Ireland decides whether to legalize gay marriage

Ireland decides whether to legalize gay marriage

DUBLIN

Voters determined to have their voice heard on gay marriage turned out in strength Friday for Ireland’s most hard-fought referendum in decades, a contest that pitted the liberal forces of social change against the nation’s conservative Catholic foundation.

Polls closed at 10 p.m. after 15 hours of voting that featured long-distance trips by Irish citizens, including thousands of emigrants who returned by aircraft or ferry to take part in the world’s first national vote on gay marriage.

Backers of gay marriage had hoped for high turnout, reflecting strong participation by young and first-time voters.

Editor’s note: Final votes were not announced in time for this edition.

Senate approves trade legislation

WASHINGTON

The Republican-led Senate has handed President Barack Obama a major victory by approving his request for enhanced trade negotiating authority.

The bill now faces a tough battle in the House.

The Senate voted 62-37 Friday to endorse Obama’s request for “fast track” negotiating authority. It would let him present trade agreements that Congress can ratify or reject, but not change.

Obama says fast track would improve chances for a long-negotiated trade deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

Labor unions and many liberals oppose the bill. They say free-trade deals send U.S. jobs overseas.

Magnitude-4.8 quake hits Nevada

LAS VEGAS

A magnitude-4.8 earthquake struck a rural area of southern Nevada on Friday, shaking buildings more than 100 miles away and shutting down a busy Las Vegas interchange as road-tripping travelers were descending on Sin City for Memorial Day weekend.

The U.S. Geological Survey revised an earlier report that pinned the magnitude of Friday’s earthquake at 5.4.

The temblor hit at 11:47 a.m. about 24 miles southwest of the small town of Caliente, and most of Southern Nevada felt it, along with parts of Utah including St. George and Cedar City, the USGS said.

Bomber kills 21 in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia

A suicide bomber unleashed a blast Friday in a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia as worshippers commemorated the birth of a revered saint, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens more in the deadliest attack seen in the kingdom in more than a decade. Loyalists of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The claim of responsibility, made in a statement circulated on pro-IS Twitter feeds, could not be independently confirmed. It was issued by what purported to be a Saudi branch of the Islamic State group, which is based in Syria and Iraq, but it was not known if the perpetrators had a direct connection with the group’s leadership or were sympathizers acting independently in its name.

2 men charged in terrorism probe

SANTA ANA, Calif.

Two California men arrested by the FBI aspired to join the Islamic State group and bought a plane ticket for one of them to travel to Turkey with the hope of becoming a martyr, federal prosecutors said Friday.

The U.S. attorney’s office charged Nader Elhuzayel and Muhanad Badawi with conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist group.

Associated Press