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INTERNATIONAL EDITION
THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012
109TH YEAR I ©2012 THE MIAMI HERALD
N. Korea to suspend nuclear tests in return for food aid BY STEVEN LEE MYERS AND CHOE SANG-HUN
New York Times Service
WASHINGTON — North Korea announced on Wednesday that it would suspend nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex, a step that raised the possibility of ending a diplomatic
impasse that has allowed the country’s nuclear program to continue with no international oversight for years. Although the Obama administration called the steps “important, if limited,” they nonetheless signaled that the country’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, is at least willing to engage with the United States, which pledged in exchange to ship tons of
food aid to the isolated, impoverished nation. The United States and other nations have been watching closely to see whether Kim’s rise to power would alter the country’s behavior following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, late last year. North Korea also agreed on a moratorium on launchings of longrange missiles, which have in the
past raised military tensions in the region, but joint statements released by the State Department and North Korea’s official news agency omitted direct references to relations with South Korea, which remain tense. North Korea has agreed in the past to halt its nuclear program only to back out, demanding more concessions or accusing the United
States of reneging on its obligations. And the statement Tuesday from the North’s official Korean Central News Agency included a caveat, saying the country would carry out the agreement only “as long as talks proceed fruitfully.” If the agreement holds, it would ease some anxieties in Washington • TURN TO KOREA, 2A
A CLOSE CALL MICHIGAN WAS A TIGHTER FIGHT THAN ROMNEY EXPECTED BY PHILIP RUCKER
Washington Postt Service
NOVI, Miich ch.. — It was never supposed to be this closse. e This is Michigan, birthplace of the auttom omob o ile and of the presidential ca and did idat ate e wh who o sa says ys he e gr g ew up being able to iide dent ntif ify y any y mo mode dell af afte terr seeing just one squa sq are foot of a carr. He Here re,, Mi Mitt tt Romney says, the trees are the right he heig ight ht a and the little inland lakes are just as he re eme members. Even if things did not go ex exac actly y according to his plan when Romney arri rive ved d ba back ck in Michigan two weeks ago to begiin a fu furi r ou o s push to reverse his double-digit defi eficit iin n th the e polls, he edged past insurgent Rick Sa ant n or orum um and salvaged his front-runner statuss. On Tuesday night, just after new ws or orga gani ni-zations declared Romney the winn ner iin n Mi Mich chiigan, a palpable sense of relief em man anat ated ed ffro rom m Romney Ro y’s senior aides as a the hey y em emer erge ged d fr from om the th e pr priv ivat ate e room where e the hey y ha had d be been en m mon oniito ori ring ng ret etu urns. Th The ca camp mpai aign gn’s ’s M Mic ichi higa gannbased d st stra rate egi gist, Lo Lori ri W Wor ortz tz,, br brok oke e in into to ttea ears rs.. Spea Sp eaki king ng to su supp ppor orte ters rs T Tue uesd sday ay n nig ight ht,, Romn Ro mney ey rec ecou ount nted ed ““me meet etin ing g mo moms ms a and nd
dads, students and grandparents, all concerned about what was happening to this great country,” he said. “Tonight, their efforts have brought our cause a great victory.” Romney won much more easily in Arizona than he did in Michigan, earning about twice as many votes as Santorum. But when Romney addressed reporters here Tuesday morning, instead of looking ahead to Super Tuesday next week, he looked back for excuses for why he had to claw his way to the top in this state where he had been a heavy favorite e and why he still hasn’t made the th e sa sale le w wit ith h a re rest stive Re Repu publ blic ican an e ele lect c orate. “I’m “I mv ver ery y pl plea ease sed d wi with th tthe he cam ampa paig ign, n, tthe he o orrgani ga niza zati tion on,” ,” R Rom omne ney y to told ld rrep epor orte ters rs.. “T “The he c can an-dida di date te som omet etim imes es m mak akes es som ome e mi mist stak akes es,, an and d so II’m ’m ttry ryin ing g to d do o be bett tter er a and nd wor ork k ha hard rder er a and nd make ma ke ssur ure e th that at we ge gett ou ourr me messsag age e ac acro oss ss.” .” A re repo port rter er rrem emin inde ded d hi him m ab abou out hi hiss ca casu sual al rema re mark rk llas astt we week ek ttha hatt hi hiss wi wife fe dro rove ve ““a a co coup uple le of C Cad adil illa lacs cs,” ,” whi hich ch h hig ighl hlig ight hted ed h his is p per erso sona nall weal we alth th,, an and d hi hiss re refe fere renc nce e du duri ring ng a v vis isit it to th he Dayt Da yton ona a 50 500 0 to b bei eing ng ffri rien ends ds w wit ith h NA NASC SCAR AR team te am o own wner ers, s, a and nd a ask sked ed w whe heth ther er he ha had d un un--
