(RNS) Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation on Wednesday (May 6) that makes Maine the fifth U.S. state to allow same-sex marriages, and only the second to approve the unions without the threat of a court order. Maine now joins Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa in allowing same-sex marriage. Lawmakers in neighboring New Hampshire have also…

VATICAN CITY – Reviewers at the Vatican’s newspaper have passed judgment on “Angels & Demons,” finding the religious thriller commercial and inaccurate, but concluding it is “harmless” entertainment and not a danger to the church. L’Osservatore Romano ran a review and an editorial in Wednesday’s edition, critiquing the movie based on the Dan Brown best-selling…

UNITED NATIONS – Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday called a U.N. investigation accusing Israel of recklessness during the war in Gaza “outrageous” and said the Jewish state will not apologize for defending its citizens against Hamas missile attacks. He conceded that the Israeli military made some mistakes – as all armies do during war.…

Los Angeles — Controversy, if nothing else, sells newspapers and movie tickets. It worked with Ron Howard’s first film adaptation of a Dan Brown novel, 2006’s “The Da Vinci Code,” and Hollywood is hoping it will work again for their second collaboration, “Angels and Demons,” which opens nationwide on May 15. Howard recently stoked the…

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