Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Coalition Continues Airstrikes Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq AFPS 22 Mar 2015 -- U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• USS Theodore Roosevelt calls into Portsmouth UK MOD 22 Mar 2015 -- The 100,000 tonne aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has anchored off Portsmouth on a round-the-world deployment.
• Arms Supplies to Ukraine Off NATO's Agenda - Czech Defense Minister Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- The issue of arms supplies to Ukraine was never seriously considered at the meetings of NATO defense ministers, Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky said Sunday.
• NATO General: West Should Consider Arming Ukraine VOA 22 Mar 2015 -- NATO's military commander is again calling on the West to consider sending defensive weapons to Ukraine, to help it offset Russia's continued support for the pro-Russian rebellion in Ukraine's east.
• Japan's Abe Vows to Back Bill Allowing Overseas Military Operations Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to bolster new security legislation that would expand the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) operations overseas, NHK World News reported Sunday.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Top British Diplomat: 'Russia Must Return Crimea To Ukraine' RFE/RL 22 Mar 2015 -- Britain's top diplomat says Russia 'must return Crimea to Ukraine,' calling the Kremlin's forcible annexation of the Black Sea peninsula last year 'completely unacceptable.'
• Donetsk Pledges Adherence to Minsk Despite Continued Shelling by Kiev Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) says that it does not plan to return its heavy weapons to the frontline.
• CIA Chief Says Momentum Of IS Halted In Iraq, Syria RFE/RL 22 Mar 2015 -- In a new interview, CIA Director John Brennan says U.S.-led air strikes and Iraqi government forces have stopped the momentum of Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq, while warning Iran against developing nuclear weapons.
• Libya talks continue despite clashes: UN envoy Press TV 22 Mar 2015 -- The United Nations special envoy to Libya says the country's warring factions continue to negotiate despite the recent outbreak of clashes in the country.
• Entire US staff from Yemen pulled out, State Department says Press TV 22 Mar 2015 -- The United States says it has pulled out all of its military and diplomatic staff from Yemen, where the Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement have taken control of the capital.
• UN Security Council Adopts Statement Backing Yemeni President Hadi Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- In a emergency Sunday session, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a Presidential Statement reaffirming support for Yemeni President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi and condemning Houthi rebels for their takeover of large swathes of land in Yemen.
• US State Department Announces Military Staff Pullout From Yemen Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- The United States is evacuating its entire military personnel from a key airbase in Yemen following an upsurge in violence in the conflict-torn country, the US State Department has announced.
• At Security Council, UN envoy says Yemen on 'rapid downward spiral' as tensions rise UN News 22 Mar 2015 -- Yemen stands on the brink of civil war amid deepening political tensions and an uptick in sectarian violence, United Nations Special Adviser Jamal Benomar warned today as he explained that only through dialogue could the country achieve a peaceful political transition.
• Shi'ite Houthis Seize Yemeni City of Taiz VOA 22 Mar 2015 -- Shi'ite Houthi rebels have seized the central Yemen city of Taiz in a new escalation of the conflict in the Arabian Peninsula country.
• UNICEF: Hundreds of Child Soldiers Freed in South Sudan VOA 22 Mar 2015 -- The U.N. Children's Fund reports one of South Sudan's armed groups, the Cobra Faction, released up to 250 child soldiers on Sunday. The group of children released in the remote village of Lekuangole, in Jonglei state, included four girls -- one as young as 9.
• KPA Will Blow up Balloons Carrying Anti-DPRK Leaflets: Open Notice of KPA Frontline Units KCNA 22 Mar 2015 -- The frontline units of the Korean People's Army made public an open notice Saturday which said:

News Reports

• Former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew Dies at Age 91 VOA 22 Mar 2015 -- Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has died early Monday. He was 91 years old. Lee was Singapore's leader from 1959 until 1990, but remained a highly influential figure and a strategist on the city state's economy.
• 'Brussels Was ... Asleep': Bildt Assesses EU's Mistakes Regarding Russia RFE/RL 22 Mar 2015 -- In an interview with RFE/RL in Brussels, former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt talks frankly about the mistakes made by the European Union with regard to Russia, what he thinks the Russian president's next moves are likely to be, and why the bloc needs to engage more deeply with Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia.
• CIA chief warns Iran of 'tremendous costs' if it pursues nuclear 'breakout' capability Press TV 22 Mar 2015 -- A top US spy agency has reiterated allegations that Iran intends to produce a nuclear weapon, with the CIA director warning Tehran of "tremendous costs and consequences" if it moves in that direction.
• CIA Director: Iran Knows Nuclear Program Consequences VOA 22 Mar 2015 -- Iran knows it will face 'tremendous costs and consequences and implications' if it tries to develop a nuclear weapons, said the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
• United States to Continue Pressure on Iran After Ending Nuclear Talks Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- The United States is determined to maintain pressure on Iran after a deal on the Islamic republic's nuclear problem is reached, CIA director John Brennan said on Sunday.
• Iran Rejects Idea of US Cooperation, Vows to Resist Washington's 'Bullying' Sputnik 22 Mar 2015 -- Iran's negotiations with the United States are confined only to Tehran's nuclear program issue, and any further cooperation with Washington in the Middle East is impossible, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said when addressing the nation in the city of Mashad.
• Ecuador president blasts Washington's interference Press TV 22 Mar 2015 -- Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has slammed Washington for causing instability in the Latin American state, saying American spy agencies have been involved in orchestrating the protests in his country.