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2 I Thursday, June 22, 2006 | The Red & Black
NEWS
UGA TODAY
Thursday, June 22
>- Drive In Movie: V for
Vendetta. 9 p.m. Legion
Field. Sponsor: University
Union. Cost: free for
students with valid UGACard,
$2 for non-students. Contact:
706-542-6396
Friday, June 23
>- Veterinary Continuing
Education: Basic
Arthroscopy. Through
June 24. The College of
Veterinary Medicine.
Sponsor: College of
Veterinary Medicine. Contact:
706-542-2134
Saturday, June 24
>- Family Day: Invent Your
Own Landscape. 10 a m. -
Noon. Georgia Museum
of Art. Sponsor: Georgia
Museum of Art. Contact:
706-542-4662. Web site:
www.uga.edu/gamuseum
>- Veterinary Continuing
Education: Basic Small
Animal Soft Tissue Rigid
Endoscopy. Through
June 25. The College of
Veterinary Medicine. Sponsor:
College of Veterinary
Medicine. Contact: 706-542-
2134
Sunday, June 25
> Surreal Photography by
Mike Couzins. Through
July 30. State Botanical
Garden Visitor Center.
Sponsor: State Botanical
Garden of Georgia. Contact:
706-542-6130,
villella@uga.edu
Monday, June 26
> Veterinary Continuing
Education: Advanced
Minimally Invasive
Surgery. 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The College of Veterinary
Medicine. Sponsor: College of
Veterinary Medicine. Contact:
706-542-2134
>- Junior Explorers Camp.
9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Through June
30. Botanical Garden
Visitor Center, Children’s
Classroom. Sponsor: State
Botanical Garden. Cost:
Members $95, non-members
$100. Contact: 583-0894,
dbmitchl@uga.edu
Tuesday, June 27
> Bulldog Breakfast Club.
7:45 - 8:30 a.m. Wray-
Nicholson House. Sponsor:
UGA Alumni Association.
Guest host Peter Shedd,
Professor and Faculty
Director of Governor’s
Leadership Institute
Department of Insurance,
Legal Studies and Real
Estate Terry College of
Business. Cost: $10 Alumni
Association members, $5
student members.
Contact: 706-542-8199, wdar-
den@uga.edu
>- Swing Dancing. 10 p.m.
The Ritz, downtown Athens.
All experience levels wel
come. Sponsor: UGA Swing
Club. Web site:
www.uga.edu/ugaswingclub
Wednesday, June 28
>- Campus Blood Drive.
Noon - 5 p.m. Reed Hall
lobby. Sponsor: American Red
Cross. Contact: 678-227-4650
>- Community Open
House: Animal Health
Research Center. 4 - 6 p.m.
Carlton Street at East
Campus Road. Sponsor:
College of Veterinary
Medicine. Contact:
706-542-1446
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Today, please e-mail the title
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CORRECTIONS
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committed to journalis
tic excellence and pro
viding the most accu
rate news possible.
Contact us if you see
an error, and we will
do our best to correct
it.
Editor-in-Chief:
Colin Dunlop
(706) 433-3027
cdunlop @randb .com
Managing Editor:
Lyndsay Hoban
(706) 433-3026
lhoban@randb.com
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES FROM
THE STATE, NATION AND WORLD
Al-Qaida claims responsibility
for deaths of two U.S. soldiers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S.
forces on Tuesday recovered
the bodies of two American
soldiers reported captured by
insurgents last week. An Iraqi
defense ministry official said
the men were tortured and
“killed in a barbaric way.”
Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed
responsibility for killing the
soldiers, and said the succes
sor to terror leader Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi had
“slaughtered” them, accord
ing to a Web statement that
could not be authenticated.
The language in the state
ment suggested the men were
beheaded.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William
Caldwell said the remains
were believed to be those of
Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of
Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L.
Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.
He said U.S. troops — part
of a search involving some
8,000 American and Iraqi
forces — found the bodies
late Monday near Youssifiyah,
where they disappeared
Friday.
Troops did not recover the
bodies until Tuesday because
they had to wait until day
light to cordon off the area for
an ordnance team for fear it
was booby-trapped, Caldwell
said.
The cause of death was
“undeterminable at this
point,” and the two bodies
will be taken back to the
United States for DNA tests
to confirm the identities,
Caldwell said.
The two soldiers disap
peared after an insurgent
attack Friday at a checkpoint
by a Euphrates River canal,
12 miles south of Baghdad.
Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of
Springfield, Mass., was killed.
The three men were assigned
to the 1st Battalion, 502nd
Infantry Regiment, 2nd
Brigade, 101st Airborne
Division from Fort Campbell,
Ky.
The director of the Iraqi
defense ministry's operation
room, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz
Mohammed, said the bodies
showed signs of having been
tortured. “With great regret,
they were killed in a barbaric
way,” he said.
The claim of responsibility
was made in the name of the
Mujahedeen Shura Council,
an umbrella organization of
five insurgent groups led by
al-Qaida in Iraq. The group
posted an Internet statement
Monday claiming it was hold
ing the American soldiers
captive.
