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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• US: Attacks on American Troops in Iraq 'Will Not Be Tolerated' VOA 16 Mar 2020 -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi Prime Minister Abdel Abdul Mahdi Monday that those responsible for a deadly attack on a military base last week must be held accountable.
• U.S. Africa Command's Exercise African Lion cancelled AFRICOM 16 Mar 2020 -- After careful consideration and coordination with exercise participants and African host nation partners, U.S. Africa Command's Exercise African Lion 2020 has been cancelled.

Defense Policy / Programs

• DEFENDER-Europe 20 modified in size and scope Army News 16 Mar 2020 -- In response to the current outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and recent guidance by the Secretary of Defense, we have modified exercise DEFENDER-Europe 20 in size and scope. As of March 13, all movement of personnel and equipment from the United States to Europe has ceased. The health, safety and readiness of our military, civilians, and family members is our primary concern.
• Major Military Exercise in Africa Now Canceled VOA 16 Mar 2020 -- One of the U.S. military's largest exercises in Africa has been canceled due to the threat of the coronavirus, after already being significantly scaled down last week.
• In Thailand, US Threads Between Military Interest and Democratic Ideals VOA 16 Mar 2020 -- Thanat Apichonpongsakorn, a 34-year-old business owner, had nearly given up on Thai politics. But after he saw young politicians launch a new party, he went to the polls last year with a new attitude, not just to vote "no" as he had the previous two elections since 2011.
• Chinese military aircraft to receive new stealth coatings Global Times 16 Mar 2020 -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force recently issued a new regulation ordering future aircraft to be painted with low observable coatings and standardized markings, a move aimed at giving Chinese warplanes a combat advantage as they will less likely be detected by both the naked eye and military radar.
• Offshore patrol cutter joins Kinmen coast guard CNA 16 Mar 2020 -- A newly built latest-generation patrol cutter has recently joined the offshore Kinmen County's coast guard unit to boost the island's ability in conducting patrols to disrupt illicit maritime activities, the unit said Monday.
• Posts Open for Women in Defence Forces India PIB 16 Mar 2020 -- Women officers are commissioned into Corps of Engineers (Engrs), Corps of Signals (Sigs), Army Air Defence (AAD), Army Service Corps(ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME), Army Education Corps (AEC), Judge Advocate General (JAG) Department, Intelligence Corps (Int), Army Aviation (AA), Army Medical Corps (AMC), Army Dental Corps (ADC) and Military Nursing Service (MNS) branches of the Indian Army.

Defense Industry

• Contracts For March 16, 2020

Other Conflicts

• 16 March 2020 - Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 16 Mar 2020
• Yemeni air defense forces deter Saudi air raid in Jawf: Army spokesman Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, says the country's air defense units have managed to thwart a Saudi airstrike against strategic and residential areas in the country's northern province of al-Jawf.
• Militants in Syria's Idlib not complying with ceasefire: Russian Foreign Ministry Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- The Russian Foreign Ministry says foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants are not complying with the terms of a ceasefire reached earlier this month by Ankara and Moscow to halt an escalation of violence in Syria's embattled northwestern province of Idlib.
• Turkish-backed militants undermine Russia-Turkey joint patrols in Idlib Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- Russia and Turkey have cut short their first joint patrol in Syria's Idlib after Turkish-based militants blocked a main roadway liberated by the Syrian army in January.
• UN Population Fund sounds alarm over dire situation facing women and girls in Syria, as 10th year of war begins UN News 16 Mar 2020 -- The UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, is expressing increasing concern about the women and girls trapped in Syria's dire and escalating humanitarian crisis, especially in the north-west, where hostilities have caused mass displacement, human suffering and damage to civilian facilities.
• Egyptian police kill 6 'terrorist elements' in North Sinai Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- Egyptian police have shot dead six suspected members of a terror outfit affiliated to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the restive North Sinai region.
• Sweden plans to send troops, helicopters to Mali Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- The Swedish government says it is planning to send troops and helicopters to Mali to join a French-led mission purportedly fighting militants in the West African country.
• Central African Republic: UN peacekeeper killed; Mission deplores 'heinous act' UN News 16 Mar 2020 -- A United Nations peacekeeper from Burundi was killed on Sunday while attempting to stop an armed militant attack in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to a statement released by the UN Mission in the country, MINUSCA.
• Myanmar Rakhine Flare-up Kills 21 Civilians, Displaces 1,000 in Chin State Radio Free Asia 16 Mar 2020 -- Intense clashes and airstrikes by government forces in western Myanmar's Chin state over the weekend killed 21 civilians, injured more than two dozen others, and prompted more than 1,000 villagers to flee their homes, local lawmakers said Monday.
• EU Slams Russia For Militarization, Human Rights In Crimea, Six Years After Referendum RFE/RL 16 Mar 2020 -- The European Union has slammed Russia for its increasing militarization of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and human rights transgressions six years after its "illegal" annexation.

News Reports

• Trump Says He May Pardon Former National-Security Adviser Flynn RFE/RL 16 Mar 2020 -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he may pardon his former national-security adviser Michael Flynn, who was among the first individuals swept up in the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016.
• More Glimpses Of How Russian Intelligence Utilized Hackers Revealed In U.S. Trial RFE/RL 16 Mar 2020 -- One month after he was indicted in the United States for hacking-related cybercrimes, a Russian man named Nikita Kislitsin sat in a room at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow where FBI agents notified him of the charges.
• Russia Constitutional Court approves amendments enabling Putin to seek new term Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- Russia's Constitutional Court has approved the proposed amendments to the country's constitution, including the one that would allow Vladimir Putin to run again for president in 2024.
• Russia Without Putin Is A Failed State, State Media Boss Says RFE/RL 16 Mar 2020 -- Russian state media boss Dmitry Kiselyov said his country would be a failed state without President Vladimir Putin as he sought to justify constitutional changes that would allow the former KGB colonel to hang on to power until 2036.
• Russian Scholars, Legal Experts Sign Up Against 'Constitutional Coup' RFE/RL 16 Mar 2020 -- Hundreds of scholars, journalists, and legal experts in Russia have warned in an open letter that the country faces a "deep constitutional crisis and an illegal, unconstitutional coup" as the Constitutional Court prepares to rule on a raft of amendments that could, among other things, allow President Vladimir Putin to run for two additional terms.
• Russia Announces $4 Billion Fund To Help Economy Cope With Oil Plunge, Virus Impact RFE/RL 16 Mar 2020 -- Russia, hit by falling oil prices and the coronavirus outbreak, has announced the formation of a $4 billion fund as part of a package of measures to support the economy.
• Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on March 16, 2020 PRC MofA 16 Mar 2020
• China's economy hit broadly by coronavirus, but economists are upbeat People's Daily 16 Mar 2020 -- China's retail sales, fixed-asset investment and other broader economic indicators declined sharply in the first two months of 2020, impacted by the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus which has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.
• First international standard for BDS shipborne receiver initially released PLA Daily 16 Mar 2020 -- The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) officially released the first international standard for testing ship-borne receiver equipment of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), known as IEC 61108-5:2020, on March 11, 2020.
• Maiden flight of China's new modified launch vehicle failed due to unknown malfunction Global Times 16 Mar 2020 -- China's launch of its modified version of Long March-7 failed on Monday, probe into the cause of such failure will be conducted.
• Saudi Arabia detains 298 officials in new corruption cases amid royal power struggle Press TV 16 Mar 2020 -- Saudi Arabia has detained 298 public officials in a new alleged anti-corruption push amid reports that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seeking to get rid of potential rivals to the Saudi throne.