The World in Brief (1/26/06)

Sunni leaders urge followers to defend homes in wake of raids

By Nancy A. Youssef,… Sunni leaders urge followers to defend homes in wake of raids

By Nancy A. Youssef, Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s top Sunni Muslim political party called on its followers Tuesday to use any means necessary to defend their homes, saying the government is too weak to protect Sunni neighborhoods from violent raids by the Shiite Muslim-dominated police.

The call marked a major departure from the Iraqi Islamic Party’s previous position backing restraint and revealed a new level of Sunni frustration with the Shiite-led security forces.

U.S. officials have frequently cited the party’s participation in the Dec. 15 national elections as evidence that many Sunnis might be willing to abandon support for the Sunni-led insurgency in favor of working with the government.

But Tuesday’s call suggested growing concern that Sunnis can’t depend on the Shiite-led government to protect their interests.

The party made the announcement after scores of armed men dressed as police officers, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying radios, entered Baghdad’s ethnically mixed Toubji neighborhood and stormed several homes, nearly all occupied by Sunnis. They detained at least 50 people and killed two others, residents said.

“We heard shots from the house across the street. So my father ran out carrying his pistol to find out what was going on. We chased after him. We found soldiers outside the door,” resident Mohammed Rashid said. “They took my father, handcuffed him and put him in the car.”

Police confirmed that they’d raided the neighborhood, though it wasn’t clear if all the armed men were police officers. Rashid said he suspected that some were members of Shiite militias because they wore beards, which government officers are prohibited from having.

Detroit ready to bask in Super Bowl glow

By Katherine Yung, The Dallas Morning News

DETROIT – In this city all too familiar with humility, the pending arrival of Super Bowl XL seems almost surreal, a source of pride for a Motown that long ago lost its rhythm.

But come Feb. 5, Detroit will enjoy a brief respite from its well-chronicled troubles – an auto industry in crisis and a government in financial disarray.

The National Football League’s championship game, to be held indoors in Ford Field stadium downtown, is expected to attract about 120,000 visitors, injecting $302 million into the local economy.

The game means more to Detroit’s business and civic leaders than just a temporary cash infusion.

Together with 8,000 volunteers, they’ve been working to ensure that Detroit’s maligned reputation scores a touchdown during the sports world’s premiere event, which this year will pit the Seattle Seahawks against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The effort has involved everything from the opening of restaurants to filling potholes.

“The perception is all we are is smokestacks and empty buildings,” said Larry Alexander, president of the Detroit Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s an opportunity to let the world see what’s happening here.”

The city is even planning a huge winter festival near Ford Field so that its streets aren’t empty for what will be only the third Super Bowl to be played in a wintry city.

Detroit’s average temperature in February is 26 degrees – often accompanied by dreary, overcast skies.

Yet many residents and business owners believe the Super Bowl will dispel some of the negative stereotypes.

“When people get here, they are going to see a whole different Detroit,” said Frank Taylor, president and operating partner of Sweet Georgia Brown, a popular restaurant in the city’s Greektown district. “It’s almost like we have something to prove.”

Four teens accused in taped attack on Haitian college student

By Robert Moran, Knight Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA – Four Philadelphia teenagers have been arrested on charges of randomly beating and nearly killing a Drexel University graduate student – a Haitian immigrant – by shoving him into traffic – all the while videotaping the attack, police say.

“It’s a very disturbing film,” said Lt. John F. Walker of Southwest Detectives’ Special Investigation Unit. “It’s just mind-boggling.”

The 30-year-old engineering student, a Haitian immigrant whose name was not released, was assaulted at 1:10 p.m. Friday as he was walking to his apartment, Walker said at a news conference Monday.

The victim wants to leave Philadelphia and return home to Haiti, Walker said. “He’s very fearful of his life and of living in that area,” he said.

The victim asked police not to release his name out of fear for his safety, said Capt. Benjamin Naish, a police spokesman. Police say they do not believe the attack was a hate crime.

The four teens – one 18, two 17-year-olds, and a teen who was 16 at the time of the attack and turned 17 Monday – face charges of attempted murder and related crimes, officials said.

Walker said the teens were walking after a scheduled half-day of school when they taped themselves planning the random attack.

“They were talking about [how] it was an early day [from school], the weather was nice, and what they were going to do,” Walker said. “In the beginning, it’s almost like a documentary.”

One of the 17-year-olds described how he would step up and swing at his would-be victim, Walker said. He also said the group should just pick anybody.

“Unfortunately, this poor student was the first person they came upon,” Walker said.

The 17-year-old, who is about 6 feet, 3 inches tall, punched the graduate student, who is 5 feet, 7 inches and thin, in the jaw and slammed him into the wall of a building, Walker said. The other 17-year-old then jumped in and started to pummel the Drexel student.

As the blows were being landed, the teens could be heard on the tape saying “ooh” and “aah,” Walker said.

Survey: Workers say they’re underpaid, but most aren’t

By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO – A majority of workers in a recent survey say they plan to leave their jobs, with many citing low pay as the reason. But market data shows most are paid the going rate or more for their work, according to a new survey by Salary.com.

Sixty-five percent of those surveyed say they’re going to look for a new job in the next three months. Of those, 57 percent say it’s because they’re underpaid, according to the survey of more than 13,500 workers (not a random sample, as it includes visitors to Salary.com, plus others who have never been to the site).

But Salary.com says just 19 percent of that group is underpaid, while 17 percent appear to be overpaid and 34 percent are fairly compensated when compared with the firm’s market data on similar positions. The remaining 30 percent are probably overtitled, not underpaid, Salary.com said.

“The difference between what someone is paid and what they think they should be paid is based on differences in perception of value … and performance,” said Bill Coleman, senior vice president of compensation at Salary.com, a compensation software and data provider based in Needham, Mass.

“Every company has people that say, ‘Why am I getting paid less than Bob?’ The reason is because the companies … actually value Bob’s contribution more,” Coleman said. “We all think our own performance is better than it really is.”

Salary.com bases its claim that workers are paid fairly on a comparison of what most companies pay for similar work.