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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Casualty Update 12 Jun 2015 [PDF]
• Military Airstrikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq AFPS 12 Jun 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.
• Iraq Troop Increase Part of Broader Coalition Strategy AFPS 12 Jun 2015 -- The recently announced presidential authorization of up to 450 additional U.S. troops deploying to Iraq is just one part of the 60-nation coalition's support to the country, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said today.
• Costs Rise for US in Battle Against IS VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- U.S. officials have used many words to describe the terror group known as Islamic State, including 'brutal,' 'nimble' and 'resilient.'
• U.S. House Rejects Move To Force Vote On Waging War Against Islamic State RFE/RL 12 Jun 2015 -- The U.S. House of Representatives June 11 rejected a measure to force lawmakers to vote by the end of March on providing the president with war powers to fight the Islamic State.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Readout of Secretary of Defense Ash Carter's Meeting with Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Salim Jabouri DoD 12 Jun 2015
• Pentagon Releases Guidelines to Legal Warfare Principles AFPS 12 Jun 2015 -- Pentagon officials today released the Defense Department's first law of war manual, culminating a multiyear, combined effort to compile legal principles governing warfare.
• USS Leyte Gulf Gets Underway on Time Thanks to MARMC Support NNS 12 Jun 2015 -- Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center's (MARMC) Production Department made key emergent repairs to the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) which resulted in an on time departure from Naval Station Norfolk, June 9.
• Weapons safety ensures ICBM effectiveness AFNS 12 Jun 2015 -- The 90th Missile Wing's mission is to defend America with the world's premier combat ready intercontinental ballistic missile force, and ensuring the safe execution of the mission is the prime focus of the 90th MW Safety Office.
• U.S., Lithuania go on offensive in Baltics during NATO exercise USMC News 12 Jun 2015 -- U.S. and Lithuanian forces are partnering with one another during a NATO-backed exercise in the Baltics dedicated to demonstrating the allies' ability to defend the region, June 9-16, 2015. e
• NATO Deputy Secretary General stresses importance of shared values in visit to Sweden NATO 12 Jun 2015 -- NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow welcomed Sweden's deep partnership with the Alliance in a visit to Stockholm on Friday (12 June 2015).
• Russian fighter jet encounters US spy plane very closely over Black Sea Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- American military officials have said that a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft encountered with a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea last month.
• Russia concerned about possible US use of force in space Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- Russia's Foreign Ministry has voiced serious concern about the possible use of force and deployment of weapons in space by the United States.
• China's Liaoning aircraft carrier leaves port for training, tests People's Daily 12 Jun 2015 -- 'Liaoning', China's first aircraft carrier, on Friday left a military port in Qingdao in Shandong Province, east China, to undertake a training and testing mission.
• China exercises strict control over military trade: spokesperson People's Daily 12 Jun 2015 -- A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday said China has strict and effective control over military trade.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 6/12/2015 The White House 12 Jun 2015
• June 12, 2015 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 12 Jun 2015

