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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Background Briefing on Africa US Dept. of State 16 Jan 2013
• Press Roundtable with Secretary Panetta in Rome, Italy DoD 16 Jan 2013
• Panetta Vows ‘All Necessary Steps’ for U.S. Hostages AFPS 16 Jan 2013 -- Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta confirmed that Americans are among those taken hostage in southern Algeria when terrorists attacked and occupied a natural gas plant.
• Panetta Vows 'Proper' Response to Algeria Hostage-Taking VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has condemned the taking of as many as 41 foreign hostages at a natural gas facility in Algeria, a move apparently linked to the French military operation in neighboring Mali.
• Remarks on the Visit of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the Situation in Mali US Dept. of State 16 Jan 2013
• Suicide Bombers Attack Afghan Intelligence Agency RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Suicide bombers have attacked Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security building in the capital.
• Kyrgyz Leader: No Military Equipment At Manas After 2014 RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev says no military equipment should remain at Manas airport after most NATO-led troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
• Harvest HAWK Marines ready for Afghan war USMC News 16 Jan 2013 -- More than 80 Marines and four KC-130J Hercules aircraft with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan within the next month.
• Joint Border Coordination Center responsibility transfers Army News 16 Jan 2013 -- Soldiers with the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team officially transferred responsibility for operations at the Joint Border Coordination Center to the 208th Army Liaison Team.
• Bulgaria To Withdraw Part Of Afghan Contingent RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- The Bulgarian government says it will pull a significant part of its troop contingent out of Afghanistan.
• 5th AR trains joint warfighters to detect 'insider threats' Army News 16 Jan 2013 -- Joint warfighters being trained are learning to combat a battlefield threat as old as war itself, but one that is rapidly growing in current operations.
• Delaware MPs train for Afghan mentor mission Army News 16 Jan 2013 -- The 153rd Military Police Company -- more than 120 Delaware Army National Guard Soldiers headquartered in Delaware City, Del. -- mobilized recently at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
• Building Afghanistan: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at work Army News 16 Jan 2013 -- How does the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers oversee construction in Afghanistan? Who decides the scope, design, location or budget of the projects?
• Afghan Massacre Suspect to be Arraigned VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians last year, is to be arraigned in a military court in the U.S. state of Washington on Thursday.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Panetta, in Italy, Addresses Global, Local Issues AFPS 16 Jan 2013 -- Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Italian government officials discussed a range of issues, from conflict in Africa to security transition in Afghanistan to Sicilian concerns about a proposed U.S. communications facility.
• Dempsey Attends NATO Chiefs of Defense Meeting AFPS 16 Jan 2013 -- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, is attending the NATO and Partners’ Chiefs of Defense Meeting.
• Reserves receive first MV-22 Osprey squadron; looking for good Marines USMC News 16 Jan 2013 -- Marine Forces Reserve has never had a V-22 Osprey squadron until now.
• Fiscal Uncertainty Worries Service Members AFPS 16 Jan 2013 -- Concern about the impact that budget cuts may have on the force emerged as a common theme as the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with enlisted service members.
• Next Generation Mobile Weather Tracking System Ready for Fleet Deployment NNS 16 Jan 2013 -- An enhanced mobile weather tracking system developed by the Navy is soon to replace the current model in use by the Marine Corps since Operation Desert Storm.
• Defense official finds logistics for success at Corpus Christi Army Depot Army News 16 Jan 2013 -- Corpus Christi Army Depot, the Army's rotary wing maintenance and repair facility has caught the attention of one high-level Defense official who thinks that this is exactly what the government needs.
• Historic Los Alamitos base now home to state-of-the-art Army Reserve headquarters Army News 16 Jan 2013 -- The 79th Sustainment Support Command officially opened its new 53,000-square-foot headquarters facility on Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, Jan. 12.
• DOD Health Official Updates Status of PTSD, TBI Care AFPS 16 Jan 2013 -- A top Defense Department health official told a Pentagon task force that determining the impact of mental health programs across the military will be a key project this year.
