By Jan Lopatka

BRATISLAVA Thu Feb 5, 2015 8:30am EST

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Social conservatives in Slovakia aim to block gay couples from gaining more rights in a referendum on Saturday that pits the country's mainly liberal city dwellers against those in the more traditional countryside.

The campaign is part of a conservative pushback in eastern Europe against what they see as overly liberal policies spreading eastwards in the two decades since the European Union expanded to include former Communist states.

More than 400,000 Slovaks, nearly 10 percent of the central European country’s electorate, have signed a petition demanding a national vote. It is a rare show of political engagement in a country where people often shun public affairs - a mere 13 percent voted in the European Parliament election last year.

The vote will not change the legal status quo on same-sex unions but rather could cement opposition to any changes. Gay unions of any sort are not legal in Slovakia; two attempts to push them through parliament failed in the past.  

Last year, parliament inserted the definition of traditional marriage into the constitution.

The group behind the referendum, Aliancia pre rodinu (Alliance for the Family), says the traditional family is under threat and points to an increasing number of countries including neighboring Austria and the Czech Republic that allow various forms of same-sex unions, or child adoption by gay couples.

"In many countries you feel that people are walking away from the family, they do not consider it to be an important value," said Anton Chromik, an attorney who has taken time off from his practice to help lead the movement.

"Slovaks want to say that for them it is the most important thing in their life."

The referendum poses three questions: whether marriage can only be a union of a man and a woman, whether same-sex couples should be banned from adoptions, and whether children can skip classes involving education on sex and euthanasia.

CATHOLIC CHURCH BACKS "YES" CAMPAIGN

Croatia held a similar referendum in 2013 while in neighboring Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has championed traditional family values.

The "yes" campaign has a powerful backer: the local Catholic Church, which has actively campaigned for the referendum.

Sixty-two percent of Slovaks say they are Catholics, although less than 40 percent of those attend mass regularly.

This makes the country one of the most religious in Europe on the surface, yet it does not seem to fundamentally affect the way people live. Statistics show that the percentage of children born out of wedlock is only slightly lower than in neighboring Czech Republic, which is one of the least devout nations in Europe, and the number of births per woman are even lower.

Opponents are telling Slovaks to stay at home on referendum day, which would bring turnout below 50 percent needed to make the result valid, even if the vast majority of those who vote will endorse all the questions as expected.

Politicians, apart from the opposition Christian Democrats who fully endorse the referendum, have largely refrained from taking a strong stance. Leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he would take part but not how he would vote.

Low turnout would please gays, especially in many Slovak towns outside the capital where their lives can be difficult.

"People still live in hiding. The minority is invisible outside Bratislava," said Martin Macko of gay rights group Inakost. "Those who have education often move to the Czech Republic or Austria."

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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AMSTERDAM Thu Feb 5, 2015 12:49pm EST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Amsterdam is looking for an investor to buy five buildings where sex workers can work collectively in their own prostitution business, a spokesman for the city's mayor says.

Currently, prostitutes in the city work individually, renting the windows where they stand on view for prospective customers from the brothel owners.

But this system leaves women vulnerable to pimps. City authorities hope the sex workers will be safer if they can work together in a building rented and run by a business they own. HVO-Querido, a foundation that teaches sex workers business skills, will help them run their enterprise.

"We're looking for a third party, a social entrepreneur, to buy these buildings and let them to the prostitutes," said spokesman Jasper Karman, adding the city might consider letting buildings itself if no investor could be found.

"Sex workers have told us they want this," he said. "And it would provide a decent revenue for a third party."

The five buildings, in the heart of the prostitution zone, would offer 19 work spaces for about 50 prostitutes.

The red light district attracts floods of tourists, but many in the city object to the sex work image.

In recent years, the city has been buying up brothels and turning them into shops.

But critics say reducing the number of windows for rent has driven up prices, forcing sex workers onto the street or into private flats where they are more vulnerable.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

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By Joe Brock and Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

JOHANNESBURG Fri Feb 6, 2015 12:07pm EST

1 of 2. South African model Lulama Mlambo poses while wearing clothes made by Kisua.com, an online clothing retailer launched by Ghanaian entrepreneur Samuel Mensah, in Johannesburg, February 2, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - When Michelle Obama and Beyonce Knowles attended high-profile events in clothes made by African designers, it was a sure sign that the continent's vibrant style has arrived on the world stage.

The showcasing of clothes from home-grown African designers in stores in New York, London and Tokyo is a sign of a broader change of attitude towards a continent which is earning a brighter reputation beyond stories of war and disease.

It has proven difficult for Africa's home grown designers to break into the mainstream fashion market because the perception has often been that products from the world's poorest continent are of low quality or just not cool.

Global fashion designers like Yves Saint Laurent took inspiration from Africa decades ago and more recently brands like Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior have embraced the continent's style and broadened its appeal.

But consumers now want products made by Africans, not replicas produced by Western clothing chains, according to Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, who owns Ethiopian shoe company, soleRebels, which has a dozen stores from Singapore to Greece.

