The woman at the centre of the sexual misconduct allegation against Adm Art McDonald says there were “several” eyewitnesses that corroborated her story, including at least one senior Navy officer. Her statement comes just after McDonald said he had been exonerated and that he should be reinstated as Chief of the Defence Staff.

Colin Powell, the career U.S. Army officer who went on to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then Secretary of State, died today at the age of 84 from complications due to COVID-19. He is reported to have had multiple myeloma which suppressed his immune system.

The Chinese military today condemned Canada and the United States for having sent RCN frigate Winnipeg and the USN destroyer USS Dewey through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying they threatened regional stability. The U.S. said the manoeuvre “demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Two weeks have been set aside for the criminal trial of the former Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Jonathan Vance. In confirming the time allotted, however, a provincial prosecutor did not say when the trial on alleged sexual assault actually would begin. Vance is scheduled in court Oct. 29 for further pretrial matters.

The Sea of Japan saw Russia and China practising joint operations today that included destroying “enemy” sea mines with artillery. It was one of the closing sessions in a four-day exercise seen as further evidence of their closer ties in recent years as their relationship with the West deteriorated.

With military investigators having decided that there was insufficient evidence to charge Adm Art McDonald with sexual assault, he wants to return as Chief of Defence Staff after stepping down in February. “I've been exonerated as a result of a rigorous and thorough investigation,” he says, requesting that he be restored as CDS, a position filled on an acting basis by Army Gen Wayne Eyre. “I've acted with integrity in response to allegations. . . . By advocating for my job what I am saying is simply that, ‘listen, we can't have a system where allegations alone are sufficient for removing someone’.”

New ways of deploying “terrain shaping devices” or landmines by using artillery, drones or ground robots are being assessed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its commander, LGen Scott A. Spellmon, said today that this was combat engineers’ top priority for modernization.

An alleged plot to sell U.S. submarine details to a foreign government has landed a Maryland couple behind bars. Jonathan Toebbe, a naval nuclear engineer, and his wife were arrested in neighbouring West Virginia last weekend after he contacted an FBI undercover agent.

A musical parody of embarrassing shipboard incidents, including a Royal Canadian Navy executive officer who was dismissed for dismantling his ship’s smoke and heat detectors, has fallen on unreceptive ears higher up the chain of command. Sailors who shared the video on social media reportedly were threatened and a team was set up to track down the offending sailor, so far without success.

The U.S. will open to all non-essential visitors from Canada and Mexico in November, lifting a 19-month COVID-19 ban. White House officials confirmed the decision Oct. 12, saying that all must provide proof of vaccination but they would not specify which vaccines would be acceptable or whether mixed doses would be compliant.

The first face-to-face talks between U.S. officials and the Taliban, held in Qatar, reportedly focused on containing extremist groups active in Afghanistan, humanitarian aid and evacuating U.S. citizens.

Abdul Qadeer Khan, a physicist acknowledged as the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program and an international trafficker of the technology, has died from COVID-19 at the age of 85. Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan had lost a “national icon.”

Cdr Doug Layton, skipper of the Royal Canadian Navy Frigate HMCS Winnipeg, had Cdre Steve Moorhouse, commander of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier task force, aboard for a 90-minute courtesy visit during an exercise off Japan last week. It seems there was a tea shortage aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth so after afternoon tea of Earl Grey and scones with cream and jam, Moorhouse returned to his flagship with three cases of the prized brew.

Italy has opted to abandon procurement of drone varrants of its domestic Piaggio Aerospace P.180 twin-turboprops in favour of expanding its fleet of piloted P.180s for transport, reconnaissance and special missions. The cost of six new aircraft as well as an additional simulator and maintenance support to be provided by the financially-struggling company is put at €171 million.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said today that although her country does not want military confrontation, it would do whatever is needed to defend itself. Responding to increasing Chinese air force activities in the region, she said Taiwan’s goal is “a peaceful, stable, predictable and mutually-beneficial coexistence with its neighbours.”

The head of a British parliamentary defence panel, former Army officer Tobias Ellwood, says that Britain’s involvement in a new trilateral pact with the U.S. and Australia over Indo-Pacific tension with China does not mean issues closer to home are being ignored. That said, he pointed out Oct. 6 that “Britain is only spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense” at a time of greater collective threat than during Cold War “when we were spending four per cent.”

Canadian military nurses from Ontario and Nova Scotia are beginning to relieve pressure today on Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital’s critical care unit, which has been overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Expected to remain until the end of the month, they were deployed at the request of the Alberta government.

France’s decision to return its ambassador to Australia after a diplomatic row over the cancellation of a major submarine deal is being welcomed in Canberra. “Hopefully we can move beyond our recent disappointments,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said today. “France and Australia share a number of common interests, particularly in our work together in the regions.”

