Northern Command News | NORTHCOM Or USNORTHCOM Alerts North America

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May 24, 2023 - A Chinese hacker group named "Volt Typhoon" injected malware code into telecommunications infrastructure in Guam and other locations within the United States. Read more

May 17th, 2023 - The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked a Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Read more

May 14th, 2023 - The Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted six Russian aircraft operating in and near the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on May 11, 2023. Read more

April 17, 2023 - Two residents of New York have been arrested for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Chinatown, and are expected to appear before the Brooklyn federal court on Monday. Read more

April 13th, 2023 - The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has notified the Senate of a threat they consider to be credible involving the Capitol. Read more

April 2nd, 2023 - A statement by the Iranian Navy said that it warned a U.S. Navy Lockheed EP-3E land-based Multi-Intelligence reconnaissance aircraft away from its airspace. Read more

April 2nd, 2023 - A newly declassified report on Havana Syndrome by the director of national intelligence has been released that contradicts another recent report saying that it was very unlikely that the illness was caused by an energy weapon. Read more

March 18, 2023 - MINNESOTA, USA - 400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from a nuclear power plant at the Xcel Energy plant in Monticello, Minnesota last fall, but was not disclosed to the public because the plant said that it posed no health or safety risk to the public. Read more

March 15, 2023 - The Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Russia views the U.S. drone flight in the Black Sea as a "real provocation" and said that it was flying with its "transponders off" and "entered into the zone of the special military operation" which is the term Russia uses for its war in Ukraine. Read more

March 08, 2023 - A U.S. intelligence report on Wednesday reiterated earlier warnings, as well as a warning in the 2023 Annual Threat Assessment that North Korea is expected to carry out its seventh nuclear test. South Korea has said that it could be carried out at any time. Read more

March 7, 2023 - The Governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico Américo Villarreal was cited by Reuters as saying two of the four Americans that were kidnapped in Mexico while on their way to receive cheap cosmetic surgery are dead, and two are still alive, but also said that one is injured. Read more

March 7, 2023 - The four American victims that were kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico have been identified, with further details on the incident, along with a video of the kidnapping in progress. Read more

March 6, 2023 - Four United States citizens were kidnapped in Matamoros city, Mexico on Friday shortly after arriving in Mexico, as they were traveling in a White minivan with license plates from North Carolina. Read more

March 6, 2023 - NEW YORK - A "hazmat incident" has occurred in Midtown Manhattan, New York on the corner of East 56th Street and Sutton. Read more

February 26, 2023 - Kwon Jeong-geun, Director-General for US Affairs and North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement posted by North Korean state-run news agency KCNA that said if the US continued its "hostile and provocative practices" against North Korea, it could be regarded as a "declaration of war" against the country. Read more

February 26, 2023 - A Chinese J-11 fighter jet shadowed a U.S. P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft from a few hundred feet away and issued a warning to stop approaching or "pay full responsibility" while it was in international airspace. Read more

February 25, 2023 - MEXICO/US - Three different fires broke out on Thursday located at different Mexican state-owned facilities run by Pemex, one of the facilities located in the United States. Cause: "Undetermined". Read more

February 24, 2023 - Chinese state-affiliated media Global Times has responded to reports that the United States is expanding their troop presence in Taiwan by saying that it is "illegal" for the soldiers to go to Taiwan, and that the Chinese mainland "won't take any responsibility for their safety" and that they will be "wiped out" together with the "resisting Taiwan troops" if China takes "military action". Read more

February 24, 2023 - North Korea launched "four strategic" Arrow-2 type cruise missiles from the area of Kimchaek City, North Hamgyong Province to the East Sea of Korea, according to North Korean state news agency KCNA. Read more

February 24, 2023 - Though only 30 U.S. Soldiers were located in Taiwan one year ago, the United States is now sending 100 to 200 more soldiers to the island for training (potentially more than quadrupling the number) amidst increasing tensions with China. Read more

February 23, 2023 - A fire broke out "involving uranium" on Wednesday morning at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Read more

February 22, 2023 - Russia suspends the New START nuclear treaty, which is the only nuclear treaty in effect between the US and #Russia, saying that the U.S. is "weakening" the security of the Russian Federation. Read more

February 20, 2023 - A large explosion has been reported in Bedford, Ohio with at least 12 burn victims being reported. Authorities were called on the scene at a Bedford metal factory on Monday at the 22500 block on Alexander Road around 2:30 pm. Read more

February 15, 2023 - The U.S. military had been tracking the first balloon that it shot down for about a week as it left China on a heading toward Guam and Hawaii, before making a sharp turn north towards Alaska. Read more

February 13, 2023 - Statement by the Department of Defense on the "successful" shoot down of an "airborne object" flying at about 20,000 feet in altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the state of Michigan. Read more

February 13, 2023 - WASHINGTON - The latest "object" that was shot down on Sunday over Lake Huron, which is located close to the Canadian border was "octagonal shape" with "no discernable payload". Read more

February 13, 2023 - The Michigan state representative Jack Bergman released a statement saying that he has been in contact with the Department of Defense, and that the U.S. military has "decommissioned" another "object" over Lake Huron. Read more

February 12, 2023 - NORAD And NORTHCOM Statement: "With the cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) implemented a temporary flight restriction airspace in central Montana on Feb. 11, 2023, to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations. Read more

February 12, 2023 - NORAD: “NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation.” Read more

February 12, 2023 - Representative Matt Rosendale statement: "Airspace is reopened – I will remain in contact with defense officials and share more information as it becomes available. Montanans deserve answers". Read more

February 12, 2023 - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a NOTAM over Havre, Montana, near the Canadian border, and declared the region “National Defense Airspace”. Read more

February 12, 2023 - NORAD shoots down an unidentified object violating Canadian airspace over the Yukon with an F-22. Read more

February 12, 2023 - NORAD Statement on Alaskan high-altitude airborne object Shootdown: "February 11, 2023 U.S. Northern Command Update on Recovery Operations At the direction of the President of the United States, fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Norther Command successfully took down a high altitude airborne object off the northern coast of Alaska. Read more

February 12, 2023 - NORAD is monitoring "what appear to be" one or two objects that "appear to be spy balloons" over Canada according to a report by the Canadian Global Television Network. Read more

February 11, 2023 - Department of Defense Press Secretary brigadier general Pat Ryder releases a statement regarding the object shot down over Alaska. Read more

February 11, 2023 - The U.S. just shot down an object that was flying around Alaska around one hour ago, according to John Kirby. Read more

February 11, 2023 - Brazil has declined the two Iranian warships from docking at Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula sa Silva prepared to visit Washington for a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Read more

February 09, 2023 - Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder says that the Pentagon is aware of four previous balloons having gone over the United States, and that they are a part of a "larger Chinese surveillance balloon program". Read more

February 07, 2023 - The Northern Command level (North America), which was raised due to heightened military readiness upon the shoot-down of the Chinese surveillance balloon, has been changed from 2 to 3. Read more

February 05, 2023 - After the United States Air Force carried out the operation to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon, efforts are underway to study and scrutinize both the balloon and its payload. Read more

February 05, 2023 - Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding the "US claim" that it shot down a Chinese unmanned airship. Read more

February 04, 2023 - DoD: "An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.The balloon fell approximately six miles off the coast in about 47 feet of water. No one was hurt". Read more

February 04, 2023 - Department of Defense: A U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully brought down the Chinese high altitude surveillance balloon over the water off the coast of South Carolina in U.S. airspace. Read more

February 04, 2023 - CIA Director William Burns said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered China's military to "be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion" of the island of Taiwan. Read more

February 04, 2023 - Statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry regarding the balloon spotted above mainland United States. Read more

February 04, 2023 - A specialist in surveillance balloons says that balloons are difficult to shoot down and that the one over the United States flying over U.S. military sites looks to have been equipped with an advanced AI guidance system. Read more

February 04, 2023 - EDITS (1) An explosion has been reported over Billings, Montana. The city of Billings, Montana says PD fire and airport have not been called to any incidents". Read more

February 04, 2023 - The Chinese "spy balloon" has altered its flight path and is now moving east at about 60,000 feet over the "central" United States, which demonstrates its ability to maneuver, according to a statement by the U.S. military Friday. Read more

February 03, 2023 - Canadian Ministry of Defense: "A high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected and its movements are being actively tracked by NORAD. Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident". Read more

February 03, 2023 - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE transcript of a background briefing regarding the high-altitude surveillance balloon spotted hovering over mainland United States, having come from Alaska, through Canada and into the northern United States from Canada. Read more

February 03, 2023 - NORAD: "NORAD and U.S. Northern Command statement on the high-altitude surveillance balloon. The United States government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. Read more

February 03, 2023 - UPDATED (1) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now". Read more

February 02, 2023 - The U.S. government is currently tracking a balloon that has been in northern U.S. airspace for a few days now, and U.S. officials say they are confident it is a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon. Read more

February 01, 2023 - The United States is preparing a $2.2 billion package worth of military aid to Ukraine, and is expected to contain longer-range rockets than the United States has previously been willing to give to Ukraine, as well as other weapons and ammunition. Read more

January 29, 2023 - Israel reported to be behind the attack on the Iranian weapons factory. The Pentagon has stated that no U.S. military forces were involved in strikes, despite claims by Saudi media that the United States Air Force was involved. Read more

January 28, 2023 - An Admiral serving as the Chair of the NATO Military Committee says that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is ready for a direct confrontation with Russia. Read more

January 28, 2023 - General Mike Minihan, who heads the United States Air Force's Air Mobility Command has warned that he believes the United States will be at war with China in 2025. Read more

January 27, 2023 - U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION- SAN DIEGO, – "San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents seized nearly 300 pounds of narcotics with an estimated street value of $4 million from three vehicle stops earlier this week. Read more

January 27, 2023 - DOD: "Today marks the conclusion of exercise Juniper Oak 23.2. This exercise was the largest U.S-Israel partnered exercise in history, said Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Sabrina Singh, who held a news conference today. Read more

January 27, 2023 - U.S. and Albanian defense leaders met today at the Pentagon to make a strong bilateral alliance even stronger. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - "Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with Defense Minister Niko Peleshi met as the two nations marked the 30th year of their nations' defense relationship. Read more

January 27, 2023 - Russian Foreign Minister has put out a warning and sent a note to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that any shipments that contain military equipment will become a legitimate target for Russian Aerospace Forces. Read more

January 27, 2023 - Russia’s Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev released a statement after the United States and Germany announced sending tanks to Ukraine that called the decision an "extremely dangerous decision" that "takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation". Read more

January 27, 2023 - The delivery of Western-made uranium shells to Ukraine will be regarded by Russia as "the use of dirty nuclear bombs" and said that the depleted uranium shells used for the Leopard 2 tanks lead to "contamination of the area" and outbreaks of cancer. Read more

January 27, 2023 - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the procurement of Abrams tanks for Ukraine via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). Read more

January 27, 2023 - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman, and former president Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia may be nationalizing the property of people who are registered in the United States, European Union, and other "unfriendly" jurisdictions in the midst of new "anti-Russian" sanctions. Read more

January 27, 2023 - The aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) carrier strike group joined the joint US/Israel Juniper Oak drills in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea as the exercise wrapped up. Read more

January 27, 2023 - The U.S. Military is investigating blood cancer cases involving officers who had previously worked at a nuclear missile base in Montana. The Air Force says that they are "aware of concerns". Read more

January 26, 2023 - US Customs And Border Protection: "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and specialists in Cincinnati posted record-breaking numbers of enforcement actions during Fiscal Year 2022. Read more

January 26, 2023 - US Army: "ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Almost 400 New York Army National Guard Soldiers will soon leave for a deployment to Kuwait. Read more

January 26, 2023 - The Department of the Army announced the preparation of Army units for potential deployment to backfill units currently in Europe. This potential deployment would not constitute a change to current force posture levels. Read more

January 26, 2023 - CENTRAL COMMAND: U.S. Central Command and the Israel Defense Forces carry out live-fire exercise Juniper Oak 23.2 in Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Read more

January 25, 2023 - Former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that The United States is attempting to destroy Russia and that a new global military alliance may be emerging. Read more

January 25, 2023 - The United States says that they will be making an announcement to send around 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as soon as Wednesday, but it could take a few months to deliver the tanks. Read more

January 24, 2023 - A new Joint Resolution has been introduced by United States Representative Dan Crenshaw that would allow for the use of military force against Mexican drug cartels in order to fight against drug trafficking into the United States. Read more

January 23, 2023 - The Russian Bologoye strategic missile division in Tver dispatched the Yars mobile surface-to-surface nuclear missile systems to "combat patrol missions," according to the Russian MOD, which says that it is scheduled training. Read more

January 23, 2023 - U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said that he expects broad support in the United States to for the Netherlands to transfer allied F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, in an interview with Lithuanian news agency Delfi. Read more

January 23, 2023 - The White House has declared the Russian private paramilitary organization PMC Wagner group as "transnational criminal organization". Read more

January 23, 2023 - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the statements about supplying Ukraine with any weapons, including those that are able to hit Crimea will "inevitably" lead to "an escalation". Read more

January 23, 2023 - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put out a statement on Thursday that their preliminary review of the incident on January 10th found that contract personnel had "unintentionally deleted files" which disrupted a key computer system and led to planes across the nation to become grounded. Read more

January 23, 2023 - State Department: The United States is warning China against material and security assistance to Russia in Moscow’s war on Ukraine, laying out Washington’s red line ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing early next month. Read more

January 23, 2023 - Israel's state-owned IAI Aerospace Industries has announced its new "Point Blank" electro-optically guided missile, capable of being stored in a soldier's backpack. It can take off and land back into the operator's hand. Read more

January 23, 2023 - The FBI Director Christopher Wray stated Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" regarding the artificial intelligence program run by the Chinese government. Read more

January 21, 2023 - The White House has declared the Russian private paramilitary organization PMC Wagner group as "transnational criminal organization". Read more

January 20, 2023 - Pentagon's spokeswoman Sabrina Singh just said if Ukraine decides to carry out a military operation in Crimea, the United States would "be with Ukraine for as long as it takes". Read more

January 19, 2023 - While speaking of Russia's war in Ukraine, Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the "defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war". Read more

January 19, 2023 - U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan: "If the Ukrainian military was having great success in the spring, and was chopping up the Russian military and was threatening to take back Crimea, then I think that the Russian military and leadership would use a nuclear weapon". Read more

January 19, 2023 - A report released by the New York Times claims that "several anonymous US officials" spoke to the paper and told them that Washington is warming up to the idea of aiding Ukraine in strikes on Ukraine. Read more

January 19, 2023 - US Treasury commences a "debt issuance suspension period" to avoid a debt default after the government hit its borrowing limit. Congress is unable to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling. Treasury: suspension on borrowing will likely only help for less than six months. Read more

January 19, 2023 - Germany says that they will be allowing the export of its tanks to Ukraine on the condition that the United States also sends tanks to the country. If Germany decides to do so, other NATO-allied countries say they will follow suit. Read more

January 18, 2023 - Cloudflare Wins CISA Contract for Registry and Authoritative Domain Name System (DNS) Services. CISA is an operational component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Read more

January 16, 2023 - The Chinese Navy held "confrontational drills" in the South China Sea, according to state media, including Global Times, which stated that the drills were carried out "when a US carrier strike group had entered the region". Read more

January 16, 2023 - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has put out a statement calling on the United States and Japan to "Abandon" their "Cold War" mentality and "ideological bias" against China. Read more

January 14, 2023 - China is reportedly pressuring Argentina to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to build a naval base in the Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province within the country, allowing them a military base with close access to Antarctica. Read more

January 14, 2023 - The United States has begun sending a "large number" of tanks and other military vehicles to the port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands. on Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters, which has alarmed Russia. Read more

January 14, 2023 - The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 required the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to submit an annual report to Congress on unidentified aerial phenomena. Read more

January 11, 2023 - Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the United States following an overnight outage to the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that provides safety information to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted. Read more

January 11, 2023 - *Updates (2)* - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released an alert saying that it's working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System after it failed and caused an outage. Read more

January 09, 2023 - A drone was shot down over the Ain al-Asad Air Base that hosts U.S. Forces, according to Iraqi military sources on Sunday, after which the US-led military coalition said it had carried out "an operational exercise", contradicting reports by the Iraqi military that it may have been hostile. Read more

January 08, 2023 - The Japanese trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura is calling for the rebuilding of a "world order" in order to counter the rise of "authoritarian regimes". Read more

January 07, 2023 - After Israeli Prime Minister said that efforts were underway to revive the JCPOA nuclear deal, the Biden Administration put out a statement saying that claims that it was engaged in talks were "false". Read more

January 07, 2023 - A Russian hacker group called Cold River targeted three different nuclear research labs in the United States between the months of August and September of 2022. Read more

January 07, 2023 - Former Russian President Medvedev posted a message on the Twitter account to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that Russia should send its Zircon hypersonic missiles close to the Potomac River, which flows through Washington D.C. Read more

January 06, 2023 - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says that he believes that a coming recession is the most likely outcome of the recent spate of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation. Read more

January 06, 2023 - The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon transited the Taiwan Strait on January 5th, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which it says was a 'routine' transit. Read more

January 06, 2023 - Alan Greenspan warned that if China invades Taiwan it could trigger an economic "Black Swan" event that could affect economies worldwide. The number of Chinese aircraft spotted around the island of Taiwan has nearly doubled each consecutive year since 2020. Read more

January 05, 2023 - China is running secret overseas police stations around the world, including unauthorized stations in the US, in order to surveil Chinese nationals in countries across the globe. Read more

January 05, 2023 - The British MI5 Security Service addressed threats to the UK posed by Iran, Russia, and China and is expected to declare the Iranian IRGC a terrorist organization in the coming weeks. Read more

January 05, 2023 - South Korea has begun considering sharing real-time radar information along with missile tracking data with Japan. The United States, South Korea and Japan have begun "technical discussions" which involve the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Read more

January 04, 2023 - CENTCOM: "Two rockets targeted coalition forces at Mission Support Site Conoco, northeast Syria, today at approximately 9am local time in Syria (1 am Eastern Standard Time). Read more

January 03, 2023 - Israel carried out a missile strike on the Damascus International Airport, killing four people while boosting cooperation with the US, and preparing for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Read more

December 31, 2022 - The Liaoning Chinese aircraft carrier approached the U.S. territory of Guam while carrying out drills in the West Pacific from December 17th to December 27th. Read more

December 31, 2022 - USINDOPACOM: "We are aware of the ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners. Read more

December 30, 2022 - USINDOPACOM: "Navy J-11 fighter pilot performed an unsafe maneuver during and intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, which was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace." Read more

December 28, 2022 - The Russian Foreign Ministry reportedly put out a statement to Russian State news agency TASS that Moscow hopes that Washington will show enough prudence and is wise enough to prevent the situation from escalating to the point of a direct confrontation. Read more

December 28, 2022 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has put out a warning to the United States against carrying out a decapitation strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Read more

December 26, 2022 - The U.S. government is aware of information that unknown individuals are possibly plotting to attack Americans at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad sometime during the holidays. Read more

December 14, 2022 - The US is currently deciding on whether to send a Patriot long-range missile system to Ukraine, after receiving a request from Ukraine for more powerful and longer-range missile systems. Read more

December 14, 2022 - Poland To Deploy German Patriot Missile Systems On Border With Ukraine - Polish President Andrzej Duda announced on Monday that Poland will be working with Germany to deploy German Patriot missile systems on its border with Ukraine in the coming days. Read more

December 14, 2022 - Ukraine has requested cluster bombs from the United States. Both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions in the war, mostly in populated areas. Read more

December 13, 2022 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has threatened Greece with a missile strike on Athens. Both countries are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance. Read more

December 12, 2022 - Belarusian army says that they have deployed tactical battalion groups on the borders between Belarus and the countries where NATO had deployed forces. Skies above Belarus Empty. Read more

December 12, 2022 - Shots were fired, and explosions were heard on the border between Serbia and Kosovo after a stun grenade was thrown. Serbia has asked NATO to deploy the Serbian army and police force. Read more

December 09, 2022 - Russian President Vladimir Putin has put out a statement saying that any country that dares attack Russia with nuclear weapons will be wiped from the face of the earth, considers adding Russia to nuclear first strike strategy. Read more

December 09, 2022 - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the $858 billion defense bill which effectively removes the vaccine mandate for U.S. military personnel. Read more

December 05, 2022 - RAYTHEON - The United States is currently working with countries in the Middle East to move some of the U.S. air defense systems to Ukraine. Read more

December 03, 2022 - China's semiconductor exports are on the decline amidst the United States moving microchip manufacturing in-house, possibly making an invasion of Taiwan by China more appealing. Read more

December 01, 2022 - Top officials within the European Union are reportedly accusing the United States of making a fortune from the war in Ukraine, while EU countries suffer from the consequences of the ongoing war. Read more

November 19, 2022 - November 30, 2022 - Five vehicles that were rented by U.S. President Joe Biden's Secret Service detail went up in flames while in a parking lot on Monday a day after the President went on vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. Read more

November 19, 2022 - November 19, 2022 - Nassau, The Bahamas - Thursday 17 November 2022 - On 12 November 2022, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (“the Commission”), in the exercise of its powers as regulator acting under the authority of an Order made by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, took the action of directing the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. (“FDM”) to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping. Read more

November 19, 2022 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the latest ICBM test, vowed that if enemies continue to pose threats, the North Korean government will react with nukes. Read more

November 18, 2022 - Event: U.S. Consulate General Erbil is monitoring credible open-source reports of potential Turkish military action in northern Syria and northern Iraq in the coming days. The U.S. government continues to strongly advise U.S. citizens to avoid these areas. Read more

November 16, 2022 - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the missile strike in Poland only proves that the West is "approaching a world war," and that the West wants to "wage war on Russia by all means against Russia", and that talking about Russian missiles falling into Poland is a "provocation" with the intent on escalating the conflict. Read more

