Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines

June 29, 2017     'Nations are stepping up' to aid Resolute Support mission, Mattis says NATO allies agreed Thursday to send more troops to Afghanistan in hopes of aiding security forces stuck in a "stalemate" with Taliban insurgents, the alliance’s top official said.   Lawsuit: Mass. denies 'welcome home' bonuses to 'bad paper' veterans Two Army veterans, with the help of Harvard Law School, filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against the Massachusetts treasury, claiming it was unrightfully denying “welcome home” bonuses to them and other veterans with other-than-honorable discharges.   1st Marine Aircraft Wing on Okinawa gets new commander as Sanborn heads to Germany Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley took command of III Marine Expeditionary Force’s combat aviation element during a ceremony Thursday at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.   Germans and Americans toast friendship at Wiesbaden festival The ceremonial tapping of a beer keg to the sound of a traditional Bavarian drinking song marked the official opening of the 2017 German-American Friendship Fest at the U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden’s Hainerberg housing area.   South Korean president visits Marine museum to honor Americans who saved his parents Sixty-seven years ago, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s parents were among the thousands of refugees evacuated by the Marine Corps following the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir — a grueling 17-day battle in subzero temperatures during the Korean War.   A time-lapse look at how the future USS Billings prepares for launch The the future USS Billings will eventually call Mayport Naval Station home, but for now it’s waiting to make its first splashSaturday when it slides into the river on the border of Wisconsin and Michigan.   Pentagon: ISIS could be defeated in Mosul in days Iraqi forces who fled in droves three years ago amid the Islamic State’s blitzkrieg across northern Iraq could declare victory within days in Mosul, once a stronghold for the terrorist group, a U.S. military official said Thursday.   US quietly publishes once-expunged papers on 1953 Iran coup Once expunged from its official history, documents outlining the U.S.-backed 1953 coup in Iran have been quietly published by the State Department, offering a new glimpse at an operation that ultimately pushed the country toward its Islamic Revolution and hostility with the West.   McMaster defends Trump's approach with NATO allies as 'tough love' National security adviser H.R. McMaster defended President Donald Trump's strained relations with America's European alliesWednesday as "tough love" that is making the NATO alliance "stronger."   Mass casualty drill wraps up at Ramstein The 86th Medical Group conducted a mass casualty exercise at Ramstein Air Base on Thursday, the culmination of a biannual recertification course.   Diplomats: Watchdog concludes sarin was used in April Syria attack An investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog has concluded that sarin or a sarin-like substance was used as a chemical weapon in an April 4 attack on a Syrian town that left more than 90 people dead, diplomats said Thursday.   House panel clears defense policy bill, but squeeze may be coming The House Armed Services Committee cleared a $696.5 billion fiscal 2018 defense authorization bill early Thursday, but supporters warn it will be sliced back if the 2010 Budget Control Act (BCA) isn’t repealed or if Congress lets bitter partisanship continue to produce late and unstable budgets for the military.