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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF/OND Casualty Update 04 Feb 2014 [PDF]
• Secret Afghan Talks Frustrate US Officials VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- Reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been holding secret peace talks with Taliban officials led to high-level meetings in Washington Tuesday. U.S. officials are again calling on the Afghan leader to sign an agreement to allow U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond this year.
• Defense Leaders Meet With President on Afghanistan AFPS 04 Feb 2014 -- President Barack Obama is meeting with defense leaders today on the way forward in Afghanistan.
• Afghan Taliban Rejects NYT Report of Talks with Government VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- The Afghan Taliban is denying reports it has been talking with the Afghan government.
• Government Fails to Attend Talks With Pakistani Taliban VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- Preliminary peace talks between the Pakistani government and and the Pakistani Taliban have been delayed after the government team failed to show up for a meeting in Islamabad Tuesday.
• Pakistani government to open preliminary talks with the Taliban Voice of Russia 04 Feb 2014 -- In its most ambitious step yet to address Pakistan's most potent domestic threat, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government plans to hold preliminary talks Tuesday with representatives of the Pakistani Taliban.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Top US Officials Say Snowden Leaks Prompted Defense Changes VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- Top U.S. intelligence officials say leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have put members of all branches of the U.S. military and other U.S. personnel abroad at risk, and that the Pentagon has had to make costly changes. The officials testified to a congressional panel about worldwide threats to U.S. national security.
• Nation Faces Many Threats, Intelligence Chief Says AFPS 04 Feb 2014 -- Never in his more than 50 years of intelligence experience has the nation been beset by more crises and threats from around the world than it now faces, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said today during a House hearing on worldwide threats.
• Navy Probes Cheating Allegations at Nuke Reactor School AFPS 04 Feb 2014 -- About 30 of 150 watch-standers at the Navy's Charleston Nuclear Power Training Unit in South Carolina are being investigated for alleged cheating on a written qualification exam, the chief of naval operations said today.
• Department of Defense Press Briefing with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Greenert and Adm. Richardson from the Pentagon Press Briefing Room DoD 04 Feb 2014 -- Presenters: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert and Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, Adm. John Richardson
• US Navy Investigating Alleged Cheating on Nuclear Training Tests VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- The U.S. Navy's top admiral says the department is investigating an allegation that senior officers at a nuclear training facility cheated on a written qualification exam.
• Somerset Sets Sail on Maiden Voyage to Commissioning NNS 04 Feb 2014 -- The Navy's newest amphibious transport dock ship, Pre-commissioning Unit Somerset, (LPD 25) departed Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Shipbuilding site in Avondale, La., Feb. 3, beginning its maiden voyage to it's commissioning site in Philadelphia, March 1.
• 1st Marine Division Schools, JGSDF conduct shooting drills USMC News 04 Feb 2014 -- Marines with 1st Marine Division Schools and soldiers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force conducted shooting drills as part of scout sniper training for Exercise Iron Fist 2014 aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 29, 2014.
• LHA 6 Completes Acceptance Trials NNS 04 Feb 2014 -- Amphibious assault ship Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) America (LHA 6) completed acceptance trials off the coast of Pascagoula, Miss., Jan. 31.
• USS Kidd Completes OMSI with USCG NNS 04 Feb 2014 -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) participated in an Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) with U.S. Coast Guard's 14th District, Jan. 7 - Feb. 2, in the Western Pacific Ocean.
• US, France end military drills in Persian Gulf Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- The US Navy has announced that the United States and France wrapped up combined carrier strike group operations in the Middle East on Sunday after five weeks.
• Russia Named World's Third-Largest Military Spender RIA Novosti 04 Feb 2014 -- Russia is now the world's third-largest military spender after the United States and China, pushing the United Kingdom into fourth place, a study by a defense consultancy shows.
• Russia Expands Military Police Force RIA Novosti 04 Feb 2014 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law Tuesday to create a greatly broadened military police force to defend the country's military bases and maintain order on them.
• Russian Soldiers 'Don't Shoot Enough' – Defense Minister RIA Novosti 04 Feb 2014 -- The Russian army will increase its training ammunition use fivefold after inspections revealed that soldiers have too little time on the firing range, the country's defense minister said Tuesday.
• China Navy starts West Pacific drill People's Daily 04 Feb 2014 -- A flotilla with China's Nanhai Fleet entered the West Pacific Ocean on Monday to start a drill there after exercises in the Indian Ocean.
• Indian Aircraft Carrier Training Facility to Open Soon RIA Novosti 04 Feb 2014 -- A training facility for naval pilots to practice aircraft carrier operations is set to open in India's coastal Goa region later this month, the head of the Russian company overseeing the project said Monday.
• Iran prefers dialogue in tank dispute with Britain Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- Iran Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says the Islamic Republic prefers to settle the case of the undelivered military equipment with Britain through dialogue rather than in court.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 2/4/2014 The White House 04 Feb 2014
• February 4, 2014 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 04 Feb 2014

