Further Reading

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• RAF Tornados leave Afghanistan for the last time UK MOD 11 Nov 2014 -- Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s have left Afghanistan and are heading back to the UK after more than five years of operations in the country.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Guantanamo hunger striker appeals treatment Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- A hunger striker at the Guantanamo Bay prison is appealing a US judge’s refusal to change the method of his force-feeding.
• NATO Continues Military Pressure on Russia: Defense Official Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- NATO is set to continue its military pressure on Russia and has held numerous exercises on Russia's border, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official said Tuesday.
• Stoltenberg: NATO Defense Spending Down 20% Since 2005, Russia's Up 50% Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- NATO has decreased its defense spending by 20 percent since 2005, but Russia has increased its defense spending by 50 percent for the same time period, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
• China reveals sophisticated stealth fighter jet Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- China has officially unveiled a sophisticated stealth fighter jet in a move believed to enhance its military status in the region.
• Fighter Jet Crashes in Southwest Belarus Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- A MiG-29 multirole fighter jet crashed in southwest Belarus on Tuesday afternoon, a representative from the country's Investigative Committee told RIA Novosti.
• Nigeria's Envoy Slams US Refusal To Make Arms Deal Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- Nigeria's envoy has slammed Washington for its unwillingness to provide Nigeria with 'lethal weapons,' claiming that Islamist insurgents would have long been defeated if the US had decided to sell weaponry to Abuja.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman The White House 11 Nov 2014
• Background Briefing En Route Beijing US Dept. of State 11 Nov 2014

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• 11 November 2014 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 11 Nov 2014
• Fresh fighting in eastern Ukraine kills 5 soldiers Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- The Ukrainian military says at least five government soldiers have been killed in fresh exchanges of fire with pro-Russian militia forces in the country’s eastern regions in the past 24 hours.
• News Analysis: What's Behind The Resurgence Of Fighting In Eastern Ukraine? RFE/RL 11 Nov 2014 -- Fighting in eastern Ukraine -- and particularly around the city of Donetsk -- has flared up again, more intensely than anything since the shaky cease-fire was agreed in Minsk on September 5.
• OSCE Says Risk Of Escalation In Eastern Ukraine 'Rising' RFE/RL 11 Nov 2014 -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says the risk of an escalation in violence in conflict-wracked eastern Ukraine is 'rising.'
• Volunteer Battalions to Become Part of Kiev Forces: Defense Ministry Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- Ukrainian volunteer battalions, operating in the southeast of the country, will be put under the command of the country's army, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has said in an interview with the ICTV channel.
• NATO Commander ‘Concerned’ by Flow of Weapons Into E. Ukraine VOA 11 Nov 2014 -- NATO's military commander expressed concern Tuesday over an increasing flow of weaponry and military supplies to Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, as European observers in the region reported seeing another unmarked military convoy near the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
• Pakistan militants join ISIL terrorists Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- Militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas are joining the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group, Press TV reports.
• As funds dry up, UN agency warns of 'very tough' winter for displaced in Syria, Iraq UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- An ongoing funding shortage coupled with a sharp growth in recent internal displacements is placing increasing pressure on United Nations efforts to assist millions of refugees across Iraq and Syria as they prepare for the onset of a long and cold winter, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned.
• Plan to 'freeze' conflict in Aleppo 'concrete, realistic,' says UN Syria envoy UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- The proposal to "freeze" the Syrian conflict in the besieged city of Aleppo is gaining traction, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Syria confirmed today, as he explained that the new plan, if successful, could form the basis of a wide-ranging peace proposal.
• Syria interested in ceasefire plan for Aleppo: UN envoy Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- The Syrian government is interested in the UN proposal for the suspension of fighting in the northern city of Aleppo, which can be used as a model for similar plans in other parts of the country, the UN mediator in Syria says.
• Kurds recapture parts of Kobani from ISIL militants Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- Kurdish forces fighting ISIL militants in the Syrian city of Kobani have recaptured parts of the city following heavy clashes with the Takfiri terrorists.
• Analysts: Locally Brokered Cease-fires Needed in Syria VOA 11 Nov 2014 -- Some Syria experts are advocating locally brokered peace talks, saying that small-scale cease-fires “offer hope to civilians and reduce human suffering if properly supported and implemented.”
• ISIL militants abduct 50 Iraqi tribe members Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- ISIL militants have abducted about 50 people from an Iraqi Sunni tribe living east of the northern city of Tikrit after imposing a curfew.
• Libya: ICC Prosecutor warns court's work faces 'deleterious impact' of ongoing instability UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- A deteriorating security situation and growing political instability in Libya are creating an environment that "clearly cannot be conducive" to closing the impunity gap, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned the United Nations Security Council today.
• Japan Refuses to Acknowledge Territorial Dispute with China: Tokyo Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- Japan does not recognize the existence of a territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands with China, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed on Tuesday.
• ASEAN Summit Again Focuses on South China Sea VOA 11 Nov 2014 -- There are indications the ASEAN leaders’ summit Wednesday will make progress on a long-running and contentious territorial dispute: establishing a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
• Nigeria: UN agency reports ongoing refugee crisis amid Boko Haram threat UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- Thousands of Nigerians are escaping the deadly threat posed by the terrorist group Boko Haram and fleeing into neighbouring Cameroon, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned.
• UN envoy lauds collective progress in Somalia, urges unity, stability from leaders UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- Hailing the political and economic gains made in Somalia through the partnerships and collective efforts of Somalis and the international community, the United Nations envoy for the country urged political leaders there to resolve their differences or risk undermining the progress thus achieved.
• Joint Statement on Peace Negotiations in Sudan US Dept. of State 11 Nov 2014 -- The text of the following statement was issued jointly by the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Norway.

