It has been only a few months since the “Definition of Marriage Bill” was introduced in the New Zealand Parliament, yet it has raced through the parliamentary process with blistering speed.  The bill’s third reading, which passed emphatically with 77 votes to 44 on Wednesday evening, now means that men can legally marry men and women can marry women in New Zealand.

In a recent, unprecedented move, China publically released a military White Paper detailing its military structure and size (BBC, April 16, 2013).  “The army has a total of 850,000 soldiers, while the navy and air force have a strength of 235,000 and 398,000,” for a total of more than 1.4 million soldiers (ibid.).

During Monday’s Boston Marathon, two bomb blasts near the finish line caused devastation, death and injury and brought an early end to the race (The Lookout, April 16, 2013).  More than 170 people were reported injured, 17 were in critical condition, and three died at the scene.  Several of the injured underwent amputations due to the severity of their injuries.  The bombs were laced with nails and other metallic debris—apparently intended to cause maximum h

This week, the EU Observer printed an interesting story on the beginnings of the euro (EU Observer, April 8, 2013).

In February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released two new studies aimed at providing “an in-depth look at the severe human and economic burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States.