Resources - News

This section includes the latest news relating to U.S. security policy around the world. Updated daily, the news provided in this searchable database highlights the most relevant security developments from around the world. 

Date Range
***To filter by region, select a region from the View Site by Region menu at the top of the page

Why Is The US Africa Military Command Located In Germany?

Monday, April 27, 2015
U.S. AFRICOM (Africa Command) reported that it had carried out 679 activities (missions, programs, and exercises) in 2014. This includes training, advising, intelligence gathering (via UAV, manned aircraft or people on the ground), logistical or technical assistance etc.English
Country(s): 
Africa Regional
Author(s): 
AFK Insider Staff
Publisher / Source: 
AFK Insider
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

Why The U.S. Needs The Trans-Caspian Pipeline

Monday, April 27, 2015
The U.S. has expressed full support for the EU in the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline construction project, US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz told reporters. The matter rests in laying a 300-kilometer pipeline through the Caspian Sea from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan. In this case, Baku could serve as one of the key re-exporters of the Caspian gas while Turkmenistan could receive the reliable and solvent European marketEnglish
Country(s): 
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Huseyn Hasanov
Publisher / Source: 
Eurasia Review
Tag(s): 
Security

Where the Islamic State Gets Its Weapons

Monday, April 27, 2015
The Islamic State, like many irregular forces before it, has opened spigots from varied and far-ranging sources of supply, in this case on a grand scale. The group’s diversions include ammunition that Iran most likely provided to Iraqi or Syrian security forces; weapons formerly used in wars in Libya, East Africa and the Balkans; and equipment intended for the Syrian opposition fighting President Bashar al-Assad but that had been sold, traded or captured from unreliable rebels.
Country(s): 
Iraq
Syria
Author(s): 
C. J. Chivers
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times Magazine
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

Peru May Resume Shooting Down Suspected Coke-Smuggling Planes

Monday, April 27, 2015
An upsurge in illicit air shipments of cocaine to Bolivia has prompted neighboring Peru to consider resuming a policy of shooting down small aircraft suspected of ferrying the drug, authorities say.That policy resulted in the mistaken 2001 shoot-down of a small aircraft, killing an American missionary and her daughter.English
Country(s): 
Peru
Bolivia
Author(s): 
Chris Kraul
Publisher / Source: 
Los Angeles Times
Tag(s): 
Counternarcotics

Burundi Police Tear-Gas anti-Pierre Nkurunziza Protesters

Monday, April 27, 2015
Police in Burundi have fired tear gas at activists protesting against President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office. The security forces have also stopped private radio stations from doing live broadcasts about the demonstrations.English
Country(s): 
Burundi
Publisher / Source: 
BBC News
Tag(s): 
Foreign Policy

Military Contractors Belie Myth of US Leaving Afghanistan and Iraq

Monday, April 27, 2015
According to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, private military contractors were used "without any supervision." Although the Department of Defense has taken steps to better regulate private military contractors, oversight is still lacking. The Library of Congress reported in 2013 that "lack of data makes it difficult to determine to what extent the billions of dollars spent [on contractors] ... have contributed to achieving the mission."English
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Robert Weiner
Publisher / Source: 
Truthout
Tag(s): 
Military

Kenya Tightens Security on Fears of New Terror Attacks, as Opposition Demands Early Election over Corruption

Monday, April 27, 2015
Kenya police tightened security in the capital, Nairobi, on intelligence that suspected al-Shabaab militants are planning attacks on targets in the city including parliament, a spokesman for the legislature said. The action comes as the country’s main opposition party called for elections scheduled for 2017 to be brought forward because of deteriorating security and the government’s failure to address corruption.English
Country(s): 
Kenya
Author(s): 
David Malingha Doya
Publisher / Source: 
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
Wire Service: 
Bloomberg
Tag(s): 
Security
Terrorism

Former Guantánamo Detainees Protest For Day 3 In Uruguay

Monday, April 27, 2015
Four former Guantánamo Bay prisoners protested for a third day Sunday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay, saying Washington should provide them with housing and financial support because of their prolonged incarceration.English
Country(s): 
Uruguay
Publisher / Source: 
The Miami Herald
Wire Service: 
AFP, Associated Press
Tag(s): 
Terrorism

Obama Kept Looser Rules for Drones in Pakistan

Monday, April 27, 2015
President Barack Obama tightened rules for the U.S. drone program in 2013, but he secretly approved a waiver giving the Central Intelligence Agency more flexibility in Pakistan than anywhere else to strike suspected militants, according to current and former U.S. officials. Last week, the U.S. officials disclosed that two Western hostages, U.S. and Italian aid workers Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, were killed on Jan. 15 by a U.S. drone strike aimed at al Qaeda militants in Pakistan. If the exemption had not been in place for Pakistan, the CIA might have been required to gather more intelligence before that strike.English
Country(s): 
Pakistan
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Adam Entous
Publisher / Source: 
The Wall Street Journal
Tag(s): 
Drones

