US justices to hear second gay case

26 March 2013 Last updated at 21:58 ET

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Hot tempers and dance parties outside US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court is to consider whether to strike down a law denying federal benefits to same-sex couples, a day after weighing a gay marriage ban.

The Defense of Marriage Act denies gay couples access to federal benefits under its definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman only.

On Tuesday California's Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, was scrutinised by the nine justices.

A ruling in both cases is expected before the end of June.

The Defense of Marriage Act (Doma), signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, has already been overturned by four federal courts and two courts of appeal.

Wider implications?

In October, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the law violated the equal protection clause of the US Constitution.

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The protesters and campaigners chanting in the cold sunshine today may yet be disappointed. The court that ended school segregation and legalised abortion appears to be shying away from a ground-breaking decision on gay marriage.

All eyes are on Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote in a court generally evenly divided between liberals and conservatives. He seemed to have been uncomfortable with the Proposition 8 case, describing the issue as "uncharted waters" and asking whether the case should have come to the Supreme Court.

The court may decide simply not to rule on the case. That would leave same-sex marriage effectively legal in California. But it would not be the sweeping change some gay rights campaigners were hoping for.

The case was originally brought by Edith Windsor, 83, who was required to pay more than $350,000 (£220,000) of inheritance taxes to the federal government after the death of her wife, Thea Spyer, in 2009 because, under Doma, their marriage was not recognised.

Married heterosexual couples would have been exempt from that tax.

President Barack Obama took the unusual step in February 2011 of ordering his administration not to defend Doma in court.

But Republicans in the House of Representatives do support Doma, and lawyers acting on their behalf will defend the law instead of the Department of Justice.

Correspondents say that what the court decides on Doma could have wider implications for other laws relating to gay marriage.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court heard arguments in another gay marriage case, on the legality of a California constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions.

Proposition 8 was approved by California voters in a referendum in November 2008, but the state government declined to defend it in federal courts.

'Uncharted waters'

Supporters of gay marriage are hoping for a broad decision from the court that could erase bans on same-sex unions nationwide.

However, legal analysts say the justices' comments during Tuesday's hearing did not seem to indicate that they were leaning in favour of a sweeping ruling.

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Bryan Fischer of American Family Association argues against same sex marriage

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal, questioned whether the issue should be allowed to take its course for the time being on a state-by-state level.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the closely watched swing vote, compared the court's possible journey in the case to going into "uncharted waters" or even over "a cliff".

And Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative, questioned whether the time was right for judicial intervention on the issue of same-sex marriage, given that he said it was newer than mobile phones or the internet.

Outside the court, hundreds of protesters gathered to express support for and opposition to gay marriage.

Currently, nine US states and Washington DC permit same-sex marriage. Twelve other states allow civil unions or domestic partnerships that provide varying degrees of state marriage benefits.

Recent opinion polls have shown a steady rise in support for same-sex marriage in the US. There has been a flurry of recent declarations by high-profile political figures, such as Hillary Clinton, in support of gay marriage.

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'Fallen' Petraeus delivers apology

27 March 2013 Last updated at 03:15 ET

Former CIA chief David Petraeus has apologised to those he "hurt and let down", in his first public speech since resigning over an extramarital affair.

Mr Petraeus said at the University of Southern California his actions had caused "pain for family and friends".

But he said he hoped his fall would teach others that "life doesn't stop with such a mistake and must go on".

Mr Petraeus quit after his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered during an FBI investigation.

Mr Petraeus was speaking to about 600 guests at the University of Southern California's annual Reserve Officers' Training Corps dinner.

He received a standing ovation, then began his speech by saying: "Needless to say, I join you keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago."

Mr Petraeus said he was also "keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing".

He added: "So please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply I regret - and apologise for - the circumstances that led me to resign from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends and supporters."

'Slipping my moorings'

Mr Petraeus has kept a low profile since resigning on 9 November.

His lawyer said Mr Petraeus had spent much of the time with his family.

