[JURIST] The Portuguese Assembly of the Republic [official website, in Portuguese] on Friday voted overwhelmingly against two opposition proposals to legalize same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive]. The two proposals, introduced separately by the Left Bloc and the Green Party [party websites, in Portuguese], failed to obtain any support from the ruling Socialist Party (PS) or the main opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) [party websites, in Portuguese]. The PS and PSD combine for a total of 196 seats in the 230 seat parliament.

Same-sex marriage is recognized in Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, and Norway. In the United States, same-sex marriages are now permitted in Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut. In 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage [opinion text; JURIST report]. SAPA-AP has more.

[JURIST] The Alaskan Legislative Council [official website] on Friday released a report [PDF text] finding that Alaskan Governor and current Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin [official profile] violated the state's Executive Branch Ethics Act [PDF text] by allowing personal ill will to influence her decision to dismiss Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. Independent investigator Stephen Branchflower found that Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd Palin, violated the public trust by using their influence in the Governor's Office to pressure for the firing of Palin's former brother in law, State Trooper Mike Wooten. Monegan alleges that he was dismissed because he resisted the pressure. Branchflower found that while Monegan was not dismissed solely over his refusal to fire Wooten, it was likely a contributing factor. The report found that the firing was nevertheless a "proper and lawful exercise" of Palin's authority to hire and fire executive branch heads under the Alaskan law. The New York Times has more.

The report, commissioned in July by the bipartisan Council, has not been officially endorsed by the body. Palin was not subpoenaed during the investigation, and refused to cooperate.

[JURIST] A migrant worker in China's [JURIST news archive] South Guangdong Province filed a lawsuit Friday against Chinese dairy producer Sanlu Group, the company at the heart of the tainted milk crisis [BBC report] which is blamed for four infant deaths and the sickening of more than 54,000 children. According to his lawyer, Zhang Xiuwen filed the suit seeking $132,000 after it was determined that his 11-month old son was suffering from kidney stones. The child had been fed formula made by Sanlu since his birth. It is not clear whether the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court will accept the lawsuit at this point. This is the second lawsuit filed against the dairy producer. The first suit was filed [AP report] earlier this month by a family whose 14-month old son was also diagnosed with kidney stones. It is not clear whether the Zhenping county court will hear that suit, which seeks $22,000 in compensatory damages for medical care the infant received. AP has more.

News of possible milk powder contamination by the chemical melamine first broke in September [Guardian report], following the death of an infant and reports that at least 50 other infants had fallen ill after consuming baby formula, leading to massive recalls [BBC report] of both liquid milk products and milk powders. The death toll soon rose to four, and the number of sick infants in China has since ballooned to at least 53,0000. The State Council of China [official website, in English] has ordered free medical care to be provided for sick infants whose symptoms arose after September 12, when word of contamination first broke and the first milk powder recalls were ordered. The situation has also lead the State Council to issue new regulations [Xinhua report] for dairy products in the country. So far, police have arrested 36 people [Xinhua report] in connection with the scandal. Earlier this week, however, AP reported that lawyers providing free legal advice to parents of sickened children in China have been pressured by Chinese officials [JURIST report] to stop providing legal services.

[JURIST] The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence [official website] said Friday that it is investigating allegations made by two members of the US military that the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website] eavesdropped on the personal conversations of members of the military and humanitarian aid workers stationed in the Middle East. The allegations were made by Adrienne Kinne and David Murfee Faulk, who worked as Arab linguists for the Army and Navy respectively, in an interview [recorded video; report] with ABC News Thursday. In the interview, Faulk recounted listening to private conversations that had been passed around by other operators in the office he worked in, while Kinne said she listened to conversations from members of the International Red Cross [official website] and Doctors without Borders [advocacy website]. The NSA has said that it found some of the allegations to be without support, and that it is still investigating others. According to a spokesperson for General Michael Hayden [official profile], the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] and who was head of the NSA at the time of the allegations, Hayden did not authorize nor did he have knowledge of the interception of private conversations. AP has more.

In July President Bush signed into law [press release] a bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [text; JURIST news archive] to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies participating in the NSA warrantless surveillance program [JURIST news archive].