November 16, 2022 - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that although the missile that landed in Poland and killed two people was "likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile" that it was "not Ukraine's fault". Read more

November 16, 2022 - Reuters reported that U.S. President Joe Biden told the G7 and NATO partners that "a missile blast in Poland was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile", according to a NATO source who reportedly spoke to Reuters. Read more

November 16, 2022 - Article 5 is not automatic, it needs to be agreed upon. It is unlikely alliance members will agree on article 5 if it was accidental, which thus far it looks to be. If it is found that it was intentional, however, the likelihood of article 5 will increase tremendously. Read more

November 16, 2022 - *Ongoing Report* POLAND - The Associated Press reported that a Russian-made missile crossed into the eastern part of Poland on Wednesday, striking a grain facility near the Ukrainian border on the Polish side and killing two people. Poland is a member of the NATO alliance. Investigations have not yet concluded who manufactured the missile. Read more

November 14, 2022 - 11 countries have been placed on the travel advisory page in the last 30 days, including Trinidad and Tobago, Tonga, Ecuador, Moldova, Nigeria, China, Taiwan, Samoa, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Read more

November 11, 2022 - US AFRICA COMMAND: "Federal Government of Somalia combats terrorists with support from U.S. forces: At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike against the al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking the Somali forces." Read more

November 11, 2022 - Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Tuesday that China will be increasing the training of its military and preparation for war as the nation's security is increasingly unstable and uncertain. Read more

November 11, 2022 - The commander of the U.S. Strategic Command has said that the war in Ukraine is just a warm up and that the United States must be prepared for much more, around the corner, because the big one is coming. Read more

November 09, 2022 - Syria/Iraq - Airstrikes have been reported on the border between Syria and Iraq. Iranian-backed militia has reportedly blamed the United States for the attacks, but U.S. officials rejected the claims, saying that it wasn't them, but has confirmed that airstrikes were carried out. Read more

November 08, 2022 - Russia has been lamenting the sale of Alaska to the United States 155 years ago. Russian State Duma said that Russia could reclaim Alaska. Read more

November 07, 2022 - The United States is able to respond quickly to a North Korean nuclear test if necessary, a spokesperson for the Pentagon said on Friday. Read more

November 07, 2022 - The United States and South Korea have finished conducting large-scale bilateral air exercises called "Vigilant Storm" that was held from October 31st, 2022 to November 4th, 2022. Read more

November 06, 2022 - DoD authorizes the Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $600 million to Ukraine. This authorization is the Biden Administration’s twenty-first drawdown since August 2021. Read more

November 06, 2022 - The US military carried out onsite weapons inspections in Ukraine in order to make sure that weapons provided to Ukraine by the United States are not being diverted. Finnish news is reporting the weapons are ending up in the hands of criminals in European countries. Read more

November 03, 2022 - The FBI has put out a warning of a "broad threat" to synagogues in the state of New Jersey. Read more

November 03, 2022 - North Korea launched at least four more ballistic missiles into the sea today, after launching at least 26 ballistic missiles including one ICBM the day before that triggered Japan's J-alert system and stopped trains from running in northern Japan. Read more

November 01, 2022 - Saudi Arabia has reportedly shared intelligence with the United States and warned of an impending imminent Iranian attack targeting both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, including Erbil, Iraq where US forces are stationed. Read more

November 01, 2022 - North Korea on Monday called on the United States and South Korea to stop carrying out joint military exercises, calling the drills a provocation that might cause "more powerful follow-up measures" from the North in response. Read more

October 30, 2022 - The Pentagon said that although Russia is an "acute threat", China "is the only competitor out there with both the intent to reshape the international order, and increasingly the power to do so". Read more

October 29, 2022 - *UPDATES* The United States said during a closed meeting with NATO that it will be accelerating the deployment of an upgraded version of the B61-12 air-dropped thermonuclear "gravity bomb" to European bases in December, which is a few months earlier than was originally planned. Read more

October 28, 2022 - The International Space Station was forced to ignite a thruster in order to move the space station away from debris created from a Russian anti-missile test in 2021. Read more

October 28, 2022 - US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on October 26th that the United States will be cooperating with South Korea and Japan in order to ensure Taiwan's self-defense. Read more

October 28, 2022 - SEOUL - The United States and South Korea have vowed that there would be an unparalleled response if North Korea carries out an expected 7th nuclear test, and have urged North Korea to refrain from provocations. Read more

October 27, 2022 - A once-classified U.S. Military fuel storage installation hidden inside of a mountain in Hawaii called the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility began leaking jet fuel into the drinking water and sickening at least 5,900 military personnel in November 2021. Read more

October 26, 2022 - Russian President Vladimir Putin monitored the launches of ballistic and cruise missiles on Wednesday as part of Russia's yearly "Grom" nuclear exercises, as NATO holds simultaneous nuclear exercises. Read more

October 26, 2022 - Due to U.S. forces conducting an airstrike against al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia, the Africa regional alert has been set to 2. Read statement from Africa Command.. Read more

October 25, 2022 - Iran claims that it has arrested 10 agents allegedly working for Israel in West Azerbaijan province as part of an espionage network, according to Iranian state news agency Fars. Israeli officials claim to have struck 90% of Iran's military operations in Syria, targeting a drone assembly factory near Damascus. Read more

October 25, 2022 - *New Information* - Russia has claimed that Ukraine is preparing a possible 'provocation' involving the use of a 'dirty bomb', while the US and Ukraine claim that this might be a pretext for a Russian 'false flag' operation. Read more

October 22, 2022 - The US Army's 101st Airborne Division which consists of about 4,700 soldiers has been deployed to Europe, on the border of Romania and Ukraine, for the first time since World War 2 (80 years ago). Read more

October 21, 2022 - The Pentagon has confirmed that the B-1B supersonic bombers that arrived in Guam this week is a show of strength in order to deter "potential provocations," after North Korea carried out a series of ballistic missile tests, and fired into the buffer zone with the South. Read more

October 21, 2022 - According to the White House, Iranian troops were sent to Ukraine to help assist Russia in operating Iranian-made drones that Russia had reportedly purchased from the country. Read more

October 20, 2022 - "On October 19th, General Michael "Erik” Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, conducted a visit aboard the USS West Virginia, a U.S. Navy Ohio-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine at an undisclosed location at sea in international waters in the Arabian Sea. Read more

October 20, 2022 - The United States deployed four bombers from South Dakota to the Andersen AFB, in Guam ahead of North Korea's expected nuclear test, as well as recent provocations. Read more

October 18, 2022 - NORAD - Russian Tu-95 bombers capable of being equipped with nuclear weapons were intercepted on October 18th (local time) after "entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone". Read more

October 16, 2022 - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Thursday that he is looking carefully at "extended deterrence" options as North Korea tests ballistic missiles that it says were intended to simulate a tactical nuclear weapon strike on South Korea. Read more

October 15, 2022 - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - "Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $725 million to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs". Read more

October 15, 2022 - EUROPE - NATO put out a statement on Friday saying that it would be launching its annual nuclear exercises "Steadfast Noon". NATO also said that it will be monitoring Russia's own upcoming nuclear exercise very closely. Read more

October 15, 2022 - Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Meeting With Ministers of Defense for Finland and Sweden, Antti Kaikkonen and Peter Hultqvist. Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout.. Read more

October 12, 2022 - Department of Defense: "Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III meets with allies at NATO headquarters in Belgium this week to discuss the continued support for the defense of Ukraine, amid Russia's unprovoked invasion and recent attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure, according to a defense official. Read more

October 12, 2022 - U.S. Department Of State: "Following years of mediation by the United States, the Governments of Israel and Lebanon today announced consensus on an historic agreement to establish a permanent maritime boundary between the two countries". Read more

October 12, 2022 - The United States has begun restricting visas from being issued to both current, and former members of the Taliban, as well as others over the repression of women and girls in Afghanistan, according to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday." Read more

October 11, 2022 - NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg: "Stoltenberg: "hybrid and cyber attacks can trigger Article 5," and, "We are closely monitoring every incident that may constitute a hybrid or cyber attack against the NATO Allies and we are ready to take the necessary measures if needed." Read more

October 11, 2022 - A drone strike in northeastern Syria led by the U.S.-led coalition was carried out on Monday, according to The Associated Press, which cited a Syrian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Read more

October 10, 2022 - U.S. Embassy In Ukraine: Security Alert. Event: Russia has launched attacks against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure as well as government facilities in Kyiv and elsewhere. Russia’s continued strikes in Ukraine pose a direct threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure. Read more

October 10, 2022 - White House national security spokesman John Kirby addressed U.S. President Joe Biden's comments regarding the "prospect of Armageddon" on Sunday, saying that the President's statement reflects "the very high stakes that are in play”, in relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats. Read more

October 09, 2022 - Statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine regarding alleged provocation by Belarus (accusations by Belarus that Ukraine was planning an attack on Belarus territory) Read more

October 09, 2022 - NORD STREAM PIPELINE - A U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane (P-8A Poseidon) was spotted flying across the Baltic Sea just hours after the Nord Stream pipeline began leaking into the ocean on September 26th, 2022. Read more

October 09, 2022 - According to the ASPR government website, The U.S. Government has purchased $290 million worth of Nplate, from Amgen USA Inc. "as part of long-standing, ongoing efforts to be better prepared to save lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies." Read more

October 09, 2022 - A U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane (P-8A Poseidon) was spotted flying across the Baltic Sea just hours after the Nord Stream pipeline began leaking into the ocean on September 26th, 2022. Read more

October 08, 2022 - The U.S. National Debt has passed $31 trillion, according to the Federal Government's national debt clock. Debt per taxpayer: $247,325. Debt per citizen: $93,419.Read more

October 07, 2022 - CENTCOM statement: U.S. forces conducted a successful airstrike in northern Syria, killing both Abu-Hashum al-Umawi, a deputy Wali of Syria, and another senior ISIS official associated with him. Read more

October 07, 2022 - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the threat of nuclear Armageddon is at the highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Read more

October 06, 2022 - U.S. special forces have reportedly carried out a helicopter raid in Assad-controlled territory in Syria, south of Qamishli in Northeast Syria overnight. Read more

October 05, 2022 - North Korea has reportedly fired another "unspecified" ballistic missile toward the East Sea, according to Japan's Coast Guard, the South Korean military and South Korea's news agency Yonhap, which is reporting multiple ballistic missiles. Read more

October 05, 2022 - After North Korea sent a missile flying over Japan, the US and South Korea held live-fire missile drills, during which one missile malfunctioned and crashed down inside the Air Force base in Gangneung. Read more

October 05, 2022 - After North Korea sent a missile flying over Japan, the United States has not only commenced joint live-fire missile drills with South Korea in the region, but is now sending nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan back to waters near the Korean Peninsula, according to officials at the U.S. Defense Department. Read more

October 05, 2022 - A malfunctioned Hyumoo-2 ballistic missile fired by South Korea crashed inside the ground of an air force base in Gangneung on Wednesday during live-fire missile drills with the United States Read more

October 3, 2022 - If Russian President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons, the US and its allies "would destroy Russia’s troops and equipment in Ukraine and will sink its Black Sea fleet," former CIA director and retired four-star general for the United States Army David Petraeus stated in an interview Sunday. Read more

September 30, 2022 - White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says the US military in Europe is ready for "any contingency" and says that multiple reinforcements have been sent to bolster US forces in Europe. Read more

September 29, 2022 - North Korea has fired at least one more short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunchon region, according to the South Korean military. Read more

September 28, 2022 - ERBIL, IRAQ - The United States has shot down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) headed in the direction of U.S. forces in Erbil, Iraq. Read more

September 28, 2022 - Hurricane Ian view via null school wind surface map. Hurricane is expected to make landfall in Florida as a category 4 storm with a current wind speed of 140mph. Read more

September 27, 2022 - Russian official Medvedev said that the United States would not intervene even if Russia uses the "most formidable weapon," and said the country has the right to use nuclear weapons "if necessary," and said that it is "certainly not a bluff". Read more

September 25, 2022 - Conflict With Nuclear Peer Possible, As Russia Uses Dangerous Nuclear Rhetoric. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a "partial mobilization", as well as Putin's threats to use "all means" at Russia's disposal to protect the country, saying that Putin's speech used "dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric". Read more

September 20, 2022 - US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says that President Putin appears to be on the brink of proceeding with plans to hold "sham referenda" in areas of Ukraine and potentially preparing for potential mobilization measures. Russia says, "there will be no general mobilization" but may be martial law. Read more

September 19, 2022 - Biden on 60 Minutes: US would defend Taiwan if invaded by China. Officially, aside from comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden, the United States government hasn't made any declarations that they will be defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. Read more

September 19, 2022 - CENTCOM - TAMPA, Fla. – "At approximately 7:05 pm in Syria on September 18th, a rocket attack targeting the Green Village base in northeast Syria failed to strike US or Coalition forces or equipment. Read more

September 18, 2022 - Puerto Rico’s Governor has reported that the power grid in Puerto Rico has gone black. The White House has declared an emergency. Read more

September 17, 2022 - CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said that although we should not underestimate Putin's adherence to his original plan to control Ukraine, the CIA has no concrete evidence that Russia is planning to use "weapons of mass destruction". Read more

September 16, 2022 - DoD authorizes the Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $600 million to Ukraine. This authorization is the Biden Administration’s twenty-first drawdown since August 2021. Read more

September 14, 2022 - WASHINGTON – Pentagon leaders held a top-secret conference at the Pentagon on September 6th, and 7th, to discuss China and Russia's potential to develop unique space weapons, giving to a publicly posted dossier. The meetings also centered around protecting the US-owned assets currently in orbit around the earth. Read more

September 08, 2022 - DOD - The Defense Department has put out a statement saying that the Biden administration has approved another assistance package valued at $675 million in "U.S. assistance to Ukraine", along with another $2 Billion in long-term military financing to "European countries threatened by Russia". Read more

September 08, 2022 - The Pentagon has suspended deliveries of new Lockheed Martin's F-35 aircraft to the army after finding that a component of the jet uses an alloy made in China, which, according to a CNN report, and Interfax, violates federal defense procurement policies. Read more

September 08, 2022 - China has been increasingly aggressive about controlling the microchip industry and emboldened in its aggressive stance towards Taiwan since the U.S. pullout of Afghanistan, and the lack of direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict by the United States. Read more

September 08, 2022 - The Biden administration has announced plans to invest $50 billion in the US semiconductor industry, in order to "revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry and spur innovation while creating good-paying jobs in communities across the country," according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Read more

September 08, 2022 - Russian energy giant Gazprom has said that it has signed a deal with China to pay for Russian gas in the Chinese yuan and Russian ruble, rather than paying with the U.S. dollar. Read more

September 07, 2022 - According to a newly declassified U.S. Intelligence, Russia could be purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. The White House has indicated that Moscow looking to purchase arms from North Korea and claims that it is further evidence that Russia is desperate, and that its ammunition supplies are running low as its "special operation" on Ukraine passes its six and a half month mark. Read more

September 07, 2022 - PYONGYANG - North Korean state news agency, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has said that military drills by the United States and South Korea have increased the possibility of "nuclear war" on the "Korean Peninsula". Read more

September 04, 2022 - RUSSIA - Siemens Energy corporation has put out a statement saying that an engine oil leak is no reason to stop the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and said that the leak should have been able to be sealed on site. Read more

September 03, 2022 - The U.S. was threatened by China with a delay of a new product launch from Nvidia if it did not stop with the tech export reduction, and stated that some products might have to leave Chinese manufacturing lines. Read more

September 03, 2022 - NASA made a second attempt to launch the Artemis 1 SLS on Saturday, but a hydrogen fuel leak was detected in the gas line that perplexed technicians. NASA's engineers discovered problems with one of the gas lines as fuel was actively being loaded. Read more

September 03, 2022 - After a full month of straight Chinese incursions around the island of Taiwan following the visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on August 2nd, 2022, the Biden administration has announced a $1.1 Billion arms sale to Taipei, angering China. Read more

September 02, 2022 - The Taiwanese military have shot down an unidentified unmanned "civilian drone" near Kinmen, Taiwan on Thursday, September 1st. Japan's Ministry of Defense has also put out a statement, along with a map showing Taiwan's defensive strategy, meant to deter "Chinese aggression". The United States is also strengthening "alliance" with the Philippines. Read more

September 02, 2022 - UNITED STATES - Law enforcement agencies across the country are using a mysterious cellphone tracking tool that lies in an unregulated gray zone in regard to personal rights. Read more

August 30, 2022 - The U.S. Navy prevented a support ship from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) from capturing an unmanned surface vessel operated by the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Arabian Gulf, Aug. 29-30. Read more

August 30, 2022 - BAGHDAD - Following the resignation of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday, August 29th, followers who supported him, stormed the green zone with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and automatic rifle fire as Iraqi security forces fought back, sparking a major escalation in the political deadlock that has gripped the nation. Read more

August 30, 2022 - Location: Iraq (countrywide). Event: Ongoing demonstrations within and around the International Zone in Baghdad have turned violent and resulted in deaths and injuries. Read more

August 29, 2022 - A security alert has been released by the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, which is located near Kosovo. Event: A persistent and ongoing cyber-attack is in process in Montenegro. Read more

August 28, 2022 - The president of the BRICS International Forum, Purnima Anand told reporters on Thursday that both Russia and India no longer need the U.S. dollar, as they have turned to national currencies to conduct mutual settlements. Read more

August 27, 2022 - After completing an international patrol mission on August 26th, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, Oliver Henry, was denied clearance for a pre-scheduled resupply port call from the Solomon Islands, a country that has been strengthening ties in the Pacific with China. Read more

August 26, 2022 - WASHINGTON - Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, along with the Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee has stated that China is attempting to recruit individuals, which are already employed inside the Federal Reserve (FED), as agents of international espionage. Read more

August 25, 2022 - Israel is reportedly striking targets located in Syria. Explosions have been reported in Tartus, and Syrian state media says that its air defenses are engaging "hostile targets" over the Masyaf region in northwestern Syria. Read more

August 25, 2022 - Israel is reportedly striking targets located in Syria. Explosions have been reported in Tartus, and Syrian state media says that its air defenses are engaging "hostile targets" over the Masyaf region in northwestern Syria. Read more

August 25, 2022 - CENTCOM: forces respond to attempted coordinated rocket attacks at Conoco, Green Village bases in northeast Syria. "U.S. forces responded today to rocket attacks at two sites in Syria, destroying three vehicles and equipment used to launch some of the rockets. Read more

August 24, 2022 - At U.S. President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted precision airstrikes in Deir ez-Zor Syria today. These precision strikes are intended to defend and protect U.S. forces from attacks like the ones on August 15 against U.S. personnel by Iran-backed groups. Read more

August 22, 2022 - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that they are deeply concerned about increasing tensions in Northeastern Syria regarding a suspected Turkish drone attack that killed four teenage girls and injured 11 other people who were playing volleyball at a girl's center in Hasakah, Syria. Read more

August 21, 2022 - On August 18th US military B-52 nuclear-capable bombers returned to the 'RAF' Fairford US Air Force base in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom from the Minot Air Base in North Dakota. Read more

August 20, 2022 - Security Alert for the United States embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia in Africa. The U.S. Embassy in Somalia reminds U.S. citizens that terrorists continue to plot kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks in Somalia. Read more

August 20, 2022 - On August 18th, 2022 the Department of Defense released a statement on Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks visit U.S. to Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Read more

August 20, 2022 - The United States Department of Defense has released a statement regarding another major security assistance package to be sent to Ukraine valued at $775 million. Read more

August 19, 2022 - During a press briefing in Singapore, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet stated that the amount of unsafe interceptions by Chinese aircraft has increased over the last few months. The United States had carried out wargames simulating an attack by China in 2021, but failed miserably. Read more

August 17, 2022 - Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test re-entry vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on August 16th. Read more

August 14, 2022 - Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State, in an analytical statement of world events, states that the U.S. is "Teetering on the brink of war" with China and Russia and owns some responsibility for its manifestation. Read more

August 14, 2022 - A five-member delegation, led by Senator Ed Markey (D) of Massachusetts, meeting in Taiwan to discuss security, economical, and trade topics, according to the American Institute in Taiwan. Read more

August 14, 2022 - White House teleconference press release: On call with Kurt Campbell regarding China and Taiwan and the recent tensions that have arisen in the Taiwan Strait. Read more

August 14, 2022 - TAIWAN - The Foreign Ministry of Taiwan expressed with sincerity, its gratefulness to the United States for its constant presence around Taiwan and for taking specific action to safeguard the region and the Taiwan Strait. Read more

August 13, 2022 - NEW YORK CITY - In another escalation due to rising tensions, 5 Chinese state-run global companies have announced their decision to de-list from the New York Stock Exchange. Read more

August 11, 2022 - From the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), For the last two days, there have been two known incursions into the Alaskan Air Defense Zone, a buffer zone that sits between the airspace of Alaska and international air space, by Russian surveillance aircraft, which were detected, identified, and tracked off the coast. Read more

August 09, 2022 - In an ongoing investigation into whether the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump took classified documents from the White House, upon his exit, the FBI searched his Mar-A-Lago residence, setting a new precedent for former leadership in the United States, in regards to law enforcement. Read more

August 09, 2022 - Russia stated on Monday, August 8th that they would no longer allow inspection of weapons under the New START Nuclear Arms Control Treaty for an unspecified time due to restrictions on travel implemented by the United States and the west. Read more

August 08, 2022 - US ARMED FORCES long-range missile support specialists have selected Northrop Grumman Corporation to attend to the next Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Weapons system process to shield the Continental US from nuclear long-range missile assaults. Read more

August 08, 2022 - The Group of Seven (G7) Foreign ministers released a joint statement regarding Taiwan calling an end to China's provocative exercises around the island of Taiwan, after which the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) condemned the statement and called it scrap paper. Read more

August 05, 2022 - The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs have announced a list of "countermeasures" in response to Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island of Taiwan. Read more

August 05, 2022 - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after having visited the island of Taiwan visiting the heavily fortified Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) that sits between the North and South Korean border on her way to Seoul, the Capital of South Korea. Read more

August 04, 2022 - The U.S. Department of State has put out a worldwide travel alert, advising against traveling abroad after Sunday's drone strike where two R9X Hellfire missiles killed al-Qaeda leader, and Osama bin Laden successor, Ayman al-Zawahri. Read more

August 04, 2022 - White House Statement On Senate Ratification of the NATO Accession Protocols for Sweden and Finland. "Today, the Senate overwhelmingly endorsed our close partners Finland and Sweden joining NATO. This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan U.S. commitment to NATO, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow"... Read more

August 04, 2022 - At the United Nations, Russia said that although the conflict in Ukraine does not require the use of nuclear weapons, Moscow might decide to resort to a nuclear response as a result of what it says is direct involvement in its conflict with Ukraine by the United States. Read more

August 02, 2022 - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was confirmed to have been on the aircraft heading toward the Island of Taiwan and has now landed safely. The U.S. air force had been authorized to open fire in case there was any interference from the Chinese on the plane that carried Pelosi. Read more

August 02, 2022 - US Speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to travel to Taipei on Tuesday. Chinese military vessels and aircraft have been spotted carrying out tactical moves by touching the median line in the Taiwan Strait. Read more

August 01, 2022 - An Iranian IRGC-affiliated Telegram channel has posted a video openly declaring that Iran can move its peaceful nuclear program to a nuclear weapons program very quickly, and said that Iran's ballistic missiles are capable of turning New York into ruins. Read more

August 01, 2022 - As Pelosi is expected to arrive in the Asia Pacific, growing concerns come from other countries who are in support of China instead of the United States and an independent Taiwan. Read more

Chinese "Web Shell" Malware From "Volt Typhoon" Hacker Group Detected In US Infrastructure In Guam And US - GUAM/US - A Chinese hacker group named "Volt Typhoon" injected malware code into telecommunications infrastructure in Guam and other locations within the United States. Read On Patreon | Read On Substack

Volt Typhoon targeted organizations involved in: communications, manufacturing, utility, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, as well as education.

