WASHINGTON, June 26 -- The U.S. Department of Defense issued the following transcript: * * * Background Briefing on FY 2026 Defense Budget * SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: OK, all right, so I'll start with a brief overview. Senior Military Official and I will kind of go back and forth, and then we'll hand it off to you all for questions. So, the President's FY '26 National Defense Budget requests $1.01 trillion, which is a 13 percent increase from FY '25 enacted levels. This includes $848.3 bill more PR

WASHINGTON, June 27 -- Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, issued the following news release: * * * Carey Leads House Colleagues in Letter to Secretaries Hegseth and Noem on U.S. Drone Defenses * WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio-15) led a group of 23 House colleagues in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem inquiring about the status of defense measures for U.S. military installations, government buildings, and criti more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on June 27, 2025: * * * Critical Minerals, Fragile Peace: The DRC-Rwanda Deal and the Cost of Ignoring Root Causes By Mvemba Phezo Dizolele On Friday, June 27, in Washington, D.C., the foreign ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are set to sign the Critical Minerals for Security and Peace Deal, a United States-brokered agreement aimed at calming tensions in more PR

WASHINGTON, June 28 -- The Jamestown Foundation issued the following commentary on June 27, 2025, to the Eurasia Daily Monitor: * * * Moscow's Double Standards on Full Display Over Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities By Anna J. Davis, Panorama Executive Summary: * Kremlin officials are condemning the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities as violations of international law while simultaneously committing violations of Ukrainian sovereignty. * Moscow presents itself as a defender of s more PR

NEW YORK, June 27 (TNSLrpt) -- A recent Track II roundtable discussion co-convened by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy has explored the challenging yet potentially opportune moment for a "reset" in relations between Europe and China. The discussion, summarized in a report issued on June 18, 2025, highlights overlapping interests, particularly concerning ongoing Ukraine ceasefire negotiations, as a potential catalyst for broader cooperation more PR

WASHINGTON, June 27 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF13044) on June 25, 2025, by Air Force fellow Robert Switzer and Latin American affairs specialist Clare Ribando Seelke. Here are excerpts: * * * Defense Primer: U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM, commonly referred to as NORTHCOM) is the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) unified combatant command (CCMD) responsible for the defense of North Amer more PR