US scraps plea deal with 9/11 mastermind: Pentagon

US scraps plea deal with 9/11 mastermind: Pentagon

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday scrapped a plea agreement with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, just two days after the announcement of a deal that reportedly would have taken the death penalty off the table. Agreements with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices announced Wednesday had appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward … Read more

U.S. strikes Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on its troops

U.S. strikes Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on its troops

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder speaks at the Pentagon on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 in Washington. The U.S. military launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said. | Photo Credit: AP The U.S. military launched airstrikes early Friday, October 27, 2023 … Read more

FBI arrests 21-year-old National Guardsman for ‘criminal’ US intelligence leaks

FBI arrests 21-year-old National Guardsman for ‘criminal’ US intelligence leaks

The FBI on Thursday arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard, over the leaks online of classified documents that embarrassed Washington with allies around the world. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Teixeira “in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and … Read more

Morning Digest | Aero India 2023 expected to see conclusion of 251 MoUs worth ₹75,000 crore; U.S. had contacts with China over ‘spy balloon’, Pentagon official says, and more

Morning Digest | Aero India 2023 expected to see conclusion of 251 MoUs worth ₹75,000 crore; U.S. had contacts with China over ‘spy balloon’, Pentagon official says, and more

Indian Air Force’s aerobatic team ‘Suryakiran’ fly behind, during rehearsals ahead of Aero India 2023 at Yelahanka Air Force base, in Bengaluru on February 11, 2023. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar Aero India 2023 expected to see conclusion of 251 MoUs worth ₹75,000 crore The 14th edition of the biennial Aero India which will see … Read more

U.S. jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

U.S. jet shoots down unknown object flying off Alaska coast

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder briefs reporters at the Pentagon in Washington, on February 10, 2023 | Photo Credit: AP A U.S. military fighter jet shot down an unknown object flying off the northern coast of Alaska on Friday on orders from President Joe Biden, White House officials said. White House National … Read more

With eyes on Russia, US military prepares for an Arctic future

With eyes on Russia, US military prepares for an Arctic future

After parachuting into the frigid Alaska interior, Capt. Weston Iannone and his soldiers navigated miles through deep snow, finally setting up a temporary outpost on a ridgeline next to a grove of lanky spruce trees that were also struggling to survive. Darkness was setting in, the temperature had fallen below zero, and the 120 men … Read more

Biden orders 1,000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure

Biden orders 1,000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure

President Joe Biden authorized on Saturday an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops to ensure what Biden called an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel. U.S. troops will also help in the evacuation of Afghans who worked with the military during … Read more

Longest war: Were America’s decades in Afghanistan worth it?

Longest war: Were America’s decades in Afghanistan worth it?

Here’s what 19-year-old Lance Cpl. William Bee felt flying into southern Afghanistan on Christmas Day 2001: purely lucky. The U.S. was hitting back at the al-Qaida plotters who had brought down the World Trade Center, and Bee found himself among the first Marines on the ground. “Excitement,” Bee says these days, of the teenage Bee’s … Read more

US, UK to launch evacuation flights as Taliban advance across Afghanistan

US, UK to launch evacuation flights as Taliban advance across Afghanistan

The United States and Britain ordered Friday the deployment of thousands of troops to Afghanistan to evacuate their nationals, as the Taliban overran more key regional cities in an offensive that has left the capital dangerously exposed. The orders came as the Taliban took control of Kandahar, the nation’s second biggest city in the insurgency’s … Read more

Pentagon to require COVID vaccine for all troops by Sept. 15

Pentagon to require COVID vaccine for all troops by Sept. 15

The Pentagon will require members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. That deadline could be pushed up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise. “I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines … Read more