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.

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.

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.

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.

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.