Social Events:
France Approves Gay Marriage and Adoption Bill
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Gay marriage and adoption demonstrators march through Paris streets.
- Controversy around the passage of the French bill for the legalization of homosexual marriage and adoption.
- February 12, 2013, bill was approved by the French National Assembly (329-229), then to move on to the Senate (where the bill was passed as well).
- France has now joined about a dozen mainly European nations in the legalization of same-sex marriage, including Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and now 12 states in the United States.
- Tension between French Socialists– for the bill, and Conservatives– against the bill.
- Separate bill is expected to surface later on in 2013 dealing with the issues of restrictions on fertility treatments; originally paired with the gay marriage bill, but Socialist President Francois Hollande chose to save issue for a later time after receiving largely controversial reactions.
Demographic/Environmental Events:
Norway Experiences a shortage of Garbage for fuel
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In Oslo, waste-to-energy incinerators convert garbage into heat and electricity.
- Oslo, Norway– roughly half the city is dependent on burning garbage for heat and electricity.
- Oslo imports garbage from England, Sweden, Ireland and the United States, then converts the trash into energy at large plants.
- This system of energy production becoming rapidly more common throughout Northern Europe, especially in the past few decades.
- Unprecedented problem: waste supply is being ousted by the huge demand, and these regions are actually running out of garbage to burn.
- Waste-to-energy plants continue to be built, and cities continue to search for more trash to burn even with a shortage.
- Some people believe this is harmful to the environment because it is encouraging more waste output.
Economic Events:
Europe pushing to shed stigma of tax haven
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