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News Reports

Current Operations

• Rumsfeld Says 'Major Combat Activity' Over In Afghanistan RFE/L 01 May 2003 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today that "major combat activity" has concluded in Afghanistan, and that the United States is now focusing more on stabilizing and reconstructing the war-torn country.
• Rumsfeld: Afghanistan Entering Period of Stability, Reconstruction Washington File 01 May 2003 -- After meeting May 1 with his key military advisors in Kabul and with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said there has been a shift "from major combat activity to a period of ... stabilization and reconstruction" in Afghanistan
• RUMSFELD / AFGHANISTAN VOA 01 May 2003 -- U-S Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, says coalition military efforts in Afghanistan will shift from major combat operations to efforts to improve security.
• AFGHAN-IRAQ VOA 01 May 2003 -- U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has declared an end to major combat in Afghanistan and says the emphasis is now on reconstruction. But the situation in Afghanistan is still fraught with physical and political danger -- and has some lessons learned that might be put to use in Iraq.
• Rumsfeld Impressed With Progress in Afghanistan Capital AFPS 01 May 2003 -- The situation on the ground in Afghanistan has clearly moved from "major combat activity to a period of stability and stabilization," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit today to the Afghan capital.
• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 2, Number 15 01 May 2003 -- LESSONS FROM THE PAST: THE SAUR PUTSCH / AFGHAN OFFICIAL SAYS OPINION POLL WILL BE CONDUCTED ON DRAFT CONSTITUTION / AFGHAN CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION FORMED... / ...AS AFGHANISTAN'S TURKMEN CALL FOR REPRESENTATION ON THE COMMISSION / KABUL PAPER HOPES NEW CONSTITUTION LEADS TO BETTER LIFE / ANOTHER KABUL PUBLICATION CALLS FOREIGN BROADCASTS UNCONSTITUTIONAL / U.S. SPECIAL FORCES REPORTEDLY KILL SUSPECTED ASSASSIN OF RED CROSS WORKER / TWO GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS AND THREE TALIBAN FIGHTERS KILLED IN ZABUL PROVINCE... / ... AND TWO U.S. SOLDIERS ARE KILLED IN PAKTIKA PROVINCE / AFGHAN SECURITY POST ATTACKED... / ...AS DEATH TOLL RISES / U.S. SHIFTS POLICY FROM COMBAT TO STABILITY PHASE IN AFGHANISTAN / NEW MOVEMENT DECLARES JIHAD ON FOREIGN FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN / COALITION FORCES SEIZE TONS OF AMMUNITION IN FARYAB PROVINCE / NEWLY APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF KONAR PROVINCE ATTACKED / AFGHAN CHAIRMAN PROVIDES PAKISTAN WITH A LIST OF WANTED TALIBAN FUGITIVES... / ...AS PAKISTANI OFFICIALS DENY THE REPORT... / ...BUT ISLAMABAD VOWS TO FACILITATE AFGHAN SECURITY... / ...WHILE DENYING THAT TALIBAN LEADER IS IN PAKISTAN / PAKISTAN LAUNCHES CRACKDOWN ON TALIBAN LEADERS / ARMS CACHE SEIZED FROM AFGHAN NATIONAL IN PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN TO STAY OUT OF INDIAN-PAKISTANI DISPUTES / AFGHAN PAPER WARNS ABOUT ESTABLISHING TIES WITH ISRAEL / UNIDENTIFIED DISEASE KILLING 80 PERCENT OF NEWBORN LAMBS IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY

• USS Mobile Bay Comes Home to Cheers and Appreciation Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- USS Mobile Bay's (CG 53) record nine-month deployment came to an end April 25.
• Tomcatters Return from War Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- The "Tomcatters" of Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 will return to Naval Air Station Oceana May 2 following their record-setting deployment aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Carrier Air Wing 5 Aircraft Return Home Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- The sound of thunder pierced the air on a cloudless spring day, as four F/A-18 Hornets raced across the blue sky and broke formation.
• Reservists Help Protect a City: Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit 109 Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- Modern day military operations are seldom planned or operated without the supporting, volunteer forces of Reservists.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Controversial Production Of Plutonium Pits Restarted RFE/L 01 May 2003 -- The United States Department of Energy recently announced that it has restarted production of plutonium pits -- a key component in nuclear weapons -- for the first time in 14 years. Critics say the move could trigger a new arms race and contravenes U.S. commitments to de-emphasize reliance on nuclear weapons. Supporters say keeping America's nuclear weapons stockpile in mint condition is the only way to guarantee security.

