Pentagon defends military voting assistance
By Jennifer Rizzo
Assistance to military voters is the best it has ever been, the Pentagon said on Wednesday in rebutting criticism that it is not helping troops navigate the voting process.
"Voting assistance for our absentee military and overseas citizen voters has never been better," said Pam Mitchell, the acting director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which oversees the effort.
Mitchell listed avenues like outreach through social media websites, the availability of call centers, unit officer help and voting assistance offices as examples of the options available to service members requesting voting information.
A recent report, however, from a military voting advocacy group found that requests from service members for absentee ballots are remarkably low this year, specifically faulting the Defense Department's voting assistance offices.
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Pentagon launches website to track radiation exposure after Japan quake
By Larry Shaughnessy
The Pentagon launched a website Wednesday for American troops and family members who were near the Japanese nuclear reactors that were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011.
The website will allow Americans to enter a location where they were in Japan and get an estimation of how much radiation they were exposed to while there.
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Obama reflects on drone warfare
President Obama defends the use of drone warfare in an exclusive interview with CNN's Jessica Yellin.
U.S. companies eye Egypt for investment
By Jill Dougherty
More than 100 senior executives from dozens of U.S. companies, representing finance, energy, technology and other firms, will travel to Egypt on Saturday as part of the largest-ever trade delegation to the region.
Organized by the Chamber of Commerce through its U.S.-Egypt Business Council, the mission's primary aim is to promote private-sector development and to scout for opportunities and partnerships.
But the delegation will also express U.S. business confidence in Egypt and demonstrate a commitment to the country's long-term economic development.
It will be led by Lionel Johnson, the chamber's vice president of Turkey, Middle East, and North Africa affairs, and Steve Farris, chief executive of Apache Corporation, a private Fortune 200 company with more than $10 billion in investments in Egypt.
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