WASHINGTON — For decades there has been talk about women serving on submarines. Now the Navy is acting. The service is getting ready to notify Congress, a necessary administrative step because women are now banned from the boats, a Navy spokesman said. “What I can tell you is we are actively in the process of preparing notification,” he said. Women officers could begin training as early as next year and report to ballistic missile and cruise-missile submarines by 2011. Many of the women could be sent to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, home to eight of the Navy’s Trident submarines and two attack submarines. The others are at Kings Bay, Ga.
Muslim population estimate
The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday billed as the most comprehensive of its kind. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to guesswork, with estimates ranging anywhere from 1 billion to 1.8 billion. Pew officials call the report the most thorough on the size and distribution of adherents of the world’s second largest religion behind Christianity, which has an estimated 2.1 billion to 2.2 billion followers.
New U.S. plan for wild horses
Thousands of mustangs that now roam the West would be moved to preserves in the Midwest and East under a new Interior Department plan to protect wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday the plan would not require killing any wild horses. Interior Department officials had warned in recent months that slaughtering some of the 69,000 wild horses and burros under federal control might be necessary to combat rising costs of maintaining them.
Alaska: Playgirl gets Johnston
Levi Johnston is going for the ultimate exposure — his bare body. Posing nude for Playgirl is next for the 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild. Johnston’s attorney said Wednesday that a formal agreement has not been reached with the online magazine but adds it’s a “foregone conclusion” it will happen. Johnston fathered a child with Bristol, the 18-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin.
California: Asteroid to miss
Earth can breathe a sigh of relief. NASA on Wednesday downgraded the odds of an 885-foot asteroid striking the planet in 2036. Scientists initially believed there was a 1-in-45,000 chance that Apophis could hit the planet on April 13, 2036. But the threat was lowered to a 1-in-250,000 chance after researchers recalculated the asteroid’s path. Scientists are tracking Apophis, which is slated to come within 18,300 miles above Earth’s surface in 2029.
Riot at Folsom State Prison
Eight California inmates have been injured after a fight erupted in a dining hall at Folsom State Prison. A corrections spokesman described most of the injuries as bumps and bruises. None was life-threatening, although the inmates were sent to area hospitals. About 120 prisoners began fist-fighting and hitting each other with food trays about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. He said guards used pepper spray to end the brawl within 15 minutes.
Ohio: Top honors for pumpkin
A teacher from Ohio has won top honors in a pumpkin-growing contest with a 1,725-pound behemoth that could land worldwide bragging rights. Christy Harp of Jackson Township near Canton took first place at the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers annual weigh-off Saturday in Canfield. She won $2,500 and could claim the world title. Organizers said the entry topped the 1,689-pound record-holder grown in 2007 by Joe Jutras of North Scituate, R.I.
Gaza Strip: Women on bikes
The Hamas government has banned motorcycle riders from carrying women on the back seat — the latest in the militants’ virtue campaign in Gaza. The ban was posted on Hamas Interior Ministry Web site on Tuesday. It said the ban seeks “to preserve citizen safety and the stability of Palestinian society’s customs and traditions.” Hamas wants to impose a strict interpretation of Islam. The group insists compliance with the campaign is voluntary but reports have surfaced of offenders being beaten or arrested. Gazan women almost never drive motorcycles, and rarely even ride behind men.
From Herald news services
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