Challenge to Alaska gay-marriage ban

Challenge to Alaska gay-marriage ban

JUNEAU, Alaska

Five gay couples filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional.

The Alaska lawsuit, filed in federal court in Anchorage, lists as plaintiffs four couples who were married outside Alaska and one unmarried couple. It alleges that Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage violates their rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit seeks to bar enforcement of Alaska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It also calls for barring enforcement of any state laws that refuse to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states or countries or that prevent unmarried gay couples from marrying.

UN: Iran’s nuke buying has slowed

UNITED NATIONS

A report by U.N. experts says Iran’s purchases for its banned nuclear and missile programs have slowed over the past six to nine months, which could be the result of the changed political climate under President Hassan Rouhani or its use of new clandestine methods.

Excerpts of the report, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, also stressed that “Iran continues to make extensive use of front companies to procure items for prohibited activities.”

The panel of experts, appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, conducts investigations and reports to the U.N. Security Council committee monitoring implementation and alleged violations of sanctions against Iran.

5 teens die in crash

FARMINGDALE, N.Y.

Students at a suburban New York high school dressed in green Monday — the school’s color — in memory of five teenagers who died during the weekend in a head-on collision with a sport utility vehicle on a busy street in this Long Island community.

Nassau County police said four of the teenagers died when the car they were in collided with a large SUV early Saturday. A fifth teenager was pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center on Sunday night, police said.

The teens were riding in a 2001 Nissan when it crossed over a double yellow line and collided with a GMC Suburban. Two people in the SUV were seriously injured.

Ore. teen admits charges in plot

CORVALLIS, Ore.

An Oregon teenager accused of building bombs and plotting an attack on his high school in Albany admitted the allegations in juvenile court Monday and was sent to a juvenile detention center, which can hold him until his 25th birthday.

In a deal with prosecutors, adult charges, which included attempted aggravated murder, were dropped. Grant Acord, 17, admitted six counts of manufacture of a destructive device and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

Citing the results of a psychological evaluation, which were not disclosed, prosecutors, the judge and defense attorney agreed the matter appropriately belonged in juvenile court.

Study: Parts of ice sheet collapsing

WASHINGTON

The huge West Antarctic ice sheet is starting a glacially slow collapse in an unstoppable way, two new studies show. Alarmed scientists say that means even more sea-level rise than they figured.

The worrisome outcomes won’t be seen soon. Scientists are talking hundreds of years, but over that time, the melt that has started eventually could add 4 to 12 feet to current sea levels.

Associated Press