Sexual assaults in the military are down and victims are more likely to report the crime, according to the latest numbers released Thursday that advocates say show recent changes are beginning to make a dent in what had become a crisis for the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday the Pentagon had made "real progress" in combating sexual assault in the U.S. military but needed to take further action to ensure victims were not subjected to retaliation when they reported the crime.

In her ongoing effort to protect seniors from scam artists, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill last week questioned prepaid debit card companies and retail stores on their role in preventing consumers — particularly seniors — from falling victim to phone scams in a hearing in the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Sexual assaults in the military: down. Reports of incidents: up.

The House on Thursday headed toward passage of a $585 billion defense policy bill that gives President Barack Obama the authority to expand U.S. military operations against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon is set to release its first report today on the effectiveness of more than 30 reforms aimed at curbing sexual assaults in the military.  Congress approved the measures last year at this time and President Barack Obama signed them into law in January.

As Congress wraps up 2014, two defense-related issues of local interest were in the headlines here Thursday.

It could be easy to get discouraged reading about the Pentagon survey Thursday that found reports of sexual assault in the American military are on the rise. But a closer look at the numbers gives reason for optimism: There are more reports of assault because more women are reporting those assaults rather than staying silent.

During a surprisingly emotional appearance before a congressional panel on Tuesday, Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, admitted the league made a "crucial mistake" in its initial punishment of Ray Rice and got choked up when describing his commitment to improving their policies.

Major league sports faced new pressure from Congress to clamp down on domestic violence. Officials from the top four professional leagues and their players associations testified Tuesday at a Senate hearing where senators expected a better turnout, CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports.

For months following Michael Brown’s shooting, the national and international media have focused on Ferguson and the St. Louis region.

Missouri U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt, along with a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues, has demanded a delay in the planned consolidation of up to 82 U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail processing facilities after the USPS Inspector General found the Postal Service failed to fulfil its obligations to adequately study the impact of the consolidations, and failed to inform the public of those impacts.

Mark Rosekind, nominated to be the top U.S. auto-safety regulator, pledged to lawmakers on Wednesday that he would bring a “fresh set of eyes” to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aiming to turn the page on a difficult period for the agency.

President Obama’s choice to lead the nation’s top auto safety agency told a Senate committee on Wednesday that the agency, long criticized for failing to spot defects in cars, now faces so many consumer complaints that it has trouble keeping up.

The number of troops reporting unwanted sexual contact dropped 27% to 19,000 in 2014 compared with 2012, according to Pentagon figures obtained by USA TODAY.

A Pentagon report on military sexual-assault reform that is due any day could tell much about future battles over the issue involving Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

With deepening concerns about domestic violence among professional athletes, members of a United States Senate committee on Tuesday chastised the four major sports leagues for failing to police their players and falling short in supporting victims.

This week, one year after historic reforms were signed into law, we find out if more survivors of sexual assault are coming forward and if the number of assaults is going down.

Ashley Yates’ meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office Monday began with a Twitter feed about a dead body in the street. That was Aug. 9, and her curiosity led her to where others were gathered near Michael Brown’s body. “And that led from there to trying to seek some answers and the next day being tear-gassed for the very first time,” she said in a phone interview Monday night.

Republican Roy Blunt and Democrat Claire McCaskill joined a bipartisan group of colleagues Monday to demand the delay of the planned consolidation of the facilities, two of which are in Missouri.