dermined his campaign. Romney replied: “Yes. Next question.” Romney’s strategists didn’t think Michigan would be particularly close until Santorum shook up the race with triumphs in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Romm ney’s aides went into overdriv ve, deploying top officiialls to o Detroit it and quickly scheduling additional stops throughout the state. In a departure for his campaign, Romney spoke at a number of events that his aidess did not cont co n rol,, includiing g a sspe peec ch Fr Frid iday ay to tthe he D Det etro roit it Eco cono nomi mic c Cl Club ba att Fo Ford rd Fiel Fi eld. d. Abo bout ut 11,2 ,200 0g gue uest stss gath her ered ed in na stad st adiu ium m th that at ssea eats ts 65, 5,00 000, 0 spa ark rkin ing g de derisi ri sion in the e me medi dia. a. On Sund day ay, Ro R mney ne y’s wife, An Ann, n, jjok okin ingl g y told ld a G GOP OP lunc lu n heon, “I am so m mad ad a at the pr pres esss th that at I co coul uld d ju j st str tran angl gle e th them em.” Saul Sa ul A Anu nuzi zis, s, a Rom omne ney y supp por orte ter an nd • TU TURN RN T TO O RO ROMN MNEY EY,, 2A
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
James Murdoch quits News Corp.’s British unit BY JULIA WERDIGIER AND ALAN COWELL New York Times Service
LONDON — Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, News Corp., announced on Wednesday that his son James had stepped down as executive chairman of News International, the British newspaper subsidiary that is embroiled in layers of overlapping police and judicial inquiries into phone hacking and illegal payments to the police. A statement from News Corp. depicted the step as part of James Murdoch’s move to the company’s headquarters in New York, announced a year ago. But many media analysts said the move seemed to reflect the more recent travails of News International, whose newspapers include The Sun, The Times of London and The Sunday Times of London. In July, Rupert and
9/11 VICTIMS’ ASHES WERE DUMPED IN LANDFILL, 3A
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James Murdoch sat side by side at a British parliamentary inquiry as legislators demanded to know the full extent of a phone-hacking scandal at The News of the World, a weekly tabloid newspaper that News International shut down last year. The company had initially claimed the hacking was the work of a single rogue reporter. But since then the scandal has spread and News International has begun paying settlement money to scores of celebrities whose voicemail accounts were broken into. The News Corp. statement on Wednesday said that Tom Mockridge, chief executive of News International, would continue in his role and report to Chase Carey, president of News Corp. “We are all grateful for James’ leadership at News • TURN TO MURDOCH, 2A
SEVEN CHARGED IN $375 MILLION TEXAS HEALTHCARE FRAUD, 5A
Egypt to let U.S. nonprofit workers leave BY DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK AND STEVEN LEE MYERS
New York Times Service
CAIRO — Egyptian officials said Wednesday that they would lift a travel ban barring seven U.S. citizens from leaving the country during the criminal prosecution of four U.S.-financed nonprofit groups here, apparently resolving a crisis that threatened to upend a 30-year alliance between Cairo and Washington. The announcement follows weeks of increasingly tense dip-
lomatic wrangling between Egypt and the United States as Egyptian officials insisted they had no ability to halt the prosecution. U.S. officials vowed to end the $1.5 billion in annual aid to Egypt if the case was not resolved, and in response Egyptian parliamentary leaders warned they would review the Camp David peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of Washington’s view of stability in the region. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appearing before a House appropriations subcommittee, said
on Wednesday that she hoped the matter would be “resolved shortly,” thus avoiding any withholding of U.S. military assistance under new restrictions set by Congress. “Once we make progress on the NGO issues, then we can have a broader discussion both with the Congress and with the Egyptian government,” Clinton said. “Of course, one of our problems is we don’t really have an Egyptian government to have a conversation • TURN TO EGYPT, 2A
FDA warns of cholesterol drugs’ side effects BY GARDINER HARRIS
New York Times Service
Federal health officials have added new safety alerts to the prescribing information for statins, the cholesterol-reducing medications that are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, citing rare risks of memory loss, diabetes and muscle pain. It is the first time that the Food and Drug Administration has of-
EUROPE WEIGHS PLAN TO REDUCE RATING AGENCIES’ INFLUENCE, BUSINESS FRONT
ficially linked statin use with cognitive problems like forgetfulness and confusion, although some patients have reported such problems for years. Among the drugs affected are such huge sellers as Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor and Vytorin. But federal officials and some medical experts said the new alerts should not scare people away from statins. “The value of statins in preventing heart disease has been clearly
WADE SENDS BRYANT AN APOLOGY, SPORTS FRONT
established,” said Dr. Amy Egan, deputy director for safety in the FDA’s division of metabolism and endocrinology products. “Their benefit is indisputable, but they need to be taken with care and knowledge of their side effects.” Diabetes patients and even those who develop diabetes while taking statins should continue taking the medicines, said Dr. Steven • TURN TO DRUGS, 2A
INDEX THE AMERICAS..........4A WORLD NEWS ...........6A OPINION........................7A COMICS & PUZZLES ..6B
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