SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Same-sex couples - some in shorts and jeans, some in their work clothes - rushed to be wed in California on Friday after a court abruptly ended the state's five-year ban on gay marriage in the wake of landmark rulings at the U.S. Supreme Court.
On a balcony overlooking the grand staircase at San Francisco City Hall, an ornate space that has long been a magnet for weddings, the couple whose case sparked this week's Supreme Court decision exchanged vows. The ceremony was officiated by state Attorney General Kamala Harris, and the ring bearer was the couple's 18-year-old son.
"This is the first day of the rest of our lives together, said Kristin Perry, who with her fianc?e, Sandy Stier, filed the lawsuit against Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California in 2008.
Stier turned to the horde of reporters and well-wishers crowding the room, smiled and said: "Thank you so much for coming to our wedding."
At the city clerk's office, other couples waited for their marriage licenses. Two men - one in jeans and the other wearing a pair of shorts - exchanged vows after Stier and Perry.
Four hundred miles to the south, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, a second couple who were plaintiffs in the case, wed at City Hall in Los Angeles.
"You are just as in love today as you were when you met 12 years ago," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who conducted the ceremony, told the two men, who wore suits with boutonnieres.
The California marriages capped a historic week for gay rights in the United States. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued two key rulings - one that extended federal benefits to married gay couples and another that allowed a federal court's order striking down the California marriage ban to stand.
TAKEN BY SURPRISE
On Friday, a panel of three federal appellate court judges responded by formally lifting an injunction against the marriages. That move took brides, grooms and public officials by surprise. They had expected the judges to wait for a more formal ruling from the Supreme Court due in about three weeks.
Within minutes, couples were descending upon San Francisco City Hall, and California Governor Jerry Brown had ordered county clerks throughout the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Cassie Coleman and Rosa Sanchez were at work when the ruling came down. They agreed via text message to meet at City Hall, and called their mothers to ask permission. They got some roses - red and pink.
"That was it," Sanchez said. "We just jumped in."
The impromptu weddings and the jubilant participation by public officials prompted angry responses from some opponents of gay marriage.
"This outrage tops off a chronic pattern of lawlessness, throughout this case, by judges and politicians hell-bent on thwarting the vote of the people to redefine marriage by any means, even outright corruption," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for the ProtectMarriage.com Coalition.
But he did not, however, actively threaten to fight on.
"It remains to be seen whether the fight can go on, but either way, it's a disgraceful day for California," he said.
John Eastman, a constitutional law professor at Chapman University who was a key backer of the ban, said the appellate court judges should have waited for a 25-day "reconsideration" period to elapse, in which opponents would have had one last chance to ask the Supreme Court to change its mind.
California briefly allowed gay marriages in 2008, before the ballot initiative was enacted. It now becomes the 13th state, and the largest, to allow same-sex marriage - just in time, advocates point out, for Gay Pride weekend.
"On my way to S.F. City Hall," tweeted Harris minutes after the injunction was lifted. "Let the wedding bells ring!"
(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Dana Feldman in Los Angeles, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix and Ronnie Cohen in San Francisco; writing by Sharon Bernstein; editing by Mary Milliken and Jackie Frank)
June 26, 2013 ? A CSIRO radio telescope has detected the raw material for making the first stars in galaxies that formed when the Universe was just three billion years old -- less than a quarter of its current age. This opens the way to studying how these early galaxies make their first stars.
The telescope is CSIRO's Australia Telescope Compact Array telescope near Narrabri, NSW. "It one of very few telescopes in the world that can do such difficult work, because it is both extremely sensitive and can receive radio waves of the right wavelengths," says CSIRO astronomer Professor Ron Ekers.
The raw material for making stars is cold molecular hydrogen gas, H2. It can't be detected directly but its presence is revealed by a 'tracer' gas, carbon monoxide (CO), which emits radio waves.
In one project, astronomer Dr Bjorn Emonts (CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science) and his colleagues used the Compact Array to study a massive, distant conglomerate of star-forming 'clumps' or 'proto-galaxies' that are in the process of coming together as a single massive galaxy. This structure, called the Spiderweb, lies more than ten thousand million light-years away [at a redshift of 2.16].
