Obama vows to fight gay troop ban

The US president has urged the senate to try again before the end of the year to repeal the military's ban on openly gay service members. Barack Obama made the appeal on Thursday, shortly after senate Republicans voted to block an effort to end the so-called "don't ask, don't tell'' policy. The president expressed disappointment with the vote, but said in a statement that "it must not be the end of our efforts". "I have pledged to repeal this discriminatory law," Obama said. "This law weakens our national security, diminishes ourmilitary readiness, and violates fundamental American principles of fairness, integrity.