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INTERNATIONAL EDITION
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
109TH YEAR I ©2012 THE MIAMI HERALD
Romney tightens grip, but battle continues BY STEVEN R. HURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney won in six of 10 Super Tuesday states but managed only the narrowest victory over rival Rick Santorum in all-important Ohio, an outcome that leaves open the contest for the nomination to challenge President Barack Obama. Santorum, the former senator, captured three states and Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, notched a victory in Georgia, the state he represented in Congress for nearly two decades. The mixed results in the 10 state contests held on Tuesday suggest that Romney, despite padding his lead in the tally of delegates who
will pick the nominee this summer, is still struggling to win over the Republican party’s most conservative elements. Regardless, said Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, predicted Romney will win the nomination because his rivals “have not demonstrated an ability to do what needs to be done” to lock down the nod and Romney remains “the only candidate in this race who’s got a plan to turn this economy around.” Speaking on CBS television Wednesday, Cantor’s remarks mirrored those of voters who told Ohio exit pollsters that the improving economy remained their chief concern. In the aftermath of the Tuesday vote, Obama campaign manager with reporters, said Romney was primary states. He added that the Jim Messina, in a conference call “limping across the finish line” in weakness of the Republican field
was giving the president an “expanded map” of states to work with in the fall campaign. Obama on Wednesday was in North Carolina, a state that figures prominently in the presidential election, calling for incentives to develop more fuel-efficient cars, emphasizing a top energy initiative amid rising gasoline prices and a reelection battle. Gasoline prices are at their highest levels for this time of year and Obama has been traveling to promote energy proposals and is proposing a $1 billion incentive to challenge local communities to encourage greater fuel-efficient technologies, such as more charging stations for electric vehicles. • TURN TO GOP RACE, 2A
U.S., Israel split over 2 questions on Iran nuclear effort BY DAVID E. SANGER
New York Times Service
PHOTOS BY PRASHANTH VISHWANATHAN/NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE
Employees work in a lab of Cipla, one of India’s largest generic drugmakers, in Mumbai.
PATENT DISPUTE
Lot’s at stake as India’s Supreme Court gets ready to hear the case of Swiss drugmaker, Novartis, which is attempting to get a patent for its anti-cancer drug BY VIKAS BAJAJ AND ANDREW POLLACK
New York Times Service
heralded as a breakthrough for people with a deadly form of leukemia. The case, involving the drug Gleevec, is before the Indian Supreme Court, which is preparing to hear final arguments this month. It represents a high-stakes showdown between defenders of intellectual property rights, who say the generic knockoffs stifle innovation by drugmakers, and Indian drug companies and international aid groups, who warn that a ruling in favor of Novartis could dry up the global supply of inexpensive medicines to treat AIDS, cancer and other diseases. The case has attracted
MUMBAI — While China was becoming the world’s shop floor, India took its place as the world’s pharmacy, and in recent decades has been the largest provider of cheap, lifesaving medicines in poor countries across the globe. But most of that medicine has been generic copies of brandname drugs protected by patents in Europe and the United States. Now a big Swiss drug company, Novartis, may be one legal step away from upending the Indian supply chain by forcing the Indian government to recognize a patent for a cancer treatment • TURN TO DRUGS, 2A
A pharmacist sells drugs over the counter in Mumbai.
WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel met in the White House on Monday, the main subject was how to calibrate the resumption of negotiations with Iran while continuing to accelerate sanctions and sabotage against its nuclear program. But they remained divided on two central questions: If Iran decided to race for a nuclear weapon, would the West detect that in time to stop it? And even if it were detected, would an airstrike be the best option? From the administration’s top ranks down, U.S. officials say they would almost certainly detect a sprint to manufacture a weapon. Among the signs, they say, would be any move to evict international inspectors, satellite evidence of any testing of the kinds of conventional explosives used to develop a bomb and, quite likely, reports from the West’s contacts inside the Iranian scientific community of a change in the actions of the laboratories run by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the Iranian believed to be leading the weaponization program. The Israelis say a rush for the bomb might be detectable but might not be. And they say that everything from the history of the Holocaust to the tight geography of the Middle East demands that they assess the risk of missing the turn in Iran much more critically than Washington does. “Amazingly, some people refuse to acknowledge that Iran’s goal is to develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said Monday • TURN TO IRAN, 2A
U.S. determined to defeat transnational gangs, Biden tells leaders of Central America BY ALBERTO ARCE AND FREDDY CUEVAS Associated Press
TEGUCIGALPA — Vice President Joe Biden told Central American leaders that the United States is determined to defeat transnational gangs and continue funding an offensive against drug traffickers, but didn’t publicly address the debate of drug legalization proposed in the region. Still, Central American presidents insisted they will talk about decriminalizing narcotics in a
SCRUTINY OF POLITICAL GROUPS STIRS HARASSMENT CLAIM, 3A
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meeting scheduled in two weeks, according to a joint statement read after the meeting with Biden. Biden said the U.S. government has financially supported a regional security plan and is seeking more money to help Central American countries fight drug cartels, accused of causing a spike in murders. Guatemala’s President Otto Perez has said he favors a debate about legalizing drugs as a way to decrease cartel violence. On Monday, during a visit to
CHAVEZ SAYS FIRST WEEK OF POST-SURGERY RECOVERY ROUGH, 4A
Mexico, Biden said Washington doesn’t think that is the answer and will not legalize drugs. After arriving in Honduras’ capital for Tuesday’s meeting, Perez didn’t say whether he would bring up drug legalization at the session. But speaking at the Tegucigalpa airport, Perez said it was an opportune time to discuss “organized crime, drug trafficking and the problems the region faces.” • TURN TO BIDEN, 2A
ESTEBAN FELIX/AP
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is flanked by El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes, left, and Honduras’ President Porfirio Lobo during a meeting in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
LEHMAN BROTHERS ESTATE EMERGES FROM BANKRUPTCY, BUSINESS FRONT
PEYTON MANNING AND COLTS PART WAYS, SPORTS FRONT
INDEX U.S. NEWS.....................5A WORLD NEWS ...........6A OPINION........................7A COMICS & PUZZLES ..6B
3/8/2012 4:55:14 AM