COURT HEARS COLORADO MASSACRE 911 CALLS
CENTENNIAL, Colorado: Relatives wept in court on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) as frantic 911 calls were played from a US theater shooting that killed 12 people last year, as prosecutors closed their case for the alleged gunman to face trial.

The court heard how suspected killer James Holmes purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition in the months before last July’s shooting in Colorado, and rigged up elaborate booby-traps at his apartment. Defense lawyers will call witnesses Wednesday, the third day of hearings, to decide if there is enough evidence for Holmes to go on trial. They are expected to highlight his mental instability as a possible reason he should not do so. In the first of 41 harrowing emergency calls made in a 10-minute period in Colorado, 30 loud booms could be heard in less than half-a-minute, making it difficult for the 911 dispatcher to distinguish what was being said.

PASSIONS RISE IN FRANCE OVER GAY MARRIAGE PROTEST
PARIS: Passions and tensions are rising in France ahead of an expected giant weekend rally against the government’s plan to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption that has angered influential Catholic and Muslim groups. France’s parliament is to debate the government’s “marriage for all” bill early this year—one of the key electoral pledges of Socialist President Francois Hollande—which has run into fierce opposition in this predominantly Catholic country where Islam is the second biggest faith. Preparations for Sunday’s rally are gaining steam with protesters nationwide hiring coaches and high-speed trains to gather in the French capital to voice their opposition. They are also distributing hundreds of thousands of leaflets. AFP