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Bid to Undo Fertility Law In Italy May Fall Short
ROME -- Italians voted in an emotionally charged referendum on fertility treatment and embryo research on Sunday, but a low turnout appeared likely to make it invalid, a victory for the Catholic Church's campaign for a boycott.
At the end of the first day of the two-day poll, only about 18.7 percent of those eligible had cast ballots. A half day of voting was to be held on Monday.
Barring an unlikely surge in turnout Monday, commentators said the referendum, aimed at repealing a restrictive law on assisted procreation, would fail to reach the minimum turnout of 50 percent needed to make it valid.
The Catholic Church and groups that want the law to stand called for the boycott.
The run-up to the referendum sparked the most heated debate on social issues in Italy since divorce and abortion were legalized in the 1970s.
THE MIDDLE EAST
· GAZA CITY -- Palestinian authorities carried out their first executions since 2002, killing four convicted murderers in a campaign that was meant to halt a growing wave of lawlessness but that drew swift condemnation from human rights groups.
The executions reflected the tough challenge that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas faces as he tries to establish rule of law in the Palestinian territories. Abbas has made public order a top priority, but Palestinian security forces have been severely weakened by Israeli attacks, internal rivalries and a lack of resources.
· KUWAIT CITY -- The Kuwaiti government has appointed its first female cabinet minister, a month after lawmakers in the oil-rich nation granted women the right to vote and run for office.
Massouma Mubarak, a women's rights activist, columnist and political science teacher, was given the planning and administrative development portfolios, Prime Minister Sabah Ahmed Sabah said.
THE AMERICAS
· EL ALTO, Bolivia -- Bolivia's most radical protest leaders threatened the country's new president with massive marches like the ones that toppled his predecessor if he did not immediately pledge to nationalize the country's rich natural gas resources.
