Sexual, physical and mental abuse in military!

Australia apologizes to victims of abuse   

Defence minister acknowledges sexual, physical and mental abuse in the military after report lists 775 cases since 1951.

Defence Minister Smith said a taskforce would rule on compensation of up to $52,200 for victims [File:AFP]

Australia's government has apologised to hundreds of victims of abuse within the military, clearing the way for victims to receive compensation.

In an address to parliament on Monday, Stephen Smith, defence minister, acknowledged that soldiers, sailors and member of the air force had suffered abuse, often by superiors under the excuse of toughening up younger recruits, since the early 1950s.

"Young men and women have endured sexual, physical or mental abuse from their colleagues which is not acceptable and does not reflect the values of a modern, diverse, tolerant Australian society," Smith told parliament.

"On behalf of the government, I say sorry."

An independent report into abuse within the military earlier this year found 775 plausible allegations of sexual, physical
and mental abuse within the armed forces since 1951.

The report detailed 24 allegations of rape that never went to trial.

Smith said senior military leaders were committed to changing a defence force culture which has often turned a blind
eye to abuse and was often hostile to women or those who spoke out or complained about their treatment.

Independent report

The apology follows an independent report sparked by an incident in 2011, when footage of a female defence academy cadet having consensual sex with a male colleague was streamed online to other cadets without her knowledge.

"That at the time, was said to be an isolated incident," Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas, reporting from Sydney, said.

"But very quickly, other people came forward and said similar sorts of abuse had happened to them while they were in the military.

"The government asked a law firm to conduct a review and over 1,000 people came forward, saying they had suffered some form of abuse."

General David Hurley, defence force chief, also apologised, saying he recognised "the damage and suffering that has been caused to some".

The Australian Defence Force has begun addressing these causes through its cultural reform programme," he said.

Smith said an independent task force would now examine specific allegations and rule on compensation of up to A$50,000 ($52,200) for victims. It will also refer matters to police or the military justice system if there is evidence of a crime.

A voice from Gaza

The voices of Gaza's children


Children in Gaza describe living under Israeli siege and attacks as worse than being in prison.



UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said that recent fighting will result in "deep trauma" for Gaza's youth [Reuters]


BEIT LAHIYA, GAZA - The only protection the Awajaa family has against the Israeli rockets is a thin tarpaulin, stretched out over a small plot of land.

The tent, where they have been living on and off since their house was turned to rubble in the 2008-09 Israeli war on Gaza, is one of the first houses on the border, located a mere few hundred metres away from Israel.

"We are the first people to be attacked, and we are the people who can't escape, as it is just empty lands around us," said 15-year-old Omsiyat, the eldest of seven children.

Omsiyat considers her family and neighbours also to be victims of Israeli aggression, as their proximity to the border forces them to be one of the most vulnerable targets of attacks.

"This is not a victory, because [the Israelis] are destroying Gaza," she said. "Yes, we scared them, but they still inflicted damage on us. This is not how we have a victory.

"We did not get two centimetres from Israel. How is this a victory?"

'I don’t want to die'

The Israeli attacks on Gaza, which lasted eight days and came to an end with an Israeli-instigated ceasefire on Wednesday evening, killed a total of 162 Palestinians, including more than 40 children.

In Omsiyat's opinion, the armed resistance, while having made some achievements, also put civilians in a very dangerous situation, making them the largest casualties of the war.

"We are older than our age because we have to take care of each other in these situations. There are definitely psychological consequences to what has been happening to us."

- Sana Al Daaour, 13

"I don't want to die, and I don't want anyone else to die, and there is a strong possibility we can be killed."

While Gaza is often described as an open-air prison due to the crippling siege imposed by Israel, she says the word "prison" is not enough.

"If there was a stronger word than prison, then this is where we are. In a prison you can move around, here you cannot," she said.

"If you are in a prison, you do not get bombed. Here we are in a prison and we get bombed."

