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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Department of Defense News Briefing with Maj. Gen. Robert B. Abrams from the Pentagon DoD 13 Mar 2013
• U.S. Commander Praises Afghan Forces’ Progress AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- Afghanistan’s national security forces are better-equipped, better-trained and better-led than ever before, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command-South told Pentagon reporters.
• U.S. Troops Advise Afghan Forces as Drawdown Proceeds AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- Brigade advisory teams will continue to train and advise their Afghan counterparts as American forces drawdown in Afghanistan.
• Combined Force Arrests Haqqani Network Facilitator in Khost Province AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Haqqani network facilitator and another insurgent in the Tanai district of Afghanistan’s Khost province.
• Final Afghanistan-bound Stryker Brigade Trains for Deployment AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- Members of the last Stryker brigade combat team scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan are preparing for a distinctly different mission there.
• Ex-Spy Chief: Pakistan Sees Afghanistan As 'Sub-Nation' RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- Afghanistan's ex-spy chief has risked sparking another war of words by making a series of allegations against Pakistan.
• Bomber targets Afghan Speaker’s father, brother PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- The father and brother of the Afghan Parliament speaker in addition to a local police official have been killed in an attack in Afghanistan’s Kunduz Province.
• Afghan President Slams Delays in Bagram Prison Transfer RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that any further delay in the handover of a key U.S.-run detention facility to full Afghan control could harm relations.
• US fights for Afghan underground resources: Afghan president PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the US fights in Afghanistan with the intention of gaining access to the country’s underground resources.
• INSCOM assumes responsibility of Saturn Arch Program Army News 13 Mar 2013 -- Col. Adam R. Hinsdale, commander, Task Force Observe Detect Identify Neutralize-Enhanced (ODIN-E), assumed the mission on behalf of INSCOM from Frank Cooper, of the NGA.
• Eagle Eye USMC News 13 Mar 2013 -- The 2/7th Marines had been taking sporadic enemy fire for most of the morning March 2 while conducting their daily patrol through Boldak.
• MI deactivates Afghan element Army News 13 Mar 2013 -- The 205th Military Intelligence Battalion, 500th MI Brigade, held a deactivation ceremony for its strategic debriefing element at Richardson Theatre, Fort Shafter, Hawaii, Jan. 24.
• Terror Threat Potent, But Dispersed, Intelligence Chief Says AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- The terror threat is still potent, but it is much more dispersed than it once was.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Cuts Harm Programs Sustaining All-volunteer Force AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- Spending cuts that took effect March 1 will diminish recruiting, training, and medical and support programs that sustain the all-volunteer force.
• F-35 Production on Track, Program Chief Says AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program is a different program than it was four years ago, the F-35 program executive officer said.
• AF to retain additional intratheater airlift aircraft through fiscal 2014 AFNS 13 Mar 2013 -- The Air Force announced it will retain additional airlift aircraft through fiscal 2014 in response to a congressional mandate to retain an inventory of 358 intratheater airlift aircraft.
• Senior Official: Military Will Maintain Low-key Africa Presence AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- U.S. military efforts in Africa will remain low-key and “small footprint,” and will be geared toward building relationships with African nations, a senior Defense Department official said yesterday at the Pentagon.
• Defense secretary orders review of UCMJ, AF courts-martial outcome AFNS 13 Mar 2013 -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed two separate reviews to ensure that the U.S. military justice system is appropriately protecting victims of sexual assault as well as dispensing justice to the accused.
• DOD’s Top Doctor Details Sequester’s Effect on Health System AFPS 13 Mar 2013 -- The Pentagon’s top health affairs official detailed for Congress the immediate and long-term effects of sequestration on the Defense Department’s military health care system and its medical mission.
• Arlington National Cemetery employees exempt from furloughs, not sequestration-related budget cuts Army News 13 Mar 2013 -- The Executive Director of the Army National Military Cemeteries announced in a hearing that most of Arlington National Cemetery civilian employees will be exempt from defense-related furloughs for fiscal year 2013.
• Over 100 Gitmo inmates join hunger strike protesting indefinite detention PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Over 100 inmates at the notorious US Guantanamo military prison and torture camp have joined a hunger strike.
• Farragut Departs U.S. 5th Fleet NNS 13 Mar 2013 -- Guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) transited the Suez Canal departing the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility March 8.
• Collaboration: Aviation CoE supports MCoE's RTB Army News 13 Mar 2013 -- A training day months in the making finally arrived at Ranger School last week.
• Norad Exercise Planned for National Capital Region DoD 13 Mar 2013
• Pentagon plans 'offensive' cyber force to 'defend' Wall Street PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- The US military plans to establish 13 offensive cyber teams to ‘defend the nation’ against cyber attacks that could harm the Wall Street financial center or disrupt electric power grids.
• New Il-476 Cargo Plane Tests Stalled by Weather RIA Novosti 13 Mar 2013 -- The first Defense Ministry test flights of the prototype Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A heavy-lift transport plane were postponed indefinitely due to bad weather.
• Over 240,000 Russian Men Dodged Draft Last Year RIA Novosti 13 Mar 2013 -- More than 244,000 draft-age men avoided conscription into Russia’s Armed Forces last year, the General Staff reported on Wednesday.
• Ex-Defense Minister Finally Testifies in Dacha Case RIA Novosti 13 Mar 2013 -- Russia’s former Defense Minister, Anatoly Serdyukov, has been cooperating for the first time in an investigation into his alleged complicity in misusing Defense Ministry assets.
• UK Lynx flight completes French warship deployment UK MOD 13 Mar 2013 -- A Royal Navy Lynx helicopter and crew have returned from deployment with a French frigate on counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 03/13/2013 The White House 13 Mar 2013
• U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing, March 13, 2013 US Dept. of State 13 Mar 2013

