Adoptions

In a key victory Tuesday for same-sex couples in France, a measure allowing them to marry and adopt children passed the lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly. The measure, pushed through by the Socialist administration of President Francois Hollande, passed by a vote of 329 to 229. It now goes to the Senate, which is also controlled by the Socialists and their allies. A vote is scheduled for April 2. If the bill passes in the Senate, France will join 11 other nations, including Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and South Africa, where same-sex marriage is legal.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a military checkpoint outside the northern Mali city of Gao on Friday, in the first sign that Al Qaeda-linked militias may be adopting new tactics since being driven back by a French-led invasion. A man on a motorcycle approached a group of soldiers at a military checkpoint and detonated explosives, according to a military officer contacted by The Times. The attack was confirmed by Gao Mayor Sadou Diallo in a telephone interview.

WASHINGTON - Influential House Republicans, adopting a distinctly more conciliatory approach to immigration reform since the November election, are seriously considering ways to give legal status to illegal immigrants. The push by President Obama and a high-profile group of senators to create a pathway to citizenship has met stiff resistance from conservatives in the GOP-led House. And their intense opposition could undermine efforts to find a compromise that can pass the House. But party leaders have encouraged a secretive bipartisan group to work on a deal and have spoken openly about their support for reform.

Eleven years ago, the San Jose school district began requiring all students to pass the classes necessary for admission to the state university systems. Educators elsewhere watched with enthusiasm as early results showed remarkable success. But San Jose Unified has quietly acknowledged that the district overstated its accomplishments. And a Times analysis of the district's record shows that its progress has not, in fact, far outpaced many other school systems' and, more important, that most San Jose students have never qualified to apply to a state college.

From rubble and wreckage, Ki Suh Park often saw possibility. It was so as he stood amid the destruction of the Korean War, when he resolved to study architecture and help rebuild his homeland. And it was so as he drove down Western Avenue after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, when he vowed to help rebuild a community after the violence that wracked his adopted home. Park, an architect who rose to become a leader in the city's Korean American community, died Jan. 16 at Stanford University Medical Center after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer, his family said.

WASHINGTON - In unveiling a new stimulus plan, Japan's central bank for the first time set an ambitious inflation target aimed at breaking the nation out of its long deflationary trap and economic stagnation. But many analysts and investors were disappointed with Tuesday's action. They said the moves by the Bank of Japan, in response to relentless nagging by Japan's new prime minister to be more aggressive, fell far short of what was needed to put the world's third-largest economy on a path of sustained growth - offering little hope that Japan would provide a boost to the fragile global economy any time soon.

Domestic airfares have been climbing steadily since 2009, and there was no letup last year. But the uptick in ticket prices was not as steep as in the last few years. Domestic airfares increased 4.2% in 2012 compared with the previous year to an average of $427 per ticket, according to Airlines Reporting Corp., an Arlington, Va., company that completes the financial transactions between 16,000 travel agents and 187 airlines. The good news is that the fare increases have been shrinking.

A virtual unknown straining to make his mark in the race for mayor of Los Angeles offered an alarming assessment of the city's finances. "We are actually on the brink of bankruptcy," Emanuel Pleitez, a tech executive and former aide to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said in a recent debate. "This is not a joke. " City Councilman Eric Garcetti, one of the front-runners to replace Villaraigosa, scoffed. "Every time you hear from folks who say we are about to be bankrupt it reminds me of that minister who said the end of the world is coming," Garcetti told the audience.

NEW YORK - New York became the first state since the Newtown, Conn., school massacre to tighten gun laws, passing a wide-ranging bill Tuesday cracking down on assault weapons and ammunition that lawmakers say should set an example for Washington as it tackles the issue on the national level. The Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or SAFE Act, gives New York the toughest gun laws in the nation and touches on the mental health issues that both pro-gun and anti-gun activists say should be part of any new legislation.

MOSCOW -- In the largest show of public discontent since President Vladimir Putin's inauguration last May, thousands of demonstrators marched through downtown Moscow to protest a new law banning the adoption of Russian orphans by U.S. families. The crowd, holding portraits of Putin and about 600 lawmakers who voted for the controversial bill, filled Moscow's Boulevard Ring, a procession that resembled old-time Communist May Day celebrations. In this case, though, the portraits had the word “shame” written across the faces.