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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF/OND Casualty Update 17 Jan 2014 [PDF]
• U.S. Eases Pressure To Keep Afghan Security Pact Hopes Alive RFE/RL 17 Jan 2014 -- After warning of imminent deadlines for Afghanistan to back a security deal or face a future without Western military help, Washington has recently taken a lower-key approach more likely to bridge remaining differences in the coming months, U.S. officials and outside experts say.
• Afghan police seize bomb parts with support of British troops UK MOD 17 Jan 2014 -- Soldiers in Afghanistan have helped to intercept bomb-making equipment and ammunition during an operation supporting the Afghan police.
• Air Force Transports Rwandan Troops to Central African Republic AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- U.S. airlift operations are continuing in the Central African Republic, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Remarks by the President on Review of Signals Intelligence The White House 17 Jan 2014
• FACT SHEET: Review of U.S. Signals Intelligence The White House 17 Jan 2014
• Obama Announces Reforms for NSA Data-Collection Program AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- President Barack Obama today announced a series of reforms for a controversial National Security Agency data-collection program that he said would give Americans confidence their privacy is being protected and allow U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to continue safeguarding the nation.
• Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on President Obama's Speech Friday, January 17, 2014 DoD 17 Jan 2014
• Obama: US won't apologize for NSA spying Iran Press TV 17 Jan 2014 -- President Barack Obama says the United States will not apologize for the National Security Agency's controversial spying programs at home and abroad, but promises modest changes.
• Obama Orders Revamp of US Surveillance Standards RIA Novosti 17 Jan 2014 -- US President Barack Obama on Friday ordered a halt to government control of troves of phone data collected by US intelligence services, a move that comes amid the uproar over disclosures by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden about secret US surveillance programs.
• Obama Proposes Limits on NSA Data Collection VOA 17 Jan 2014 -- U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled reforms Friday in the vast surveillance being conducted by the country's clandestine National Security Agency.
• Obama announces 'concrete and substantial reforms' to NSA program Voice of Russia 17 Jan 2014 -- President Barack Obama is calling for major changes to the way the US intelligence community collects and stores information about people in the US and abroad, in the wake of disclosures that have sparked fury over sweeping government surveillance and stoked concerns about privacy.
• Obama Spying Changes Draw Cautious Praise VOA 17 Jan 2014 -- President Barack Obama's proposals to reform U.S. surveillance have earned partial backing from intelligence experts and some critics. Many are waiting to see, however, whether Friday's speech results in action.
• Missileer Retesting Nearly Complete AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- The retesting of nuclear ICBM launch officers is nearly complete, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said today.
• U.S. Preparing Small Arms, Ammunition Support for Iraq AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- The Defense Department is preparing small arms and ammunition for shipment to Iraq in response to a request from that country's prime minister, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said today.
• Dempsey Disappointed by Setbacks in Iraq AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is disappointed the Iraqis have not done more with the chance they have been given by the men and women of the U.S military.
• Special Forces Soldiers train support troops at Fort A.P. Hill Army News 17 Jan 2014 -- Soldiers from A Company, 1st Battalion 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg N.C. prepared for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan at Fort A.P. Hill recently.
