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The Philippines held elections Monday seen as crucial for President Benigno Aquino's bold reform agenda, as deadly violence and graft-tainted candidates underlined the nation's deep-rooted problems.

The British government will set out its legislative programme for the coming year on Wednesday, with immigration top of the agenda in a Queen's Speech aimed at people who "work hard and want to get on".

French lawmakers on Tuesday defied months of angry protests to approve a bill that is to make France the 14th country worldwide to legalise same-sex marriages.

The White House warned Monday that the deadly Boston Marathon attacks should not derail momentum towards immigration reform, as US lawmakers clashed over linking the two issues.

France's parliament will finally approve a bill to legalise gay marriage on Tuesday after months of protests that have shown no sign of abating in the run-up to the historic vote.

Tens of thousands of opponents of government plans to legalise gay marriage marched in Paris Sunday two days before a final vote on the bill, which has provoked fierce and sometimes violent protests.

France's bitter debate over gay marriage is set to reach a potentially explosive climax on Sunday, two days before a bill legalising same-sex unions is due to be finally approved.

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday hit out at "homophobic" acts by opponents of a same-sex marriage bill following violent protests that included an attack on a gay bar.

Bristling with anger, President Barack Obama branded Wednesday's defeat of his gun reform drive in the US Senate as "shameful," and accused lawmakers of caving in to the powerful firearms lobby.

New Zealand is poised to become the first Asia-Pacific nation to legalise same-sex marriage in a parliamentary vote that gay rights advocates on Tuesday hailed as a milestone for equality.

US Republicans reaffirmed their opposition to gay marriage Friday, as they closed a three-day meeting vowing to reach out to liberals, symbolically in the lion's den of liberal Hollywood.

Cherry blossoms aren't the only things in bloom in the US capital these days. Progress and bipartisanship are, if not in full flower, at least pushing through cracks in longstanding political gridlock.

Uruguay's legislature voted Wednesday to allow same-sex marriages nationwide, making it only the second Latin American country to do so.

President Barack Obama accused Republicans of stooping to political stunts Monday to block gun reform, in a fervent appeal delivered close to the site of the Newtown school massacre.

US Senator Bill Nelson endorsed gay marriage on Thursday, shifting the chamber in favor of rights for same-sex couples.

US President Barack Obama said Thursday he was more upbeat about the prospects of immigration reform making it through Congress than tougher gun control legislation.

Senate legislators in Connecticut, where a gunman massacred 20 small children and six adults in December, passed the toughest US law on owning military-style rifles.

France said Tuesday that a new 75 percent tax rate on upper incomes would apply to top football players despite claims from clubs that they would be exempt.

A special attention is given to employees working in tough and hazardous conditions; their employers will allocated extra 5% into their pension funds.

The US Supreme Court trod cautiously Tuesday as it considered gay marriage, with justices appearing hesitant to deliver a sweeping historic verdict on the emotionally charged issue.
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