Stripes

Disabled veterans and military retirees are on track to receive a 3.6% increase in their benefits in 2027, according to Stars and Stripes. The projected cost-of-living adjustment would raise monthly payments for millions of former service members, though final figures depend on inflation data still to be released.

The Pentagon has appointed one of its own public affairs officials to lead Stars and Stripes, the independent-minded military newspaper, and he will retain his Pentagon post while running the publication. Observers note the arrangement concentrates editorial control in a single official, raising concerns about the paper's independence from Defense Department leadership.

LeBron James, a longtime Nike athlete, took a lighthearted shot at Anthony Edwards by dismissing his new Adidas commercial, saying he doesn't watch anything from 'the stripes.' The quip adds a playful brand rivalry twist to the NBA season's early buzz, with fans amused by James needling the Timberwolves star over his signature shoe campaign.

Stripe has detailed how it uses graph search and state machines to automatically remediate issues across its global database fleet, reducing the need for manual intervention by engineers. The technical write-up is drawing attention among software engineers, who are discussing how the approach could apply to their own large-scale infrastructure and database operations.

A new agency that would oversee US military personnel moves could begin operating by the end of the year, according to Stars and Stripes. The agency is intended to centralize responsibility for relocating service members and their families, a process long criticized for delays and quality problems with movers and housing. Further details about its structure and staffing were not provided.

The US military has updated its casualty evacuation planning and no longer treats the so-called 'golden hour' — the goal of getting wounded troops to surgical care within 60 minutes — as a binding standard. According to Stars and Stripes, the new plan treats the one-hour benchmark as bygone, reflecting changes in how commanders expect to operate in future conflicts. The shift is drawing attention from veterans and defense observers concerned about wounded-troop survival.