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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF / OND / OEF / OIR / OFS Casualty Update 17 Nov 2017[PDF]
• Strikes Continue Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq AFPS 17 Nov 2017 -- U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, conducting 34 strikes consisting of 56 engagements Nov. 13-16, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
• Kabul Investigates Reports of Taliban Using Russian-made Night Vision Equipment VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Afghan defense authorities acknowledged this week that Taliban militants have obtained night-vision equipment but fell short of confirming media reports that allege Russia had provided Taliban with the goggles.
• US now has significantly more troops in Somalia Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- The Pentagon has revealed that the United States now has some 500 troops on the ground in Somalia even as it denies a "build-up" of forces in the African country.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Officials Warn Special Ops Forces Being Stretched to Possible Breaking Point VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Add U.S. lawmakers to the ranks of those worried the country's special operations forces are being stretched to a possible breaking point.
• Allied Spirit VII Exercise Showcases Integrated Training AFPS 17 Nov 2017 -- "It's very important for us to train together with our partners," said Col. Arturas Radvilas, the commanding officer of the Lithuanian army's Motorized Infantry "Griffin" Brigade.
• Air National Guard Strikes Hard at 'Combat Hammer' Exercise AFPS 17 Nov 2017 -- Airmen with Air National Guard units from Texas, New York, Iowa, Ohio, California, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and North Dakota supported and piloted MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles during Operation Combat Hammer, the first operational air-to-ground weapons evaluation for the Air National Guard that includes the Reaper.
• HST Conducts Anti-Terrorism Drills NNS 17 Nov 2017 -- Sailors aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) successfully completed the ship's week-long Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) Phase Four Certification while pier-side, Nov. 17.
• Erdogan orders withdrawal of Turkish troops from NATO drills Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the pullout of dozens of Turkish soldiers from a NATO military exercise in Norway after Turk leaders were depicted as the "enemies."
• Locked and Loaded: Russia's Tu-22M3 Bombers to Boast Advanced Cruise Missiles Sputnik 17 Nov 2017 -- The modernization of Russia's Tu-22M3 strategic bombers is nearing completion. In particular, it includes new radio-electronic equipment and weapon systems, including advanced supersonic missiles, Viktor Bondarev, the head of the Russian upper house's Defense and Security Committee, said Friday.
• Poland - Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS)-enabled Patriot Configuration-3+ with Modernized Sensors and Components DSCA 17 Nov 2017 -- The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Poland for an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS)-enabled Patriot Configuration-3+ with Modernized Sensors and Components for an estimated cost of $10.5 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on November 14, 2017.
• China, Russia to hold simulated anti-missile drills in Beijing Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- The Chinese and Russian militaries are preparing to hold joint computer-assisted anti-missile drills in what is said to be a response to the deployment of a US missile system is South Korea.
• North Korean ICBM Program Runs Into Major Roadblock Sputnik 17 Nov 2017 -- The South Korean foreign intelligence service has reported that North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program has hit a snag, as the communist country has run into difficulty developing reliable atmospheric re-entry technology that would allow their missile to return from Earth's orbit.
• New Satellite Imagery Shows N Korea Allegedly Building Ballistic Missile Sub Sputnik 17 Nov 2017 -- Pyongyang is continuing to build its first operational ballistic missile submarine, according to a report by the US Korea Institute in Washington, based on satellite photos a naval shipyard on the country's east coast, Newsweek wrote.
• Abe vows to boost military as Japan sheds pacifist stance Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to bolster Japan's military capabilities and amend the country's pacifist constitution in his first policy speech since a landslide election victory.
• Argentine Submarine Goes Missing for Two Days, Major Search Op Underway Sputnik 17 Nov 2017 -- The San Juan submarine, which had left the southern city of Ushuaia for Mar del Plata in Argentina more than 1,800 miles away has been last heard from two days ago and is considered to be missing. According to a navy spokesman, it may have suffered a communications error.
• Sahel Counterterror Force Lacks Funding VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Burkina Faso's foreign minister says a new counterterrorism force for Africa's Sahel region needs substantially more funding to operate.
• Department Press Briefing - November 17, 2017 US Dept. of State 17 Nov 2017
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, 11/17/2017, #33 The White House 17 Nov 2017

