COLD EMBRACE

Obama backs constitutional amendment to end Citizens United

President Barack Obama. Image via AFP.

President Barack Obama supports changing the Constitution to keep private sector dollars from buying elections, campaign officials told Raw Story on background.

HUMAN RIGHTS?

Uganda bill punishes homosexuality with life in prison

Uganda Parliamentarian David Bahati

A Ugandan member of parliament has reintroduced a bill that increases criminal penalties for some homosexual acts, but dropped a provision that allows homosexuals to be executed by the state.

EQUALITY WINS

Appeals court strikes down California’s same sex marriage ban

A couple celebrates same sex marriage . Image via AFP.

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday afternoon that a Proposition 8, California voter ban on same sex marriage, is unconstitutional.

BAD ROMANCE

Michael Steele to Dan Choi: LGBT rights aren’t like black rights

Michael Steele and Dan Choi

Former RNC chair Michael Steele on Tuesday said he didn’t “appreciate” the comparison between laws banning interracial marriage to laws that prevent gays from marrying.

COMMUNITY COUNTS

Man’s body found in foreclosed home years after death

A foreclosed home. Image via AFP.

The body of a man was recently discovered in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin home some four years after he killed killed himself, according to local media.

WRAP IT UP

More Catholics support contraception coverage than other Americans

Birth control pills,  courtesy of Flickr/brains the head, Creative Commons licensed

Catholics in the U.S. are more likely that other Americans say that employers should be required to provide free contraception, according to a recent poll.

Science

Lead poisoning ‘epidemic’ around Nigerian gold mines sickens thousands

LAGOS — A lead poisoning epidemic in Nigeria’s north that has killed 400 children and…

Solid ‘finger food’ may help babies avoid obesity

Infants outgrowing a liquid diet who give themselves finger food rather than being spoon-fed puree…

Tech News

Yahoo! chairman, three directors stepping down

Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock announced Tuesday he was stepping down from the board of the…

Brazil to overtake U.S. as top producer of biotech crops

Brazil is on course to dislodge the United States as the world’s top producer of…

Media

Chris Hayes: Why Republicans hate Clint Eastwood’s commercial

Dirty Harry has turned against the GOP. That’s basically the message in last night’s episode…

After diabetes diagnosis, U.S. celebrity chef feels heat

US cooking star Paula Deen, self-proclaimed “Queen of Southern Cuisine” famous for her dishes smothered…

World

U.S. to downsize Iraq embassy

The United States said Tuesday that it planned to downsize its embassy in Iraq, the largest US diplomatic mission in…

Gay pageant sparks breakthrough, backlash in Namibia

When Wendelinus Hamutenya told his father that he was gay, the then 18-year-old was packed off to the psychiatric ward of theWindhoek…

Orangutan ‘exterminators’ on trial in Indonesia

Three Indonesians and a Malaysian went on trial Tuesday for killing endangered orangutans and other protected primates as a means…

‘God help us’: appeal from Syria’s Homs

BEIRUT — Residents of Homs on Monday described scenes of panic and carnage in the city of central Syria undergoing…

U.S. News

Pennsylvania college offers ‘morning after’ pill in vending machine

A university in central Pennsylvania is not just selling snacks or drinks out of their…

‘Anonymous’ hacks personal info of Oakland officials

Oakland’s top officials — including mayor Jean Quan — became the latest targets of the…

‘Charlie McAwesome’ glitter bombs Ron Paul

A man going by the name “Charlie McAwesome” made it official Monday night: every remaining…

Axelrod suggests White House could back down on birth control

A top adviser to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign suggested on Tuesday that the administration…

Komen lobbyist Karen Handel resigns

Karen Handel, a top lobbyist for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer…