Retired brass: End "don't ask, don't tell"

Annapolis, Md.

Retired brass: End "don't ask, don't tell"

More than 100 retired generals and admirals called Monday for repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays so they can serve openly.

"As is the case with Great Britain, Israel, and other nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality," the officers wrote.

While President-elect Obama has expressed support for repeal, he said during the presidential campaign that he would not do so on his own — an indication that he would tread carefully to prevent the issue from becoming a drag on his agenda. Obama said he would instead work with military leaders to build consensus on removing the ban on openly gay service members.

Washington

Kin's cancer history can trump gene test

If breast cancer runs in the family, women can be at high risk even if they test free of the disease's most common gene mutations, sobering new research shows.

The genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are linked with particularly aggressive hereditary breast cancer, and an increased risk of ovarian cancer, too. When a breast-cancer patient is found to carry one of those gene mutations, her relatives tend to breathe a sigh of relief if they test gene-free.

But those headline-grabbing genes account for only about 15 percent of all breast-cancer cases. Even in families riddled with breast cancer, a BRCA gene is the culprit only in roughly one family of every five that gets tested, said University of Toronto cancer specialist Dr. Steven Narod.

Washington

Chief Guantánamo military judge retires

The chief military judge at Guantánamo Bay announced his immediate retirement Monday, effectively scuttling the slim chances that the trial of conspirators in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks could get under way before the Bush administration ends.

Judge Ralph Kohlmann, a Marine colonel, had been overseeing proceedings against major defendants at the military prison, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the attacks. It has long been a goal of some Pentagon officials, particularly those appointed by the Bush administration, to begin the capital trial of the Sept. 11 conspirators before they leave office.

Kohlmann, who was scheduled to retire in April and already had lined up a job, appointed Judge Steven Henley, an Army colonel, to take over the trial of Mohammed and four co-defendants.

Honolulu

S. Koreans travel to U.S. sans visas

The first of many South Korean tourists arrived in Hawaii Monday under a new program that allows them to enter the United States without visas.

About 800,000 Koreans visit the U.S. each year, and that number could double in 2009 because of the new program, said Austin Kang, co-chair of the Korean Visa Waiver Committee.

In Hawaii, the number of South Korean tourists could double to 80,000 next year and quadruple to 160,000 by 2010, Kang said.

Citizens from other countries, including Britain and Japan, are already eligible to enter the country without visas.

Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Astronauts deliver "goodies" to station

Astronauts hitched a shipping crate full of home-improvement "goodies" to the international space station Monday, a step toward boosting the population in orbit.

It was the first major job for the crews of the linked space station and space shuttle Endeavour, and highlighted their first full day together.

More than 14,000 pounds of gear was stuffed into the 21-foot container that flew up on Endeavour and was hoisted onto the space station. It held an extra toilet, refrigerator and kitchenette, exercise machine and sleeping compartments, and a new recycling system for converting urine into drinking water.

Seattle Times news services