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for March 13, 2013

Other Conflicts

• Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 13 March 2013 United Nations 13 Mar 2013
• Obama Urges Pyongyang to End Nuclear, Missile Testing VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for North Korea to take "confidence building measures" aimed at diffusing tensions, such as ending its nuclear and missile testing.
• North Korea Makes First Mention of South's New President VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- North Korea has made its first reference to South Korea's new president, amid escalated tension on the peninsula.
• Pyongyang confirms end of war armistice with Seoul amid rising tensions PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- North Korea has confirmed that it has abandoned the 60-year-old armistice that ended the Korean War, amid rising military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
• Rodong Sinmun on Halt to Activities of Panmunjom Mission of KPA KCNA 13 Mar 2013 -- The DPRK's step to completely halt the activities of the Panmunjom mission of the Korean People's Army is a decisive option to foil the moves of the hostile forces.
• S. Korean Warmongers Will Meet Stern Punishment: Spokesman KCNA 13 Mar 2013 -- A spokesman for the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces of the DPRK National Defence Commission issued the following statement.
• Kim Jong Un Guides Live Shell Firing Drill of Artillery Sub-Units KCNA 13 Mar 2013 -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Marshal Kim Jong Un guided a live shell firing drill to examine the real war fighting capabilities of artillery sub-units.
• Russia warns UK on arming Syria militants PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned Britain on arming militants fighting against the Syrian government.
• Arming Syria militants breaches international law: Russian FM PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Russia says arming foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government is in violation of international law.
• Moscow Claims Neutrality in Syria Conflict RIA Novosti 13 Mar 2013 -- Russia is taking no sides in the Syrian conflict and hopes that the Syrian opposition will soon form a team to negotiate with government representatives.
• ‘UK could bypass arms embargo on Syria’ PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Britain may consider vetoing any extension to the arms embargo on foreign-sponsored militants in Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
• EU Staff Member Killed In Damascus RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- A staff member of the European Union's delegation in Syria has been killed in a rocket attack on a Damascus suburb.
• Mali Islamists, Separatists Join Forces VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- An armed Islamist group occupying parts of northern Mali says it has joined forces with one of the country's main separatist movements.
• UN peacekeeper injured as patrol comes under fire in South Sudan’s Jonglei state UN News Centre 13 Mar 2013 -- The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has strongly condemned an attack that left one of its peacekeepers wounded during a patrol in the eastern state of Jonglei.
• DRC, Angola, S Africa support Congo peace deal PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- The Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and South Africa say they back a recent peace plan for the DRC.
• Seleka rebels killed 4 CAR soldiers: military source PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Four soldiers have been killed in the south of the Central African Republic by Seleka rebels.
• Secretary Kerry Remarks With Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan US Dept. of State 13 Mar 2013
• Statement by NSC Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden on National Security Advisor Tom Donilon’s Meeting with Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan The White House 13 Mar 2013
• Attack on Military Camp in Kashmir Kills Seven VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir say two militants opened fire on a paramilitary camp, killing five soldiers and wounding at least seven others.
• Militants Launch Deadly Attack in Kashmir RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- Police say two gunmen stormed a paramilitary camp in the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir on March 13, leaving five troops and the militants dead.
• Briefing: The Sabah affair - a new humanitarian challenge in southern Philippines? IRIN 13 Mar 2013 -- The Philippine government has begun putting in place contingency measures over what it has described as a possible “humanitarian emergency” in its southernmost islands.
• Taiwan: Time not right for military discussions with China CNA 13 Mar 2013 -- The time is not right for Taiwan to discuss military confidence-building measures with China.
• Little progress in 2nd Taiwan-Japan fishery meeting CNA 13 Mar 2013 -- Taiwan and Japan held a preparatory meeting on fishing rights but failed to reach consensus on issues of fishing areas and the management of fishing resources.
• Kurdish Rebels Free Eight Turkish Captives VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- A Kurdish rebel group has released eight Turkish citizens who had been held captive for almost two years.
• PKK Frees Turkish Prisoners In Northern Iraq RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency says the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has released eight Turkish captives they had been holding for two years in northern Iraq.
• Two civilians killed in southern Yemen clashes PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- At least two civilians have been killed in fresh clashes between Yemeni police and separatists in the troubled southern city of Aden.
• Pakistani Police Accuse Children Of Planting Bombs In Quetta RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- Pakistani police have arrested about a dozen children suspected of planting explosives for militants in Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan Province.
• Fleeing Rohingya Refugees Fired Upon, Says Rights Group VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Human Rights Watch is calling for an investigation into an incident in which the Thai navy allegedly shot at a group of Rohingya "boat people," killing at least two of the asylum seekers.