NORAD detects Russian aircraft operating in Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone - Northern American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD): "COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked a Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on May 15, 2023. (Intel delayed, governments don't always release information to public right away). Sign Up For All Alerts

The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace.

This flight occurred as several planned large-scale military training exercises are ongoing in and around Alaska. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.

An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft in the interest of national security.

NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions.

NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America."

NORAD Intercepts Six Russian Aircraft In And Near Alaska's ADIZ - NORTH AMERICAN AEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND - COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected, tracked, positively identified and intercepted six Russian aircraft operating in and near the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on May 11, 2023. See All Alerts

Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. These flights occurred as several planned large-scale U.S. military training exercises are ongoing within Alaska.

The Russian aircraft were TU-95 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter aircraft. NORAD aircraft, including F-16 fighters, F-22 fighters, KC-135 Stratotankers, and E-3 AWACS, conducted the mission.

This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat. NORAD tracks and positively identifies all military aircraft that enter the ADIZ, routinely monitors aircraft movements and as necessary, escorts them from the ADIZ.

Since Russia resumed out of area Long Range Aviation activity in 2007, NORAD has seen a yearly average of approximately six to seven intercepts of Russian military aircraft in the ADIZ.

These numbers have varied each year from as high as 15 to as low as zero. NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based radars, airborne radar and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions.

We remain ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America and Arctic sovereignty.

2 New York Residents Allegedly Operating "Secret Police Station" Arrested - NEW YORK - Two residents of New York have been arrested for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station" in Chinatown, and are expected to appear before the Brooklyn federal court on Monday. See More On this

The two New York residents, Chen Jinping, who is 59 and Liu Jianwang, who is 61 have been arrested and face charges for conspiring to act as an agent for the Chinese government without notifying authorities, as well as for obstructing justice, according to a Brooklyn federal prosecutor.

Earlier this year, the FBI reported that China is running secret overseas police stations around the world, including unauthorized stations in the US, in order to surveil Chinese nationals in countries across the globe, according to reports by the FBI, a former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor, and a human rights group.

The human rights group Safeguard Defenders had also released an investigative report on the Chinese overseas police stations before the FBI released their own statement on it. At the time the report was written there were 110 such locations known to exist in over 53 countries worldwide.

Breon Peace, who is the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn released a statement on the arrest of the two New Yorkers that said, "This prosecution reveals the Chinese government's flagrant violation of our nation's sovereignty by establishing a secret police station in the middle of New York City".

California State Capitol Building Evacuated Due To "Credible Threat" - Breaking - The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has notified the Senate of a threat they consider to be credible involving the Capitol. See More Alerts

Letter to the Senate and Staff:

"The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has notified the Senate of a threat they consider to be credible involving the Capitol. The CHP and security partners are present in higher numbers in the Capitol area, and are alert of the situation".

At this time, Floor Session has been delayed until 9:45 a.m. and will be held in the 1021 0 Street building, Committee Room 1200.

All Senate staff who have not yet reported to work in the Capitol, LOB and 1021 0 Street building should remain home and work remotely. Those who are already in their offices should remain in place until further information becomes available.

Senators and staff should remain situationally aware, and report any suspicious activity to the Sergeants at (916) 651-4184 or the CHP at (916) 445-2895."

Iran Claims It Warned Off US Navy Aircraft Near Gulf Of Oman - DUBAI - A statement by the Iranian Navy said that it warned a U.S. Navy Lockheed EP-3E land-based Multi-Intelligence reconnaissance aircraft away from its airspace. Read More Alerts

The statement given by the Iranian Navy said, "After the warning, the plane was prevented from entering the country's skies without authorization".

A report by Tasnim, the semi-official news agency in Iran said that Iranian naval forces detected the aircraft over the Sea of Oman and "forced it to avoid the country's airspace after issuing a warning," citing the Iranian Navy.

Tasnim said that the U.S. reconnaissance aircraft "heeded the warning" and stayed away from the Iranian Aerial border, returning to the "international routes".

A report by Reuters said that the opening line of the Tasnim report said that the aircraft "crossed into Iranian airspace" but then contradicted itself later in the report by saying it had not entered Iranian skies after the warning.

I reviewed the Tasnim report and there is no such line in the current report regarding the incident, which could mean that Tasnim altered their report after Reuters had reviewed it.

Newly Declassified Report On Havana Syndrome Contradicts Another Recent Report On The Illness - WASHINGTON - A newly declassified report on Havana Syndrome by the director of national intelligence has been released that contradicts another recent report saying that it was very unlikely that the illness was caused by an energy weapon. The new report said an energy weapon remains a plausible explanation. This Report And More | Read Declassified Report

Nuclear Power Plant In Minnesota Leaks 400,000 Gallons Of Radioactive Water - MINNESOTA, USA - 400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from a nuclear power plant at the Xcel Energy plant in Monticello, Minnesota last fall, but was not disclosed to the public because the plant said that it posed no health or safety risk to the public. See Full Article

In a statement released on Friday, Xcel said that the leak "is contained and poses no risk to local community or environment, as confirmed by Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidelines".

Russia: We View US Drone's Black Sea Flight As Provocation And It Had No Business Being Near Russia - MOSCOW - The Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Russia views the U.S. drone flight in the Black Sea as a "real provocation" and said that it was flying with its "transponders off" and "entered into the zone of the special military operation" which is the term Russia uses for its war in Ukraine. Get All Alerts

Antonov spoke to reporters after speaking to the U.S. Department of State, after being summoned regarding the incident, saying that the United States "provoked" Russia to "take a certain action" so that the US could accuse Moscow and Russia's military of being "non-professional".

"The aircraft was flying with its transponders off, and it entered the zone of the special military operation. It [the information about the zone] was made public via international channels. We, Russia, have warned everyone about it. I think this was a real provocation," he said.

He also added, "We consider this incident a provocation".

US Intelligence Repeats Warning That North Korea Likely To Conduct Nuclear Test - A U.S. intelligence report on Wednesday reiterated earlier warnings, as well as a warning in the 2023 Annual Threat Assessment that North Korea is expected to carry out its seventh nuclear test. South Korea has said that it could be carried out at any time. Get All Alerts

The report, which was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said, "Kim almost certainly views nuclear weapons and ICBMs as the ultimate guarantor of his autocratic rule and has no intention of abandoning those programs, believing that over time he will gain international acceptance as a nuclear power".

It added that "North Korea is using its nuclear-capable missile program to try to establish strategic dominance over South Korea and U.S. forces in the region by pursuing missiles probably aimed at defeating missile defenses on the peninsula and the region and issuing threats to militarily respond to any perceived attacks against its sovereignty".

Two Of The Four Kidnapped Americans In Mexico Found Dead, Two Found Alive - MEXICO - The Governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico Américo Villarreal was cited by Reuters as saying two of the four Americans that were kidnapped in Mexico while on their way to receive cheap cosmetic surgery are dead, and two are still alive, but also said that one is injured. More Alerts And Information

Villarreal said that, "two of them are dead, one person is injured and the other is alive".

The FBI are still trying to return the abducted Americans after they were reportedly caught in a crossfire between rival Mexican cartels and taken by gunpoint.

In the video captured of the incident it shows a man clad in body armor dragging a person across the ground and pushing a woman into a white truck. Two other men who appeared to be injured were also seen being dragged and thrown into the back of the truck.

The North Carolina license plates on a white minivan were shown in photos to be full of bullet holes.

A woman who said she saw the incident unfold told the Associated Press that the white van hit another vehicle, and then she heard gunfire and armed men approaching the white vehicle.

"All of a sudden they (the gunmen) were in front of us. I entered a state of shock, nobody honked their horn, nobody moved. Everybody must have been thinking the same thing, ‘If we move they will see us, or they might shoot us.’" the woman reportedly said.

She also said that she saw the men shove a woman who was able to walk into the truck bed, and a man who was able to move his head around was also loaded in.

"The other two they dragged across the pavement, we don't know if they were alive or dead," the woman stated.

4 American Kidnapping Victims In Mexico Identified - MEXICO - The four American victims that were kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico have been identified, with further details on the incident, along with a video of the kidnapping in progress.More Alerts And Information

A CBS report states that the President of Mexico said the victims went to Mexico in order to purchase cheaper medicine than they could get in the United States and reported that "hundreds of thousands" of Americans cross the border to Mexico each year to buy cheaper medicine.

The report says that they "could have been mistakenly targeted"

A report by ABC news says that the victim's names are: Latavia "Tay" McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and Eric James Williams, and one of the victim's mothers said that McGee and her cousin Woodard were with two friends: Zindell Brown and Eric Williams.

A driver's license issued to Williams in North Carolina was found at the scene of the kidnapping, according to the report, citing sources close to the investigation being carried out in Mexico.

Although both reports cite the Mexican President as saying they went into Mexico to purchase medication, the ABC report cites Barbara Burgess, McGee's mother as saying that her daughter had traveled to Mexico from South Carolina in order to undergo a cosmetic medical procedure, and warned her not to make the trip.

On Friday, the ABC report states, her daughter had called to tell her mother that she was 15 minutes away from the doctor's office, but then began going to voicemail.

The report says that the Americans were kidnapped after getting "caught in the middle of a confrontation between groups", citing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who also said that they "crossed the border to buy medicines in Mexico".

López Obrador added that "The entire" Mexican government "is there working on this".

Both the US State Department and Homeland Security are working with Mexican authorities on the case, the White House said.

White House Press Secretary Jean-Pierre said, "We are closely following the assault and kidnapping of four U.S. citizens in Matamoros, Mexico".

She added that "These sorts of attacks are unacceptable. "Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals, and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance."

"We will continue to coordinate with Mexico and push them to bring those responsible to justice."

The U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price also released a statement saying, "The FBI is working very closely with other federal partners and Mexican law enforcement agencies to investigate this".

He added, "We're standing ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. We do also remind Americans about the existing travel guidance when it comes to this particular part of Mexico."

Four U.S. Citizens Kidnapped In Mexico After Gunfire On Their Vehicle - MEXICO - Four United States citizens were kidnapped in Matamoros city, Mexico on Friday shortly after arriving in Mexico, as they were traveling in a White minivan with license plates from North Carolina. More Alerts And Information

The minivan came under fire upon entering the country, according to a statement by the FBI, which said that the unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle, and that all four Americans were then placed inside a vehicle and taken away from the scene.

"On March 03, 2023, four Americans crossed into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle. All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men," the FBI statement said.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 "for the return of the victims and the arrest of those involved".

Hazmat Incident In Midtown Manhattan, New York - NEW YORK - A "hazmat incident" has occurred in Midtown Manhattan, New York on the corner of East 56th Street and Sutton. More Alerts

The local Fox 5 New York news agency reported that the scene is now considered to be "secure" by officials, and that the hazmat material has "not yet been identified".

The news agency stated there were reports that one woman was found "unconscious", though there are multiple other as of yet unverified reports claiming that she was found dead.

It also said that there were initial reports of "erroneous information" that multiple people were hurt, including NYPD officers and an emergency responder, but later corrected this error.

North Korean MFA: If US Continues "Hostile" And "Provocative" Practices, It Could Be Regarded As Declaration Of War - PYONGYANG - [North Korean statements translated] Kwon Jeong-geun, Director-General for US Affairs and North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement posted by North Korean state-run news agency KCNA that said if the US continued its "hostile and provocative practices" against North Korea, it could be regarded as a "declaration of war" against the country. Subscribe Here for the full article, and access to news and alerts not posted here on the site.

Chinese Jet Shadows US P-8 Poseidon, Gives Warning - SOUTH CHINA SEA - A Chinese J-11 fighter jet shadowed a U.S. P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft from a few hundred feet away and issued a warning to stop approaching or "pay full responsibility" while it was in international airspace, a near-daily occurrence now, according to U.S. officials. Get All Alerts And News

Fires Break Out In Three Different State-Owned Pemex Mexican Oil Facilities - MEXICO/US - Three different fires broke out on Thursday located at different Mexican state-owned facilities run by Pemex, one of the facilities located in the United States. Cause: "Undetermined". Read Pemex Statements

The fires have left five people missing and eight injured. Five people were missing after a fire at a storage facility in Veracruz, Mexico, with three people sent to the hospital, according to a statement released by Pemex. The fire has since been extinguished, with the cause yet undermined.

Another statement by Pemex said that another fire had broken out at its Minatitlan facility, which is also located in Veracruz, injuring five people. This has also been since extinguished. Pemex said that its operations at the refinery were not interrupted, and that "it is presumed that the possible cause of the fire was product runoff on a hot surface".

A third fire broke out on Thursday at Pemex's Deer Park oil refinery in Texas, USA. An all-clear notification was sent out after, indicating that the fire was brought under control.

Chinese State Media Responds To News US Expanding Troop Presence In Taiwan - BEIJING - Chinese state-affiliated media Global Times has responded to reports that the United States is expanding their troop presence in Taiwan by saying that it is "illegal" for the soldiers to go to Taiwan, and that the Chinese mainland "won't take any responsibility for their safety" and that they will be "wiped out" together with the "resisting Taiwan troops" if China takes "military action". Get More Alerts (And Earlier)

Global Times commentator Hu Xijin 胡锡进 said, "It’s illegal for these US soldiers to go to Taiwan,and Chinese mainland won’t take any responsibility for their safety. If we take military action when necessary,they’ll be wiped out together with the resisting Taiwan troops.They can also be eliminated first as the invading army."

US Sending 200 Additional Soldiers To Taiwan - TAIPEI - Though only 30 U.S. Soldiers were located in Taiwan one year ago, the United States is now sending 100 to 200 more soldiers to the island for training (potentially more than quadrupling the number) amidst increasing tensions with China.

The additional soldiers will be added to the smaller training program that has already existed on the island consisting of personnel from the U.S. National Guard, U.S. Marines, and Special Operations.

In addition, the Michigan National Guard will be training Taiwanese soldiers, which will include some training within the United States.

Tensions have been on the increase in the region as China sends military aircraft into the country's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on a near daily basis since U.S. officials such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island on August 2nd, 2022.

In addition, there are now reports that Chinese vessels are Severing Undersea Cables linking Taiwan to Malaysia. Australian General: China Would Take Out Taiwanese Cables On Ocean Floor At Start Of Invasion

Uranium Fire At National Nuclear Security Administration In Tennessee - TENNESSEE: A fire broke out "involving uranium" on Wednesday morning at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Get Early Alerts

An NNSA spokesperson said that the fire started at 9:15 am local time in Building 9212, and told Fox News, "Emergency Services responded to the event. The site activated the Y-12 Emergency Response Organization and we’ve been in close contact with local and state officials".

Employees were evacuated from the building, and the spokesperson said "there are no reports of injury or contamination," according to the report.

The fire was located at the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility and "a couple of hundred employees" were evacuated.

Y-12 returned to regular operations before 1 pm, and officials said the situation is "stable".

Russia Suspends START Nuclear Treaty With United States - MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Ministry has released a statement declaring that the START nuclear treaty, which is the only nuclear treaty in effect between the United States and Russia, suspended, saying that the U.S. is "weakening" the security of the Russian Federation, and causing a political and economic "suffocation" of Russia.Subscribe To All Alerts

The Foreign Ministry said however,, "At the same time, in order to maintain a sufficient degree of predictability and stability in the nuclear missile sphere, Russia intends to adhere to a responsible approach and will continue to strictly comply with the quantitative restrictions on strategic offensive arms stipulated by it within the life cycle of the Treaty".

"In addition, the Russian side will continue to participate in the exchange of notifications with the American side on launches of ICBMs and SLBMs on the basis of the relevant agreement between the USSR and the USA in 1988."

"The decision to suspend the START may be reversible. To do this, Washington must show political will, make conscientious efforts for a general de-escalation and create conditions for the resumption of the full functioning of the Treaty and, accordingly, comprehensively ensuring its viability. We urge the American side to do just that. Until then, any steps we take towards Washington in the context of START are absolutely out of the question".

Large Explosion In Bedford, Ohio - OHIO - A large explosion has been reported in Bedford, Ohio with at least 12 burn victims being reported. Authorities were called on the scene at a Bedford metal factory on Monday at the 22500 block on Alexander Road around 2:30 pm. Get All Alerts

The business where authorities were reportedly called to was the Schumann & Co which produces copper alloy.

US Military Tracked Balloon As It Left China, Before It Entered US Mainland - "The U.S. military had been tracking the first balloon that it shot down for about a week as it left China on a heading toward Guam and Hawaii, before making a sharp turn north towards Alaska. Read Full Article

Live Pentagon Update On Latest Objects Shot Down Over United States - Watch Live Pentagon update on the latest objects shot down over North America by the United States Air Force. Watch Now.

DoD Statement On Shoot-Down Of Airborne Object Over Lake Huron, Michigan - The following is a statement by the Department of Defense on the "successful" shoot down of an "airborne object" flying at about 20,000 feet in altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the state of Michigan.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "Today at 2:42 p.m., at the direction of President Biden, and based on the recommendations of Secretary Austin and military leadership, an F-16 fired an AIM9x to successfully shoot down an airborne object flying at approximately 20,000 feet altitude in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron in the State of Michigan. Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation.

The location chosen for this shoot down afforded us the opportunity to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery. There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected.

North American Aerospace Defense Command detected the object Sunday morning and has maintained visual and radar tracking of it. Based on its flight path and data we can reasonably connect this object to the radar signal picked up over Montana, which flew in proximity to sensitive DOD sites.

We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities. Our team will now work to recover the object in an effort to learn more."

Latest Object Shot Down Was "Octagonal" In Shape - WASHINGTON - The latest "object" that was shot down on Sunday over Lake Huron, which is located close to the Canadian border was "octagonal shape" with "no discernable payload", Reuters cited a senior official as saying.

The report also said that the United States had "no indication" that the object shot down over Lake Huron posed a military threat, or that it had any surveillance capabilities to speak of.

Although some reports say three objects have been shot down over North America, Reuters reports that four objects have actually been downed in total.

U.S. Military Decommissioned Another "Object" Over Lake Huron - LAKE HURON - The Michigan state representative Jack Bergman released a statement saying that he has been in contact with the Department of Defense, and that the U.S. military has "decommissioned" another "object" over Lake Huron. Read Full Article

Michigan Representative Jack Bergman: "I’ve been in contact with DOD regarding operations across the Great Lakes region today. The US military has decommissioned another “object” over Lake Huron. I appreciate the decisive action by our fighter pilots. The American people deserve far more answers than we have."

FAA - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reopened airspace over Lake Michigan after declaring "potential contact" with an unidentified object over the region, which NORAD declared a "radar anomaly" and deployed fighter jets to investigate.

The FAA reported that it had closed the airspace over Lake Michigan so that they could examine the "potential contact" and later determined that it posed no threat.

The FAA announced on Sunday, "Pilots who do not adhere to the following [procedure] may be intercepted, detained and interview by law enforcement or security personnel".

In another statement to Fox News Digital, the FAA said, "The FAA briefly closed some airspace over Lake Michigan to support Department of Defense activities. The airspace has been reopened".

Montana Representative Matt Rosendale released a statement that said, "I am in constant communication with NORCOM and they have just advised me that they have confidence there IS an object and it WAS NOT an anomaly. I am waiting now to receive visual confirmation. Our nation’s security is my priority".

NOTAM Activated Over Canada Due To "Active Air Defense Operation - CANADA - A NOTAM has been activated over Toronto, Canada to to an "active air defense operation".

Official NORAD Statement: About Temporary Flight Restriction In Montana - NORAD And NORTHCOM Statement: "With the cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) implemented a temporary flight restriction airspace in central Montana on Feb. 11, 2023, to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations.