• Army plans baseline assessment for Network Integration Evaluation 15.1 Army News 17 Jan 2014 -- The U.S. Army will evaluate its tactical network baseline during the Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE 15.1, in Fall 2014 in order to set conditions for future network development and refine focus areas for industry innovation.
• Army program secures critical component for artillery, mortar ammunition Army News 17 Jan 2014 -- The U.S. Army is nearing completion on a project to eliminate its dependency on foreign countries for a critical energetic component in artillery and mortar ammunition, officials said.
• 401st Chemical Company tested for future deployment Army News 17 Jan 2014 -- The 401st Chemical Company out of Boston, Mass., 479th Chemical Battalion, 302nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, trained hard during the Combat Support Training Exercise at Fort McCoy, Wis. to ready for a future real-world mission.
• Army engineers build state of the art facilities in Romania Army News 17 Jan 2014 -- State-of-the art facilities such as modern, efficient military bases and personnel transit centers rarely emerge from top hats or magic wands; but their emergence from the most unlikely of raw materials seems nonetheless miraculous to mere mortals.
• AF acquisition chief nominee testifies AFNS 17 Jan 2014 -- Dr. Bill LaPlante testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Jan. 16 during his nomination hearing to be the next assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition.
• Dempsey Makes Case for Slowing Manpower Costs AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- The Defense Department must slow the growth of its manpower costs to avoid a crisis in the future, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said earlier this week.
• Kendall: Military Technological Superiority Not Assured AFPS 17 Jan 2014 -- The decline in research and development brought on by budget cuts is contributing to the erosion of the U.S. military's technological superiority at an alarming rate, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics said.
• Readout of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Meeting with Japan National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi DoD 17 Jan 2014
• Readout of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Meeting with Malaysian Minister of Defense Dato' Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein DoD 17 Jan 2014
• USNS John Glenn Successfully Completes Builder's Trials NNS 17 Jan 2014 -- The USNS John Glenn (MLP 2) successfully completed Builder's Sea Trials Jan. 13.
• US cuts spending for its Littoral warships 'unsurvivable' in combat Voice of Russia 17 Jan 2014 -- Department of Defense of the United States reduces the purchase of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) due to "frequent critical system failures" and being "unsurvivable" in combat, the Navy Times reports. Policy changes were announced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox after the Pentagon received its final fiscal year 2015 budget guidance from the White House.
• Russia Forms Helicopter Squadron for Armenian Base RIA Novosti 17 Jan 2014 -- The Russian military has formed a helicopter squadron to strengthen its air contingent at the Erebuni air base in Armenia, the press service of Russia's Southern Military District said Friday.
• Does China rank second in the world in combat aircraft numbers? People's Daily 17 Jan 2014 -- According to a special report -'World Air Force 2014' - China has overtaken Russia in terms of its combat aircraft numbers, and for the first time ranks in second place worldwide.
• Senior general tangled in corruption, magazine says People's Daily 17 Jan 2014 -- A senior Chinese military officer owned dozens of homes, gold statues and crates of luxury liquor, Caixin magazine reported in a rare expose of corruption in the armed forces.
• CMC vice chairman stresses effective anti-corruption People's Daily 17 Jan 2014 -- Anti-corruption efforts in China's military need to be stepped up, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Xu Qiliang said on Thursday.
• January 17, 2014 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 17 Jan 2014