A harassment complaint by Florida socialite Jill Kelley over emails she had received had led the FBI to unmask the affair.

Mrs Kelley knew Mr Petraeus through social contacts on the Florida military base where US Central Command is headquartered.

When the FBI investigated, it traced the emails to an apparently jealous Mrs Broadwell.

Mrs Kelley also knew the top US general in Afghanistan, Gen John Allen. He also sent emails to her but has been cleared of any misconduct.

Towards the end of his speech, Mr Petraeus said he hoped his experience "can be instructive to others who stumble or indeed fall as far as I did. One learns, after all, that life doesn't stop with such a mistake. It can and must go on".

He added: "I know that I can never fully assuage the pain that I inflicted on those closest to me and on a number of others.

"I can, however, try to move forward in a manner that is consistent to the values to which I subscribed before slipping my moorings and, as best as possible, to make amends to those I have hurt and let down."

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Dionne Warwick files for bankruptcy

27 March 2013 Last updated at 05:18 ET

Walk On By singer Dionne Warwick has filed for bankruptcy in the US after amounting debts of almost $10 million (£6.6m) in taxes since 1991.

The singer's liabilities include nearly $7m owed to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) from 1991 to 1999 and more than $3m in business taxes owed to the state of California, where she lives.

Warwick, 72, has sold more than 100 million records since the 1960s.

Her publicist said she had been the victim of poor financial management.

He added that Warwick had paid back the actual amount of the taxes but not penalties and interest that had accumulated over the years.

In documents filed in her home state of New Jersey this month, the singer of such classics as I Say A Little Prayer listed about $21,000 (£13,800) in monthly income and a similar amount in monthly expenses.

Her publicist said she had "repeatedly attempted to offer re-payment plans and proposals to the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board for taxes owed".

Warwick, cousin of the late Whitney Houston, won her first of five Grammy awards in 1968 with Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

Her second came two years later, for the album I'll Never Fall In Love Again.

She has sold more than 100 million records and has enjoyed more charts hits than almost any other female singer.

Last March, Warwick celebrated 50 years in show business with a special event at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

To mark the anniversary she released Now, an album featuring new versions of some of her most famous songs.

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NGO fears as Russian raids multiply

27 March 2013 Last updated at 06:08 ET

Senior EU officials have voiced concern as checks by Russian tax inspectors on foreign-funded non-governmental organisations multiply.

On Wednesday searches took place at the Moscow offices of Human Rights Watch and Transparency International.

Two German political NGOs were searched earlier in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle summoned the number two diplomat at the Russian embassy in Berlin to relay his "concern over the concerted action".

Other NGOs in Russia have also been searched by prosecutors and tax inspectors in recent weeks, with reports that hundreds may have been affected across the country.

A Russian law passed in July obliges foreign-funded NGOs involved in political activity to register as "foreign agents". Failure to comply is punishable by heavy fines and even a two-year prison sentence.

The Kremlin says the controversial law is needed to protect Russia from outside attempts to influence internal politics, but critics argue it is a mechanism to crush dissent after the mass protests against the ruling United Russia party early last year.

'Totally unacceptable'

Confirming that a search was under way, Human Rights Watch official Rachel Denber told Russia's Interfax news agency: "This wave of checks is pressure on civil society in Russia."

Both the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in St Petersburg and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Moscow were investigated earlier.

The KAS think tank is linked to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, while the FES is close to Germany's main opposition Social Democrats.

"Hampering the activity of German foundations could inflict lasting damage on bilateral relations," a German diplomat told Spiegel Online.

"We have made this clear to the Russian side."

The Christian Democrats said the Russian authorities had seized computers from the KAS office in a "totally unacceptable" action.

"The political foundations from Germany are making an important contribution to the development of democratic structures, the building of a state based on law and the encouragement of civil society," CDU general secretary Hermann Groehe said in a statement.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday she was "concerned with the ongoing actions of the authorities against the NGO community" in Russia.

Among the NGOs targeted was the human rights organisation Memorial, which was visited by Russian officials three times inside a week. Amnesty International was also targeted.

