The US State Department has just published its study on the PRC's maritime claims in the South China Sea. No surprises. Concise points. Some good maps.

The US Air Force has just released operational information on its 2014-21 missions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. It includes the number of missiles fired and bombs dropped.

2021 had the lowest number in many years, at 1,370, averaging 26 per week.

Compare that to 2016 (the last year of the Obama administration): 32,080, averaging 600+ per week.

Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden signed off on the new US defence budget (‘National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2022’). It comes in at US$768 billion, or over AU$1 trillion (AU$ 1,060,000,000,000). 
 
US$25 billion of this was imposed by Congressional haggling. This is over and above what Biden and the Pentagon asked for (and isn't far short of the Australian defence budget).
 
By my calculation, the US defence budget is now roughly twice the combined total for Russia and China, with the left-over change being larger than the combined total for the UK, France, and Israel.
 
Here's a 19 page summary of the bill, plus the full version (3,268 pages): https://www.lawfareblog.com/national-defense...

​Some commentary: 
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/27/biden-signs-defense-policy-bill-526171
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https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2638711/the-department-of-defense-releases-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2022-defense-budg/