“With God Almighty’s
blessing, Abu Hamza al-
Muhajer carried out the ver
dict of the Islamic court” call
ing for the soldiers' slaying,
the statement said.
The statement said the
soldiers were “slaughtered,”
suggesting that al-Muhajer
beheaded them.
—Associated Press
Atlanta celebrates Olympic anniversary
GENE BLYTHE | Associated Press
A Billy Payne, who spearheaded Atlanta’s successful bid to host the 1996 Summer
Olympics, speaks Monday, June 19 during a press conference at Centennial Olympic Park
in downtown Atlanta. In the background children play in the Fountain of Rings at the
park. The legacy of the Olympics continues to drive an economic revival in Atlanta as the
city prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the games, organizers said Monday.
ATLANTA — The legacy of
the Olympics continues to
drive an economic revival in
Atlanta as the city prepares
to celebrate the 10th anniver
sary of the games, organizers
said Monday.
Billy Payne, who spear
headed the city’s successful
bid to host the games, said
projects in downtown Atlanta
as diverse as the Georgia
Aquarium, Phillips Arena and
a planned multi-billion-dollar
mixed-use development can
be traced back to the games.
Payne’s comments came
one month before the 10th
anniversary of the 1996
Games’ opening ceremonies.
Organizers are planning a
series of events, from a con
cert in Centennial Olympic
Park to a new museum at the
Atlanta History Center, to
mark the date.
Ten years in the planning,
Atlanta’s privately funded
Olympics are credited with
upping Atlanta’s stature from
a regional hub to an interna
tionally known city.
North Korea states
right to test rockets
TOKYO — North Korea
declared Tuesday it has a
right to carry out long-range
missile tests, despite interna
tional calls for the communist
state to refrain from launch
ing a rocket believed capable
of reaching the United States.
The bristling statement
from North Korea to
Japanese reporters in
Pyongyang came as France
and the U.N. secretary-gener
al raised the alarm over what
are believed to be the reclu
sive nation’s preparations for
a test of the Taepodong-2,
with a range of up to 9,300
miles.
The North’s declaration
prompted Japan and South
Korea to pledge to cooperate
to stop Pyongyang’s apparent
plans for a launch.
The United States and
Japan have said they could
consider sanctions against
the impoverished state
and push the U.N. Security
Council for retaliatory
action should the launch go
ahead. Pyongyang demon
strated its ability to hit Tokyo
when it fired a missile over
northern Japan into the
Pacific in 1998.
Migrants find ways
to cross border
TIJUANA, Mexico — With
windows tinted charcoal
black and a hint of new-car
smell lingering inside, the
Chevy Suburban with
California plates made it
through a border inspection
booth. Then a customs officer
spotted something behind
the back seats.
Under the gray carpeting
lay 14 undocumented
Mexicans — eight women,
five men and a little boy —
packed together so tightly
that some had to remove
their shoes to fit.
They’re part of a growing
number of migrants sneaking
across the border in cars and
trucks.
Some cram themselves
into empty gas tanks, hol-
lowed-out dashboards and
even engines. Others hide
inside cargo, from pinatas to
washing machines.
Many try to ride across in
plain sight of border agents,
using falsified or borrowed
documents.
And while some smugglers
use stolen cars or used vehi
cles that are hard to trace,
others pay U.S. citizens to
drive migrants across.
In fact, so many U.S. citi
zens try to drive carloads of
undocumented migrants
across that federal authori
ties have begun issuing $5,000
fines for Americans caught
doing it.
Nearly 300 fines have been
levied since the program took
effect Jan. 23, said Adele
Fasano, Southern California
director of field operations for
Customs and Border
Protection.
Now that National Guard
troops are patrolling the bor
der and Congress is dis
cussing extending border
fences, U.S. officials worry
vehicle crossings could
become even more common.
Most try to cross into
California, where U.S.
Customs and Border
Protection officers captured
49,243 illegal migrants trying
to drive into America last fis
cal year — 92 percent of all in-
vehicle apprehensions nation
wide.
Pentagon reports
show mistreatment
WASHINGTON — Murky
procedures, lack of oversight
and inadequate resources led
to mistakes in the way U.S.
troops treated Iraq and
Afghanistan detainees.
But two Pentagon reports,
made public Friday, found
no widespread mistreatment
or illegal actions by the mili
tary.
A human rights group
called the reports a white
wash that ignored countless
documented accounts of
detainee abuse.
One report detailed sever
al incidents involving U.S.
special operations forces in
2003-04. It said interrogators
fed some Iraqi detainees only
bread and water for up to 17
days, used unapproved inter
rogation practices such as
sleep deprivation and loud
music and stripped at least
one prisoner.
That report concluded the
detainees’ treatment was
wrong but not illegal and
reflected inadequate re
sources and lack of oversight
and proper guidance rather
than deliberate abuse. No
military personnel were pun
ished as a result of the inves
tigation.
Six-nation incentive
may work for Iran
SHANGHAI, China —Iran’s
president said Friday that the
six-nation incentive package
aimed at getting his country
to halt uranium enrichment
was a step forward in resolv
ing the dispute over Iran’s
nuclear program.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
also repeated assertions that
the Nazi Holocaust was
unproven, saying it should be
independently investigated.