• NCOs Crucial to Suicide Prevention, Battaglia Says AFPS 16 Jan 2013 -- The senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that he can’t succeed at his job without the help of enlisted service members.
• Russia Conducts Simulated Missile Launch RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- The Central Command Post of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces conducted a simulated missile launch.
• Russia Moves Ahead With ‘Kalashnikov’ Merger RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has visited small-arms maker Izhmash and discussed the prospects of the company’s merger with another leading small-arms manufacturer under the famed Kalashnikov brand.
• Fourth Suspect Arrested in Defense Fraud Case RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of another senior Defense Ministry official in connection with a massive fraud probe at a state defense firm.
• Opening remarks by the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Knud Bartels, at 168th meeting of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Staff session NATO 16 Jan 2013
• New £14 million contract boosts Brimstone missile stocks UK MOD 16 Jan 2013 -- Brimstone missiles are carried by RAF Tornado aircraft in Afghanistan and were also used on operations over Libya.
• S. Korea Plan to Stage Maneuvers in Frontline Areas KCNA 16 Jan 2013 -- The 25th Division of the south Korean army on Jan. 14 announced it would stage a field tactical drill in Yangju, Phaju and Ryonchon, Kyonggi Province.
• Cross-strait detente not equal to security inertia: president CNA 16 Jan 2013 -- President Ma Ying-jeou said that the existing detente does not imply that Taiwan has been inactive in bolstering its national defense.
• Taiwan rebuts report of possible islet landing drill CNA 16 Jan 2013 -- Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense rebutted a report that a landing drill will be held on Taiwan's outlying Penghu islands later this year.
• Iran Navy to Deploy to Mediterranean RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- Iran will deploy a fleet of warships to the Mediterranean Sea, Navy chief Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said.
• U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing, January 16, 2013 US Dept. of State 16 Jan 2013

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for January 16, 2013
• Two Japanese Airlines Ground 787's After Mishap VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Japan's two biggest airlines have grounded their Boeing 787s after one of the new jets made an emergency landing when a cockpit warning light indicated a battery problem and passengers smelled something burning.
• Japan Probes 787 as Airlines Ground Planes After Snags RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- Japan's Transport Ministry set up a safety commission to investigate why a Boeing 787 Dreamliner was forced to make an emergency landing that morning after smoke was detected in an electrical compartment.

Other Conflicts

• Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 16 January 2013 United Nations 16 Jan 2013
• Europe Mulls Options in Mali VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- France has launched a land assault in Mali that will put its soldiers in direct combat with Islamist militants in the north of the country.
• African Union Works with Partners On Mali Crisis VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- The African Union is working with international partners and the Economic Community of West African States to deal with the fighting underway in Mali, according to the deputy chairman of the African Union Commission.
• French Troops 'In Direct Combat' With Mali Islamist Rebels RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- French troops have reportedly engaged in street battles against Islamist rebels in the town of Diabaly in central Mali.
• France Begins Ground Operations in Mali VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- A reporter for VOA's French to Africa Service spoke to a resident of Diabaly, who says Malian army personnel have surrounded the town.
• French Troops Arriving Ready for Action in Mali VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- French forces are preparing for a possible ground assault in Mali against al-Qaida-linked rebels who have continued to push south despite five days of French aerial bombardments.
• ICC Launches War Crimes Probe in Mali VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into alleged war crimes in Mali.
• Fear, rumour and relief as air strikes continue in Mali IRIN 16 Jan 2013 -- Fear and rumour are rife in Mali as French military air strikes against Islamist militants continued for the sixth day in the centre and north of the country.
• Algerian Militants Kidnap Foreigners in Retaliation for Mali Intervention VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants in Algeria are holding as many as 41 foreign hostages for what the militants call retaliation for the French military action in Mali.
• Somali Militants Plan to Execute French Hostage VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Somali militant group al-Shabab says it has decided to kill a French hostage, days after France carried out an unsuccessful rescue operation and presumed the man dead.