Saudi-Led Air Campaign Resumes in Yemeni Capital

Monday, April 27, 2015
Warplanes of the Saudi-led military coalition bombed targets in the Yemeni capital on Sunday for the first time since Saudi officials said they were shifting the focus of their campaign against a Yemeni rebel group toward political negotiations and humanitarian relief.
Country(s): 
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Author(s): 
Saeed al-Batati
Kareem Fahim
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Conflict

Israel Says Airstrike on Syrian Border Targeted Militants

Monday, April 27, 2015
Israel's military said Sunday it launched an airstrike on its border with Syria after spotting militants carrying a bomb in the Israeli-held Golan Heights.
Country(s): 
Israel
Author(s): 
Ian Deitch
Publisher / Source: 
Yahoo News
Wire Service: 
The Associated Press
Tag(s): 
Conflict

Saudi-led Coalition Launches Air Strikes Throughout Yemen: Residents

Friday, April 24, 2015
Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition pounded Houthi militiamen and military bases with at least 20 air strikes throughout Yemen on Thursday, residents said, despite Riyadh saying it was winding down its campaign.
Country(s): 
Yemen
Author(s): 
Mohammed Ghobari
Mohammed Mukhashaf
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Conflict

Mexico's Government Is Brushing Off Report of Another State Massacre of Unarmed Civilians

Friday, April 24, 2015
Word emerged this week that Mexican government forces were likely behind a mass killing of civilians in the state of Michoacán, the third extrajudicial massacre by state forces known in Mexico in less than a year. English
Country(s): 
Mexico
Author(s): 
Andrea Noel
Publisher / Source: 
Vice News
Tag(s): 
Human Rights

US, Brazilian Navy Officials Discuss Upcoming Engagements, Cooperation

Friday, April 24, 2015
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (USNAVSO)/U.S. 4th Fleet delegates met with members of the Brazilian Navy to discuss upcoming interactions and cooperation efforts between their navies during the U.S. Navy and Brazilian Navy Operational Naval Committee (ONC) conference, March 30 - April 1.
Country(s): 
Brazil
Author(s): 
Adam Henderson
Publisher / Source: 
U.S. Southern Command
Tag(s): 
Military Cooperation

Law Will Let Some Foreign Agents Carry Weapons in Mexico

Friday, April 24, 2015
Mexico's congress approved on Thursday a reform that lets some foreign agents carry arms inside the country, a significant change in a nation that has historically said the practice would violate its sovereignty. English
Country(s): 
Mexico
Publisher / Source: 
The News Tribune
Wire Service: 
AP
Tag(s): 
Arms Control
Foreign Policy

No Surge in Kids Crossing U.S.-Mexico Border This Summer, Immigration Official Predicts

Friday, April 24, 2015
There won't be nearly as many immigrant children who cross the border on their own this summer as there were last year, top officials say.
Country(s): 
Mexico
Publisher / Source: 
Fox News Latino
Wire Service: 
The Associated Press
Tag(s): 
Border Control

Brazil’s Petrobras Reports Nearly $17 Billion in Asset and Corruption Charges

Friday, April 24, 2015
Brazil’s state oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA put a price tag on a corruption scandal that has thrown the country into political and economic turmoil, writing off $17 billion due to losses from graft and overvalued assets.
Country(s): 
Brazil
Author(s): 
Paul Kiernan
Publisher / Source: 
The Wall Street Journal
Tag(s): 
Corruption

As Gang Violence Surges, El Salvador Fears Bloody War

Friday, April 24, 2015
Clad in bullet-proof vests and balaclavas, elite squads of soldiers and police are preparing to wage a guerrilla-style war on El Salvador’s gangs, trying to fight a surge in violence that experts warn may only intensify.English
Country(s): 
El Salvador
Publisher / Source: 
Daily Times
Wire Service: 
AFP
Tag(s): 
Violence
Criminal Organizations
Policing

Killing of Americans Deepens Debate Over Use of Drone Strikes

Friday, April 24, 2015
The Obama administration said Thursday that two American Qaeda operatives killed in Pakistan in January had not been “specifically targeted,” and officials added that the Central Intelligence Agency had no idea the two men were hiding in compounds under surveillance by armed drones when orders were given to carry out the strikes.English
Country(s): 
Pakistan
Central Asia Regional
Author(s): 
Mark Mazetti
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Drones
Conflict
Terrorism

Mujica to Help out in Colombian Peace Talks

Friday, April 24, 2015
Former Uruguayan president Jose Mujica offered to help out as a mediator in the Colombia peace talks in Havana on Thursday. Mujica said he will travel soon to Cuba to assist in the talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC). Specifically, Mujica said he wanted to talk to the FARC command.
Country(s): 
Colombia
Tag(s): 
Peace Negotiations

Pages