World / Nation Briefs July 23, 2011
Obama ends 17-year ban on gays in military
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday formally signed off on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military, doing away with a policy that's been controversial from the day it was enacted and making good on his 2008 campaign promise to the gay community.
The president joined Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the joint chiefs of staff chairman, in signing a notice and sending it to Congress certifying that military readiness would not be hurt by repealing the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
That means that 60 days from now the ban will be lifted.
"As commander in chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness," Obama said in a statement.
"Today's action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal. As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country."
Heat wave moves into urban Northeast
NEW YORK - The urban Northeast baked like a potato wrapped in foil Friday as record-breaking, 100-degree temperatures and steambath humidity combined with the heat-trapping effects of asphalt and concrete to make millions of people miserable.
The mercury in Newark, N.J., reached 108, the highest temperature ever recorded in the city. Philadelphia hit 104. Boston and Teterboro, N.J., reached 102 and Providence, R.I., 100. New York City hit 104 degrees, just 2 short of its all-time high, and with the oppressive humidity, it felt like 113.
Lawmakers demand answers as scandal grows
LONDON - Media scion James Murdoch, his father's heir apparent, was under fire Friday over claims by former newspaper executives that he misled lawmakers about what he knew, and when, about Britain's phone-hacking scandal.
The allegation raises questions not only about his succession to the helm of the media empire but what he may have relayed to Rupert Murdoch, the CEO and controlling shareholder.
The younger Murdoch told a parliamentary committee that he was not aware of evidence that eavesdropping at the News of the World went beyond a jailed rogue reporter. But in a sign that executives are starting to turn against the company, two former top staffers said late Thursday they told him years ago about an email that suggested wrongdoing at the paper was more widespread than the company let on.
UNICEF says 800,000 children at risk in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia vowed to keep most international aid workers out of the country despite a worsening famine and the U.N. warned Friday that 800,000 children could die in the region from starvation.
Frustrated aid groups said they want to deploy more food assistance in Somalia but don't yet have the necessary safety guarantees to do so. The anarchic country has been mired in conflict for two decades and its capital is a war zone.
The renewed threat from al-Shabab means only a handful of agencies will be able to respond to the hunger crisis in militant-controlled areas of southern Somalia. And the largest provider of food aid - the U.N. World Food Program - isn't among those being allowed inside.
The U.N. fears tens of thousands of people already have died in the famine.
- The Associated Press