CSIRO's Compact Array radio telescope can detect star formation, helping to answer fundamental questions about how early galaxies started forming stars.
Dr Emonts' team found that the Spiderweb contains at least sixty thousand million [6 x 1010] times the mass of the Sun in molecular hydrogen gas, spread over a distance of almost a quarter of a million light-years. This must be the fuel for the star-formation that has been seen across the Spiderweb. "Indeed, it is enough to keep stars forming for at least another 40 million years," says Emonts.
In a second set of studies, Dr Manuel Aravena (European Southern Observatory) and colleagues measured CO, and therefore H2, in two very distant galaxies [at a redshift of 2.7].
The faint radio waves from these galaxies were amplified by the gravitational fields of other galaxies -- ones that lie between us and the distant galaxies. This process, called gravitational lensing, "acts like a magnifying lens and allows us to see even more distant objects than the Spiderweb," says Dr Aravena.
Dr Aravena's team was able to measure the amount of H2 in both galaxies they studied. For one (called SPT-S 053816-5030.8), they could also use the radio emission to make an estimate of how rapidly the galaxy is forming stars -- an estimate independent of the other ways astronomers measure this rate.
The Compact Array's ability to detect CO is due to an upgrade that has boosted its bandwidth -- the amount of radio spectrum it can see at any one time -- sixteen-fold [from 256 MHz to 4 GHz], and made it far more sensitive.
"The Compact Array complements the new ALMA telescope in Chile, which looks for the higher-frequency transitions of CO," says Ron Ekers.
Afghan soldiers stand guard as smoke rises from the gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Afghan soldiers stand guard as smoke rises from the gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Smoke rises from the eastern gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan policemen stand guard near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013 following an attack. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Afghan security and intelligence officers stand guard near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The army said the attackers were killed but knew of no other deaths. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Smoke rises from the eastern gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Taliban militants with false papers and military-style uniforms bluffed their way through two checkpoints on their way to Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday before jumping out of their explosives-packed vehicle and opening fire on security personnel, according to Afghan officials and eyewitness accounts.
Another carload of Taliban fighters got stuck between two checkpoints and detonated their own car bomb.
The Taliban said all eight of its fighters died in the attack. Authorities reported one security guard wounded in the gunfight and had no word on casualties from the vehicle explosion.
The well-planned daylight assault in a highly fortified zone of the capital is a brazen challenge to Kabul's authority only a week after NATO formally handed over security for the entirety of the country to Afghan forces.
The gunbattle was witnessed by a group of journalists who were waiting to enter the palace grounds for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban.
The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces and access is heavily restricted. Some Kabul residents initially thought the gunfire was a coup attempt because the idea of a Taliban attack within the security zone seemed so unlikely.
The attackers were stopped in Ariana Square, at least 500 meters (yards) and several checkpoints away from the palace itself. It was unclear where Karzai was at the time.
The gunbattle started around 6:30 a.m. near the east gate leading to the palace next to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the former Ariana Hotel, which former U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA.
Kabul police chief Gen. Mohamad Ayub Salangi said the gunmen jumped out of their SUV and opened fire after being stopped by security forces while trying to use fake documents to get through a checkpoint. All gunmen were killed, and one palace security guard was wounded, he said.
The car bomb then exploded as it tried to enter the area. About 20 journalists waiting to attend Karzai's press event took cover behind a religious shrine, pulling a schoolboy off the street who had been caught in the open on his way to school, as the gunmen in camouflage uniforms exited their black Land Cruiser.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying in an emailed statement that "eight of our suicide bombers were able to reach the most secure area of Kabul," identifying them by name and saying they were carrying hand grenades, a machinegun and rocket-propelled grenades.
"The brave mujahedeen, with special tactics and help from inside, were able to reach their target with their weapons and cars," he said. He said their targets were the CIA building, the palace and the Defense Ministry and claimed "a number of foreign invaders were killed and wounded in the attack."
