One of the last male bastions in the US military is about to fall. The US Navy on Tuesday moved to lift a ban on women serving on submarines.
The decision comes after more than a decade in which opponents argued it would be too difficult to have women crew members, citing lack of privacy on submarines, where living quarters are cramped and “hot-bunking” is commonplace. They raised concern about sexual tensions with crews stuck in a confined space often for months at a time. Others argued it would be too costly to provide separate showers, toilets and living quarters.
One of the opponents, Elaine Donnelly, who served on a presidential commission that looked into the issue in 1992, said on Wednesday: “The passageways are such that it would be impossible to pass without touching.”
The Pentagon said on Wednesday night that the Navy had approved a plan that would allow women to serve on submarines. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote to Congress on Monday to say he had set the change in motion. If Congress is opposed, it will have to pass legislation within 30 days. If it does not, the removal of the ban will come into immediate effect and training for service on subs can begin.
The Navy has more than 50,000 women in the 330,500-strong service, but although they have been able to serve on warships since 1993 they have been banned from submarines, including nuclear-powered vessels. The only remaining area in the Navy from which women will be barred is the Seals.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number