The World

1 | California Protesting a Gay-Marriage Ban While Barack Obama may have broken the color barrier by becoming the nation's first African-American President, the gay and lesbian community in California has erupted in protests following the approval of Proposition 8, which overturns a state supreme court decision upholding gay marriage. On Nov. 8, some 10,000 people, far more than authorities had expected, marched through Hillcrest, the hub of San Diego's gay community. Many opponents of the measure blamed religious groups for the its passage, particularly the Mormon church, which one source estimated had donated some $15 million to promote Prop. 8; campaign records, however, showed far less. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, where a gay-marriage ban was lifted in October, same-sex couples began obtaining marriage licenses.

2 | Washington Mortgage Modifications Help is on the way for hundreds of thousands of Americans facing foreclosure. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which between them hold about 20% of delinquent U.S. mortgages, announced Nov. 11 that some customers will see their monthly payments adjusted to no more than 38% of their gross income. The companies, now under government control, plan to reduce interest rates and give borrowers more time to pay off their mortgages. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are modifying loans to slow or stop foreclosures.

3 | Haiti A School's Sorrow Several students were injured after a school collapsed in Port-au-Prince on Nov. 12, less than a week after the devastating collapse of a different school building in nearby Pétionville, which killed more than 90 people. Haitian President René Préval has blamed poor construction methods and materials for the disasters, amid concerns that similar buildings may also be at risk.

4 | China A Chinese New Deal? With its GDP growth rate projected to slow from 12% in 2007 to less than 9% in 2009, China announced a $586 billion stimulus to buoy the economy. While much of the spending is not new, the plan is meant to sustain the country's recent prosperity--and reinforce its political stability.

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$586 billion

Infrastructure Housing Subsidies Disaster Rebuilding Environment Industry Transportation Tax Reform Health & Education Finance

5 | Indonesia Protests over Bali Bomber Executions Three perpetrators of the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali were executed Nov. 9, prompting demonstrations by Islamic radicals who gathered at their funerals to vow revenge and hail the dead--Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron--as martyrs. Southeast Asian terrorism experts expressed concern that the executions could inspire future attacks and criticized government officials for allowing sympathy for the bombers to grow as the case dragged on. Still, the threat posed by the group behind the attacks, Jemaah Islamiah, is believed to have been blunted by a regional crackdown on terrorism.

6 | Florida Pimp My Space Station NASA announced that the International Space Station, 220 miles above Earth, is being expanded into a more comfortable, greener home for the six astronauts who will be living there by spring.

MORE SPOTS TO SNOOZE AND READ The ISS's three bedrooms will grow to five, with a privacy booth for each crew member