Morning News Roundup (06 July)

• In a 4-2 decision, the New York Court of Appeals, the highest in the state's judiciary system, ruled that state lawmakers, not the courts, are better suited to consider the issue, concluding that the legislature could have "a rational basis" for limiting marriage to heterosexual couples, in large part because of their ability to bear children. [NYTimes]
  
  
• The right-wing American Family Association is suing “to stop Michigan State University from offering health insurance to the partners of gay workers,” claiming the policy violates a 2004 state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage “in substance if not by label.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• Kim Jong Il displays more bravado as North Korea's Foreign Ministry claims more missiles may be launched. The UN Security Council is meeting to discuss a response, though China and Russia oppose sanctions. Dana Milbank thinks that the Bush administration has caught the multilateral diplomacy bug on this "crisis," and nothing is going to convince them otherwise once they've decided on a strategy. [Foriegn Policy's Passport]
  
  Here's more from Milbank's WaPo column:
  

  "The president went to the Dunkin' Donuts," White House press secretary Tony Snow said in the first item of business at his daily news conference. A few of the reporters laughed, perhaps thinking Snow was joking about the trip to the land of French Crullers and Munchkins.
  
  He wasn't. After interpreting every gesture of Saddam Hussein as a casus belli , a changed Bush administration is taking the opposite approach with Kim Jong Il. Officials were determined not to give the little man with the big missile the attention he craves.

  
  
• Conservative candidate Felipe Calderon was leading in an official vote count by a razor-thin margin today, but his leftist rival said he won't accept the results and will take his demands to court. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he was robbed of victory, and he urged his supporters to gather this weekend in downtown Mexico City, stirring fears he would mobilize massive protests that could lead to violence. [LATimes]
  
  
• Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters during a visit to Kuwait that "the immunity given to members of coalition forces encouraged them to commit such crimes in cold blood," adding, "That makes it necessary to review it."
  
  The demand could widen a rift between U.S. and Iraqi authorities over killings and other crimes allegedly carried out in recent months. Maliki, who said last month that excessive force by U.S. troops was commonplace, also said Monday that the government would open its own investigation into allegations of rape and murder by American soldiers during a March attack on a family in Mahmudiyah. [WaPo]
  
  
• A staggering amount of global warming pollution comes from U.S. cars, says the Environmental Defense Fund in a new report (download the PDF). In 2004, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from personal vehicles totaled 314 million metric tons. That’s equal to the amount of carbon in a coal train 55,000 miles long, enough to circle the world twice. General Motors cars alone account for more carbon pollution than that from America’s largest electric-generating company, American Electric Power. Emissions from Toyota vehicles, fourth among car companies, edge out those from the Tennessee Valley Authority, third among power companies.
  
  
• $75.19: the closing price of one barrel of crude oil yesterday, a record-high. “The unrelenting demand for oil in the U.S. and Asia and the nuclear standoff with Iran forced up oil prices even before North Korea pushed them into record territory by test-firing missiles.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• DaimlerChrysler will bring the two-seater SmartCar to the US in 2008, which has sold over 750,000 cars worldwide. In Canada, 4,000 smarts were sold last year—a major increase above the target of 1,500 the company had set. The model sold in Europe has a small three-cylinder engine and gets 60 miles per gallon in combined highway and city driving, but its top speed is 84 mph. When available in the US, it will come in three models, which will not initially include the diesel, although both diesel and a micro-hybrid are potential future products. [GreenCarCongress & Examiner]
  
  
• And finally, the French celebrate their win in the World Cup, gathering on the Champs-Elysées (with the Arc de Triomphe in the background). Ahhh, to be in Paris... and here's hoping for a French win on Sunday.