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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF / OND / OEF / OIR / OFS Casualty Update 05 May 2016 [PDF]
• Australian-born Islamic State Recruiter Killed in US Airstrike VOA 05 May 2016 -- An Australian citizen suspected of being a top recruiter for the Islamic State terrorist group has been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq.
• Department of Defense Press Briefing by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook in the Pentagon Briefing Room DoD 05 May 2016 -- Presenter: Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook
• Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq AFPS 05 May 2016 -- U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
• Department of Defense Press Briefing by Brig. Gen. Cleveland via teleconference from Kabul, Afghanistan DoD 05 May 2016 -- Presenter: Brigadier General Charles H. Cleveland, deputy chief of staff for communications, Resolute Support Mission
• Senior Official Outlines U.S. Forces' Missions in Afghanistan AFPS 05 May 2016 -- U.S. forces in Afghanistan conduct missions to train, advise and assist Afghan forces as part of a larger NATO role, and conduct a unilateral U.S.-counterterrorism mission, Army Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland, the Resolute Support mission's deputy communications chief, said today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Navy to Avoid Hormuz After Iran Threat to Close Strait VOA 05 May 2016 -- U.S. Defense Department spokesman Colonel Steven Warren says U.S. warships have stopped accompanying U.S. and British-flagged commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. The move came after Iran threatened to close the waterway to U.S. and allied vessels.
• Navy to Christen Littoral Combat Ship Manchester DoD 05 May 2016 -- The Navy will christen its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship, USS Manchester (LCS 14), during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony Saturday, May 7 in Mobile, Alabama.
• DoD Releases FY15 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military DoD 05 May 2016 -- The Department of Defense released its Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015.
• NRL Completes ICEX 2016 Expedition, Mapping of Arctic Ice NNS 05 May 2016 -- A team of U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientists from the Marine Geoscience Division concluded a monthlong sea-ice research expedition as part of the Navy's 2016 Ice Exercise (ICEX) May 5.
• Top US Official: Washington Seeking THAAD Dialogue With Beijing VOA 05 May 2016 -- A top U.S. official says Washington still hopes to hold a dialogue with Beijing on the possible deployment of an advanced missile defense system, known as THAAD, in South Korea.
• Kaohsiung Port can accommodate U.S. aircraft carrier: MND CNA 05 May 2016 -- Kaohsiung Port in southern Taiwan is capable of accommodating the American aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, but no assessment has ever been made of the Taiwan military's ability to provide logistics support for such a vessel, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Thursday.
• NATO planning to extend military presence in Mediterranean region Press TV 05 May 2016 -- The secretary general of NATO says the Western military alliance is planning to extend its military presence in the Mediterranean region, in a plan certain to deepen Russian concerns.
• Will New Russian Force Be 'Putin's Personal Army'? VOA 05 May 2016 -- While Russian lawmakers are busy changing the country's election laws in preparation for parliamentary elections this year, the lower house of parliament is due this month to consider whether President Vladimir Putin's new National Guard should be allowed to shoot Russian citizens without warning.
• PLA sends out discipline inspectors People's Daily 05 May 2016 -- The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is preparing to send discipline inspectors to its departments and local theater commands.
• Chinese Navy to Conduct Drill in South China Sea People's Daily 05 May 2016 -- East China Navy Fleet conducts a training exercise in the South China Sea on September 28, 2014, in a bid to temper the combat capability of the troops in complex environment.[Photo: Xinhua]
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 5/5/2016 The White House 05 May 2016
• May 5, 2016 - U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 05 May 2016

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for May 05, 2016

Other Conflicts

• 5 May 2016 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 05 May 2016
• Opposing sides in Yemen conflict discuss key issues in direct talks: UN Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Representatives of Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement and delegates from the administration of resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, have exchanged viewpoints over major political and security issues in direct talks aimed at putting an end to a 14-month-long conflict in the impoverished Arab country.
• Saudi-backed side blocking Yemen talks: Ansarullah Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Yemen's Ansarullah movement says delegates loyal to Saudi-backed resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi are blocking UN-brokered Yemen peace talks in Kuwait.
• Yemen: UN-mediated peace talks continuing amid 'worrying' breaches of the cessation of hostilities UN News 05 May 2016 -- In his latest update on the Yemeni peace talks currently under way in Kuwait, the UN envoy for the conflict-torn country confirmed they are continuing despite a number of breaches of the cessation of hostilities yesterday, which he described as "worrying."
• Yerevan Sends Draft Bill To Parliament On Recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh RFE/RL 05 May 2016 -- Armenia's government has approved a bill drafted by opposition lawmakers that calls for Yerevan to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
• Nusra terrorists kill 15 villagers in northwest Syria Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Members of al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, al-Nusra Front, have reportedly executed more than a dozen civilians in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.
• Syria: UN relief chief calls for probe into air strikes that left dozens dead in Idleb UN News 05 May 2016 -- The top United Nations humanitarian official has called for an immediate, impartial and independent investigation into the air strikes that today left dozes of civilians dead and injured in the northern Syrian Governorate of Idleb, which, if found to be deliberate, could amount to a war crime.
• Humanitarian operations to support Palestinian refugees continue near Syrian capital - UN agency UN News 05 May 2016 -- Following intense fighting between armed groups inside Yarmouk camp, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported that it has been able to continue its humanitarian operations in Yalda, near Damascus, since Monday.
• Syrian Regime Accused of Bombing Refugee Camp, Killing 30 VOA 05 May 2016 -- Only hours after Russian and Syrian officials confirmed a cease-fire had been extended to Aleppo, opposition politicians said warplanes – either Syrian government or Russian – carried out a deadly airstrike 30 kilometers from Syria's one-time commercial capital on a refugee camp close to the border with Turkey.
• Challenges to peace accord 'cast shadow' on Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress, Security Council told UN News 05 May 2016 -- The readiness of some political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to question and challenge the 1995 peace accord, including new attempts to undermine the sovereignty and authority of the State and its institutions, continues to cast a shadow over positive efforts to advance economic and social reforms, the United Nations Security Council was told today.
• Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza VOA 05 May 2016 -- Israeli air strikes hit four Hamas sites in Gaza Wednesday night, the military said, following air raids earlier in the day as tensions rise again along the Palestinian territory's border.
• Oil Facility Attack in Nigeria Raises Fears of Renewed Militancy VOA 05 May 2016 -- Nigeria's navy said Thursday that militants attacked an offshore facility belonging to multinational petroleum company Chevron, the latest in a spate of attacks in the petroleum-rich Niger Delta region.

