Judge strikes down Prop. 8, allows gay marriage in California

In a long-awaited ruling, Judge Vaughn Walker says the ban on same-sex marriage violates constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. The decision is expected to reach the Supreme Court

By Maura Dolan and Carol J. WilliamsLos Angeles Times Staff Writers

Reporting from San Francisco and Los Angeles — 

The federal judge who overturned Proposition 8 Wednesday said the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage was based on moral disapproval of gay marriage and ordered the state to stop enforcing the ban.

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, in a 136-page ruling, said California "has no interest in differentiating between same-sex and opposite-sex unions".

"The evidence shows conclusively that moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples," Walker wrote. The ruling struck down Proposition 8 as a violation of federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.

Walker cited extensive trial evidence to support his finding that there was not even a rational basis for excluding gays and lesbians from marriage. Higher courts defer to trial judges on issues of fact, but still could determine that Walker was wrong on the law.

Walker has temporarily stayed his order until Friday, giving Prop. 8 backers time to file appeals and seek a long-term stay. The decision would appear to delay any resumption of gay marriage in the state. Officials in L.A. County and West Hollywood said they were studying the ruling before deciding whether to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses again.

Supporters of the marriage ban vowed an immediate appeal.

Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund who fought to uphold Proposition 8 in Walker's court, said they would appeal. "We're obviously disappointed that the judge did not uphold the will of over 7 million Californians who made a decision in a free and fair democratic process".

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the ruling.

"For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves," the governor said. "At the same time, it provides an opportunity for all Californians to consider our history of leading the way to the future, and our growing reputation of treating all people and their relationships with equal respect and dignity".

He said the ruling was "by no means California's first milestone, nor our last, on America's road to equality and freedom for all people". Los Angeles Times

Kingdom's population surpasses 27 million

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's total population reached 27,136,977 including 18,707,576 Saudis, according to preliminary results of a general census, which was conducted April 27, 2010.

Announcing the results on Wednesday, the General Statistics Department of the Ministry of Economy and Planning said the number of Saudi men has reached 9,527,173 (50.9 percent) and women 9,180,403.

"The number of expatriate workers in the Kingdom was 8,429,401,including 5,932,974 men (70.4 percent) and 2,496,427 women," the department said, quoting the census results.

The census also showed that there are 4,643,151 residential units in the Kingdom.

The details of the census would be announced later, the department said and thanked all those who contributed to its conduct.

The last general census, which was conducted in September 2004, showed the total population at 22,673,538 including 6,144,236 expatriates. It estimated the number of houses and residential flats in the Kingdom at 3,990,559.

The present census shows that the number of expatriate workers in the Kingdom has increased considerably during the last six years.

There are an estimated 12 million foreigners in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, constituting a significant portion of the region's population.

The 2010 Saudi census coincided with those of other GCC countries. The census on population and housing will help not only development planners, but also researchers and marketing executives. Arab News

Rupert Murdoch says Apple's iPad is a 'game-changer' for news media

Rupert Murdoch has lavished praise on Apple's iPad, describing the device as a "game changer" for news media and predicting that "hundreds and hundreds of millions" of similar tablet computers will eventually be sold around the world.

Speaking as a global advertising surge and box office takings from the movie Avatar helped his News Corporation empire deliver a $2.5bn full-year profit, Murdoch predicted the iPad's convenient style could reinvigorate journalism: "We'll have young people reading newspapers".

The Australian-born billionaire, whose businesses range from The Times, The Sun and the Wall Street Journal to Fox television and the Hollywood studio Twentieth Century Fox, believes the iPad is the ideal device to encourage consumers to pay for digital journalism.

"I think we're going to see, around the world, hundreds and hundreds of millions of these devices," said Murdoch on a conference call with Wall Street analysts. "There will be all sorts of things we can do with them. As they develop technologically, we've got to develop our methods of presentation of news".

News Corp's profit for the year to June was a turnaround from last year's $3.4bn loss, when the company was hit by huge accounting write-downs in the value of businesses such as the WSJ's publisher, Dow Jones.

A big driver of its reinvigorated performance was James Cameron's smash hit futuristic 3D film Avatar, which helped Twentieth Century Fox deliver a 59% surge in operating profits to $1.35bn.

The group's Fox television network in the US reaped rewards from hit shows such as Glee and Modern Family, while publishing division HarperCollins attributed higher earnings to sales of Sarah Palin's political memoir, Going Rogue.

