Politics

Gay MP Chris Bryant  has been appointed Deputy Leader of the Commons in the reshuffle of junior ranks.

The former Church of England clergyman earned himself the nickname Captain Underpants after he circulated a photograph of himself along with sexually explicit messages on a gay website.

The image of Mr Bryant, a keen triathlete, showed him apparently taking a picture of himself in a bathroom mirror, wearing only a pair of Y-fronts.

The Rhondda MP, pictured, who ran Miss Harman's successful deputy leadership campaign last year, was forced to apologise for the 2003 episode. His promotion is seen as reward for his role in helping to oust Tony Blair in 2006.

Others involved in the Brownite conspiracy are also among the winners. Backbencher Sion Simon becomes Skills Minister, while Tom Watson is given a beefed-up role within the Cabinet Office.

Read more: Promotion for Captain Underpants

Shaven-headed and tattooed all over with skinhead emblems and the symbols of Ulster loyalism, Sam 'Skelly' McCrory was once regarded as one of the most dangerous terrorists in Western Europe.

He was the last commander of Ulster Defence Association inmates in the Maze prison and the closest confidant of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair, who called him his 'top operator'. McCrory was also one of two UDA leaders chosen to meet Mo Mowlam 10 years ago in her talks in the Maze aimed at salvaging the loyalist ceasefires.

But now McCrory has become the first paramilitary to publicly out himself as a gay man. The 43-year-old has swapped a life dominated by direct involvement in UDA assassination squads in Northern Ireland for one of gay activism in Scotland.

In his first interview, McCrory has also claimed he was the unlikely inspiration for a novel written by one of his former foes - ex-Sinn Fein publicity director Danny Morrison.

Read more: First Irish Paramilitary Terrorist Comes Out

Equal rights for gay couples, a divisive issue in the 2004 U.S. presidential election, produced a rare moment of agreement in Thursday's vice presidential debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin.

In an otherwise contentious debate, both Biden and Palin said they did not support civil marriages for same-sex couples, but both backed a range of other legal protections.

"No one would ever propose, not in a McCain-Palin administration, to do anything to prohibit, say, visitations in a hospital or contracts being signed," said Palin, referring to John McCain, her running mate in the November 4 election.

Such rights already exist in Alaska, where Palin serves as governor.

Read more: Sarah Palin on Gay Marriage

Prospective parliamentary candidate Margot James believes the Conservative Party really has changed its attitude to homosexuality - not just in the Cameroonian salons of fashionable Notting Hill but in the rural heartlands as well.

An "astonishing" number of target seats have picked gay candidates, she told a Stonewall fringe meeting at the party conference in Birmingham.

"I have yet to meet another (gay) woman I regret to say - but we do have a marvellous number of gay men.

"It is astonishing to me that some of these Conservative branches in very rural communities or suburban, Midlands constituencies are selecting gay people to stand as candidates because I don't believe they would have done so five years ago.

"There has been a huge change - not just among some of the MPs - also in the country in our associations, among the 60 to 70-year-old average members of our associations."

Read more: Gays 'have a duty to vote Tory'?

Bosnia's first gay festival will close early after hooded men, some shouting Islamic slogans, attacked visitors on its opening night, injuring eight people, organizers said on Thursday.

About 70 men, some shouting "God is greatest" in Arabic, dragged festival-goers from their cars and beat others in the streets of the Bosnian capital on Wednesday.

Sarajevo, known for centuries for the peaceful coexistence of its Muslims, Christians and Jews, became a majority Muslim city after the 1992-95 war.

"We cannot guarantee the safety of visitors," said organizer Svetlana Djurkovic. "The festival is closing down."

Djurkovic heads a group that promotes the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual groups.

Read more: Bosnia's gay festival goers suffers attacks