WITH the outcome of the US presidential election seemingly a ‘walk in the park’ for Barack Obama last night, whether to let prostitutes walk their streets was proving a more thorny issue for San Franciscan voters.

Dozens of gay couples were married after a landmark ruling making California the second US state to allow same-sex nuptials went into effect.

The Olympic torch arrived in San Francisco today amid increased security after the chaotic scenes in Paris and London.

A tiger escaped from its pen at the San Francisco Zoo today, killing one man and critically injuring two others before police shot it dead, authorities said.

The Heineken Cup will be paraded Stateside this week as part of Irish Week in San Francisco.

San Francisco’s mayor is to seek counselling for alcohol addiction following the disclosure that he had an affair with the wife of a veteran aide.

EarthLink and Google have finalised a four-year deal to provide free wireless internet service throughout San Francisco after seven months of negotiations.

London mayor Ken Livingstone is teaming up with Bill Clinton in Los Angeles tonight to launch a pact to help major cities around the world cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Sirens wailed through San Francisco before dawn today as residents marked the moment 100 years earlier when the Great Quake struck, shattering the city and touching off fires that burned for days.

SAN FRANCISCO’S mayor has defended releasing a police video that showed a white officer driving over a black homeless woman and poking fun at racial stereotypes, amid criticism he was hasty in condemning the clips.

A JUDGE ruled yesterday that California’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, saying the state could no longer justify limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.

Sharon Stone has received an award from the National Centre for Lesbian Rights for her support of gay and lesbian civil rights.

Catholic opponents of same-sex marriage held a prayer march, criticising San Francisco city officials who have licensed thousands of weddings for gay couples and calling for a federal amendment banning the unions.

California’s Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt to same-sex weddings in San Francisco, as Massachusetts politicians gave preliminary approval to an amendment to ban gay marriages in the only state where they have been ruled legal.

The California Supreme Court has declined a request by the state attorney general to immediately shut down San Francisco’s gay weddings and to nullify the nearly 3,500 marriages already performed.

FORMER US talk show host Rosie O’Donnell has married her long-time girlfriend in San Francisco, taking “a proud stand” for gay rights in the city where more than 3,300 same-sex couples have tied the knot since February 12.

Former US talk show host Rosie O’Donnell has married her long-time girlfriend in San Francisco, taking “a proud stand” for gay rights in the city where more than 3,300 other same-sex couples have tied the knot since February 12.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, making his Sunday talk show debut as governor, said that he and other foreign-born citizens should be eligible to run for the White House.

California’s attorney general has been ordered to “take immediate steps” to get a court ruling to put an end to same-sex marriages in San Francisco.

DOZENS of same-sex couples lined up outside City Hall in heavy rain yesterday, waiting for city offices to open so they could join more than 1,700 other gay and lesbian couples who have exchanged vows in the last few days.

Hundreds of same-sex marriages kept San Francisco City Hall offices open and buzzing through the weekend, with gay and lesbian couples waiting hours to exchange vows and conservative activists promising a relentless legal challenge.

Gay and lesbian couples rushed to San Francisco to celebrate Valentine’s Day with weddings at City Hall today as officials continued to defy state law by issuing marriage licences to same-sex partners.

THE city of San Francisco made history by becoming the first civil authority in America to officially marry gay couples in open defiance of laws banning the practice.

Marriage licences have been issued to nearly 100 same-sex couples in San Francisco, although the practical value of the licences was unclear.