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Obama to host nuclear summit in 2010

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 8 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday in Italy he will hold a nuclear security summit next March.

Obama, who is attending the Group of Eight summit in L'Aquila, said the purpose of the international gathering would be for nations to develop steps that can be taken to "secure vulnerable materials, combat nuclear smuggling, and deter, detect and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism," a statement released by the White House said.

The summit also would address the development and expansion of peaceful nuclear energy worldwide.

"We should not wait for an act of nuclear terrorism before working together to collectively improve our nuclear security culture, share our best practices and raise our standards for nuclear security," the statement by the U.S. president said.

The G8 leaders Wednesday endorsed Obama's three-prong strategy to curb international nuclear threats: find ways to reduce and eventually eliminate existing nuclear arsenals; strengthen the non-proliferation treaty to halt the spread of nuclear weapons to more countries; and to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear weapons or materials.

The G8 leaders said they welcomed Obama's announcement to seek ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and support early start of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty.

The leaders said they were heartened by the nuclear disarmament measures taken by nuclear weapons states, including the announcement by the United States and Russia of their intent to conclude an agreement to replace START before it expires this year.

The G8 leaders urged Iran to comply with the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding its nuclear program and to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

They strongly condemned the nuclear test and ballistic missile launches conducted by North Korea this spring. They urged North Korea to abide by U.N. resolutions and abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and ballistic missile programs "in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."

China packs troops into troubled city

URUMQI, China, July 8 (UPI) -- China sent 20,000 new security troops into the capital of its Xinjiang province Wednesday in an attempt to restore order on a city in chaos, observers say.

Thousands of Urumqi-area residents were fleeing ethnic violence that began during the weekend, The Washington Post reported. People, including children, were seen carrying shopping bags filed with prized possessions, crowding into the main bus and train stations.

The Post said tickets to many determinations were sold out for the next three days.

Li Zhi, the top Communist Party official in the city, said order had been restored and the government would seek the death penalty for those who instigated the violence that claimed 156 lives, the Post said.

The clashes began after a demonstration by ethnic Muslim Uighurs got out of control, with protesters attacking Han Chinese and Han businesses, the U.S. newspaper said. The protesters were upset over delays in the investigation of the deaths of two Uighur factory workers.

An estimated 1,000 people were injured in the clashes.

Massachusetts sues over marriage act

BOSTON, July 8 (UPI) -- Massachusetts sued the U.S. government Wednesday over the Defense of Marriage Act for excluding gay married couples from certain rights, officials said.

The federal act, passed in 1996, defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley told The Boston Globe the law is unfair to more than 16,000 same-sex couples in the commonwealth. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004.

"DOMA affects residents of Massachusetts in very real and very negative ways by depriving access to important economic safety nets and other protections that couples count on when they marry and that help them to take care of one another and their families, Coakley said.

She said the act interferes with the commonwealth's "sovereign authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents."

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke against the act during his campaign, but has not focused on overturning it up to now.

Canadian PM in communion flap

MEMRAMCOOK, New Brunswick, July 8 (UPI) -- The Catholic archbishop of Moncton said Wednesday Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper should not have accepted a communion wafer at Romeo LeBlanc's funeral.

Archbishop Andre Richard said while he was not soliciting an apology or explanation from Harper, church law is clear the protestant prime minister should not have accepted the communion wafer at the former governor general's state funeral at a Catholic church last Friday in Memramcook, New Brunswick, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

"Only the Catholics can receive communion," Richard said. "The church law is the church law, and when you are attending a Catholic service, you go by the church service."

The CBC reported some people at the service said Harper took the host but appeared to put it in his program or his pocket. The network said a review of videotape was inconclusive, and Harper's office said he consumed it.

Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas said the prime minister had little choice but to take the wafer from the priest.

"I would simply say, 'Who is the prime minister to question a priest who offered him communion?'" Soudas said.