Gay bash 'most fabulous'
Revelers celebrate with flair at Cape Town's Mother City Queer Party at Ratanga Junction.

Gay couple deprived of marriage in US plans a Canadian wedding
HUNTINGTON, New York, April 8 (AFP) - In this Long Island community 30 miles (40 kilometers) east of New York, in an opulent house surrounded by pine trees, children squabble, organize a treasure hunt, play the piano.

Fear Stalks Chicago Gay Community
(Chicago, Illinois) Four unsolved gay murders in Chicago's North Side gay neighborhood have the community nervous and angry at police. The most recent killing, was two weeks ago, the others go back several years, but community activists say all the murders have chilling similarities.

Montréal 2006 Becomes the 1st World Outgames
Montréal, 2 April 2004 — "Sunday in Boston," announced Mark Tewksbury, Co-President of Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006, "we experienced the beginning of a new future for the international gay and lesbian sports movement. The creation of the Gay & Lesbian...

Couple celebrates Quebec's first gay marriage
MONTREAL, April 1 (AFP) - Two men were married in Quebec Thursday, the first gay couple to wed since the French-speaking province's Court of Appeal rejected on March 19 a bid by religious groups to have marriage defined as a union between a man and a woman.

UN's Annan faces outrage over gay family ruling
UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (AFP) - Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday was pressed to reconsider his decision to extend family benefits to the gay partners of UN staff after an outcry from African and Muslim countries.

South Africa or Mandelaland? Critics question unbridled use of magic moniker
JOHANNESBURG, April 2 (AFP) - A spree to baptise roads, bridges, public places and universities after South Africa's anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela continues unabated, sparking criticism in some quarters that his name is being exploited, sometimes for commercial reasons.

Australian Anglicans under fire over sex survey for priests
SYDNEY, April 1 (AFP) - The Anglican Church in Australia was criticised Thursday for demanding would-be priests complete a detailed questionnaire about their sexuality before they can become ministers.

Massachusetts takes first step to outlaw gay marriage
BOSTON, Massachusetts March 30 (AFP) - Lawmakers in Massachusetts have taken the first step in a long process to ban gay marriages by amending the state constitution.

Danish opposition proposes legalising gay church weddings
COPENHAGEN, March 30 (AFP) - Denmark's opposition Socialist People's Party presented a bill to parliament on Tuesday that would open the way for allowing homosexuals to marry in church, parliamentarian sources said.

Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in West Bank
HEBRON, West Bank, March 28 (AFP) - A wanted Palestinian was shot dead on the roof of his home near the southern West Bank city of Hebron Sunday after Israeli forces mistook his broom for a weapon, Palestinian sources said.

Scientists to test gels in Africa that could prevent HIV
LONDON, March 27 (AFP) - British scientists are to launch trials in five African countries for special new gels that may help prevent the transmission of the HIV virus, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Nablus teenage bomber sparks concern over rights of minors in intifada
JERUSALEM, March 25 (AFP) - Pictures of a Palestinian youngster on his way to carrying out a suicide attack at a military checkpoint in the West Bank have sparked growing fears over the use of minors in the conflict by armed groups.

EU verdict against Microsoft
BRUSSELS, March 24 (AFP) - The European Commission Wednesday found US software giant Microsoft guilty of abusing its market dominance by squelching competitors to its Windows Media Player and to its low-end servers.

Bomb found in front of church in restive Indonesian province
JAKARTA, March 28 (AFP) - Indonesian police defused a bomb found in front of a church in the restive province of Central Sulawesi, a report said Sunday.

South Africa grants Aristide asylum
BASSETERRE, March 25 (AFP) - South Africa has granted permanent asylum to Haitian former president Jean Bertrand Aristide from mid-April, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

Six South African babies died because of food contamination
BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa, March 25 (AFP) - Six premature babies died earlier this month in a South African hospital because a healthcarer had prepared their feed with dirty hands, a provincial health official said Thursday.

Discovery of another bomb on French rail line triggers new security alert
PARIS, March 24 (AFP) - French bomb disposal experts on Wednesday defused a bomb containing several detonators found on a rail line linking Paris to the Swiss city of Basel, French authorities said.

War hero pigeon to be honoured in D-Day show
LONDON, March 27 (AFP) - A Royal Air Force pigeon who delivered the first news of Allied success from the Normandy beaches on D-Day is to be recognised as the greatest pigeon to have served his country, The Times said Saturday.

Mandela meets Saudi leaders
RIYADH, March 23 (AFP) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela met with Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz here Tuesday, the official SPA news agency reported.

UN AIDS chief not optimistic about vaccine prospects
SYDNEY, March 22 (AFP) - An HIV vaccine is not likely to be developed in the next decade, the head of the UN's AIDS prevention program said Monday, adding that any breakthrough would be the result of a long process of trial and error.