NEWS FLASH

U.S. And Israel Cancel Joint Military Exercise In Spring | It was supposed to be the largest joint military exercise ever carried out by the U.S. and Israel, with thousands of American troops travelling to the Mid East to work on missile defense issues. But now, the scheduled May date has been indefinitely postponed. An Israeli official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Ron Kampeas that the “postponement principally had to do with budget cuts in Israel.” A U.S. official told Yahoo News’s Laura Rozen that Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak asked for the delay last month. The Associated Press spoke to an Israeli official who said the postponement reflected a desire to tamp down tensions with Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the U.S. warned Israel off an attack amid rising tensions. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marting Dempsey is set to visit Israel this week.