Awajaa, Omsiyat's mother, described how her children would clamber on top of her as the missiles fell around them, too afraid to sleep. Four-year-old Zakriyat would cry all the time, insisting her parents lie next to her.

Ten-year-old Hala spent most of the time under a blanket. Three-year-old Layali would be too afraid to move from the bed to the kitchen for food. Six-year-old Diaa, who suffers from hearing and speech problems as a result of the 2008-09 war, has started wetting the bed.

"Diaa keeps asking if the new home we get will be bombed," she said. "He keeps asking us to tell the Israelis not to hit our new home."

'They were more scared'

For 11-year-old Khadra Al Daaour and her five siblings, the fear and sleepless nights were bearable, knowing the Israelis were more afraid than they were.

"We tried to make ourselves calm, we would draw, we would write, we would make our mother tell us funny stories," she said. "Of course we were scared, but the Israelis were more scared.

"This makes us feel stronger, and pushes us forward."

Her 13-year-old sister Sana was keen to point out the situation for the children of Gaza is unique in comparison with children elsewhere in the world. For her, they are forced to mature beyond their years.

"We are older than our age because we have to take care of each other in these situations," she said, explaining that despite this fact, there are still psychological issues as a result.

"There are definitely psychological consequences to what has been happening to us."

"Some of my friends get so stressed because of the situation, they don't stop talking until they've completely emptied their thoughts. They just want to get rid of everything inside," she described. "Others stop talking altogether."

For Khadra, the best distraction is to write and to draw. "I write poems, and I draw," she said. "Tanks, planes in the sky, children escaping, our resistance carrying guns, these are all things we draw."

"Right now, we're making fun of the fact the Israelis were more scared than us," she said, giggling.

An abnormal situation

Mustafa El Masri, a psychiatrist who works with the World Health Organisation, said in such hostile and abnormal situations, it is important for parents and teachers to keep talking to the children, explain to them what is going on, and listen to what they have to say.

"Depending on the age of the child, parents need to explain what is going on in very honest terms, and to correct misconceptions rather than impose certain views," he said.

Follow the latest developments in the ongoing conflict


"The culture here is very advanced in the concepts of liberation, self-determination, and right to exist ... therefore, the more parents are aware of this, and transmitting this to their children, the more the children understand and can remain calm."

There are two stages of reaction after such hostilities; the biological, which focuses on self-preservation, and the "meaning-making" stage, where children attempt to digest and understand what has happened, what their role is, and why they are in such a place.

"At the moment, what we see is a 'normal' reaction towards the war, such as the inability to sleep, being afraid, and apprehensive," El Masri said. "If this persists beyond the shock stage, then it needs to be looked into professionally."

For him, the most important is that parents do not lie to their children, as this is the moment when children are attempting to build their own concepts and values.

"Children in Gaza are not naïve like children in other countries," he said. "They are very politically aware. Parents should listen to them and answer their questions, no matter how difficult."

He was keen to point out that having open discussions with children does not equate to normalising conflict and war.

"It is not normal that a person, with his children, be targeted by bombs and simply vanish," he said. "But it is normal to learn how to prevent it. What we are doing here is coping with an abnormal situation."

Omsiyat, who wants to be a journalist when she grows up, knows the experiences they have shared among themselves as children will remain with them forever.

"We think and we talk about everything else in the world, but the one thing that connects us all together is war," she said.

India: Gay Rights..!

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of gay rights activists marched through New Delhi on Sunday to demand that they be allowed to lead lives of dignity in India’s deeply conservative society.

Dozens of demonstrators carried a nearly 15-meter long, rainbow-colored banner and waved placards demanding that the government extend the scope of anti-discrimination laws to schools, workplaces and public and private spaces.

Activists said that three years after the Delhi High Court made changes in India’s colonial-era law that made gay sex a crime, homosexuals are still not socially accepted in India.

