North Korea appears to be ready to carry out a nuclear test whenever leaders of the reclusive state give the green light, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry said Thursday.

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Seoul: N. Korea ready for nuclear test

Russia test-fired a ballistic missile Wednesday, a move that comes amid tensions about a recent NATO announcement that it placed an interim missile defense shield in Europe.

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Russia test-fires new missile

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan plans to present a strong defense of his staff at a Senate hearing Wednesday while outlining steps to prevent a reoccurrence of the agency’s prostitution scandal in April. Read full article > >

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Secret Service director plans to defend agency and outline code of conduct

Closing arguments are set for Thursday in the corruption trial of John Edwards, after his defense team rested its case without calling the former Democratic presidential candidate's ex-mistress to testify.

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Closing arguments set in Edwards trial

The defense rested without calling John Edwards, his daughter Cate or his former mistress to the stand.

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Defense Rests in Edwards Trial

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ordered the Air Force Tuesday to curtail flights of its F-22 Raptor fighter jet and accelerate the installation of backup oxygen generators in response to pilot complaints of wooziness and fainting spells in the cockpit. Read full article > >

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Panetta curtails F-22 flights after pilot complaints of blackouts

Defense contractors have slowed hiring. Tax advisers are warning firms not to count on favorite breaks. And hospitals are scouring their books for ways to cut costs. Across the U.S. economy, anxiety is rising about the potential for widespread disruptions after the November election, when a lame-duck Congress will have barely two months to resolve a grinding standoff over taxes and spending. Read full article > >

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Taxmageddon sparks rising anxiety

GREENSBORO, N.C. — John Edwards takes mincing, careful steps now, not the long strides of the triumphant. He shuffles to the right, but lawyers deep in conversation block the way, somehow not even noticing him. He pads to the left in his sensible, soft-soled shoes but is trapped by red leather chairs and an L-shaped defense table wedged into a tight corner in an even tighter federal courtroom. Read full article > >

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John Edwards endures two-pronged trial, testing his morals and his actions

GREENSBORO, N.C. — John Edwards takes mincing, careful steps now, not the long strides of the triumphant. He shuffles to the right, but lawyers deep in conversation block the way, somehow not even noticing him. He pads to the left in his sensible, soft-soled shoes but is trapped by red leather chairs and an L-shaped defense table wedged into a tight corner in an even tighter federal courtroom. Read full article > >

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John Edwards endures two-pronged trial, testing his morals and his actions

The British Ministry of Defense has notified residents of some buildings that it might install air-defense systems on roofs to protect the Olympics.

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London Wary of Rooftop Missiles Plan During Olympics

In the case against former Senator John Edwards, a judge denied the defense’s argument that the prosecution had failed to offer sufficient evidence of criminal conspiracy and other charges.

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John Edwards Trial Will Proceed to Jury

The Obama administration said Friday it will resume some military sales to Bahrain, while continuing to withhold certain types of defense equipment because of human rights concerns in the Persian Gulf kingdom . Read full article > >

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U.S. to resume some military sales to Bahrain

Ask your average American whether the defense budget should go up or down in 2013, and by how much, and they’ll tell you to cut spending by a whopping 18 percent. Ask your average member of Congress the same question, and no matter which party they’re from, you’ll likely hear that defense spending should barely budge from where it is right now. Read full article > >

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Americans want to slash defense spending, but Washington isn’t listening

The Pentagon is expanding and making permanent a trial program that teams the government with Internet carriers to protect defense firms’ computer networks against massive data theft by foreign adversaries. Read full article > >

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Pentagon to expand cybersecurity program for defense contractors

The Defense Department has inadequately protected from reprisals whistleblowers who have reported wrongdoing, according to an internal Pentagon report, and critics are calling for action to be taken against those who have been negligent. Read full article > >

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Pentagon report says Defense Department whistleblowers have been left vulnerable to reprisals