Smoke could be seen coming from the area of the hotel, but there was no immediate indication any of the buildings were hit in the attack and Afghanistan's Kabul division army commander Gen. Kadam Shah Shahim said he knew of no deaths among security forces or civilians.
The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan instituted a camp lockdown during the incident and said in a short statement that its forces had been ready to assist but were not called in by Afghan authorities.
The U.S. Embassy cancelled all consular appointments and advised American citizens in Kabul to stay indoors.
Ambassador James Cunningham condemned the attack, and extended U.S. "condolences to all Afghans affected by these senseless acts."
"All of the attackers were killed, without success in achieving their goals ? This again demonstrates the futility of the Taliban's efforts to use violence and terror to achieve their aims," he said in a statement. "We again call on the Taliban to come to the table to talk to the Afghanistan government about peace and reconciliation."
The Taliban have indicated they are willing to open peace talks with the U.S. and the Afghanistan government and just last week opened an office in Qatar for possible negotiations.
But at the same time they have not renounced violence and attacks have continued across Afghanistan.
In the southern province of Kandahar, a minibus hit a bomb buried in the road, killing 11 members of a family, said Kandahar governor's spokesman Ahmad Jawed Faisal. Faisal said the dead included eight women, two children and a man, and two other men were also wounded.
In Oruzgan, the province north of Kandahar, provincial governor's spokesman Abdullah Hemat said Tuesday that six Afghan national police were killed the day before when their patrol was attacked with a roadside bomb.
AAA??Jun. 25, 2013?7:47 PM ET Jackson's son, relatives to testify at trial AP
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Prince Michael Jackson appears on stage at the Michael Forever the Tribute Concert, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. An attorney for Michael Jackson?s mother, Katherine Jackson, says the singer?s eldest son, Prince, will testify in a Los Angeles courtroom in the negligent hiring case against AEG Live LLC on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Prince, 16, is a plaintiff in the case against concert promoter AEG Live. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File) *Editorial Use Only*
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Prince Michael Jackson appears on stage at the Michael Forever the Tribute Concert, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. An attorney for Michael Jackson?s mother, Katherine Jackson, says the singer?s eldest son, Prince, will testify in a Los Angeles courtroom in the negligent hiring case against AEG Live LLC on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Prince, 16, is a plaintiff in the case against concert promoter AEG Live. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File) *Editorial Use Only*
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2011 file photo, Prince Michael Jackson appears on stage at the Michael Forever the Tribute Concert, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. An attorney for Michael Jackson?s mother, Katherine Jackson, says the singer?s eldest son, Prince, will testify in a Los Angeles courtroom in the negligent hiring case against AEG Live LLC on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Prince, 16, is a plaintiff in the case against concert promoter AEG Live. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File) *Editorial Use Only*
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A lawyer for Michael Jackson's mother says the entertainer's oldest son Prince will testify in the family's negligence case against concert promoter AEG Live LLC.
Attorney Brian Panish expects the 16-year-old to take the witness stand on Wednesday, becoming the first of three Jackson family members to testify.
Panish also wants to call TJ Jackson, the co-guardian of Jackson's three children, and TJ's brother Taj.
Prince Jackson is listed as a plaintiff in the case filed by his grandmother against AEG Live. The lawsuit claims AEG negligently hired the doctor who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol.
AEG denies wrongdoing and says it did not hire the doctor.
Study identifies travel choices for a smaller carbon footprintPublic release date: 17-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Katherine Leitzell leitzell@iiasa.ac.at 43-223-680-7316 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Planes, trains, or automobiles: what's the most climate-friendly way to travel? A new study by researchers from IIASA and CICERO brings better estimates of how much personal travel impacts the climate.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology by researchers at IIASA and Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) calculates the climate impact for passenger trips of 500-1000 kmtypical distances for business or holiday trips. It shows that while air travel continues to have the biggest climate impact per distance travelled, the choices that people make about how they drive or take public transport make a big difference in how much they contribute to climate change.
