Over 250,000 people gathered in Rome Saturday to protest a bill currently before parliament which would give legal status to unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples. The bill was approved by Italy's cabinet in February, but has been harshly criticized by the Italian justice minister and the top Italian bishop. The proposal would give unmarried couples combined medical insurance, the right to visit their partner in prisons or hospitals, inheritance rights, and decision-making authority should one partner become sick. Couples would have to live together for nine years before they would be entitled to property rights, but if the legislation is passed, couples would be able to take advantage of the other legal protections immediately.

The Vatican has said that giving unmarried couples rights would threaten traditional families. Saturday's Family Day rally, not organized by the Vatican, drew tens of thousands of families. Organizers said over 1.5 million people participated, but an early police estimate was lower at about 250,000. Supporters of the proposed legislation held a counter-demonstration, which was attended by some 10,000 people. A similar rally in support of the bill was held in March.

"We obviously asked leadership not to call the bill," said Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

"The bottom line is we certainly had a lot more votes than what we've had, but it's not a majority and quite a few people we've talked to in the last week or so said personally they'd support it and sooner or later it will pass, but it's too soon."

Lawlor said he was slightly surprised that the so-called gay marriage bill won easy passage in his committee, recalling that in 2003 the civil union legislation that was signed into law in 2005 was defeated in the Judiciary panel.

"At this moment the marriage-equality bill seems to be going in the right direction," Lawlor said. "People are saying 'we're getting there, give us a little more time, we want to discuss it a little more.' "

He said that the effort for the legislation ended Friday in part to clear the table for the Supreme

Court hearing Monday. A possible option for the court, Lawlor said, would be to send the entire issue back to the General Assembly to review the rationale for providing the expanded civil rights for gay couples, while calling it something other than marriage.
"I think we'd have a hard time explaining it a second time around," said Lawlor, who is gay.

Anne Stanback, president of the umbrella gay-rights group called Love Makes a Family, said Friday that she had "mixed emotions" about pulling the bill from floor debate.

"We are disappointed that after coming so far we did not quite have the votes we needed in the House to advance the bill this session," Stanback said in a statement.

"However, we can't help but feel encouraged by the significant progress we have made in the two years since the civil union law passed," she said. "We still must win those remaining votes in the Legislature, as well as convince Gov. Rell that treating all Connecticut families fairly is the right thing to do."

Sen. Andrew J. McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, agreed that support is growing for the marriage-equality bill.

"We achieved an incredible benchmark this year by passing the bill out of committee — a step that many believed we would not be able to accomplish," said McDonald, who is gay, recalling the 27-15 vote of April 12.

The lawmakers' decision came the same day that opponents of gay marriage, led by the Family Institute of Connecticut, announced a push to combat "anti-family activists" and an anticipated vote next week in the House.

"They are trying to push this through quickly before people find out and make their voices heard," the Family Institute announced in an e-mail message.

Later Friday, Brian S. Brown, executive director of the Family Institute, called the withdrawal of the legislation "a massive victory for marriage protection."

The group has scheduled a May 23 rally against same-sex marriage outside the Capitol at 10 a.m.

The Laporte teen accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend and himself last month was at the center of an emotionally charged court appearance this morning.

Nineteen year-old Timothy Schaub was crying as he entered the courtroom, wearing a helmet because of recent surgeries.

He was not the only emotional one Schaub's father went after the media for taking pictures and video of his son. The shooting happened April 9th but timothy Schaub's ex-girlfriend, Katherine Perkins, is still in the hospital, her condition is not being released.

Germany's highest court of appeal rejected a legal challenge by a Moroccan friend of the September 11, 2001 hijackers against a 15-year jail sentence for being an accessory to mass murder.

The Federal Court of Justice said on Friday it had thrown out the appeal by Mounir El Motassadeq on the grounds that it was unjustified. Motassadeq's lawyers had complained his sentencing contained legal errors, but the court disagreed.

In January, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court rejected a separate appeal made by Motassadeq about the 15-year sentence handed down by a court in Hamburg earlier that month.

Motassadeq was a member of a group of radical Arab students in Hamburg, led by Mohammed Atta, which helped organize the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The complex and drawn-out case strained Berlin's relations with Washington as German courts tested how far the United States would go in giving sensitive evidence.

A South Korean business tycoon was behind bars Saturday after his arrest for allegedly beating up bar workers in retaliation for an attack on his 22-year old son.

Police planned to question Hanwha Group chairman and CEO Kim Seung-youn, who is suspected of kicking, punching and using a steel pipe to attack staff allegedly involved in a scuffle with his son on March 8 at a karaoke club.

Late Friday, the Seoul District Court issued an arrest warrant for Kim, making him the first tycoon to be arrested for assault, according to local media.

"I feel calm," Kim told reporters as police officers took him to Namdaemun Police Station in central Seoul on Friday.

In a statement released through his company, Kim said he would "humbly accept the law's judgment."

"I plan to explain everything that I know, truthfully and sincerely," the statement said. "I am very pained and ashamed for not having been honest for the past two months."

The dramatic details of the case, which media have likened to a gangster movie, has drawn intense public interest in South Korea, where the heads of family controlled conglomerates wield great economic, political and social clout.

The younger Kim, a student at Yale University, reportedly suffered an injury that required 11 stitches in the scuffle on stairs outside the karaoke club.

Victims have told police the elder Kim and his bodyguards took them to a mountainous area south of Seoul, where Kim himself allegedly assaulted them, including hitting one of them on the back with a 5-foot steel pipe.

They have also told police Kim later sought out another man at a bar in central Seoul and had his son beat him, according to a police statement.

Yonhap news agency reported Saturday that Kim had also used an electroshock device on the bar workers. Kim has admitted to assaulting the club's staff, but denied using a steel pipe or an electroshock device, the report said.

Earlier Friday, Kim said he regretted failing "to control impulsive emotion" and apologized for causing trouble.

"I hope there will never be a silly father like me again," Kim told reporters after a court hearing to determine his arrest.

Newspaper editorials on Saturday called for a fair investigation.

"The judiciary has to show to the public ... that everyone is equal before the law," the Dong-a Ilbo daily said in an editorial. "Wrong perceptions and practices in our society can only be corrected through a strict trial and judgment."

Hanwha was established in 1952 as the Korea Explosives Corp. It later developed interests in petrochemicals, finance, insurance, construction and retail. It also owns the Hanwha Eagles professional baseball team.

Goodling resigned from her position as White House liaison at the DOJ in April and the DOJ has since opened an investigation into whether she considered the political affiliations of candidates for career prosecutor positions in the DOJ, contrary to federal law and longstanding departmental practice.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali", told the Iraqi High Tribunal Thursday that he did not use or issue an order to use chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels in the late 1980s. During defense closing arguments, al-Majid defended the government of Saddam Hussein for its actions during the "Anfal campaign", but insisted that he did not know who used chemical weapons, "if they were ever used."

Al-Majid and five other former Hussein-era officials face genocide charges for their alleged involvement in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds during the Anfal campaign. Defense witnesses have repeatedly testified that the defendants did not have access to chemical weapons and that no orders were received to use them. Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Al-Majid and three other defendants and have asked that charges be dropped against one of the defendants due to lack of evidence. Al-Majid became the leading defendant in the trial following Hussein's execution last year. The trial has now been adjourned until June 10.