A number of NGOs have challenged the authorities to justify the searches.

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N Korea cuts South military hotline

27 March 2013 Last updated at 06:16 ET

North Korea says it is cutting a military hotline with South Korea, amid high tension on the peninsula.

The hotline is used to facilitate the travel of South Korean workers to a joint industrial complex in Kaesong.

Pyongyang has been angered by fresh UN sanctions following its 12 February nuclear test and US-South Korea military drills.

In recent weeks its habitually fiery rhetoric has escalated, with multiple warnings issued.

On Tuesday, it said it had ordered artillery and rocket units into "combat posture" to prepare to target US bases in Hawaii, Guam and the US mainland.

It has also threatened a "pre-emptive" nuclear strike against the US in recent days and told the South it has scrapped the Korean War armistice agreement.

While the situation is currently unpredictable, some analysts believe Pyongyang may be trying to force the US and others into negotiations, with all-out war unlikely, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul.

US Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Tuesday that North Korea's threats "followed a pattern designed to raise tensions" and that North Korea would "achieve nothing by these threats".

'No need'

North Korea has already cut both a Red Cross hotline and another used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two Koreas.

The military hotline is used by the two sides to communicate over travel to the Kaesong joint industrial zone, inside North Korea.

"Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep up North-South military communications," a senior North Korean military official was quoted by KCNA news agency as telling the South before the line was severed.

Until now, operations at the joint complex have been normal despite the rise in tensions.

South Korea's Ministry of Unification confirmed that the North was no longer answering calls to the hotline, reports Yonhap news agency.

When the North also previously cut the military hotline in 2009, operations at the joint complex continued because other channels of communication were used, Yonhap adds.

An inter-Korean air-traffic hotline still exists between the two sides, according to reports.

'Build trust'

The move came as South Korean President Park Geun-hye set out policies towards the North "designed to establish peace and a foundation for reunification by building and restoring trust".

"Without rushing and in the same way that we would lay one brick after another, based on trust, (we) will have to develop South-North relations step by step and create sustainable peace," Yonhap news agency quoted her as saying.

She has spoken in the past of a desire for more dialogue with North Korea but current tensions are obstructing movements to improve ties.

In a statement on Wednesday carried by KCNA, North Korea told Ms Park that a "wrong word" from her could entail "horrible disaster at a time when the North-South relations are being pushed to the lowest ebb".

Late on Tuesday, North Korean state-run media also reported that its top political bureau would soon hold a rare meeting to discuss "an important issue for victoriously advancing the Korean revolution". It did not specify the issue, or the date of the meeting.

Overnight, meanwhile, South Korea briefly placed a border military unit on its highest alert, in an indication of the heightened tensions.

The alert happened early on Wednesday after a South Korean soldier discovered a "strange object" at the border, military officials said. The alert prepares troops for a possible incursion from North Korea.

The soldier, who was at a military post in Hwacheon, in South Korea's north-eastern Gangwon province, threw a grenade at the object at around 02:30 local time (17:30 GMT), officials said. The alert was lifted at 09:20 local time.

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Bank of Cyprus head Kypri 'sacked'

27 March 2013 Last updated at 07:58 ET

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The BBC's Paul Mason: "Every figure in this document has the word 'euro' and two x's"

The chief executive of the biggest bank in Cyprus has been sacked at the behest of the country's international lenders, state media has said.

Yiannis Kypri and his board of directors were removed at the request of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, the Cyprus News Agency says.

The bank will be restructured and merged with the "good" parts of Laiki Bank, which is being shut down.

Cyprus's banks will reopen on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Bank of Cyprus chairman Andreas Artemis handed in his resignation, along with four other directors, but the bank's board rejected the resignations.

Panicos Demetriades, the central bank governor, was widely criticised on Tuesday for suggesting that Bank of Cyprus was going to be wound up in the same way as is planned for Laiki Bank. The apparently erroneous statement led to demonstrations and calls for his resignation from Bank of Cyprus staff.