The hardline president has
previously dismissed the
Holocaust as a “myth” and
said Israel should be “wiped
off the map,” provoking an
international outcry and rein
forcing Israel’s views that
Iran is a serious threat to the
Jewish state.
Ahmadinejad’s comments
on the nuclear dispute were
the highest-level sign that
Iran was preparing to negoti
ate over the package of incen
tives offered by the Big Five
of the U.N. Security Council,
plus Germany.
The six-nation proposal
called for negotiations, with
the U.S. to take part, and
other incentives on the condi
tion that Iran freeze its urani
um enrichment program.
Iran’s leadership, however,
has sent mixed signals on
how it will respond to the
package.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei vowed
Thursday that Iran would
never back down on its
nuclear program and dis
missed the threat of U.N.
Security Council sanctions.
Iranian officials have
insisted that enrichment is an
inalienable right and that
talks must be unconditional.
The process can produce fuel
for nuclear power plants or
material for atomic bombs.
The country denies accu
sations by the U.S. and others
that it is seeking to develop
nuclear weapons, saying its
program would only generate
energy.
Prosecutors seek
death for Saddam
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The
prosecution demanded the
death penalty for Saddam
Hussein in its closing argu
ments Monday, saying he
AP POOL | Associated Press
A Saddam Hussein listens
as the prosecution makes
its closing arguments at his
trial and seven members of
his regime in Baghdad, Iraq
Monday, June 19. Saddam
and the other defendants
are accused of torturing
women and children and
wrongfully killing 148
Shiites sentenced to death
for the attack on the former
Iraqi leader.
showed “no mercy’ in the
killings of women and chil
dren during a crackdown on
Shiite Muslims in the 1980s.
After a three-week recess,
the defense gets to sum up its
case, then a panel of judges
will begin weighing the fate of
the ousted leader and his
seven co-defendants.
A U.S. official close to the
court said the judges could
take around 60 days in their
deliberation.
If Saddam is convicted
and sentenced to death by
hanging, it could be months
more for the verdict to be car
ried out. The defendants have
the right of appeal — and
Saddam faces a second trial,
for a military campaign
against Iraqi Kurds in the
1980s that killed some 100,000
people.
No date for that trial has
been set, and Iraqi officials
haven’t said what would hap
pen if the appeals from the
first trial case ran out while
the second was still going on.
— Associated Press
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Bear finds
porridge
‘just right’
WEST VANCOUVER,
British Columbia — It
was a real-life version of
Goldilocks and the Three
Bears, only in reverse,
when a woman came
home to find a young
bear eating oatmeal in
her kitchen.
The bear apparently
entered through an open
sliding glass door, broke a
ceramic food container
and started eating, West
Vancouver police Sgt.
Paul Skelton said.
“It sounds like a nurs
ery rhyme, doesn't it?”
Skelton said.
“At least we have a
health-conscious bear on
our hands,” he said.
Three police officers
who went to the home
Thursday couldn't get
the bear to budge, so
authorities let the animal
finish its meal.
Skelton said bears in
the suburbs north of
Vancouver have been
coming out of hiberna
tion as hungry as ever
but later than usual this
spring because of a heav
ier than normal snow-
pack from the winter.
Street sweeper
joyrider arrested
MANCHESTER, N.H.
— It wasn’t a clean get
away — but it was clean.
A man faces charges
after allegedly taking an
unattended street sweep
er out for a joyride.
The sweeper was
being used in a down
town parking garage
early Saturday, and the
operator had left the
machine temporarily.
That’s when police say
Michael Moran, 26,
hopped on and started it.
Moran traveled several
blocks before he was
caught by people chasing
him.
Police have charged
him with taking the
sweeper without the
owner’s permission and
drunken driving.
Police said Moran
admitted to taking the
street sweeper and said it
was a stupid thing to do.
Bullets sent
to U.S. Embassy
PHNOM PENH,
Cambodia — Imagine the
surprise at the U.S.
Embassy in Cambodia
when workers expecting
to open a shipment of
artwork instead found
one containing 140,000
bullets.
The mix-up was
apparently caused by
Thai Airways, which mis
labeled the cargo, the
embassy said in a state
ment.
It said the bullets were
intended for a destina
tion in Finland, and had
no connection to the U.S.
government.
The cargo arrived at
Phnom Penh
International Airport on
a June 7 flight from
Thailand, and embassy
officials picked it up that
day, said Chhay Bunna,
airport police chief.
The embassy said it
had been expecting a
shipment of paintings to
decorate its new USAID
building, the U.S. Agency
for International
Developments.
Doughnut-eating
dog starts fire
RIDGEFIELD, Wash. —
A dog with a craving for
doughnuts was blamed
for starting a house fire
in this city north of
Portland.
According to Clark
County fire investigators,
the homeowners had left
a box of doughnuts on
the stove on Sunday. The
dog jumped onto the
stove to get to the
doughnuts and flipped on
a burner.
Investigators said the
fire caused about $75,000
worth of damage.
The dog, home alone
when the fire started,
escaped injury.
— Associated Press