PARIS -- French President Francois Hollande has signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, making France the 14th country to legalize gay weddings.

France's official journal announced on Saturday the bill had become law after the Constitutional Council gave it the go-ahead on Friday.

The bill, a campaign pledge by the Socialist president, has been for months hotly contested by many conservatives in France, where allowing gay marriage is one of the biggest social reforms since abolition of the death penalty in 1981.

Opponents have staged huge and often violent demonstrations against the bill and have called yet another protest on May 26. The leader of opposition to gay marriage, a political activist and humorist who goes under the name of Frigide Barjot, has said the protest would draw millions into the streets.

Montpellier mayor Helene Mandroux, who is due to celebrate France's first gay marriage in the southern city on May 29, said the law marked a major social advance.

"Love has won out over hate," she said, while voicing concerns the first gay wedding could attract violent protests.

France, a predominantly Catholic country, follows 13 others including Canada, Denmark, Sweden and most recently Uruguay and New Zealand in allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. In the United States, Washington D.C. and 12 states have legalized same-sex marriage.

Unlike former president Francois Mitterrand's abolition of the death penalty, which most French people opposed at the time, polls showed more than half the country backed gay marriage.

Nonetheless, with Hollande's popularity ratings at record lows a year into office, the law has proved costly for the president with critics saying it has distracted his attention from reviving the recession-hit economy.

After lawmakers adopted the bill in late April, opponents had sought to scupper it with a last-ditch appeal to the Constitutional Council.

Related stories:

• France legalizes gay marriage despite angry protests
• New Zealand becomes 13th country to legalize gay marriage
• Protesters in France: Gay marriage would hurt children

CANNES, France -- A man was arrested at the Cannes film festival on Friday after firing a starting pistol during a live TV broadcast on the palm-lined waterfront, sending actors Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil running for cover.

French TV station Canal+ was interviewing Austria's Oscar-winning Waltz and French actor Auteuil live on its nightly news show from a beach-front set before a crowd of spectators when a man fired two shots into the air.

"The bodyguards jumped over the barriers into the crowd and pulled him to the ground. The police arrived and told everyone to run because there was a grenade in his hand," witness Arthur Laiguesse told Reuters.

Police arrested the man at the scene and found he was carrying a dummy grenade and a knife, authorities said.

"It really appears to be a crazy guy," said a police source.

After the man was taken away, the show's producers told the crowd the program would continue: "The show must go on."

Waltz, who has won two best supporting actor Oscars for "Django Unchained" and "Inglourious Basterds", and Auteuil, both of whom are serving on the Cannes jury, returned to the set.

The shooting was the second security incident on day three of the 12-day festival, the world's largest cinema showcase that attracts thousands of actors, directors, film executives, journalists and fans.

A police source said $1.4 million worth of Chopard jewelry intended to adorn movie stars had been stolen from a room at the Suite Novotel hotel overnight on Thursday.

But Chopard said the value had been exaggerated and the items were not for actresses to use, declining to give further details.

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• Cannes caper: Pricey trove of jewels stolen from hotel room during film festival

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, but the purpose of the launches was unknown.

Launches by the North of short-term missiles are not uncommon, but the ministry would not speculate whether these latest launches were part of a test or training exercise.

Slideshow: Glimpses into the hermit kingdom of North Korea

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As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

Launch slideshow

"North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast," an official at the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman's office said by telephone.

The official said he would not speculate on whether the missiles were fired as part of a drill or training exercise.

"In case of any provocation, the ministry will keep monitoring the situation and remain on alert," he said.

A Japanese government source, quoted by Kyodo news agency, noted the three launches, but said none of the missiles landed in Japan's territorial waters.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has subsided in the past month after running high for several weeks following the imposition of tougher U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang following its third nuclear test in February.

The North had for weeks issued nearly daily warnings of impending nuclear war with the South and the United States.

North Korea conducts regular launches of its Scud short-range missiles, which can hit targets in South Korea.

It conducted a successful launch of a long-range missile last December, saying it put a weather satellite into orbit. The United States and its allies denounced the launch as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead.

During the weeks of high tension, South Korea reported that the North had moved missile launchers into place on its east coast for a possible launch of a medium-range Musudan missile. The Musudan has a range of 3,500 km, putting Japan in range and possibly the U.S. South Pacific island of Guam.

Slideshow: Daily life in North Korea

Elizabeth Dalziel / AP

From work to play, see pictures from inside the secretive country.

Launch slideshow

Reuters

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• Full North Korea coverage from NBCNews.com

British police said on Friday they had identified people they want to question about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the 3-year-old who went missing in Portugal six years ago. 

