Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Italian Premier Makes Surprise Visit To Afghanistan RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti arrived in Afghanistan on November 4 for an unannounced visit.
• U.S. and Afghan Army Engineers: 'bridging' the gap Army News 04 Nov 2012 -- U.S. Army engineers currently serving in Regional Command North, Afghanistan as part of Task Force Hurricane have embraced counter-insurgency concepts and established a uniquely holistic approach.
• 30th Medical Command assumes TF MED-A Army News 04 Nov 2012 -- The 1st Medical Brigade from Fort Hood, Texas, ceremoniously cased their colors here Thursday, transferring the authority of command to the 30th Medical Command from Sembach, Germany, as they unfurled their colors.
• Readout of the President’s Briefing on Response and Recovery Efforts The White House 04 Nov 2012
• Update on the DoD and National Guard Response to Hurricane Sandy DoD 04 Nov 2012
• National Guard relieves suffering after Hurricane Sandy Army News 04 Nov 2012 -- About 7,000 Guard members are helping people who are living without power in communities worst-hit by Hurricane Sandy.
• US Navy Provides Disaster Relief in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy NNS 04 Nov 2012 -- The U.S. Navy continued to provide disaster relief in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, national and local authorities in the New York and New Jersey areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, Nov. 4.
• Marines help residents of Staten Island USMC News 04 Nov 2012 -- Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived via CH-53E helicopters to Staten Island, N.Y., Nov. 4.
• 62nd Port Dawgs do 'whatever it takes' to support hurricane relief efforts AFNS 04 Nov 2012 -- Airmen from the 62nd Aerial Port Squadron worked through the night Nov. 2, and well into the afternoon Nov. 3.
• MAF Airmen continue hurricane relief efforts AFNS 04 Nov 2012 -- America's Mobility Air Forces continued transporting equipment and personnel to East Coast staging areas in support of relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
• Connecticut Guard has answer for Sandy AFNS 04 Nov 2012 -- Approximately 850 members from the Connecticut Army and Air National Guard here and around the state were called up for state active duty Oct. 31 in response to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.
• Rescue Task Force begins mission in New Jersey AFNS 04 Nov 2012 -- Members of the National Urban Search and Rescue Task Force traveled to Staten Island, N.Y., to conduct house-to-house searches, Nov 3, 2012.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Navy Frigate Skipper Fired after Drunken Russia Visit RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- The skipper of a US Navy frigate has been fired after a probe has established his subordinates were involved in drunken behavior in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, the homeport of the Pacific Fleet.
• Pakistan, Turkish navies to hold joint exercises on Nov 5-14 IRNA 04 Nov 2012 -- Pakistan and Turkey will hold 10-day joint naval exercises in Turkey from November 5 to 14.
• IRGC commander: Enemies not dare impose any threat against Iran IRNA 04 Nov 2012 -- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Ja’fari said that Iran’s armed forces have become so strong and powerful that no enemy would even dare impose any military threats against the country.
• IRGC forces will be present in Persian Gulf powerfully: commander IRNA 04 Nov 2012 -- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi stressed that his forces will be present in the Persian Gulf region powerfully.
• Iran Sets up New Navy Base in Strait of Hormuz RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has established a new naval base in the Strait of Hormuz, the export route for around 25 percent of the world's crude oil.
• Iran Reportedly Builds New Advanced Drone RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- Iranian media report that the country has produced a new domestically made drone.
• Iran to Showcase Vertical Takeoff Drone Soon - Agency RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- A domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicle with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability will be showcased in Iran early next year.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Syrian Opposition in Key Qatar Meeting to Unify Ranks VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- Syria's fractured opposition factions began key talks aimed at forming a united front to gain international recognition and bolster their chances to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
• Syrian Opposition To Meet In Qatar RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- Hundreds of Syrian opposition figures are beginning a five-day conference today in the Qatari capital Doha.
• Russia Ready to Discuss UN Peacekeeping Mission to Syria RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- Moscow is ready to discuss sending international monitors and a UN peacekeeping mission to Syria.
