U.S.: Full Marriage Rights for Same-Sex Partners
(New York, September 4, 2003) - U.S. state governments should
extend civil marriage to same-sex partners to ensure the equality
of gay and lesbian people, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing
paper released today. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's
Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold hearings on the issue
today. More NewsUS. objects to Israel's Arrow deal with India
The American defense establishment has advised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon not to propose selling the Arrow anti-missile missile system to India during his visit there this week. The Israeli media reported that preliminary talks between Israel and India on the sale of the Arrow missile system have been suspended following opposition from the U.S. " The U.S. financed most of the system's development and Washington's consent is a necessary condition for the deal. More than two years ago, Israel provided India with the Green Pine missile-alert radar system, which is also used by the Arrow. The radar was developed in Israel without outside aid and can therefore be exported without Washington's approval. Israel has asked the U.S. Congress to finance the production of more Arrow missiles, to boost the air force's supply," said a report. The head of the missile protection program in the Defense Ministry, Arye Herzog, last week visited Washington and met with senior officials in the Pentagon's Missile Defense Administration (MDA) and congressmen. Herzog spoke to the Americans
about the lessons drawn from the war in Iraq and raised Israel's need to manufacture more
Arrow missiles.Sex slavery thriving in Holy Land
Christina, an 18-year-old university student from Moldova, has been bought and sold so many times she has lost count.Christina, who declined to give her real name, studied classics and anthropology and played basketball as a hobby before she was lured from a rural town in one of Europe's poorest countries to sex slavery in Israel.She is not alone.Full Report
'Smugglers' target US forces' alcohol, Says BBC Report
The alcohol was said to have been smuggled over two years Two South Korean men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing $1.7m (£1.2m) worth of beer and wine from the US military's main army base in South Korea. An investigation is under way after a secret tunnel used by the alleged smugglers was found under the Yongsan base in Seoul. Full Report from the BBC
