Pentagon

If the partial truce, between the Taliban, the US, and Afghan security forces, goes ahead, it would mark a historic step in more than 18 years of gruelling conflict in Afghanistan and would pave the way for a deal that could, ultimately, see the war end. read more

A federal judge temporarily blocked Microsoft from working on a $10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract after Amazon asked for the delay read more

Pentagon officials said the money would be used to build about 177 miles (285 kilometers) of the concrete and steel barrier Trump wants to deter migrants from entering the country illegally. read more

Amazon’s lawsuit, filed in November, alleged that President Donald Trump’s bias against the company hurt its chances to win the project. read more

The reversal would make it harder for US companies to get around the effective ban on exports to Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone maker. read more

The latest U.S. patient, who is in Massachusetts, recently returned from Hubei province in central China, the epicenter of the outbreak, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an emailed statement. read more

In the latest reversal of a policy of his predecessor Barack Obama, Trump gave the green light to a new generation of “non-persistent” landmines that can be switched off or destroyed remotely rather than staying active in the ground forever. read more

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the next Pentagon budget proposal will increase funding beyond the $5 billion provided in this year’s 5 year budget plan for the technology. read more

Seventeen of the 34 are still under medical observation, according to Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesperson. read more

Amazon filed a lawsuit in November in the US Court of Federal Claims alleging that the US Defense Department failed to fairly judge its bid for the JEDI contract because Trump viewed Jeff Bezos as his “political enemy” read more

Trump said on Friday Iran probably had targeted the US embassy in Baghdad and was aiming to attack four US embassies before Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike on January 3. read more

The Pentagon referred questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI and the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for commen read more

Trump underlined that the US has the “most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world” read more

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. will “follow the laws of armed conflict.” When asked if that ruled out targeting cultural sites, Esper said pointedly, “That’s the laws of armed conflict.” read more

Pentagon Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley said the letter was only a “draft” that shouldn’t have been sent. read more