the united states an expert said tuesday as landmark trial on california
same sex wedding ban resumed
nancy cott harvard professor and expert on the history of marriage in
america told the federal court in san francisco that the ability to have
children is not factor in determining whether union is legal
there has never been requirement that couple produce children to have
legitimate marriage cott told the court on the second day of trial which
could ultimately seal the issue of same sex marriage in the united states
same sex marriage supporters are seeking to overturn california law known as
proposition which limits marriage to unions between men and women socially
conservative opponents are fighting the lawsuit
cott said older people beyond procreative age are frequently married as are
infertile women and none other than george washington america first
president was married despite the fact that he was known to be sterile
cott was responding to the assertion made monday by charles cooper an attorney
for proposition campaign committee coalition called protect marriage
that the purpose of the institution of marriage the central purpose is to
promote procreation and to channel naturally procreative sexual activity between
men and women in stable enduring unions
still cott said government did historically restrict certain marriages
at least us states have at some point in history forbidden marriages between
whites and blacks cott said similar restrictions were imposed on marriages
between whites and asians
legislatures passing such restrictions cott said insisted the laws were only
natural these laws were fulfilling god plan she said
pro same sex marriage supporters are being represented by attorneys theodore
olson and david boies who are teaming up after being fierce opponents in the
supreme court fight for the presidency between george bush and al gore
the stakes are huge for both supporters and opponents of gay marriage
supreme court ruling would seal the fate of gay unions across the united
states without possibility for appeal by one side or the other
the california court case follows several setbacks for gay marriage proponents
on thursday new jersey lawmakers rejected bill authorizing gay marriages as
did lawmakers in new york state few weeks ago
only five us states today permit gay unions iowa connecticut massachusetts
vermont and new hampshire
faa orders inspections for aging boeing
washington jan afp
the federal aviation administration faa the civilian authority overseeing us
aircraft and airports on tuesday ordered inspections of boeing plans
for possible cracks in the fuselage of the aging aircraft
the agency said that the external checks of the planes aim to detect cracks in
the fuselage skin and repair if necessary
the order follows an incident in july in which centimeter inch
diameter hole in the fuselage of southwest airlines plane led to loss of
cabin pressure requiring the plane to be diverted to an alternate airport due
to cabin depressurization and subsequent deployment of the oxygen masks an faa
statement said
none of the passengers and five crew was injured in the incident which
affected southwest airlines flight en route from nashville tennessee to
baltimore maryland
the directive affects certain older models of the boeing and
somali pirate suspect charged with two more attacks
new york jan afp
somali man held in new york on piracy charges was accused tuesday in two more
attacks against ships in the indian ocean
abduwali abdukhadir muse was brought to the united states last year after being
captured at the scene of dramatic clash between the us navy and somali pirates
holding hostage us merchant captain
in new indictment prosecutors say muse was not only responsible for the
attack on the maersk alabama but for earlier raids on two other ships
muse pleaded not guilty in may to piracy hijacking and kidnapping he has not
yet entered plea for the new charges and he is awaiting trial in federal
court
muse and others hijacked two ships before the maersk alabama the second of
which is still being held hostage the office of us attorney preet bharara said
in statement
according to prosecutors muse and others first boarded vessel identified as
ship and seized control taking the crew hostage muse allegedly threatened
to set off an explosive device next to hostage if any rescue attempt was made
later muse and his group forced ship to rendezvous with another vessel
ship
the two ships were tied together and the captains were held prisoner on ship
prosecutors allege at the present time the captain and the crew of ship
continue to be held hostage on board ship
it was only after that the pirates allegedly attacked the maersk alabama which
they boarded after firing shots
during the maersk alabama incident muse conducted himself as the leader of the
pirates the indictment says
that alleged raid proved to be muse last
the pirates attempted to flee in lifeboat with the ship captain richard
phillips but found themselves stranded without motor
us naval ship the uss bainbridge arrived at the scene and sharpshooters
killed three of the pirates on the lifeboat saving phillips muse who had
boarded the uss bainbridge apparently to negotiate was arrested
greek anarchists claim parliament blast
athens jan afp
greek extremist group the conspiracy of the cells of fire on tuesday claimed
responsibility for weekend bomb blast outside parliament saying it was aimed
against the capitalist government
no one was injured and only few windows were shattered when the device went
off saturday evening inside rubbish bin minutes after police sealed off the
area following tip off to an athens newspaper
the group in rambling text published on the indymedia website said it
rejected democracy as its main role is to function as cover for the monstrous
mechanism of capitalism
in the face of democracy we will not display any respect but only our anger
and attacks it warned
