In brief: Reports say N. Korea moves missile

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has shifted its most advanced long-range missile – capable of reaching Alaska – to a new west coast launch site near the border with China, reports said today, in a move that threatens to further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang also banned ships from the waters off the west coast through the end of July, reports said.

The regime could fire the long-range missile as early as mid-June – around the time South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and President Barack Obama hold a summit in Washington, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper in Seoul said, citing unidentified officials in Washington and Seoul.

The missile at the Dongchang-ni launch site on the northwest coast is believed to be a version of the Taepodong-2 rocket that the North fired on April 5 saying it was a satellite launch, the report said.

Abbas forces clash with Hamas

QALQILIYA, West Bank – Forces loyal to the moderate Palestinian president stormed a Hamas hideout in the West Bank and set off a gunbattle that left six dead Sunday, the worst violence since the factions fought a battle over Gaza two years ago.

Militants lobbed grenades and fired automatic weapons to push back the raid in a two-story building in Qalqiliya, a West Bank town known for its strong Hamas presence. That drew dozens of President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces to the hideout.

Many of the security men involved in the shootout had undergone U.S.-supervised training in Jordan, police said.

Among those killed in the raid were two top Hamas militants who had been on the run from Israel for years.

Noncombat injuries claim U.S. soldiers

BAGHDAD – Two American soldiers died from noncombat-related injuries in separate incidents in Iraq, the U.S. military said Sunday.

A statement said a Multi-National Division – North soldier died Sunday in Tikrit. The statement gave no further details, saying the incident is under investigation.

A second soldier, assigned to the 3rd Sustainment Command, died from injuries caused by a vehicle accident in Tallil, south of Baghdad, the statement said.

Gay marriage foes rally in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. – Hundreds of people waived signs and rallied at Fresno City Hall on Sunday to show support for the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in California, a day after thousands marched in the area against the ban.

Fresno Pastor Jim Franklin of Cornerstone Church, an organizer of the event, told the crowd that he believed Proposition 8 would likely survive any upcoming efforts to overturn it through initiatives on the 2010 or 2012 ballots.

Lawmakers reject partner rights veto

CARSON CITY, Nev. – Nevada’s Assembly voted Sunday to override Gov. Jim Gibbons’ veto and to change state law so that domestic partners, whether gay or straight, have many of the rights and benefits offered to married couples.

The Assembly’s 28-14 vote followed the state Senate’s vote a day earlier to enact the measure over the governor’s objections.