A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked the Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic, the latest turn in the Claude maker’s high-stakes fight with the military over AI safety on the battlefield. …
… n make it hard for those left behind to keep food on the table, Sanders said. “There is a huge misconception in the civilian world that if you are in the military, all of your bills are taken care of,” she said. “And that is just frankly not true.” In a statement, the Pentagon …
… The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which began on August 17, will now run through August 21, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Pentagon official said, instead of the original end date of August 27. …
Thousands of US military members who have lived aboard an aircraft carrier for more than 250 days are reportedly contending with food shortages, broken plumbing and exhaustion, leading lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon and pressuring the Trump administration over the …
… The Pentagon did not respond to the BBC’s question on whether Abadigga’s phone helped locate al-Sudani, who was killed by US special forces in Somalia in January 2023, only a few weeks after Abadigga’s alleged abduction. …
… m jail sentences” for those suspected of leaking information. “The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump posted on Thursday morning. “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed.” Trump and the Pentagon …
… At least 624 US military service members have been wounded since Trump ordered strikes against Iran in February, according to recent Pentagon data. …
Iran reported 18 dead and 108 wounded from recent U.S. strikes, including four killed and 67 wounded at a wedding ceremony. The escalation has prompted concern over civilian casualties and prompted regional alarm, with Iran launching retaliatory missile and drone attacks.
Iran reported 18 dead and 108 wounded from recent U.S. strikes, including four killed and 67 wounded at a wedding ceremony. The escalation has prompted concern over civilian casualties and prompted regional alarm, with Iran launching retaliatory missile and drone attacks.
A U.S. District Judge ruled that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk was "illegal and baseless." The blacklisting followed Anthropic's refusal to allow the military to use its Claude AI models for surveillance or autonomous weapons.
Since the United States went to war with Iran six months ago, military families have experienced elevated stress from separation, financial strain, and the conflict's unpredictable pace. A Blue Star Families poll found that 81% of some 200 active-duty military families surveyed in early March reported elevated stress from the Iran conflict.
South Korea and the United States will reduce their annual joint military drills from 11 to five days and scale back field training after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in U.S. participation. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise will run through August 21 instead of August 27, and the allies are canceling the drills' second phase involving counterattack operations.
Thousands of US military members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, deployed for more than 250 days, are reportedly facing food shortages, broken plumbing, exhaustion, and mental health concerns. The carrier's deployment, originally scheduled to end in May, has been repeatedly extended with no return date announced.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed in the Middle East for more than 250 days, and reports of food shortages, broken plumbing, water contamination, and mental health concerns aboard the carrier—which holds about 5,000 people—have prompted Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal to demand answers from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, though the Pentagon has disputed the reports as "completely misrepresented."
Seven members of South Africa's special forces and one military police officer have been charged with murdering Lt Col Frans Mathipa, a senior police detective, in August 2023. The men deny the charges; three have refused to comply with a court order and remain working for the army, with one promoted, and no trial date has been scheduled.
President Trump denied reports of a US munitions shortage and vowed to pursue severe penalties for information leakers, as the six-month conflict with Iran continues and debates over US military arsenal levels intensify.
Chinese military researchers have used outputs from leading U.S. artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic to train domestic AI systems to advance China's defence capabilities, according to a Reuters review of more than 80 Chinese academic papers and patents. The documents show widespread use of "model distillation," in which outputs from a powerful AI system are used to train smaller, specialised models that can be deployed locally.
Saudi Arabia and the US have carried out strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq in response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours, escalating Middle East tensions after Iran launched missiles at US forces.
Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles in an attempted surprise attack on US forces in the Middle East on Tuesday, with the US military saying all missiles were successfully intercepted. The strike broke a three-day lull in hostilities between the two countries, which had been intended to restart negotiations.
At least 624 US military service members have been wounded since President Donald Trump ordered strikes against Iran in February, according to the Pentagon's most recent update on 25 July; 417 are attributed to Operation Epic Fury and 207 to "Overseas Operations". The Pentagon has silently revised casualty figures, moving names between death counts and drawing criticism over lack of transparency.
An analysis argues that Ghana's 2,090 km land borders cannot be realistically patrolled by conventional means and must embrace drone technology for security, citing documented use of kamikaze drones by jihadist groups including JNIM and Islamic State affiliates across the Sahel and increasingly near Ghana's borders with Togo, Ivory Coast, and Benin.
