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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Around 500 US Personnel Remain in Eastern Syria to Counter Daesh Operations - CENTCOM Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- Earlier this month, the US announced that it would keep its military presence in Syria despite achieving its stated goal of defeating Daesh*.
• Trump Suggests Peace Talks With Afghan Taliban Back on Track VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated peace negotiations with the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan are back on track and vowed again to withdraw American troops from the country.
• AFRICOM Opens Investigation After Losing Remotely Piloted Aircraft Over Tripoli Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- US Africa Command (AFRICOM) is now conducting an investigation after losing communication with a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) necessary for terror surveillance earlier this week.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Navy leaders oppose Trump, threaten to resign Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- American Navy leaders have threatened to resign if plans to review Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher's conduct are halted over a tweet by President Donald Trump, a report says.
• Readout of Meeting With U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John C. Rood and Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir DoD 23 Nov 2019
• Readout of Meeting Between Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John C. Rood and Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi DoD 23 Nov 2019
• Speech: Manama Dialogue Fifth Plenary U.S. Policy and Alliance Relations in the Middle East DoD 23 Nov 2019 -- Prepared Remarks of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John C. Rood Manama, Bahrain
• Freedom of Navigation in South China Sea Critical to Prosperity, Says Indo-Pacific Commander DoD News 23 Nov 2019 -- Navy Adm. Philip S. Davidson, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, spoke today at the Halifax International Security Forum, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Threat From China Requires Innovative Approach, Says DOD Official DoD News 23 Nov 2019 -- Alan Shaffer, deputy under secretary of defense, acquisition and sustainment, discussed the threat from China and what the U.S. must do to respond to the threat.
• US Air Force Transfers F-35 Squadron from Utah to UAE - Reports Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- Washington continues to boost its military presence in the region amid growing tensions with Tehran, also sending an additional 3,000 troops as well as air defence systems to Saudi Arabia.
• Russia: US military presence hinders our Japan ties Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Russia calls the United States' extensive and growing military presence in Japan an obstacle in the way of further development of the Russo-Japanese relations.
• South Korea Asks US to Help Resolve Crisis in Relations With Japan Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has asked the United States to facilitate normalisation of relations between Seoul and Tokyo, the ministry said on Saturday.
• S.Korea says GSOMIA can be scrapped at 'any time' NHK 23 Nov 2019 -- A South Korean presidential official says the country's decision to avert the termination of an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan comes with conditions attached.
• South Africa blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE: Report Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- South Africa is halting its arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are accused of handing over some of the purchased weapons to armed militia in Yemen, violating a provision of the deal prohibiting the transfer of imported arms to third parties.
• Iran to equip Dena destroyer with VLS system IRNA 23 Nov 2019 -- Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said that home-made Dena destroyer is being equipped with Vertical Launching System (VLS).
• Turkey says eyes alternatives if US F-35 jets not acquired for any reason Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Turkey says it will seek for alternative fighter jets if it cannot acquire US F-35 warplanes for any reason, months after Washington announced its official refusal to deliver the advanced aircraft purchased by Ankara.
• Ex-Iraq PM slams unannounced visit by US VP Pence Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- A former Iraqi prime minister has harshly criticized US Vice President Mike Pence for his surprise visit to the Kurdistan region of Iraq, saying the move was a violation of the sovereignty of the Arab country.
• Remarks by Vice President Pence in a Press Gaggle | Erbil Air Base The White House 23 Nov 2019
• Remarks by Vice President Pence and President Barzani of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Before Bilateral Meeting The White House 23 Nov 2019
• Remarks by Vice President Pence to Troops at Al Asad Air Base | Al Anbar Province, Iraq The White House 23 Nov 2019
• Vice President Pence Visits Iraq The White House 23 Nov 2019
• Remarks by Vice President Pence to Troops at Erbil Air Base The White House 23 Nov 2019
• Pence makes surprise visit to Iraq Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- US Vice President Mike Pence has made a surprise visit to Iraq amid ongoing protests in the capital city Baghdad, and some southern cities.
• Pence Voices U.S. Support To Wary Kurds In Iraq RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Iraq on November 23 on an unannounced visit to reassure Iraqi Kurds of U.S. support after President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria.
• More Deaths As Iraqi Protesters Clash With Security Forces In Baghdad RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- Iraqi security forces clashed with protesters in Baghdad and near Basra, killing at least four people as the death toll rose to at least 340 since anti-government demonstrations began on October 1.
• US Vice President Pays Unexpected Visit to US Military Base in Iraq, Meets President of Kurdistan Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- US Vice President Mike Pence arrived on Saturday at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq for an unexpected visit, the New York Times newspaper reported.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• A child under 5 dies every 10 minutes in Yemen due to extreme hunger: Health minister Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- The Yemeni minister of public health and population says it is estimated that every 10 minutes a child under the age of five dies from extreme hunger in the conflict-plagued and impoverished Arab country, warning that the ongoing Saudi-led blockade is also taking a heavy toll on newborn babies.