Murdoch's newspapers, too, had a better year with profits up by 13% to $530m. In Britain, the News International stable of papers enjoyed lower newsprint costs and improved advertising income – fourth quarter advertising revenue at The Sun was up by 22%.

But with analysts still concerned about a weak recovery from the recession on both sides of the Atlantic, Murdoch added: "There is sufficient fragility for us not to be over-confident about the long term, or the medium term".

Despite "fragile" economic conditions, Murdoch said promotional spending had been surprisingly strong: "We've had almost inexplicably good advertising and great confidence there". The Guardian

Papua New Guinea hit by 7.0-magnitude quake

A 7.0-magnitude quake was recorded early on Thursday in Papua New Guinea's New Britain region, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake struck at 02:01 Moscow time (22:01 Wednesday GMT). Its epicenter was located at the depth of 54 km (33.6 miles), some 565 km (350 miles) northeast of the country's capital Port Moresby.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. No tsunami alert was issued. RIA Novosti

Google plans to drop Wave

(CNN) -- Google is pulling the plug on Google Wave.

Google intended the messaging program, launched in 2009, to be a near-replacement for e-mail, which it said had grown tired.

But on Wednesday, the company announced that it is shuttering the project by the end of the year because it didn't have traction with consumers.

"Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked," Urs Hölzle, a Google senior vice president, writes on the company's official blog.

"We don't plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects".

The post does not say how many people signed up for or used Google Wave.

The code for some of Wave's innovative features -- like instant messages that were sent letter-by-letter as a person typed -- has been made available to the public and could be incorporated into future projects, Google says.

The service aimed to combine all elements of online communication -- instant messages, e-mail, Twitter feeds, etc. -- into a single "wave".

But from the start, Google says, engineers at the company were unsure how the product would be perceived by real Internet users.

"We were equally jazzed about Google Wave internally, even though we weren't quite sure how users would respond to this radically different kind of communication," the company's blog says.

Many people who tried Wave found the service to be complicated and confusing.

Google Wave was created by two Danish brothers, Jens and Lars Rasmussen, who also were the brains behind the more-successful Google Maps. CNN

US billionaires pledge 50% of their wealth to charity

Thirty-eight US billionaires have pledged at least 50% of their wealth to charity through a campaign started by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

They include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and entertainment executive Barry Diller.

"The Giving Pledge" lists all the families and individuals who have committed to the project.

The site says the pledge is a "moral commitment" not a "legal contract".

The campaign was started in June to convince US billionaires to give away at least half of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or after their deaths.

"We've really just started but already we've had a terrific response," Mr Buffett said in a statement.

He added: "The Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used".

Those who pledge their money to "philanthropic causes and charitable organisations" must publicly state their intention through a letter of explanation. BBC News

Judge strikes down California's ban on same-sex marriage

(CNN) -- A federal judge in California on Wednesday knocked down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, ruling that voter-approved Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution -- handing supporters of gay rights a major victory in a case that almost all sides say is sure to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 136-page opinion, issued by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco, is an initial step in what will likely be a lengthy fight over California's Proposition 8, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

At stake in the trial was whether California's ban on same-sex marriage violates gay couples' rights to equal protection and due process, as protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The high-profile case is being watched closely by both supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage, as many say it is destined to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. If it does, the case could result in a landmark decision on whether people in the United States are allowed to marry people of the same sex.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in five U.S. states and in the District of Colombia, while civil unions are permitted in New Jersey. The five states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples," Walker wrote in his opinion.

"Race restrictions on marital partners were once common in most states but are now seen as archaic, shameful or even bizarre," he added. "Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals".

In a separate order, Walker also granted supporters of Proposition 8 a temporary stay, which stops his decision from taking immediate effect. They had argued, prior to his ruling, that same-sex marriages would be performed soon after his decision and could be complicated by rulings and appeals further down the legal road. CNN

Kenyans vote in referendum for new constitution

Eldoret, Kenya (CNN) -- Kenyans went to the polls Wednesday in a historic referendum on a new constitution that could be the first step toward a truly functioning government for East Africa's largest economy.

Before dawn, long lines already had formed at the main polling station in Uasin Gishu Primary School in Eldoret. Located in the country's restive Rift Valley, it was the scene of some of the worst violence after the last election that left more than 1,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

There have been no reports of violence so far.

The numbers at the Eldoret location thinned considerably throughout the day after hundreds converged on the center at the start of the day. But there was a steady trickle of voters, such as small businessman Samuel Ngure, who said he wants "a new Kenya." Another, Vivian Mutai, a first-year university student, said she wants to cast a ballot to be "part of history".

