The Air Force is conducting a worldwide talent search to fill slots on its next Tops in Blue team.

Applications are available at www.topsinblue.com and must be submitted by Dec. 2. Only active-duty Air Force, Guard or Reserve members are eligible.

The official talent competition, during which final cuts will be made for the service’s expeditionary entertainment group, will be Jan. 11-19 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Pacific Popeyes franchises honoredThree Popeyes fast-food franchises run by Army and Air Force Exchange Service were recognized at the company’s annual convention recently in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The franchise at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, which was included in the international category, won top honors among 759 franchises and exceeded $2 million in sales.

The Camp Casey, South Korea, store won third place in the competition. It was also recognized for amassing more than $1.5 million in sales, as was the franchise at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

The building housing the Camp Casey franchise might be renovated in the near future, AAFES officials said Tuesday.

Case against GI in Iraq ‘fragging’ opens in N.C.FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Military prosecutors argued Wednesday that the first soldier accusing of killing a direct superior in Iraq — known as "fragging" during the Vietnam war — told other soldiers he wanted to kill and burn his National Guard officer.

Prosecutor Capt. Evan Sea-mone told jurors that Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez was frustrated with Capt. Phillip Esposito’s strict oversight of the supply room where Martinez worked. Martinez, a New York National Guard soldier, told another soldier he planned to "frag that (expletive)" before a suspicious blast tore through Esposito’s living quarters, the prosecutor said during opening arguments of Martinez’s death penalty trial.

Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen, also a National Guard officer, were killed when a mine detonated outside their room in 2005.

Jury hears about ammo found with Dix suspectsCAMDEN, N.J. — FBI agents say they found ammunition, smoke bombs and an Army base map when they searched the homes of five men charged with plotting an attack on Fort Dix.

In the second day of testimony in the trial of the five suspects Wednesday, the government called federal agents to describe for jurors what was discovered in the home of each man.

Thefts reported in Yokota housing areaYOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Base officials are advising residents to stay vigilant and secure their homes and vehicles after a recent series of thefts.

Maj. Chris Watt, a spokesman for the 374th Airlift Wing, said a "handful" of cases have been reported in which unsecured items were stolen from base housing.

Watt declined to specify the number of incidents, items taken or location where the crimes took place.

He said security forces received several calls from base residents who had learned about the thefts after a warning was posted on YokotaAds.com.

Seaside community to host salmon festivalThe northern Japan fishing village of Rokkasho will host the 25th annual Rokkasho Salmon Festival this weekend.

The festival will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Events will include salmon catching by hand and salmon racing in an ankle-deep pool stocked with almost 2,000 salmon, according to Simon Bernard, an Aomori prefecture liaison.

Tickets for salmon catching are available the day of the festival for 1,700 yen. Entrance to the festival is free. The event also will feature traditional folk dancers, seafood and vegetable wholesale markets, and contests such as squid peeling.

The first 400 people in line Saturday morning get a free salmon, Bernard said.

Rokkasho is about 20 miles north of Misawa Air Base, along the coast.

S. Korea to announce new relocation datesSouth Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday it soon will announce new dates for the relocation of U.S. bases in and north of Seoul to Pyeongtaek, though the two countries have yet to agreed on a move date.

Those bases are now scheduled to close and move their units to Camp Humphreys by 2012, the same year the United States will transfer wartime control of all troops to South Korea.

Yonhap News reported this week, however, that South Korea and the United States are in disagreement over when to move existing U.S. bases to Camp Humphreys. The story, which cited an unnamed government source, said Seoul wants to move the bases by 2014, but the U.S. says it won’t happen until 2019 because of budget constraints.

A U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Wednesday declined to comment on the report, saying it is USFK policy to refrain from commenting on negotiations in progress.

U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Walter Sharp said in late August that the timeline for the move is being reassessed, and a new timeline would be announced in about a month. South Korean media have speculated that increased costs and slow construction could delay the move until 2016.

Red Ribbon run to be held at Camp CaseyCamp Casey will hold its third annual Red Ribbon Week 5K run/walk Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Carey Gym.

Registration will be from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. The event is part of a campaign against the use of illegal drugs. Awards will be given to the top three finishers in each of four categories: units, men, women and families with strollers.

For information, call DSN 730-4144.