USA - A proposed ordinance in Memphis, Tennessee, that would ban discrimination against gays is causing outrage among some local critics who say the ordinance itself would be discriminatory - against people who oppose homosexuality because of their religious beliefs.
AUSTRALIA - A "gay zombie porn" flick which shows aliens engaging in necrophilia has been pulled from Australia's biggest film festival after being rejected by censors, organisers said Tuesday. "L.A. Zombie", which also features homosexual sex and full-frontal male nudity, is the first film in seven years to be banned from screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which starts on July 22.
SPACE - They are among the true monsters of space - colossal stars whose size and brightness go well beyond what many scientists thought was even possible. One of the objects, known simply as R136a1, is the most massive ever found.
KOREA - These are tense times on the Korean peninsula, reason enough for two high-profile US visitors - the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Secretary of Defence Robert Gates - to be in South Korea at the same time. The sinking last March of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval corvette, precipitated a new round of tensions between North and South. Forty-six sailors died in the incident.
UK - Young people rarely see positive portrayals of lesbian and gay people on television, according to Stonewall. A survey for the gay equality charity monitored more than 120 hours of programmes watched by the young. It said gay people were mainly portrayed as promiscuous, predatory, or figures of fun.
EUROPE - People who are sceptical of climate change could soon be facing criminal charges in the European Court of Justice, British National Party leader and MEP Nick Griffin MEP has said.
BEIJING, CHINA - China's largest reported oil spill emptied beaches along the Yellow Sea as its size doubled Wednesday, while cleanup efforts included straw mats and frazzled workers with little more than rubber gloves.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MK calls for 'complete religious freedom' at holy site. Decrying the "severe restrictions" facing religious Jews who attempt to ascend the Temple Mount, MK Danny Danon (Likud) called Tuesday for "complete religious freedom" atop the incendiary holy site, before going up to the mount himself to mark Tisha Be'av.
USA - How much would the US economy have to weaken for the Federal Reserve to try to push borrowing costs even lower? That question will loom over Capitol Hill this week as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
USA - The White House is trumpeting a "summer of economic recovery," but it could soon be facing a winter of discontent. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and other officials have visited far-flung locales such as Holland, Michigan, Louisville, Kentucky, and Barre, Vermont, to see first-hand some of the projects financed by an $862 billion stimulus package passed last year.
UK - It is fairly commonplace at the moment for US and UK financial analysts - what continental Europeans call the Anglo-Saxons - to predict the collapse of the euro zone, a project they were mostly sceptical about in the first place.
USA - Recent weeks have produced a series of grim and related headlines: Russia has declared a state of emergency because of drought in 12 regions, while in major wheat exporter Ukraine, severe flooding may depress crop yields. Dry conditions threaten Vietnamese rice production. The USDA has projected a disappointingly low Midwest harvest, and China has raised questions on the demand side by doubling its imports from Canada
CHICAGO, USA - The intense heat and humidity that blanketed central Kansas since late last week have killed more than 2,000 cattle and one state official called the heat-related losses the worst in his 17 years on the job.
NEW ORLEANS, USA - Scientists huddled Tuesday to analyze data from the ocean floor as they weigh whether a leaking well cap is a sign BP's broken oil well is buckling. Oil and gas started seeping into the Gulf of Mexico again Sunday night, but this time more slowly, and scientists aren't sure whether the leaks mean the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse.
UK - A million UK citizens cannot read. One in six people who work in London are functionally illiterate. A quarter of primary school leavers are unable to read or write properly. These are appalling, almost incredible, statistics for a 21st-century society.