6 mins read

Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea

WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the ally declined to help with the war against Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Trump said in a social media post that the exercises, which began Monday, […]

9 mins read

US faces new pressure to build weapons without China’s rare earth magnets

EXETER, N.H. | A giant American flag hanging on the wall of a warehouse in New Hampshire hints at the national importance of the elements bound inside the mining waste stored in 1-ton bags. The company uses electrolysis to separate the key critical elements President Donald Trump’s administration desperately wants to produce domestically from the […]

4 mins read

Hegseth announces new policy to test troops for low testosterone

WASHINGTON | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that he is rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deficiency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” The new screenings will be conducted annually as part of service members’ required medical screenings for those 30 and older, he […]

14 mins read

As the Pentagon stays quiet, AP reconstructs a US strike that killed over 100 Iranian children

JERUSALEM | It was the deadliest reported strike in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Most of the victims were children. In almost any other conflict, these haunting truths would be seared into national memory. Yet more than 120 days since at least one U.S. missile struck an Iranian primary school, there remains no final accounting […]

5 mins read

Pentagon seeks $80 billion from Congress for Iran war

WASHINGTON | The Pentagon has told senators it needs roughly $80 billion, mostly to cover the cost of the U.S. war against Iran, adding to what is already a sizable military spending boost being sought by President Donald Trump. The White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to make a formal request to […]

3 mins read

US strike on an alleged drug boat kills 3 in the eastern Pacific Ocean

WASHINGTON | The U.S. military attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing three people, as the Trump administration wages a monthslong campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America. The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military […]

4 mins read

Pentagon labels tech giant Alibaba and electric car maker BYD as aiding Chinese military

WASHINGTON | The Pentagon has added several prominent Chinese businesses, including the tech giant Alibaba, electric car maker BYD and search engine Baidu, to its list of Chinese military companies, preventing them from getting U.S. defense contracts. The list, updated and published Monday by the Pentagon, now sanctions well-known, non-state-owned Chinese companies that are not […]

6 mins read

Female Navy officers say they fear a career cap after Hegseth cuts women from promotions list

WASHINGTON | After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders. The Navy had selected 31 sailors to […]

3 mins read

Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, appeals court panel rules

WASHINGTON | A Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeal court judges ruled on Monday in another legal setback for President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda. The majority opinion — by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit — held […]

3 mins read

Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, appeals court panel rules

WASHINGTON | A Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeal court judges ruled on Monday in another legal setback for President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda. The majority opinion — by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit — held […]