Steven Maina, a fruit seller, closed down his business to come and vote.

"I don't see it as a loss because I'll gain," Maina told CNN. "For example I had to move my family from the farm to town during this voting period for fear of violence. But if the constitution passes, I'll never need to do that again".

Polling at the vast majority of the country's 27,000 stations started on time at 6 a.m., said Andrew Limo, spokesman for the Interim Independent Electoral Commission.

Counting started by hand in Eldoret after the polls closed at 5 p.m. local time, and the results could be announced Friday. CNN

DNA clears man in 2005 killings

CHICAGO, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- An Illinois man accused of killing his daughter and her friend five years ago was released as new DNA evidence linked another man to the crimes, officials said.

Jerry Hobbs, 39, was arrested shortly after calling police in Zion, Ill., in May 2005 to tell them he found the bodies of his daughter Laura, 8, and her friend Krystal Tobias, 9, in a local park.

Hobbs confessed to killing them, but later said he was coerced and pleaded not guilty, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

"We're glad that Jerry has been released today. It's been a long time coming," Keith Grant, an assistant public defender, said.

Hobbs's mother in Wichita Falls, Texas, said she's been told Illinois officials will escort her son to Texas. UPI

Ecuador: No drilling in Amazon reserve

QUITO, Ecuador, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Ecuador says it has agreed to refrain from oil drilling in an unspoiled Amazon rain forest reserve in return for $3.6 billion in payments from rich countries.

The country has signed an agreement with the United Nations that will leave oil fields under the Yasuni reserve, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, undisturbed for at least 10 years, the BBC reported Wednesday.

The almost 4,000-square-mile reserve supports a large mix of wildlife and contains many unique species of birds, monkeys and amphibians.

It is also home to a number of indigenous tribes who applauded the deal, which will protect their territories from oil development.

Environmental groups say Ecuador's oil industry, the source of the country's biggest export, has caused huge damage in the Amazon region.

A trust fund to be administered by the United Nations will be set up under the agreement, and countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy and the United States, say they will contribute. UPI

NASA satellites register over 370 wildfire hotspots across Russia

NASA satellites Terra and Aqua on Wednesday registered some 376 hotspots from wildfires across Russia, according to the ScanEx website where information from the satellites are sent.

On August 3, The Aqua satellite, equipped with an atmospheric infrared sounder, and Terra, equipped with a thermal emission and reflection radiometer, identified 636 forest fires in Russia.

Ryazan region is one of the worst fire-damaged with 83 hotspots across its territory, according to the website.

On the other hand, due to the smog across several Russian regions, the satellites have shown only 5 hotspots in Nizhny Novgorod region, which is among the most damaged ones.

A scorching heat wave has gripped much of European Russia since mid-June, sparking wildfires and causing the worst drought in decades.

Moscow and a dozen other cities have been wrapped in a thick layer of smog. Health experts say pollution levels are so high that breathing has become as dangerous as smoking several packs of cigarettes a day. RIA Novosti

Ukraine says own gas transit project to be cheaper than South Stream

Ukraine has suggested to Russia to expand its gas transit to Europe by upgrading the Ukrainian gas transport system, which will be much cheaper than constructing the South Stream pipeline.

"As for the South Stream project, we have an alternative which we will offer to our Russian partners. The issue is about modernizing our southern gas pipelines, which will raise their capacity to the one planned for South Stream," Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

"This project will cost $1 billion, unlike the $25 billion for South Stream," he said.

The Ukrainian gas transport system currently transfers 80% of Russian gas to Europe.

The South Stream pipeline will transport Russian gas to Western Europe bypassing Ukraine. The offshore part, operated by Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI, will run for 900 km (559 miles) from Russia's mainland under the Black Sea to the Bulgarian coast and carry up to 63 billion cubic meters of gas a year. RIA Novosti

Russian foreign investment commission approves $1 billion deals

The government commission on foreign investment approved contracts amounting to a total of almost $1 billion on Wednesday, the head of the Russian Anti-Monopoly Service said.

"The deals which we considered today concern engineering infrastructure, processing industry and gold-mining assets," Igor Artemyev said.

"Today's commission meeting may be estimated at approximately $1 billion of direct foreign investment," he added.

Canadian gold-mining Kinross Gold Corp signed a $365 million contract to buy out two goldfields on the Chukotka Peninsula in the Russian Far East.

