The Washington State Senate and House of Representatives approved the bill in March and early April respectively. Opponents of the measure claim it erodes the institution of marriage, but the bill's supporters stressed the importance of granting equal rights to same-sex couples. The bill is the latest step in Washington's pioneering stance on gay civil rights which includes a revision of the state's Civil Rights Act to include the phrase "sexual orientation" among the classes of people protected from discrimination in housing, lending, and employment.

Former chess champion and liberal United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov has accused Russian police of "brutality" after meeting with Kremlin officials Friday to give an account of his treatment at the hands of police agents following his arrest participating in the latest of a series of "Dissenters' Marches." Kasparov was detained on April 14 for hours alongside approximately 200 activists arrested for pushing into a blocked-off central square during an anti-Putin protest in central Moscow. Dozens of protesters at that rally, as well as at an April 15 demonstration in St. Petersburg, were beaten by police, leading to criticism from human rights groups. The Russian Interior Ministry has responded by conducting an inquiry into the events of the protests, and thus far maintains that any police violence was provoked. After meeting with investigators, Kasparov told reporters that all accounts of violence or illegal actions of the part of the protesters were false and were part of an "attempt to cover up the brutality and cruelty of police officers."

Kasparov and fellow opposition leader former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov have strongly criticized President Vladimir Putin and his allies in the run-up to Russia's December parliamentary elections and March 2008 presidential election. Each have accused Putin of suppressing dissent; Ukrainian publication Zerkalo Nedeli Saturday printed comments from Kasyanov stating that given the present course of Russian politics "a revolution is unavoidable," though it is not the aim of opposition leaders.

William Phillips, 60, took a revolver to work at the Johnson Space Center on Friday and shot dead fellow employee David Beverly, 62. Phillips bought the gun on the same day last month that he printed off the bad review, police said.

A woman was also held hostage in a four hour ordeal but was only slightly hurt.

Nasa said Phillips, a contract engineer, had been employed for about 12 years, was unmarried, had no children and reportedly lived on his own.

Security review

Nasa officials said Phillips brought the revolver into a building that houses communication systems for the space shuttle. Phillips confronted Beverly, a quality-control engineer, about the review and despite attempts by his victim to calm him, shot him twice. The stand-off took place in the communications Building 44

Phillips left the room briefly but later returned and shot Beverly another two times as he tried to resist, police said.

"The suspect blamed Mr Beverly for being responsible for his negative job-performance situation," Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said.

Nasa said the woman hostage, Fran Crenshaw, was tied to a chair for hours and succeeded in providing a calming influence, preventing the situation from getting worse. Phillips held her hostage until he shot himself dead.

Nasa says it is undertaking a review of security procedures. It evacuated some employees in the building when the situation occurred while others were ordered to stay in their offices.

The Johnson Space Center contains Nasa's mission control, which oversees the agency's space flights.

Doors to mission control were locked and outlying roads cordoned off.

The stand-off came less than a week after a gunman killed 32 students and teaching staff at Virginia Tech university before killing himself.

There has been a rash of security alerts across the US, which is also marking the eighth anniversary of the Columbine school massacre in which 15 people died.

The Japanese government released a statement on Friday saying that it has no objection to the international tribunal's verdict in 1948 which found the Japanese military responsible for forcing Chinese women to provide sex to Japanese servicemen during World War II.

The statement was issued in response to the inquiry raised by an opposition lawmaker who asked the government to expound its position on the tribunal's findings related with the "comfort women" issue.

The Japanese government "has accepted the verdict made by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and is not opposed to them," the statement read.

In response to another inquiry for the government's position on the tribunal's verdict on Japanese war criminals' crimes against peace and humanity, the statement said that although there has been much arguments over legal affairs, the government is in a position to accept decisions made by the tribunal.

The Japanese government said in a statement released on March 16 that direct record about the Japanese military or government's involvement in forced recruiting of Asian women to be sex slaves of Japanese soldiers could not be found.

Jerry Clements, the current managing partner, said the firm is not concerned about possible political fallout from Miers' work at the White House or as a Supreme Court nominee when conservatives questioned her credentials.

Clements said that was viewed as "nothing more than politics."

Virginia Tech shooting gunman Seung-Hui Cho was technically prohibited from purchasing firearms after a Virginia court found Cho to be an "imminent danger to himself" in December 2005 and issued an order for Cho to receive psychiatric treatment, the New York Times reported Friday. Under federal law, persons "who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution" are prohibited from possessing or receiving "any firearm or ammunition." US federal firearm regulations define "adjudicated as a mental defective" to include a determination by a court that the person "is a danger to himself."

Virgina is among 22 states currently submitting mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which requires Federal Firearms Licensees to request background checks on individuals attempting to receive a firearm. Despite being the leading state in reporting mental disqualifications, Virginia's state rules on "mental disqualifications to firearms purchase" differs from the federal regulations and only require submission of records of persons who have been "involuntarily committed" or ruled mentally "incapacitated." Legislation seeking to improve NICS enforcement has been introduced in the House of Representatives in the past three terms, but has never become law.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for us. We couldn't have dreamed of getting a better partner," Peter Parnes, one of the founders of Marratech, told TT.

Marratech, founded in 1998, makes software for electronic conferences.