• Homosexual Chinese Man Sues for Right to Marry in Country's First Same-Sex Marriage case

  A court has accepted China's first same-sex marriage case, lodged by a gay man against a civil affairs bureau for denying him the right to marry, in a decision hailed as a step forward for gay rights.

  

• Paris Police Shoot Man Wielding Meat-Cleaver on Anniversary of Charlie Hebdo Massacre

  French police shot dead a man wielding a meat cleaver after he tried to enter a police station on Thursday, the anniversary of militant attacks in Paris, shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is Greatest) and wearing what turned out to be a fake suicide belt.

  

• Amid Winter Cold, Starvation in Besieged Syrian Town, Peace Talks Seen As Pointless

  Warnings of widespread starvation are growing as pro-government forces besiege an opposition-held town in Syria and winter bites, darkening the already bleak outlook for peace talks the United Nations hopes to convene this month.

  

• In Controversial Move, New York Opens its First Medical Marijuana Clinics

  New York's first medical marijuana dispensaries are opening their doors on Thursday, as the state launches one of the most conservative programs of its kind in the United States.

  

• U.S. Agencies Cast Doubt on North Korea H-Bomb Claims: 'It Looks Like a Provocation'

  North Korea said it successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear bomb on Wednesday, but atomic weapons experts and U.S. government agencies cast doubt on the isolated nation's ability to make such an advance in its arsenal.