Madeleine disappeared from her room at a holiday resort in the Algarve, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant, sparking a global manhunt and transfixing the world's media. 

Speaking to the Evening Standard newspaper, Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, head of Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "There are a lot of people of interest," without saying how many. 

"There are people who could be properly explored further, if only to be eliminated." 

British police confirmed they had identified people of interest but said they had not asked Portuguese police to arrest anyone. 
Despite reported sightings the world over, the fate of Madeleine McCann remains a mystery. 

Her parents Kate and Gerry were named as official suspects by Portuguese police four months after their daughter's disappearance, but in 2008 were cleared. 

"Kate and Gerry remain very, very pleased with the work that Scotland Yard are doing and have been encouraged by Operation Grange from the day it began," the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell was quoted as saying by the British media. 

British Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a new investigation by London police after the McCanns wrote to him in 2011 saying neither British nor Portuguese authorities had done enough to try to find their daughter.

Related:

6 years later, Maddie McCann's family has hope

Brett Gundlock / Reuters

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is swarmed by reporters as he enters his offices at Toronto City Hall on Friday.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies allegations that he smoked crack cocaine, his lawyer told the Toronto Sun on Friday. 

Reporters for the Toronto Star, a rival Canadian newspaper, and Gawker Media, a U.S. media outlet, said they had seen a video that appears to show Ford smoking crack. 

The lawyer, Dennis Morris, told the Toronto Sun that the mayor is denying "any such allegation." 

The video is allegedly being shopped around for $100,000 by people said to be involved in the drug trade. Reuters could not independently confirm the existence of the video. 

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he has not spoken with Ford since the allegations surfaced, but he told reporters he stands by the mayor. 

"Certainly, at this point, we all know that videos can be altered and we certainly know that drug dealers can't be trusted," he said at Toronto City Hall. "So I don't know what we're dealing with here, and until we do, I don't really have much to say." 

The mayor and Morris did not immediately return Reuters' requests for comment. 

"We're just trying to see whether or not such a video exists and whether or not any video has been doctored or altered," Morris told the Toronto Sun. 

Asked if Ford planned legal action, Morris said it is at the "bottom rung of the ladder" now. 

The Toronto Star said that it stands by its reporting and that the story is just one piece of a broader investigative report about Ford it has been working on for months. 

"This isn't a story that we're going to report lightly," said Robyn Doolittle, one of two Toronto Star reporters who said they watched the video three times. 

"This is part of an ongoing investigation that myself and a colleague, Kevin Donovan, have been working on for months," Doolittle said. 

She added: "The Toronto Star has a high bar that we always make sure we meet before we run something, especially when it comes to this mayor." 

Ford, who took office more than two years ago with a promise to "stop the gravy train" at city hall, has sparked controversy by skipping council meetings to coach high-school football and engaging in a confrontation outside his home with a reporter, among other things. 

He was briefly ordered out of office in 2012 after he was found guilty of conflict of interest but won the appeal and was allowed to finish his four-year term. 

Ford has not been seen in public since the allegations surfaced late on Thursday. 

Early Friday morning, the following tweet was posted on his official Twitter account: "The long weekend is here! Catch a ferry to

Toronto Island Park for a scenic picnic. Details here: http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/ferry-schedule.htm … #LongWknd #Topoli." 

Tim Cocks / Reuters, file

Nigerian forces gather Monday in the Islamist stronghold of Maiduguri. Soldiers poured in this weeek before the military on Friday launched a major offensive against the insurgents.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- Nigerian forces used jets and attack helicopters to bombard Islamist militant camps in the northeast on Friday, in their biggest military offensive since Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009.

"A number of insurgents have been killed," the defense headquarters spokesman said, including at the Sambisa game reserve in Borno state, the epicenter of the insurgency.

"It is not just Sambisa. Every camp is under attack. But we have not done the mopping-up operations on the ground to determine the numbers killed," Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade said by telephone. Another military source, who declined to be named, said at least 30 insurgents had been killed.

Nigerian forces are trying to regain territory controlled by increasingly well-armed Boko Haram Islamist insurgents in their northeastern stronghold states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, put under a state of emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday.

More troops arrived in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on Friday, witnesses said.

"I saw more than 20 trucks loaded with soldiers fully kitted for battle towards Marte. I wish them luck in ending this BH (Boko Haram) madness," resident Ahmed Ibrahim said by telephone.

Beyond the region covered by the state of emergency, gunmen stormed a police station and a bank, the army said, a sign the offensive could provoke violence by smaller militant cells across the north.

