The photograph is seedy-chic, with a hint of glamour and low-life menace. The four members of the rock group the Doors peer out through a hotel window. On the glass is inscribed the name of the institution: Morrison Hotel. And, in the centre of the picture, the group’s lead singer, Jim Morrison, appears to be holding a sign that reads ”Rooms — ,50”.

The French Parliamenet on Thursday definitively adopted legislation that could lead to year-long jail terms for anyone found guilty of insulting homosexuals or women. The justice minister, Dominique Perben, believes the laws are necessary to combat an increase in homophobia, but they have been condemned by advocates of free speech who say they are too strict and unworkable.

The United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, paid a surprise visit to US troops in Iraq on Friday, telling them the insurgency in the country could still be quashed. Rumsfeld, heavily criticised this week for using a machine to sign letters of condolence to the relatives of dead soldiers, visited forces wounded in a suicide attack in Mosul three days ago.

Insurgents have been able to ”operate at will” in Mosul, where 22 people died in a bomb attack this week, because the United States forces and the Iraqi authorities have failed to tackle them, an intelligence assessment by senior US officials in northern Iraq concludes.

A little flying saucer not much bigger than a washing machine will separate from its mother ship early on Saturday morning on the last stage of a long journey to oblivion. If all goes to plan, the European lander Huygens will ease away from a lorry-sized Nasa orbiter called Cassini for a date with death and glory.

Fox TV is under pressure to abandon a scheduled adoption gameshow, Who’s Your Daddy?, after thousands of people protested at the programme in which children try to identify their father for a  000 prize. The mother of a five-year-old adopted daughter has led the grassroots campaign that prompted 5 000 people to complain to the network that the programme, due to be screened in the new year, is insensitive and offensive.

Ukraine’s opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is on course for a clear victory in a Boxing Day repeat of the run-off vote for the country’s presidency, according to an opinion poll released on Thursday. Yushchenko has increased his lead over the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, to 14 percentage points, leaving Yanukovich trailing with 37% of the vote, a poll by the Social Monitoring centre said.