In 2009, the court had decriminalized gay sex, which until then had been an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Conservative groups have asked India’s top court to overturn the lower court’s order, and Supreme Court judges are currently hearing opinions from a range of people, including conservative groups and gay rights activists. It’s unclear when the court will make its ruling.

”If only the Supreme Court comes out on our side, and if gay marriage became legal, what could be better” said Zorian Cross, a New Delhi-based theater actor and playwright at the parade.
”Queer and loving it” and ”Give us your support” read some of the placards carried by the activists as they marched to the rhythmic beat of traditional drums and music. Other supporters distributed badges and rainbow-colored flags and scarves.

The march ended in a public meeting at Jantar Mantar, the main area for protests located in the heart of the capital, New Delhi. Many gay rights group members and their families danced and sang as drummers and musicians performed.

Vimal Kumar, an activist with a rights group called the National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements, said the government had to ensure that all forms of discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgenders was ended.

”The government has to listen. Our struggle has gone on for very long, and we are hopeful the government will listen and act on our demands,” Kumar said.

Gay rights activists are demanding that the government allow people to record the gender category of their choice in the national census, voter identity cards and all other government documents.

”We are demanding that all people be allowed to exercise their right to live their lives with dignity and freedom, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation,” said a statement issued by rights groups at the parade.

Kumar said peoples’ attitudes were gradually beginning to change and there was greater understanding among the families in urban areas as television campaigns and gay parade marches caught on. But the pace of change was slow, he said.

In some big cities, homosexuality is slowly gaining acceptance, and a few high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues.

Still, many marchers Sunday covered their faces with scarves or wore masks because they have not told their friends and families about their sexuality.

Teen killed...!

Delhi, A man shot dead his teenage neighbour after she objected to him urinating near the gate of her New Delhi home, police have said.


Yusra Khan, 17, was killed by a 21-year-old man, described by Indian police as a "jobless vagabond", who broke into her home and also critically injured her mother.


"During the day, Yusra objected to him urinating at the gate of the building in which both lived," said additional police commissioner Ajay Chaudhry.


Mr Chaudhry said the man then returned with a handgun the same evening and shot Yusra twice and her mother in a bedroom of their working-class home in the Nizamuddin district of the city.


The man quickly disappeared through the narrow lanes of the neighbourhood, firing in the air while fleeing, according to reports.


Police have launched a major hunt to arrest the unnamed suspect.


"He is absconding but he is somewhere out there and we will get him," Mr Chaudhry said.


Yusra's father, Aslam Khan, who was not present at the time of the shooting, told journalists that the suspect left "in a fit of rage" after his daughter had raised objections and threatened her with "dire consequences".


He said his daughter "had died on the spot" while his wife was admitted to hospital and was battling for her life.


The Indian capital saw a spate of shootings in September. In one incident, a 23-year-old shot dead his ex-girlfriend and her landlady and then drove to a suburb to kill her father and sister before turning the gun on himself.


A few days later, two friends went on a shooting rampage which left three women and two young girls dead.


Figures for gun seizures in New Delhi show a rising trend.


Police in 2009 seized 573 illegal weapons, in 2010 there were 634 and in 2011 the number touched 770. In the first nine months of this year, officers have already recovered 594 guns.

http://news.sky.com/story/1015786/teen-killed-after-objecting-to-man-urinating

Attack on Independence of Judiciary!

"A threat to Justice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere"

The Supreme Judicial Council, Egypt's highest judicial authority, described Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's decision to grant himself controversial new powers that would put him above the judiciary as an "unprecedented attack".

In an emergency meeting on Saturday, the council urged Morsi "to distance this decree from everything that violates the judicial authority".

Al Jazeera Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Cairo, said that the Judges' Club has also voiced its anger at the decree.

"With the president giving himself the right to issue decrees or rules that are binding and can not be appealed, they're saying that never in the history of modern Egypt has there been a president who gave himself so many powers," said Abdel-Hamid.