• Africa's French Citizens Take Islamist Threats in Stride VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- French strikes on al-Qaida-linked rebels in Mali have raised the risk of revenge attacks on French citizens in parts of Africa, officials say, although expatriates and foreign companies were mainly taking the threats in their stride.
• India, Pakistan Agree To Ease Kashmir Tensions RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- India and Pakistan have agreed to ease tensions in disputed Kashmir and observe a decade-old cease-fire.
• Coordinated Blasts Kill 24 in Syria VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Syrian activists say three coordinated car bombs targeting security installations in northern Idlib province have killed at least 24 people, mostly government forces.
• Car Bombs Kill At Least 22 In Northern Syria RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Three car bombs reportedly have exploded in Syria's northern province of Idlib, killing at least 22 people.
• Attack on the University of Aleppo US Dept. of State 16 Jan 2013
• Syria: UN officials voice condemnation and shock over bombing of University of Aleppo UN News Centre 16 Jan 2013 -- Senior United Nations officials have spoken out over the deadly bombing of Syria’s University of Aleppo which left more than 80 people dead, most of them students.
• Death Toll Rises in Syria University Bombing VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Fighting continues in areas across Syria, while a Syrian rights group says the death toll from two explosions at the University of Aleppo has risen to 87.
• Washington Dismisses Report on Chemical Attack in Syria RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- The White House downplayed speculations that chemical weapons had been used by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime against the Syrian rebels.
• UN agency plans to scale up food assistance inside Syria UN News Centre 16 Jan 2013 -- The United Nations World Food Programme plans to reach 2.5 million people inside Syria with food aid.
• Syria to Receive More International Food Aid VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- The World Food Program says the Syrian government has agreed to let the agency work with dozens of Syrian organizations to distribute food aid throughout the war-torn country.
• UN envoy alarmed by wave of attacks in Iraq which have killed dozens of civilians UN News Centre 16 Jan 2013 -- The top United Nations envoy in Iraq strongly condemned recent wave of attacks which have targeted individuals in crowded areas and have killed and injured dozens of people.
• Wave Of Attacks Kills At Least 33 In Iraq RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Security and medical officials say that several attacks in northern Iraq and Baghdad have killed at least 33 people.
• Suicide Bombings Kill 29 in Iraq VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- A wave of attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq killed at least 29 people, the deadliest violence to take place this year in a country increasingly divided along sectarian lines.
• Pakistani Villagers Protest Brutal Killings RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Hundreds of villagers in Pakistan's northwest Khyber tribal district are staging a protest against the deaths of at least 14 local residents allegedly killed by security forces.
• Burma Conflict Tests China’s Policy of Non-Interference VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Fighting in the north of Burma between the military and the Kachin Independence Army is becoming increasingly intense and deadly.
• Thailand to Allow UN Access to Presumed Rohingya Group VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- The United Nations refugee agency says Thailand has agreed in principle to allow access to a group of about 850 people detained after fleeing sectarian violence in Burma.
• Israel Court Okays Removal of Palestinian Protest Tents VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Israel's Supreme Court gave the government the go-ahead on Wednesday to remove tents Palestinian activists pitched on a patch of West Bank land marked for Jewish settlements.
• IMU Members Target Of Tajik Operation RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- A special operation to arrest suspected members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is under way in northern Tajikistan.
• Kyrgyz Villages Blocked in Uzbek Border Incident RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- Kyrgyzstan helicopters are delivering food and essential supplies to residents in three villages on the border with Uzbekistan which have been blockaded following a border incident earlier this month.
• Darfur: UN-African Union mission reports drop in gold mine-related violence, but tensions remain UN News Centre 16 Jan 2013 -- Tribal clashes over the control of gold mines located in Sudan’s Darfur region have subsided.
• UN: Fighting in Sudan's Darfur Kills More Than 100 VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- A surge in violence in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region has killed more than 100 people and forced 100,000 to flee, the United Nations said on Wednesday, sharply increasing its estimates after weeks of clashes.
• Land Disputes Threaten Liberia's Post-War Peace VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Land disputes remain a major threat to peace in post-war Liberia.