News Reports

• Behind Davutoglu's Resignation RFE/RL 05 May 2016 -- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced that he will not run again for the chairmanship of the ruling AKP party in an upcoming extraordinary party congress. This means he will resign as Turkey's prime minister. "I have never asked for a higher position in my own academic and political life and will never do so," he said, intimating that it was more important to maintain ties with "friends and brothers" than to risk those relationships by staying in his post.
• Turkey's PM Resigns as Erdogan Shows Who's Boss VOA 05 May 2016 -- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he will step down as his ruling AK Party announced an extraordinary congress to elect a new leader. Davutoglu's decision comes amid reports of his growing differences with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• Turkey's Davutoglu confirms won't seek new term as AKP head Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has defended his term in office as a 'success', saying he will no longer stand for the leadership of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
• Turkey opposition dubs PM resignation 'palace coup' Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Leader of Turkey's main opposition has slammed the ouster of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as a "palace coup" aimed at consolidating the president's power.
• North Korea Set to Celebrate Kim Jong Un's Era VOA 05 May 2016 -- North Korea's party congress starting later this week will serve as a political tool to cement Kim Jong Un's rule, analysts in Seoul and Washington said.
• US Watching as North Korea Opens Biggest Political Meeting in Decades VOA 05 May 2016 -- North Korea has opened one of its biggest political meetings in 36 years, as the 7th Workers' Party Congress began meeting Friday in Pyongyang.
• Ayatollah Khamenei: Iran pioneer in fighting US-led ignorance IRNA 05 May 2016 -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran has pioneered the confrontation with the ignorance current by taking model from the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) designation as prophet by God.
• Salehi: Amano presents positive report on Iran IRNA 05 May 2016 -- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi declared that Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano has presented a good report on implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
• Iran's Salehi, IAEA's Amano meet, discuss JCPOA implementation Press TV 05 May 2016 -- The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have discussed the implementation of Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers.
• DRC Accuses Opposition Presidential Candidate of Recruiting Foreign Mercenaries VOA 05 May 2016 -- The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched an investigation into the alleged use of foreign mercenaries by opposition politician Moise Katumbi, government officials said Wednesday.
• DR Congo launches probe into use of US mercenaries Press TV 05 May 2016 -- The Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered an investigation into the alleged use of foreign mercenaries by the country's opposition leader and potential presidential candidate Moise Katumbi.
• Daesh can stage Paris-style attacks in US: Clapper Press TV 05 May 2016 -- The Takfiri Daesh (ISIL) group has the capacity of targeting the United States with attacks similar to those of Paris and Brussels, says the US intelligence chief.
• Intelligence Official: Islamic State Growing in Somalia VOA 05 May 2016 -- Pro-Islamic State Somali militants have grown in numbers and are receiving financial and military support from Yemen, a top intelligence official told the VOA Somali Service.
• US Navy Officer Allegedly Admitted to Spying VOA 05 May 2016 -- A U.S. Navy officer with access to highly sensitive intelligence allegedly admitted to spying and patronizing prostitutes. The alleged acknowledgement came during a two-day interrogation following his arrest at an airport in Hawaii last September.
• Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu to step down as ruling party leader Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu plans to relinquish his position as the leader of the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) amid differences with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, officials say.
• Bangladesh to Hang Islamist Party Leader VOA 05 May 2016 -- Bangladesh's supreme court Thursday rejected an appeal of the death sentence given to Islamist party leader Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes during the country's 1971 independence struggle, meaning he could be hanged at any time in the coming days.
• More Relatives of Chinese Leaders Found to Have Hong Kong IDs VOA 05 May 2016 -- More relatives of current and former Chinese political leaders have been found to be Hong Kong residents, according to the latest batch of leaked Panama Papers.
• Iraqi PM urges pro-reform protesters to 'respect law' Press TV 05 May 2016 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has urged pro-reform demonstrators to "respect the law" ahead of a fresh protest rally planned to be held outside the fortified Green Zone in the capital Baghdad.
• Uganda Bans Media From Covering Opposition VOA 05 May 2016 -- Uganda's government says journalists reporting on the activities of the opposition FDC party will lose their licenses and could be subject to arrest. Tensions have been high in Uganda since the February 18th presidential poll, which saw President Yoweri Museveni elected to a fifth term in office.
• Kazakh President Postpones Land Privatizations Until 2017 RFE/RL 05 May 2016 -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has postponed a controversial plan to privatize state-owned agricultural land, as ministries tied to the plan were rocked by resignations and reprimands.