Capital controls

On Tuesday, Mr Demetriades said that "superhuman" efforts were being made to ready the banks for reopening.

They have been shut for more than a week as a controversial bailout was negotiated, which will see many depositors take losses.

"We have to restore the public's trust in banks," Panicos Demetriades said.

Cyprus is planning to impose a weekly limit on cash withdrawals, among other restrictions on money transfers, following the banks' reopening.

The country's draft capital controls will include export limits on euros and a ban on cashing cheques, said Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason.

In addition, fixed-term deposits will have to be held until maturity.

The restrictions are expected to be tighter for accounts at Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank.

Mr Demetriades has confirmed that "temporary" capital controls will be imposed on the island, without giving details.

Banks have not been open since 15 March. Their reopening had been expected after Cyprus agreed a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) that releases 10bn euros in support.

The Cypriot authorities had previously said all that but the biggest two banks would open on Tuesday, but they have remained shut while the finer details of capital controls are handled by the Cypriot central bank.

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French soldier held in Merah case

27 March 2013 Last updated at 07:18 ET

A French soldier has been arrested in connection with the shootings carried out by Islamist militant gunman Mohamed Merah in Toulouse a year ago.

The soldier was held at his barracks in Castres, police sources said.

Two more people had been arrested for questioning late on Tuesday, as police continue their hunt for accomplices.

Merah carried out three deadly attacks between 11 and 19 March 2012, killing seven people before being shot dead during a police siege of his flat.

Merah killed three paratroopers, and then an adult and three children at a Jewish school.

Hollande vow

A judicial source said the soldier arrested had known Merah but gave no more details.

Agnes Thibault Lecuivre, of the prosecutor's office, said one of the arrests on Tuesday had taken place in Toulouse's Les Izards district, where Merah lived as a child.

Since the attacks, police and security forces have continued to investigate the possibility of accomplices.

However, only Merah's brother has been charged. He was detained last year and continues to deny any involvement.

The arrests come just 10 days after President Francois Hollande attended a service to mark the anniversary of the killings.

He said France was tightening its intelligence gathering to prevent further such attacks.

Mr Hollande said the fight against terrorism "allows for no easing off, no weakness and no negligence".

French intelligence had been monitoring Merah as a suspected Islamist militant following trips he made to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He reportedly told negotiators during the siege he was a member of al-Qaeda.

According to French prosecutors, he expressed no regrets other than "not having claimed more victims" and was proud of having "brought France to its knees".

He said he had been motivated by the fate of the Palestinians, the French military presence in Afghanistan and France's ban on the full veil.

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Top Egypt prosecutor reinstated

27 March 2013 Last updated at 08:15 ET

An Egypt appeal court has ordered the reinstatement of the country's top prosecutor, sacked by President Mohammed Morsi in November.

The court also cancelled Mr Morsi's decision to appoint a new prosecutor general, Talat Ibrahim.

Mr Morsi's removal of Abdel Maguid Mahmoud angered senior judges, who saw it as an attack on their authority.

The sacking was one of his first moves after issuing a decree granting himself sweeping new powers.

The decree took away judicial powers to reverse decisions made by the president. But Mr Morsi eventually retracted it after a rising tide of protest.

However, he kept in place his new appointment as prosecutor general.

Judicial battle

The incumbent prosecutor, Mr Mahmoud, had been appointed by ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.

In December, amid outrage over his appointment, Mr Ibrahim made, and then retracted, an offer to resign.

Unless the appeal court verdict itself is overturned, Mr Ibrahim will be compelled to resign and Mr Mahmoud will be returned to his post.

A senior official in the office of the Attorney General told BBC Arabic the government would appeal to Egypt's highest court, the Court of Cassation, before the matter was settled.

Mr Morsi has faced a range of problems since he took office in June 2012 after the country's first post-Mubarak presidential election.

As well as a simmering feud with the judiciary, pro-reform protests in Cairo have continued, with deaths during anti-Morsi protests to mark two years since the fall of Mubarak.