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for November 17, 2017

Other Conflicts

• 17 November 2017 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 17 Nov 2017
• UN chief says Saudi war on Yemen 'stupid,' calls for lifting of blockade Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described Saudi Arabia's long-running war on Yemen as "stupid," saying the blockade on the impoverished country must come to an end.
• Nearly two dozen civilians dead in fresh Saudi airstrikes against Yemen Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Nearly two dozen civilians have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets carried out two separate attacks in Yemen as Riyadh regime presses ahead with its devastating aerial bombardment campaign against its impoverished southern neighbor.
• Famine may be unfolding 'right now' in Yemen, warns UN relief wing UN News 17 Nov 2017 -- The United Nations relief wing on Friday, warned of famine-like conditions unfolding in Yemen, as a blockade on aid and other essential goods by a Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels there enters its 12th day.
• Security Council fails at fresh attempt to renew panel investigating chemical weapons use in Syria UN News 17 Nov 2017 -- For the third time in two days, the United Nations Security Council on Friday failed to adopt a resolution on the mandate of an international panel investigating use of chemical weapons in Syria due to a negative vote by permanent member, Russia.
• Daesh car bombing leaves 26 Syrians dead in northern Dayr al-Zawr Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- A so-called monitoring group says more than two dozen people have been killed and scores of others injured when a powerful explosion targeted a group of internally displaced persons in the northern countryside of Syria's eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr.
• Russian bombers pound Daesh positions near Syria's Bukamal again Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have conducted a string of new aerial attacks against the positions of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group near the town of Bukamal in Syria's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr as government forces, supported by allied fighters from popular defense groups, are fighting to fully recapture the territory from the extremists.
• UN Security Council To Vote Again On Syrian Chemical Weapons Inquiry RFE/RL 17 Nov 2017 -- The UN Security Council says it will vote on November 17 on a one-month extension of a mandate to allow experts to determine who was responsibile for chemical-weapons attacks in Syria, one day after Russia vetoed a similar proposal.
• Turkish President Slams US Policy in Syria VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan used an address to party officials Friday in Ankara as an opportunity to launch a blistering attack on the U.S. policy in Syria.
• Rawah victory marks military collapse of Daesh in Iraq, says interior minister Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji says the recapture of the last redoubt of Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the country's western province of al-Anbar by army soldiers and pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units marks the end of the military threat posed by the extremists in the country.
• Iraqi forces liberate last Daesh-held town near Syria border Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Iraqi armed forces have liberated Rawa, the last remaining town under the grip of the Daesh terror group, hours after they launched the offensive.
• UN urges Myanmar to end Rakhine military operations Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- A United Nations General Assembly committee has approved a draft resolution that urges Myanmar to halt military operations in the country's Rakhine state that have "led to the systematic violation and abuse of human rights" of Rohingya Muslims.
• Desperate Rohingya refugees use home-made rafts to get to Bangladesh - UN UN News 17 Nov 2017 -- Over the past 10 days, dozens of makeshift rafts carrying more than a thousand people have floated into Bangladesh, proof that Rohingya refugees are resorting to increasingly desperate means to flee to Myanmar, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.
• Lebanese security forces bust Daesh terrorist network Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Lebanese security forces have arrested a group of people suspected of affiliation with Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in neighboring Syria, and planning to carry out a series of deadly attacks in Lebanon.
• Nikki Haley: US Must Take Sides in South Sudan Conflict VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations says the South Sudanese government is engaged in a brutal, protracted military campaign against a fragmented opposition and says, while both sides are responsible for atrocities against civilians, the government is primarily responsible for ethnically based killings.
• Philippine Fight Against Muslim Rebels Keeps Thousands Homeless VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Refugees from a deadly midyear war between government troops and Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines say they are not ready to go home, after an announced end to the fighting, over fears of lingering danger and a possible lack of reconstruction money.
• Philippine troops committed rights abuses in Marawi battle: Amnesty Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Amnesty International says both Philippine government forces and Daesh militants committed human rights abuses during a five-month battle in the southern city of Marawi in the Philippines.
• New UN funding to help sustain critical aid programmes for nearly 150,000 in Chad UN News 17 Nov 2017 -- The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) – a pool of funding which supports critical relief operations in crises around the world – has allocated $11 million to help meet the life-saving needs of some 147,000 people in southern Chad, where aid operations are faltering in want of resources.

