‘It’s a surveillance balloon,’ Pentagon says, dismissing China’s weather airship claim

The Pentagon on Friday rejected China’s claim a balloon floating above the central United States was a Chinese civilian weather research craft, though the Defense Department said the airship posed no threat to Americans on the ground.

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Fort Sill commander suspended but Army won’t say why

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Kamper was suspended from his position as the commander of the Army Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Okla., while the Army inspector general investigates unnamed allegations against him, service officials announced Friday.

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Annual drill tests response to radiation exposure at nuclear-powered carrier in Japan

The drill at the U.S. 7th Fleet draws from a rotating catalog of scenarios intended to keep the base and the Japanese government proficient in responding to radiation-related issues.

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Blood tests show elevated PFAS levels in people living downstream from Tokyo base

The citizens’ group tested people ages 21 and 91, mostly living in Kokubunji city, according to a report. Kokubunji is downstream and about 6 miles east of Yokota Air Base.

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Navy, Coast Guard join search for scuba diver missing off Guam

A 35-year-old scuba diver went missing Thursday while apparently working off the west coast of Guam, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

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Japanese police arrest DOD civilian after drunken driving crash near Marine base

Japanese police arrested a Defense Department civilian on suspicion of drunken driving after he crashed into a fence at an off-base construction site, a police spokesman said.

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E-scooter riders won’t need a license or helmet in Japan starting this summer

Starting in July, operating an electric scooter in Japan will no longer require a license or a helmet, though wearing one is encouraged, the National Police Agency announced.

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Europe reaches deal for price cap on Russian diesel

European Union governments tentatively agreed Friday to set a $100-per-barrel price cap on sales of Russian diesel to coincide with an EU embargo on the fuel — steps aimed at ending the bloc's energy dependence on Russia and limiting the money Moscow makes to fund its war in Ukraine.

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Along Ukraine-Belarus border, a war of nerves — and drones

The reconnaissance drones fly several times a day from Ukrainian positions deep inside the thick forest that marches across the border into Belarus, a close Russian ally, scouring sky and land for signs of trouble on the other side.

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Microsoft: Iran unit behind Charlie Hebdo hack-and-leak op

After the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo launched a cartoon contest to mock Iran's ruling cleric, a state-backed Iranian cyber unit struck back with a hack-and-leak campaign that was designed to provoke fear with the claimed pilfering of a big subscriber database, Microsoft security researchers say.

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Ethiopia's PM meets Tigray leaders for first time since war

Ethiopia's prime minister has met the leaders of rival Tigray forces for the first time since a devastating two-year conflict ended with a peace deal late last year.

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