A Cairo protester's sign reads: "Go away Morsi, Egypt is too big for you. People want the fall of the regime" [Reuters]


Morsi's constitutional decree does say that these powers are temporary and in effect until a new constitution is written, gone to referendum and a new parliament is voted in.

"However, the judges say...what is the guarantee that it is for a temprorary amount of time. They say you can not have a president who is accountable to no one," said our correspondent.

Morsi's announcement on Thursday sparked large protests across Egypt on Friday. Minor clashes broke out on Saturday when demonstrators on Mohamed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square threw rocks at security forces, who fired back with tear gas.

Insisting upon the need to root out what he called "weevils eating away at the nation of Egypt", Morsi said on Friday: "I don't like, want or need to resort to exceptional measures, but I will if I see that my people, nation and the revolution of Egypt are in danger".

"I don't want to have all the powers...but if I see my nation in danger, I will do and I will act. I must," said Morsi, addressing hundreds of his supporters who rallied outside the presidential palace in Cairo.

Morsi - who has been buoyed by accolades recently for mediating a truce between Hamas and Israel - had ordered on Thursday that an assembly dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood writing the new constitution could not be dissolved by legal challenges.

Liberal and secular members earlier walked out of the body, charging it would impose strict Islamic practises.

His announcement led to clashes in several cities between supporters and opponents of Egypt's president, a clear show of the deepening polarisation plaguing the country.

One hundred wounded

In the largest rally on Friday, thousands of chanting protesters packed Cairo's Tahrir Square, the heart of the 2011 revolution, demanding Morsi quit and accusing him of launching a "coup".

Thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square after opposition leaders called for a "million-man march" to protest against what they say is a coup by Morsi.





On Friday, protesters were calling for the fall of Morsi's government and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Among the protesters was Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. On Thursday, ElBaradei - who also participated in the 2011 protests - tweeted that Morsi had "appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh".

A number of people camped out overnight in the square in what they say will be a one-week sit-in, and leftist and liberal parties have scheduled a march for Tuesday.

Protesters like Ahmed Moamen say they feel betrayed by Morsi. "I am not happy with actions of the Muslim Brotherhood and of Morsi," he told the Associated Press. "I am one of the people who voted for Morsi, but I am disappointed in him."

In Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, protests turned violent and at least 100 people were wounded in clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents.

The headquarters of Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party headquarters in Alexandria was set on fire by protesters on Friday afternoon, with the party's offices have been attacked in five cities in total.

'Huge ramifications'

Morsi has also given himself sweeping powers that allowed him to sack the unpopular prosecutor general and opened the door for a retrial for Mubarak and his aides.

At a press conference on Saturday, Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud said that he is willing to go to court to disptue Moris's decision and warned "againt any attempt to disrupt the work of the judicial system".

Morsi's decree raises very serious human rights concerns, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said on Friday.

"We are very concerned about the possible huge ramifications of this declaration on human rights and the rule of law in Egypt," Rupert Colville said at the UN in Geneva.

"We also fear this could lead to a very volatile situation over the next few days."

Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University, told Al Jazeera that Morsi "is erecting himself as an absolute monarch" because he did not consult the opposition on the decision.

"The problem is not about the content of the decisions itself, but about the way it was taken," he said.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Morsi's actions raise "concerns" for many Egyptians and the international community, and said the US urged "all Egyptians to resolve their differences over these important issues peacefully and through democratic dialogue".

Gaza Ablaze again!

Last week I had written that by talking of renouncing the “right of return” of the Palestinian refugees President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine had created an opening for the resumption of Israel-Palestine peace talks and that President Barack Obama in his second and last term would have the flexibility and political strength to press Israel to conclude these talks successfully.

This was perhaps overly optimistic given the strong negative reaction that President Abbas’ statement prompted, particularly in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the almost deathly silence about this development in Washington and other Western capitals.

