Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, pictured in Seoul, South Korea, in early December, has tested positive for COVID-19. Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool/Getty Images hide caption
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National Security
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger was sworn in on July 23 after a nationwide search. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
A year after the darkest day for Capitol Police, its new chief focuses on rebuilding
In this photo provided on Saturday by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP hide caption
Retired two-star U.S. Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton co-authored a recent op-ed about the fear that a coup could succeed after the 2024 elections. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption
Retired general warns the U.S. military could lead a coup after the 2024 election
In this image provided by the White House, President Biden speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone from his private residence in Wilmington, Del., on Thursday. Adam Schultz/The White House via AP hide caption
Biden again calls on Putin to de-escalate tensions along Ukraine border
A Ukrainian soldier walks in a trench on the front line in Zolote, Ukraine, earlier this month. A buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine has heightened worries that Russia intends to invade. Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images hide caption
Proud Boys walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington in support of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. A federal judge has refused to dismiss an indictment charging four alleged leaders of the group with conspiring to attack the Capitol. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden took calls to the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center on Christmas Eve. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev closes his resignation speech after delivering it at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 25, 1991. After 74 years, the Soviet Union was dissolved, breaking into 15 countries. But there's often been friction among the former Soviet republics, including the current confrontation between Russia and Ukraine. Liu Heung Shing/AP hide caption
How the Soviet Union's collapse explains the current Russia-Ukraine tension
Russian President Vladimir Putin during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP hide caption
Harvard University professor Charles Lieber departs federal court, in Boston, Jan. 30, 2020. He has been found guilty of hiding his involvement with China from the IRS. Charles Krupa/AP hide caption
Pilots from the American Volunteer Group sit in front of a P-40 airplane in Kunming, China, on March 27, 1942. The group was notable for its unusual mission: Its members were mercenaries hired by China to fight against Japan. AP hide caption
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov outlined Moscow's demands for security guarantees excluding NATO's membership for Ukraine and other Russian neighbors and the deployments of weapons there. Thomas Peter/AP file photo hide caption
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon last month. The military branches have begun discharging people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
President Biden presents the Medal of Honor to Army Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee for his actions in Afghanistan on Aug. 28, 2013. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption
President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy ride in the car in a motorcade in Dallas. Jim Altgens/AP hide caption
Taliban political office spokesman Muhammad Naeem Wardak spoke with NPR in Doha, Qatar, on Dec. 11. Fatma Tanis/NPR hide caption
U.S. President Bill Clinton raises his glass to toast with Russian President Boris Yeltsin at a dinner reception in Moscow in 1995. Busy with political and economic crises that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin paid little attention when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP file photo hide caption
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon in November. Alex Brandon/AP file photo hide caption
"The secretary's not approving or calling for additional accountability measures," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on Monday. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with President Biden about the tensions over Ukraine via a videoconference on Dec. 7. Russia has massed some 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine. As Russia's leader, Putin has sent Russian forces on multiple combat missions, including a 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Mikhail Metzel/AP hide caption
In times of crisis — or to create one — Russia's Putin turns to his military
Migrants head toward a border checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border on Nov. 15. U.S. officials have accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of taking advantage of desperate migrants. Leonid Shcheglov/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Authoritarians are using migrants as weapons. The White House frets it's on the rise
In this April 2020 file photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Jong Un, center top, attends a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang. AP hide caption