The Philippines has agreed to drop the mention of a United Nations-backed court’s decision on a legal challenge with China over South China Sea in an Association of Southeast Asian Nations communique after Cambodia expressed objections to the judgment, Reuters reported Monday.

Michael Martina and Manuel Mogato write the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled on July 12 in favor of the Philippines over maritime disputes in South China Sea.

Diplomats told Reuters Cambodia also supported China’s demand for bilateral talks to address such disputes amid the meeting of foreign ministers from 10 ASEAN member countries in Vientiane, Laos.

ASEAN and China issued a separate statement that seeks to express commitment to freedom of overflight and navigation over the disputed waters, according to the report.

U.S. State Secretary John Kerry arrived Monday in Laos to attend the ASEAN regional forum and East Asia summit and is expected to tackle maritime conflicts over South China Sea with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Martina and Mogato report.

David Shear, assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs, cited some of the Defense Department’s strategies to address disputes in South China Sea.

These approaches include the expansion of regional visibility through intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and defense cooperation with allies in Asia such as Japan, Australia and the Philippines.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s National Intrepid Center of Excellence seeks to provide a “streamlined evaluative pathway” to treat the traumatic brain injuries of military personnel and their families, DoD News reported Friday

In an interview with DoD writer Shannon Collins, NICoE Deputy Director Louis French said NICoE’s clinical and research operations aim to put the experience of TBI patients into the “larger picture of healthcare in the military.”

“People come in sometimes very hopeless, and to be able to turn that around and to let people see what it’s like to recover and what it’s like to think about the next 70 years of their lives, what they’re going to do, it’s very gratifying,” French added.

NICoE looks to offer a range of treatment options in one location which include a four-week intensive outpatient treatment program, one-week assessment track, ongoing outpatient care services, inpatient consultation as well as individual diagnostic and evaluative options, Collins wrote.

The U.S. Navy and Spain’s maritime forces have conducted a series of cooperative air defense test exercises with the Aegis Weapon System that ended in several live missile firing events.

The USS Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer and Spanish frigate Cristobol Colon were used for the training that set out ships and an E-2 Hawkeye aircraft to share a common tactical picture through the Aegis AN/SPY-1 radar and Tactical Data Links, the Navy said Friday.

Arleigh Burke also faced a number of subsonic anti-ship cruise missile targets with the Aegis Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Area Defense.

“While our combat systems suites are slightly different, the way we operate and execute missions are quite similar,” said Cmdr. Tom Myers, Arleigh Burke commanding officer.

“My crew and I are grateful for the opportunity to deepen our operational relationship with our Spanish allies and enhance interoperability initiatives between our two navies.”

This was the first interoperability test on the latest Aegis Baseline 9.C1 with a foreign ship and combat systems ship qualification trial with Spain.

The Aegis Combat System is the sea-based element of the U.S’s Ballistic Missile Defense System and is designed to simultaneously engage against land targets, submarines and surface ships and defend against aircraft and missiles.

The U.S. Army Security Assistance Command has transported additional AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar systems to the Ukrainian military as part of a $200 million program to help Ukraine counter rocket, mortar and artillery threats.

The Fiscal Year 2016 Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is a Defense Department program that aims to help build up Ukraine’s security forces in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Army said Wednesday.

“USASAC’s July delivery is in support of the FY ’16 Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, part of a much larger package that includes everything from communication and medical equipment to night vision devices, personal protection equipment, and military training,” said Jason Evans, USASAC’s country program manager for Ukraine.

Evans said the new delivery of Q-36 systems augments Ukraine’s current inventory of Q-48 counter-mortar radar systems.

USASAC’s Fort-Bragg-based subordinate U.S. Army Security Assistance Training Management Organization will provide training to the Q-36 radar military teams, with support from the Fire Center of Excellence and Tobyhanna Army Depot.