Now, however, the world’s attention is focused not on the possibility of the resumption of peace talks but on preventing the threatened Israeli physical invasion of Gaza for which it has called up 70,000 reservists. Heavy armour and troops have already been assembled on the Gaza-Israel border.

How this rapid deterioration happened, along what has always been a tense frontier, is in a sense immaterial. The Palestinians claim that they intensified the firing of rockets into Israel only after Israel targeted and killed Ahmed al-Jabari, the top Hamas military leader, on Nov 14.

There is some support for this claim found in the statement of Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Nov 13 when he praised Gaza militant groups for accepting the truce that was worked out after there had been military activity prompted by the killing of a mentally challenged Palestinian near Gaza’s border fence with Israel on Nov 4. The Israelis have a very different narrative.

What is important is that more than 100 people have been killed in Gaza, a number of them children. Almost 900 have been wounded. On the other side, a few Israelis have been killed and less than 100 injured.

Much has been made of the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza now have long-range rockets that can target Tel Aviv and other population centres in Israel. Yet the truth of the matter is that not one of the approximately 830 rockets fired from Gaza has caused any substantial damage.

Israel’s Iron Dome anti missile defence has knocked out most of the rockets fired. Israeli attacks have destroyed much of the rocket-building capability in Gaza and have expanded the target of 200 daily sorties to cover such civilian targets as Prime Minister Haniyeh’s office and the central police station. The already poor infrastructure in Gaza has been pulverised further.

These ratios suggest what has been evident all along: Gaza’s fighters, no matter how courageous, are no match for the overwhelming military strength that Israel can and has brought to bear. They may have acquired new capabilities — though an Egyptian adviser to President Mohamed Morsi was probably right when he termed the Gaza rockets as primitive projectiles — but the Israelis are far ahead in building defences. A new missile defence system to supplement the Iron Dome system already in place will be operational by 2015. For Benjamin Netanyahu, his hard-line party and his coalition partners this has been an opportunity to bolster support in the forthcoming elections.

The opposition has had to support the escalation of Israeli attacks and the calling up of reservists for an invasion of Gaza to duplicate the three-week invasion of 2008-09, Operation Cast Lead, in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis lost their lives. The Haaretz newspaper in Israel has quoted Interior Minister Eli Yishai as saying that the “goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages”. If the present rate of sorties continues, this may well be within Israel’s reach even without sending Israeli troops into Gaza.

Certainly at this time a mood has been created in Israel where the voices of moderation have been silenced and support seems to exist for doing whatever is necessary, including putting boots on the ground, to destroy Gaza’s missile-launching capabilities.

If there is to be a cessation of the violence it can only come from international intervention. The British have warned Israel that it would lose international support if it were to invade Gaza. President Obama’s administration has endorsed Israel’s right to use whatever means it chooses to defend its people against rocket attacks but has also been pressuring Israel privately to work out a ceasefire and to desist from plans to invade Gaza.

Egypt, because of its treaty relations with Israel and the theoretically close ties its new government enjoys with the Hamas leadership in Gaza, has been called upon to play a mediatory role. An Israeli envoy has apparently been in Cairo since Sunday and the UN secretary general is also in Cairo.

Reports suggest that the Israeli cabinet has received and is considering a proposal from Cairo for a truce. Other reports suggest that this proposal has emerged after Egypt’s consultation with Khaled Mashal, the Hamas leader who is also in Cairo. If so, it is likely to contain the conditions that Mashal spelt out in his press conference in Cairo on Monday — a cessation of Israeli attacks and a lifting of the blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2007.

Will this be acceptable to Israel? It is difficult to say. Some Israelis have argued that Israel’s principal objective of degrading the military capabilities of the Gaza militant groups has been achieved and Israel should desist if only to avoid international opprobrium at a time when President Abbas is pressing ahead with his plan for UN recognition of a Palestinian state. On the other hand, Israel’s leaders may well argue that on the eve of elections accepting such conditions would be a sign of weakness that would not go down well with the voters.