• Syrian Rebels Say Fighting Govt. Forces to Control Airbase RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- Rebels in Syria said they were involved in a fierce fight against government forces to gain control of a key airbase in the country’s north.
• Several People Wounded in Damascus Hotel Explosion RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- An explosion that rocked the premises of a state-controlled labor union near the Dama Rose hotel in the Syrian capital has wounded several civilians.
• Russia supports formation of trilateral committee on Syria IRNA 04 Nov 2012 -- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that his country supports the idea of formation of a trilateral committee comprising Iran, Turkey and Russia for resolving the Syrian crisis.
• French President Visits Lebanon Amidst Turmoil VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- French President Francois Hollande has expressed support for Lebanon stability during a Beirut meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.
• Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's Travel to Somalia US Dept. of State 04 Nov 2012
• Uganda Officials to Meet U.N. Security Council Monday VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- A Ugandan government spokesman says officials from Kampala plan to meet members of the U.N. Security Council.
• Aung San Suu Kyi Refuses to Take Sides in Burma Ethnic Violence VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has urged tolerance in response to a wave of ethnic violence in the west of the country, but says she will not take sides.
• Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Handed Third Death Sentence RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has been handed a third death sentence by a Baghdad court.
• Blast Damages Libyan Police Station VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- Libyan officials say a car bomb has exploded near a police station in the country's second largest city, wounding three people.
• Explosion At Benghazi Police Station Injures Four RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- A car bomb has exploded outside a police station in Libya's largest city, Benghazi, injuring four police officers.

News Reports

• Lawmakers Summon Ahmadinejad Over Currency Crisis RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- Iranian state radio reports that 77 lawmakers have signed a petition criticizing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's handling of the country's currency crisis.
• Chinese Communist Party Confirms Expulsion Of Bo Xilai RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- China's Communist Party has expelled former senior politician Bo Xilai, paving the way for his criminal prosecution on charges.
• Activists say Tibetan Artist Sets Himself on Fire in China VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- A Tibetan artist has died after setting himself on fire in the latest self-immolation to protest Chinese rule.
• Report on Enlarged Meeting of Political Bureau of WPK Central Committee KCNA 04 Nov 2012 -- An enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea took place.
• Target killings claim 10 lives in Pakistan IRNA 04 Nov 2012 -- At least 10 people were killed in target attacks in different areas of Pakistan.
• Attack at Kenyan Church Causes Casualties VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- Kenya's Red Cross says a grenade attack at a church inside a police camp has killed one person and wounded 13 others.
• Georgia’s Saakashvili Refuses to Leave Presidential Palace RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has refused to fulfill the request by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili to leave the presidential palace.
• Russian Nationalists Mark Unity Day With Rallies RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- Police in the Russian capital say some 6,000 people have participated in a march of nationalists to mark the National Unity Day holiday.
• Russian Nationalists March in Moscow RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- Thousands of Russian nationalists and ultra-conservative Orthodox activists marched along a central Moscow embankment to protest mass immigration and demand tougher internal travel restrictions on people from the country’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus.
• Ukraine Opposition to Rally Against 'Election Fraud' RIA Novosti 04 Nov 2012 -- Ukraine’s United Opposition has called on its supporters to protest against the alleged falsification of the vote count at the country’s parliamentary election.
• Ukrainian Opposition Leader Calls For Party To Refuse Parliamentary Seats RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- A Ukrainian lawmaker and leader of the opposition Batkivshchina party of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has repeated a call for the party to refuse to send deputies to the new parliament that was elected on October 28.
• Tawadros Chosen as New Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians VOA 04 Nov 2012 -- Egypt's Coptic Christians have a new leader. Bishop Tawadros has been chosen to succeed the late Pope Shenouda and to shepherd one of the world's oldest Christian communities during precarious times.
• Coptic Christians Choose New Pope RFE/RL 04 Nov 2012 -- The Coptic Orthodox Church has selected Bishop Tawadros as the faith's new pope.