10 things you need to know today: January 24, 2013

The Pentagon lifts the ban on women in combat, Apple's stock sinks, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a disabled Iraq war veteran, reminds us that women have long been in combat.
(Image credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

1. BAN ON WOMEN IN COMBAT TO BE LIFTED

Pentagon officials say outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta plans to announce Thursday that the military is lifting a ban on women in combat roles. The groundbreaking move, which was recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would reverse a rule that was imposed in 1994 and excludes female soldiers from nearly 25 percent of active-duty roles, including the infantry. Female veterans and others, however, have pointed out that women have frequently been thrust into combat — and demonstrated heroism — in a decade of counterinsurgency missions with no conventional front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. The lifting of the ban follows the repeal of the ban on openly gay service members, another major policy change. [Washington Post]

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.