There is no certainty about what will come next. What is certain is that even if a ceasefire does happen, severe damage will have been done to relations between the transformed Arab world and the Western supporters of Israel.

There will be further harm when Abbas presses ahead with his bid for UN recognition on Nov 29. Israel will oppose this vehemently and will have the support of the US and some if not all of the Western camp. The prospects for peace or even for resumption of dialogue appear dim.

Man has been man's enemy..!

Israel, Stop killings please..!
One killed, nine wounded in Israeli gunfire near Gaza
AP

GAZA CITY: Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded nine others along Gaza’s border fence with Israel on Friday, a Gaza health official said, reporting the first violence since a truce between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers took hold a day before.

The shooting appeared to be an isolated incident and was unlikely to jeopardise the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, which called for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli air strikes on Gaza. The truce came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest battle between Israel and Hamas in four years.

The Gaza Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, has urged militant factions to respect the cease-fire.

The man killed on Friday was part of a group of people who approached Israel’s border fence with Gaza to pick up parts of an Israeli army jeep damaged in the fighting, said Gaza health official Adnan Abu Salmia. He said soldiers opened fire, killing one man and wounding nine.

Israel’s military, citing a preliminary investigation, said there have been isolated attempts to infiltrate Israel from Gaza, and that warning shots were fired in the air when the group approached on Friday. The military said there was unrest along the border but did not elaborate.

In the past, Israeli troops enforced a no-go zone on the Gaza side of the frontier, firing on anyone approaching in an attempt to prevent infiltration attempts. Since the cease-fire, growing numbers of Gazans have entered the zone.

In Cairo, Egypt was set to hold separate talks Friday with Israeli and Hamas envoys on the next phase of the cease-fire, a new border deal for blockaded Gaza.

Hamas demands a lifting of all border restrictions, while Israel insists that Hamas must halt weapons smuggling to the territory.

In Israel, a poll showed that about half of Israelis think their government should have continued its military offensive against Hamas.

The independent Maagar Mohot poll released on Friday shows 49 per cent of respondents feel Israel should have kept going after squads that fire rockets into Israel. 31 per cent supported the government’s decision to stop. 20 per cent had no opinion. 29 per cent thought Israel should have sent ground troops to invade Gaza.

The poll of 503 respondents had an error margin of 4.5 percentage points.

The same survey showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and electoral partner Israel Beiteinu losing some support, but his hard-line bloc still able to form the next government. Elections are to be held on Jan 22.

Children to be trialed in the Terrorism Court!

اکستان کی حکومت نے بچوں سے متعلق قانون میں ترمیم کی منظوری دی ہے جس کے تحت دہشت گردی میں ملوث بچوں کے خلاف مقدمات انسداد دہشت گردی کی عدالتوں میں چلائے جائیں 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/multimedia/2012/11/121116_juvenile_justice_pak_zz.shtml

Malala Day

UNITED NATIONS: UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon announced on Thursday that November 10, 2012, will be celebrated as Malala Day world over, Express News reported.

Ki-Moon said that Malala is an inspiration for girls education the world over. Elaborating on what was the significance of November 10 that it was being observed as Malala Day, the UN secretary general said that it marks the 30 day anniversary of Taliban attack on the teenage peace activist from Swat.

On Friday, November 10, the UN special envoy for global education will visit Pakistan and present President Asif Ali Zardari with a petition signed by over one million people asking that he make girls education a reality in Pakistan.

Observing Malala day, Ki-Moon hoped, will build on the momentum of UN’s Education First initiative and show that education is a right of everyone, and not a privilege for a few.

Gay Marriages...!

