BOSTON

Judge denies 11th-hour bid to stop same-sex marriages

A federal judge Thursday rejected a last-minute bid by conservative groups to block the nation’s first state-sanctioned gay marriages from taking place Monday in Massachusetts.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro said the state’s high court acted within its authority in interpreting the Massachusetts Constitution.

The plaintiffs announced they would take the case to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court if necessary.

“The 1st Circuit is reviewing it and is aware of the deadline,” Gary Wente, the circuit executive for the appeals court, said late Thursday.

South Korea

High court reinstates impeached President Roh

South Korea’s Constitutional Court reinstated impeached President Roh Moo-hyun in a historic ruling Friday, rejecting a parliamentary move to oust the embattled leader.

The ruling, broadcast live on national television, took 30 minutes and covered three main charges against Roh: illegal campaigning, incompetence and economic mismanagement.

The high court cleared the leader of the charge of mismanagement and incompetence for failing to rein in corruption among aides. The court found Roh had violated election laws but said the infraction was not serious.

“The court found the charges of illegal electioneering was not serious or grave enough to justify the unseating of the president,” court President Yun Young-chul said.

Gaza Strip

Israeli troops search desert for remains of blast victims

Hundreds of Israeli troops on their hands and knees combed desert sand Thursday for the scattered remains of five comrades killed in a Palestinian attack, as 12 Palestinians were killed in Israeli missile strikes and exchanges of fire nearby.

The escalating violence triggered debate in Israel over its presence in Gaza. While some called for a pullout, others recommended tougher military measures.

Eleven Israeli soldiers were killed in roadside ambushes in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, the army’s most significant setback in more than three years of fighting. Twenty-seven Palestinians have been killed since Tuesday.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Governor grants clemency to Mexican sentenced to die

Gov. Brad Henry commuted the death sentence of a convicted murderer from Mexico to life without parole Thursday in a case in which state and foreign officials alike said the inmate’s life should be spared.

Henry’s decision came the day the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals voted 3-2 to give Osbaldo Torres an indefinite stay of execution. Torres had been scheduled to die Tuesday for the 1993 deaths of Francisco Morales and Maria Yanez.

Torres, 29, is one of 51 Mexicans on death row nationwide cited in a March 31 ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. The world court found the inmates’ rights were violated because they were not told they could receive help from their governments as guaranteed by the 1963 Vienna Convention.