Gay marriage: US Supreme Court may not hear Prop. 8 appeal – Los Angeles Times
Sydney Morning Herald Gay marriage: US Supreme Court may not hear Prop. 8 appealLos Angeles TimesUntil Tuesday, it looked like California's Proposition 8 gay marriage case would be decided by the US Supreme Court. But that looks less certain now. The narrow California-only approach adopted by the 9th Circuit means the high court might choose [...]
FRENCH POLITICS: Ruling party storms out of parliament over ‘Nazi’ slur
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party stormed out of parliament Tuesday after a Socialist MP accused Interior Minister Claude Guéant (pictured) of reviving Nazi ideology with a comment about not all civilisations being equal. Read More
Susan G. Komen reverses course, will keep funding Planned Parenthood – CBS News
ABC News Susan G. Komen reverses course, will keep funding Planned ParenthoodCBS NewsThree days after pulling its funding for cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation on Friday apologized for the decision and reversed course. "Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and …Cancer Group [...]
FRANCE: ‘Extras’ bussed in for Sarkozy publicity stunt
French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a visit to a social housing building site Thursday to highlight his work on this key election issue – but according to builders at the site, many of the ‘workers’ Sarkozy met on the tour had been bussed in. Read More
FRANCE: Sarkozy ‘playing politics’ with more jury trials, magistrates claim
The use of juries in French criminal courts is to be extended from the beginning of January. Magistrates say that they support the greater use of juries, but claim that there is a strong political motivation behind the decision. Read More
FRANCE: France makes it harder to become French
France will be making it harder for foreigners to seek French citizenship as of January. Critics say the new requirements, which include tough language tests and allegiance to “French values”, are an electoral ploy that panders to the far right. Read More
FRANCE: France won’t arrest former war crimes court official
France has said on Monday it would not arrest Florence Hartmann, the ex-spokeswoman to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia who has been convicted for disclosing confidential decisions during the trial of Slobodan Milosevic. Read More
FRANCE: Turkey recalls Paris envoy as lawmakers back genocide bill
France’s lower house of parliament has approved a bill making it illegal to deny a genocide, including the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Turkey, which denies the genocide, has withdrawn its Paris ambassador and frozen military ties. Read More
FRANCE: Socialists set up watchdog to survey Sarkozy travel costs
The opposition Socialist Party say President Nicolas Sarkozy may be misusing his official agenda to campaign for re-election, and have launched a monitoring group to survey his travel expenses. Read More
FRANCE: The National Front and the quest for the Jewish vote
Less than six months ahead of the presidential and legislative elections, France’s far-right National Front is on a mission to gain respectability among the Jewish electorate despite its traditionally anti-Jewish stance. Read More