Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Strikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq AFPS 30 Apr 2016 -- U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• China Blocks US Navy Ships' Access to Hong Kong Port VOA 30 Apr 2016 -- China has denied a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier access to a port in Hong Kong.
• US warned over missile system People's Daily 30 Apr 2016 -- Beijing and Moscow urge Washington against starting deployment in the Republic of Korea
• NATO membership not to benefit Finalnd: Govt. report Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- A report commissioned by the Finnish government has strongly advised against the country's membership in the NATO military alliance, saying such a move would negatively affect ties with Sweden and Russia.
• Estonia Works to Bring Additional NATO Forces to the Baltic Sputnik 30 Apr 2016 -- Estonia makes a lot of contribution to the NATO plans of military troops deployment in the Baltic states, Estonian Minister of Defense Hannes Hanso said Saturday.
• NATO Expansion Moves On: Troops Deployed Near Russian Border Sputnik 30 Apr 2016 -- NATO alliance is going to deploy troops in the Baltic states and Poland along the Russian border, media reported, citing officials.
• Another US spy plane buzzed by Russian jet over Baltic Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- A US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft has been buzzed by a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 over the Baltic Sea, the latest encounter in a series of similar incidents between the two countries' military forces.
• Moscow defends interception of US aircraft in Baltic Sea Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Moscow says it was right to intercept a US Air Force reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea since the Pentagon was flying a spy plane near the Russian border.
• Russia Responds To Pentagon Comments On 'Air Intercept' RFE/RL 30 Apr 2016 -- Moscow says it had sent a fighter jet to intercept a U.S. aircraft approaching the Russian border because the American plane had turned off its transponder needed for plane identification.
• Red' Corvette: Russia Ready to Install Engines in Its New Stealth Warship Sputnik 30 Apr 2016 -- The Gremyashchy, a sophisticated new Russian naval ship, will be equipped with domestically made engines, according to the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Defense Industry

• $40 Billion Submarine : France Sinks Japanese Defense Industry Sputnik 30 Apr 2016 -- Japan once had the inside track on one of the world's most lucrative defense contracting deals, but a late bid by the French government and inexplicable missteps by Tokyo have ended the country's immediate plan of reconstructing its industrial sector.
• Russia says ready to make T-90s in Iran ISNA 30 Apr 2016 -- Russia announced that it is considering a plan that involves the licensed production of T-90 tanks in Iran in what could mark a new chapter in strategic relations between the two countries.

Other Conflicts

• Taiwan patrol boats to protect fishermen near disputed Japanese atoll CNA 30 Apr 2016 -- Taiwan will send two patrol ships Sunday to international waters near a Japanese-controlled atoll in the Western Pacific to protect Taiwanese fishermen operating in the area.
• Yemen talks 'moving forward towards peace', UN envoy reports UN News 30 Apr 2016 -- The United Nations envoy for Yemen reported today that the latest session of peace negotiations among Yemeni parties in Kuwait "went on in a positive and constructive atmosphere and reflected a mutual desire to move forward in the talks".
• Yemen warring sides begin face-to-face talks Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Warring sides of the conflict in Yemen have begun face-to-face negotiations for the first time since an ongoing round of talks started under the auspices of the United Nations in Kuwait.
• 25 civilians killed in militant attacks in Aleppo Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Over two dozen civilians have been killed during the past 24 hours in attacks by militants on residential neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo in northwestern Syria.
• Russia won't pressure Syria to halt Aleppo strikes: Official Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Moscow will not seek a halt to Syrian airstrikes on militant-held areas of Aleppo as the move could embolden terrorists who control those neighborhoods, Russia's deputy foreign minister said Saturday.
• U.S., Russia Broker Renewed Truce In Parts Of Syria, But Not Aleppo RFE/RL 30 Apr 2016 -- The United States and Russia brokered a renewed cease-fire in parts of Syria, but excluded the main battlefield of Aleppo where intense fighting has killed more than 200 people in the last week.
• Airstrikes in Aleppo Kill at Least 5 People VOA 30 Apr 2016 -- About 30 airstrikes by Syrian government warplanes and helicopter gunships hit rebel-held areas of the northern city of Aleppo Saturday killing at least five people.
• Iraqi army liberates strategic town in Kirkuk Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- The Iraqi army says it has managed to liberate the strategic town of Bashir in Kirkuk Province from the grips of Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
• Iraqi security forces retake Anbar regions from Daesh terrorists Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Security personnel have managed to liberate two regions in Iraq's embattled western province of Anbar from the clutches of the Takfiri Daesh militants.
• Four Daesh commanders killed in Iraq's Kirkuk, 2 villages freed in Anbar Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Four Daesh commanders have been slain in airstrikes carried out by the Iraqi Air Force in the country's northern province of Kirkuk.
• Ankara jets pound PKK positions in SE Turkey, N Iraq Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Turkish warplanes have conducted fresh airstrikes against militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), hitting the group's positions in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
• Interview: In Eastern Ukraine, 'Too Many Troops Willing To Fire' RFE/RL 30 Apr 2016 -- Violations of a fragile internationally brokered cease-fire between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine are at their highest level in months. Paul Quinn-Judge, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group who just returned from the demarcation line that separates the two sides, attributes the volatile situation to the numbers and proximity of troops along the line of separation, and their willingness to fire on one another.
• Kyiv Sees No Elections in Eastern Ukraine Until Russians Leave VOA 30 Apr 2016 -- A top Ukrainian official said that elections in eastern Ukraine are only possible after Ukraine's sovereignty is renewed in the region and the Russia's presence is eliminated in those territories.

