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Wednesday, February 8, 2012 | The Daily Texan | Austin Myers, Wire Editor | dailytexanonline.com
NEWS BRIEFLY Strike could interrupt Carnival as Brazilian police expect raises SALVADOR, Brazil — About 300 striking police officers and their relatives held out Tuesday as soldiers blockaded a state legislature building in northeastern Brazil, and public worker leaders threatened a strike in Rio de Janeiro that could threaten the world’s largest Carnival celebration. About 1,000 soldiers and officers from an elite federal police unit ringed the legislature in the Bahia state capital of Salvador, Brazil’s thirdlargest city with 2.7 million people and a scheduled host for matches during the 2014 World Cup. Negotiations failed to end the strike in Salvador, officials said, and authorities in Rio de Janeiro also were preparing for police discontent there. Officials put up protective fences and posted riot police around Rio’s state legislature as lawmakers prepared to vote on a 39 percent raise for police, firefighters and prison guards, all of whom were threatening to strike Friday. The raise would increase an officer’s starting salary to $964 a month. Discontent among police is widespread across Brazil. Many officers complain of low pay and dangerous conditions in a country that recorded nearly 50,000 homicides in 2010.
New austerity deal almost done as Greeks lament their situation ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s prime minister negotiated late into the night Tuesday with the country’s international creditors, finalizing a proposal for new austerity measures to avoid a disastrous bankruptcy. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos kept talking with senior debt inspectors from Greece’s bailout creditors — other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund — which meant his meeting with Greek party leaders was postponed until Wednesday. The EU and the IMF insist that Greece must pass further harsh austerity measures — including private sector salary cuts and civil service firings — if it is to secure a second $170 billion bailout to avoid defaulting next month and possibly leaving the eurozone. The impending cutbacks have angered Greek unions, who organized a nationwide strike Tuesday that stopped train and ferry services, closed schools and banks and put state hospitals on short staffing.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah won’t fight for Iran should things get there BEIRUT — Iran will not ask Lebanon’s Hezbollah to retaliate if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities, the leader of the militant group said Tuesday. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told thousands of supporters by video link that in case of such an Israeli attack on Iran, his leadership would make a decision about a response. Hezbollah is funded by Iran. “There is speculation about what wound happen if Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Nasrallah said. “I tell you that the Iranian leadership will not ask Hezbollah to do anything. On that day, we will sit, think and decide what we will do.” Hezbollah holds the balance of power in Lebanon’s coalition government.
Last known WWI veteran dies, one more page of history closes LONDON — Florence Green never saw the front line. Her war was spent serving food, not dodging bullets. But Green, who has died aged 110, was the last known surviving veteran of World War I. She was serving with the Women’s Royal Air Force as a waitress at an air base in eastern England when the guns fell silent on Nov. 11, 1918. It was not until 2010 that she was officially recognized as a veteran after a researcher found her service record in Britain’s National Archives. She was born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on Feb. 19, 1901, and joined the newly formed Women’s Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17. Compiled from Associated Press reports
Court strikes down California’s gay marriage ban By Lisa Leff The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Samesex marriage moved one step closer to the Supreme Court on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled California’s ban unconstitutional, saying it serves no purpose other than to “lessen the status and human dignity” of gays. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave gay marriage opponents time to appeal the 2-1 decision before ordering the state to allow same-sex weddings to resume. “I’m ecstatic. I recognize that we have a ways to go yet. We may have one or two more legal steps,” said Jane Leyland, who was gathered with a small crowd outside the federal courthouse in downtown San Francisco, cheering as they learned of the ruling. Leyland married her longtime partner, Terry Gilb, during the fivemonth window when same-sex marriage was legal in California. “But when we first got together, I would have never dreamed in a million years that we would be allowed to be legally married, and here we are.” The ban known as Proposition 8 was approved by voters in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote. The court said it was unconstitutional because it singled out a minority group for disparate treatment for no compelling reason. The justices concluded that the law had no purpose other than to deny gay couples marriage, since California already grants them all the rights and benefits of marriage if they register as domestic partners. “Had Marilyn Monroe’s film been called ‘How to Register a Domestic Partnership with a Millionaire,’ it would not have conveyed the same meaning as did her famous movie,
Photo courtesy of Bay Area News Group & The Tribune
Brian Keeton and Jay Dwyer, of San Francisco, celebrate outside City Hall in San Francisco on Tuesday after a federal appeals court declared California’s same-sex marriage ban (better known as Proposition 8) unconstitutional. It has been 18 months since a lower-court judge struck down the law, and its defenders will likely appeal to the Supreme Court. Same-sex weddings might not continue until the case has been fully appealed.