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for June 12, 2015

Other Conflicts

• 12 June 2015 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 12 Jun 2015
• Philippines Protesters Decry China Sea Claims VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- On Friday's independence day holiday in the Philippines, hundreds of leftist protesters decried China's claims to most of the South China Sea. But the various groups opposed to China do not agree on whether they should rely on the United States as a deterrent to China's increasing assertiveness.
• China rebukes Japan's meddling in South China Sea issue People's Daily 12 Jun 2015 -- A Foreign Ministry spokesperson has urged Japan not to weigh into territorial disputes in the South China Sea, labelling Japan a 'non-party' in the matter.
• New Saudi airstrikes kill 12, injure 15 in Yemen Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- Saudi fighter jets have carried out new airstrikes against Yemen's Sa'ada Province, killing 12 civilians and injuring 15 others.
• Yemen: UNESCO deplores destruction of Sana'a heritage site bearing 'soul of Yemeni people' UN News 12 Jun 2015 -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) condemned the early morning bombing raid today on the Old City of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, saying '"this heritage bears the soul of the Yemeni people, it is a symbol of a millennia history of knowledge and it belongs to all humankind."
• 6 Killed, UN Heritage Site Damaged in Yemen VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen killed at least six civilians Friday and destroyed historic buildings in Sana'a, and the United Nations delayed peace talks that were due to open in Geneva on Sunday.
• Saudi warplanes pound areas in Yemen's capital Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- Saudi warplanes have conducted airstrikes against several areas in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, as Riyadh's military aggression against the impoverished Arab country continues unabated.
• Syria: UN rights experts deplore government aerial attacks; warn of retaliation by armed groups UN News 12 Jun 2015 -- Condemning the rising number of Government aerial attacks in Syria and the use of indiscriminate weapons, such as barrel bombs, including in civilian populated areas, a group of United Nations official today warned of retaliatory action by non-State armed groups, which could increase the vulnerability of religious and ethnic minorities perceived to support the Government.
• US 'Concerned' by Reports Kurdish Fighters in Syria Are Expelling Arabs VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- The United States is looking into allegations that Kurdish forces in Syria are taking advantage of the fight against Islamic State to drive Arab residents out of areas under their control.
• The benefits of hosting refugees IRIN 11 Jun 2015 -- The negative impact of Syria's war on its neighbours has been discussed at length. Governments in Jordan and Lebanon are constantly appealing for more support. But what is less spoken about is the economic boon of having one of the world's largest aid operations move into town.
• Syria: Army advances in Qalamoun region near Lebanon border IRNA 12 Jun 2015 -- The Syrian army backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement continued its advances in Jreijeer farms in al-Qalamoun mountainous region near borders with Lebanon.
• Syrian jets bombard terrorist positions in Idlib Province Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- Syrian jet fighters have launched a series of aerial strikes against the strongholds of foreign-sponsored militants in the northwestern province of Idlib, killing and injuring a number of Takfiris and injuring many more, Press TV reports.
• Hezbollah slams civilian killings by militants in NW Syria Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- The Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, has strongly denounced the latest massacre of civilians by foreign-backed militants in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.
• Hezbollah, Syrian army make inroads in northeast Lebanon Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- Hezbollah and Syrian army forces have reportedly made gains against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in northeastern Lebanon.
• Syria army troops kill 100 al-Nusra militants in Suwayda Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- At least 100 terrorists of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front have been killed in recent clashes with Syrian troops in Syria's southern province of As-Suwayda.
• Syria Retakes Airbase Following Rebel Advance VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- Syrian opposition activists say the government has retaken full control of an airbase in the south that had been seized days earlier by a Western-backed rebel group.
• Islamic State Grows Stronger in Libya VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- Libyan militiamen battling the Islamic State's affiliate in their country say most of the jihadi fighters are not Libyans – the bulk of them, they say, come from neighboring North African nations.
• War in Ukraine Leaves Many Elderly in a Vulnerable Position VOA 10 Jun 2015 -- In eastern Ukraine, the elderly are left especially vulnerable by the conflict between government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
• Fresh clashes in eastern Ukraine kill 2 Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- At least two people have been killed and more than a dozen others injured in fresh clashes between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russia forces in 24 hours, officials say.
• Ukraine to Produce New Tanks as Hostilities in Donbass Intensify Sputnik 12 Jun 2015 -- Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security Council said that Ukrainian defense's top priority is to supply Ukrainian army with modern weaponry and military equipment.
• Nigerian Army Chief Hails Troops Fighting Boko Haram VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- Nigeria's chief of army staff embarked on a morale boosting visit to troops fighting Islamist group Boko Haram on the frontlines in Borno and Adamawa States.
• Alarming levels of insecurity in Nigeria driving civilian displacement, UN agency warns UN News 12 Jun 2015 -- The World Food Programme (WFP) expressed today its particular concern about the consequences of insecurity in Nigeria, which has displaced so far 200,000 people, a number of them seeking refuge in Niger, Cameroon and Chad, while others are waiting at the borders.
• Vigilantes: Boko Haram Kill 37 in Borno State VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- Members of youth vigilante forces in northern Nigeria say the Boko Haram militant group has burned six villages and killed 37 people in a new attack near the insurgents' stronghold in Sambisa forest.
• Forgive and forget? Amnesty dilemma haunts Uganda IRIN 12 Jun 2015 -- Should rebels who turn themselves in be allowed to escape justice for potentially heinous crimes if it might foster peace, or must they be prosecuted even at the risk of discouraging reconciliation? The renewal of Uganda's amnesty law has reopened old wounds and highlighted this enduring dilemma.
• Funding shortage forces UN agency to temporarily cut food aid to 500,000 refugees in Kenya UN News 12 Jun 2015 -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that starting next Monday, half a million refugees in two sprawling refugee camps in Kenya will receive 30 per cent less food due to shortage of funds for relief operations.
• Hundreds of thousands in need of critical aid in Myanmar, warns UN humanitarian arm UN News 12 Jun 2015 -- Nearly half a million people continue to require humanitarian assistance three years after inter-communal violence raked Myanmar's western Rakhine state, the United Nations relief arm reported today.
• Western Balkans experiencing surge in migrant, refugee crossings, warns UN agency UN News 12 Jun 2015 -- Southern Europe's migrant and refugee crisis has reached the Western Balkans where an increasing number of asylum-seekers are using the region's migration routes to flee their home countries, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has confirmed.

