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IN BRIEF
Shiites prepare for power
after holy days' carnage
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. Marines
and Iraqi security forces launched an
offensive Sunday against insurgents in
troubled cities west of Baghdad after
two days of carnage that left nearly 100
people dead. Sunni Muslim tribal lead
ers met to determine their place in a
Shiite-dominated Iraqi government.
As the Shiite majority prepared to
take control of the country’s first freely
elected government, tribal chiefs rep
resenting Sunni Arabs in six provinces
issued a list of demands — including
participation in the government and
drafting a new constitution.
Sunnis make up 20 percent of Iraq’s
population of 26 million compared to
the Shiite’s 60 percent.
Gathering in a central Baghdad ho
tel, about 70 tribal leaders tried to de
vise a strategy for participation in a fu
ture government.
Videotape denounces U.S.
calls for Middle East reform
CAIRO, Egypt — Al-Jazeera televi
sion aired a videotape Sunday purport
ing to show al-Qaida No. 2 Ay man al
Zawahri denouncing U.S. calls for
reform in the region and urging the
West to respect the Islamic world.
Al-Zawahri, who appeared sitting
on the ground and in front of a brown
background, said the U.S. military
prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, “ex
plains the truth about reforms and
democracy that America alleges it
wants to impose in our countries.”
“Reform is based on American de
tention camps like Bagram, Kandahar,
Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, it will
be based on cluster bombs and impo
sition of people like Karzai and
Allawi,” he said, referring to Afghan
President Hamid Karzai and Interim
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
In Washington, the CIA said it
was looking at the tape in an effort
to determine its authenticity.
Lebanon to cooperate
with U.N. investigation
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon,
facing mounting domestic and in
ternational pressure to find the as
sassins of former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri, said Sunday it will co
operate with U.N. investigators but
stuck to its rejection of a full
fledged international inquiry.
Hariri was killed a week ago
Monday in a massive bomb explo
sion as he was driven through cen
tral Beirut. The blast killed 16 oth
ers and wounded more than 100.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker
Nabih Berri and Interior Minister
Suleiman Franjieh said Sunday
that Lebanon welcomes the help
of an international investigating
team, provided that it comes
within the framework of
Lebanese sovereignty.
The Lebanese decision to work
with the U.N. team but not allow it
to control the investigation raises
tension with the world body,
which also is pressuring the na
tion’s main powerbroker, Syria, to
withdraw troops.
Sinn Fein leaders
also command IRA
DUBLIN, Ireland — The Irish
government on Sunday publicly
identified three of Sinn Fein’s top
figures — including party leader
Gerry Adams — as members of
the Irish Republican Army.
The government’s blunt decla
ration indicated it no longer
would tolerate Adams’ protesta
tions that his party should not be
held accountable for IRA actions.
The shift is intended to force the il
legal IRA to disarm fully and dis
band, or risk the marginalization of
the legal Sinn Fein.
Tensions are growing even high
er after the IRA’s alleged $50 mil
lion robbery of a Belfast bank and
an unfolding investigation into IRA
money laundering. The Irish gov
ernment says Sinn Fein leaders are
involved in both.
— The Associated Press
Start taxes now,
waiting may cost
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The dead
line is the same every year and every
year it sneaks up on you.
Getting to work early on that tax
return, due April 15, will not only
ease some stress but also prevent
some costly mistakes.
“Start now. Start early,” said Mark
Steber, vice president of tax resources
for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.
If this is the year to finally end the
procrastinating, stop focusing on
the April 15 deadline, suggests
Michelle Tullier, author of “The
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Overcom
ing Procrastination.”
Think instead about breaking the
task down into smaller jobs. Set a
date and time to do each one.
“Don’t wait for the motivation or
desire to do your taxes because it
may never come,” she said.
If you are one of the millions of
taxpayers who ask the Internal Rev
enue Service every year for an exten
sion, ask yourself if you really need
the extra time or if you just label
yourself a perpetual procrastinator.
The number of people who request
an automatic extension creeps up an
nually, reaching more than 8.5 mif
lion last year.
At the minimum, everyone needs
to start by pulling together the paper
work that applies to their tax situa
tion, Steber said.
There are dozens of records and
receipts that might yield tax bene
fits, including unreimbursed work
expenses, charitable donations, tu
ition payments, mortgage and home
equity loan documents, medical
bills, home office expenses and
union dues.
Assembling these documents can
get your tax preparer started early.
For the do-it-yourself types, avoid the
temptation to gather all the docu
mentation and plow through your en
tire job in one miserable Saturday.
“Focus on do dates, as in D-O, not
due dates, as in D-U-E,” TUllier said.
TAXING TIME
Tax extensions
From 1982-2003 the number of
automatic four-month extensions
on taxes has increased
significantly.
9 million
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 . 18111.
1982'85 '90 ’95 '00
SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service AP
“Schedule actual dates and times to
tackle each stop in the process lead
ing up to April 15.”
Failing to file a return can be quite
costly, even more so in most cases
than failing to pay taxes owed.
There is no penalty for failing to
file a tax return if you are due a re
fund, but taxpayers risk losing a re
fund forever if they wait too long.
The IRS, by law, cannot pay refunds
claimed more than three years after
the tax return’s due date.
The consequences of delay also
might include mistakes made while
rushing through the task. That
means more time and effort spent
on tax tasks.
Some of the most common errors
are simple ones, the IRS says, but
they can cause a return to be reject
ed or can delay the payment of a re
fund. They can even tip the tax re
turn from a refund to a balance due
and lead to interest and penalties.
Advertisement
Oregon Trashing
The Competition
BY VICTORIA McDOUGAL
The UO has come in
ahead of the defending
RecycleMania champion,
Miami University of Ohio
after two weeks of com
petition in this 10-week
contest.
After a disappointing
second place finish in
2003, the competitive
field has intensified this
season. Past champions
Miami and Bowling Green
State continue to be title
contenders. First-time
competitor and UO rival,
Oregon State continues
to knock on the door and
stay in the top three.
“This is very exciting.
By coming in first two
weeks in a row it shows
our awesome first week
wasn’t a fluke. We can
really win this,” said
Housing Recycling
Coordinator Robyn
Hathcock.
So far the UO offense
has taken the lead over
32 schools, now it is time
for UO residence halls’
defense to play a major
part. Every scrap of
paper and soda can
counts when the contest
is this close. Join us in
trashing the competition!
We’ve got sports 24/7
www.dailyemerald.com
Wtdnf^iy, February 11 « IOjQOAM = 1?QQPM « iMU iallreem
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