saying corporate headquarters hadn't notified her of any new general manager. She suggested he had the wrong restaurant.
She was able to get Summers out of the office and close her door. She called a hiring manager who confirmed Summers didn't work for Denny's.
But Summers maintained his story, growing more confrontational after Brant told him she didn't believe him. He told her he was starting and that was final, investigators said in the complaint.
According to the complaint and the police news release, Summers, 52, entered the Denny's and found restaurant manager Tracy Brant counting out the day's receipts in a back office. He announced he was her new general manager and would be starting work that evening.
drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors, and felony possession of an electronic weapon.
KU UNIVERSITY THEATRE The University of Kansas
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.kutheatre.com. Tickets are $18 for the public, $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, and $10 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted. The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee. The University Theatre's 2011 season is sponsored by the KU Credit Union.
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