Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines

Former NATO commander warns of wider war in Middle East NATO’s former top military commander has warned that the widening sectarian conflict in Syria and Iraq could engulf a broader region in the Middle East, just as the religious wars in Europe did in the 16th and 17th centuries.   Hard decisions await new House Defense Appropriations chair The man at the center of the new defense spending bill never intended to be there. But the death of an iconic congressman left open a coveted spot in the Capitol Hill hierarchy.   Photo gallery: The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scenes from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the 2014 national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.   US to begin easing economic sanctions on Iran The United States will begin easing economic sanctions on Iran after it began shutting down its most sensitive nuclear work on Monday, the White House said.   Japan says US base in Okinawa is only solution The Japanese government said Monday it would push forward with a long-stalled agreement to relocate a U.S. military base within Okinawa, despite the re-election of a mayor who opposes the plan.   Study: How to survive a nuclear explosion It begins with a flash brighter than the sun. Trees, fences, and people immediately catch fire. You stumble to your lopsided front door and look out on the burning ruin of your neighborhood. The deadly radioactive fallout is on its way. Should you stay in your wobbling house or run across town to the public library to shelter in its basement? A new mathematical model may have the answer.   When do nuclear missteps put security in jeopardy? At what point do breakdowns in discipline put the country's nuclear security in jeopardy? And when does a string of embarrassing episodes in arguably the military's most sensitive mission become a pattern of failure? Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is concerned "there could be something larger afoot here," according to his chief spokesman.   Is Vietnam fighting to keep democracy offline? Activists and analysts strongly suspect Hanoi is involved in online attacks that block, hack and spy on Vietnamese activists around the world to hamper the country's pro-democracy movement.   Russians study Islamic video threatening Olympics Russia's counter-terrorism agency says it's studying a video posted by an Islamic militant group that asserted responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 34 people last month and is threatening to strike the Winter Olympics in Sochi.   Cheating on tests at nuclear facility was common, ex-officers say Air Force officers responsible for safeguarding and operating nuclear-armed missiles at a base in Montana cheated for years on monthly readiness tests, but rarely faced punishment even though some commanders were aware of the misconduct, according to three former officers who served at the base.   Some Obama spy changes hampered by complications Several of the key surveillance reforms unveiled by President Barack Obama face complications that could muddy the proposals' lawfulness, slow their momentum in Congress and saddle the government with heavy costs and bureaucracy, legal experts warn.