The restriction has been lifted. NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate.

Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation."

NORAD: Detected Radar Anomaly, Sent Fighter Aircraft To Investigate - National Security Reporter Natasha Bertrand: "This appears to have been a false alarm: New NORAD statement says “NORAD detected a radar anomaly and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits. NORAD will continue to monitor the situation.”

Representative Rosendale: Airspace Above Montana Reopened - Representative Matt Rosendale statement: "Airspace is reopened – I will remain in contact with defense officials and share more information as it becomes available. Montanans deserve answers". FAA Notice And Map

FAA Issues NOTAM over Havre, Montana Near Canadian Border - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a NOTAM over Havre, Montana, near the Canadian border, and declared the region “National Defense Airspace”. FAA Notice And Map

NORAD shoots down an unidentified object violating Canadian airspace over the Yukon with an F-22. - NORAD shoots down an unidentified object violating Canadian airspace over the Yukon with an F-22. Tweet

NORAD Statement on Alaskan high-altitude airborne object Shootdown: - NORAD: "February 11, 2023 U.S. Northern Command Update on Recovery Operations At the direction of the President of the United States, fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Norther Command successfully took down a high altitude airborne object off the northern coast of Alaska at 1:45 pm Eastern Standard Time Feb. 10 within U.S. sovereign airspace over U.S. territorial water. Tweet 2

Recovery operations continue today near Deadhorse, Alaska. U.S. Northern Command's Alaska Command and the Alaska National Guard, in close coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement, are conducting search and recovery activities.

Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight, are a factor in this operation, and personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety. Recovery activities are occurring on sea ice.

We have no further details at this time about the object, including its capabilities, purpose, or origin.

U.S. Northern Command also continues to conduct recovery operations off the coast of South Carolina following the takedown of the high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 4. U.S. Northern Command's U.S. Navy component continues to conduct survey and recovery activities, and the U.S. Coast Guard continues to support site security.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to assist recovery on site and take custody of debris arriving at on-shore locations. Sea states Feb. 10 permitted dive and underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) activities and the retrieval of additional debris from the sea floor.

The public may see U.S. Navy vessels moving to and from the site as they conduct offload and resupply activities. Operations will continue as weather permits."

Norad Tracks One Or Two More High-Altitude Objects Over Northern Canada - North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is monitoring "what appear to be" one or two objects over Canada according to a report by the Canadian Global Television Network. National security reporter Natasha Bertrand reported a high-altitude airborne object over Northern Canada. Tweet 1 | Tweet 2

Global News reported that "three security sources" told them of one or two more potential spy balloons exist, but the news agency said that they have no information on where the objects are located, or whether any decision has been made whether or not to shoot them down.

The "high-altitude" object that was taken down on Friday over the Atlantic Ocean in Alaska by the U.S. Air Force did not enter Canadian airspace, the country's Defense Minister Anita Anand said Friday in a statement.

Global News journalist Mercedes Stephenson posted a statement that said, "exclusive reporting that they have spotted another potential spy balloon. This time over Canada. The command says NORAD aircraft are in the area. “we have positively identified a high-altitude airborne object over Northern Canada”#BREAKING NORAD [email protected]".

DoD Releases Statement About Object Shot Down Over Alaska - Department of Defense Press Secretary brigadier general Pat Ryder released a statement regarding the object shot down over Alaska, as well as further details about the balloon shot down on February 4th.

He said that the object was the size of a "small car" and not similar in "size or shape to the high-altitude surveillance balloon that was taken down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th".

"Debris that's been recovered so far is being loaded on to vessels taken ashore, cataloged, and then moved onwards to labs for subsequent analysis. And while I won't go into specifics due to classification reasons, I can say that we have located a significant amount of debris so far that will prove helpful to our further understanding of this balloon and its surveillance capabilities," Ryder said

"We have no further details about the object at this time, including any description of its capabilities, purpose or origin," Ryder added.

Statement By DoD Press Secretary

"At the direction of the President of the United States fighter aircraft assigned to the U.S. Northern Command successfully took down a high-altitude airborne object off the northern coast of Alaska at 1:45pm Eastern Standard Time today within U.S. sovereign airspace over U.S. territorial water.

On February 9th, North American Aerospace Command detected an object on ground radar and further investigated and identified the object using fighter aircraft.

The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight. U.S. Northern command is beginning recovery operations now.

U.S. Northern Command's Alaska Command coordinated the operation with assistance from the Alaska international guard, Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

We have no further details about the object at this time, including any description of its capabilities, purpose or origin.

The object was about the size of a small car so not similar in size or shape to the high-altitude surveillance balloon that was taken down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4th".

Another Object Posing A "Reasonable Threat" Shot Out Of The Sky Over Alaska - WHITE HOUSE - The U.S. just shot down an object that was flying around Alaska around one hour ago, according to John Kirby. White House Video Statement

Kirby said, "a high altitude object over Alaska air space...within the last hour" that we had been tracking for "the last 24 hours," and stated, "the object posed a reasonable threat".

"I can confirm that the Department of Defense was tracking a high altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours out. The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight. Out of an abundance of caution and the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object. And they did. And it came in inside our territorial waters," Kirby stated.

Kirby also said, "The way it was described to me was roughly the size of a small car as opposed to a payload that was like two or three buses sized," Kirby said.

"We do not know who owns it, whether it's state owned or corporate owned or privately owned".

Brazil Declines Iranian Warships From Docking At Its Port - RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil has declined the two Iranian warships from docking at Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula sa Silva prepared to visit Washington for a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Location Maps

The Iranian Navy had begun to operate in South American waters as two Iranian warships had the intention to dock at the port in the seaside city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a stay of one week, on a mission to the Panama Canal.

The refusal to allow the Iranian warships to dock at the port has been seen as a gesture by Brazil seeking closer ties with the United States.

The Financial Post cited a Brazilian military source as saying, “It’s true that there was a veto (from the government). The Iranian ships could not come during this period".

January 29th, 2023: Iranian Navy Begins Operations In South American Waters

TEHRAN - The Iranian Navy has begun to operate in South American waters as two Iranian warships sought to dock at the port in the seaside city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a stay of one week, on a mission to the Panama Canal.

Although there were initial reports that the Iranian vessels had docked at the port, reports came in later that they had not yet been allowed to dock, and that their docking was delayed by Brazil.

According to a Report by the Tehran Times and Fars News, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said, "Today, we have a great opportunity in the sea area for the development of the country, and we can turn this gift from an economic capacity into a civilizational capacity by using the maritime capacity properly. Today, the use of the sea is a geopolitical advantage for us, and those who do not have this capacity are suffering from geopolitical suffocation.”

He said that the Iranian Navy is planning on expanding its scope of operations.

“So far, we have been present in all the strategic straits of the world and we have not been present in only two straits, in one of which we will be present this year and we are planning to be present in the Panama Canal,” he said.

He added, "The actions taken today in the Navy would not have been possible without the support of the elite society, knowledge-based companies, and the Ministry of Defense. Today, this capacity is at the service of the country's progress".

“We started seafaring much earlier than the Europeans, and this maritime civilization can be revived. Today we need to strengthen our maritime presence and today we can say that there is no problem in the scientific field to grow in this field. But most of this capacity is used in the military field and other sectors should also make more efforts in this field."

“Today, if my comrades are approaching the shores of the American continent, they are showing signs of the authority of dear Iran. As a showcase for the dear people of our country, we appeared in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Of course, along this route, Australia and the French created threats for us and tried to violate the laws they had approved to cross their coasts. But we answered them with authority and according to the law.”

He also said that Iran now has command centers in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans.

“We have formed three oceanic commands, including the Indian Ocean Command, the Pacific Ocean Command, and the Atlantic Ocean Command. Today we are present in the Indian and Atlantic oceans and soon we will be present in the Pacific Ocean. The equipment that will join the Navy in the future is in line with the mission of these three commands,”

The two vessels that docked at the Brazilian port were the Iranian frigate Dena and the warship IRIS Makran,.

The IRIS Makran is Iran's only forward base ship of the Iranian Navy. It was converted from being an oil tanker and is Iran's largest warship.

Makran had been on its way to Venezuela in 2021 carrying seven missile boats onboard but was denied entry by Venezuela after intense diplomatic pressure at the time.

The Dena is a Moudge-class frigate, which according to Wikipedia has:

1 × 76 mm Fajr-27 naval gun, 1 × 40 mm Fath-40 AAA or 1x 30mm Kamand CIWS, 2 × 20 mm cannons Oerlikon, 2 × 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, 4 × Mehrab SAM surface-to-air missiles, 4 × Noor or Qader anti-ship missiles, 2 × triple 324 mm torpedoes

On January 11th, 2023 Iranian Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said, "So far, we have been present in all the strategic straits of the world. This year we are planning to be present in the Panama Canal.”

Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year strategic cooperation agreement in January 2022.

January 12th Transcript Of Ned Price Addressing Claims By Iran Of Visiting Panama Canal

QUESTION: the Islamic Republic of Iran is sending warships to the Panama Canal. Do you have any reactions to that? Do you find it provocative?

MR PRICE: We are aware of this claim by Iran’s navy. We continue to monitor Iran’s attempts or at least its statements of its intent to develop a military presence in the Western Hemisphere.

QUESTION: And also one more about exporting arms to Russia. There are reports that Iran has delayed the delivery of arms to Russia, including ballistic missiles and launchers. Are you aware of these delays and these reports, and what’s your assessment?

MR PRICE: Our overarching assessment has not changed. Iran is and remains Russia’s most important source of security assistance. This is a burgeoning partnership between Russia and Iran that has deepened in recent months but even over the longer time horizon. We’ve released significant detail regarding the provision of UAV technology from Iran to Russia. We have also detailed our concerns that Russia may also seek ballistic missiles, and ballistic missile technology, that Iran has.

We are watching very carefully. We continue to speak out against the provision of these wares, knowing that this technology, despite what we might hear from Tehran or from Moscow, is intended to do one thing: it is intended to kill Ukrainians; it is intended to inflict damage on the country of Ukraine, targeting in many cases civilian infrastructure.

Pentagon: Chinese Balloons Part Of Larger Surveillance Program By China - Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder says that the Pentagon is aware of four previous balloons having gone over the United States, and that they are a part of a "larger Chinese surveillance balloon program".

Pentagon: Chinese Balloons Part Of Larger Surveillance Program By China [Video Transcript]

USNORTHCOM continues their recovery operations in support of the recent takedown of the Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary: [Only Statements About Balloon Added]:

GENERAL RYDER: "As of today, recovery operations of the balloon and the payload continue without issue. Sea states Tuesday permitted divers and explosives ordnance technicians to conduct underwater salvage and recovery, and underwater survey activities continue using unmanned underwater vehicles. The USS Carter Hall remains in the vicinity of the debris field and is leading the recovery efforts. US Coast Guard cutters continue to provide security, and the FBI and NCIS agents continue their work cataloguing debris and transporting it for further processing.

Again, we remind members of the public, if you come across debris, please do not handle it, but call your local law enforcement to facilitate safe recovery. Additional information on recovery operations will be forthcoming.

QUESTION: Thank you. To go back to the balloon, does the Pentagon know with certainty now that the balloon actually came from China, i.e., it was launched from China? And if so, where?

And then the DOD has said that there have been at least three other balloon incidents during the previous administration and one other incident during this administration. Can you tell us a little bit about how you were able to discern that these balloons were the same, and they were also Chinese spy balloons?

GENERAL RYDER: GEN. RYDER: Sure. So let me address your second questions - well, your second question first. So again, I'm not able to go into the intelligence. As you highlight, we are aware that there have been four previous balloons that have gone over U.S. territory. This is what we assess as part of a larger Chinese surveillance balloon program. You've heard us talk in the past about the fact that this is a program that's been operated for several years. What we do know is that in some cases whereas some of these balloons previously had not been identified, subsequent analysis, subsequent intelligence analysis did enable us to indicate that these were Chinese balloons.

In terms of where they're coming from, I can't go into the specific location other than to say China, and the last thing I'll say is that this last week provided the United States with a unique opportunity to learn a lot more about the Chinese surveillance balloon program, all information that will help us to continue to strengthen our ability to track these kinds of objects.

QUESTION: Thank you. As you said, as it's part of a wider surveillance program, if four previous ones had transited the U.S., have there been others that maybe got near international U.S. military installations, but didn't actually cross U.S. soil?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, so again, for classification reasons, I'm not going to be able to go into a lot of details other than these four are the ones that we assess went over U.S. soil. And I'm not going to go over specifically what they tracked other than what we've acknowledged publicly -- that we know that they were looking to surveil strategic sites, to include some of our strategic bases in the continental United States.

And so when you look at the scope of this program and the fact that we know that these balloons have been spotted, and what we now can subsequently assess to be Chinese balloons operating over at least five continents in regions like Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe, again, it demonstrates why, for the Department of Defense, that China remains the pacing challenge, and something that we'll continue to stay focused on. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thanks, Pat. Do these Chinese surveillance balloons somehow explain the UAP, some of the unidentified aerial phenomena that were reported in that report to Congress? Have you gone back to look? And are some of those UAP incidents perhaps those Chinese surveillance balloons? And also, did you start tracking this balloon when it left China on July 21st? Were you tracking it all over -- the way over the Pacific Ocean, or did you just start tracking it when it got close to Alaska?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, thanks, Jennifer. So your first question, that's really a question best addressed by the Director of National Intelligence, that puts that report together. I will say, broadly speaking, that when it comes to our assessment of objects in air and space, you know, that's going to always be ongoing work, right?

So any time there's something that's unidentified, by default, we will track that information, and when new information can become available that we can apply, certainly we're going to do that, but to answer your direct question, the DNI would be the best folks to address that portion.

In terms of when we started tracking this, again, I'm not going to get into those kinds of specifics, other than to say we did see it approaching U.S. airspace. NORAD, NORTHCOM tracked it for the duration. Again, as it entered U.S. airspace, NORAD determined that it did not pose a physical or military threat, and in accordance with their procedures, monitored it.

When it did come over the continental United States, we began to develop options on how to take it down and address this threat, with the idea being that we wanted to wait until it was over water so that we could mitigate any potential civilian harm or property damage, and importantly, as I highlighted, use this as an opportunity to, again, better understand the Chinese surveillance balloon program and apply that information to increase our ability to track these kinds of objects. Thanks.

QUESTION: Can you clarify when the Chinese balloon -- the last surveillance balloon that went down near Hawaii went down? There are reports that it was four months ago and there's another report that it was in June. When did it go down?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, I've seen those press reports. Again, I'm not going to have any information to provide on the previous balloon flights that were out there. But again, appreciate your understanding on that.

QUESTION: Thank you. Could you just, in layman's terms, explains why there has been this -- what the General called "awareness gaps," why the U.S. was not able to detect these kinds of balloons previously?

And then given that, is there a kind of intelligence failure here? Did the military and the intelligence somehow fail to understand or grasp this threat or is it a failure of imagination? And how's that being addressed?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, thanks, Dan. So to answer your last question there right up front, no, it was not an intelligence failure. You know, as we learn more about this type of capability and really, what General VanHerck was referring to was previously having a domain awareness gap -- but we've learned a lot about these balloons, we've learned a lot how to track them, as evidenced by the fact that, again, we were tracking it as it approached U.S. airspace. And so we're confident that what we've learned about this program enables us to be able to monitor and be on the lookout for these kinds of capabilities.

And when you think about the wide array of activities that we monitor globally, but most importantly when it comes to defense of the homeland along our coasts and our skies, by being able to identify the characteristics of things like this or other potential threats, it all gets put into a broader library, so to speak, of information that our analysts can monitor, track, and detect, and then respond appropriately.

QUESTION: And then in terms of this global program, are the balloons that are spotted elsewhere in the world essentially similar to the one that was flying across the U.S.? And is there reason to believe that those balloons were flying near or over U.S. military bases abroad in those countries?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, so beyond the fact that they share the common characteristic of being surveillance balloons, right, intelligence collection assets that the PRC is employing, the only other thing I'd say is that we do know there's variation in the various sizes and capabilities of balloon, but beyond that, I'm not going to go into specifics. In other words yeah, I'll just leave it at that.

In terms of what they're monitoring and what their flight paths are going to be, I'm not going to go into that level of information, but needless to say again it calls into question why China, the PRC, feel that it's okay to violate sovereign airspace of nations in a way that is inappropriate and unacceptable -- so combining this capability with the other intelligence assets that they have at their disposal.

And so again, as I highlighted earlier, this just demonstrates why the PRC continues to remain our pacing challenge and I think that they have a lot of explaining to do when it comes to conducting these types of programs and violating nations' airspace and sovereignty. Thank you.

QUESTION: First, did you guys assess that this was a fleet after this balloon was spotted or from what you've determined in previous UAP investigations?

And with that, are you planning to declassify any information about those 163 reports of balloon and balloon-like entities so that we could understand better how they compare and don't compare?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, so on your second question, I'd refer you to the DNI. Clearly, within the realms of operations security and protecting intelligence sources and methods, we are trying our best to provide the public with as much information as we can on this program, recognizing that we don't want to do anything that's going to compromise our sources and methods.

In terms of your question about assessments on the overall surveillance balloon fleet, yes, we were tracking this before this particular incident. As I mentioned, our awareness and understanding of this capability has increased over the last couple of years.

You know, as General VanHerck highlighted, this wasn't information that we necessarily had previously, but again, our analysts have been able to, over time, put the pieces together and learn a lot more about this program.

And the last thing I'd say on that, again, is this was a unique opportunity for us to observe this balloon and its characteristics very closely as it traveled over the United States, and needless to say -- and I won't go into details -- we gained a lot of information on this and I believe we'll continue to gain more information on this.

QUESTION: Following up on -- following up on Tara's question, I thought you said, about the other four previous ones, that they were over strategic sites.

GENERAL RYDER: Again, I'm not going to -- they were over sites that would be of interest to the Chinese but I'm not going to go into the specifics, David. Thank you.

QUESTION: Just a quick follow-up and then a separate question. You said a moment ago the awareness and understanding of the situation has increased. When did the U.S. come to the conclusion that these were in fact surveillance balloon? Because it seems like that was an incredibly recent conclusion, based on the understanding of the situation.

And then just a short time ago in a House Intel briefing, Representative Stewart said the balloon may be the Chinese testing the American people to see their reaction, while General Philip Breedlove suggests that it was the enemy conditioning the U.S. population. Does the Pentagon believe that was China was conditioning or testing the U.S. with these balloons in some way?

GENERAL RYDER: Yes, thanks, Oren. So, you'd really need to talk to China about what its motivations were. Again, the facts are that they sent a surveillance balloon into sovereign U.S. airspace. We responded quickly and appropriately, monitored it, tracked it and took it down as soon as it was safe to do so. And I'll just leave it at that.

GENERAL RYDER: I don't have a specific date to provide you in terms of when the intelligence community developed this other than to say it's been in the last couple of years that we've been able to do the analysis and look at these objects and determine which has built the body of knowledge available to us. So again, as I mentioned, as this object approached U.S. airspace, NORAD NORTHCOM knew what it was and tracked it.

QUESTION: Thank you. You mentioned these four previous incidents. Was this the first time that the U.S. military had the capability of shooting down one of these balloons or was this a consideration in any of those previous incidences as well? And I also have a question on Ukraine.

GENERAL RYDER: Yes. So, we always maintain a variety of options on how best to respond. So, in terms of being able to shoot down any object that violates or threatens the United States, or our airspace, or our people, certainly, that is an option that's available to us. But in each case we took what we consider appropriate action. So, just leave it that.

If anything enters into our airspace whether we know what it is or not, we will monitor and we'll take appropriate action. Luis’ question was, did you have the capability to take down a balloon? Yes. We maintain the capability to take down balloons.

QUESTION: Well, kind of. It was more like, were there discussion about shooting it down --

GENERAL RYDER: Yes, I'm not going to get into those discussions.

QUESTION: Thank you for taking my question. Also wanted to touch on the hearing on the Hill this morning, the former EUCOM commander calling the delay in shooting down the balloon a miscalculation and that it could be China trying to condition the U.S. to miscalculate in the future. Was this a miscalculation? And how confident are we that we'll be able to detect these kinds of balloons in the future?

GENERAL RYDER: GEN. RYDER: Yes, so I think we are very confident that we'll be able to detect these kinds of capabilities, as evidenced by the continuing body of knowledge that we've been able to build up on this. But, obviously, that is something that our intelligence community will continue to work very closely on for this and any other potential threats.

In terms of how others may characterize it, I'm going to allow them to speak for themselves. Again, we detected this balloon, tracked it very closely. When it went into the continental United States we evaluated options on how best to bring it down. As you know, once it was safe to do so, we brought it down over water and we continue to collect the debris to be able to exploit for further intelligence.

QUESTION: And if I could ask, what did China think that they could get at 60,000 feet that they couldn't get with a satellite? What do you think they were collecting?

GENERAL RYDER: Again, that's a question that's best addressed by China. Obviously, at a high altitude you're operating above civilian air traffic. As you've heard us say before, the collection capabilities of this balloon were not of more advantage to other capabilities that we know they maintain. But regardless, we took steps to mitigate the potential collection of information. But as I also mentioned, we learned a lot about this balloon program.

And you know, the last thing I'd say on that is that I would not be surprised that the PRC starts to reevaluate its dirigible collection program. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you, General. Just first clarification, because I'm confused. With the previous four balloons, did you say they were not detected, but later intelligence assessment got your awareness? Would -- did this happen -- is this true, and did this happen with this administration, that assessment, or with the previous administration?

GENERAL RYDER: So what we know is that over the last several years, to include time during the previous administration, subsequent analysis determined that objects that had traversed over the United States, although not for the duration of this fifth balloon, were ultimately determined to be PRC surveillance balloons.

