Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken with China’s national defense minister in the latest in a series of U.S. steps to improve communications with the Chinese military and reduce unsafe and aggressive incidents in the Indo-Pacific. It is the first time Austin has talked to Adm. Dong Jun. And it's the first time he has spoken at length with any Chinese counterpart since November 2022. Tuesday morning's call comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks. Washington and Beijing have been working to expand communications and ease escalating tensions.

A movie weapons armorer has received the maximum sentence of 18 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust.” After a judge sentenced armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Monday, attention again turns to Baldwin's trial. Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and says he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — when the gun fired.

The Army and Air Force say they are on track to meet their recruiting goals this year, reversing previous shortfalls using a swath of new programs and policy changes. But the Navy, while improving, expects once again to fall short. The mixed results reflect the ongoing challenges for the U.S. military as it struggles to attract recruits in a tight job market, where companies are willing to pay more and provide good benefits without the demands of service and warfighting. Even the services that are meeting their goals say they are still finding it difficult to attract the dwindling number of young people who can meet the military’s physical, mental and moral standards.

A former detainee at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison described to jurors in Virginia the abuse he suffered in more than a month of incarceration in 2003. It included beatings and being threatened with dogs. The testimony Monday from Salah Al-Ejaili marks the first time Abu Ghraib survivors have been able to bring their claims of torture to a U.S. jury. His testimony revives the 2004 photographs of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib that became a worldwide scandal. Al-Ejaili and two other Abu Ghraib detainees are suing Virginia-based military contractor CACI. They accuse the company's civilian interrogators of contributing to their abuse. The company denies wrongdoing.