US/ ENDEAVOUR LANDS SAFELY IN FLORIDA: The Space Shuttle Endeavour has brought its 19 year operational career to a close with a textbook landing in Florida. The Shuttle swept into a night-time touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center after a successful trip to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA is retiring its shuttle fleet and Endeavour will now be prepared for public display at a science museum in Los Angeles.Only the Space Shuttle Atlantis has yet to make its final outing. It was moved to Kennedy's one active launch pad late on Tuesday night to get it ready for that swansong, which is expected to occur next month. Endeavour's rear wheels touched the runway at Kennedy at 2:34am this morning, local time. "Your landing ends a vibrant legacy for this amazing vehicle that will long be remembered. Welcome home, Endeavour," Mission Control radioed to the Shuttle once it had come to a stop.
US/ ILLINOIS BEGINS CIVIL UNIONS TODAY: Illinois today became the 6th state in the US that allows civil unions or their equivalent. 2 other states, Hawaii and Delaware, have passed civil-union laws that have not yet been enacted. More than 100 gay couples were on hand this morning outside of Daley Center, awaiting the opening of the County Clerk's office, so they could be among the 1st in the state to receive a license. Once in the Clerk's office, pictured, many couples said the day was "historic". Couples can obtain licenses starting today, but must wait a day before holding a ceremony. On Thursday, the governor and Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be on hand in Millennium Park as more than 30 couples enter into civil unions in a cememony to mark the start of civil unions in the state. Advocates of gay and lesbian rights say the civil union law is a historic moment worthy of celebration, but they stress that it in no way marks the end of their work. The next step would be to follow either a judicial or legislative path toward the legalization of same-sex marriage.
A safe sex campaign for gay couples in Brisbane, Australia, has been reinstated after it became clear the majority of complaints that led to its removal yesterday were orchestrated by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). The campaign, which takes the form of posters on bus shelters, shows a same-sex couple holding a condom packet and features the tagline ‘Rip & Roll’. But, according to media reports, after Adshel, Brisbane City Council and the Advertising Standards Bureau received 30 complaints about the ads yesterday, they took steps to remove the posters. However, their removal sparked an even bigger furor online, which ultimately led to the campaign re-appearing on the city’s bus shelters. Shortly after, the advertising company Adshel issued the following statement: “It has now become clear Adshel has been the target of a coordinated ACL campaign. This has led us to review our decision to remove the campaign, and we will therefore reinstate the campaign with immediate effect". A spokeswoman for ACL told Australian media that the issue was about the frank reference to condoms, not homosexuality. “I’ve been labelled homophobic. This has absolutely nothing to do with gay couples,” she said. This has nothing to do with anything other than another condom ad in a bus shelter, where the children are catching buses to school and billboards where their parents are stopping at lights. I will continue to fight sexual imagery in our outdoor advertising until we can get it removed". Given the outrage over the removal of the ads, it is unlikely that ACL will prevail.
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