Polish court backs
gay-rights ruling
WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's Supreme Court ruled Thursday against a print shop employee who refused to print banners for a gay and transgender business group because he did not want to "promote" the gay-rights movement.
The country's top court said it was upholding the ruling of a lower court. The Regional Court in Lodz had argued the principle of equality before the law meant the printer did not have the right to withhold services from the LGBT Business Forum.
The case was taken to the Supreme Court by Zbigniew Ziobro, the justice minister and attorney general, who slammed Thursday's ruling as "against freedom."
"The Supreme Court has stood on the side of state violence in the service of the ideology of homosexual activists," Ziobro said.
The Campaign Against Homophobia, which gave legal support to the LGBT Business Forum, welcomed the ruling.
Injured protester
to get Israeli care
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip -- A Palestinian man who suffered severe facial injuries when a tear-gas canister was shot into his mouth by Israeli troops during a border protest last week was allowed to leave Gaza on Thursday for treatment at a Jerusalem hospital.
Haitham Abu Sabla, 24, spent three days on life support after being wounded during the protest along Gaza's border with Israel last Friday.
The canister pierced his cheek and got stuck in his mouth. Associated Press photos showed Abu Sabla running, wobbling and falling on the ground with the acrid white smoke spewing from his mouth and nose.
"It's the first time we have dealt with such a thing," said Dr. Hussam al-Majayda, the surgeon who operated on Abu Sabla. He said medics took 45 minutes to remove the canister.
Abu Sabla's jaw and face suffered multiple fractures, and his teeth and nose were damaged. Doctors say Abu Sabla has difficulty breathing.
Abu Sabla was a frequent participant in the near-weekly protests along the Israeli border and was about 50 yards away from the fence when he was struck. It was not immediately clear what he was doing when he was hit.
Hungary sentences
migrant smugglers
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- A Hungarian court on Thursday sentenced four human-trafficking convicts to 25 years in prison for their roles in the 2015 case in which 71 migrants suffocated in the back of a refrigerated truck found on a highway in Austria.
The principal defendant, an Afghan man, and three Bulgarian accomplices, were found guilty in the southern city of Kecskemet of being part of a criminal organization and committing multiple crimes, including human smuggling and murder.
Ten other defendants, mostly Bulgarians, were given prison terms ranging between three and 12 years. Three of the men convicted are fugitives.
In France, meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron's office confirmed that he will host Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte today as a dispute escalates between the two countries over migration. Macron and Conte spoke by phone on Wednesday, Macron's office said.
Italy had demanded an apology after the French president accused its new populist Italian government of irresponsible behavior for refusing to allow a rescue ship carrying 629 migrants to dock at an Italian port.
Macron said he "had not made any comment intended to offend Italy and the Italian people," the statement said.
Conte said the chat with Macron had been "very cordial" and confirmed today's meeting in Paris.
A Section on 06/15/2018