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for February 04, 2014

Other Conflicts

• 4 February 2014 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 04 Feb 2014
• New UN airlift ships food from Iraq to 30,000 Syrians cut off on land by civil war UN News Centre 04 Feb 2014 -- The United Nations today began a new airlift from Iraq to feed nearly 30,000 displaced people in a conflict-torn region of northeast Syria where road access has been cut off for over six months and no significant relief deliveries have arrived overland since last May.
• Syria to remove toxic chemicals by March: Russia Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- Russia's deputy foreign minister says Syria has planned to remove a large shipment of toxic chemical agents this month.
• Washington's Syria-bound weapons arrive in Jordan Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- A US airplane loaded with weapons and ammunition for foreign-backed militants fighting in Syria has landed in neighboring Jordan, local media reveal.
• Airstrikes Rock Aleppo; Peace Talks to Resume VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- Syrian activist groups say the government renewed air raids over the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, after Monday airstrikes left about 30 people dead.
• Iraqi forces recapture several Ramadi neighborhoods Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- Iraqi forces have driven out militants from more areas as they are making headways against al-Qaeda-linked forces in the western province of Anbar.
• South Sudan Refutes Machar Accusations VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- The government of South Sudan is insisting it is democratic - a day after a leading opponent said he had formed a 'resistance' group to fight for free elections in the war-torn country.
• UN team assessing food needs of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan's Kordofan province UN News Centre 04 Feb 2014 -- A team from the United Nations emergency food agency is in Sudan's West Kordofan state to assess the needs of civilians fleeing the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.
• Thousands flee 'scorched earth' campaign in DRC's Katanga IRIN 04 Feb 2014 -- Where children once played with beads and bicycle wheels, now stand only the shells of their homes: blackened wooden beams, cooking pots melted by fire, and mud blocks from the tumbled walls softening in the rain.
• Central Africa Republic: UN scales up efforts to assist children impacted by conflict UN News Centre 04 Feb 2014 -- Amid continued fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and partners are setting up temporary classrooms for more than 20,000 children in the capital, Bangui, and in the north-west of the country, with more on the way.
• Unmet humanitarian needs could threaten Yemen's progress, stability - UN official UN News Centre 04 Feb 2014 -- While Yemen has made good progress in its political transition, the country will not enjoy stability unless the humanitarian needs of its people are met, a senior United Nations relief official warned today.

News Reports

• Canada's CSEC defends spying through Wi-Fi Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- The Canadian intelligence agency has defended spying through the wireless internet service at a major airport, claiming it would not be able to locate its targets without the technology.
• Shadowy Specter Of Russia Hangs Over Rumored 'Death Squads' In Ukraine RFE/RL 04 Feb 2014 -- After being kidnapped on January 22, Dmytro Bulatov says he was kept blindfolded for eight days as his abductors beat him, sliced off part of his ear, drove nails through his hands, and finally left him for dead in a forest.
• Ukraine Parliament Debates President's Powers RFE/RL 04 Feb 2014 -- Parliament in Ukraine is due to debate on February 4 changes to the constitution that would weaken the powers of the president.
• Thailand's Anti-Government Protesters Invoke Monarchy VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- As Thailand's political deadlock continues, anti-government protesters are accusing Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister and backer of the ruling party, of working against the country's revered monarch. Disloyalty to the king is a serious crime in Thailand and Thaksin's supporters say the charge is nothing more than a political smear.
• Thai Opposition Challenges 'Unconstitutional' Election VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- Thailand's opposition is moving ahead with legal challenges to Sunday's election, which failed to resolve a months-long political standoff.
• Thai opposition seeks to annul election and disband ruling party Voice of Russia 04 Feb 2014 -- Thailand's opposition Tuesday launched a legal attempt to annul a controversial weekend general election, as the US warned against any attempt at a military coup to end months of political agony.
• Thai opposition says will legally challenge election Iran Press TV 04 Feb 2014 -- Thailand's opposition Democratic Party says it will legally challenge the general election of February 2.
• Kim Jong Un Nominated as Candidate for Deputy to SPA KCNA 04 Feb 2014 -- Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, supreme commander of the Korean People's Army and supreme leader of the Workers' Party of Korea and the people of the DPRK, was nominated as a candidate for deputy to the 13th Supreme People's Assembly in reflection of the unanimous desire and absolute trust of all the service personnel in him.
• Libya: All Chemical Weapons Destroyed VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- Libya's foreign minister says the country has destroyed its last known stash of chemical weapons from the era of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
• Sweden's Bildt Says Iran Nuclear Deal Possible In Six Months RFE/RL 04 Feb 2014 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, plus Germany -- under which it agreed to curb its controversial nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
• US distorts text of agreement between Tehran, six world powers – Iranian FM Voice of Russia 04 Feb 2014 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif criticized the US this Tuesday, saying that the US government distorted the details of the agreement between Iran and the six international mediators concerning Tehran's nuclear issue, the Iranian agency IRNA reports.
• Russian Premier Inks Asset Merger for New Space Corporation RIA Novosti 04 Feb 2014 -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government directive Monday consolidating space industry assets under a single state-controlled corporation.
• Patchy progress on NGO accountability in Sierra Leone IRIN 04 Feb 2014 -- Since the late 1990s, as the aid sector has matured, agencies around the world have grappled with the challenge of becoming more accountable to their intended beneficiaries. IRIN spoke with aid watchdogs and NGO staff to assess the fruitfulness of these efforts in Sierra Leone, where a weak government has left NGOs with a central role.
• Recalling McFaul: Four Views On Outgoing U.S. Ambassador To Russia RFE/RL 04 Feb 2014 -- U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has announced that he is stepping down and returning to the United States following the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
• Uganda Parliamentarian Demands Improved Security for Lawmakers VOA 04 Feb 2014 -- A Ugandan parliamentarian has called on President Yoweri Museveni's government to deploy security officers to protect lawmakers after a parcel sent to the speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, exploded. Parliamentarians are scheduled to reconvene on February 18 following their recess.