 Same-sex couples in New Jersey must be given all the benefits and rights enjoyed by married men and women, but state lawmakers will have to decide whether they can officially wed, the state's highest court ruled Wednesday.The ruling leaves open the possibility that state lawmakers will follow the lead of Vermont and Connecticut and allow "civil unions." Such unions afford same-sex couples the same state rights as marriage but not the title. New Jersey lawmakers have 180 days to respond to the court's mandate. Massachusetts, which authorized same-sex marriage in 2003, remains the only state that allows gays to legally wed. The New Jersey ruling comes less than two weeks before the Nov. 7 elections in which Republicans are battling to retain control of Congress. Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council predicted that the ruling would "give momentum" to efforts in eight states to pass constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriages....
http://www.usatoday.com
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Editor - 20:48:00 10-25-06
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 DEATH TRAINS Controversy over Exhibit on Railway's Role in Holocaust |
Germany's transport minister wants to mount an exhibition on how the national railway deported 11,000 Jewish children to their deaths in concentration camps. But the CEO of Deutsche Bahn is refusing to comply, saying his stations are the wrong venue. The German government and the state-owned national railway are currently locked in a bitter dispute over a proposed exhibition on the role of its predecessor, the Reichsbahn, in the Holocaust. Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee wants to see the exhibition shown in the country's train stations, but the head of Deutsche Bahn, Hartmut Mehdorn, is vehemently opposed to the idea. There seems to be little prospect of a compromise in sight....
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,444580,00.html
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Editor - 20:21:00 10-25-06
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| Prize of $5m awaits honest African rulers. "Honest" African rulers??? The prize is safe, unless they steal it |
Africa’s political leaders are being offered a $5m prize & a stipend for life if they do not plunder national coffers or rig elections. Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair & Bill Clinton are backing initiative to be formally launched tomorrow in London by a foundation started by a Sudanese-born telecom tycoon, Mo Ibrahim. Mr Mandela said the award, which is for former leaders who have shown “excellence in leadership”, will contribute to “Africa’s political & economic renaissance”. Blair said it supported efforts to “encourage exemplary leadership”. But sceptics say that the award will only emphasise the power wielded by individual leaders & fails to recognise the real causes of corruption & abuse of power. Mr Ibrahim said the prize is necessary to encourage African leaders to consider a fourth alternative to those they currently face when nearing the end of their term, namely “relative poverty, term extension, or corruption”. Bill Clinton a judge of Honesty? This story has to be joke ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1931386,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 13:56:00 10-25-06
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| Staying the course? Bush denied that "stay the course" had ever been his policy |
At what point does a change in tactics constitute a de facto change of strategy? How does a "goal" differ from a "strategy" or mere "tactics"? If the stakes weren't so high these questions might all seem a bit pedantic, mere semantics for military training school lectures. But the questions relate to the future course of American military involvement in Iraq, and with the mid-term elections fast approaching there has been an acceleration in the rhetoric coming out of the president's camp.The White House spokesman, Tony Snow, has been trying to explain to the Washington press pack how you can change tactics without that having an impact on the US strategy in Iraq. But time and again the press corps has been left confused about what practical changes there will be on the ground.The rhetorical shift from the president is more stark. For the past year, in the face of bad news from Iraq, he has insisted that America must "stay the course" ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nick_miles/2006/10/staying_the_course.html
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Editor - 11:13:00 10-25-06
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| 'Don't squeeze N Korea' - Putin |
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said North Korea should not be driven into a corner if the world wants to rein in its nuclear weapons programme. He said some negotiators "failed to find the right tone" with the country. He was speaking in a live TV phone-in with Russians nationwide, broadcast on TV and radio. He said he would not try to run for office again when his term ends in 2008, but said he would try to continue to influence political affairs. On North Korea, Mr Putin said a solution could be found "with goodwill". "You must never push one of the participants in talks into a corner," he said. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6082910.stm
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Editor - 10:57:00 10-25-06
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| US politicians call for CNN Iraq ban |
Senior American politicians have called for CNN to be banned from being embedded with US troops after it broadcast a video of insurgents in Iraq apparently killing an American soldier, footage one congressman likened to a "terrorist snuff film". The dispute has echoes of the situation facing ITN in the UK, after the news broadcaster was banned by the Ministry of Defence from being embedded with British troops following a dispute over a report on the treatment of injured soldiers. In the US, the chairman of the House of Representatives armed services committee, Duncan Hunter, called on the Pentagon to remove CNN reporters embedded with troops after he said the video of insurgent snipers was tantamount to airing an enemy propaganda film. They don’t mind CNN showing blatant propaganda and outright lies as long as they support or report what they want the public to see or hear. The press is supposed to be the watch dogs on Government, but look more like lapdogs of Government...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1931327,00.html
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Editor - 10:53:00 10-25-06
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