McCain refuses to support ban on same-sex marriage
Washington – The Republican with the loudest presidential buzz says he won’t back a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, in spite of its importance to conservative GOP primary voters.
Arizona Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the controversial proposal to amend the Constitution would step on states’ rights.
“The states regulate the conditions of marriage, and unless there’s some decisive overruling by the federal courts, then I will continue to believe that the states should decide,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“We in Arizona should make our decisions about the status of marriage in our state just as the people in Massachusetts and other states should make their decisions,” he said.
Many pundits believe a push to ban same-sex marriage in Ohio in 2004 helped President Bush beat John Kerry by boosting turnout among religious conservatives in what became the decisive state.
McCain has been seen as trying to move to the right recently, speaking at the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and taking a tougher stand on abortion. But he said he had made the mistake of giving in to “political expediency” before – including supporting a move to preserve South Carolina’s Confederate flag – and would try not to do so in the future.
“It was an act of cowardice,” the senator said.
“Da Vinci Code” has 2nd-largest global opening
The highly anticipated thriller “The Da Vinci Code” overcame critical pans and protests from religious groups to achieve the second-largest worldwide opening ever and the biggest opening of the year nationally, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Based on the best seller by Dan Brown, the controversial film earned $147 million in foreign ticket sales – including record openings in Italy and Spain – and $77 million in the United States.
With overall grosses adding up to $224 million, “Da Vinci” is second only to “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” which took in $253 million worldwide when it was released the same weekend a year ago.
“Da Vinci” provided Sony Pictures Entertainment with its sixth No. 1 release of 2006 and represented career box-office highs for star Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard, whose previous biggest openings were “Cast Away” for Hanks ($39.8 million) and “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” for Howard ($55 million).
Moviegoers 30 and younger made up more than half the audience. Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of domestic distribution, said about half the audience had not yet read the book.
The DreamWorks Animation film “Over the Hedge” debuted in a strong second place with an estimated $37.2 million in ticket sales. “Mission Impossible III,” the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends, took third place with an estimated gross of $11 million.
CAMARILLO, Calif.
Gas prices at pump slip in past 2 weeks
The average retail price of a gallon of gas fell about 1.45 cents across the nation during the past two weeks, the first drop since prices began a steady climb in late February, according to a survey released Sunday.
Self-serve regular averaged about $2.93 a gallon, down from about $2.95 two weeks ago, said the nationwide Lundberg Survey of roughly 7,000 gas stations.
The average price of mid-grade was $3.03 a gallon, down from $3.04. Premium hit $3.13 a gallon, compared with $3.14 two weeks ago.
The survey covered the period from May 6 through Friday.
RAINIER, Ore.
Nuke cooling tower destroyed in seconds
Demolition crews on Sunday destroyed the 499-foot cooling tower at a defunct commercial nuclear-power plant.
With a rumble, the tower leaned to the side and collapsed upon itself – leaving a cloud of dust and several tons of rubble. It took less than 10 seconds and roughly 2,800 pounds of explosives to complete.
Portland General Electric ordered the implosion at Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, about 40 miles north of Portland, as part of its decommissioning.
Trojan closed in 1993 for financial and safety reasons. It was Oregon’s first and only nuclear- power plant.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
3 aid workers injured during grenade attack
Three aid workers were wounded Sunday when their offices were hit in a grenade attack in eastern Sri Lanka. It was the first time aid agencies had been singled out in the current spate of violence, police and military officials said.
The grenade attack hit three foreign aid agencies: Intersos of Italy, Zoa Refugee Care of the Netherlands and Nonviolent Peace Force, an international conflict-mediation group.
No group immediately took responsibility for the attack.
BEIJING
Number of trapped miners raised to 57
A senior Chinese official charged today that illegal operations by a northern China coal mine led to an accident that trapped as many as 57 miners, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Rescuers rushed more pumping equipment to the Xinjing Coal Mine in Shanxi province on Sunday night and raised their estimates of the number trapped to 57, from 44, Xinhua said.
Confusion over the numbers resulted in part from what officials said was a coverup of Thursday’s accident by mine managers, nine of whom have been detained, and from the mine’s illegal practices.
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, who went to the accident scene, said the miners were working in a coal seam beyond the mine’s approved limits and that the area flooded, Xinhua reported.
CARACAS, Venezuela
Chavez snubs nose at U.S. over jet deals
President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela is looking to buy Russian warplanes and will offer its fleet of U.S.-made jets to any country it chooses, including Iran.
The jet issue resurfaced last week after a Venezuelan general indicated that the F-16s could go to the Mideast nation, currently at odds with the U.S. over its nuclear program. The United States says Venezuela is legally bound by a contract to seek U.S. permission to sell the fighters.
On Sunday, Chavez said that he is considering buying an unspecified number of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 and Su-35 jet fighters, calling them “very superior to the F-16s.” He said he hoped to finalize a deal during an upcoming trip to Moscow.
Chavez mentioned the possibility of selling the F-16s in a speech late Saturday in rural eastern Venezuela, backing a suggestion by Gen. Alberto Muller, a Chavez adviser, that Iran could be a possible buyer.
Muller complained that Washington had refused to sell parts to upgrade the fighter jets.
