Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month approved a new National Defense Strategy that recommends making fighting al Qaeda and other militant groups the top military priority in coming decades, the Washington Post reported in Thursday editions.

AFP - A reported rift between the US and Pakistani intelligence agencies reflects deepening US frustration over Islamabad's role in a worsening insurgency in Afghanistan, analysts said here.

AFP - Electrical accidents have killed 16 US troops in Iraq since the start of the war, the Pentagon said Tuesday, but it said critics were wrong to blame KBR and other contractors.

AP - As of Tuesday, July 29, 2008, at least 491 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 Saturday at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - The United States and Iraq are on track to achieve an agreement governing US troop levels in the nation beyond 2008, Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani said here Monday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush approved the execution of an army soldier on death row for murder and rape, in the first such move by a US president in more than 50 years.

AFP - The United States European command said Monday it had wrapped up multinational military exercises in ex-Soviet Ukraine, which had faced protests and complaints from Moscow.

AP - A Marine has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of a Camp Pendleton comrade who prosecutors say was killed in a dispute over stolen drug money.

AFP - A Pentagon agency that oversees billions of dollars in defense contracts said Friday it has asked for a review of allegations that supervisors sought to pressure auditors to favor major contractors.

AP - As of Friday, July 25, 2008, at least 488 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 July 19 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - Members of a US Air Force nuclear missile crew face disciplinary action for going to sleep while in possession of an invalidated nuclear launch code component, the air force disclosed Thursday.

AP - Two Marines apparently killed one of their Camp Pendleton comrades in a dispute over stolen drug money, prosecutors said Thursday.