• PENTAGON: LOOKING TO AFRICA? VOA 01 May 2003 -- One of America's top military leaders is predicting the United States and its NATO allies will begin focusing greater attention on instability in Africa in the future. But defense officials stress, no firm decisions have been made.
• U-S / PUERTO RICO / VIEQUES VOA 01 May 2003 -- Violence has marred today's (Thursday's) scheduled withdrawal of the U-S Navy from a controversial bombing range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
• Air Force starts assessment survey AFPN 01 May 2003 -- After a short delay because of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 Air Force Community Assessment survey is under way.
• DoD Sets Up Office to Help Lure Job Applicants AFPS 01 May 2003 -- The Defense Department, which employs more than 700,000 civilians in more than 900 occupations, has set up a new office to help lure job applicants to the federal workforce.
• TR Crew Unwinds with Liberty in Slovenia Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Sailors took a break from supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom with a liberty port in the quaint port of Koper, Slovenia.
• Rolling Out for Cobra Gold Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 moved 39 pieces of Civil Engineer Support Equipment (CESE) to the final staging area as part of the embarkation of their Air Detachment to Thailand.
• Blue Ridge Earns Ship's Battle 'E' Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) has earned the coveted Battle Efficiency (Battle "E") award for overall operational excellence for the first time in its 34-year history.
• Technology Used to Develop Skills While Saving Resources at Sea Navy NewStand 30 Apr 2003 -- The Expeditionary Strike Group-Forward Deployed Naval Force (ESG-FDNF) battle staff recently completed the first phase of joint exercise Tandem Thrust 2003, while aboard USS Essex (LHD 2).
• Upcoming Navy/Industry UAV Demonstration Gathers Momentum NAVAIR 01 May 2003 -- The second demonstration of multiple unmanned aerial vehicle systems is set to be held Monday, July 14, 2003, at the Webster Field Annex of NAVAIR, Patuxent River, located in St. Mary's County, Maryland.
• DoD Bolsters Service Members' Post-Deployment Health Assessment Process AFPS 01 Mar 2003 -- Thousands of active duty and reserve U.S. service members deployed overseas for Operation Iraqi Freedom will undergo an enhanced post-deployment health assessment process.
• Success in Iraq result of lessons learned AFPN 01 May 2003 -- The reason the Air Force performed so well during Operation Iraqi Freedom can be traced back to lessons learned from earlier conflicts, according to the deputy chief of staff for air and space operations at the Pentagon.
• Tanker crew helps keep TT-03 flying PACAFNS 01 May 2003 -- Every successful flying mission begins and ends with flight checks and paperwork, and any sustained mission requires refueling.

• Airpower shaped by Iraqi no-fly zones USAFE 01 May 2003 -- During a media interview on the flightline last year, a reporter asked an F-16 pilot if he'd ever previously been a part of Operation Northern Watch.

• French Economist Explores Roots of Current U.S.-French Rift Washington File 01 May 2003 -- How great or real is the rift between America and France from the French perspective? And is it based on diametrically opposed approaches to the Iraq crisis or on more deeply rooted economic and political differences?