• Yemeni forces reject UN claim about decrease in Saudi strikes Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- The spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces has rejected a statement made by the UN's Yemen envoy that Saudi airstrikes in the impoverished country are now down 80 percent.
• Car bomb blast claims nearly dozen lives in Syrian border town Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Nearly a dozen people have lost their lives when a powerful car bomb explosion ripped through a northern Syrian border town seized by Turkish military forces and their allied militants in the aftermath of a cross-border incursion against militants from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
• US occupying Syria oil wells, looting resources: Damascus envoy to UN Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja'afari says the United States has been occupying the country's oil fields and looting its resources as the UN remains silent on Washington's act of theft.
• EU's Mogherini Condemns Attacks On Civilians By Syria, Russia In Idlib Province RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- The European Union's top diplomat has condemned recent attacks on civilians in Syria by government forces and their Russian allies, calling them "unacceptable."
• French Defense Minister Says U.S. Disengaged In Mideast RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- French Defense Minister Florence Parly told a security forum in Bahrain on November 23 that Paris will continue to speak with Tehran despite a string of international incidents seemingly involving Iran but also hinted at unease over what she described as "a deliberate, gradual U.S. disengagement" in the Middle East.
• Analysts See Pitfalls for Ukraine in Coming Peace Talks VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- Ukrainian officials are warily watching the U.S. impeachment inquiry as they prepare for a crucial four-way negotiation with Russia, France and Germany next month.

News Reports

• Trump Returns To Ukraine 'Server' Theory As 'Big Part' Of 2016 Meddling RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- U.S. President Donald Trump has used an extended televised interview to further assert a theory of possible Ukrainian involvement in cyberattacks on the 2016 U.S. elections that national security and other experts have publicly suggested is part of a Russian plot to smear its smaller neighbor.
• US Lawmakers Demand Briefing on Trump Admin's Plans for Open Skies Treaty – Letter Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- US lawmakers are demanding that the Trump administration explain its reported plans to pull the United States out of the Open Skies Treaty, Congressmen Eliot Engel and Adam Smith said on Friday in a letter to White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien.
• U.S. Ambassador-Nominee To Russia Meets Lavrov, Sets Conditions For Improved Ties RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who has been nominated to become Washington's next ambassador to Moscow, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that an improvement in bilateral ties depends on Moscow's "disavowal of efforts to undermine our democratic processes" and a commitment to peace efforts in Ukraine.
• Putin Stresses 'Responsibility' At Ruling Party Congress RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin told a congress of the ruling United Russia on November 23 that the party has prospered by prioritizing "citizens' interests [and] the interests of our Motherland" and urged his allies not to fear "difficult decisions that don't yield situational popularity and extra points at elections."
• Situation With WADA Panel Non-Compliance Recommendation 'Unfolding as Predicted' - RUSADA Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- The situation with the compliance status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is developing dramatically, but in accordance with expectations, Margarita Pakhnotskaya, RUSADA's deputy director-general said on Saturday, after a WADA key panel issued a recommendation to strip RUSADA of its status of compliance.
• Former CIA Officer Who Spied for China Gets 19-Year Jail Term - Justice Department Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- A US court sentenced a former CIA case officer, who worked in China and has first-hand knowledge of some of the agency's most sensitive secrets, to 19 years in prison, the Justice Department announced in a press release.
• 180 ringleaders of Iran's recent unrests arrested IRNA 23 Nov 2019 -- Iran's Police announced that it has arrested some 180 ring leaders of recent riots in certain Iranian cities in cooperation with the people and security forces.
• Iran moves to deal with main instigators of recent riots Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Iran's Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri says preliminary examinations of detained individuals in recent riots will be finished in the next 48 hours.
• Azari-Jahromi: US cannot stop Iran's development IRNA 23 Nov 2019 -- Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi dismissed the so-called sanctions declared by the US Department of Treasury against him, saying that the US cannot halt Iran's economic development by such actions.
• US government has no respect for democratic principles: Spox IRNA 23 Nov 2019 -- The spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abbas Mousavi said on Saturday that it is an open secret to all that the current US government has no respect for the democratic principles, transparency or human rights.
• Iran condemns US' sanctions on ICT Minister ISNA 23 Nov 2019 -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi condemned US' move to impose sanctions on Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, stressing that it reveals US' political and instrumental attitude toward the free Internet access.
• Iran's ICT Minister responds to US sanctions ISNA 23 Nov 2019 -- Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi reacted to US' sanctions imposed on him.
