Three members of the Expedition 30 crew undocked from the International Space Station and safely returned to Earth April 27, wrapping up a five-and-a-half-month mission in space. Commander Dan Burbank of NASA and Russian Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov landed their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 6:45 a.m., CDT, after undocking from…

About 9,000 U.S. Marines stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa will be moved to the U.S. territory of Guam and other locations in the Asia-Pacific, including Hawaii, under a U.S.-Japan agreement announced April 26. The move is part of a broader arrangement designed to tamp down tensions in the U.S.-Japan defense alliance stemming in…

Boeing and its Dutch partner the Rotary Wing Training Center officially opened a state-of-the-art CH-47 Chinook helicopter maintenance training facility near Royal Netherlands Air Force base Gilze-Rijen April 25. The RWTC is a subsidiary of the Netherlands’ World Class Aviation Academy. “Partnering with the WCAA and RWTC means we now can provide high-quality training to…

North Korea: ‘Mobile weapons’ capable of striking U.S. A senior North Korean army official says his country is armed with “powerful mobile weapons” capable of striking America. Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho emphasized the importance of defending the North against the U.S. and South Korea as Pyongyang marked the 80th anniversary of the nation’s army…

Boeing has delivered the first 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airliner to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, beginning a new era for the world’s most recognized airplane, and beginning a new era of increased efficiency, stronger environmental performance and greater enjoyment for Lufthansa and its passengers. “Lufthansa and Boeing have a long and proud history of working together to…

The United States and Afghanistan reached a deal April 22 on a long-delayed strategic partnership agreement that ensures Americans will provide military and financial support to the Afghan people for at least a decade beyond 2014, the deadline for most foreign forces to withdraw. The pact is key to the U.S. exit strategy in Afghanistan…

Vietnam kicked off a weeklong naval exchange April 23 with the U.S. Navy amid percolating tensions in the South China Sea with China. Three ships from the U.S. 7th Fleet visited Danang during the five-day event that began Monday. No live-fire drills were planned, but the two sides were expected to practice salvage and disaster…

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will meet with his NATO counterparts and the defense chiefs of partner nations in a two-day conference that begins April 25 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The chairman arrived here from Afghanistan today for the third stop in an overseas trip that began with a visit…

Military chief: Israel increases covert operations Israel’s military chief of staff says he has ordered his forces to step up covert operations in enemy countries. Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz made the remarks April 22 in an interview published in Israel’s Yediot Ahronot daily. “You almost won’t find a point in time where something isn’t happening…