MiamiHerald.com HOTEL COPIES: A copy of The Miami Herald will be delivered to your room. A credit of US$0.25 will be posted to your account if delivery is declined.
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012 109TH YEAR I ©2012 THE MIAMI HERALD
Russia vows to block western intervention in Syria BY ELLEN BARRY
New York Times Service
gents are also trying to exploit the political crisis between Shiite and Sunni leaders that has deadlocked the government. With each attack, the insurgents are trying to convince militias from each sect to take up arms and start attacking each other.
MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, warned Wednesday that outside encouragement of anti-government uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa could lead to “a very big war that will cause suffering not only to countries in the region but also to states far beyond its boundaries.” Lavrov’s annual news conference was largely devoted to a critique of Western policies in Iran and Syria, which he said could lead to a spiral of violence. He said Russia would use its position on the U.N. Security Council to veto any U.N. authorization of military strikes against forces loyal to the government of Syria’s president, Bashar al Assad. The United Nations has repeatedly called for the Syrian government to end a crackdown on opposition demonstrators, which Arab League monitors say resulted in hundreds of deaths over the last month. “If someone conceives the idea of using force at any cost — and I’ve already heard calls for sending some Arab troops to Syria — we are unlikely to be able to prevent this,” Lavrov said. “But this should be done on their own initiative and should remain on their conscience. They won’t get any authorization from the Security Council.” He ruled out the imposition of a no-fly zone in Syria, because, he said, the government had not used warplanes to attack demonstrators. On Tuesday, Russia circulated a draft Security Council resolution that explicitly ruled out military intervention and avoided putting direct pressure on Assad. Western nations have criticized the draft as “not tough enough toward the regime,” Lavrov said, but turned a blind eye to “what the armed extremist opposition is doing against administrative buildings, hospitals and schools, and the terrorist attacks that have been committed.” Lavrov said, without making explicit accusations, that foreign governments were arming “militants and extremists” in Syria, and plotting to “create an impression of a humanitarian disaster” by dispatching convoys of humanitarian aid to the Syrian border.
• TURN TO IRAQ, 2A
• TURN TO RUSSIA, 2A
JOHNY MAGALLANES/MCT
Gay rights activists march in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. The activists rally monthly to protest dozens of slayings of homosexuals in the past two years.
Honduras, a test of U.S. gay rights policy BY TIM JOHNSON
McClatchy News Service
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — From U.N. chambers to the halls of the State Department, global pressure on countries to protect the rights of gay and transgender people is rising. For Josue Hernandez, the new emphasis can’t come fast enough. The 33-year-old gay activist bears the scar of the bullet that grazed his skull in an attack a few years ago. He has moved the office of his advocacy group four times. Still, he feels
hunted in what is arguably the most homophobic nation in the Americas. “We are in a deplorable state,” Hernandez said of gay people in Honduras. “When we walk the streets, people shout insults at us and throw rocks. Parents move their children away.” Three months ago, a U.N. report declared that discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people violates international human rights law. It listed nations where violations are most severe.
Joining a push that originated in Europe, the Obama administration said in December that respect for LGBT rights is now a factor in its foreign policy decisions. “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in what diplomats described as a landmark speech Dec. 6 in Geneva. “It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished.” But even as that view grows more prevalent, it has yet to
translate into better security, reduced hostility or fewer killings in places like Honduras. Since 2010, Honduras has tallied at least 62 homicides in the LGBT community, and some experts say the count may be far higher. Some victims have been mutilated and even burned. The killing of gay people is part of broader lawlessness. Honduras registered more than 6,700 homicides last year and has the highest per capita murder rate in the hemisphere. • TURN TO HONDURAS, 4A
Iraq violence up sharply since U.S. exit BY DAN MORSE
Washington Post Service
BAGHDAD — Violence appears to have increased sharply since U.S. troops left Iraq a month ago, as insurgents have unleashed a wave of furious bombings targeting Baghdad neighborhoods, Shiite pilgrims and police facilities in Sunni areas.
The deadly attacks have roots not only in the troops’ departure but also in a domestic political crisis that erupted in its wake. Shiite and Sunni leaders have squared off in a power struggle, one that analysts say insurgents are trying to turn into a full-scale civil war. How the politicians handle their own mess, and the attacks, will
Young, in love and sharing everything, even passwords BY MATT RICHTEL
New York Times Service
what makes the symbolism of the shared password so powerful. “It’s a sign of trust,” Tiffany Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, said of the decision she and her boyfriend made to share passwords for e-mail and Facebook. Things don’t always end well, of course. Changing a password is simple, but students, counselors and parents say that damage is often done before a password is changed, or that the sharing of online lives can be the reason a relationship falters. The stories of fallout include a spurned boyfriend in junior high who tried to humiliate his ex-girlfriend by spreading her e-mail secrets; tensions between significant others over scouring each other’s private messages for clues of disloyalty or infidelity; or
Young couples have long signaled their devotion to each other by various means — the gift of a letterman jacket or an exchange of class rings or ID bracelets. Best friends share locker combinations. The digital era has given rise to a more intimate custom. It has become fashionable for young people to express their affection for each other by sharing their passwords to e-mail accounts, Facebook and other services. Boyfriends and girlfriends sometimes even create identical passwords and let each other read their private e-mails and texts. They say they know such digital entanglements are risky, because a souring relationship can lead to people using online accounts and secrets against each other. But that, they say, is part of • TURN TO PASSWORDS, 2A
HAITI TRUCK CRASH KILLS AT LEAST 29, 4A
19PGA01.indd 1
determine Iraq’s ability to hold itself together. “They are not arbitrary attacks. They are sending messages that security is not under control,” said Wathiq al Hashimi, an analyst in Baghdad who leads the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies. Hashimi and others said insur-
Gingrich jumps on Romney tax claims BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
McClatchy News Service
FLORENCE, S.C. — Mitt Romney is trying to defuse a growing controversy dogging his front-runner campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination by
saying that he “probably” pays a tax rate of 15 percent, far lower than the 35 percent top rate one might assume that a multimillionaire pays. Romney, whose wealth is estimated at around $250 million, has come under fire for not making his
CHARLES DHARAPA/GETTY IMAGES
Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, left, and Newt Gingrich participate in a debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
OCCUPY PROTESTERS GREET LAWMAKERS ON CAPITOL HILL, 5A
WORLD BANK WARNS OF GLOBAL GROWTH SLOWDOWN, BUSINESS FRONT
tax returns public, as presidential candidates traditionally do. He said Tuesday that he pays an effective rate “probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything,” and that he would release his tax returns in April. In the last decade, he said, his income has come largely from investments rather than earned income. Since Bush-era tax cuts went into effect, dividends and capital gains are subject to a 15 percent tax rate; the top rate on ordinary income is 35 percent. Newt Gingrich, who has emerged as Romney’s top agitator, still wanted to see Romney’s full tax return now. “Either there’s nothing there, so why isn’t he releasing them, or there’s something there, so why is he hiding them?” Gingrich told reporters. “What is he saying to the people of South Carolina? You’re not important enough for me to release my taxes? Nor are the • TURN TO ROMNEY, 2A
NADAL, FEDERER ADVANCE AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN, SPORTS FRONT
INDEX NEWS EXTRA ..............3A WORLD NEWS............6A OPINION........................7A COMICS & PUZZLES ...6B
1/19/2012 5:42:10 AM
ADVERTORIAL
BY LANCE BRASHEAR LBRASHEAR@HOY.COM.EC
– –
– ' '
' '
' '
' ' '
'
'
' ' '
' –
' ¡ ¢ ¡ £