"The global consumer today is hyper-aware. They want authentic and innovative ideas delivered from the authors of those ideas," Bethlehem said.

"We have always had incredible design and production talent here, but it was invisible. That is changing."

In 2010, the first annual New York African Fashion Week gave home-grown designers the chance to showcase their work on the world stage.

Global celebrities have endorsed African designers including Nigerian label Maki-Oh, Ghana's Osei-Duro and South Africa-based retailer Kisua.com.

Nigerian lawyer-turned-designer Duro Olowu has become a well-known name in fashion circles and has a collection at U.S. department store J.C. Penney and his own boutique store in central London.

"It was a good thing to see international designers putting African fashion on the map," said Ghanaian entrepreneur Samuel Mensah, who quit his job as a fund manager to launch online clothes retailer Kisua.com.

"Now we're starting to see Africa taking ownership of its own cultural assets. African designers are being noticed. They are stocked in international stores."

CHALLENGES AT HOME

While attitudes abroad have changed the industry is also trying to meet latent demand for quality fashion among the growing middle-class at home.

"The change has been brought about by global developments, both economical change and a communication change," said Roger Gerards, creative director at Vlisco, one of the world's biggest producers of African fabric.

"People see other countries and other cultures more easily than 20 years ago because of social media," Gerards added.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the second fastest growing economic region in the world behind Asia and has a rapidly growing middle-class who have more access to world trends as mobile phones and the Internet reach tens of millions more people every year.

The industry has chosen to focus on middle-class consumers who value traditional manufacturing methods and local materials because it cannot compete with cheap mass-produced imports.

The lack of investment in infrastructure and a failure of African governments to agree favorable trade agreements with each other have seen imports continue to rise.

China has grown its share of Africa's clothing imports from 16 percent in 2001 to 55 percent in 2013, while intra-African trade has remained flat at around 10 percent of imports, according to International Trade Centre data.

Even companies that are showcasing African talent often have to rely on resources outside the continent. Vlisco is based in the Netherlands, while Kisua.com only gets half of its materials from within Africa.

"It is easier for me to serve a client in New York or London than in Lagos or Nairobi," said Mensah, who struggles with reliable warehousing and postal services in Africa.

(Editing by James Macharia and Elaine Hardcastle)

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By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES Thu Feb 5, 2015 6:35pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. college freshmen these days are a serious lot. A survey released on Thursday said first-year students report spending a record low amount of time partying and socializing compared to previous generations and that many are highly focused on their education and planning for graduate studies.

The survey produced by the University of California, Los Angeles, which detailed students' high school habits and their initial perspectives and experiences at college, also found the lowest self-reported rates of alcohol and cigarette use in 30 years among first-year students at four-year colleges and universities.

The 49th annual "American Freshman" study indicates the first-year college students, who grew up during an economic downturn, are working toward financial and educational success and appear less concerned with having a good time.

At the same time, students' self-reported measure of emotional health dropped to 50.7 percent, the lowest recorded by the annual survey.

"It signals that students are taking their academics much more seriously in high school, and subsequently not providing a social outlet to release stress," said Kevin Eagan, director of UCLA's cooperative institutional research program, which conducted the survey.

Last year, 18 percent of students surveyed reported spending at least 16 hours a week socializing and more than 41 percent said they did not party at all.

That equated to a record low amount of time devoted to socializing and partying, the survey found. By comparison, in 1987 nearly 38 percent of students spent 16 hours or more socializing. Between 1987 and 2014, the share of students who partied for six hours or more per week plummeted from nearly 36 percent to under 9 percent.

What are freshmen doing with time not spent at parties? Studying.

Nearly 50 percent of freshmen reported they spent six hours or more per week studying in high school, compared to about 34 percent a decade before then. They also spent more time on social media.

In another sign they are sober about their future, the share of freshmen planning to earn a master's degree was nearly 44 percent in 2014, compared to 28 percent in 1974. Eagan said it is probably because of their perception that the labor market is competitive, he said.

A record 82 percent of students considered it highly important to one day be financially well off.

The survey was based on responses from more than 153,000 students across the country, according to UCLA.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Grant McCool)

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A gay pride flag is displayed on a 1948 Sixty-two series Cadillac during the Motor City Pride Parade in Detroit, June 8, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Joshua Lott

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By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA Fri Feb 6, 2015 2:28pm EST

1 of 2. Lee Carter (L) embraces her husband Hollis Johnson while speaking to journalists at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa February 6, 2015. Carter's mother, Kay Carter, traveled to Switzerland to end her life in 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Chris Wattie

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Canada overturned a ban on physician-assisted suicide on Friday, unanimously reversing a decision it made in 1993 and putting Canada in the company of a handful of Western countries to make it legal.

The top court said mentally competent, consenting adults who have intolerable physical or psychological suffering from a severe and incurable medical condition have the right to a doctor's help to die. The illness does not have to be terminal. The decision takes effect in 12 months.