QUESTION: And the four previous balloons, they all happened during the last administration?

GENERAL RYDER: Three during the last administration, one during the Biden admin -- at the beginning of the Biden administration.

QUESTION: Well, this is the second balloon during the Biden administration?

GENERAL RYDER: Correct

QUESTION: Okay. And then did the technology you're able now to collect from the debris, did this lead you to think that this is actually part of a spy program, or are you leaving any room for maybe, no, actually, this was for civilian purposes?

GENERAL RYDER: I can assure you this was not for civilian purposes. We are 100 percent clear about that.

QUESTION: And are you willing in the future to share information with the public that confirms this assessment?

GENERAL RYDER: Well, what do you mean?

QUESTION: I mean, we have two narratives here, right? You referred us to the PRC before. The PRC maintains this is for civilian purposes strictly. The DOD and the administration is maintaining, no, this is actually spy balloon for military purposes, although it has no value added to what they have in terms of more than 400 satellites. So we have, as a press corps, we have two narratives here, competing narratives.

GENERAL RYDER: Okay. So I'll give you the facts. Again, based on what we know and have observed about this balloon, it is a surveillance balloon. It was an intelligence-collection capability. You know, a question that I would ask myself is if, in fact, it was a civilian balloon, a weather balloon, and it was approaching a sovereign nation, about to enter their airspace, a responsible nation would have put out some kind of public statement saying, "Hey, heads up. This is heading your way. We just want to let you know." The PRC did not do that. They didn't respond until after they were called out. I'll just leave it at that.

QUESTION: Thank you for taking my question, General. So on the balloon, I -- it -- have you shared the ID characteristics, now that we now have some better definition, with our other allies and partners so that they can watch over their own airspace and detect potential incursions?

GENERAL RYDER: So yes, so we are -- we are in the process of updating our international allies and partners. Not going to have more specifics to provide. Clearly, we maintain an intelligence-sharing relationship with many countries, and so as we have information to provide and as we currently are, we will share that information.

QUESTION: So I've heard multiple stories about the balloon in Hawaii. How exactly did it go down? Was it -- did it crash? Was it shot down? I just want to confirm.

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, again, I'm not going to be able to talk about what we know on those previous balloons.

QUESTION Second, once we found out that it did go down, however it went down, were we able to recover any information from it?

GENERAL RYDER: Again, I'm not going to have any specifics to provide. As I highlighted earlier, broadly speaking, we've learned a lot about this surveillance balloon program, and every piece of information that we gather contributes to that body of knowledge that enables us to detect them, track them, and take appropriate action.

QUESTION -- one in Guam, anything?

GENERAL RYDER: Again, I'm not going to be able to go into more details.

QUESTION: I just had a very quick follow-up. Is the unofficial U.S. policy now that you're not going to shoot down balloons over land, only over water, or in the way that you're scrutinizing this further information that you have, is that going to change the way you respond to future balloons since it's a fleet?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, so I think you need to take a step back and look at our policy has not changed. If something is about to enter our airspace, we're going to track it and monitor it and determine whether or not it's a threat. And in this particular case, as the balloon approached U.S. airspace, the NORAD NORTHCOM Commander determined that it did not present an imminent physical or military threat.

So we're always going to reserve the right to take appropriate action against any foreign objects, unexplained aerial phenomenon, whatever it is, to safeguard the American public, and that's exactly what we did in this case.

QUESTION: Pat, if there were four previous incidents were Chinese spy balloons were over U.S. airspace and they weren't reported, how is this not an intelligence failure?

GENERAL RYDER: So the idea here is that we're going to be tracking all kinds of objects on any given day, both in the air, on the sea. And so as we gain information and as we see the profile of those objects determining whether or not it's a threat -- and so in terms of our ability to collect on those, as I've highlighted, we have learned a lot about their program, we've been able to learn a lot about what they're doing and their intent.

We observe a lot of things every single day in a lot of different ways, from an intelligence collection standpoint, and those are things that we're not necessarily going to talk about publicly for obvious reasons. There's also benefit in us knowing what they're doing and not publicly talking about what they're doing.

But in terms of monitoring these and collecting on them, we have been able to put together a body of knowledge that enables us to be able to detect them and act appropriately.

QUESTION: But did you know they were Chinese spy craft at the time, those four incidents?

GENERAL RYDER: They were tracked and subsequently determined to be Chinese.

QUESTION: And lastly, J-21 Chinese aircraft that came very close to the U.S. surveillance plane on December 21st, was that related to the balloon program or observation of the balloon -

GENERAL RYDER: No, completely discounted.

QUESTION: Thanks very much for doing this. One follow-up on the question of communications with China. You said that responsible nations, if it was a civilian balloon, would have notified the U.S. in advance. Does the Pentagon then assess that China is acting recklessly on purpose, in the hopes of creating some sort of bigger incident?

And then separately on the balloons, how -- is there any evidence or any assessment that some of the balloons, whether the one that was tracked just over the U.S. or the others, had capabilities other than surveillance, perhaps transmission?

And are there any other countries that may be running similar balloon programs to that being run by the PRC?

GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, thanks, Jeff. So on your last question, I mean, obviously nations around the world maintain various degrees of intelligence programs, and I'm not going to get into those from here.

In terms of what message China was trying to send with this balloon, again, I'd refer you to the PRC. I'm going to deal with the facts. The facts are that the balloon went into and violated sovereign U.S. airspace. We tracked it very closely, we developed options, and when the time was right to minimize potential civilian harm, we took a shot and took the balloon down.

And again, this is contributing to our body of knowledge on this program, which we will apply to defending our skies and protecting our citizens well into the future. And I will say also that when it comes to learning about these kinds of programs, I think we all appreciate the fact that this is not static. You're constantly learning, you're constantly applying lessons learned in order to protect the American public and our allies and our partners, and this is no different in that case.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Appreciate your time today.

Northern Command Level Changed From 2 To 3 - The Northern Command level (North America), which was raised due to heightened military readiness upon the shoot-down of the Chinese surveillance balloon, has been changed from 2 to 3. Read FAQ for more information on the system: Read FAQ

Efforts Underway To Study Chinese Surveillance Balloon After Downed - After the United States Air Force carried out the operation to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon, efforts are underway to study and scrutinize both the balloon and its payload. Read Full Article

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Issues Statement Regarding "US Claim" It Shot Down Chinese Unmanned Airship - Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US's use of force to attack civilian unmanned airships".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the US claim that it shot down the Chinese unmanned airship

"China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US's use of force to attack civilian unmanned airships.

The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure, which was completely accidental. China clearly requires the US to handle it properly in a calm, professional and restrained manner.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense also stated that the balloon will not pose a military or personal threat to ground personnel. Under such circumstances, the U.S. insists on using force, obviously overreacting and seriously violating international practice.

China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies, while reserving the right to make further necessary reactions."

DoD F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "A U.S. Air Force fighter safely shot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a written statement.

President Joe Biden ordered the action on Wednesday, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure no Americans on the ground were harmed.

"The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above U.S. territorial waters," Austin said.

The action was taken in coordination and support of the Canadian government. "We thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through [North American Aerospace Defense Command] as it transited North America," Austin said.

"Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Austin said referring to the Peoples Republic of China.

U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace over Idaho.

"President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon's path," said a senior defense official speaking on background.

"Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overland."

An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.

The balloon fell approximately six miles off the coast in about 47 feet of water. No one was hurt.

Long before the shoot down, U.S. officials took steps to protect against the balloon's collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the Chinese. The senior defense official said the recovery of the balloon will enable U.S. analysts to examine sensitive Chinese equipment.

"I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC surveillance balloon's collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon's overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us," the official said.

"I can't go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable."

The balloon did not pose a military or physical threat. Still its intrusion into American airspace over several days was an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty. The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration.

While Chinese officials admitted that the balloon was theirs, they said it was a runaway weather balloon. "The PRC has claimed publicly that the high-altitude balloon operating above the United States is a weather balloon that was blown off course.

This is false," the official said. "This was a PRC surveillance balloon. This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites."

The mission now transitions to one of recovery. There are a number of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels establishing a security perimeter around the area where the balloon came to Earth. They are searching for debris, said a senior military official also speaking on background.

There is no estimate for how long the recovery mission will take, the military official said, but the fact that it came down in such a shallow area should make recovery "fairly easy".

The military official gave some detail of the engagement. The F-22 fired the Sidewinder at the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet. The balloon at the time was between 60,000 and 65,000 feet.

F-15 Eagles flying from Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, supported the F-22, as did tankers from multiple states including Oregon, Montana, South Carolina and North Carolina. Canadian forces also helped track the overflight of the balloon.

The Navy has deployed the destroyer USS Oscar Austin, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the USS Carter Hall, an amphibious landing ship in support of the effort."

DoD Statement: Chinese High Altitude Surveillance Balloon Successfully Shot Down - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "This afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the water off the coast of South Carolina in U.S. airspace.

The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above U.S. territorial waters.

On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path.

After careful analysis, U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload.

In accordance with the President’s direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities. This action was taken in coordination, and with the full support, of the Canadian government.

And we thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through NORAD as it transited North America.

Today’s deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC’s unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."

CIA Director: Chinese President Has Instructed Military To Be Ready By 2027 For Invasion On Taiwan - WASHINGTON - CIA Director William Burns said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered China's military to "be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion" of the island of Taiwan.

Burns spoke at Georgetown University on Thursday and said that Xi has been watching Russian President Vladimir Putin's drawn-out war on Ukraine.

"On Taiwan, I guess I would say our assessment at CIA is that I wouldn’t underestimate President Xi’s ambitions with regard to Taiwan. He has been pretty clear about that over the years," Burns stated.

He continued by saying, "I think he has watched very carefully – it seems to us – Putin’s experience in Ukraine and been a little bit unsettled and sobered by that as well".

"We know as a matter of intelligence he has instructed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion."

He added, "Now, that does not mean that he's decided to conduct an invasion in 2027, or any other year, but it's a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and his ambition".

"Therefore, I think it’s very much in our interest as a policy matter in the United States to make clear our commitment to the status quo, to make clear we are not interested as a country in changing that status quo, that we are deeply opposed to anyone trying to change that unilaterally, especially by the use of force".

"And to continue to do all we can to help Taiwan defend itself and think through how best to do that to deter what would be a sort of deeply unfortunate conflict for everyone involved, including China as well".

Taiwan has been sending military aircraft and drones into the airspace around the island of Taiwan, some of which cross into Taiwan's air defense identification zone nearly every single day since former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island on August 2nd, 2022.

Before Pelosi's visit to the island, China's incursions around the island were far less frequent and were not daily occurrences.

China also began sending frequent reconnaissance drones around Taiwan, which were not generally sent around the island before Pelosi's visit occurred.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Statement On Balloon Over United States - Below is a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry regarding the balloon spotted above mainland United States.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Statement

"Q: On February 3, senior US State Department officials said at a briefing via teleconference that due to the entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace, US Secretary of State Blinken has decided to postpone his planned trip to China. Do you have any comment?

A: Regarding the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes.

Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. This is entirely an unexpected situation caused by force majeure and the facts are very clear.

China always acts in strict accordance with international law and respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.

We have no intention to violate and has never violated the territory or airspace of any sovereign country. Some politicians and media in the US have hyped it up to attack and smear China. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to that.

Maintaining contact and communication at all levels is an important common understanding reached by the Chinese and US presidents at their meeting in Bali.

One of the tasks of the diplomatic teams on both sides is to properly manage bilateral relations, particularly to manage some unexpected situations in a cool-headed and prudent manner. In fact, neither side has ever announced that there would be a visit.

It is a matter for the US to make its latest announcement, and we respect that."

Surveillance Balloon May Be Guided By Artificial Intelligence - A specialist in surveillance balloons says that balloons are difficult to shoot down and that the one over the United States flying over U.S. military sites looks to have been equipped with an advanced AI guidance system. Read Full Article

Explosion Reported Over Billings Montana - An explosion has been reported over Billings, Montana. The governor says that they are "monitoring the situation". The city of Billings, Montana says PD fire and airport have not been called to any incidents, and there have not been any plane crashes picked up on radar. View Tweet.

A Second Chinese "Spy Balloon" Hovering Over Latin America - WASHINGTON - The Chinese "spy balloon" has altered its flight path and is now moving east at about 60,000 feet over the "central" United States, which demonstrates its ability to maneuver, according to a statement by the U.S. military Friday.

A second balloon has also been spotted hovering over Latin America, according to the Pentagon.

China claimed that the balloon was merely a civilian airship that accidentally got blown off course into U.S. airspace.

Pentagon spokesperson: "we are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder spoke at a news briefing and said, ""We know this is a Chinese (surveillance) balloon and that it has the ability to maneuver".

Ryder said that he expects that the balloon will continue on its path over U.S. airspace for a few more days.

He also refused to say where exactly the balloon is located currently, and when asked "Doesn't the public not have a right to know if the balloon is over their state?" he stated, "The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is".

Ryder also said that the balloon "does not pose a physical threat to people on the ground".

Kansas Senator Roger Marshall said that the balloon is hovering over the northeastern portion of his own state, and said "I condemn any attempts the Chinese make to spy on Americans. President Biden must protect the sovereignty of the U.S.".

Ryder said, "We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon".

Canadian Ministry of Defense Statement on High Altitude Surveillance Balloon - "February 2, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces: "A high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected and its movements are being actively tracked by NORAD. Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident.

NORAD, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence, and other partners have been assessing the situation and working in close coordination.

Canada’s intelligence agencies are working with American partners and continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard Canada’s sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats.

We remain in frequent contact with our American allies as the situation develops."

Senior Defense Official Holds a Background Briefing on High-Altitude Surveillance Balloon - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE transcript of a background briefing regarding the high-altitude surveillance balloon spotted hovering over mainland United States, having come from Alaska, through Canada and into the northern United States from Canada.

DoD: "BRIGADIER GENERAL PAT RYDER: Good evening, everyone. Brigadier General Pat Ryder here, the Pentagon press secretary. So thank you very much for joining us a little bit later in the day. I'm going to go over a couple of ground rules first. I'll provide you then with an on-the-record statement. And then I'll turn it over our senior defense official.

So first, I'm going to read you an on-the-record statement. This is from Brigadier General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.

"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. The U.S. government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic, and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information."

STAFF: And with that, we'll go ahead now and revert to on-background. And you can attribute this to a senior defense official.

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks, Pat.

Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us late. So a couple of things up top, and then happy to take a few questions. I'll let Pat moderate on that. But so a few things.

First, we are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the PRC. As was said at the top, instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration. In this instance, President Biden was briefed and asked for military options.

Secretary Austin convened senior DoD leadership yesterday, even as he was on the road in the Philippines. It was the strong recommendation by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley, and the commander of NORTHCOM, General VanHerck, not to take kinetic action due to the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field.

Currently we assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective. But we are taking steps, nevertheless, to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.

We are also tracking what abilities it could have in gaining insights, and continue to monitor the balloon as it is over the continental United States.

And so with that, let me pause and I'll take your questions.

Pat, you want to run the show?

STAFF: Yes, sir. Thank you.

All right, first we'll go to Tara Copp, Associated Press.

Q: Hey, thanks for doing this. A couple of questions about the balloon itself. Can you give us a sense of how big is it? Is it as big as a car? Big as a bus? Did that factor into the decision not to shoot it down? And, I guess, third on the balloon, when did you first start tracking it? Was it before it crossed into the continental United States?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, good questions. So how big? You know, I'm not going to go into the exact dimensions. We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area. We had been looking at whether there was an option yesterday over some sparsely populated areas in Montana. But we just couldn't buy down the risk enough to feel comfortable recommending shooting it down yesterday.

So, beyond that, though, I can't really go into the dimensions. But there have been reports of pilots seeing this thing, even though it's pretty high up in the sky. So, you know, it's sizeable.

In terms -- and so whether it factored into the decision, it did in the sense that we had to assess what the possible debris field would look like falling from that height. We wanted to, you know, take care that somebody didn't get hurt or property wasn't destroyed.

And, I'm sorry, how long have we been tracking it. I'm not going to go into all the details because I don't want to reveal sensitive information. But I will say we have been tracking it for some time. And we have had custody of it the entire time it has been over U.S. airspace, entered the continental United States airspace a couple of days ago.

Q: And just one last, you know, Montana's one of the three homes for our siloed nuclear weapons. Was there any concern that the balloon was trying to collect intelligence on those silo fields?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, so clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance. And so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites. I'd just say a couple of things.

First, our best assessment at the moment is that whatever the surveillance payload is on this balloon, it does not create significant value added over and above what the PRC is likely able to collect through things like satellites in Low Earth Orbit.

But out of an abundance of caution, we have taken additional mitigation steps. I'm not going to go into what those are. But we know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it is passing over. And we are taking steps to be extra vigilant so that we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk.

STAFF: Thank you.

Let's go to Jen Griffin, FOX.

Q: Thank you very much. What do you think the target of this balloon was? And has this ever happened before that you've seen either a Chinese surveillance balloon or another country's surveillance balloon over the United States, or is this the first time?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, so, I mean, it is a surveillance balloon. And not to be -- I'm not trying to be a wiseguy. But the goal is surveillance. And clearly they're trying to fly this -- this balloon over sensitive sites, one of which was just mentioned, to collect information. As I said, we do not judge that it provides significant value added over and above what they can currently collect in other means. But nevertheless, it's something we're watching closely.

Is it the first time. It is not the first time that you had a balloon of this nature cross over the continental United States. It has happened a handful of other times over the past few years, to include before this administration.

It is appearing to hang out for a long period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances. So that would be one distinguishing factor. Over.

STAFF: Let's go to Jeff Schogol, Task & Purpose.

Q: All right, thank you. What makes you believe this is a Chinese spy balloon? And then just for arguments sake, why not blow it up and just take the risk that it hits something on the ground?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Right. No, I'm not going to go into all the ways in which we know that it's a PRC balloon. I will just say we have very high confidence that this is a PRC balloon. Very high confidence.

So we do not doubt that this is a PRC balloon. And that is an assessment shared across our intelligence and analytic community. Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here. So the first question is does it pose a threat -- physical kinetic threat to individuals in the United States or the U.S. Homeland. Our assessment is it does not.

Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not. And so given that risk, that profile, we assess that the risk of downing it, even if the probability was low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting somebody or damaging property that it wasn't worth it and that was the recommendation of our military commanders.

That is what we recommended to the White House yesterday.

STAFF: Let's go to Idrees Ali, Reuters.

Q: Hey, just two quick questions. Firstly, have you directly brought this up with Chinese officials and what has their response been? And in terms of altitude, is this over U.S. airspace or is it sort of in the stratosphere? What's sort of the height of this right now?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, both good questions. Good to hear your voice, Idrees. We have engaged PRC officials with urgency through multiple channels. They've been engaged both through their embassy here in Washington and through our embassy in Beijing.

We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue. But beyond that I'm not going to go into the content of the -- of the message. But we have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland. And so if the risk profile that I described earlier, if that changes we will have options to deal with this balloon.

In terms of the altitude, I'm not going to go into the exact altitude. What I will say is that it is significantly above where civilian air traffic is active, which is why we do not assess that it's a threat to civilian aviation. It -- but it is in the atmosphere and it is over U.S. airspace. It is not in outer space.

STAFF: OK. Let's go to Heather Mongilio, USNI.

Q: Thank you so much. You mentioned this is not the first time. Can you say when the last time a similar situation happened?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I -- I'm not going to go into the details of that. It's happened a few times in recent years to include before this administration. But beyond that I'm not going to go into the details.

STAFF: Got time for just a few more. We'll go to Dan Lamothe, Washington Post.

Q: Yes, thank you. And can you walk us through how you observed it? NBC News reported that system F-22s were sent up -- I don't if scrambled would be the right terminology there but at least sent up to get a closer look. Thank you.

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, so we've been -- we've been observing it through multiple means, including manned aircraft. You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at billings airport and the mobilization of a number of assets including F-22s.

The context for that was it would put some things on station in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana. So we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the air space around that potential area. But even with those protective measures taken it was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn't drive the risk down low enough, so we didn't take the shot.

But that's why you saw the reports that you saw, Dan.

STAFF: And Nancy Youssef, Wall Street Journal.

Q: Thank you. (Inaudible) you mentioned earlier that the balloon stayed for a longer period of time than in the past and that it wasn't offering any significant intelligence relative to other means of ISR that the Chinese have. My question is, is there any reason to believe that the Chinese wanted this to be spotted. Is there -- is that your conclusion?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: You know, I can't speculate. It's probably a question better to direct to the Chinese embassy. I don't know why they did what they did. I will say that the past number of times it did not loiter over the continental United States for an extended period of time. It's different.

And precisely why they made the decision to make this different I think really is a question for them.

STAFF: And last question, Brandi Vincent, DefenseScoop.

Q: Thank you so much for doing this. Does the balloon appear to have technology that is different or more advanced than any technology that the U.S. has? Does the U.S. have a policy for dealing with balloons like this? I can't help but think of the 163 balloons that were made sense of in the UAP report. So is this something that you're developing policy on or does policy exist about how to handle these sort of sightings?

SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Yes, you know I'm not going to go into the exact nature of the technology. I don't think that the -- that the pay load on this is -- I wouldn't characterize it as revolutionary. I think the thing that is different is the altitude and of course the willingness to put it over the continental United States for an extended period of time.

I think that's the -- that's the biggest difference here. As it relates to do we have a policy, the answer is yes, we do and most importantly we also have sufficient authority given to us to take action under Title 10 against unmanned aerial systems of which this balloon would be a part. So we think we have all the authorities we need to do anything that we need to do to protect the American people and we'll continue to do that.

Q: Thank you.

STAFF: Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, that's all the time we have. Just as a reminder the comments are as a senior defense official on background. My comment at the top is on the record and we will post a transcript on defense.gov when it's available. Thank you for joining us.

