Alabama county ends marriage ban
MOBILE, Ala. – An attorney for a gay couple says they have received a marriage license in an Alabama county that had earlier refused to grant it to them.
Attorney David Kennedy said Thursday the couple was wed in Mobile County, just hours after a federal judge ordered the county to start issuing gay marriage licenses.
The county had refused after Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore told probate judges on Sunday they didn’t have to.
U.S. District Judge Callie Granade overturned the state’s ban on gay marriage last month and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop gay marriages from beginning Monday. Granade on Thursday ordered Mobile County to issue the licenses.
Birth-control rule OK’d by court
PITTSBURGH – An appeals court has ruled that the birth control coverage required by federal health-care reforms does not violate the rights of several religious groups because they can seek reasonable accommodations.
Two western Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses and a private Christian college had challenged the birth-control coverage mandates and won lower-court decisions. However, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court ruling Wednesday said the reforms place “no substantial burden” on the religious groups and therefore don’t violate their First Amendment rights.
Court sentences ex-Korean Air exec
SEOUL, South Korea – A Seoul court on Thursday sentenced a former Korean Air executive to a year in prison for aviation law violations that stemmed from her inflight tantrum over how she was served macadamia nuts.
Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, achieved worldwide notoriety after she ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
Head of cabin service at the time of the incident, Cho was angered she had been offered macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish.
EU approves steps to curb terrorism
BRUSSELS – Spurred to action by last month’s terror attacks in France, European Union leaders agreed Thursday on an ambitious range of new steps to better protect their countries from terrorism.
Actions unanimously endorsed at an EU summit meeting include the sharing of airline passenger data, tougher border controls on travelers and the detection and removal of Internet content promoting terrorism or extremism.
“All citizens have the right to live free from fear, whatever their opinions or beliefs,” the EU leaders declared in a joint statement. “We will safeguard our common values and protect all from violence based on ethnic or religious motivations and racism.”
Associated Press
