Soldiers from the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions along with troops from other units are among the roughly 8,500 service members who have been placed on heightened alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe should NATO allies request help deterring Russia from invading Ukraine, the Pentagon said Thursday. In addition …

Russia on Wednesday rejected the prospect of U.S. sanctions against President Vladimir Putin, one of several proposed responses if Russian forces were to invade neighboring Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that such sanctions would not be politically painful, but would be “destructive.” U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday …

The U.S. Navy says it is working to recover the F-35C Lightning II fighter jet that crashed in the South China Sea – a tough mission likely to play out under the watchful eyes of China. While attempting to land Monday on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, the fighter …