■ Canada
Same-sex benefits upheld
Canada's government must pay widowed gays and lesbians retroactive pension benefits, Ontario's highest court ruled Friday, upholding a lower court's decision. The Appeal Court said individuals in same-sex couples who were widowed after April 1985 were entitled to Canada Pension Plan survivor payments. The issue stems from Canada's decision in 2000 to include in the national pension plan gays and lesbians whose partners had died, but to limit retroactivity to Jan 1, 1998. Homosexual activists filed a class-action suit in Ontario Superior Court last year, arguing the payments should go back to April 1985, when Canada first granted gays and lesbians equal rights under its Charter of Rights of Freedoms.
■ El Salvador
Police asylum under review
El Salvador said Friday night it is considering the requests of two former Caracas police chiefs who sought political asylum at El Salvador's embassy amid investigations into their handling of violent 2002 protests that left 19 people dead. Henry Vivas, Caracas' police chief during the protests and Lazaro Forero, police chief until two months ago and previously Vivas' deputy chief, headed to the Salvadoran embassy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Friday "due to a growing, uncertain situation filled with anguish," according to their lawyer, Juan Garanton.
■ United States
International court targeted
The US congress has launched a fresh attack on the international criminal court (ICC) at The Hague, threatening to cut off development aid to countries who refuse to guarantee immunity from prosecution for Americans at the tribunal. Washington has withheld about US$50 million in military aid to more than 30 countries, such as Benin, Croatia, Ecuador and Mali, which refused to sign exemption deals. But they and more than 40 other countries have resisted US demands on the grounds that immunity deals would clash with their domestic laws and international obligations.
■ Argentina
Prince Harry not naughty
England's heir to the throne Prince Harry cut short a trip to Argentina plagued by reports of bad behaviour and a rumoured kidnap plot. An Argentinian security official reportedly called the British embassy in Buenos Aires asking authorities to "restrain" and "control" the prince. Claims that he was constantly evading the Argentinian police guarding the ranch to visit local night spots, and reports of the prince carousing at local bars were denied by government officials in Argentina and by Buckingham palace. A Clarence House spokesman said, "At no time did he stay out late or become involved in excessive drinking."
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