| Tate Modern work of art you can walk on The latest installation in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Gallery is in place and it consists of 100 million hand-painted porcelain seeds by the Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei. bbc.co.uk |
Cohen is new BBC One controller BBC Three controller Danny Cohen has been appointed the new controller of BBC One it has been announced. bbc.co.uk |
Gay soldiers come out to rejoin US army Gay campaigner Dan Choi among first to try to re-enlist after Pentagon move to end 'don't ask, don't tell' policyThe most high-profile campaigner against the US military's crumbling "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Dan Choi, was going through the process of re-enlisting in spite of continued legal confusion.The Pentagon announced yesterday that the military will begin accepting openly gay recruits into its ranks for the first time and will instruct enlistment centres to take applications from openly gay volunteers.But the US justice department today lodged an appeal to delay implementation of the policy, saying the military needed time to prepare for it.Choi, 29, a lieutenant discharged earlier this year because he is gay, kept supporters updated through Twitter on his progress through the army enlistment process.After completing a basic skills test today, Choi wrote that he had missed only three verbal questions and five of the maths ones. He added triumphantly: "I passed."Choi went to the recruitment office in Times Square, New York, this morning after a visit yesterday to declare he was gay and to inform them he planned to re-enlist in the wake of a federal court ruling confirming existing Pentagon policy on gays was illegal.Legislation at present says gay people can serve in the military but not openly. If they admit publicly they are gay or are outed, they face being discharged. Choi, who saw combat in Iraq, came out in March on a US television show.After his initial stop at the recruiting centre yesterday he said: "Apparently I'm too old for the marines. Just filled out the army application." He added: "A week ago I would be turned away. Today was very different. I was very excited. They are processing it."Choi said he refused to lie on his army application. He wrote on the form: "I was discharged in 7/2010 from the US [army] because I told the truth about my sexual orientation and refused to lie about my cherished and loved partner."Elsewhere, the response was mixed, with some enlistment centres saying the Pentagon had not informed them of a change in policy.Randy Miller, 24, from Stockton, California, honourably discharged from the army in 2006 after being outed by another trooper, said he was turned away from one recruiting office by staff who said they had not been told of the change in policy.The change came after a decision by a California judge, Virginia Phillips.Although Barack Obama said he too wants an end to the policy, the department of justice asked for a delay until it could appeal against Phillips's ruling, arguing that it has to uphold existing legislation until Congress repeals it. It is also said that ending the gay ban immediately would create problems for the military.The justice department said that leaving the judge's decision in place "would create tremendous uncertainty about the status of service members who may reveal their sexual orientation in reliance on the district court's decision and injunction".The department added: "Effectively developing proper training and guidance with respect to a change in policy will take time and effort."The district court's injunction does not permit sufficient time for such training to occur, especially for commanders and service members serving in active combat."The Service members Legal Defense Network, a group representing military personnel affected by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, today cautioned gay people against applying until the legal confusion is cleared up, saying it might take days or weeks.But Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the group, was in little doubt about the eventual outcome. "The reality is, the toothpaste is out of the tube," he said.US militaryGay rightsUnited StatesUS constitution and civil libertiesEwen MacAskillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Bahrain's Shiites Win Slight Gain in Parliament Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group won a slight gain in representation in the country's parliament, but the polls have been criticized as unlikely to translate into more power for the country's majority Shiite sect, living under the rule of a Sunni monarch. online.wsj.com |
Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony Has it been 17 days already? Once again, we're settled into Vancouver's BC Place for a two-hour pageant of songs, speeches and Canadian cultural icons. Brace yourself for appearances by Mounties, beavers and William Shatner. (Still no sign of Celine Dion.) online.wsj.com |