Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

Other Conflicts

• KENYA/WEAPONS VOA 15 Mar 2003 -- Kenya on Saturday began destroying more than seven-thousand illicit small arms it said had been confiscated from criminals. Some of the weapons that were burned had reportedly been used in various conflict raging in the region.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC/UNREST VOA 15 Mar 2003 -- Violence has broken out in the capital of the Central African Republic, in what appears to be a coup attempt. Gunmen have surrounded the president's palace and the airport.

Defense Policy / Programs

• PRESIDENT AUTHORIZES TWO NEW MEDALS 15 Mar 2003 -- A presidential executive order signed Wednesday authorizes the Department of Defense to create two new military medals for service in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).
• Bonhomme Richard Awarded 3rd Consecutive Battle 'E' Navy NewStand 15 Mar 2003 -- For the third year in a row, USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) has been named the Pacific Fleet's best large-deck amphibious warship and has been awarded the Battle Efficiency award for 2002.
• 3/23 ready to train aboard Combat Center USMC News 15 Mar 2003 -- They hail from Tennessee, California, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama and even New York, but on Sunday, the 3d Bn, 23rd Marines found themselves in Twentynine Palms.

News Reports

• UN health agency warns air travellers against contagious form of pneumonia UN News Centre 15 Mar 2003 -- The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today issued an emergency bulletin warning travellers about a contagious form of pneumonia which has recently emerged in various part of the globe.
• ITALY/SAVOYS VOA 15 Mar 2003 -- Italy's former royal family officially ended its 57-year exile Saturday, arriving in the southern Italian city of Naples for a weekend visit. But the reception was mixed.
• ASIA MYSTERY ILLNESS VOA 15 Mar 2003 -- A Hong Kong health official has implicitly criticized the World Health Organization for issuing a world-wide alert about a mysterious illness. More than forty Hong Kong residents are showing possible symptoms of the disease, which also appears to have struck in Vietnam and China.
• SERBIA/FUNERAL VOA 15 Mar 2003 -- Tens-of-thousands of mourners gathered in Belgrade Saturday for the funeral of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who was assassinated Wednesday.