News Reports

• UNAMI urges Government, political leaders to work together to restore security and to engage in dialogue UNAMI 30 Apr 2016 -- The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) is gravely concerned by today's developments in Baghdad, including the storming of the Council of Representatives premises by demonstrators after they entered the International Zone.
• Iraqi PM: Situation in Green Zone under control Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says the situation in the Green Zone is under control after demonstrators broke into the heavily-fortified government complex in Baghdad.
• Iraqi Troops Use Tear Gas Against Green-Zone Protesters RFE/RL 30 Apr 2016 -- Iraqi security forces have fired tear gas and warning shots in a bid to contain an aggressive demonstration in the secure Green Zone in the capital, Baghdad.
• Sadr Supporters Storm Iraqi Parliament VOA 30 Apr 2016 -- Supporters of Iraq's mercurial Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have stormed the Iraqi parliament, after entering Baghdad's government-controlled "Green Zone." A Saturday session of parliament to approve members of a new government had been called off for lack of a quorum earlier in the day.
• P5+1 must honor JCPOA obligations: Iran FM Press TV 30 Apr 2016 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the P5+1 group of countries need to fulfill their obligations stipulated in the nuclear agreement they reached with Iran last year.
• Moderate Reformists Set to Take Control in Iranian Parliament VOA 30 Apr 2016 -- Unofficial results from Iran's parliamentary run-off election show that reformist and moderate politicians allied with President Hassan Rouhani won more seats than their conservative rivals, and will likely have control over the legislature.
• Interior ministry puts turnout of run-off elections at 59 percent IRNA 30 Apr 2016 -- Iran's Deputy Interior Minister Hossein-Ali Amiri here on Saturday put the turnout of second round of 10th parliamentary elections at 59 percent.
• U.S. Is Wholly to Blame for Tension on Korean Peninsula: KCNA Commentary KCNA 30 Apr 2016 -- Leon V. Sigal, director of the Social Science Research Council of the United States, recently dedicated an article critical of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK to the U.S. magazine National Interest dealing with international relations.
• DPRK Will Counter Enemy's Threat of Nuclear War with Its Bolstered Nuclear Capability: FM Spokesman KCNA 30 Apr 2016 -- Key Resolve and Foal Eagle 16 joint military drills staged by the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces against the DPRK for 50 odd days were the worst-ever military provocations that pushed the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, said a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK in a statement on Saturday.
• Wonsan Army-People Power Station Goes Operational KCNA 30 Apr 2016 -- Large-scale Wonsan Army-People Power Station has been built in Kangwon Province.
• US Walks Thin Line with Russia Between Cooperating and Helping VOA 30 Apr 2016 -- With the two-month old cessation of hostilities in Syria rapidly disintegrating, the United States is finding itself in an increasingly uncomfortable position, trying to expand cooperation with Russia while not simultaneously playing into Russia's hands.