the conspiracy of the cells of fire which has carried out number of similar
blasts since police said
the group had claimed an attack in athens on december on greece largest
insurance company ethniki asfalistiki and it is seen as being behind dozens of
similar attacks on the homes and offices of political leaders
six members of the conspiracy of the cells of fire were arrested and three
remain in custody after police raid on one of its hideouts in an athens
suburb in september last year
fed curbs credit card issuance for teens
washington jan afp
the us federal reserve moved tuesday to clamp down on teen credit with new rules
that make it difficult for anyone under the age of to obtain credit card
as part of series of new rules aimed at protecting consumers the measure
forbids banks from issuing credit card to anyone under unless the consumer
has the ability to make the required payments or obtains the signature of
parent or other cosigner with the ability to do so
the new rules effective february also prevent lenders from unexpected
increases in interest rates on card balances and limit fees and certain types
of interest calculations
the new measures implement law passed last year by congress
fed governor elizabeth duke said the effort marks an important milestone in the
federal reserve efforts to ensure that consumers who rely on credit cards are
treated fairly
the rule bans several harmful practices and requires greater transparency in
the disclosure of the terms and conditions of credit card accounts duke added
slain guatemala lawyer planned his own murder un
guatemala city jan afp
prominent guatemalan lawyer who triggered political crisis when he blamed
his murder on the president in posthumous video actually planned his own
death un probe found tuesday
the investigators on un commission determined that rodrigo rosenberg asked
relatives of his ex wife to hire assassins to kill supposed blackmailer but
the target rosenberg gave the killers was himself
in conclusion rodrigo rosenberg planned his own death and for some reason
sought to put an end to his life carlos castresana spanish jurist who
headed the investigation told news conference
castresana heads the international committee against impunity in guatemala
body created by the united nations
the affair triggered crisis when president alvaro colom came under fire with
the release of video filmed before rosenberg was shot dead on may
accusing the president and his aides of being responsible for the killing
colom always denied the charge but the scandal led to mass protests on the
streets of guatemala city
greece taking steps to meet fiscal challenges eu chief
athens jan afp
greece is now taking steps to meet the substantial challenge posed by its huge
debt and public deficit the european union new permanent president said on
tuesday
greece faces very substantial economic and fiscal challenges and it is matter
of common interest for the european union as whole and more particularly for
the members of the eurozone that greece manages to meet those challenges
herman van rompuy told reporters during visit to athens
greece which is mired in recession has public spending deficit that rose to
percent of output last year far above the percent ceiling permitted to
countries sharing the euro currency
it is also saddled with debt constituting percent of gross domestic
product gdp
after our discussion am confident that the greek government is already taking
the necessary further steps to address the situation the eu chief said after
meeting with greek prime minister george papandreou
resolute fiscal consolidation should start without delay in and the
deficit should be brought below three percent by the end of he said
this commitment needs to be supported by concrete and credible measures with
front loading of the effort he added
greek finance minister george papaconstantinou said in an interview with the
german newspaper handelsblatt to appear wednesday that his government had
carried out thorough re examination of its finances
there is no skeleton in the closet he told the paper
we have re calculated everything again taking into account hospital debt
higher costs and decline in receipts last year it solid basis for
reducing the deficit in the years to come
the recently elected socialist government which must present its crisis plans
to the eu executive commission by the end of the month has said it will get the
deficit down to percent in by cutting state spending and fighting tax
fraud
it aims to bring it to below percent of gdp the limit imposed by the
eurozone in
the government has invited team of international monetary fund experts
scheduled to arrive on wednesday on week long visit to lend technical advice
on pension reform tax policy and budget management
european finance ministers and european central bank officials have criticised
athens in past weeks for its failure to control its wayward finances and the
three main credit rating agencies have all downgraded the country sovereign
debt standing
serbia puts swine flu vaccine purchase on hold
belgrade jan afp
serbia decided on tuesday to put on hold further purchases of swine flu vaccines
from swiss novartis due to low interest among the people to the government
vaccination programme minister said
upon expertise by health authorities the government has recommended the
further purchase of vaccines to be put on hold health minister tomica
milosavljevic told serbian state television rts
serbia has already purchased more than doses of vaccines with
plans to buy total of three million doses
but so far only about people have been inoculated since the start of
the campaign on december milosavljevic said
however he insisted that the mass vaccination would continue in the country
where people have so far died of the flu
we hope that the response among people will be higher and there are enough
doses of vaccines in stock until mid february when health authorities will