• Us imposes sanctions on Iran's ICT Minister ISNA 23 Nov 2019 -- Continuing hostile policy against Iran, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi.
• US-banned minister vows to block US bid to prohibit Iran development Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has dismissed US sanctions on him, saying he will not let Washington prohibit Tehran's development.
• Iran Official Warns 'No Easy Life' If Neighbors Fomented Unrest RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has warned nearby countries that they "won't have an easy life" if they are found to have had a hand in the unrest that has rattled Iran over the past week and prompted a broad crackdown on protests and a nationwide shutdown of Internet access.
• Iran Warns Regional Powers Won't Have 'Easy Life' if They Helped Create Unrest in Country - Report Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- The Islamic Republic has been facing mass rallies following an increase in gasoline prices, with at least 1,000 people being detained during the clashes. According to reports, several people have died, including three members of the Iranian security forces in Tehran.
• China: US 'world's biggest source of instability' Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi minces no words as he lashes out at the United States over Washington's one-sided approach to world politics and its adversarial attitude towards Beijing.
• Trump Non-Committal About Signing Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Bills VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- President Donald Trump was non-committal Friday about signing bi-partisan legislation supporting pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
• Cambodia Backs China on Hong Kong Protests VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- Cambodia this week reiterated its support for China's attempts to quell violent protests in Hong Kong, citing its adherence to the "One China" policy.
• 'Why Not Just Try:' Hong Kong Protesters Share What Drives Them VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- When he left the house last week, Joseph, a 19-year-old Hong Kong college student, told his parents he was going to hang out with friends. That was only partly true.
• China launches 50th and 51st navigation satellites into orbit Global Times 23 Nov 2019 -- China sent two more medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites for the country's BeiDou Navigational Satellites System, or BDS into orbit on Saturday. They are the 50th and 51st of the BeiDou system, Global Times learned from the authorities.
• China Launches 2 More Satellites of BeiDou Navigation System - Aerospace Corporation Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- China on Saturday successfully launched into the orbit the 50th and 51st satellites of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, China Aerospace and Technology Corporation (CASC) said.
• President urges vigilance amid China's attempts to influence elections CNA 23 Nov 2019 -- As China's attempts to influence Taiwan's upcoming elections intensify, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged the public Saturday to remain vigilant so that the country's hard-won democracy and freedom can be protected.
• U.S. urged to send cabinet officials to Taiwan as China poaches allies CNA 23 Nov 2019 -- A former senior advisor to the Trump administration on Friday urged the White House to send a cabinet official to Taiwan whenever Beijing succeeds in poaching a diplomatic ally from Taipei.
• Morales' Party Introduces Bill to Exempt Ex-Bolivian President From Criminal Prosecution Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- Ex-Bolivian President Evo Morales' party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), has introduced a bill in the upper house to exempt its leader from criminal prosecution.
• Bolivia Crisis: Senate Passes Bill Annulling Evo Morales' Presidential Win Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- The former Bolivian president resigned in the wake of mass demonstrations over his re-election to a new term and left the country for Mexico. Jeanine Anez, an opposition lawmaker, declared herself the interim president – a move that Evo Morales has described as a coup.
• Evo Morales: I Wish I Could Return to Bolivia Tomorrow Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who resigned due to the protests that engulfed the country following the recent elections, has told Sputnik exactly what happened during those days – when he decided to resign, whether the transfer of power was legal, how he managed to leave for Mexico, and who tried to stop him.
• Bolivia's Interim Government Opens Criminal Case Against Morales Sputnik 23 Nov 2019 -- Bolivia's interim government opened a criminal case against former President Evo Morales on Friday, interim Interior Minister Arturo Murillo announced.
• Three Colombia police killed in blast amid renewed protests Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- Three police officers have been killed in an attack on a police station in southwestern Colombia as thousands gathered for renewed protests in the country's capital of Bogota.
• Victims Of Kazakhstan's Soviet-Era Nuclear Tests Feel 'Abandoned' By Government RFE/RL 23 Nov 2019 -- Hundreds of thousands of people in northeastern Kazakhstan are still suffering the consequences from 40 years of nuclear-weapons tests that were conducted near their homes during the Soviet era.
• UK condemned by international community over Chagos Islands Press TV 23 Nov 2019 -- The island nation of Mauritius has hit out at the UK's decision not to return the occupied Chagos Islands.
• Egyptian Leader's Son Heads to Moscow VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, dubbed by critics "Putin on the Nile," is set to boost his burgeoning relationship with Russia by dispatching his son, Mahmoud, to Moscow as a military attache, independent regional media outlets are reporting.
• Papua New Guinea Province to Vote in Independence Ballot VOA 23 Nov 2019 -- The people of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, will head to the polls Saturday (Nov. 23) to decide whether to seek independence and become the world's newest country.