News Reports

• Diplomatic Sources: Iranian Nuclear Talks Showing Little Progress VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- Diplomatic sources close to the Iranian nuclear negotiations say progress has slowed considerably just weeks before a deadline on a historic agreement between Iran and six world powers.
• Israel Denies Spying On Iran Nuclear Talks RFE/RL 12 Jun 2015 -- Israel on June 11 denied spying on the nuclear negotiations between Iran, the United States, and other world powers.
• Iran expresses concern about reports on espionage against venues of N-talks Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- The Iranian Embassies in Austria and Switzerland have expressed concern about recent media reports that the venues of the talks between Iran and the P5+1 in the two European countries have been spied on.
• Hack Into Federal System Puts Millions at Risk VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- The computer breach of millions of U.S. government files appears to be growing both in size and scope.
• German chief prosecutor drops probe into US tapping of Merkel's cell phone Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- Germany's attorney general has dropped an investigation into the suspected tapping by the US intelligence services of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone calls, citing a lack of evidence for the case to succeed in court.
• British ministers battle to maintain surveillance powers Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- A battle over privacy is taking place across the board as Downing Street avoids proposal to strip ministers of surveillance powers.
• Russian Charged With Spying In U.S. Asks Court To Dismiss Case RFE/RL 12 Jun 2015 -- A Russian citizen who worked in Manhattan as a banker asked a federal judge June 11 to toss out charges that he participated in a Cold War-style Russian spy ring.
• Zhou Yongkang sentenced to life in prison, no limits for anti-corruption People's Daily 12 Jun 2015 -- Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday for accepting bribes, abusing his power and deliberately disclosing state secrets, the latest and most powerful footnote to the Party's commitment to the rule of law.
• MERS fatalities climb to 13 in South Korea Press TV 12 Jun 2015 -- South Korea has reported its 13th death from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in what has become the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia.
• US Charges 2 Men as Islamic State Supporters VOA 12 Jun 2015 -- U.S. authorities say two men accused of plotting to attack police officers in Massachusetts are being charged with conspiracy to provide material support to Islamic State militants.
• China to launch its first electric satellite around 2020 People's Daily 12 Jun 2015 -- China plans to launch its first electric propulsion communication satellite into orbit around the year 2020, indicating that China has squeezed into the international electric propulsion communication satellite market following the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan.
• EU Plans To Push Central Asian States Harder On Human Rights RFE/RL 12 Jun 2015 -- The European Union plans to step up efforts to address 'serious challenges to human rights' in Central Asia, according to a strategy document seen by RFE/RL.