News Reports

• Statement from the President on His Holiness Pope Francis The White House 13 Mar 2013
• Cardinals Break with Tradition in Selection of New Pontiff VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Roman Catholic cardinals have broken with tradition, electing a pope who is not from Europe, the first from Latin America and the first Jesuit.
• Catholics, World Leaders Welcome New Pope VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Throngs of flag waving Roman Catholic faithful packing St. Peter's Square roared approval as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the new pope to the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
• Argentine Jorge Bergoglio Elected Pope VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- After only two days of voting, Roman Catholic cardinals elected Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
• Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio Elected New Pope RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- The conclave of cardinals has chosen Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to be the next pope.
• Argentinian Cardinal Bergoglio Becomes Pope Francis VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- The new leader of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis, greeted crowds at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square after being elected late Wednesday.
• Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio Elected as New Pope RIA Novosti 13 Mar 2013 -- Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, was elected new Pope Wednesday, a cardinal announced from the Sistine Chapel’s balcony.
• Papal Conclave Enters Second Day VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- A small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel is again the focus of the world's Roman Catholics, as 115 Catholic cardinals hold a second day of deliberations to elect a new pope.
• Cardinals Again Fail To Elect Pope RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- After another round of voting, the Roman Catholic Church's cardinal electors have failed to agree on a new pope.
• Catholicism in Africa Seen As Success Story VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- In the past century, Roman Catholicism has grown faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world, leading to calls during recent papal transitions for an African to head the church as pope.
• Obama, Netanyahu Face Challenge of Improving Their Relationship VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- The United States and Israel are among the world's closest allies, but their leaders have had a rocky relationship over the past four years.
• Bushehr nuclear power plant undergoing safety checks: Iran PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says Bushehr nuclear power plant is undergoing safety checks to become ready for transfer to Iran’s full control.
• AEOI chief: Interruption in operation of Bushehr power plant normal IRNA 13 Mar 2013 -- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that interruption in activities of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran is "normal" as the facility is currently in a pilot phase.
• Regarding Significant Reductions of Iranian Crude Oil Purchases US Dept. of State 13 Mar 2013
• Expediency Council member Hassan Rohani to run for president PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Iran's Moderation and Development Party has announced senior member of Expediency Council, Hassan Rohani, as its candidate for the forthcoming presidential election in June.
• Syria Issue Likely to Come Up During Obama's Mideast Trip VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- President Obama's trip to the Middle East is primarily about how to find a path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
• Arab World Awaits Obama's Mideast Trip VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- President Obama's visit to the Middle East next week is being greeted with far less enthusiasm than four years ago, when hopes were high for a new era in U.S. - Arab relations.
• Formation of New Tunisian Government US Dept. of State 13 Mar 2013
• Tunisia Protests to Test Subsidy Reforms VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Protests and strikes planned in Tunisia over the next few weeks will test the government's ability to repair its shaky finances.
• New Tunisian government wins vote of confidence PressTV 13 Mar 2013 -- Tunisia's new government has won a vote of confidence in parliament after lawmakers approved the new cabinet line-up amid the political crisis in the North African country.
• Botswana Denies Strained Relations With Kenya VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Botswana Information Minister Jeff Ramsay has denied reports that the election of Kenya’s president-elect, Uhuru Kenyatta, is straining relations between his government and Nairobi.
• Brutal Police Crackdowns In Azerbaijan, Courtesy Of Western-Made Weapons RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- The presence of the LRAD, a U.S.-manufactured device that is gaining international popularity as a crowd-control tool, provoked a wave of outrage.
• Suu Kyi Supports Villagers' Right to Protest Mine VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Hundreds of villagers in Monywa, Myanmar took to the streets Wednesday to protest against a controversial copper mine project.
• Zimbabweans in S. Africa Upset at Being Left Out of Vote VOA 13 Mar 2013 -- Some of the 1.5 million Zimbabweans who live in neighboring South Africa say they are disappointed they will not be able to vote in Saturday’s constitutional referendum back home.
• Many Zimbabweans unaware of impending referendum IRIN 13 Mar 2013 -- On 16 March Zimbabweans will vote in a referendum on whether to adopt or reject a draft constitution for which the three major political parties have publicly endorsed a Yes vote.
• Sierra Leone must continue to work to maintain gains from transition – UN official UN News Centre 13 Mar 2013 -- A United Nations official praised the progress made by Sierra Leone since the end of its civil war 10 years ago.
• Tussle Brews In Washington Over Russia Sanctions List RFE/RL 13 Mar 2013 -- A tussle is brewing in Washington over who will be included on a U.S. list of sanctioned Russian officials to be published next month.