By Edith Honan (Reuters) - Rhode Island lawmakers gave final approval to a bill to legalize gay marriage on Thursday, making it the 10th U.S. state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples and the last of the six New England states to do so. Governor Lincoln Chafee, an independent, signed the bill into law almost immediately after the vote on Thursday. The new law will take effect on August 1.

By Eduardo Garcia and Carlos Vargas BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a polarizing bill to allow same-sex marriage in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, as hundreds of people took to the streets to demonstrate for and against the measure. The bill was rejected by 51 out of 102 lawmakers in the Senate - with 17 in favour. The negative vote was widely expected, given that lawmakers from the ruling coalition had made an alliance to oppose the initiative.

France's lower house National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a bill legalising same-sex marriages and adoptions for gay couples, defying months of opposition protests. In its second and final reading, a majority of lawmakers approved the bill by a vote of 331 to 225. "After 136 hours and 46 minutes of debate, Parliament has adopted the law opening marriage to same-sex couples," the Socialist speaker of the Assembly, Claude Bartolone, said after the vote. Justice Minister Christiane Taubira hailed the adoption of the bill as a "historic" moment in French history.

For more than a year Yassamane and Eric have been waiting to adopt a child in Morocco. But a decision to tighten the adoption law has thrown the whole process into doubt, leaving dozens of hopeful foreign couples in limbo. Kafala as it is known in Morocco, or "custody" in Arabic, allows Muslims -- including converts to Islam -- to assume the guardianship of orphans in the North African nation. The same conditions apply in most Muslim countries, where religion is a determining factor in the adoption process.