News Reports

• Obama, Putin Meet Amid Tensions VOA 11 Nov 2014 -- U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met briefly on the sidelines of a conference in Beijing, covering a few of the key global issues on which their governments do not agree.
• APEC Leaders Back China-led Free Trade Zone VOA 11 Nov 2014 -- Asia-Pacific leaders meeting at an economic summit in Beijing have given their initial approval to a China-led free trade zone.
• Rights and wrongs crystal clear: Xi to Abe People's Daily 11 Nov 2014 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday held their first meeting since taking office, with Xi saying that the rights and wrongs of the last two years of tense Sino-Japanese ties were 'crystal clear.'
• Xi outlines expected progress People's Daily 11 Nov 2014 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the launch of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) process and boosting regional connectivity are among the expected achievements of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings being held in Beijing this year.
• China's deepened overall reform a new impetus for global development People's Daily 11 Nov 2014 -- Deepening reform in an all-round way, China, the host of the ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, is confident to give new impetus to the development of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
• EU Commissioner Says No Reduction Of Russia Sanctions RFE/RL 11 Nov 2014 -- New EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn says it is 'crystal clear' there won't be a reduction in European Union sanctions on Russia, and that the recent events in eastern Ukraine instead could prompt Brussels to pile further pressure on Moscow.
• Iran Stops Processing Uranium Using Advanced Enrichment Centrifuge Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- Iran has stopped processing uranium, using the advanced IR-5 centrifuge, a controversial enrichment method reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki has said.
• Iran, Russia underline expansion of peaceful nuclear cooperation IRNA 11 Nov 2014 -- Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi and head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko reiterated the two countries willingness to promote cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy.
• Iran, Russia sign deal to build more nuclear power plants Iran Press TV 11 Nov 2014 -- Iran and Russia have struck a deal to build eight more nuclear power plants in Iran.
• Russia, Iran Sign Contract on Building Two New Energy Blocks for Bushehr Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- Russia and Iran on Tuesday signed a contract on the construction of two new energy blocks for the Islamic Republic's Bushehr nuclear facility using Russian technology, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
• Stopping Ebola as fast as possible is 'number one priority' - UN envoy UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- The number one priority is to stop Ebola as fast as possible and "get ahead of the virus," the chief of the United Nations emergency response mission said as the UN health agency today reported that efforts to contain the outbreak in West Africa are being hampered by cumbersome diagnostic tests.
• West Africa ‘on brink’ of major food crisis in wake of Ebola outbreak - UN expert UN News Centre 11 Nov 2014 -- As Ebola continues to ravage West Africa, leaving more than 4,000 people dead, the region is now on the brink of a major food crisis, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food has warned today.
• Ebola is More Than Medical Challenge, Experts Say VOA 11 Nov 2014 -- South Africa knows all too well how it feels to watch a disease rampage through once-healthy communities, to watch the illness divide society and trigger shame, fear and panic, and to be shunned by the rest of the world.
• China plans to launch about 120 applied satellites People's Daily 11 Nov 2014 -- China will launch around 120 more applied satellites to accommodate economic and social needs, a senior executive of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said on Monday.
• Contract on RD-180 Space Rocket Engines Deliveries to US Unchanged Sputnik 11 Nov 2014 -- Russian design bureau Energomash, the developer and producer of RD-180 rocket engines, will continue to supply engines to United Launch Alliance (ULA) for its Atlas carrier rockets, company's press secretary Ekaterina Zhdanova told a RIA Novosti correspondent Tuesday.