Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years.

Former Chairman of the U_S_ Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen says maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is “not just a U_S_ interest, but also a global one."

Biden countered the concerns by arguing that Austin knows that a Pentagon chief's duties are different from those of a military officer. But the requirement for a congressional waiver makes getting him installed as Pentagon chief more complicated than usual. Austin retired in 2016 after 41 years in the Army and has never held a political position. Some prominent Democrats opposed the Mattis waiver, and among those who voted for it, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island expressed doubts. Biden has known Austin at least since the general's years leading U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq while Biden was vice president.

INVERNESS, Fla. One Florida school board is shelling out $343,000 to lease iPads after some 1,100 units were either damaged or not returned when school ended in the spring. Citrus County School Board members agreed this week to spend the money after being told that the number of broken or missing iPads had more than doubled, the Citrus County Chronicle reported. A message on the screen says that the iPad belongs to the Citrus County School District and should be returned. The school board either owns or leases 16,500 to 17,000 iPads, according to Mike Mullen, the district's assistant superintendent. Parents sign contracts with the school district, agreeing to return the iPads at the end of a school term, the newspaper reported.

Khan accused the United States on Thursday of having "martyred" al-Qaida leader and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden. (Press Information Department, via AP)ISLAMABAD Pakistan's prime minister said on Thursday that the United States martyred the al-Qaida leader and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, a term that reflected a subtle stab at Washington as it's mainly used for honorable figures slain in battle. The special operations force swooped into Pakistans military garrison town of Abbottabad in the middle of the night on May 2, 2011, killing bin Laden and several of his operatives. However, opposition lawmaker Khwaja Mohammed Asif slammed Khan for calling bin Laden a martyr, saying the al-Qaida chief had brought terrorism to Pakistan. He (bin Laden) ruined my country but he (Khan) is calling him a martyr, said Asif.