All federal government employees will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 29 whether they still work in an office in Canada or abroad or work from home, Prime Minister Trudeau and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland announced Oct. 6. The only exemptions will be those who provide a letter from their doctor or for justifiable religious reasons. Moreover, the policy also applies to anyone travelling by air or train within Canada.

NATO has withdrawn the accreditation of eight members of Russia's mission to the alliance today, saying they were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers.” The reduction in the number of Russian positions to 10 evidently faces retaliation, but a NATO official said today that the alliance’s policy “remains consistent” in that while “we have strengthened our deterrence and defence in response to Russia's aggressive actions . . . we remain open for a meaningful dialogue.”

Reports that Mali has been considering hiring Russia’s Wagner Group for security and counterterrorism work have prompted the U.S. to join an international chorus of opposition. “Any role for Russian mercenaries in Mali will likely exacerbate an already fragile and unstable situation,” a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson said Oct. 5. The U.S. had been providing training and other support but that was suspended 14 months ago after a coup.

The U.S. division of the Australian shipbuilder Austal has been awarded a $144-million contract to build Navajo-class towing and salvage ships for the U.S. Navy. Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh said Oct. 5 that the contract for the company’s Alabama yard would “leverage our new steel manufacturing line to support the U.S. Navy’s and U.S. Coast Guard’s requirements.”

Patrick Jordan Mathews, a former Canadian military reservist, faces a sentencing hearing in a Maryland court Oct. 28 for his involvement in a plot to murder a Virginia politician and break a murderer out of prison. The former Manitoba resident and U.S. Army veteran Brian Mark Lemley have pleaded guilty and another co-defendent was sentenced to five years in December for helping Mathews to enter the U.S. illegally.

Army MGen Peter Dawe has been put in charge of the CAF’s response to forthcoming recommendations on sexual misconduct in the military. The recommendations will be made by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louise Arbour, who is mandated to determine how to eradicate the problem. Dawe’s assignment is seen as problematic because he wrote a positive reference letter for an officer who was later convicted of sexual assault.

Far-right extremists in the Ukraine claim to have been trained by the Canadian military and its NATO allies. Social media tracking of one group by researchers at George Washington indicate that its members “have succeeded in establishing cooperation with foreign colleagues from such countries as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA, German and Poland.”

Months after severing its hotline with South Korea yet again, the North Korea restored the link today but said the future depends on the “attitude of South Korean authorities.” The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un had give notice of the move even as it steps up the frequency of its weapons testing.

An Egyptian member of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has been killed and four others injured by an improvised explosive device near the Algerian border. “Today’s cowardly attack only strengthens MINUSMA’s determination to support Mali and its people in their quest for peace and stability,” the head of the UN mission said Oct. 2. It has recorded about 255 deaths since 2013, making it one of the deadliest of the UN’s more than dozen peacekeeping missions.

Kosovo's main border crossings with Serbia were reopened on the weekend as Serbs removed blockading vehicles and NATO mobilized some of its 3,000 troops in under an EU-mediated deal. It ended a dispute between the neighbouring countries over car licence plates which Kosovo said was retaliation for Serbian measures against Kosovar drivers.

The government continues to insist that MGen Dany Fortin should have filed a grievance with his commander about his dismissal as head of Canada’s coronavirus immunization campaign rather than requesting a judicial review. “That's exactly what this process is intended to deal with,” Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Richards told Federal Court only four months after that very grievance process was described by a retired Supreme Court of Canada justice as fundamentally “broken.”

The U.S. and Russia held “intensive and substantive” talks this week in an effort to reduce tensions. The second meeting within a framework flowing from a June summit between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

For the first time since 1954, a Royal Canadian Navy ship has transited the Northwest Passage. The Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship is due in Vancouver today having left Iqaluit Aug. 7. “It was the longest time a Canadian navy ship has operated in the Arctic in consecutive days in more than 50 years,” says Cdr Corey Gleason, skipper of the Harry DeWolf, the first of seven AOPS.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman have discussed the kingdom’s initiative to end the Yemen’s civil war in which the Saudis back the government against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. A Saudi state news agency said Sept. 29 that Sullivan affirmed continued support.

Seven months after it was disbanded early in the administration of President Joe Biden after his predecessor had essentially packed it with 11th-hour appointees, one of the Department of Defense’s most influential advisory boards has been reconstituted. The Defense Business Board, which has a diverse membership of 17, now is chaired by Deborah Lee James, the former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force.

Mohib Ullah, a prominent member of the Rohingya Muslim exodus from Myanmar after a military crackdown in 2017 was shot to death Sept. 29 in Bangladesh. A UN official and local police say the killing followed months of escalating violence in what has become the world’s largest refugee settlement. Ullah's group had been notable for documenting atrocities against Rohingyas during the Myanmar crackdown, which the UN says had genocidal intent.