"Traveling alone in a large car can be as bad for the climate as flying, but driving with three in a small car could have an equally low impact as a train ride," says IIASA's Jens Borken-Kleefeld. A 1000 km trip alone in a big car could emit as much as 250 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2), the researchers calculate, while a train trip or carpooling in a small car could emit as little as 50 kg of CO2 for each traveler.
Air travel has by far the biggest impact on climate per distance traveled, because it can lead to contrails and formation of cirrus clouds that have a strong climate impact, as well as ozone. These mechanisms have a strong effect on the climate, but cause warming over much shorter periods of time than CO2.
The study focused on the short-lived greenhouse gases and aerosols emitted by both ground transportation and airplanes. In addition, the researchers accounted for vehicle occupancy and efficiency, based on real-world emissions data from cars, buses, trains, and airplanes in Europe.
"These components have not been regulated in the Kyoto Protocol," says Terje Berntsen, climate researcher at CICERO. "This means they risk being overlooked when comparing the climate impact from different travel choices."
Previous work and publicly available carbon footprint calculators estimate only averages for the whole transport system, at best. That means that they can miss big differences in climate impact that come from other pollutants, personal choices, and local mitigation measures.
Technologies to control air pollutant emissions from cars, buses, power plants, and trains effectively minimizes their climate impact, the study also showsbenefiting not just air quality but also climate change mitigation efforts. The researchers say that mitigation efforts should concentrate on improving fuel efficiency and developing low-carbon fuels.
While this is also important for aircraft, they say, more needs to be done to avoid the contrail and cirrus clouds.
For people wanting to minimize their climate impact, Borken-Kleefeld says, "Try to avoid flying, driving alone, and driving big cars. Instead, when you can, choose the train, bus, or carpool with 2 to 3 people."
###
Reference
Borken-Kleefeld, Jens, Jan Fuglestvedt, and Terje Berntsen, 2013. Mode, load, and specific climate impact from passenger trips. Environmental Science and Technology: Just accepted manuscript. doi: 10.1021/es4003713
For more information please contact:
Jens Borken-Kleefeld
IIASA Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases Program
Tel: +43 2236/807 570
borken@iiasa.ac.at
Terje Berntsen
Dept. of Geosciences, University of Oslo
Phone: ++47 22 85 87 71
e-mail: t.k.berntsen@geo.uio.no
IIASA is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policy makers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by scientific institutions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. http://www.iiasa.ac.at
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Study identifies travel choices for a smaller carbon footprintPublic release date: 17-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Katherine Leitzell leitzell@iiasa.ac.at 43-223-680-7316 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Planes, trains, or automobiles: what's the most climate-friendly way to travel? A new study by researchers from IIASA and CICERO brings better estimates of how much personal travel impacts the climate.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology by researchers at IIASA and Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) calculates the climate impact for passenger trips of 500-1000 kmtypical distances for business or holiday trips. It shows that while air travel continues to have the biggest climate impact per distance travelled, the choices that people make about how they drive or take public transport make a big difference in how much they contribute to climate change.
"Traveling alone in a large car can be as bad for the climate as flying, but driving with three in a small car could have an equally low impact as a train ride," says IIASA's Jens Borken-Kleefeld. A 1000 km trip alone in a big car could emit as much as 250 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2), the researchers calculate, while a train trip or carpooling in a small car could emit as little as 50 kg of CO2 for each traveler.
Air travel has by far the biggest impact on climate per distance traveled, because it can lead to contrails and formation of cirrus clouds that have a strong climate impact, as well as ozone. These mechanisms have a strong effect on the climate, but cause warming over much shorter periods of time than CO2.
The study focused on the short-lived greenhouse gases and aerosols emitted by both ground transportation and airplanes. In addition, the researchers accounted for vehicle occupancy and efficiency, based on real-world emissions data from cars, buses, trains, and airplanes in Europe.
"These components have not been regulated in the Kyoto Protocol," says Terje Berntsen, climate researcher at CICERO. "This means they risk being overlooked when comparing the climate impact from different travel choices."