Defense Industry

• GE Delivers 200th LM2500 Aeroderivative Gas Turbine GE Marine 01 May 2003 -- GE Marine Engines recently tested and delivered the 200th LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbine for the United States Navy's DDG 51 Aegis destroyer program. This milestone represents the most gas turbines GE has built for any U.S. Navy ship class. To celebrate this benchmark, GE Marine Engines held a special ceremony today at its Evendale, Ohio headquarters.
• Navy Awards Lockheed Martin $38 Million Contract for Laser Guided Training Rounds Lockheed Martin 01 May 2003 -- Lockheed Martin has received a $38 million U.S. Navy contract to produce Laser Guided Training Rounds (LGTRs). The base-year contract is valued at approximately $13 million and two option years are estimated at $13 million and $12 million respectively.
• Lockheed Martin Receives $117.6 Million for Additional Lot 3 F/A-22 Lockheed Martin 01 May 2003 -- Crediting reduced costs from suppliers as a catalyst, the U.S. Air Force has exercised a contract option by awarding Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] $117.6 million to add one F/A-22 aircraft and associated equipment to the Lot 3 Low Rate Initial Production contract awarded earlier last month. This brings the number of F/A-22s to be procured in Lot 3 to 21 aircraft and moves the total number of production F/A-22s ordered thus far to 44 jets.
• Northrop Grumman Given Approval to Design, Build X-47B Navy UCAV Demonstrators; Award Strengthens UAV Partnership with Defense Department Northrop Grumman 01 May 2003 -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Integrated Systems sector an undefinitized contract modification worth up to $160 million to produce and demonstrate a minimum of two full-scale X-47B unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV).
• Northrop Grumman's `Decision Agent' Secure Messaging Application Goes Live at Pentagon Northrop Grumman 01 May 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has "gone live" at the Pentagon as of April 1 with the secure organizational messaging services of the "Decision Agent" following several months of installation and testing by the company's California Microwave Systems business unit.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 01 May 2003
• Annan 'deeply disturbed' by Israeli raid in Gaza UN News Centre 01 May 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced deep concern over Israel's military incursions today in Gaza, stressing that they violated international humanitarian law and contradicted the international community's latest efforts to solve the Middle East conflict.
• Bush Discusses Mideast "Roadmap" with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Washington File 01 May 2003 -- President Bush and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah discussed the "roadmap" to a Middle East peace settlement in a phone conversation May 1, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters.
• ROADMAP / ARAB REACT VOA 01 May 2003 -- The plan known as the "roadmap" designed to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians was drawn up with international support, but some in the Middle East have concerns about it.
• POWELL/MIDEAST VOA 01 May 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell held talks with Spanish leaders in Madrid as he began a U-S push to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process through the international "road map" presented to the parties on Wednesday. Mr. Powell will visit Syria and Lebanon later this week, and return to the region for direct talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders next week.
• ROADMAP REACT VOA 01 May 2003 -- Israel and the Palestinians are expressing different views on whether the new international peace plan to end their conflict is open to amendment. The Palestinians say the original text should be implemented immediately but Israel says the document is merely a draft subject to change.
• ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS VOA 01 May 2003-- Israeli troops and tanks backed by helicopters, swept through a suburb of Gaza city early Thursday, killing at least six Palestinians, including two children. At least six Israeli soldiers were also reported wounded in the ensuing firefight with Palestinian gunmen

• Postponement of Elections in Northern Ireland Called Disappointing Washington File 01 May 2003 -- State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker issued a statement May 1 on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to postpone the scheduled May elections aimed at forming a new power-sharing administration for Northern Ireland. Reeker also said the United States welcomed the publication of the "Joint Declaration by the British and Irish Governments" on Northern Ireland.
• NORTHERN IRELAND VOA 01 May 2003 -- Britain has postponed legislative elections in Northern Ireland, saying the Irish Republican Army has not made clear its intention to give up all political violence.

