Reuters - Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the U.S. Air Force's top two leaders after a series of embarrassing missteps that raised questions about U.S. nuclear security, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

AFP - The US Air Force's chief of staff and civilian secretary resigned Thursday following a "scathing" report into the service's handling of nuclear weapons components, a senior defense official said.

AFP - A court martial on Wednesday acquitted a US Marine for his role in the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, the sixth man to be exonerated in the affair, a military official said.

AFP - The US military said on Wednesday it has no plans for permanent bases in Iraq, a day after Baghdad said it was at odds with Washington over US troop deployments beyond 2008.

AFP - The Pentagon said Wednesday it is recruiting government public health workers to offset a shortage in mental care providers for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental problems.

AFP - The US military's estimate of the number of US troops that will be left in Iraq after all US "surge" brigades are withdrawn is now 142,000, up from 140,000, a senior US military official said Thursday.

AFP - A Denver, Colorado court has fined Dow Chemical Co. and Boeing Co. a combined 926 million dollars for property damages caused by plutonium contamination from a nuclear weapons plant.

AFP - The Defense Department's procurement system is failing to deliver US troops the weapons they need while running up nearly 300 billion dollars in cost overruns, a government auditor warned Tuesday.

AFP - A Denver, Colorado court Tuesday fined Dow Chemical Co. and Boeing Co. a combined 926 million dollars over property damages caused by contamination from a nuclear weapons plant.

AP - As of Monday, June 1, 2008, at least 436 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures May 24 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - The US military said on Sunday it was still working to regain the public's trust after the Abu Ghraib torture scandal as the future of the 21,000 captives held in Iraq remained in doubt.