Word: first
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...FIRST CALL...
...subject of considerable admiration and pride in Hawaii, although his political luster has dimmed a little, as one might expect," says Jerry Burris, a long-time political columnist and the co-author of The Dream Begins, a book about the influence Hawaii had in shaping Obama. "When he was first nominated and elected, you heard nary a peep out of local Republicans and other conservatives about our native son. That's changed and now they are willing to criticize him." (See the to 10 things you didn't know about Hawaii...
...final vote count of the city assembly was announced - 39 in favor to 20 against - the crowd of gay and lesbian activists in Mexico City exploded into cheers, hugs and kisses. With a resounding majority, the Mexican capital had become the first city in Latin America to allow same-sex couples to marry and to have the same rights as heterosexual unions. A separate motion confirmed that the couples would be able to adopt children. "This is a huge triumph that has followed so many years of struggle," said campaigner Kin Castañeda, who stood next to her partner...
...into what advocates say is a beacon of social progressiveness. The changes have been possible because of Mexico's federal system, which gives the capital's assembly the power to pass local laws. In 2007, the assembly approved same-sex civil unions as well as allowing abortion in the first 12 weeks of any pregnancy. The following year, it approved a limited form of euthanasia. The gay marriage law may have been a surprise in much of the world, but to Mexico City residents it was the latest in a reformist agenda they have become accustomed...
When North Korean authorities caught Jeong Young Sil helping Christians escape to China seven years ago, they did not take her transgression lightly. First, they pulled out her teeth and fingernails to get information about her underground church in the country's northeast. Then, they threw her in prison for four years. "They demanded to know who was helping me and where they were," says Jeong, an evangelist in her 50s now living in South Korea, who uses an alias to protect her family back home. Despite their efforts, the Northern officials could not stop her. After she fled...