PARIS: France’s Socialist government Wednesday adopted a draft law to authorise gay marriage and adoption despite fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and the right-wing opposition.
President Francois Hollande, who made the issue a key part of his electoral platform, told a cabinet meeting the move was “not only a step forward for some but for all of society,” government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said.

The proposed legislation “resolutely takes into account the greater interest of the child,” he said, Vallaud-Belkacem added.

“This is an important step towards the equality of rights,” said Minister of Family Affairs Dominique Bertinnoti.

Bertinnoti rejected criticism that the move would “destroy” the family, saying: “On the contrary it is a legal protection.”

It now has to be voted through parliament before becoming law: Hollande has promised that it will be on the statute books by mid-2013.

Some in the government also want the final law to include state funding for artificial insemination for gay couples.

“This is a great advance and very important for the legal protection of gay families,” said Stephanie, a 41-year-old member of an association of gay and lesbian parents.

The draft law, a liberal cornerstone of the election manifesto that brought Hollande to power in May, has come under fire in a country that is officially secular but predominantly Catholic.

Muslim, Protestant and Jewish organisations have also expressed opposition to the project.

Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, who has led opposition to the project, told a mass in the southern pilgrimage town of Lourdes last weekend that children needed both a father and a mother to build their identities.

“When we defend the right of children to build their personality with reference to the man and the woman who gave them life, we are not defending a particular position,” he said.

A number of European nations allow gay marriage and adoption, but in France only married couples and not civil union partners can adopt.

Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden currently allow gay adoption.

Polls suggest that up to two-thirds of French voters back homosexuals’ right to marry, but there is less support on allowing them to adopt.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, has called for a popular vote on gay marriage and adoption.

Jean-Francois Cope, one of two candidates to succeed former president Nicolas Sarkozy as the head of the conservative UMP party, has urged the government to postpone the draft bill saying it was “incredibly badly prepared.

“It is not just about homosexual marriage, it is about a complete reorganisation, deconstruction of the right of the family, with questions surrounding lineage, the removal of the reference to father and mother in the text,” Cope said.

Some conservative and far-right politicians have also called for mass protests to try and force the government to back down. Hundreds of French mayors or deputy mayors have signed a petition opposing the government’s plans.

Pope Benedict XVI last month urged French bishops to oppose the bill and defend marriage as the “foundation of social life”.

The draft legislation will include a provision for married gay couples to adopt children but the right will not be immediately extended to unmarried homosexuals, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said last month.

That question and the issue of gay couples’ access to medically assisted conception will be addressed in secondary legislation at a later date.

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Obama Wins again...!

CHICAGO: President Barack Obama told cheering supporters early Wednesday that “the best is yet to come” for the United States as he stormed to a second term by defeating Republican Mitt Romney.

After taking the stage at a raucous Chicago victory party with wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama returned to the themes of his re-election bid, vowing to fight for the middle class and the American dream.

“In this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. We have fought our way back,” Obama told hundreds of cheering supporters.

“We know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.”

Obama said he had spoken to Romney, congratulating him and his running mate Paul Ryan on a “hard-fought campaign” and vowing to sit down with the former Massachusetts governor to discuss the way forward.

“We may have battled fiercely but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future,” Obama said.

“In the weeks ahead I also look forward to sitting down with governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.”

Obama reached out to those who supported his opponent in the closely-fought race, saying: “Whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you. I have learned from you. You’ve made me a better president.

“With your stories and your struggles I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead,” he said.

“Despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America.”

Obama thanked the army of campaign workers and volunteers whose efforts secured his re-election to a second four-year term, calling them the “best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics”.

Near the end of his speech Obama hinted at a more far-reaching agenda in his second term despite the lingering partisan gridlock in Washington, calling for a future that “isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet”.

“I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of individual ambitions,” Obama said.

“Together with your help and God’s grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States.”

For more special coverage on the US Elections including exclusive blogs, features, comments, analysis and multimedia from correspondents around the world, go to: US Elections 2012 In-depth

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