The commission approved a multimillion dollar contract on the purchase by the Coca-Cola Company of Russian company Nidan Soki.

It approved a merger between Russia's Unimilk and France's Danone. According to the contract, Danone will invest 15 billion rubles ($503 million) into the Russian company. RIA Novosti

Russia ready to sell Ukraine 10% stake in uranium enrichment center

Russia has completed all the formalities for the sale of 10% of the stakes in the International Center for Uranium Enrichment to Ukraine, Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"All the necessary formalities on the part of the Russian side have been completed. We are ready to sell to our Ukrainian partners a 10% stake," Putin told a government meeting.

In May 2007, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the creation of a nuclear center containing 120 tons of low-enriched uranium with enrichment levels from 2.0% to 4.95% in Angarsk, 117 km (73 miles) away from Lake Baikal, to enable countries including Iran to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium. RIA Novosti

Heat forces 30 % of Russians to behave inappropriately - psychiatrist

Some 30% of the Russians have begun panicky behavior during the heat wave and fires across Russia, the acting director of the Serbsky National Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry said on Wednesday.

Some 30% believe the end of the world is coming and involuntarily panic, according to Zurab Keklidze.

"These people believe the heat would reach not 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), but 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). They exaggerate, saying it is divine retribution and a sign of Doomsday and begin sparking lots of rumors," Keklidze said.

Some 70% of Russians take the situation with the heat wave normally, some 15% ignore the heat altogether.

Some psychologists have noted that the abnormal heat has provoked a wave of strange phobias. Some people are afraid to lose the roof over their head, others are afraid of being suffocated by poisonous smog while they are sleeping at night, and for that reason just avoid sleeping at night. RIA Novosti

Westwood and Mickelson stalk Tiger

(CNN) -- Tiger Woods faces two challengers as he bids to retain the world's No. 1 golf ranking for a 271st week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational starting in Ohio on Thursday.

The 34-year-old has been at the summit for an unprecedented 612 weeks in total, but once again faces the prospect of losing top spot to fellow American Phil Mickelson -- and a new contender, world No. 3 Lee Westwood.

While second-ranked Mickelson has failed to take advantage of Woods' struggles in recent weeks, finishing only tied for 48th at the British Open, Westwood has racked up the points after placing second at his home major last month.

The Englishman can go to No. 1 if he wins at Firestone and Woods is outside the top two -- or if he is second, the defending champion is 10th or lower and Mickelson does not win. CNN

Woman sentenced to stoning, her attorney seeking asylum await fates

(CNN) -- An Iranian court may render the final verdict Thursday in the case of Sakineh Mohammedie Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning in Iran for allegedly committing adultery.

That case was placed under review after her attorney, Mohammad Mostafaei, helped launch a worldwide campaign to clear her. Now, as Ashtiani's two children wait to hear word of their mother's fate, Mostafaei's family must also await word of his.

That's because Mostafaei, a prominent human rights lawyer, was being held Wednesday at a detention center in Istanbul, Turkey, where he has requested asylum, said Metin Corabatir, a representative in Turkey for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. He allegedly entered the country with improper documentation, the agency said.

Turkey does not require visas for citizens from neighboring Iran to enter the country. As a result, it is the first place hundreds of Iranians fled to after the Iranian government cracked down on opposition activists and critics over the past year.

Human rights groups are urging officials to grant his asylum request because they say he could be in grave danger if he is forced to return to Iran.

There is no word yet on whether any nation is willing to accept him. CNN

One dead after small plane crashes near airport in Phoenix, Arizona

(CNN) -- One person died when a small plane crashed into a building and burst into flames Wednesday morning near the Deer Valley Airport runway in Phoenix, Arizona, authorities said.

The SR22 single engine aircraft crashed just after 6 a.m. MT while trying to land at Deer Valley, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Phoenix Fire Department Spokesman Scott Walker said the plane was quickly destroyed by the fire making it difficult for authorities to identify the occupant or occupants because the tail number was gone. The tail number is used to connect aircraft to a flight plan filed by the pilot.

Witnesses said the plane had just taken off and had looped around when the engine started sputtering and smoking, Walker said. Then the plane crashed into the building.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said air traffic controllers were communicating with the plane before the incident, and the plane was landing on runway 7L.

The registered agent for the plane is Magneto Investments, according to federal records.

Walker said the plane hit City Wide Pest Control, near the airport. The fire did not spread to the building.

Video from the scene shortly after the crash showed white smoke rising from what appeared to be a two-story building with a severely-charred wall. CNN