Justice delays Idaho gay marriages
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Wednesday allowed same-sex marriage to begin in Nevada, clarifying that an earlier order temporarily blocking gay unions applies only to Idaho.
Kennedy said in a brief order that he was lifting the hold he imposed five hours earlier Wednesday on same-sex weddings in Nevada. He said his order would continue to block gay marriage in Idaho, where state officials have asked for the delay. Nevada officials did not make a similar request.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco declared gay marriage legal in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday.
In response to the 9th Circuit decision, Idaho officials filed an emergency request with the court about 90 minutes before they said that state and county officials would otherwise have been required to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Budget office says deficit at $486B
WASHINGTON – The federal government’s budget deficit has fallen to $486 billion, the smallest pool of red ink of President Barack Obama’s six-year span in office, a new report said Wednesday.
The Congressional Budget Office’s latest estimate shows better results than earlier projections .
It comes as Congress has mostly paused in its wrangling over the deficit in the run-up to the midterm elections.
Obama inherited a trillion-dollar-plus deficit after the 2008 financial crisis.
Allies to push Turkey to assist Kurds
ISTANBUL – As U.S. generals and Secretary of State John Kerry warn that a strategic Syrian border town could fall to Islamic State militants, the Turkish military has deployed its tanks on its side of the frontier but only watched the slaughter.
Turkey’s inaction despite its supposed participation in a coalition forged to crush the extremist group is frustrating Washington and its NATO allies, and reviving a rebellion by Turkish Kurds.
Amid fears the Kurdish town of Kobani could fall any day, U.S. and NATO officials are traveling to Turkey today to press negotiations for more robust Turkish involvement in the coalition.
Associated Press
