By Amanda Ayers

News Editor

National:

– A voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, also known as Proposition 8, was repealed by a federal appeals court in California on Tuesday. It concluded that the ban violated the constitutional rights of gay men and lesbians in the state.

– Rick Santorum won the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri on Tuesday. Santorum, now with four victories, including Iowa, is looking like the chief alternative to Romney, the present front runner, as opposed to Gingrich who only claimed a victory in South Carolina.

– The Pennsylvania Senate passed legislation to authorize a tax on the shale gas industry. Many have been critical of this since it was passed on Tuesday, claiming that municipalities will have little control over the use of their land if the government sets uniform standards of development.

– The vice president for policy for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation resigned Tuesday after the foundation decided to end financial support for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood affiliates.

International:

– After spending 10 years drilling through solid ice, Russian scientists reached a freshwater lake the size of Lake Ontario at the Vostock Research Camp in Antarctica, the coldest spot on earth.

– The State Department is planning on slashing the Iraq Embassy Staff by as much as 50 percent. This comes less than two months after American troops left the country, demonstrating the administration’s goal to have less and less U.S. presence there.

– Efforts toward passing an austerity package in Greece were stalled again by political leaders there. In order to pay back billions in loans and prevent default in March, the government must come to an agreement on cuts in base pay for workers in private companies as well as loosen public sector job protections.