even though the underlying drama for same-sex couples is no different,” the court said. The appeals court focused its decision exclusively on California’s ban, not the bigger debate, even though the court has further jurisdiction. Whether same-sex couples may ever be denied the right to marry “is an important and highly controversial question,” the court said. “We need not and do not answer the broader question in this case.”
Six states allow gay couples to wed - Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont — as well as the District of Columbia. California, as the nation’s most populous state and home to more than 98,000 same-sex couples, would be the gay rights movement’s biggest prize of them all. The 9th Circuit concluded that a trial court judge had correctly interpreted the Constitution and Supreme Court precedents when he
threw out Proposition 8. Legal analysts questioned whether the Supreme Court would agree to take the case because of its narrow scope. California is the only state to grant gays the right to marry and rescind it. Douglas NeJaime, an associate professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the Californiaspecific scope of the 9th Circuit panel’s decision means the Supreme Court can uphold it without ruling
“on marriage for same-sex couples on a national scale.” Weddings appeared unlikely to resume anytime soon. The ruling will not take effect until the deadline passes in two weeks for Proposition 8’s backers to appeal to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit. Lawyers for the coalition of conservative religious groups that sponsored the measure said they have not decided if they will seek a rehearing or file an appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
Russia pushes Syria reforms with Assad staying in power By Elizabeth Kennedy The Associated Press
BEIRUT — Days after blocking a U.S.-backed peace plan at the U.N., senior Russian officials pushed for reforms Tuesday during an emergency meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, promoting a settlement to end the uprising without removing him from power. Thousands of flag-waving government supporters cheered the Russians in the Syrian capital of Damascus, while to the north, Assad’s forces pounded the opposition city of Homs — underscoring the sharp divisions propelling the country toward civil war. The violence has led to the most severe international isolation in more than four decades of Assad family rule, with country after country calling home their envoys. France, Italy, Spain and Belgium pulled their ambassadors from Damascus, as did six Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia. Germany, whose envoy left the country this month, said he would not be replaced. The moves came a day after the U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and Britain recalled its ambassador. Turkey, once a strong Assad supporter and now one of his most vocal critics, added its voice to the international condemnation, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying his coun-
try cannot remain silent about massacres in Syria. He said Turkey would “launch a new initiative with countries that stand by the Syrian people instead of the regime.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flew into Damascus on Tuesday, accompanied by his foreign security chief, to try to boost a plan that would keep Assad in power, even though many prominent members of the opposition reject that entirely. The visit was also a sign that Moscow wanted to get a firsthand assessment of the situation on the ground in Syria — and the raucous welcome the diplomats received from thousands of regime supporters appeared aimed at showing that Assad’s grip is firm, at least in Damascus. Syria has been a key Russian ally since Soviet times, and Moscow remains a major arms supplier to Damascus even as Assad unleashes his forces to crush not only peaceful protesters, but army defectors who are fighting the regime. In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. was not considering arming opposition groups in Syria, despite calls from some U.S. lawmakers to consider such an option. U.S. senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman urged the U.S. to explore the prospect of arming opposition forces. “It’s an option that now should be on the table,” McCain said.
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INSIDE
> SAVE SPACE and DECORATE using these tips pg. 3-4 > SPICE UP your new pantry with four simple ingredients pg. 9 > YOUR GO-TO GUIDE for today’s Housing Fair pg. 10-11