■ France
Celebs sign pro-gay petition
An international petition calling "for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality" was signed by five Nobel laureates and a host of celebrities, organizers said in Paris on Monday. "Seventy countries ... still make homosexuality a crime by law and punishable by death in 12 of them," stated the document, which was endorsed by Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, economics laureate Amartya Sen and Nobel literature prize winners Dario Fo, Jose Saramago and Elfriede Jelinek. Signatories listed on idahomophobia.org, the campaign Web site, also include Noam Chomsky, Meryl Streep and Elton John.
■ United States
School wants refunds back
A computer glitch erroneously refunded dozens of Old Dominion University students thousands of dollars, and now the school is asking for the money back. School officials said 55 students are being told they must reimburse the school a total of about US$323,000. "Some of the students did not take this very well," president Roseann Runte said during a meeting of the executive committee of the Board of Visitors on Monday in Norfolk, Virginia. Repayment plans are being worked out, officials said.
RSS