Gay marriage OK’d in Hawaii Senate

Gay marriage OK’d in Hawaii Senate

HONOLULU

The state Senate passed a bill Tuesday legalizing gay marriage, putting Hawaii a signature away from becoming a same-sex wedding destination.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who called lawmakers to a special session for the bill and has vocally supported gay marriage, said in a statement that he will sign the measure. It will allow thousands of gay couples living in Hawaii and even more tourists to marry in the state starting Dec. 2.

The governor’s office later announced Abercrombie will sign the bill this morning in an invitation-only ceremony at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Israel halts plan to mull new settlements

JERUSALEM

Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday abruptly halted a plan to explore the potential construction of thousands of new homes in West Bank settlements, saying it had created an “unnecessary confrontation” with the international community that threatened to weaken his campaign against Iran’s suspect nuclear program.

The plan announced by Israel’s Housing Ministry earlier in the day had prompted a Palestinian threat to walk out of U.S.-brokered peace talks and drew angry criticism from officials in Washington, who said they had been blindsided by the move.

Artwork sells for $142M at auction

NEW YORK

A 1969 painting by Francis Bacon has sold for more than $142 million in New York, a record for most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

“Three Studies of Lucian Freud” was sold at Christie’s postwar and contemporary art sale Tuesday night. The work depicts Bacon’s artist friend.

The price tops the nearly $120 million paid for Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” which set a world record when it was sold at a Sotheby’s in 2012.

Lawmaker approval drops to record 9%

WASHINGTON

Just when it seemed Americans’ approval of Congress could not drop any lower, it did — to 9 percent, the lowest in Gallup’s history of posing the question, the organization said Tuesday.

Positive attitudes about Congress have been hovering in the low double digits for weeks — and, according to one survey, the body now ranks below root canals, cockroaches and traffic jams.

But last month’s government shutdown appeared to show there is no bottom to Americans’ displeasure with the way Congress is doing its job.

The approval rating for the House and Senate fell from 19 percent in September to 11 percent in October, as the shutdown was underway.

By this month’s survey, conducted Nov. 7 through 10, lawmakers saw the institution’s popularity dip to 9 percent.

WH: Iran sanctions could lead to war

WASHINGTON

The White House warned Congress on Tuesday that slapping new sanctions on Iran could sink international negotiations to curb Iran’s nuclear program and send America on a “march to war.”

In the latest ratcheting-up of the administration’s effort to stop Congress from adding to existing sanctions, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Americans are in a deeply anti-war mood and implied that voters might turn their anger on lawmakers if a failure of diplomacy leads to military action to prevent Iran from getting the bomb.

Combined dispatches