Bush promotes measure against gay marriage

Bush promotes measureagainst gay marriage
WASHINGTON -- President Bush says legalizing gay marriage would redefine the most fundamental institution of civilization and that a constitutional amendment is needed to protect it.
A few activist judges and local officials have taken it on themselves to change the meaning of marriage, Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address.
Leading the chorus of support for an amendment, Bush said, "If courts create their own arbitrary definition of marriage as a mere legal contract, and cut marriage off from its cultural, religious and natural roots, then the meaning of marriage is lost and the institution is weakened."
His remarks follow the opening of Senate debate Friday on a constitutional amendment effectively banning gay marriage.
Reflecting the election-year sensitivity of the issue, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Republicans are using the constitutional amendment as a bulletin board for campaign sloganeering.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, accused Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of holding inconsistent positions.
Kerry and running mate Sen. John Edwards oppose gay marriage, but support civil unions.
Four children found safeafter grandparents slain
KENNEWICK, Wash. -- Four children who were reported missing after their grandparents were shot to death were found safe Saturday, but their father remained at large, authorities said.
Neighbors reported seeing James T. Moran leave the mobile home where the shootings took place Friday evening, police Sgt. Randy Maynard said.
Cpl. Tim Scott said the victims were the children's maternal grandparents.
They were identified as Glenn Dale Carr, 57, and his wife, Debra Jolene Carr, 50.
The children were found at the home of Moran's parents in Lake Moses early Saturday.
"The kids are fine," Scott said.
An arrest warrant had been issued for the children's father, officials said.
The children's mother had been in Arkansas; Scott said he did not know the status of the Morans' marriage.
An Amber Alert had gone out for the four children, ages 5 to 10.
Rain aids Ariz. firefighters
SAFFORD, Ariz. -- Light rain and humidity helped firefighters battling a pair of wildfires that were threatening a multimillion-dollar observatory and nearly 100 summer homes in southeastern Arizona.
Rain fell Thursday and Friday, with meteorologists predicting more precipitation through the weekend and into this week.
The fires, which were 45 percent contained by Saturday, have charred 27,272 acres on Mount Graham since lightning sparked them in late June.
Fire managers said they were optimistic about saving the 74 cabins in Turkey Flat.
"It seems like we're going to be dodging that bullet," said Dean McAlister, fire management officer for the Coronado National Forest.
Icon going back to Russia
INTROD, Italy -- In a major gesture toward Russian Orthodox Christians, Pope John Paul II will return a revered icon that the Vatican has held for three decades, the Vatican said Saturday.
The announcement, made while John Paul is vacationing in this Alpine hamlet near France, came as a surprise, although the Vatican has been talking about a return since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Vatican in November.
The icon of the Mother of God of Kazan usually hangs in John Paul's private chapel.
John Paul had been hoping to return it himself and become the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit Russia, but tense relations with the Orthodox have prevented such a trip.
Instead the icon will be taken to Russia on Aug. 28 by a Vatican delegation still to be named, said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
Shark attack kills surfer
PERTH, Australia -- A shark attacked and killed a 30-year-old surfer at a popular western Australia beach south of the capital Perth on Saturday, government officials said.
The man is thought to have been surfing with friends at a beach south of Gracetown, near Margaret River, when he was knocked off his board.
The Western Australian department of fisheries confirmed that the surfer had died but could not provide details of the attack.
The department said it was possible two sharks could have been involved.
The last fatal shark attack in Australia occurred last year on the Gold Coast in Queensland state.
An 84-year-old man was killed while swimming in a canal linked to the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Associated Press