Maryland's House of Delegates approved by a razor-thin margin a measure on Friday that would allow same-sex couples to marry, putting it on the road to joining six other states where gay and lesbian nuptials are legal.The vote in Maryland, which prompted cheers from a packed chamber gallery in Annapolis, came shortly after Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a similar bill. Christie accompanied his veto with a call for lawmakers in Trenton to appoint an advocate for same-sex couples under the state's existing civil union law.
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A lesbian minister rebuked by the U.S. Presbyterian Church for blessing gay weddings in California urged the denomination's highest court on Friday to lift the censure, as her lawyers argued that nothing in church law bars ministers from performing same-sex nuptials.The ecclesiastical appeal for the Rev. Jane Spahr, a 69-year-old San Francisco grandmother, caps the latest of her decades-long series of conflicts with church authorities over greater acceptance of homosexuality in her Christian faith.
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Strong safety Donte Whitner made a stunning statement after the 49ers were ousted in the NFC title game by the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants. "This defense can get better," Whitner said.Whitner calls the signals for the secondary and has become an unquestioned leader in his first year with the team. The basis for his statement was the fact that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio did not have time to install the entire defense during the lockout-shortened season.
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Under pressure from U.S. legislators, Apple Inc moved Wednesday to quell a swelling privacy controversy by saying that it will begin to require iPhone and iPad apps to seek "explicit approval" in separate user prompts before accessing users' address book data.
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When the gunfire fades between rebels and government troops in the besieged town of al-Houla, it is replaced by an even more frightening sound - the shelling of Homs, heart of the Syrian uprising, 20 km (15 miles) away.“We are scared of becoming like Homs,” says Hamza, an activist contacted by phone from Beirut during one of the few hours al-Houla had electricity and a phone connection.“But everyone is too scared to leave because our neighborhoods are surrounded by checkpoints and snipers. We are in an open-air prison.”
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U.S. President Barack Obama told Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Beijing must play fair in international trade and vowed to keep pressing China to clean up its human rights record.In White House talks, Obama sought to reassure Xi that Washington welcomed China’s “peaceful rise” but also signalled that frictions will remain in a growing economic and military rivalry between the two countries, despite Beijing’s political transition.
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If you’re going to be on either end of a kiss this Valentine’s Day, you might want to consider smooching bare-lipped. Most lipstick contains lead.Lead has been banned in paint since 1978 because of its toxicity at low levels, but it still shows up in small amounts in some of the best-selling lipstick brands.
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Whitney Houston’s sad and sudden death on the eve of the Grammys after a well-documented history with substance abuse has plunged the media into schizophrenic mode as it wrestles with ways to praise her legacy while acknowledging her lurid end.
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Vice President Joe Biden pledged to tackle U.S.-China differences head-on as he welcomed Beijing’s leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping for talks on Tuesday that could set the tone for relations between the two rival powers over the next decade.Xi’s White House visit was the centerpiece of a U.S. trip that could help the Chinese vice president boost his international standing and show he is capable of steering his country’s crucial relationship with Washington.
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A map drawn by a convicted serial killer has led authorities in California to three separate burial sites, where the discovery of human remains could bring an end to multiple unsolved missing-persons cases, authorities said on Sunday.Investigators estimate they have recovered more than 300 human bones of varying sizes — as well as coats, shoes, a purse and jewelry-over the weekend —from an abandoned well on land near a rural northern California, said Deputy Les Garcia, spokesman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff.
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Greece’s parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill Monday to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens and black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament before lawmakers voted on the package that demands deep pay, pension and job cuts - the price of a 130 billion euro bailout needed to keep the country afloat.
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The Arab League threw its support on Sunday firmly behind the opposition mounting an uprising against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, and called for the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to halt bloodshed.A resolution approved by Arab League ministers meeting in Cairo called for “opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it.” It also urged the Syrian opposition to unite.
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Music producer Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy party is typically one of the most fun-filled highlights of the week leading to the music industry’s top awards, but this year’s event quickly turned into a tribute for Whitney Houston, who died earlier in the day.On the red carpet outside Saturday night’s event, the recording industry’s biggest stars were stunned by news that Houston, among the biggest female recording stars of all time, died that afternoon in the same hotel, the Beverly Hilton.
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In a move that seems aimed at securing success in the South Bay Area, the San Francisco 49ers officially named Gideon Yu President and Co-Owner on Friday after he served as Chief Strategy Officer since last April.Yu, the Chief Financial Officer for both Facebook and YouTube before joining the 49ers, is credited as a key in the team securing an $850 million construction loan for a new stadium, reported to be the largest loan of its type in professional sports.
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Tesla Motors Inc on Thursday showed off a prototype of its Model X, a battery-powered SUV that represents the company's bet that consumers will buy a range of electric vehicles spun from a common platform.The Model X, which features what the company calls "falcon-wing" doors and faster acceleration than a Porsche 911 -- it goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds -- will start production late 2013 and begin delivery in 2014.
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