Groups aim to expand state-level gay rights
INDIANAPOLIS – Gay-rights advocates are hoping to parlay the momentum from their legislative victories in Indiana and Arkansas this week into further expanding legal protections for gays and lesbians in those states and others.
Facing widespread pressure, including from big businesses such as Apple and Walmart, lawmakers in Indiana and Arkansas rolled back their states’ new religious objections laws, which critics said could be used to discriminate against gays. Amid the uproar, the Republican governors of Michigan and North Dakota urged their own legislatures to extend anti-discrimination protections to gays.
Twenty-nine states currently don’t include protections for gays and lesbians in their non-discrimination laws, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. But the Indiana and Arkansas laws, along with court rulings or legislatures legalizing same-sex marriage in 37 states and an expected U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage this year, are fueling efforts to change that as the 2016 elections approach.
“We’re not going to let any of these people off the hot seat,” said Kathy Sarris, co-founder of the gay-rights group Indiana Equality Action. “This ultimately is going to happen in Indiana.”
Hundreds of people calling for Indiana to add protections for gays and lesbians to state civil-rights laws marched through downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, drawing the attention of fans attending the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament.
There’s a lot at stake for Clinton in Iran
WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton can claim a piece of the victory if the U.S. and other world powers ultimately complete a final nuclear deal with Iran. She will own a piece of the failure if the negotiations collapse or produce a weak deal.
Her statement after Thursday’s tentative agreement suggests the soon-to-be Democratic candidate for president knows those are her stakes. She called the framework “an important step,” while cautioning that “the devil is always in the details.”
“The onus is on Iran, and the bar must be set high,” said Clinton, who helped lay the groundwork for the diplomacy with Iran as President Barack Obama’s first secretary of state. “There is much to do and much more to say in the months ahead, but for now, diplomacy deserves a chance to succeed.”
Skeptics question Iranian nuclear deal
WASHINGTON – The framework nuclear deal sealed by world powers and Iran leaves major questions: Could Iran cheat? Possibly. Would the U.S or anyone else be able to respond in time? In theory, yes. Are they prepared to use military force? Questionable. Would a final deal settle global fears about Iran’s intentions? Almost surely, no.
But the surprisingly detailed fact sheet released by the United States after Thursday’s diplomatic breakthrough in Switzerland provides President Barack Obama significant ammunition for the fight he’ll face selling an agreement to skeptical U.S. lawmakers and Middle East allies.
That is, if negotiators can get to that point over the next three months.
“Many key details will need to be finalized,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, adding that “nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed. And if there is backsliding, there will be no deal.”
Kenyan extremists warn of more attacks
GARISSA, Kenya – Somalia’s Islamic extremist group al-Shabab warned Saturday of more attacks in Kenya like the assault on Garissa University College that killed 148 people.
“Kenyan cities will run red with blood,” said al-Shabab, according to the SITE intelligence monitoring group.
The Islamic militants said the attack on Garissa college was in retaliation for killings carried out by Kenyan troops fighting the rebels in Somalia.
“No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath,” al-Shabab said.
After the extremists’ threats, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to take harsh measures against the Islamic militants.
Lufthansa CEO faces intense scrutiny
FRANKFURT, Germany – The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in France has heaped intense pressure on Lufthansa’s chief executive officer Carsten Spohr, who in less than a year at the helm has had to grapple with weak earnings, labor unrest and tough competition from lower-cost carriers.
Analysts say he has made the correct moves, notably in his swift expressions of sympathy for the 149 victims and the relatives of those who died last week. French officials say co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately flew the Airbus A320 into a mountainside in the French Alps.
They point to Lufthansa’s admission that Lubitz had told them during his training that he had been treated for serious depression as an example of owning up quickly to bad news.
“They are taking it absolutely seriously; they are not being anything other than completely cooperative with the authorities, and that’s a good start,” said Andrew Charlton, managing director of strategic consulting and government affairs firm Aviation Advocacy in Nyon, Switzerland.
Spohr, he added, has “checked all the boxes” in responding to the crash and treating the situation with “the gravitas it requires.”
Iraq struggles with devastation in Tikrit
TIKRIT, Iraq – In Iraq’s Tikrit, liberation from the Islamic State group comes at a heavy price, both in loss of life and in the sheer devastation the militants leave in their wake.
Much of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown and once a bustling city north of Baghdad, now lies in ruins.
Islamic State extremists captured it during a blitz last June that also seized large chunks of northern and western Iraq, along with a huge swath of land in neighboring Syria.
After a nearly 10-month Islamic State occupation, it took Iraqi forces and their allies, including Iranian-backed Shiite militias, a month of ferocious street battles to win back the city. They declared victory in Tikrit on Wednesday, and U.S.-led coalition airstrikes also helped turn the tide in the final weeks of the battle.
Today, the houses that still stand are pocked with bullet holes, and Tikrit’s streets are lined with potholes where mortars slammed down. The provincial headquarters in the downtown – now adorned with Shiite militia flags in place of the Islamic State group’s black banner – is burned from fire and damaged from heavy fighting.
Associated Press