Previous work and publicly available carbon footprint calculators estimate only averages for the whole transport system, at best. That means that they can miss big differences in climate impact that come from other pollutants, personal choices, and local mitigation measures.
Technologies to control air pollutant emissions from cars, buses, power plants, and trains effectively minimizes their climate impact, the study also showsbenefiting not just air quality but also climate change mitigation efforts. The researchers say that mitigation efforts should concentrate on improving fuel efficiency and developing low-carbon fuels.
While this is also important for aircraft, they say, more needs to be done to avoid the contrail and cirrus clouds.
For people wanting to minimize their climate impact, Borken-Kleefeld says, "Try to avoid flying, driving alone, and driving big cars. Instead, when you can, choose the train, bus, or carpool with 2 to 3 people."
###
Reference
Borken-Kleefeld, Jens, Jan Fuglestvedt, and Terje Berntsen, 2013. Mode, load, and specific climate impact from passenger trips. Environmental Science and Technology: Just accepted manuscript. doi: 10.1021/es4003713
For more information please contact:
Jens Borken-Kleefeld
IIASA Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases Program
Tel: +43 2236/807 570
borken@iiasa.ac.at
Terje Berntsen
Dept. of Geosciences, University of Oslo
Phone: ++47 22 85 87 71
e-mail: t.k.berntsen@geo.uio.no
IIASA is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policy makers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by scientific institutions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. http://www.iiasa.ac.at
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
>>is a former nazi commander living in the
united states
? the associated press reporting a man who led an ss unit during
world war ii
has been living here for decades. that unit, accused of horrific
war crimes
. according to an associated press investigation, 94-year-old michael carkotz lied to authorities about his
war time
past to gain entry into the u.s. shortly after
world war ii
eventually settling in the suburbs of minneapolis with his wife and kids.
>>couldn't believe it. it's not that i wouldn't want to. i couldn't believe it, because he just doesn't appear to me that, whatever that would be, you know.
>> reporter: neighbors say he and his wife went on walks, mowed the lawn, and were active in their
local church
.
>>he's kind of a gentle guy, quiet spoken.
>> reporter: even more shocking, residents say there are
holocaust survivors
living in the same neighborhood.
>>for my entire life she lived there and she was a
holocaust survivor
. there is another
holocaust survivor
that lives down the street.
>> reporter: according to the ap records do not show he had a direct hand in
war crimes
but statements from that time confirm the unit he reportedly commanded killed civilians. authorities in poland say they'll investigate and help gather any possible evidence for the u.s.
>>if you commit crimes as terrible as the crimes of the holocaust even many years later there will still be an effort to find you and hold you accountable. in this case we're talking about a local
nazi collaborator
.
>>late friday karcoc's son accused the ap of defaming his father saying, quote, my father was never a nazi.
We reported via sources that the Sony Xperia Z Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update may be released soon, as of yet we have not heard about the official release so please sit back patiently and we will notify you all soon ? But we do have some good news for you.
DooMLoRD via XDA Developers has posted some of the Sony Xperia Z 4.2.2 Jelly Bean screenshots and they look great, take a look below.
The Xperia Z was released with Android 4.1 and now owners are waiting for the next update, which will be 4.2.2. Even though these screenshots have been leaked we have even better news for unlocked bootloaders only, yes the new Sony 4.2.2 JellyBean Firmware 10.3.A.0.407 custom ROM is available for the Xperia Z.
DooMLoRD recommends anyone trying out the new custom ROM should backup all data, including the including internal SDCARD data before flashing this ROM. Another thing to remember is you should now attempt to cross flash this ROM+Kernel because it is for C6602/C6603 (Xperia Z) and do not flash it on the Xperia ZL, Tablet Z.
Phones Review Says Personally we would wait for the official Sony Xperia Z Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update, but if you are brave enough to use this Custom ROM we here at Phones Review will NOT be held responsible for your actions. It has been said that you should not expect the same features in this ROM as you would in the official release.
What do you think of the new Sony Xperia Z Jelly Bean 4.2.2 screenshots?
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Public release date: 17-Jun-2013
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