NORAD And Northern Command Statement On Surveillance Balloon Over US - NORAD: "NORAD and U.S. Northern Command statement on the high-altitude surveillance balloon.

The United States government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now.

The North Americacn Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) continues to track and monitor it closely.

The NORAD Commander, General Glen VanHerck assesses the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time.

The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic."

U.S. Tracking High-Altitude Surveillance Balloon - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "An intelligence-gathering balloon, most certainly launched by the People's Republic of China, is currently floating above the United States, the Defense Department announced Thursday evening.

"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during an impromptu briefing Thursday evening. "The U.S. government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely."

Ryder said the balloon is well above commercial air traffic and doesn't pose a threat to civil aviation. He also said this isn't the first time such a balloon has been seen over the United States.

After the balloon was detected, Ryder said, the U.S. government "acted immediately" to protect against the collection of sensitive information, though he didn't detail what measures were taken.

A senior defense official who participated in the briefing on background only said the U.S. intelligence community has "very high confidence" the balloon belongs to the People's Republic of China, and that the United States has engaged with Chinese officials "with urgency, through multiple channels" regarding the presence of the balloon.

"We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue," the official said. "We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland."

Right now, the official said, following recommendations of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley and Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the U.S. position is to allow the balloon to continue to float above the United States, rather than attempt to shoot is down.

The official said the risk of using kinetic force to take the balloon out of the sky might put civilian communities at risk, and that the threat the balloon poses now to both safety and U.S. intelligence doesn't justify such an action.

"Currently, we assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collective collection perspective," the official said. "But we are taking steps, nevertheless, to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information."

The official said this is not the first time such a balloon has been seen above the United States, but did say this time the balloon appears to be acting differently than what has been seen in the past.

"It's happened a handful of other times over the past few years, to include before this administration," the official said. "It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time, this time around, more persistent than in previous instances. That would be one distinguishing factor."

While the senior defense official would not say how large the balloon is, the official did say its size did figure into the calculation to not use kinetic force to take it out of the sky.

"We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area," the official said. "I can't really go into the dimension — but there have been reports of pilots seeing this thing, even though it's pretty high up in the sky. So ... it's sizable."

As early as yesterday, the official said, the balloon was seen over Montana."

DoD Statement on High-Altitude Surveillance Balloon - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now.

The U.S. government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information."

U.S. Government Tracking Suspected Chinese "Spy" Balloon Hovering Over Northern United States - UNITED STATES - The U.S. government is currently tracking a balloon that has been in northern U.S. airspace for a few days now, and U.S. officials say they are confident it is a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon.

Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder spoke to NBC news and said, “The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now".

Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” he added.

It was detected hovering over Billings, Montana Wednesday, flying in from the Alaskan Aleutian Islands, and entering the United States through Canada.

Defense officials have been discussing shooting it down, two U.S. officials and a senior defense official told NBC.

The senior defense official said, "Currently we assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective over and above what the PRC can do through other means".

“Nevertheless we are taking all necessary steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information,” he added.

Due to the altitude of the balloon is at, the official told NBC that it does not currently pose a threat to civilian aircraft.

He also said that while the balloon was hovering over Montana on Wednesday, they could have shot it out of the sky. NORAD did send aircraft, which included F-22 Raptors from the Nellis Air Force Base, but NBC says the official wouldn't speak on whether their options included taking the balloon out.

U.S. officials have contacted the Chinese government "through multiple channels both here in D.C. and in Beijing," the official reportedly told NBC.

Another $2.2 Billion In Aid To Ukraine Expected To Be Announced "Very Soon" - WASHINGTON - The United States is preparing a $2.2 billion package worth of military aid to Ukraine, and is expected to contain longer-range rockets than the United States has previously been willing to give to Ukraine, as well as other weapons and ammunition.

White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton said that the United States will be announcing additional security assistance to Ukraine "very soon".

"I expect we're going to have more security assistance to announce soon," Dalton told reporters.

From the start of Russia's war on Ukraine on February 24th, 2022 to January 19th, 2023 the total dollar amount of military equipment given to Ukraine adds up to $26.7 billion.

Part of the $2.2 billion would be allocated to purchase the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which is manufactured by Boeing Co, according to a report by Reuters.

The Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb has a range of about 94 miles, which is longer-ranged than other weapons given by the United States thus far, but does not reach as far as the longer-ranged guided missile system (ATACMS) requested by Ukraine, but rejected by the United States capable of a range o 185 miles. Read More

Israel Reportedly Behind Attack On Iranian Weapons Factory - Israel reported to be behind the attack on the Iranian weapons factory. The Pentagon has stated that no U.S. military forces were involved in strikes, despite claims by Saudi media that the United States Air Force was involved. Read Full Article

Netblocks: Iranian Internet Network Cut, Disruption In Connectivity - Netblocks Internet Observatory: "Confirmed: Network data show a disruption to internet connectivity in Iran with high impact to Mazandaran Province; authorities are attributing the incident to fiber optic cuts on the path between Babol and Sari".Read Notice

Admiral Says NATO Ready For Direct Confrontation With Russia - NATO - An Admiral serving as the Chair of the NATO Military Committee says that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is ready for a direct confrontation with Russia.

Lieutenant admiral in the Royal Netherlands Navy Rob Bauer serving as the Chair of the NATO Military Committee since June 2021 was asked by the interviewer if we are ready for a direct confrontation with Russia, to which he responded, "We are" in an interview with DW.

During the video, he said, "They have shown us in a document, it was a concept treaty text in December 2021. They sent us a text which basically said we have to go back to the pre-1997 situation".

He added, "That's what they are aiming for, that's what is their strategic objective".

He continued, "It is about turning back to the old Soviet Union".

"Many nations in NATO thought for decades that we were owning the timelines. We were the ones that decided to go to Afghanistan, to go to Iraq, it was a decision from NATO, from the NATO nations".

"We owned the timelines, we were saying "when are we going, with how many troops, for how long, etc," and added, "Now, we are facing a threat, which is Russia that is coming to us uninvited at a moment of their choosing, so we have to be much more ready. We have no time to prepare because it is up to them when they come".

The interviewer asked, "We are ready for a direct confrontation with Russia?", to which he stated, "We are".

The interviewer then asked, "We are ready for a nuclear war, and do you believe in that possibility?"

The Admiral said, "I think that Vladimir Putin is not insane, so that's the good news. He has ideas that are not our ideas, but he's not insane. He's still a rational person, and I think that is important with regard to the use of nuclear weapons".

"I think it's extremely important that we all continue to agree on the effect that a nuclear war should not be fought, and can never be won".

USAF General Says He Believes US Will Be At War With China In 2025 - General Mike Minihan, who heads the United States Air Force's Air Mobility Command has warned that he believes the United States will be at war with China in 2025. View Documents.

The following is a memo which is dated in the future (February 1, 2023) and according to The Drive has been confirmed as authentic by a spokesperson of the Air Mobility Command (AMC).

SUBJECT: February 2023 Orders in Preparation for - The Next Fight:

1. SITUATION. I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025. Xi secured his third term and set his war council in October 2022. Taiwan's presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a reason. United States' presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a distracted America. Xi's team, reason, and opportunity are all aligned for 2025. We spent 2022 setting the foundation for victory. We will spend 2023 in crisp operational motion building on that foundation. If you want to know what the operational motion I demand looks like, look at what Total Force Team Charleston did in January.

2. COMMANDER'S INTENT. Go faster. Drive readiness, integration, and agility for ourselves and the Joint Force to deter, and if required, defeat China. This is the first of 8 monthly directives from me. You need to know I alone own the pen on these orders. My expectations are high, and these orders are not up for negotiation. Follow them. I will be tough, fair, and loving in my approach to secure victory.

3. END STATE. A fortified, ready, integrated, and agile Joint Force Maneuver Team ready to fight and win inside the first island chain. Maximize the use of the force and the tools we currently have and extract full value from things that currently exist. Close the gaps: C2, navigation, maneuver under attack, and tempo.

4. RISK. Run deliberately, not recklessly. You will be governed by the principle of calculated training risk, which you shall interpret to mean the avoidance of death, serious injury, and Class A damage to attain higher readiness, integration, and agility. If the Tactic, Technique, and Procedure you are developing increases AMC's ability to fight and win inside the first island chain ... move out. If you are comfortable in your approach to training, then you are not taking enough risk.

5. OT&E. Attached are our OT&E efforts from 2022 Fall PHOENIX Rally, which will guide our preparation but are not intended to limit creativity of approach. This is not an all- encompassing list. I expect you to move out briskly on the monthly tasks, anticipate the projected tasks and weave them eloquently into your units' training and operational battle rhythms.

6. FEBRUARY. (a) All AMC aligned personnel with weapons qualifications will fire a clip into a 7-meter target with the full understanding that unrepentant lethality matters most. Aim for the head. (b) All AMC personnel will update vRED. (c) All commanders will acknowledge this order directly to me immediately. Then, report all 2022 accomplishments preparing for the China fight, and forecast major efforts in 2023 through command chains by COB 28 February 2023.

7. MARCH (Projected). (a) All units will report progress toward established OT&E requirements for INDOPACOM Operations discussed and reviewed at Fall PHOENIX Rally. (b) All AMC personnel will consider their personal affairs and whether a visit should be scheduled with their servicing base legal office to ensure they are legally ready and prepared. (c) KC-135 units will coordinate to provide a conceptual means of air delivering 100 off-the- shelf size and type UAVs from a single aircraft.

8. APRIL (Projected). (a) All units will report their integration and operation plans for MOBILITY GUARDIAN 2023 to include all events (lead-in and concurrent) they wish to include for credit.

9. ADMIN. AMC/A3 will formalize these orders in FRAGO format. Completion, progress, reporting, reporting format, and advancement will be measured, driven, and collected by our AMC/A3 Team through ARC, NAF and EC leadership. LET'S GO!"

Border Patrol Seizes $4 Million in Narcotics in One Day - U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION- SAN DIEGO, – "San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents seized nearly 300 pounds of narcotics with an estimated street value of $4 million from three vehicle stops earlier this week.

The first seizure took place at approximately 5:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 24th. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Campo Station initiated a vehicle stop near the Crestwood Road exit on Interstate 8. A K-9 sniff of the vehicle led to the discovery of 57 packages containing blue pills. Tests confirmed the blue pills to be fentanyl with a total weight of 250 pounds with an estimated street value of $3,412,000. Border Patrol seized the vehicle and turned over the suspect and fentanyl to a partner law enforcement agency.

The second seizure took place at approximately 12:00 p.m. Agents from the Newton-Azrak Border Patrol Station conducted a vehicle stop just north of the Interstate 15 U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Murrieta, California. The subsequent investigation and search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of 33 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $448,500.

The third seizure took place at approximately 12:16 p.m. Agents assigned to the Newton-Azrak Border Patrol Station stopped a vehicle at the Murrieta, California Hot Springs Road off-ramp on Interstate 215. The subsequent investigation and search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of 9.4 pounds of fentanyl and 4.9 pounds of heroin, totaling an estimated street value of $178,000, and a 40-caliber handgun.

Largest U.S.-Israeli Exercise in History Concludes - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "Today marks the conclusion of exercise Juniper Oak 23.2. This exercise was the largest U.S-Israel partnered exercise in history, said Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Sabrina Singh, who held a news conference today.

Juniper Oak integrated U.S. and Israeli fifth-generation fighter assets, which are the most advanced and capable, she said.

The USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, which participated in the exercise, involved command and control elements, rescue and refueling aircraft and live fire exercises with more than 140 aircraft, and roughly 6,400 U.S. troops alongside more than 1,500 Israeli troops.

Today, the U.S.-Israel military partnership is stronger than it ever has been, and it continues to grow, stated Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command in a news release, while aboard the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier today.

"I've observed our forces alongside Israeli troops firing HIMARS and MLRS rockets, conducting maritime operations, executing highly complex flight operations, coordinating close air support, operating together on land, at sea and in the air," Kurilla said, referring to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and Multiple Launch Rocket System.

Juniper Oak 23.2 integrated unmanned aerial vehicles, strategic bombers, jet fighters and precision fires. U.S. and Israeli forces conducted long-range strikes, suppression of enemy air defense, electronic attacks, offensive counter and air interdiction, and air operations in the maritime domain. In four days, these troops dropped more than 180,000 pounds of live munitions, Kurilla said.

Logistical support and the command nodes involving the two nations were superb, he added.

"It's remarkable that Israel's transition to and partnership with U.S. Central Command is less than 18 months old. Our shared achievement is a testament to the leadership of the Israel Defense Forces and the enduring commitment of the Department of Defense's most senior leaders to increase military cooperation. Only through a firm commitment to this partnership are we able to plan and organize such an incredibly complex high-end operation across such a large geographic area integrating all aspects of warfighting, some of which are seen and some of which are not," Kurilla said.

Separately, Singh said that this week, the Marine Corps will reactivate Camp Blaz in Guam, part of an agreement with the Japanese government to reposition Marines from Okinawa, as well as contribute to the overall integrity of integrated deterrence and bolster U.S. operational security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Camp Blaz will serve as a strategic hub and training area for joint forces, allies and partners in the region. "The Marine Corps has a deep history in Guam, and we are committed to continuing that strong relationship," she added."

U.S.-Albanian Leaders Discuss NATO, Bilateral Relations - U.S. and Albanian defense leaders met today at the Pentagon to make a strong bilateral alliance even stronger. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - "Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with Defense Minister Niko Peleshi met as the two nations marked the 30th year of their nations' defense relationship.

The men last spoke during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein Air Base last week. Albania, a NATO ally, is providing aid to Ukraine as the country battles against Russian invaders.

"Over the past three decades, our relationship has only deepened," Austin said at the beginning of the meeting. "Our forces train and exercise together. They work alongside each other in coalition operations.”

Albanian troops have served alongside U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Latvia. "More recently, we appreciate Albania[‘s] support and hosting Defender Europe '21,"Austin said.

The secretary also said he appreciated that Albania has volunteered to host Defender Europe '23

"We're meeting at a critical time for European security,"the secretary said. "Last week's contact group underscored the importance of moving urgently to strengthen Ukraine against Russian aggression and to strengthen our shared security."

Austin thanked the Albanian minister for the lethal and humanitarian aid his country is providing Ukraine. Albania is also deploying forces to bolster NATO's defense in the East.

Peleshi told Austin his country is proud to be a member of NATO and an ally of the United States. He said his country wants to do what is needed. "We have been very active in international missions, NATO missions, U.N. missions and operations because we want to deserve being an ally of the great, most powerful political alliance," he said."

Russia Says Tanks Being Sent to Ukraine By NATO Allies A "New Level Of Confrontation" - MOSCOW - Russia’s Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev released a statement after the United States and Germany announced sending tanks to Ukraine that called the decision an "extremely dangerous decision" that "takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation".

While addressing Germany's decision to allow their Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine, the ambassador said the following:

"On January 25, 2023, the German government approved the delivery of Leopard 2 heavy battle tanks to the Kyiv regime. Other countries that are armed with such equipment are allowed to re-export it to Ukraine.

This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation and contradicts the statements of German politicians about the unwillingness of the FRG to get involved in it. Unfortunately, this happens over and over again. Once again, we are convinced that Germany, like its closest allies, is not interested in a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, it is set up for its permanent escalation and unlimited pumping of the Kyiv regime with more and more deadly weapons. "Red lines" are a thing of the past.

The choice of Berlin means the final refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to recognize the historical responsibility to our people for the terrible, timeless crimes of Nazism during the Great Patriotic War, the consignment to the oblivion of the difficult path of post-war reconciliation between Russians and Germans. With the approval of the leadership of the FRG, battle tanks with German crosses will again be sent to the "eastern front", which will inevitably lead to the death of not only Russian soldiers, but also the civilian population.

Berlin adopted this decision on the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad, in which hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens died. It destroys the remnants of mutual trust, causes irreparable damage to the already deplorable state of Russian-German relations, and casts doubt on the possibility of their normalization in the foreseeable future."

British Challenger 2 Tanks To Be Delivered To Ukraine

British Challenger 2 tanks are also to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of March, according to British Deputy Defense Minister Alex Chuck.

“Our intention is that it will be at the end of March,” Chuck said (cited by TASS). Training of the Ukrainian military to manage and maintain British tanks should start on Monday, January 30," Chuck stated.

Russia: Shipments Will Be A Legitimate Target For Russian Aerospace Forces

Russian Foreign Minister has put out a warning and sent a note to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that any shipments that contain military equipment will become a legitimate target for Russian Aerospace Forces.

Russia: Delivery Of Uranium Shells To Ukraine By US Will Be Considered The Use Of Dirty Bombs - MOSCOW - The delivery of Western-made uranium shells to Ukraine will be regarded by Russia as "the use of dirty nuclear bombs" and said that the depleted uranium shells used for the Leopard 2 tanks lead to "contamination of the area" and outbreaks of cancer.

At talks in Vienna on military security and arms control, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation said, "We warn Western sponsors of the Kyiv military machine from encouraging nuclear provocations and blackmail".

The Russian diplomat went on to say, "We know that the Leopard 2 tank, as well as the Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, are armed with uranium-core armor-piercing projectiles, the use of which leads to contamination of the area, as happened in Yugoslavia and Iraq" .

"If Kyiv is supplied with such shells for NATO heavy military equipment, we will consider this as the use of dirty nuclear bombs against Russia, with all the ensuing consequences," the diplomat added.

Gavrilov claimed that Western countries "forced" Germany to make the decision to transfer "armored vehicles" to Ukraine.

Gavrilov said, “First, the allies threatened Berlin with international isolation in case of refusal to transfer the Leopards. Then none other than the representative of the US State Department, Ned Price, announced “imminent news” regarding the direction of the German “beast” to Kyiv. This is how transatlantic “solidarity” is forged, — said the head of the delegation".

Russian state-run news RIA Novosti cited the diplomat as saying that Germany made a "conscious" choice in favor of "German tanks with crosses on their armor again attacking Russian soldiers," and said that the Russian army will be destroying them.

Novosti stated that a "doctor of the military sciences" named Konstantin Sivkov told the Russian news agency that the Leopard 2 ammunition load includes armor-piercing sub-caliber depleted uranium shells, which it says leads to "contamination of the area" and "outbreaks of cancer".

Biden Announces Abrams Tanks to be Delivered to Ukraine - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "President Joe Biden announced today that the United States will provide Ukraine with 31 M1 Abrams tanks. That is the required number to equip an entire Ukraine tank battalion. View Fact Sheet

These tanks are needed, Biden said, because Ukrainian forces are working to defend the territory they hold and will be better prepared for additional counter-offenses.

"They need to be able to counter Russia's evolving tactics and strategy on the battlefield in the very near term. They need to improve their ability to maneuver in open terrain. And, they need an enduring capability to deter and defend against Russian aggression over the long term," the president said.

The Abrams tanks are the most capable tanks in the world. And, they're also extremely complex to operate and maintain. Along with the tanks, the U.S. will be giving Ukraine the parts and equipment necessary to effectively repair and maintain these tanks on the battlefield, he said.

Ukrainian troops will be given training on logistics and maintenance as soon as possible, as actual delivery of these tanks will take some time, he said.

This morning, Biden said he had a long conversation with NATO allies, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni regarding continued close coordination and support of Ukraine.

Biden mentioned strong allied support for Ukraine, which will include German Leopard 2 tanks, a German Patriot missile battery, Challenger 2 tanks from the United Kingdom, and AMX-10 armored fighting vehicles from France.

"This is about helping Ukraine defend and protect Ukrainian land. It is not an offensive threat to Russia," he said.

"The expectation on the part of Russia is we're going to break up, we're not going to stay united. But we are fully thoroughly totally united," Biden said, speaking of the 50 nations that are part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

Senior administration officials said earlier today that these Abrams tanks will be procured through Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding.

Unlike the presidential drawdown authority, USAI is an authority under which the United States procures capabilities from industry rather than delivering equipment that is drawn down from DOD stocks.

The officials also noted that eight M88 recovery vehicles will also be shipped to Ukraine, to accompany the 31 tanks.

Washington: $400 Million In Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine, Including Abrams Tanks - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: "The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the procurement of Abrams tanks for Ukraine via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), to support Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression. View Fact Sheet

This USAI package underscores the continued U.S. commitment to building the capacity of Ukraine's Armed Forces, now and into the future. Unlike Presidential Drawdown authority (PDA), which DoD has continued to leverage to deliver equipment to Ukraine from DoD stocks at a historic pace, USAI is an authority under which the United States procures new capabilities. This $400 million USAI package represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional capabilities to Ukraine.

The capabilities in this package include: 31 Abrams tanks with 120mm rounds and other ammunition; Eight Tactical Vehicles to recover equipment; Support vehicles and equipment; Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

Alongside the battalion of Abrams tanks provided by the United States, a European consortium is committing to provide two battalions of Leopard tanks to Ukraine in the near term. The United States will continue to work with our Allies and partners to meet Ukraine's battlefield needs to counter Russian aggression and ensure the continued freedom and independence of the Ukrainian people.

In total, the United States has now committed more than $27.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $29.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and more than $27.1 billion since the beginning of Russia's unprovoked and brutal invasion on February 24, 2022."

US And Germany Both Agree To Send Tanks To Ukraine - WASHINGTON/BERLIN - Both the United States and Germany have agreed to send tanks to Ukraine after Germany had said it wouldn't be allowing its Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine by NATO allies unless the United States also agreed to send tanks of its own to the country.

U.S. President Joe Biden made a statement that said, "today I'm announcing the United States will be sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the equivalent of 1 Ukrainian battalion".

"Secretary Austin has recommended this step because it will enhance Ukraine's capacity to defend its territory and achieve its strategic objective".