News Reports

• Zimbabwe Coup Leader Traveled to China One Week Before Arresting Mugabe Sputnik 17 Nov 2017 -- The key architect of the soft coup in Zimbabwe this week traveled to China and met with top military officials just days before the confusing and still-unfolding government shakeup, sparking speculation that Beijing may have played a role in the coup that has seen Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe placed under house arrest.
• Mugabe Makes Appearance as Pressure to Resign Builds VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe made a public appearance Friday, his first since the military took over state institutions and opened talks aimed at getting the aged leader to resign.
• Lebanon FM vows response to foreign interference Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil says his country's sovereignty is not for sale, vowing response to any attempts at outside interference, Russia's RIA news agency reports.
• Lebanon FM: Hariri crisis 'part of attempt to create chaos' Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil says the crisis over the resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is part of an "attempt to create chaos in the region."
• Tillerson, African Foreign Ministers Talk Trade, Good Governance, Security VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that the Trump administration wanted to refocus the U.S. relationship with Africa squarely on trade and investment, to help unlock the tremendous potential of what is expected to become the world's most populous continent in coming decades.
• U.S. Ambassador To Russia Says New Foreign-Media Legislation Is 'Big Concern' RFE/RL 17 Nov 2017 -- The U.S. ambassador to Russia has visited the Moscow bureau of RFE/RL and Voice of America (VOA) in a gesture of support for American media that could be targeted by new Russian legislation.
• U.S. Radio Station Registers As 'Foreign Agent' For Russian Sputnik Broadcasts RFE/RL 17 Nov 2017 -- A Washington, D.C., area radio station that recently took over broadcasts of the Russian state-funded news outlet Sputnik has registered under the U.S. foreign-agent law, just days after the TV channel RT did.
• Sechin Says He'll Testify In Extortion Trial When 'We Can Agree On A Schedule' RFE/RL 17 Nov 2017 -- Russian state oil company chief Igor Sechin, who was summoned twice this week to testify in an ex-economy minister's extortion trial but failed to show up, says he will appear when "we can agree on a schedule."
• N. Korea Refuses to Negotiate Because of US-S. Korea Drills VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- North Korea said Friday that it would not hold talks with the United States and South Korea on its nuclear weapons program as long as the two countries continued to hold joint military exercises.
• North Korea rules out negotiations on nuclear program Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- North Korea has dismissed international calls for denuclearization, saying its nuclear and ballistic missile development programs will remain in place as long as the United States poses a threat to the country.
• China Launches Mao-Style Paeans of Praise to President Xi Jinping Radio Free Asia 17 Nov 2017 -- A newly composed patriotic song lauding Chinese President Xi Jinping is taking to the airwaves in China, as state media published a lengthy article painting the country's "unrivaled helmsman" in rosy tones on Friday.
• Profile: Xi Jinping and his era People's Daily 17 Nov 2017 -- On the morning of Oct. 18, Xi Jinping, standing behind a lectern in the Great Hall of the People, delivered a report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
• Panama to develop mutually beneficial relations with China: Panamanian President People's Daily 17 Nov 2017 -- Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela on Thursday reiterated the country's adherence to the one China policy, noting that Panama will develop a friendly relationship with China that can lead to mutual benefits and win-win results.
• China to achieve "major breakthrough" in nuclear-powered space shuttle around 2040: report People's Daily 17 Nov 2017 -- China is expected to achieve a "major breakthrough" in nuclear-powered space shuttles around 2040, according to a report issued by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation on Thursday.
• Iran Says Britain To Transfer $527 Million Debt Payment To Tehran Soon RFE/RL 17 Nov 2017 -- Iran's envoy to Britain said on November 17 that Britain plans to transfer more than 400 million pounds ($527 million) soon to settle a debt from the 1970s.
• British PM hopes EU will respond 'positively' to Brexit offer Press TV 17 Nov 2017 -- British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is looking forward that the European Union would respond "positively" to her proposals for Brexit.
• 2 Shot Dead in Somaliland as Opposition Party Calls Voting Rigged VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- At least two people were killed in post-election violence Thursday in the breakaway republic of Somaliland, after one of the two opposition parties claimed "massive" polling irregularities.
• US, EU Talk Tough on Cambodia VOA 17 Nov 2017 -- Preferential access to Cambodia's biggest export market could be removed and senior government officials banned from doing business with U.S. companies in response to a court ordered dissolution of the country's opposition, statements released Friday suggest.
• UN rights chief voices concern about Cambodia election after opposition ban UN News 17 Nov 2017 -- The United Nations human rights chief voiced grave concerns Friday about the conduct of credible, free and fair elections in Cambodia next year following the decision by the Supreme Court to dissolve the main opposition party.