■ GERMANY
Court rules for transsexual
The constitutional court ruled on Wednesday that a man seeking legal recognition as a woman will be allowed to stay married to his wife in a landmark decision that further strengthens the rights of transsexuals. The Karlsruhe-based court ruled unconstitutional a requirement that married transsexuals first get divorced before their new gender could be legally recognized. The court said that law violated a person’s basic rights. The court ruled in favor of a man who was born in 1929 who has three adult children and had been married for 56 years. He underwent a sex-change operation in 2002 and wanted to be legally recognized as a woman, but could not until a divorce took place. The wife of the transsexual also did not want the marriage to be dissolved, the court heard. The court ruled the country’s transsexual law must be changed by August next year. It has made other rulings in favor of transsexuals in recent years.
■ CANADA
Taser kills teenager
Winnipeg police say a teenager has died after being shot with a Taser gun while he was brandishing a knife at officers. Constable Jacqueline Chaput said on Wednesday that a 17-year-old boy who refused to comply with repeated requests from the officers to put his knife down was shot with an electronic stun gun. She says the victim allegedly broke into a car and stole items. He was followed by two citizens who flagged down police. The teen was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Tuesday night. Autopsy results are pending.
■ UNITED STATES
Bubble show loses bubbles
The bubble might have burst for off-Broadway’s Gazillion Bubbles Show. Someone has stolen the show’s specialized soapy bubble solution, which takes two months to make. A show spokesman says 3.4 tonnes of bubble solution and 6,000 toys went missing in the June 10 break-in at a warehouse in nearby Hoboken, New Jersey. The show has only six weeks worth of solution on hand to make the air-filled globes of soapy film. The interactive show was created by renowned bubble artist Fan Yang. It features dazzling light effects, lasers and lots of bubbles — some so intricate or big they have smoke, other bubbles or even people inside them. Yang has put up to four children in one bubble. Yang and his wife, Ana Yang, also have a bubble show in Las Vegas.
■ URUGUAY
Rare toilet under guard
An antique porcelain toilet valued at nearly US$800,000 has been put under police guard by the mayor of a local town, while residents are calling for the pricey potty to be sold. Mayor Carmelo Vidalin took the precaution of round-the-clock toilet protection after the newspaper El Pais reported on Wednesday its estimated value, quoting antique historian Enriqe Costa. A toilet alarm system was installed immediately. The toilet was manufactured in 1887 in France, with blue patterns, and was said to be only one of four of its type still in existence. It was brought to Durazno, 180km north of the capital, by an Italian doctor, Emilio Penza. The toilet is in a house purchased by the town several years ago for less than US$80,000 and the town plans to open it for public viewing in the near future. But some residents are pushing for sale of the costly loo, saying the profits could be used to build public housing.
RSS