again reconsider further purchases milosavljevic said
health officials said they had confirmed cases of the virus so far
but added the true number could be far higher as not all patients were tested
for the disease some people are hospitalised with severe flu like symptoms
serbia which has population of million declared swine flu epidemic on
november
estonian wanted by nazi hunters dies in costa rica
tallinn jan afp
an estonian alleged by nazi hunters to have murdered jews during world war ii
has died in his adopted homeland costa rica aged according to officials in
the baltic state
harry mannil died monday in the costa rican capital san jose edgar savisaar
the left leaning mayor of estonia capital tallinn and close friend said in
statement
savisaar paid tribute to mannil the godfather of his daughter as an
outstanding expatriate estonian businessman
later tuesday savisaar and other senior estonian figures including ex
president arnold ruutel said in joint statement that mannil was the victim of
an international witch hunt and that no evidence of nazi era crimes had been
produced against him
mannil was on the wanted list of the simon wiesenthal center los angeles
based jewish organisation that tracks nazi war criminals
he was recorded as serving from september to june with german security
forces during the nazi occupation of estonia
the simon wiesenthal center accused him of involvement in the murder of
civilians mostly jews although recent estonian probe only established that
he was involved in interrogations
the nazi hunters blasted as whitewash decision in by estonian
prosecutors to drop five year investigation due to lack of evidence
implicating mannil in war crimes
mannil left for finland in ahead of soviet takeover of estonia and like
many estonian exiles then went to sweden he emigrated to latin america in
year after the end of world war ii
he spent the ensuing decades mostly in venezuela as well as costa rica in
the simon wiesenthal center got him placed on watch list barring him
from the united states
the wartime history of estonia nation of million people remains highly
controversial
some estonians saw the nazis as lesser evil after german forces drove out
soviet troops who had occupied the country in and had deported thousands of
estonians to their deaths and were to do so again after the war
but the nazis brought their own terror
estonia pre war jewish population numbered some most fled before the
nazi invasion but the who remained in the country perished
the nazis also sent up to jews from other occupied countries to camps in
estonia where most died
the red army drove out the nazis in estonia was soviet republic until
the communist bloc collapsed in
mannil who in exile became wealthy businessman and art collector was
appointed trade advisor by newly independent estonia government
he had first returned to estonia in at the invitation of local soviet
leader vaino valjas who had met mannil while serving as moscow ambassador to
venezuela and also signed tuesday statement
football rangers predict quick recovery for boyd
glasgow jan afp
rangers said they expected kris boyd to make quick and complete recovery
after the in form striker underwent hernia operation after injuring his groin
last weekend
the year old has been struggling with groin problem for several weeks and
was forced out of sunday dramatic scottish cup draw against hamilton
manager walter smith said he thought boyd who has scored goals so far this
season would be out of action for at least six weeks the standard time it
takes to recover from hernia operation
but statement tuesday on rangers official website said they expected boyd to
make quick and complete recovery and could be back in action in month
time
he will definitely miss this weekend league clash at hamilton and next week
scottish cup replay against the accies as well as matches against hearts st
mirren and falkirk
boyd could return for fixtures against motherwell and hibernian in february and
rangers will want him fit by the time of their old firm derby against celtic at
ibrox on february
woman who saved anne frank diary dead at
the hague jan afp
miep gies the woman who hid anne frank from the nazis during world war ii and
guarded her diary that became one of the world most read books has died after
brief illness she was
the anne frank museum said that gies the last surviving helper of anne and
those who shared her hiding place in an amsterdam canalside house died in the
western town of hoorn on monday
it was gies who guarded anne memoirs and presented it to the girl father
otto when he returned from the auschwitz concentration camp at the end of world
war ii the only one of his jewish family to survive
in her diary anne frank chronicled the details of her teenage life hiding from
the nazis in amsterdam from to when the nazi secret police discovered
her and her family hiding place
german born anne and her sister later died at the bergen belsen concentration
camp
the diary first published in became one of the most renowned accounts of
jews hiding from nazi persecution and has been translated into languages
until she suffered stroke decade ago gies travelled around the world
giving lectures about the consequences of intolerance and anti semitism
according to the anne frank museum
anne frank expressed great wish to live on after her death miep gies saw it
as her duty to help in making this happen it said in statement
born hermine miep santruschitz in vienna in gies moved to the
netherlands at age
in she began working for otto frank at his opekta trading company
at great risk to her own safety she and four other helpers brought food and
supplies to the frank family and others hiding in secret annex of opekta
office building for more than two years
when she turned last february gies sought to play down her own role
not hero she said it wasn something planned in advance simply
did what could to help
