US President Barack Obama named a Republican congressman today to be the next Secretary of the Army, bringing another member of the opposition into his administration.

Ex-US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top former Pentagon officials today denied any cover-up and rejected personal responsibility for the military’s bungled response to Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s friendly-fire death in Afghanistan.

US Army Secretary Francis Harvey resigned after a row broke out over a scandal involving the treatment of wounded soldiers.