"We do not agree that the existential formulation of the right to life requires an absolute prohibition on assistance in dying, or that individuals cannot 'waive' their right to life," the court said.

Friday's decision rejected the argument by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government that the ban should remain intact. The case related to two women with debilitating illnesses who have since died.

Gloria Taylor, an activist who had a neuro-degenerative disease, joined the right to die lawsuit in 2011 and died of her illness in 2012.

The family of a second woman, Kay Carter, who traveled to Switzerland to end her life, was also a plaintiff. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, along with Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and a handful of U.S. states.

LAST RULING IN 1993

Canada's Supreme Court ruled narrowly, 5-4, against assisted suicide in 1993. It agreed last year to take another look.

The sole judge left on the court from the last time is Beverley McLachlin, now chief justice, and she supported assisted suicide then.

"This is one incredible day," said Grace Pastine, litigation director of B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which initiated the challenge.

"Physician-assisted dying is now recognized for what it is: a medical service that brings an end, for some individuals, to unbearable suffering."

Parliament can overturn the court's ruling, using a rarely used constitutional clause, but that is an unlikely outcome.

The Canadian government said it would study the decision and gave no indication whether it would oppose it.

The 9-0 ruling was the latest defeat for the government before the Supreme Court, where the prime minister has sought to appoint more conservative judges. Harper has appointed seven of the nine judges since taking office in 2006.

Last year, the court blocked Harper's plans to introduce elections to the Senate and term limits for senators. In 2013, it struck down Canada's restrictions on adult prostitution as unconstitutional, over the government's objections. Both decisions were unanimous.

OCTOBER ELECTION ISSUE?

Canadian parliamentarians, heading into a federal election in October, will have a year to implement a regulatory framework. The government can also do nothing and simply allow the court ruling to come into effect in 12 months' time.

Parliament has previously rejected several attempts to legalize physician-assisted suicide through bills brought by its members.

Religious groups and organizations representing disabled people had opposed any relaxation of the ban, arguing that this would make them vulnerable to being killed.

"This ruling has made it clear that people with disabilities are being targeted and invited to end their lives," said Taylor Hyatt, who has cerebral palsy and spoke from a wheelchair in the Supreme Court foyer. "There's an assumption that your life is unbearable and there's nothing good in it."

Others, such as quadriplegic Conservative Member of Parliament Steven Fletcher, argued that they should have the choice.

"There does need to be some criminal code provision, I think, to prevent abuse. I don't want people, because they have a bad hair day, to get their car mechanic to take them down," Fletcher said in the lobby of the court on Friday.

"We want to make sure that we move forward quickly, but thoughtfully, and the Supreme Court has really given us a clear path."

Fletcher said to avoid the matter becoming an election issue, it should be dealt with in the current session of Parliament which ends in June before politicians take to the hustings.

It is too early to know if Canada will become a suicide tourism destination, like Switzerland, said Right to Die Society of Canada president Ruth von Fuchs. She said it was unclear whether Canadian law would allow the practice for non-residents.

Allowance for those suffering unbearable psychological pain is not unique, von Fuchs said. It was included in a bill passed last summer by the Canadian province of Quebec, for example, and Switzerland allows assisted suicide for people suffering debilitating mental illness, though it is uncommon.

The case is Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 5.

(Additional reporting by Susan Taylor and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editing by Amran Abocar and Howard Goller)

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By Chris Arsenault

Thu Feb 5, 2015 3:59am EST

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Illegal deforestation in Southeast Asia, conflicts over water in the Nile Basin and China's growing dependence on South American food are some of the resource challenges facing emerging nations with the potential to cause strife, a risk analysis group warns.

Interconnected supply chains means environmental conflicts can spread across borders, undermining economies far from where initial problems occurred, according to a report by the Earth Security Group, which evaluates risks in emerging markets.

Global commodities such as rice, soybeans, palm oil, petroleum, timber and cocoa are increasingly exposed to supply chain pressures, and a conflict in one country could reverberate across the globe due to increasing integration.

Companies and governments that can build international resilience in the face of sustainability pressures and future disruptions in the global supply of resources will find new opportunities, Alejandro Litovsky, the report's author and CEO of the Earth Security Group, said in a statement.

Multinationals that cannot anticipate or mitigate international risks to their supply chains could suffer.

Four of the most critical risks facing the commodities sector are water quality and availability, conflicts associated with land tenure and deforestation, the stability of energy supplies, and extreme weather events that amplify other pressures, the report said.

From an investment perspective, two of the greatest challenges to global resource security are productivity shortfalls in agriculture, particularly in developing economies, and lack of efficient transport and distribution mechanisms for food and water globally, said Katherine Tweedie of the Investec Investment Institute research company.

Large firms should work with governments in emerging markets to address a web of resource risks that spill across borders, the report said, adding that action from individual companies or countries will not be enough to stabilize the commodities business.

(Reporting By Chris Arsenault, Editing by Alisa Tang.)

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