NATO maritime group enters Black Sea as Ukraine crisis continues

International warships assigned to a U.S.-led NATO maritime group entered the Black Sea on Wednesday to train with alliance members in the region.

US says Iran far off from a working nuke, others differ

One burning question in the global effort to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power is this: How long would it take for the Islamic Republic to build a bomb?

Kerry pushes back on Israeli criticism of Iran nuke talks

Iran dismisses Netanyahu’s ‘lies’ as trivial to nuclear talks

Kerry heads to Saudi Arabia to consult on Iran nuke talks

US says aim is March 'understanding' with Iran on nukes

You don't have to love the outdoors to live in Alaska, but it helps

If you’re assigned to Alaska, it’s probably good to love the outdoors because there’s plenty of it to go around.

Alaska: America's frontier for cold-weather training

4 months in, Veterans Choice Program remains underused, officials say

The four-month old VA program that allows certain veterans to seek medical care from outside facilities has been vastly underused by eligible veterans, according to a VFW report issued Monday.

Pentagon calls Mosul briefing a mistake by CENTCOM

A U.S. military officer's media briefing about plans for an Iraqi-led ground offensive in Mosul, including its expected timing, amounted to a mistaken disclosure of "military secrets," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday.

In first testimony as DOD chief, Carter defends White House defense budget

Dempsey says Iranian hand in Iraq could turn out well

CENTCOM chief: Islamic State can be defeated without US ground troops

The general in charge of U.S. forces in the Middle East defended the Obama administration’s war strategy Tuesday, telling House lawmakers that the Islamic State will be defeated without U.S. ground combat troops.

Airstrikes starting to take toll on Islamic State's money flow

Veteran jobs

See more at the Stars and Stripes Veteran Job Center.

Find your 2014 Basic Allowance for Housing rate

Ombudsman

Ernie Gates, Stars and Stripes' ombudsman

Official 2014 military pay tables

David Petraeus pleads guilty to misdemeanor; no prison time expected

David H. Petraeus, the former CIA director and retired four-star Army general, admitted Tuesday that he gave eight handwritten journals containing highly classified information about secret operations and identities of covert officers to his mistress in 2011 and then lied about it to the FBI.
Obama signs Homeland Security funding bill into law

President Barack Obama has signed a law funding the Homeland Security Department through the end of the budget year.
Stories of grief, love, penance in mementos left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Over the past three decades, the Wall has become a hallowed spot, a place of pilgrimage, homage and reconciliation. Now, some of the 400,000 items left there over the years by visitors are being selected for display in the new $115 million Vietnam War education center planned for a site nearby.
In first testimony as DOD chief, Carter defends White House defense budget
Rights group: New Afghan government must end torture, killings by warlords
US official: Obama still weighing sending arms to Ukraine
Netanyahu warns Congress against striking a ‘bad’ nuclear deal with Iran
Person in custody in Maryland shootings, damaged NSA building
North Korea: Airmen died with ‘suicidal-attack spirit’ during 2009 missile launch
Report: International rules needed for armed drone use

Pakistani man guilty in al-Qaida plot to attack NYC subway

A Pakistani man was found guilty Wednesday in a failed al-Qaida bomb plot after a New York trial that featured spies in disguise, evidence from the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound and the defendant's questioning of an admitted co-conspirator.
Tsarnaev's lawyer admits he carried out Boston bombing

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went on trial for his life Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing with his own lawyer bluntly telling the jury he did it. But she argued that he had fallen under the evil influence of his older brother.
Former US House candidate Forrest Dunbar tapped to reform Alaska's military code
Clinton ran own computer system for her official emails
Police official: Virgin Islands National Guard is a last resort to tackle rising crime
Ferguson, Mo., police often violated blacks’ rights, federal inquiry finds
Person in custody in Maryland shootings, damaged NSA building
USS Cole defense lawyers want entire Senate ‘Torture Report’

Rights group: New Afghan government must end torture, killings by warlords

A leading international rights group has urged the Afghan government to end what it describes as a culture of impunity that tolerates murder, torture and other abuses by local officials.
Iran dismisses Netanyahu’s ‘lies’ as trivial to nuclear talks

Iran dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the U.S. Congress as a “repetition of lies,” as some of the nation’s newspapers mocked his appearance in Washington.
Kerry heads to Saudi Arabia to consult on Iran nuke talks
Netanyahu warns Congress against striking a ‘bad’ nuclear deal with Iran

Italy rescues nearly 1,000 migrants; 10 die

In dramatic sea rescues north of Libya, a flotilla of ships saved more than 1,000 migrants and refugees, while 10 migrants perished in the southern Mediterranean, Italian officials said Wednesday.
US-Polish live-fire army exercise begins

Polish and U.S. troops are taking part in live-fire exercises in northern Poland that are part of a NATO operation showing its commitment to the region's security.
Russian court keeps hunger-striker Ukrainian pilot in jail
US official: Obama still weighing sending arms to Ukraine

North Korea: Airmen died with ‘suicidal-attack spirit’ during 2009 missile launch

North Korea lost 14 airmen to an accident during the launch of a long-range missile and satellite in 2009, according to a state media report issued Tuesday.
China defends military items found by Colombia on cargo ship

China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that a Chinese cargo ship was carrying legitimate military items when it was stopped in Colombia on its way to Cuba.
Microsoft co-founder says he found sunken Japan WWII warship
Official says China to boost military budget by 10 percent

North Korea: Airmen died with ‘suicidal-attack spirit’ during 2009 missile launch

You don't have to love the outdoors to live in Alaska, but it helps

NATO maritime group enters Black Sea as Ukraine crisis continues

4 months in, Veterans Choice Program remains underused, officials say

Rights group: New Afghan government must end torture, killings by warlords

Casualties of the after-war: The lethal cost of delayed mental health for returning vets

Delay in passing clean bill leaves a mark on GOP

I’m getting that deja vu feeling as House Republicans these past several days have failed to alter the public’s perception that they’re incapable of governing.