Department of Defense

Three Turkish-American women will serve in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who took office on Jan. 20.

Didem Nişancı, former global head of public policy for Bloomberg LP, became the chief of staff for Janet Yellen, the new treasury secretary.

President-elect Joe Biden is warning of massive damage done to the national security apparatus by the Trump administration and "roadblocks" in communication between agency officials and his transition team that could undermine Americans' security.

The US Senate bucked outgoing President Donald Trump during a rare Friday session, approving a defense spending bill the commander-in-chief has vowed to veto. 

The 84-13 vote now sends the gargantuan $731 billion bill to the president's desk. It cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday, and in both chambers has secured a veto-proof majority.

The Pentagon said on Aug. 14 it was setting up a new task force under the U.S. Navy to investigate UFO sightings.

With the creation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), the Defense Department hopes "to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs," spokeswoman Susan Gough said in a statement.

The US Senate Armed Services Committee said on Thursday it had authorized $9.1 billion to procure 95 F-35 aircraft in its version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, an annual bill setting policy for the Department of Defense.

The U.S. Senate plunged into President Donald Trump's impeachment trial on Jan. 21 with Republicans abruptly abandoning plans to cram opening arguments into two late-night sessions and Democrats arguing for more witnesses to expose Trump's "trifecta" of offenses.

A Turkish-American car dealer in New Jersey who pleaded guilty last week in federal court to his role in an international conspiracy to steal millions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Defense is linked to the FETÖ, the group behind the 2016 coup attempt, according to local media.

Iran is targeting more than 10 ballistic missiles on at least two airbases in Iraq, where US and coalition forces are based, the Pentagon said.

There are no casualties at the base so far, athough the Pentagon said it was still assessing damage from the strike.

Bill Gates is once again the richest man in the world, data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index show. Gates occupied the second place for more than two years, His rise back to the top has been put down to Microsoft shares climbing by four percent, making Gates' net worth about US$110 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires index reported, quoted by Newshub.

At least 18 civilians were killed and another 27 were injured in a bomb blast in the Syrian city of Al Bab near the border with Turkey, Anadolu news agency reported.

Earlier, the Turkish Ministry of Defense reported 10 dead and 15 injured in the blast.