• Hundreds in limbo at camp on the Tunisian-Libyan border IRIN 16 Jan 2013 -- Hundreds of sub-Saharan African and Arab refugees are still holed up in a camp on the Tunisian side of the border.

News Reports

• IAEA To Push For Access In Iran RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to hold talks in Tehran on Iran's controversial nuclear program.
• Iran, World Powers to Resume Nuclear Talks VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- An Iranian news agency said that Iran and six world powers would resume talks over the Islamic state's nuclear program in late January.
• President Ahmadinejad: Human rights, nuclear issues tools for enemies to extend hostility against Iran IRNA 16 Jan 2013 -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that issues such as the human rights and Iran’s nuclear activities were just tools in the hands of the enemies of the country to extend their hostility against the Iranian nation.
• President calls for changes in economic structures to confront sanctions IRNA 16 Jan 2013 -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed the need for changes in the country’s economic structures to confront sanctions.
• Iran's Monkey Rocket Plans Continue A Rich History Of Primate Space Travel RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Tehran is planning to send a live monkey into space after a previous failed attempt.
• Iran Parliament Mulls New Restrictions On Women's Travel RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- The national security committee of the Iranian parliament is considering a bill that could place further limits on the already restricted right of Iranian women to travel.
• US Presses for Sanctions Against North Korea VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- A senior U.S. diplomat says Washington is pushing hard for tough international sanctions against North Korea following its successful long-range rocket launch last month.
• Pakistani Interior Minister Warns Protesters To Disperse RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Pakistan's interior minister has warned influential Islamic cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri and thousands of his supporters rallying in Islamabad to disperse.
• Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri: A Complex Man Full Of Contradictions RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- He calls himself Sheikh-ul-Islam and gets his supporters to swear allegiance to him on the Koran, but he hates to be called "maulana," a term regularly used to refer to religious scholars in Pakistan.
• Qadri Wants Pakistan Elections Held On Schedule RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Influential Islamic cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has told antigovernment protesters in Islamabad that he wants election reforms but no delay in elections scheduled for spring.
• Pakistan Protest Leader Demands Electoral Reforms VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Firebrand Muslim cleric Tahir-ul Qadri said Wednesday his supporters would not abandon their sit-in on the streets of Pakistan's capital until the country implements his demands for clean and transparent national elections.
• Morsi: Speech Against Jews Taken Out of Context VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi says vitriolic comments he made against Jews and Zionists three years ago had been taken out of context, an explanation that fell short of a U.S. call for him to repudiate the remarks.
• Mubarak Appeal Polarizes Opinion, Risks Fresh Unrest in Egypt RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- Mubarak's supporters celebrated Sunday's ruling, hoping a retrial will acquit the ailing 84 year-old former president who is now bedridden at a military hospital.
• US to Recognize Somalia's New Government VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- A senior U.S. diplomat says the United States is officially recognizing the government in Somalia, opening formal diplomatic relations for the first time since militants shot down two U.S. military helicopters in Mogadishu in 1993.
• Russia Calls for Lifting Myanmar Sanctions RIA Novosti 16 Jan 2013 -- Russia seeks the lifting of all remaining sanctions still imposed by some western nations against Myanmar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
• Letter from the President - LIBERTAD Act The White House 16 Jan 2013
• Freedom House Laments Eurasian Declines, 'Return Of Iron Fist' In Russia RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- The non-Baltic former Soviet Union now rivals the Middle East as one of the most politically and socially repressive regions in the world, according to the latest annual report compiled by Freedom House.
• Report: Freedoms in Libya, Egypt Improving, But Declining in Russia, Mali VOA 16 Jan 2013 -- The pro-democracy group Freedom House says in an annual report on global freedom that the number of countries ranked as free has risen to 90, but about 27 nations have suffered significant setbacks.
• Uzbekistan Among Few Countries Keeping Exit Visas RFE/RL 16 Jan 2013 -- Cuba's move to scrap exit visas for ordinary people leaves only a handful of countries keeping this communist-era travel restriction on their citizens, including North Korea and Uzbekistan.