The president has also been accused of failing to hold officials accountable for alleged crimes carried out during the Mubarak years.

There was a wave of violence in January 2013 following the imposition of death sentences on 21 people over football violence.

Political progress has been slow in Egypt, with parliamentary elections scheduled for this spring now postponed with no new date set.

According to a report by Egypt's official news agency, Mena, Mr Morsi - currently in Qatar for a meeting of the Arab League - now estimates the polls will be held as late as October.

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Brazil supermarkets ban Amazon meat

25 March 2013 Last updated at 18:45 ET

The main group representing supermarkets in Brazil says it will no longer sell meat from cattle raised in the rainforest.

The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets, which has 2,800 members, hopes the deal will cut down on the illegal use of rainforest for pasture.

Deforestation in the Amazon has slowed over the past years but invasion of public land continues to be a problem.

Huge swathes have been turned into land for pasture and soy plantations.

The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras) signed the agreement with the Federal Public Prosecutor's office in the capital, Brasilia.

'More transparent'

Public Prosecutor Daniel Cesar Azeredo Avelino said consumers would benefit from the deal.

"The agreement foresees a series of specific actions to inform the consumer about the origin of the meat both through the internet and at the supermarkets," he said.

Mr Avelino said a more transparent labelling system would also make it easier for consumers to avoid buying meat from the Amazon and make it harder for shops to sell items from producers who flouted the law.

He said he would now work towards reaching a similar deal with smaller shops.

Under the deal, supermarkets have promised to reject meat from areas of the Amazon where illegal activities take place, such as illegal logging and invasion of public land, Mr Avelino said.

There is currently no deadline for the implementation of the measures, but Mr Avelino said they would be adopted "soon".

According to the pressure group Greenpeace, expansion of the cattle industry in the Amazon is the single biggest cause of deforestation in the region.

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CAR rebels 'suspend constitution'

25 March 2013 Last updated at 20:11 ET

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Sylvain Groulx from Medecins Sans Frontieres says the main hospital in Bangui appears to have been abandoned by staff

The leader of rebels who have seized the capital of the Central African Republic says he is suspending the constitution and dissolving parliament.

Michel Djotodia said there would be a transition period until "credible and transparent" elections, during which he would "legislate by decree".

He added he would uphold a peace deal that promises elections in three years.

Ousted CAR leader Francois Bozize has fled to neighbouring Cameroon, officials there have announced.

Following the takeover, the African Union has suspended CAR and imposed sanctions on rebel leaders.

About 5,000 Seleka fighters swept into the capital Bangui on Sunday after the collapse of a power-sharing deal - the Libreville Accord.

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• Civil servant in the government of Ange-Felix Patasse, overthrown by Francois Bozize in 2003.
• Appointed by Mr Bozize to a diplomatic post in Sudan
• Falls out with Mr Bozize and launches a rebellion in 2005
• Arrested a year later in Benin, where he was exiled
• Released after promising to make peace with Mr Bozize, but re-launches rebellion
• Appointed defence minister in January 2013 under peace deal
• Quits government in March and seizes power

The deal collapsed when Seleka withdrew its members from the government.

"I consider it necessary to suspend the November 27, 2004 constitution, to dissolve parliament as well as the government," Mr Djotodia said in a statement to reporters.

The statement could not be broadcast due to power cuts, Reuters reported. and instead was recorded and issued to journalists.

"During this transition period which will lead us to free, credible and transparent elections, I will legislate by decree."

He added: "We will lead the people of Central African Republic during a three-year transition period, in accordance with the Libreville Accord."

Earlier, South African President Jacob Zuma said at least 13 South African soldiers were killed in the battle against the rebels on Sunday.

The troops had been stationed in Bangui to support government forces.

It is the heaviest loss of life for South Africa in a single battle since it became a democracy in 1994.

Looters and armed gangs are reported to be still roaming the streets of Bangui.

The UN says tens of thousands of people have fled CAR into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

CAR has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960 and is one of the least-developed countries in the world.

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