The German government also confirmed that it will be sending 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine from the stocks of the German Armed Forces, and will, in addition, be allowing allies to send the German-made Leopard 2 tanks.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz released a statement that said, "Ladies and gentlemen, that is the right principle. We are dealing with very effective weapons systems, and it is the right thing for us to never provide these weapons systems on their own, but always in close cooperation".

According to the German Defense Ministry, the German-made tanks could be delivered to Ukraine within the next three months.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke on air on the Die Welt TV channel and said "This (deliveries of tanks - TASS note) will not happen earlier than in three or four months".

German Spokesman Steffen Hebestrait said, "The federal government has decided to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with Leopard 2A6 battle tanks. This is the result of intensive meetings that Germany has held with European and international partners".

"Germany will issue permits to partner countries that want to send Leopard 2A6 to Ukraine from their own stocks".

Russia's Response To The Announcements

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov replied to the announcement of Abrams tanks being supplied to Ukraine by saying that it was "quite a failure" for "technological reasons," according to Russian state news agency TASS.

“I am convinced that many experts understand the absurdity of this idea too. It’s just that such a plan is quite a failure in terms of technological aspects, and most importantly, this is a clear overestimation of the potential that this will add to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said to reporters Wednesday.

He added that "so far there are a lot of mutually exclusive statements, media reports, leaks and so on from Germany and the United States." and said that "It is clear that not everything is going smoothly there, and in the [North Atlantic] alliance itself, not everything is so smooth, and not everything is going smoothly with the presence of tanks".

A report by TASS estimated that Ukraine can receive around 100 modern Western tanks, and had already received 350 to 400 Soviet-made tanks, which were mainly T-72s.

Allied Tanks Ukraine Will Be Receiving'

The following countries either are sending, or are considering sending tanks to Ukraine: Germany, Poland Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Britain, Denmark, and France.

Biden Announces Shipment Of 31 Abrams Tanks To Ukraine - WASHINGTON - U.S President Joe Biden has announced that the United States will be sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

During a speech, Biden said "and today, today I'm announcing the the United States will be sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the equivalent of 1 Ukrainian battalion".

"Secretary Austin has recommended this step because it will enhance Ukraine's capacity to defend its territory and achieve its strategic objective".

He added, "The Abrams tanks are the most capable tanks in the world. They are also extremely complex to operate and maintain. So we're also giving Ukraine the parts and equipment necessary to effectively sustain these tanks on the battlefield".

Medvedev: Russia May Nationalize Property Of US And EU Citizens In Response To Sanctions - MOSCOW - Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman, and former president Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia may be nationalizing the property of people who are registered in the United States, European Union, and other "unfriendly" jurisdictions in the midst of new "anti-Russian" sanctions.

He said that Russia is being threatened with arrests of assets of Russian citizens, as well as companies located outside of Russia.

"just like that, without any sanctions," Medvedev said, adding "in a carpet fashion," and "out of spite," and went on to say that, "this must be responded to in a quite symmetric manner".

On his VK social media page on Saturday, he said, "With the arrest of assets of foreigners and foreign companies in Russia based on country principle. And maybe, with the nationalization of the property of people registered in unfriendly jurisdictions. Like the EU, EU member states and a number of singing-along states of the Anglo-Saxon world will take part in this".

"Thankfully, we have vast experience and we have a law on this issue. A harsh one," he said.

Russian state-run news agency TASS said that "a number of states" have announced "harsh" sanctions against Russia, including financial and technological sectorial restrictions against 64 Russian agencies enforced by the European Union.

Among the agencies were the "Presidential Administration, Russian Defense Ministry, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and other state structures, as well as companies of military-industrial, energy, plane building and financial sectors of Russia," the news report said.

It added that a number of Russian politicians which include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and other Russian citizens have also been "blacklisted".

USS George H. W. Bush Carrier Group Joins Completion Of US/Israel Juniper Oak Exercises - MEDITERRANEAN SEA - The aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) carrier strike group joined the joint US/Israel Juniper Oak drills in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea as the exercise wrapped up.

CENTCOM Statement On The Strike Group Joining Exercise Juniper Oak 2023-2

CENTCOM: "MEDITERRANEAN SEA (Jan. 24, 2023) The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group sails in formation with the Israeli Navy during exercise Juniper Oak 2023-2, Jan. 24, 2023. Juniper Oak 23-2 is a bilateral military exercise, led by U.S. Central Command and the Israeli Defense Force, designed to enhance interoperability between the U.S. and Israel militaries. Juniper Oak 23-2 joins the long-standing “Juniper” series that the U.S. and Israel have conducted for more than 20-years. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Novalee Manzella)".

Completion of Juniper Oak 23.2 Exercise

CENTCOM: "TAMPA, Fla. – Today, U.S. Central Command and the Israel Defense Forces concluded Juniper Oak 23.2, the largest U.S.-Israel partnered exercise in history. Juniper Oak 23.2 integrated U.S. and Israeli 5th generation fighter assets, the USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, command and control elements, rescue and refueling aircraft during a long-range large force exercise that included a live fire exercise with more than 140 aircraft including B52s, F35s, F15s, F16s, FA-18s, AC-130, AH64s, 12 naval assets, High Mobility Rocket Artillery Systems, Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, a mix of jet fighters, and long-range bombers.

Juniper Oak 23.2 enhanced interoperability and the ability of CENTCOM forces to rapidly move combat power into the region. “Today the partnership between CENTCOM and the IDF is stronger and continues to grow,” said Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, CENTCOM commander. “Our partnership is a key pillar of our commitment to expanding regional security cooperation.”

“We at CENTCOM will take the lessons learned from Exercise Juniper Oak and share and incorporate them with all our partners across the CENTCOM region,” Kurilla concluded.

Roughly 6,400 U.S. troops alongside more than 1,500 Israeli troops participated in the exercise. CENTCOM remains committed to strengthening partnerships and enhancing interoperability in support of a more stable, more secure region."

US Military Investigates Blood Cancer Cases In Personnel Who Manned Nuclear Missile Silos At Montana Base - MONTANA - The U.S. Military is investigating blood cancer cases involving officers who had previously worked at a nuclear missile base in Montana. The Air Force says that they are "aware of concerns".

Nine military officers who worked at the Malmstrong Air Force Base have developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at earlier ages than the median age for the disease, which has caused the military to launch an investigation probe into the incidents to see if there's a connection between the cancer development and exposure at the base

One of the cases involved an officer who worked at the nuclear missile base decades back and all of the officers were assigned to the Malmstrom Air Force Base at least 25 years ago.

The base is where 150 Minuteman III nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are located. U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Daniel Sebeck was cited by AP news as saying during a briefing that the nine officers were all diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Missileers take a caged elevator to an underground bunker installation where the missiles are stored and stay there for days at times waiting to turn the nuclear launch keys if so ordered by the U.S. President to do so.

Sebeck was cited as saying that "There are indications of a possible association between cancer and missile combat crew service at Malmstrom AFB,” and said that there were a “disproportionate number of missileers presenting with cancer, specifically lymphoma," and added that it was of concern.

He said, "The information in this briefing has been shared with the Department of the Air Force surgeon general, and our medical professionals are working to gather data and understand more.”

Around 19 out of every 100,000 Americans get Non-Hodgkin lymphoma yearly, according to the American Cancer Society.

This type of cancer is a blood cancer that forms cancerous lymphocytes in the body's lymph system, which is a part of the body's immune system. According to Mayo Clinic, it travels through the lymphatic system to the rest of the body, including the lymphatic vessels, tonsils, adenoids, spleen, thymus, and bone marrow.

Only around 3,300 military personnel are based at Malmstrom base at a time, and only 400 of those are assigned as missileers or operator support. This indicates a usually high number of soldiers being diagonal with the disease compared to the national average.

While the median age for contracting lymphoma is 67 years old, the AP report indicated that the soldiers based at Malmstrom were in their 30s or 40s when they were diagnosed with the disease, well under the median age.

Sebeck said, “Missileers have always been concerned about known hazards, such as exposure to chemicals, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, lead, and other hazardous material in the work environment. All missileers should be screened and tracked for the rest of their lives.”

4.3 Tons of Narcotics, 6,084 Seizures, 9,130 Agriculture and Biological Interceptions, More Than $105 Million in Fake Merchandise: Fiscal Year 2022 Yields Big Enforcement Numbers for Cincinnati CBP - CINCINNATI — US Customs And Border Protection: "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and specialists in Cincinnati posted record-breaking numbers of enforcement actions during Fiscal Year 2022. From October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022, Cincinnati seized 6,084 shipments, putting them in fourth place nationwide, and specialists issued 9,130 Emergency Action Notifications (EANs), third place nationwide and the highest number of agriculture and biological seizures ever recorded at the port.

"These enforcement statistics are a reflection of the talent and professionalism displayed by the men and women at the Port of Cincinnati,” said Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie. “As the international trade volumes continue to soar, these officers and specialists consistently protect our frontline by stopping thousands of illicit shipments while facilitating more than 69 million legitimate transactions.”

During FY 2022, officers seized 9,471 pounds, or 4.3 tons, of narcotics in 1,043 shipments attempting to make entry, exit from, or transit through the United States. Remarkably, Port of Cincinnati outbound seizures increased by more than 1,400% from the previous fiscal year. Some notable seizures include:

When officers stopped a shipment of phone cases in March, they noticed the cases had an unusual crystalline texture that left a white residue on their gloves during inspection. They tested the cases and found they were formed from methamphetamine. The shipment originated in California and was destined to Australia.

In April, an officer became suspicious while inspecting a shipment of hammocks after witnessing a puff of powder rise up from a strand of the fabric during inspection. Tests showed the hammocks were soaked in methamphetamine. The shipment was coming from Mexico and headed to Spain.

The following month, Narcotics Detector Dog “Bruno” alerted to a shipment coming from Mexico and headed to Australia. The shipment held two electric popcorn poppers with methamphetamine concealed beneath foam insulation.

Officers also found methamphetamine in nasal spray, waterproofing sealant, horse saddles, baby diapers, bottles of honey, owl decorations, and molded into cardboard to form plates and into plaster to make kids’ chairs. Sometimes criminals didn’t bother to conceal anything at all, such as a 35-pound box full of nothing but methamphetamine enroute from China to New York.

Unique concealment methods for cocaine included packed inside jet ski parts, embedded within wooden ash trays and epoxy paintings, and slid into lead aprons.

Rifle barrels were found smuggled in curtain rods, cash was smuggled in microwaves, school supplies, and speakers, and heroin mixed into shampoo and slipped into sandal soles.

Another significant seizure came disguised as a custom-made child’s loveseat. Officers located 28 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms hidden behind expanding foam under the sofa’s seat cushions. The mushrooms had been on their way to a residence in Kissimmee, Florida from Toronto, Canada.

Officers found fentanyl originating from the United States, Mexico, and Canada headed to various countries and locations throughout the U.S. One shipment held candles, shoes, and clothing that originated from Woodbridge, Virginia and was en route to Sierra Leone. A closer look at the candles showed they held small bottles of a white powder that tested positive for fentanyl.

Cincinnati’s top three narcotics seizures, by weight, were Methamphetamine (1,872 pounds), Marijuana (1,541 pounds), and Cocaine (730 pounds), which would have had a street value total over $28.5 million.

CBP Agriculture Specialists (CBPAS) assigned to the Port of Cincinnati issued 9,130 EANs for violative commodities (a 14% increase from FY21), including 242 pest interceptions (a 127% increase over FY 21).

CBPAS intercepted banana plantlets disguised as shredded squid, birds’ nests loaded into potato chip cannisters, live ants posing as hardware screws, actionable pests in educational toys, and more than 100 tropical plants smuggled between layers of clothing. One particularly interesting shipment of strawberry jam turned out to hold frozen snakes and rodents. Another shipment of kitchenware was found to contain smuggled pork and duck meat. Animal and plant products are regulated to prevent the entry of dangerous foreign pests and diseases such as African Swine Fever.

Cincinnati Biological Threat Operation Specialists (BTOS) discovered multiple shipments of unknown-origin recombinant proteins from China accompanied with fraudulent documentation. BTOS found engineered plasmids and vectors with fraudulent documentation, derivatives of USDA-and CDC-controlled bacteria leading to 62 seizures of unknown biological materials, and more than 130 shipments of organisms of concern such as Clostridium spp., Salmonella spp., Listeria spp., and Legionella spp., among others.

Other notable interceptions included bats—known zoonotic disease vectors—smuggled as tricycles, and a shipment of blood presumed infected with Glanders, a Tier 1 Select Agent. Select Agents are organisms and toxins known to cause severe threat to public health and safety and are strictly regulated by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture. The bats and blood were destroyed as medical waste.

During FY 2022, the Port of Cincinnati seized 1,103 IPR violative shipments with a total Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $105,549,423 had the products been real. About 60% of this MSRP total, $63,747,269, came from 160 seizures of counterfeit jewelry. Officers seized $12 million worth of fake electronics such as Apple AirPods and lightening cords. Other high dollar seizures included counterfeit computer parts such as Cisco switches.

The port also submitted 4,894 shipments into the IPR Abandonment Program (IPRAP), saving taxpayers approximately $10.1 million dollars. IPRAP permits importers to abandon small shipments containing IPR violations rather than having the agency seize the product.

Cincinnati CBP intercepted 1,382 fake championship rings from October 2021 through December 2021. The rings, which arrived in 56 separate shipments, would have been worth $982,263.

On December 24, CBP officers in Cincinnati seized a shipment containing 13,467 pieces of counterfeit jewelry bearing protected trademarks of Bvlgari, Cartier, Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Rolex, Tiffany, Tori Burch, and Versace. The jewelry, which came from China, would have been worth a total of $3,727,488 million had it been genuine. In September, officers seized more than $10 million in fake jewelry contained in three shipments.

Officers also seized 2,133 counterfeit identity documents during FY 2022, which is a 213% increase over FY 2021. Notable finds include:

A passport intended for a suspected non-citizen terrorist; Chinese passports with fake U.S. visas; 16 passports with links to a known human smuggling ring; A counterfeit passport for a federal escapee; Documents intended for entities on Interpol watchlists and known members of transnational criminal organizations in multiple countries.

Cincinnati has enjoyed nationwide and global success in developing relationships with other government agencies at all levels of law enforcement. Officers working with state and local law enforcement and task force operations assisted with numerous cases involving child pornography, narcotics, and currency smuggling, leading to more than 100 criminal arrests and the identification of multiple victims, including minors, in the United States and abroad.

“The skills and dedication our frontline employees bring to work every day are key to the successes we can share year after year,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations for the Chicago Field Office. “Our workforce operates in some of the most challenging environments across the country and around the world, and they continue to serve their country and its citizens with integrity.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the comprehensive management, control, and protection of our nation’s borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry.

NY Army Guard aviation Soldiers mobilize for Mideast mission - US Army: "ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Almost 400 New York Army National Guard Soldiers will soon leave for a deployment to Kuwait.

The Soldiers from Rochester, Dunkirk and Long Island will train in Pennsylvania and Texas before heading to the Middle East for 10 months.

Some 350 Soldiers are assigned to the 642nd Aviation Support Battalion, trained to provide logistics and maintenance support to the helicopter units of an Army combat aviation brigade.

Forty-five Soldiers are members of Detachment 1, Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th General Support Aviation Battalion, and fly CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopters.

The 642nd Aviation has elements in Rochester and Dunkirk in western New York and in Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma on Long Island. The battalion is part of the New York Army National Guard’s 42nd Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade.

The 642nd will conduct farewell ceremonies at the Army Aviation Support Facilities in Rochester and Ronkonkoma. The Soldiers from Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th General Support Aviation Battalion, will participate in the Rochester ceremony.

The 642nd will train for two weeks at Fort Indiantown Gap near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and for about two months in Fort Hood, Texas, before deploying to Kuwait.

The Soldiers from Bravo Company will also train at Fort Indiantown Gap and Fort Hood. They will be under the control of their battalion at Fort Hood and in Kuwait while they fly missions to support Army forces in the region.

The 642nd will support the Mississippi Army National Guard’s 185th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade during operations throughout the region.

The 642nd Aviation Support Battalion deployed to Kuwait in 2013 and 2014 as part of the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade, conducting support operations across the Middle East.

In 2005, the battalion, then known as the 642nd Divisional Aviation Support Battalion, deployed to Tikrit, Iraq, as part of the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade and the 42nd Infantry Division.

During that deployment, the battalion conducted 180 combat logistics patrols covering nearly 60,000 miles while repelling multiple attacks by insurgent forces. The unit also recovered three downed aircraft.

During the deployment, two Purple Hearts were awarded and six vehicles were lost to enemy fire, but no Soldiers were killed.

In New York, Soldiers of the battalion responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and supported operations after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th General Support Aviation Battalion is a New York Army National Guard aviation company that is part of an aviation battalion headquartered in Massachusetts.

The Soldiers fly the CH-47F helicopter, the largest in the Army’s inventory.

The company deployed to Afghanistan, where the heavy lift and high-altitude capabilities of the CH-47 were vital. The unit served in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2008, 2012 and 2013, and 2018.

Soldiers from the company participated in state responses to Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the “Snowvember” Storm in 2014. Last fall, the unit deployed an aircraft and crew to Florida to help respond to Hurricane Ian.

In May, a Bravo Company CH-47 recovered a pontoon in danger of sweeping over Niagara Falls.

Currently, 1,800 New York Army National Guard Soldiers are deployed overseas.

The 369th Sustainment Brigade has deployed 260 Soldiers in Kuwait, supporting the 10,000 Army Soldiers of Task Force Spartan.

The 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation, a UH-60 helicopter unit based in Latham and Ronkonkoma, has 250 troops deployed in Kuwait.

The 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, along with companies from the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry, and the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry — 1,130 Soldiers — are operating in the Horn of Africa, securing U.S. military facilities in the area.

And in Germany, 140 Soldiers of Task Force Orion, from the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, are training Ukrainian soldiers as part of the U.S. support for that nation’s war effort."

Army announces unit preparation for potential deployments in support of European allies and partners - WASHINGTON – The Department of the Army announced the preparation of Army units for potential deployment to backfill units currently in Europe. This potential deployment would not constitute a change to current force posture levels.

It would ensure the United States continues to be well positioned to provide a robust deterrent and defensive posture alongside our Allies across the European continent. The United States will continue to adjust its posture as needed in response to the dynamic security environment.

Elements from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division and the 10th Mountain Division Headquarters are preparing for a potential deployment to replace units currently in Europe. Preparation for this potential deployment provides flexibility to reassess conditions and respond to a dynamic security environment.

CENTCOM and Israel Defense Forces Conduct Exercise Juniper Oak 23.2 - CENTRAL COMMAND: U.S. Central Command and the Israel Defense Forces carry out live-fire exercise Juniper Oak 23.2 in Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

"This exercise strengthens collective U.S.-Israeli readiness and improves the interoperability of both forces, thereby contributing to regional stability. Exercises like Juniper Oak show that interoperability and integration represent the improved security in the region.

“Consistent with CENTCOM’s strategic approach of People, Partners, and Innovation, we are committed to strengthening military-to-military relations throughout the region,” said Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM. “Juniper Oak is a Combined Joint All-Domain exercise which improves our interoperability on land, in the air, at sea, in space, and in cyberspace with our partners, enhances our ability to respond to contingencies, and underscores our commitment to the Middle East.”

Juniper Oak 23.2 integrates many military assets and missions, including:

Assets And Missions: Strategic bombers, U.S. and Israeli command and control, Fighter aircraft, Air operations in maritime surface warfare, Rescue aircraft, Combat search and rescue, Refueling aircraft, Electronic attack, Naval forces, Suppression of enemy air defenses, Ground long-range precision fires, Strike coordination and reconnaissance, Air long-range precision fires, Air interdiction, Rotary wing aircraft, Space Force assets, Special Operations Forces, Infantry forces.

This exercise will include a large-scale live fire event with over 140 aircraft including B52s, F35s, F15s, F16s, FA-18s, AC-130, AH64s, 12 naval vessels, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.

“These kinds of exercises – which CENTCOM routinely conducts with our partners – develop interoperability between military forces, increase military capabilities, and are important to the security and stability of the region. The lessons learned during these exercises are exportable to our partners across the region,” Kurilla concluded."

Former Special Agent In Charge Of The New York FBI Counterintelligence Division Charged With Violating U.S. Sanctions On Russia - Former Special Agent In Charge Of The New York FBI Counterintelligence Division Charged With Violating U.S. Sanctions On Russia. A Russian Court and Government Interpreter Is Also Charged with Violating U.S. Sanctions on Russia.

US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: "Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a five-count Indictment charging CHARLES MCGONIGAL and SERGEY SHESTAKOV with violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and with conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering.

SHESTAKOV is also charged with making material misstatements to the FBI. The defendants were arrested on Saturday evening, and they will be presented this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave in Manhattan federal court. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Charles McGonigal, a former high-level FBI official, and Sergey Shestakov, a Court interpreter, violated U.S. sanctions by agreeing to provide services to Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

They both previously worked with Deripaska to attempt to have his sanctions removed, and, as public servants, they should have known better. This Office will continue to prosecute those who violate U.S. sanctions enacted in response to Russian belligerence in Ukraine in order to line their own pockets.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll said: “The FBI is committed to the enforcement of economic sanctions designed to protect the United States and our allies, especially against hostile activities of a foreign government and its actors. Russian oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska perform global malign influence on behalf of the Kremlin and are associated with acts of bribery, extortion, and violence.

As alleged, Mr. McGonigal and Mr. Shestakov, both U.S. citizens, acted on behalf of Deripaska and fraudulently used a U.S. entity to obscure their activity in violation of U.S. sanctions.

After sanctions are imposed, they must be enforced equally against all U.S. citizens in order to be successful. There are no exceptions for anyone, including a former FBI official like Mr. McGonigal. Supporting a designated threat to the United States and our allies is a crime the FBI will continue to pursue aggressively.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

In 2014, the President issued Executive Order 13660, which declared a national emergency with respect to the situation in Ukraine.

