Pentagon: Don’t lift ban without plan

Pentagon: Don’t lift ban without plan

WASHINGTON

Senior Pentagon leaders on Friday warned Congress not to tamper with the ban on gays’ serving openly in the military until they can come up with a plan for dealing with potential opposition in the ranks.

In a strongly worded letter obtained by The Associated Press, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen told the House Armed Services Committee that forcing policy changes on the military before it’s ready would be a mistake.

Opposition to young-driver decals

TRENTON, N.J.

New Jersey teens opposed to the nation’s first state law requiring young drivers to display license-plate decals that identify them as inexperienced have gained support for their cause from several state lawmakers and a national youth-rights advocacy group.

The statute takes effect today. It requires New Jersey drivers age 16 to 20 to have a $4 pair of detachable fluorescent red decals on their front and rear license plates during a yearlong provisional license period. Failure to do so could result in a $100 fine.

The decals are intended to help police enforce licensing restrictions on first-time drivers.

Opponents say the law won’t improve safety, will subject motorists to nuisance traffic stops and might entice criminals to target young drivers.

Jailed American speaks to family

SEOUL, South Korea

An American imprisoned in North Korea was allowed to speak to his family by telephone Friday, but Pyongyang’s state media and his family provided few details and no clues whether he would be released.

North Korea’s highest court sentenced Aijalon Mahli Gomes to eight years of hard labor and fined him $700,000 on April 6 for entering the country illegally and for an unspecified “hostile act.”

Simpson’s suit arrives at Newseum

LOS ANGELES

The suit O.J. Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted of murder has been delivered to the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where it will be part of a display focusing on the trial that was viewed by millions.

Susan Bennett, vice president and deputy director of the museum of news, said the Armani was transported Thursday by Simpson’s former manager, Mike Gilbert, who had it in storage for nearly 15 years.

Newseum officials hope to have the suit ready for display by October, which will mark the 15th anniversary of Simpson’s acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

GAO: Glitches in census computer

LOS ANGELES

A computer system that the Census Bureau needs to manage its door-to-door count of the U.S. population remained buggy and prone to crash a day before enumerators were set to begin their work, government officials said Friday.

The bureau’s Paper Based Operations Control System did not function reliably in tests and, despite hardware and software upgrades, “may not be able to perform as needed under full operational loads,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report.

World Expo opens

SHANGHAI

A proud Shanghai threw open the gates of the 2010 World Expo today, kicking off an event that underscores the Chinese financial hub’s comeback as a major world city after decades of spartan industrialism after the 1949 communist revolution.

Like the 2008 Olympics, the World Expo is showcasing China’s growing economic and geopolitical sway.

Associated Press