Boko Haram, other Islamist militant groups such as al-Qaeda-linked Ansaru and associated criminal gangs have become the biggest threat to stability in Africa's top oil-producing nation.

Thousands have been killed since Boko Haram launched an uprising almost four years ago in an effort to create an Islamic state in a country of about 170 million split roughly equally between Christians, who are the majority in the south, and Muslims, who predominate in the north.

Violence has mostly happened far from the commercial hub, Lagos, or political capital, Abuja, and hundreds of miles away from oilfields in the southeast.

Military jets, helicopter gunships and thousands of troops are involved in the current offensive, which may answer some critics who accuse Jonathan, a southern Christian, of underestimating the severity of the crisis in the Muslim north.

Rights groups are concerned the state of emergency will lead to more abuses they have document by Nigerian forces.

Related:

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• Family kidnapped by Nigerian Islamists released
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- At least 18 people were killed as they prayed when explosions ripped through two mosques in Pakistan on Friday, villagers and government officials said.

The blasts occurred in Bazdara, which is located in a mountainous region close to the restive Swat valley. Villagers put the death toll at 33. However, authorities said 18 people had died.

"The roof of [one of the mosques] collapsed in the blast," local resident Shah Jehan said.

Pakistani security forces cordoned off the area while villagers searched the rubble for survivors.

"The death toll is likely to rise as some of the injured people are in a serious condition," local government official Sajid Khan added.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings. The Pakistani military has maintained a heavy presence in the region since its 2009 offensive against militants in nearby Swat.

Related:

• Full Pakistan coverage from NBC News

This story was originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 10:59 AM EDT

Stefano Porta / ANSA via EPA

Karima El-Mahrough, nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer, leaves a Milan courtroom after testifying about former premier Silvio Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties.

MILAN -- The Moroccan woman at the center of a sex scandal involving former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi testified Friday in court for the first time, describing how a young woman attending one of Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties dressed as a nun, danced provocatively and stripped down to her underwear for the premier.

Karima el-Mahroug took the witness stand in the trial of three former Berlusconi aides charged with recruiting her and other women for prostitution. They deny the charges. The trial is separate from the one in which Berlusconi is charged with paying for sex with a minor — el-Mahroug herself — and trying to cover it up.

El-Mahroug, also known as Ruby or Ruby the Heart Stealer, has made carefully orchestrated statements to the media since the scandal broke but has never publicly given sworn testimony. Both she and Berlusconi deny having had sex.

The three Berlusconi aides — Emilio Fede, an executive in Berlusconi's media empire; Nicole Minetti, a former dental hygienist, showgirl and local politician, and talent agent Dario "Lele" Mora — are accused of recruiting women for prostitution at the parties and abetting prostitution, including of a minor.

El-Mahroug's testimony Friday confirmed the sexual atmosphere at Berlusconi's infamous "bunga bunga" parties, which were filled with beautiful young women. Many of those women have said they received money from the billionaire media mogul.

Dressed soberly with her hair pulled back, El-Mahroug said she first made contact with Berlusconi's inner circle when she participated in a beauty contest organized by Fede in Sicily when she was 16.

Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

Karima el-Mahroug said she visited a mansion belonging to Silvio Berlusconi, seen here in 2011, a half-dozen times. Each time she received an envelope containing money, el-Mahroug testified Friday.

After that she made her way to Milan, hoping to find work. She said she tried to get work through another defendant's talent agency but wound up landing a job as a hostess in nightclubs, earning around $130 a night.

Eventually, she ran into Fede at a restaurant, where she reminded him of his promise in Sicily to help her. Shortly thereafter, she was invited to a dinner party — at Berlusconi's villa outside Milan.

She testified that she met the premier that night — on Valentine's Day in 2010 — and that he gave her an envelope of 2,000 to 3,000 euros ($2,600 to $3,900), saying it was "a little help" and asking for her telephone number, which she gave him.

At that party, she said, she introduced herself as Ruby and told other guests a fake tale that she was Egyptian, that her mother was a famous Arab singer and that she was related to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. She was 17 at the time but had passed herself off as being 24.

El-Mahroug confirmed Friday what other witnesses have testified previously: that at some of the soirees, young female party guests had dressed up like nuns and danced for Berlusconi and then stripped down to their underwear.

El-Mahroug said Minetti, one of the defendants, had dressed up like a nun at that Feb. 14 party and lifted her costume to show off her legs as she danced in Berlusconi's in-house disco, which was outfitted with a lap-dance pole. El-Mahroug demonstrated from her seat how Minetti had raised her hemline. She said Minetti eventually took off her costume and was in just her lingerie.