she suffered stroke at the age of which seriously affected her speech and
writing and forced her to stop her activities
on her th birthday gies bought house with garden in hoorn where she
lived out the last years of her life she celebrated her th birthday on
february last year
bad fall in mid december left her with severe neck injury the anne frank
foundation said she died of complications in hospital in hoorn on monday
night
right until the end miep remained deeply involved with the remembrance of anne
frank and spreading the message of her story the museum statement said
everyday she received letters from all over the world with questions about her
relationship with anne frank and her role as helper
gies received numerous honours for her role including from the netherlands
germany and israel yad vashem holocaust memorial centre
of course it nice to be appreciated but only did my duty to my fellow man
helped people in need anyone can do that can they gies once said
hundreds of mourners contributed to an online condolence register tuesday
rest in peace your story reminds us of the nature of humanity wrote year
old andrew davis from london she was humanity at its finest whilst surrounded
by its worst added briton garry owens
the anne frank museum said funeral arrangements were not yet known but it would
be private affair
clinton okada begin talks on disputed us base in japan
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton and her japanese counterpart katsuya okada
began talks here wednesday aimed at ensuring their long alliance will thrive
despite row over us air base
as they sat down for talks at hotel on the pacific ocean outside honolulu
clinton broke the ice with talk about the close connection president barack
obama has with hawaii where he was born and grew up
with cameras snapping they then began what was expected to be an hour of
private talks
in the runup to the meeting both clinton and okada vowed not to let the dispute
over the futenma air base on the japanese island of okinawa undermine us
japanese alliance that has underpinned security in asia for years
futenma is very important issue but we can let it affect the broader
alliance okada said in an interview with the washington post hours before the
talks began
he expressed the hope it would last another years or years or longer
clinton speaking to reporters on the way to honolulu monday on the eve of talks
with okada also played down the dispute
the significance of our meeting is to reaffirm the centrality of our year
old alliance clinton said on tour that will also take her to papua new
guinea australia and new zealand
it the alliance provides stability for the region and think it much
bigger than any one particular issue clinton said suggesting the alliance
trumped the problem of the base
tokyo relations with its most important ally have been strained over the
futenma base which prime minister yukio hatoyama has suggested should be moved
off the southern island of okinawa or even outside japan altogether
the center left hatoyama who took power in september has pledged to review
past agreements on the us military presence including plans to shift futenma
within okinawa and to deal with washington on more equal basis
but clinton urged patience as new party adjusts to power in japan and put
positive spin on us ties with the new government praising it for setting up
five billion dollar fund for afghanistan
so we see our relationship with japan as very broad and deep and security is
obviously critical part of that but it is by no means the only part she
said
yomiuri newspaper and other reports said sunday that clinton and okada will make
final arrangements tuesday for an anniversary statement by the us and japanese
leaders stressing the contribution of their alliance to global peace
the security treaty signed on january has formed the bedrock of the
post war japan us alliance under which pacifist japan relies on massive us
military presence to guarantee its security
during her two day stop clinton will visit the uss arizona memorial in pearl
harbor which commemorates those who died in the japanese surprise attack on
december that brought the united states into world war ii
she will then travel to papua new guinea for talks on climate change and
economic development before heading to new zealand and australia where she will
discuss similar issues as well as international security
kurt campbell the assistant secretary of state for asian affairs said clinton
will also seek advice from australian prime minister kevin rudd who speaks
chinese about how the united states can better work with china
beijing support is key for us goals in curbing the nuclear ambitions of iran
and north korea as well as combating climate change
in the interview with the washington post okada said he wanted to discuss
broad range of international problems such as nuclear issues in iran the
issues about burma freedom and also global issues involving afghanistan
climate change nuclear non proliferation and nuclear disarmament
burma is the former name for myanmar which is ruled by military junta
okada dismissed concerns among some in washington that the new japanese
government was more interested in china than in the united states the
washington post said
actually in the united states that same idea is being discussed which is that
japan time is over and from now on the us needs to focus on its relationship
with china he said pointing out the irony
launching her fourth asia tour since becoming the chief us diplomat year ago
clinton also said washington intends to exercise influence in asia for another
century and serve as stabilizing force against china rising power
three britons one colombian kidnapped in nigeria
lagos jan afp
gunmen tuesday seized three britons and colombian shooting dead their police
escort in the first major kidnapping for six months in southern nigeria niger
delta
