Apple has delisted from its iTunes store a controversial app created by a religious group that believes homosexuality can be “cured” after an online petition calling for the app’s removal garnered more than 154,000 signatures.

Parliament not obligated to maximize’ safety of

prostitutes: Ottawa

Prostitution is a high-risk “economic activity” that the law doesn’t force people into, and the best protection of sex-trade workers is not Parliament’s obligation, the federal government is arguing. Ottawa has filed court documents indicating the positions it is taking in an appeal of a ruling striking down three key prostitution laws.

 

New sex ed curriculum remains in the closet

A pregnant pause of 11 months since Premier Dalton McGuinty sent controversial changes in the sex ed curriculum back to the drawing board has alarmed school boards and opposition parties.

 

Gender politics a drag
on school’s spirit plans

The student council at King City Public School thought a great way to celebrate "school spirit" day would be for the boys to dress like girls and the girls to dress like boys. But what began as an offbeat suggestion for a fun day quickly became fodder for an intense debate over family values, the psychological implications of cross-dressing and whether gender identity politics were being forced on young minds.

Marriage officials

can't refuse gays: Sask. court

Saskatchewan's highest court has ruled that marriage commissioners who are public servants cannot refuse to marry same-sex couples.

The decision by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal rejects two proposals from the provincial government that would allow some or all marriage commissioners to refuse to perform a service involving gay or lesbian partners if it offended their religious beliefs.

ISRAEL AND MIDDLE EAST NEWS:

Ahmadinejad Wins Landslide Election

Victory, Protests Erupt

Iran's Interior Ministry said Saturday that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won 63% of the vote in Friday's presidential elections, with Mir Hossein Mousavi, the top challenger, taking just under 34%. In response, the streets of Tehran erupted in the most intense protests in a decade by demonstrators who claimed that Ahmadinejad had stolen the election. Mousavi, a former prime minister who had promised to reverse Ahmadinejad's hard-line policies, declared himself the winner by a wide margin Friday night and charged widespread election irregularities. However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, issued a statement congratulating Ahmadinejad and urging the other candidates to support him. (Robert F. Worth and Nazila Fathi, New York Times, June 14, 2009) 

Israel Prime Minister Calls
for Demilitarized Palestinian State

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel could accept a peace agreement with a "demilitarized Palestinian state" as its neighbor. Netanyahu set conditions for moving forward. Among them: unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish national state with Jerusalem as its capital, and full demilitarization for a Palestinian state - no army, no rockets or missiles, no control of airspace. (CNN, June 14, 2009)