Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Weather -- North Korea Threats -- Obama Fires A Gun -- Contraception Opt-Out Offer -- France Moves Towards Marriage Equality
PA GROUNDHOG PREDICTS EARLY SPRING
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| Photo: Gene J. Puskar |
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — An end to winter's bitter cold will come soon, according to Pennsylvania's famous groundhog.
Following a recent stretch of weather that's included temperatures well below freezing as well as record warmth, tornadoes in the South and Midwest and torrential rains in the mid-Atlantic, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair Saturday in front of thousands but didn't see his shadow.
Legend has it that if the furry rodent sees his shadow on Feb. 2 on Gobbler's Knob in west-central Pennsylvania, winter will last six more weeks. But if he doesn't see his shadow, spring will come early.
NORTH KOREA THREATENS US OVER ROCKET LAUNCHES
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| Reuters |
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is threatening to retaliate for what it calls U.S. double standards over recent rocket launches by Pyongyang and U.S. ally Seoul.
A North Korean Foreign Ministryspokesman did not elaborate on what that might entail in his comments Saturday to the official Korean Central News Agency. But Pyongyang has recently threatened to conduct its third nuclear test in response to what it calls U.S. hostility.
Washington says Seoul's rocket launch Wednesday had no military intent while Pyongyang's in December was a test of banned ballistic missile technology.
OBAMA FIRES GUN, JOINS PAST PRESIDENTS
CONTRACEPTION OPT-OUT OFFER
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| AP |
The Obama administration on Friday offered an updated compromise to its requirement that employers cover contraception in workers' insurance plans, a step aimed at settling a yearlong contretemps over a mandate in the health-care overhaul.
The proposal is aimed at addressing the argument of Catholic bishops, along with religiously affiliated universities, hospitals and charities, that requiring employers to provide contraception violates their religious freedom. These objections sparked an election-year furor, along with a number of lawsuits seeking to void the requirement.
FRENCH GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTES TO MAKE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LEGAL
The French National Assembly, the lower house of France’s Parliament has voted in favour of making same-sex marriage legal.
The vote held on Saturday morning was 249 in favour with 97 deputies voting against. The majority of the support for the bill came from the left, with many centrist and conservative deputies from the UMP voting against making marriage equal.
Deputies voted on article one of the bill that redefines marriage as being an agreement between two people rather than just between a man and a woman. They also voted to open up adoption to same-sex married couples.
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