The latest in Social Issues

Census Hispanics

2010-03-10T21:31:06Z

Voto Latino co-founder and actress Rosario Dawson, right, mingles with actor Wilmer Valderrama during a news conference at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 10, 201...

How to profit from the "fertilizer wars"

2010-03-10T19:16:39Z

<div id="subtitle">Savvy investors will be pleased with their profit harvest</div><div><p>There's nothing like scarcity and supply disruptions to fuel violent price spikes. And there's nothing like the basic human needs for food and water to light that fuse. Today's world food supplies run on razor-thin inventories. While the food riots of 2008 have all but disappeared from our short-term memories, the threat of them returning grows stronger with every passing day. </p...

Azerbaijan court rejects 'donkey video' bloggers' appeal

2010-03-10T12:16:29Z

<div><p>An Azerbaijani court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by two bloggers jailed after satirizing the government with an Internet video that showed a donkey giving a press conference, their lawyer said.</p><p>The bloggers' case intensified concerns about media freedoms in Azerbaijan, an oil-rich mainly Muslim republic on the Caspian Sea that has repeatedly been acc...

Google prepared to quit China over censor feud: executive

2010-03-10T12:16:27Z

<div><p>A top Google executive told US lawmakers Wednesday that the Internet giant is prepared to leave China if Beijing says it must censor Web searches or quit the world's most populous online market.</p><p>"Google is firm in its decision that it will stop censoring our sea...

Maryland Lawmakers Attempt To Undo Gay Marriage Opinion

2010-03-10T12:15:36Z

<div id="subtitle">Maryland lawmakers will attempt several maneuvers to reverse state Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's favorable gay marriage opinion</div><div><p> <p>Lawmakers in Maryland will attempt several maneuvers to reverse state Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's favorable gay marriage opinion, including impeachment, Ernie Paragallo convicted of mistreating horses on his upstate NY farm</div><div><p>Prominent New York thoroughbred breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo was convicted Wednesday of mistreating dozens of malnourished horses on his Hudson Valley farm.</p><p>A ju...

Niger appeals for emergency food aid

2010-03-10T11:16:04Z

<div><p>The government in Niger on Wednesday appealed for massive emergency aid to avert a food crisis that threatens more than half of the population of the arid west African country.</p><p>"To the national and international community, I want to launch an emergency appeal for massive support to the enormous efforts Niger is making to cope with famine," Prime Minister Maham...

Two thirds of Danes back gay Church weddings

2010-03-10T10:16:40Z

<div><p>Nearly two thirds of Danes support a call to allow gay and lesbian couples to be married by the Church, a poll showed Wednesday.</p><p>Denmark was the world's first country to allow a civil union for homosexuals, in 1989, but its parliament is now split over a move by the centre-left opposition to amend the law to allow religious weddings too.</p><p>The minister for religion Birthe Roenn Hornbech has urged ...

Half of Somalia food aid diverted: UN report

2010-03-10T10:16:03Z

<div><p>Up to half of the food aid intended for needy Somalis is routinely diverted, according to a United Nations report, but the World Food Programme called the allegation "unsubstantiated."</p><p>The report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, originally tasked w...

E.Timor president insists does not want warcrimes tribunal

2010-03-10T10:15:42Z

<div><p>East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta on Wednesday denied claims by Amnesty International that he would support a tribunal for abuses committed during Indonesia's occupation.</p><p>Amnesty had claimed he was in favour of the est...

In paying for sex changes, Cuba breaks from past

2010-03-10T10:01:06Z

<div id="subtitle">Cuba once persecuted homosexuals, transsexuals, now quietly pays for sex-change operations</div><div><p>Looking in the mirror used to make Yiliam Gonzalez sick to her stomach.</p><p>"I would see myself, and my body didn't match who I was," said the 28-year-old wedding pianist, who went by William before receiving a sex change under Cuba's un...

Minority births on track to outnumber white births

2010-03-10T09:30:44Z

<div id="subtitle">Census figures show nearly half of babies in US are born to minorities each year</div><div><p>Minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority over the next 40 years.</p><p>In fact, demographers say this year could be the "tipping point" when the number of babies born to minorities outnu...

WFP says UN report on Somali food aid 'unsubstantiated'

2010-03-10T09:16:14Z

<div><p>The World Food Programme on Wednesday termed as "unsubstantiated" a UN report which said that up to half of the food aid delivered by the agency to Somalia was being diverted.</p><p>UN Monitoring Group on Somalia said there was a systematic collusion between t...

Gay Activists Cried You're 'One Of Us, Roy' Ashburn In 2005

2010-03-10T09:00:31Z

<div id="subtitle">Roy Ashburn was heckled by gay activists who shouted 'We know you're one of us, Roy!' at an anti-gay marriage rally in 2005</div><div><p> <p>Roy Ashburn – the recently out California GOP lawmaker with a long anti-gay record – was heckled by gay activists who shouted “We know you're one of us, Roy!” at an anti...

Russian tycoon wins libel case over radiation murder

2010-03-10T08:18:05Z

<div><p>Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky won £150,000 ($220,000, 165,000 euros) in libel damages on Wednesday over a claim he was linked to the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.</p><p>A judge in London said there was "no evidence" that Berezovsky -- a fierce crit...

Jailed Syria activists lose early release petition

2010-03-10T07:16:29Z

<div><p>Twelve pro-democracy Syrian activists, jailed after calling for greater democracy, lost their petition for early release and will have to serve their full 30-month sentence, a human rights group said on Wednesday.</p><p>"The Court of Appeal rejected the petition presented by the lawyers of the opponents who had signed the 'Damascus Declaration,'" the District of Columbia gay marriage law went into effect last week began marrying Tuesday. Couples needed to wait the customary three-day period before marrying.</p> <p...

UN report: Much of Somalia's food aid diverted

2010-03-10T05:00:18Z

<div id="subtitle">UN report: Up to half of Somalia's food aid diverted from needy to militias or businessmen</div><div><p>Up to half the food aid intended for the millions of hungry people in Somalia is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local U.N. workers, according to a Bob Barker donates $2.5 million to turn existing building into PETA's Los Angeles headquarters</div><div><p>Bob Barker has donated $2.5 million to help the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals open a new location in Los Angeles.</p><p>The retired game show host and spay and neuter champion w...

Romney Suggests Gay Marriage Would Be Top Campaign Issue

2010-03-09T20:30:27Z

<div id="subtitle">Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney says marriage in need of being 'defended'</div><div><p> <p>Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney on Sunday suggested he would include social issues in his 2012 presidential campaign platform, if he decides to run.</p> <p>Romney made his remarks during an appearance on '...