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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Current Operations

• Taliban Hopes For Afghan Peace Deal By End Of January RFE/RL 18 Jan 2020 -- A spokesman for the Taliban has told a Pakistani newspaper that the militant group is hoping to reach an Afghan peace deal with U.S negotiators by the end of January.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group Departs for Deployment NNS 18 Jan 2020 -- The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) departed San Diego for a scheduled Indo-Pacific deployment, Jan. 17.
• Pentagon Acknowledges US Underperformance in Hypersonic Weapons Development Sputnik 18 Jan 2020 -- Last week, US President Donald Trump admitted that the United States is working on the development of hypersonic rockets, noting that the US is seeking to add them to its arsenal of "big, powerful, accurate, lethal, and fast" missiles.
• 576th AMXS leverages robotic paint stripping technology on A-10 Lightning II US Air Force 18 Jan 2020 -- Robotic media blasting used to strip paint from fighter aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon has been around at Hill Air Force Base for more than three decades. Now, the technology is being used for the first time to remove paint from the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
• Statement from the President on the 60th Anniversary of the United States-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security The White House 18 Jan 2020
• US Navy Dismisses Environmentalists' Fears, Pushing Ahead with Nevada Bombing Range Expansion Sputnik 18 Jan 2020 -- The US Navy is one step closer to obtaining its proposed threefold expansion of the bombing range at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada after its latest environmental review of the area and in spite of pushback from lawmakers, local Native American tribes and conservationists.
• Chinese military releases outlines to strengthen primary-level units People's Daily 18 Jan 2020 -- The Central Military Commission (CMC) has released a set of revised outlines on strengthening the military at the primary level.
• France deploys radar system, aircraft carrier in Saudi Arabia Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- France is beefing up its military presence in the Middle East, sending a radar system and an aircraft carrier to the region gripped by heightened tensions.
• Indian Government Appoints New Army Vice Chief Sputnik 18 Jan 2020 -- The post of Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOS) fell vacant after Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane took charge as India's 27th Army Chief on 31 December 2019. Lt. Gen. Saini is the recipient of several awards for both gallantry and distinguished service.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Dozens Killed in Houthi Attack on Yemeni Army Barracks - Reports Sputnik 18 Jan 2020 -- Yemen has been locked for years in an armed conflict between government forces led by President-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the armed Houthi opposition faction. Despite a peace accord signed in Stockholm in 2018, tensions have reportedly been escalating in recent months.
• Iraqi forces arrest obese Daesh mufti in Mosul Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- Iraqi forces have arrested an overweight Daesh 'mufti' in the city of Mosul who advocated enslaving, raping, torturing and ethnic cleansing.
• Turkey deploys more militants from Syria to Libya to help protect Tripoli-based GNA: Report Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- Roughly 2,000 members of Turkish-backed Takfiri terrorist groups in Syria have reportedly arrived in Libya to fight on the battlefields in support of the embattled Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
• UN urges 'foreign' players to stop 'meddling' in Libya conflict Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- The United Nations has urged all "foreign" players to stop "interfering" in the conflict in Libya, just a day before a peace summit in Germany aimed at establishing a permanent ceasefire between the two warring sides in the North African country.
• Erdogan Says Europe Should Support Turkish Effort If It Wants To End Libyan Conflict RFE/RL 18 Jan 2020 -- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on Europe to support his country's efforts in Libya, where it is providing military support to the internationally-recognized government, if it wants to end the conflict there.
• UN Mission in Libya Says Country's Oil Facilities Should Not Become Part of Conflict Sputnik 18 Jan 2020 -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya has reiterated the need to keep the North African country's oil facilities out of conflict, in a statement published on 18 January following the news that Libyan National Army (LNA) forces had begun blocking oil exports from five ports.
• Libyan National Oil Corporation Declares Emergency After Oil Supplies From Several Ports Suspended Sputnik 18 Jan 2020 -- On 16 January, some Libyan tribal leaders and public figures called to shut down oil terminals in protest against what they describe as the UN-backed Government of National Accord's (GNA) payments for foreign military support using oil revenues.

News Reports

• Answer of President Donald J. Trump The White House 18 Jan 2020
• Statement from the Press Secretary Announcing the President's Senate Trial Counsel The White House 18 Jan 2020
• Putin Says He Rejects Soviet-Style Leaders For Life RFE/RL 18 Jan 2020 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would not like to see his country return to the Soviet practice of having lifelong rulers who died without a clear succession procedure.
• US envoy to South Korea scrutinized for 'meddling' in Seoul ties with Pyongyang Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- The US ambassador to South Korea has come under scrutiny for his controversial remarks over Seoul's relations with North Korea, calling on the South's government to consult with Washington when pursuing new exchanges with Pyongyang.
• Zarif calls for rejecting politicization of plane incident IRNA 18 Jan 2020 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message referred to his bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart François-Philippe Champagne in Muscat and called for rejecting politicization of the Ukrainian plane incident.
• Iran Confirms Sending Downed Ukrainian Airliner's Black Boxes To Kyiv RFE/RL 18 Jan 2020 -- Iran has confirmed it will send the black-box flight recorders recovered from a Ukrainian passenger jet that was shot down over Tehran on January 8 to Kyiv.
• Canada To Help Victims' Families With Funds, Still Expects Compensation From Iran RFE/RL 18 Jan 2020 -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will provide quick funds to the families of 57 citizens and 29 permanent residents of the country who died when a Ukrainian jetliner was shot down in Iran last week.
• Iran: Region facing dangerous situation due to US combination of arrogance, ignorance Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the region is facing a "dangerous" situation due to the US combination of arrogance and ignorance.
• Trump once again shifts justification for assassinating General Soleimani Press TV 18 Jan 2020 -- President Donald Trump has again shifted his justification for assassinating General Qassem Soleimani, claiming the prominent anti-terror commander was "saying bad things about our country."
• Trump warns Iranian supreme leader to be 'very careful with his words' Global Times 18 Jan 2020 -- US President Donald Trump fired back Friday evening at Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who earlier had mocked him as a "clown" - then in a subsequent tweet Trump said Iran's leaders "should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!"
• Designation of IRGC Commander Shahvarpour for Gross Human Rights Violations During Protests US Dept. of State 18 Jan 2020 -- Yesterday, the Department of State designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour, Khuzestan Province's Vali Asr Commander, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights against protestors during the November protests in Mahshahr, Iran.
• Xi meets with Myanmar commander-in-chief of defense services Global Times 18 Jan 2020 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing here on Saturday, saying that the development of bilateral ties depends on cooperation of the two peoples from all walks of life, as well as the military-to-military exchanges.
• Xi's visit brings China-Myanmar ties to new era Global Times 18 Jan 2020 -- China and Myanmar agreed to work together to build a community with a shared future, ushering in a new chapter of bilateral ties during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the Southeast Asian nation from Friday to Saturday.
• U.S. Senate's Taiwan Caucus congratulates Tsai on reelection CNA 18 Jan 2020 -- Members of the Taiwan Caucus in the United States Senate on Friday sent a congratulatory letter to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her reelection to a second term in the Jan. 11 presidential election.
• Two Demonstrators Killed In New Flare-Up Of Iraqi Antigovernment Protests RFE/RL 18 Jan 2020 -- At least two demonstrators were killed and 24 others hurt during clashes with security forces in central Baghdad in a new flare-up of protests against the country's political elite and widespread corruption.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Wuhan reports 4 more pneumonia cases Global Times 18 Jan 2020 -- Wuhan has reported four more viral pneumonia cases on Saturday amid the outbreak in the central Chinese city, killing two, prompting public concerns of risks of human-to-human transmission across the country.