• IVORY COAST VOA 01 May 2003 -- Ivory Coast government officials say a cease-fire to end a seven-month conflict covers the entire country, following agreements to stop fighting in the west.
• LIBERIA: ICG urges international action to end civil war IRIN 01 May 2003 -- The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Belgian-based organisation that aims to resolve conflicts, has called for concerted action by the international community to end the civil war in Liberia, which has destabilised neighbouring countries.
• BURUNDI: Bah appointed head of African mission IRIN 01 May 2003 -- The African Union's (AU) ambassador to Burundi, Mamadou Bah, had been appointed head of the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB), South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma announced on Wednesday.
• DRC-UGANDA: Hema king flees to Uganda IRIN 01 May 2003 -- The king of the Hema people, and the bishop of Boga Anglican Province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have fled the volatile Ituri District and taken refuge in Fort Portal in Kabarole District, western Uganda.
• RWANDA: EU to observe referendum on constitution IRIN 01 May 2003 -- An EU election observation mission (EOM) has arrived in Rwanda ahead of a referendum to adopt a new constitution for the country, the Rwandan News Agency reported on Wednesday.
• ERITREA: Opposition alliance says it has military wing IRIN 01 May 2003 -- The opposition Eritrean National Alliance (ENA) says it has set up a military wing aimed at bringing down President Isayas Afewerki.

News Reports

• PRESS BRIEFING ON LAUNCH OF HUMAN SECURITY REPORT United Nations 01 May 2003
• Number of new SARS cases in China continues to climb, UN health agency says UN News Centre 01 May 2003 -- The number of new cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China continues to climb steadily, particularly in Beijing, with 187 new cases and 11 deaths, more than half of which were in the capital, the United Nations World Health Organization said today.
• SARS/GENOME VOA 01 May 2003 -- U-S and Canadian researchers have shed some light on the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. Scientists say the additional information should aid in the development of a treatment and vaccine to fight the pneumonia-like illness.
• ASIA/SARS VOA 01 May 2003-- Emergency measures are keeping most Beijing residents at home this May Day, as China scrambles to react to the spread of atypical pneumonia
• SARS/ASIA ECONOMIES VOA 01 May 2003-- A regional plan announced this week to deal with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is being seen as a possible turning point for Asian economies hit hard by the disease.
• ZIMBABWE POLITICS VOA 01 May 2003 -- In Zimbabwe, visiting members of the South African parliament say their government is adopting a more hands on approach to the problems of its northern neighbor.
• TURKEY/QUAKE / RED CROSS VOA 01 May 2003 -- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it is working to provide temporary shelter for earthquake victims in southeastern Turkey, whose homes have been destroyed. The aid agency is also participating in rescue operations.
• UKRAINE / PRESS FREEDOM VOA 01 May 2003 -- Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has signed a bill he says protects the media. It defines censorship and makes it a criminal offense for officials to deliberately intervene in the professional work of Ukraine's journalists. But some experts are skeptical it will do much to change a years of hostility between journalists and the Ukrainian government.
• EDITORIAL: OUTRAGE AT THE U-N VOA 01 May 2003 -- Confidence in the United Nations Human Rights Commission was badly shaken earlier this year by the election of Libya to the commission's chairmanship. Libya is a nation notorious for its human rights abuses. Now, a new outrage: Communist Cuba has been reelected to a seat on the commission. As White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, this decision further illustrates the human rights commission's precipitous decline
• MIDEAST / UNEMPLOYMENT VOA 01 May 2003 -- The International Labor Organization says reconstruction in Iraq and the new effort to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians could help reduce unemployment in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
• ASIA/PIRACY VOA 01 May 2003-- An international maritime watchdog says world-wide sea piracy hit an all time high during the first three months of 2003, and Indonesian waters were the world's most dangerous
• NIGERIA/OIL STAND-OFF VOA 01 May 2003 -- In Nigeria, authorities are intensifying efforts to free foreigners who have been trapped on offshore oil rigs by striking oil workers since the middle of April.
• NIGERIA: Navy moves to evacuate besieged rigs IRIN 01 May 2003 -- The Nigerian navy has begun deploying ships and troops to evacuate four oil rigs in the Gulf of Guinea, where striking oil workers had trapped hundreds of locals and foreigners after talks on ending the 12-day stand-off failed, officials said on Thursday.