She said other girls dressed up as President Barack Obama and a Milan magistrate who is leading the prosecution against Berlusconi in the sex scandal.

"The girls who were dressed in costumes approached him in a sensual way as they danced. They raised their skirts," El-Mahroug testified. She added: "I never saw contact."

El-Mahroug said she visited Berlusconi's mansion, Arcore, a half-dozen times, and that each time she was given an envelope with money, always in 500 euro ($645) bills. The second evening she went she said she was given more than $2,500.

Prosecutors in Berlusconi's separate trial have said El-Mahroug's testimony is unreliable and are relying on her sworn statements. The defense had initially called her as a witness, but then changed its strategy and didn't call her. That trial is nearing a verdict.

Related:

• Berlusconi: 'I'll cover you in gold'
• 'Ruby' shows up for Berlusconi sex trial
• Berlusconi sex scandal comes full circle

EPA, file

Japanese chef Miki Nozawa had cooked for celebrities including Mikhail Gorbachev, Phil Collins, Naomi Campbell and Denzel Washington.

MUNICH, Germany -- A chef to the stars has died following a fight that reportedly started with an argument over fried noodles.

Miki Nozawa, 57, died from a cerebral hemorrhage on Monday after confronting two men outside a nightclub and demanding that they pay a bill left at his eponymous Asian diner on the German resort island of Sylt, officials said. 

According to German media reports, two customers had earlier left the restaurant after complaining to Nozawa about their beef noodle dish. The German tabloid Bild said the total bill was about $25. 

Nozawa was beaten until he was unconscious, according to reports.

Senior public prosecutor Rüdiger Meienburg said an autopsy had not clearly indicated whether the beating alone had killed Nozawa or had possibly exacerbated an existing medical condition. He said authorities were waiting for further results.

"We are vigorously investigating and trying to find out exactly what happened," Meienburg added.

Friederike Reussner / Sylter Rundschau via EPA

Miki Nozawa's death may have resulted from a brawl after unhappy customers reportedly did not pay for a noodle dish in this restaurant.

He confirmed that police had questioned two suspects but said that the exact sequence and nature of the events had not been determined.

Born in Tokyo and known for his Japanese-Italian fusion dishes, Nozawa had cooked for celebrities including Mikhail Gorbachev, Phil Collins, Naomi Campbell and Denzel Washington.

After a stint cooking for the rich and famous in Berlin and at the Billionaire Club in Sardinia, Italy, Nozawa had recently moved to Sylt, an island known for its luxurious lifestyle. He opened his Asian diner in March.

Related:

• Full Germany coverage from NBC News

Jessica Rinaldi / Russell family via Reuters, file

Sgt. John Russell was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing five fellow service members at a base in Iraq in 2009.

An Army sergeant was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.

A military judge, Army Col. David Conn, found Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder on Monday and imposed the sentence Thursday morning. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release.

Russell will be transferred within the next several days to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said late Thursday.

The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated. A streamlined court-martial ended Saturday.

The shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war and raised questions about the mental stresses of serving repeated tours of duty.

Killed in the 2009 shooting in Baghdad were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, of Wilmington, N.C., and four Army personnel: Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., of Federalsburg, Md.; Dr. Matthew Houseal, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, of Paterson, N.J.; and Spc. Jacob D. Barton, of Lenox, Mo.

Russell's lawyers argued that he was deluded by depression and despair at the time. An Army mental health board found that Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and post-combat stress.

Russell had long sought help with sleep troubles and was stammering and crying for help in the days before the shooting. His commanders were so alarmed that they disarmed him and sent him for repeated visits to mental health clinics, said attorney James Culp.

However, prosecutors argued that Russell was trying to paint himself as mentally ill in an attempt to win early retirement — just as he was facing a sexual harassment complaint that could derail his career and his benefits.

The day before the killings, psychiatrist Michael Jones told him that a mental disability retirement would require "some kind of suicidal psychotic crisis," Maj. Daniel Mazzone said during closing arguments, according to the Los Angeles Times.

But when Russell saw Jones again the next day, the psychiatrist said he had no intention of giving him "a golden ticket" out of the Army.

When Russell returned about an hour later, prosecutors say, he was looking for Jones, but wound up killing two patients, a bystander and two other mental health workers, including Navy Cmdr. Springle, who had also briefly treated Russell in the days before the shootings. Jones escaped injury by jumping out a window.

The Associated Press

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