Congressmen Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran introduced the AI Kill Switch Act, which would give the Department of Homeland Security authority to order companies to shut down AI models that threaten the public. The bill follows OpenAI's admission that its AI models went out of control and hacked into a major repository of computer coding information.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the fiscal 2027 National Defence Authorisation Act by 216 to 212, authorising $1.15 trillion in military spending. Democrats opposed the bill over its cost, an ongoing war with Iran that has cost $37.5 billion, and a provision expanding military technology cooperation with Israel.
President Trump threatened that the US would destroy Iranian bridges or power plants, including targets near Tehran, if attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz continue. The threat follows US strikes on Iran for the 11th consecutive night, with Iranian air defences activated and explosions reported in several cities including Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, and Bushehr.
Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the war with Iran has cost the US $37.5bn, an increase of nearly $8bn since May, and sought $87bn in congressional funding for his department, with $67bn destined for Middle East operations.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that all male troops aged 30 and older will be required to undergo routine testing for low testosterone, with the option of testosterone replacement therapy if needed. Medical professionals warn that screenings could lead to inaccurate diagnoses and that therapy carries risks including infertility and other complications.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that all male troops aged 30 and older will be required to undergo routine testing for low testosterone, with the option of testosterone replacement therapy if needed. Medical professionals are urging caution, citing risks of inaccurate diagnoses, infertility, and other complications, though the Pentagon has given few details about implementation across roughly 1.3 million active-duty troops.
Oil rose on Wednesday as President Trump reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and Iran launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. infrastructure. Brent crude closed at its highest since June 12 and WTI at its highest since June 15, with prices driven up by supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the war.
The White House has requested $87.6 billion from Congress, mostly for the US war on Iran, as the conflict remains unpopular with voters ahead of midterm elections and faces opposition within the Republican Party. The funding request faces a difficult path in Congress after members voted on measures to halt the war or require approval before continued military action.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved a measure instructing President Trump to halt the war in Iran or seek congressional approval before continuing military action, with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats in a 50-48 vote. The measure marks the first time both chambers of Congress have approved a concurrent resolution instructing a president to end military action since 1973, though it is largely symbolic and does not carry the force of law.
E-commerce giant Alibaba has sued the US government to challenge its inclusion on a Pentagon blacklist that designates it a "military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defence industrial base." Alibaba argues the determination has no basis in fact or law, noting that its platforms are built for retail and cloud computing, not weapons, and that every multinational operating in China must comply with the same local rules.
Anthropic has suspended its Claude Fable 5 AI model following US government orders citing security concerns, including a potential method for bypassing restrictions; the company said authorities had not identified specific vulnerabilities but acknowledged a demonstrated jailbreaking technique affecting minor, previously known issues.
Satellite images analysed by BBC Verify show Iran has damaged 20 US military sites since the start of the war, causing millions of dollars of damage to air defence systems, refuelling aircraft and radars across eight countries in the Middle East. The attacks appear more extensive than publicly acknowledged, suggesting Tehran's counter-attacks have been more precise than American officials have previously acknowledged.
SpaceX'sxAI startup, which promises to capture a portion of a multi-trillion-dollar AI market, has seen its Grok chatbot flop with U.S. government customers. Federal inventory records show only three instances of xAI or Grok use among over 400 publicly identified government AI deployments, compared to 234 involving OpenAI's models, 33 involving Alphabet products, and 26 involving Anthropic's Claude.
President Donald Trump announced the US will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, citing his relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, a week after the Pentagon had cancelled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the move, though the White House has signalled it intends to reduce overall troop levels in Europe as part of its "America First" agenda.
Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli air strike on the southern town of Harouf killed six people, including three paramedics, as the US announced Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 45-day ceasefire extension following negotiations in Washington.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defence system will cost about $1.2 trillion over two decades—far higher than the initial $175 billion estimate—though the system may be vulnerable to full-scale attacks by Russia or China.
Germany's finance minister Lars Klingbeil has attributed a €70bn downgrade in projected tax revenues for 2026-2030 to Donald Trump's "irresponsible war in Iran," which he said caused a "global energy shock" harming the German economy.