News Makers

US to appoint first female 4-star general

The United States military is set to promote a woman to the rank of four-star general for the first time in its history, the Pentagon announced on Monday.

Ann Dunwoody, a logistics specialist with 33 years of military service, has been nominated to receive a fourth star and take charge of the US Army's Materiel Command.

"I am very honored, but also very humbled, today with this announcement," Dunwoody said in a statement.

"I grew up in a family that didn't know what glass ceilings were. This nomination only reaffirms what I have known to be true about the military throughout my career ... that the doors continue to open for men and women in uniform."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates hailed Dunwoody's nomination as historic.

"Her 33 years of service, highlighted by extraordinary leadership and devotion to duty, make her exceptionally qualified for this senior position," Gates said.

Dunwoody's nomination must be confirmed by the US Senate. She is currently deputy head of Army Materiel Command, the headquarters which provides equipment for US soldiers.

"If a soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, communicates with it, or eats it - AMC provides it," the command's website states.

Women are officially barred from frontline combat in the US military.

But female soldiers often run the same risks as men in Iraq and Afghanistan, where bombings and other insurgent attacks can happen almost anywhere and target any US unit.

About 16 percent of US soldiers and about 5 percent of US Army generals are women, according to Army statistics, with Dunwoody the first to achieve four-star rank.

There are currently 57 active-duty female generals in the US military, five of whom are three-star generals, according to the Pentagon.

Former president of Guyana dies at 90

Arthur Raymond Chung, who helped usher in a socialist government as this South American republic's first president, has died. He was 90.

He died on Monday at Georgetown Hospital after an undisclosed illness, a government statement said.

Chung was appointed ceremonial head of state in 1970 when the Republic of Guyana, formerly British Guinea, ended its association with Britain.

A former high court judge, Chung served as president in Prime Minister Forbes Burnham's administration until 1980, when Guyana's constitution was changed to make the top political post into an executive job.

Chung was the titular president when the tiny English-speaking country switched to socialism in 1974, strengthening ties with China, North Korea and regional communist nations.

Guyana, since achieving independence from Britain, has been run mostly by socialist-oriented governments.

The current government, a democratic republic run by Soviet-trained economist Bharrat Jagdeo, has sought closer US ties to fight drug trafficking and crime.

After retiring in 1980, Chung, who was of Chinese ancestry, split his time between England and Guyana and largely kept out of the public eye.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/25/2008 page10)