Reuters - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende attacked on Friday claims by a retired U.S. general that Dutch forces were overrun in Srebrenica in 1995 because of the presence of gay soldiers.

AFP - Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende on Friday dismissed an ex-US general's "disgraceful" claim that Dutch soldiers failed to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as their ranks included openly gay troops.

AFP - Facing mounting pressure from Washington, Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday suggested a disputed US military base could stay on the southern island of Okinawa.

AP - The Dutch prime minister Friday denounced as "irresponsible" a claim by a retired U.S. general that gay Dutch soldiers were partly to blame for allowing Europe's worst massacre since World War II.

Reuters - A Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter aircraft landed vertically for the first time on Thursday, a bright spot in the Pentagon's priciest arms purchase program, troubled by cost increases and delays.

AFP - The United States has said that it needs to maintain a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to defend the region, as the new government in Tokyo considers scrapping a previous plan.

AFP - The number of reports of sexual assault in the US military rose by 11 percent in 2009, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.

AFP - The US military may set up an additional headquarters in northern Iraq even after Washington scales back its forces by a September deadline, a top US general said on Tuesday.

Reuters - The United States may leave a stronger-than-expected force structure in northern Iraq if the situation requires, even as it reduces troops to targeted levels, a top U.S. general said on Tuesday.

AP - The four-star Army general who is managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan says "the time has come" for the military to rethink its policy toward gays.

AFP - A senior US envoy has canceled talks in Japan on a row over a military base due to scheduling problems, the State Department said Monday.

AP - A Defense Department official is under investigation for allegedly hiring private contractors to gather intelligence on suspected insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a U.S. official said Monday.