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for January 17, 2014

Other Conflicts

• 17 January 2014 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 17 Jan 2014
• UN releases $86 million in humanitarian aid for 'neglected crises' in 10 countries UN News Centre 17 Jan 2014 -- The United Nations announced the allocation today of $86 million for emergency aid operations in some of the world's worst, yet most neglected crises, allowing life-saving relief work to continue in 10 countries where needs are high but financial support is low.
• Damascus Says It's Ready For Prisoner Exchange, Cease-Fire RFE/RL 17 Jan 2014 -- Syria says it is prepared to exchange lists with rebel forces on a possible prisoner exchange.
• Foreign Intervention Still a Threat to Syria - Lavrov RIA Novosti 17 Jan 2014 -- Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that attempts are continuing to prepare the grounds for a military intervention in war-torn Syria.
• Syrian Government Offers Alliance to Moderate Opposition RIA Novosti 17 Jan 2014 -- Syria's government is ready to join forces with its current opponents to combat Islamic terrorists, the country's Foreign Minister said Friday.
• Impeding aid to besieged refugee camp in Syria may amount to war crime - UN official UN News Centre 17 Jan 2014 -- The United Nations human rights chief today strongly condemned the repeated obstruction of aid convoys trying to bring supplies to a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, stating that impeding humanitarian assistance to desperate civilians may amount to a war crime.
• Syria Ready for Ceasefire in Aleppo VOA 17 Jan 2014 -- Syria's government says it has given Russia a plan for a cease-fire in the country's largest city of Aleppo and an exchange of prisoners with Syrian rebels.
• UN setting up new camps to deal with refugee outflow from South Sudan UN News Centre 17 Jan 2014 -- With more and more people fleeing the ongoing conflict in South Sudan, the United Nations refugee agency said today it is setting up new camps and expand existing ones in neighbouring Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya to cope with the influx of refugees.
• Senior UN official witnesses humanitarian, human rights 'disaster' on South Sudan visit UN News Centre 17 Jan 2014 -- Fighting in South Sudan has turned into a horrifying humanitarian and human rights disaster with mass atrocities committed by both sides, a senior United Nations official said today, wrapping up a four-day visit to the strife-torn nation.
• Doubts over Uganda's military intervention in South Sudan IRIN 17 Jan 2014 -- The Ugandan parliament's retroactive authorization of a military intervention in neighbouring South Sudan has elicited considerable criticism from activists and analysts.
• South Sudan rebels recapture oil-rich Malakal Iran Press TV 17 Jan 2014 -- South Sudan rebel forces loyal to former vice president, Riek Machar, have reportedly recaptured the oil-rich town of Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, as the conflict continues for over a month in the world's youngest nation.
• Overall situation in China's surrounding waters to continue People's Daily 17 Jan 2014 -- In 2013, the situation regarding China's surrounding oceans was characterized by 'tension in the east and stability in the south'. In 2014, the trend will continue.
• DR Congo army launches attack on Ugandan rebels Iran Press TV 17 Jan 2014 -- Democratic Republic of Congo forces have launched a UN-backed offensive in the eastern part of the Central African country to flush Ugandan ADF-NALU rebels out of the mineral-rich zone.
• Violence Takes Toll on CAR's People VOA 17 Jan 2014 -- Life was never easy for most people in the Central African Republic, one of the continent's poorest countries, plagued by banditry and bad governance for many years. But the violence that has engulfed the CAR for the past year has taken the situation, for many, to a new low.

News Reports

• U.S. Releases Details Of Iranian Deal RFE/RL 17 Jan 2014 -- The White House has sent the text of an agreement to implement an interim nuclear deal reached with Iran in November to the U.S. Congress.
• West Prepares to Ease Iran Sanctions VOA 17 Jan 2014 -- A temporary deal agreed to in November between world powers and Iran regarding its nuclear program comes into force Monday. It's seen as a stepping-stone to a broader agreement on the future of the program, which many Western countries believe is aimed at producing nuclear weapons - a charge Iran has long denied.
• Answers demanded from UK's GCHQ over snooping Iran Press TV 17 Jan 2014 -- A campaign group has urged the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), to answer questions regarding the involvement of British spies in snooping on citizen text messages.
• Ukraine's Harsh New Antiprotest Law Draws International Condemnation RFE/RL 17 Jan 2014 -- There has been international condemnation of sweeping legislation to curb protests in Ukraine, with the European Union and United States expressing 'deep concern' over the measure.
• Does 'Black Thursday' Mark End Of Ukraine's Democratic Decade? RFE/RL 17 Jan 2014 -- With a disorderly show of hands, the Ukrainian parliament appears to have not only shut down the country's pro-European protests, but rolled back an entire decade of reforms that once made Ukraine the leader of the post-Soviet neighborhood's democratic hopes.
• Ukrainian Leader Signs Laws Dubbed 'Charter for Oppression' RIA Novosti 17 Jan 2014 -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday signed off on much-criticized anti-protest legislation that that one prominent rights group has dubbed a "charter for oppression."
• Viktor Bout Abandons Plan to Appeal to US Supreme Court - Lawyer RIA Novosti 17 Jan 2014 -- Viktor Bout, the convicted Russian arms dealer, has dropped plans to appeal his sentence to the United States Supreme Court, his lawyer said Friday.
• Myanmar: UN rights expert urges Government to probe reports of Muslim deaths in clashes UN News Centre 17 Jan 2014 -- A United Nations human rights expert today called on the Myanmar Government to investigate reports of fatal clashes between security forces and Muslims in a village in Rakhine state, where over 110,000 people have been uprooted in Buddhist-Muslim violence in the past 18 month.