the four contract workers for the anglo dutch oil giant shell were
abducted as they travelled to work from the southern oil city of port harcourt
to the shell operated afam power plant police said
they were ambushed by gunmen around the small town of obehi said rivers
state police spokeswoman rita abbey adding that police were concentrating their
search in and around that town
the town is about halfway between port harcourt and aba the workers intended
destination situated kilometres miles northeast of port harcourt
the gunmen shot dead the police officer escorting the group and wounded their
driver
shell spokesman in nigeria said we are concerned for the safety of the
contractor staff and our thoughts are with them and their families at this
difficult time
spokesman for the foreign office in britain said we are aware of the reports
that three british nationals have been kidnapped in nigeria and are urgently
investigating these claims
the incident was the first major kidnapping in southern nigeria since july last
year following lull in the wake of government amnesty which saw thousands
of militants lay down their arms
armed groups claiming to seek fairer share of oil revenue for locals have
since staged attacks on oil installations in the niger delta playing havoc
with crude output and international oil prices
the main rebel group in the restive region the movement for the emancipation of
the niger delta mend said it had no hand in the abduction of the workers
no known ransom demands have been made
in october mend declared an open ended ceasefire to give dialogue with
authorities chance
but at the weekend mend said it was reviewing its indefinite ceasefire
announced on sunday october and will announce its position on or before
january
the absence of president umaru yar adua for nearly two months for medical
reasons has not helped efforts to end the violence with militants reportedly
unhappy at the slow progress of the process to re integrate them into their
communities
the president absence has certainly jeopardised the entire peace process
because there is no structure mend spokesman told afp
hundreds of foreign and local oil workers have been kidnapped in the niger delta
since many have been released unharmed others after ransom payments
last year shell said of its workers and contractors had been kidnapped
between and
militants have also attacked pipelines and offshore facilities and even lagos
harbour at the weekend militants targeted chevron pipelines in second such
attack since the government unconditional pardon came into effect in august
last year
at the peak of the violence in the delta production dipped by up to third of
pre levels in the world eighth largest oil exporter
oil is the economic mainstay of nigeria raking in some percent of the
country earnings and contributing about percent of budget requirements for
the opec member country
nigeria plans to offer inhabitants of the nine oil producing states an extra
percent of oil and gas revenues in addition to the percent they already get
in bid to end violence
japan gunman kills self after shooting three in bar police
tokyo jan afp
middle aged man killed himself after fatally shooting his mother in law and
two other people with shotgun tuesday in bar in western japan police and
reports said
the shooting occurred at around pm gmt in hibikino city outside
osaka an osaka prefectural police spokesman said
the suspect fired the shotgun inside the bar and then shot himself on street
outside the official said by telephone
the gunman was later identified as an osaka city government employee yasuhisa
sugiura kyodo news agency reported
the three victims included his mother in law yoshiko tanaka and bar
employee tatsuya fukui bar owner hiroto uehara was critically wounded
in the attack and died later kyodo said quoting police
sugiura and his mother in law were at the bar to talk about divorce according
to witnesses kyodo reported
he got excited and left in the middle of the discussion returning later with
shotgun it said
gun crimes are rare in japan where illegal possession of firearm carries
prison sentence of up to years
bur mtp
football monaco loaned nigerian striker maazou from cska moscow
moscow jan afp
russian three time champions cska moscow said tuesday they have loaned nigerian
forward moussa maazou to french top flight side monaco
cska said on their official site that monaco have the right to buy the year
old striker who made his debut for cska in march last year for five million
euros after his loan expires at the end of the season
spain public tv ratings rise after it drops adverts
madrid jan afp
spain main public television station tve has experienced bump in its
ratings since it stopped airing advertisements on january newspaper
reported tuesday
the station obtained an audience share of percent during the first days
of the year compared to percent during the entire month of december
according to an internal study cited by the online edition of el pais
the ratings rise has been greatest when it comes to films
the movie national treasure starring nicolas cage obtained market share
of percent when it aired on sunday night an increase of percentage
points over the average for the same time slot in december
last year the european commission warned that spain faces possible court action
for failing to ensure that its television stations comply with european union
wide limit of minutes of adverts per hour
spain main association of advertisers meanwhile has warned that saturation
advertising on television was hurting the effectiveness of their messages and
turning off viewers
prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero socialist government axed all
commercial advertising on spain two public channels tve and tve as of
january in what was seen as bid to hurt private broadcasters who are
struggling with falling advertising revenues
the two stations had been broadcasting minutes of adverts per hour