To address this national emergency, the President blocked all property of individuals determined by the U.S. Treasury to be responsible for or complicit in actions or policies that threatened the security, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine, or who materially assist, sponsor, or provide support to individuals or entities engaging in such activities.

Executive Order 13660 and regulations issued pursuant to it prohibit making or receiving any funds, goods, or services by, to, from, or for the benefit of any person designated by the U.S. Treasury.

On April 6, 2018, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated Oleg Deripaska as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy (the “OFAC Sanctions”).

According to the U.S. Treasury, Deripaska was sanctioned for having acted or purported to act on behalf of, directly or indirectly, a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation and for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy.

CHARLES MCGONIGAL is a former Special Agent in Charge (“SAC”) of FBI’s Counterintelligence Division in New York, who retired in 2018. While working at the FBI, MCGONIGAL supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska. SERGEY SHESTAKOV is a former Soviet and Russian diplomat who later became a U.S. citizen and a Russian interpreter for courts and government offices.

In 2021, MCGONIGAL and SHESTAKOV conspired to provide services to Deripaska, in violation of U.S. sanctions imposed on Deripaska in 2018. Specifically, following their negotiations with an agent of Deripaska, MCGONIGAL and SHESTAKOV agreed to and did investigate a rival Russian oligarch in return for concealed payments from Deripaska.

As part of their negotiations with Deripaska’s agent, MCGONIGAL, SHESTAKOV, and the agent attempted to conceal Deripaska’s involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payments from Deripaska.

MCGONIGAL and SHESTAKOV were aware that their actions violated U.S. sanctions because, among other reasons, while serving as SAC, MCGONIGAL received then-classified information that Deripaska would be added to a list of oligarchs considered for sanctions as part of the process that led to the imposition of sanctions against Deripaska.

In addition, in 2019, MCGONIGAL and SHESTAKOV worked on behalf of Deripaska in an unsuccessful effort to have the sanctions against Deripaska lifted.

In November 2021, when FBI agents questioned SHESTAKOV about the nature of his and MCGONIGAL’s relationship with Deripaska’s agent, SHESTAKOV made false statements in a recorded interview.

CHARLES MCGONIGAL, 54, of New York, New York, and SERGEY SHESTAKOV, 69, of Morris, Connecticut, are charged with one count of conspiring to violate and evade U.S. sanctions, in violation of the IEEPA, one count of violating the IEEPA, one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, and one count of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

SHESTAKOV is also charged with one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the FBI New York Field Office’s Counterintelligence Division and the valuable assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as the New York City Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hagan Scotten, Rebecca T. Dell, and Derek Wikstrom are in charge of the prosecution with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty."

Norwegian Army: Russia Has 180,000 Solders Killed Or Wounded In Ukraine To Date - NORWAY - The Norwegian Defense Chief Eirik Kristoffersen said in an interview with Norwegian channel TV2 that Russia has approached nearly 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers in Ukraine since the start of the war, to date.

"Russian losses are beginning to approach around 180,000 dead or wounded soldiers," he stated.

"Ukrainian losses are probably over 100,000 dead or wounded. In addition Ukraine has about 30,000 civilians who died in this terrible war".

Both Ukraine and Russia give extremely low estimates regarding their own losses and possibly inflated estimates of their opponent's losses.

United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley had announced an estimate of 100,000 dead or wounded in November of last year for both Ukraine and Russia.

Kristoffersen said, "Russia is able to continue (this war) for quite a long time. What worries most is whether Ukraine is going to be able to keep the Russian air force out of the war," he said.

He added that they have been able to keep Russia's air force largely out of the war "thanks to Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses".

Most of Russia's attacks on Ukraine for the last few months have been using long-range missiles on Ukrainian targets.

Regarding tanks that the Norwegian General has called for the delivery of, which has been delayed by indecisiveness by Germany, Kristoffersen said "If they're going to go on the offensive in the winter, they (Ukrainians) need it fast".

Medvedev: Alliance Of Countries "Annoyed With US" Might Appear - MOSCOW - Former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that The United States is attempting to destroy Russia and that a new global military alliance may be emerging.

The statement was written on his Telegram channel on Sunday, where he said "The Ramstein meeting and heavy weapons supplies to Kyiv leave no doubt that our enemies will try to maul or even destroy us endlessly. And they have enough weapons for that. They could also start producing new ones if need be".

He continued saying that he came to two conclusions. First, it would be "very difficult," and second, "in the event of a prolonged conflict, a new military alliance may appear at a certain moment in time, comprising those countries who will be annoyed with the Americans," and added their allies as well.

Claiming that the world would be a stable place again when the United States abandons Europe and added, "what will be left from poor Ukrainians unless it is too late."

US To Announce Sending 30 M1 Abrams Tanks To Ukraine - WASHINGTON - The United States says that they will be making an announcement to send around 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as soon as Wednesday, but it could take a few months to deliver the tanks.

An AP report, as well as a report by Foreign Affairs and PBS Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin says that U.S. officials have informed him that Washington will announce sending about 30 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, in coordination with an announcement by Germany that their Leopard 2 tanks can be sent to the country.

Germany had said they would not allow the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to be sent by NATO-allied forces to Ukraine unless the United States also made the decision to send its own tanks.

Poland has been asking Germany for authorization to send the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. An official has said that they would approve the request if it is made.

U.S. officials are still working out the details, but said that it would be under the upcoming Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package providing "longer-range funding" for weapons and equipment to be purchased from commercial vendors, according to the AP report.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spoke to Russia's state-run news TASS and said, "Reflections about red lines are now in the past. The United States has unequivocally declared its intention to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It is impossible not to notice this reality."

Regarding Germany allowing their tanks to be sent to Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Such shipments do not bode well for the future of [Russian-German] relations. They will, undoubtedly, leave and unavoidable mark for the future of these relations".

Peskov said that Russia's relations with Germany are "already at a rather low point," and added "We do not observe any substantial dialogue with Germany or other EU, NATO countries".

Joint Resolution Introduced To Use Military Force Against Mexican Drug Cartels - WASHINGTON - A new Joint Resolution has been introduced by United States Representative Dan Crenshaw that would allow for the use of military force against Mexican drug cartels in order to fight against drug trafficking into the United States.

The joint resolution would allow "all necessary and appropriate force" against nine Mexican drug cartels including: The Sinaloa Cartel. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, The Gulf Cartel, The Los Zetas Cartel, The Northeast Cartel, The Juarez Cartel, The Tijuana Cartel, The Beltran-Levya Cartel, The La Familia Michoacana, or Knight Templar Cartel.

Crenshaw was interviewed by Fox News and said, "We are at a point now where their resistance is not only hurting them, it’s killing our citizens. We have to say enough is enough. … You’d better work with us, because we don’t want to do this without you, but we will.”

He added, “They’re some of the most capable, most well-funded, most dangerous organizations on the planet, and they’re right there. And Mexico is at risk of becoming a failed state. We have to work together with their government to deal with this.”

What's In The Joint Resolution?

The joint resolution that was submitted states: "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for trafficking fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance into the United States or carrying out other related activities that cause regional destabilization in the Western Hemisphere".

"Whereas armed cartels such as Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are responsible for trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances into the United States;"

"Whereas fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances kill ap- proximately 80,000 Americans every year and is the lead-ing cause of death for American men between the ages of 18 and 45;"

"Whereas the Sinaloa Cartel and the Los Zetas Cartel, among others, consistently engage in violence against each other and other cartels, creating instability mere miles from the border of the United States;"

AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES1 ARMED FORCES

"IN GENERAL, The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those foreign nations, foreign organizations, or foreign persons affiliated with foreign organizations that the President determines"

Russia Dispatches Yars Nuclear Missile Systems To "Combat Patrol Missions" - Tver - The Russian Bologoye strategic missile division in Tver dispatched the Yars mobile surface-to-surface nuclear missile systems to "combat patrol missions," according to the Russian MOD, which says that it is scheduled training.

Last Monday the Russian Ministry of Defense said, "The Bologoye missile division has dispatched autonomous launchers of the strategic mobile missile system Yars to combat patrol missions. The crews are performing assigned tasks and on-the-fly instructions, including intensive maneuvering on combat patrol routes".

Russian state news agency TASS reported that the Yars crews are carrying out 100-kilometer (62 mile) march and practicing in countering sabotage and reconnaissance groups along the way.

The report also said that the missile units are practicing stealth deployment in the forest while support units carry out extracting special equipment from zones of 'hypothetical' chemical contamination, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

TASS said that the scheduled combat training is to check the readiness of personnel, military equipment and weapons for long-term duty on combat patrol routes.

US Expecting To Support Netherlands In Transferring F-16 Jets To Ukraine - EUROPE - U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Michael Carpenter said that he expects broad support in the United States to for the Netherlands to transfer allied F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, in an interview with Lithuanian news agency Delfi.

In an interview with Delfi, Carpenter was asked if Washington is ready to allow the Netherlands to give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. He said , “We have long been of the opinion that what our allies supply is their business".

"And we support the countless contributions (to defense - delfi) that our allies have made for Ukraine. And this has been true from the very beginning of the war, when we discussed legacy Soviet systems, to the present period, when we discuss main battle tanks and more sophisticated air and missile defense capabilities and systems." he continued.

"And so I expect there will be broad support in the United States for our allies to continue to increase their contributions".

Netherlands news agency RTL reported that "like other Western countries", the Netherlands had "previously contributed" to "dozens" of old Soviet tanks that the Czech Republic has given over to Ukraine to help defend the country against Russia's ongoing invasion.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland defense minister Kajsa Ollongren spoke to Bloomberg and said "That is certainly something we are willing to do".

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra also said that there are "no taboos" in supplying Ukraine "regular equipment", RTL reported.

The German-Made Leopard Tanks Cannot Be Given Without Germany's Permission

Regarding Leopard 2 tanks, Ollongren said that it must take place within a coalition within Europe or NATO, as the Netherlands to not currently possess Leopard 2 tanks, they are renting 18 of them from Germany.

As Leopard-2 tanks are German made, authorization must be given by Germany before any NATO country will be allowed to supply them to Ukraine.

"We are waiting for Germany's position on this, but I am in favor of trying to find a solution and sending tanks to Ukraine," Ollongren said to Bloomberg at Davos.

The Foreign Ministers of Estonia, Lithuania, and Lavia have all posted the following statement on social media: "We, [Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania] Foreign Ministers, call on Germany to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine now. This is needed to stop Russian aggression, help Ukraine and restore peace in Europe quickly. Germany as the leading European power has special responsibility in this regard".

U.S. Declares Russian Wagner Group A Transnational Criminal Organization - WASHINGTON - The White House has declared the Russian private paramilitary organization PMC Wagner group as "transnational criminal organization". The Wagner group is known to be the private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House national security council spokesman, John Kirby announced the move on Friday that the Treasury Department will be applying the new designation in the coming days, which will place the Wagner group in the same category as international mafia and organized crime groups.

The move will allow the United States to apply a broader range of sanctions on the group worldwide, as well as affiliated companies in Africa and in other countries internationally.

During Kirby's statement he said, "Wagner “is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses".

“We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting Wagner,” he added.

The new designation comes as the White House released evidence, including images of Russia allegedly accepting a delivery of arms from North Korea that it stated was intended to aid Wagner forces on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Washington also released images dated November 18th that it says show Russian rail cars traveling back and forth from Russia and North Korea.

“The arms transfers from are in direct violation of United Nations security council resolution,” Kirby said.

“These actions recognize the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity with these actions, and there’ll be more to come,” Kirby said.

According to Kirby's statement, around 50,000 Wagner soldiers are fighting in Ukraine along side Russian soldiers, including 40,000 convicts that were recruited from various prisons, and 10,000 contractors.

“We are seeing indications, including in intelligence, that tensions between Wagner and the Russian defense ministry are increasing,” Kirby said.

“Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries. Publicly, Prigozhin and his fighters have criticized Russian generals and defense officials for their performance in Ukraine," he added.

White House: "The White House announced Friday new sanctions to be put in place by the U.S. Treasury Department next week on the Wagner Group, designating the Russian private military company as a transnational criminal organization".

"The Biden administration urged other countries to join the U.S. in targeting the group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian oligarch and confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which has been playing a key role in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine."

"The administration also released newly declassified photos taken in November of what it says are Russian rail cars delivering infantry rockets and missiles from North Korea for use by Wagner forces. It submitted the imagery to the U.N. Security Council panel charged with enforcing North Korea sanctions to push for action on what it believes is a violation of Security Council resolutions on arms transfers."

"VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke Friday with John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, about the significance of the designation and possible further actions concerning the Wagner Group, which the administration says has recruited 40,000 convicts to fight in Ukraine."

Russia: Western Air Defense Systems And Tanks To Ukraine To Bring About Escalation - MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the statements about supplying Ukraine with any weapons, including those that are able to hit Crimea will "inevitably" lead to "an escalation".

She drew attention to one report in particular in by the New York Times claiming that Washington is considering supplying Ukraine with additional weapons to be used to attack Crimea.

"We regard all this as an open, provocative instigation by the West and a raising of the stakes in the conflict, which will inevitably lead to greater casualties and a dangerous escalation," Zakharova stated.

She also said the West is "plunging ever deeper into the conflict in Ukraine," and said that Ukraine is using the Dnepropetrovsk tragedy to secure more weaponry from the United States.

"A freelance adviser to the office of the President of Ukraine, Alexey Arestovich, initially admitted that the Ukrainian air defense’s actions were the cause of the tragedy, but then he began to backtrack," she stated.

"Zelensky's regime is shamelessly trying to use this tragedy to press the West for tougher anti-Russian sanctions and new arms shipments," she added.

FAA Issue On January 11th Due To "Unintentionally Deleted Files" - WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put out a statement on Thursday that their preliminary review of the incident on January 10th found that contract personnel had "unintentionally deleted files" which disrupted a key computer system and led to planes across the nation to become grounded.

The FFA is part of the United States Department of Transportation, and said the files were "unintentionally deleted" while personnel were working to "to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database".

The agency had put out a statement last week that the incident occurred due to a computer outage that affected the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMS) messaging system, and said that it was caused by a procedural error due to a corrupted file.

Over 120 lawmakers in the United States told the FAA that the NOTAMS system outage was "completely unacceptable" and asked for an explanation as to how this could happen.

Staff in the Senate Commerce Committee asked the FAA, "Why were airlines put in a position where they could have the option of choosing to operate when the NOTAM system was down?".

State Department: US Warns China of Red Line in Ukraine War Ahead of Blinken Visit - VOA: "State Department: The United States is warning China against material and security assistance to Russia in Moscow’s war on Ukraine, laying out Washington’s red line ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing early next month.

Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China Michael Chase spoke to Song Yanchao, deputy director of China’s Office for International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission, according to a U.S. official who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity.

This week’s military-to-military talks come as the U.S. is monitoring closely any decisions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in response to Russian requests for security assistance. The U.S. official took note of reports about Multiple Visits to China by Russian transport aircraft.

“If we see the PRC taking action to systemically assist Russia evade sanctions, of course there will be costs,” said Price.

Tuesday’s two-hour talks came after China turned down a U.S. offer for military de-confliction talks between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe earlier this month.

During a press conference at the State Department after the U.S.-Japan 2+2 talks last week, Austin said he has asked his Chinese counterpart to meet the U.S. “halfway” and keep “open lines of communication” to avoid miscalculation.

Wei is retiring in March. Li Shangfu, a new member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Commission (CM) is widely seen as the PRC’s next minister of national defense.

Li was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2018 due to Chinese purchases of advanced Russian fighters and missile systems. But the U.S. sanctions would not prevent Li from holding official meetings with American officials, according to a State Department official.

During Tuesday’s talks, the U.S. official told VOA that China also raised concerns about a potential visit to Taiwan by the new U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy said last year he would visit Taiwan if he became the house speaker, a move that would anger China.

China claims sovereignty over the self-ruled democracy, a claim rejected by Taiwan.

U.S. diplomats and military officials have pointed out that the House of Representatives operates independently from the Biden administration and cautioned China against an overreaction near the Taiwan Strait that may lead to an “unintended” military accident.

“We can’t hold our foreign policy hostage to things that China may or may not do,” said a senior State Department official."

Israel Unveils "Point Blank" Missile/Suicide Backpack Drone - JERUSALEM - Israel's state-owned IAI Aerospace Industries has announced its new "Point Blank" electro-optically guided missile, capable of being stored in a soldier's backpack. It can take off and land back into the operator's hand. Read Full Article

The IAI has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to develop the "ROC-X" version of the POINT BLANK system for the U.S. Department of Defense. The first prototype, as well as the accompanying training to use the device is expected to be released next year, according to an IAI statement.

The missile is a hand-launched loitering missile, also called an attack drone which can land back in a soldiers hand without exploding if it is not used against a target.

The 'loitering' missile/drone are also known as 'suicide' or 'kamikaze' drone can be both launched and operated by a single soldier alone.

The Point Blank missile weighs around 15 pounds and is 3 feet in length. The device is capable of flying at an altitude of 1,500 feet at a max speed of 178 miles per hour.

It's also capable of hovering over the target while the soldier analyzes what kind of target it is, as well as its position. It can be retracted and re-stored if the soldier decides against carrying out an attack on the target in question.

In a statement, the IAI said, “The system answers the battlefield requirement to provide tactical units ranging in size from small tactical teams to battalion level, with an independent and organic capability to increase their lethality".

FBI Director Deeply Concerned About Chinese Government's AI Program - WASHINGTON - The FBI Director Christopher Wray stated Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" regarding the artificial intelligence program run by the Chinese government.

During the panel session at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland he said Chinese ambitions with artificial intelligence has been “built on top of massive troves of intellectual property and sensitive data that they’ve stolen over the years".

He also said that China could use the artificial intelligence technology to advance its methods regarding cyberattacks, repress people that China sees as dissidents, as well as those located overseas, use it to steal intellectual property.

“That’s something we’re deeply concerned about, and I think everyone here should be deeply concerned about,” he said.

“AI is a classic example of a technology where I have the same reaction every time. I think, ‘Wow, We can do that?’ And then I think, ‘Oh god, they can do that.'" he stated.

While speaking at the World Economic Forum panel session Wray also said that "The level of collaboration between the private sector and the government, especially the FBI, has made significant strides".

U.S. Declares Russian Wagner Group A Transnational Criminal Organization - WASHINGTON - The White House has declared the Russian private paramilitary organization PMC Wagner group as "transnational criminal organization". The Wagner group is known to be the private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House national security council spokesman, John Kirby announced the move on Friday that the Treasury Department will be applying the new designation in the coming days, which will place the Wagner group in the same category as international mafia and organized crime groups.

The move will allow the United States to apply a broader range of sanctions on the group worldwide, as well as affiliated companies in Africa and in other countries internationally.

During Kirby's statement he said, "Wagner “is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses".

“We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting Wagner,” he added.

The new designation comes as the White House released evidence, including images of Russia allegedly accepting a delivery of arms from North Korea that it stated was intended to aid Wagner forces on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Washington also released images dated November 18th that it says show Russian rail cars traveling back and forth from Russia and North Korea.

“The arms transfers from are in direct violation of United Nations security council resolution,” Kirby said.

“These actions recognize the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity with these actions, and there’ll be more to come,” Kirby said.

According to Kirby's statement, around 50,000 Wagner soldiers are fighting in Ukraine along side Russian soldiers, including 40,000 convicts that were recruited from various prisons, and 10,000 contractors.

“We are seeing indications, including in intelligence, that tensions between Wagner and the Russian defense ministry are increasing,” Kirby said.

“Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries. Publicly, Prigozhin and his fighters have criticized Russian generals and defense officials for their performance in Ukraine," he added.

Pentagon Says If Ukraine Carries Out Strike On Crimea US Would Be With Ukraine - Pentagon's spokeswoman Sabrina Singh just said if Ukraine decides to carry out a military operation in Crimea, the United States would "be with Ukraine for as long as it takes".

"This department has said that we will be with Ukraine for as long as it takes. That includes an operation in Crimea. That is a sovereign part of their country and they have every right to take that back".

Note: This does not necessarily mean that the United States will set soldiers down on the ground in Crimea to aid Ukraine in the fighting, but it is one of the strongest messages than have been put out thus far in regards to US support for the country.

A NYT report claimed that "several anonymous US officials" spoke to the paper and told them that Washington is warming up to the idea of aiding Ukraine in strikes on Crimea, Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: Defeat Of A Nuclear Power In Conventional War May Trigger Nuclear War - MOSCOW - While speaking of Russia's war in Ukraine, Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the "defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war".

In his response, Medvedev, who is a deputy chairman of Russia's security council added that "Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends".

This, amidst a report that Washington is warming up to the idea of aiding Ukraine in strikes on Crimea, Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia.

When Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about the remarks by Medvedev and whether it means that Russia is escalating the crisis to another level, he said, "No, it absolutely does not mean that".

Then he added that the remarks by the former President were in line with Russia's nuclear doctrine, which states that a nuclear strike is acceptable in light of any "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened".

US May Help Ukraine In Operations In Crimea - A report released by the New York Times claims that "several anonymous US officials" spoke to the paper and told them that Washington is warming up to the idea of aiding Ukraine in strikes on Crimea, Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia.

A U.S. Army Brigadier General, however, spoke to Insider and said that he believes if Ukraine continues to have success on the battlefield, Russian President Vladimir Putin would resort to using a nuclear weapon. 

The paper cited the officials as saying that fears that Russia would retaliate to such an attack by using nuclear weapons have been assuaged and that the risk of assisting Ukraine in operations in Crimea might very well be worth attempting. 

NATO: Extremely Important Putin Doesn't Win The War In Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland that it is "extremely important that Putin doesn't win this war" and said that if Russia does win, "it will be very dangerous for all of us". 

He went on to say that if Russia were to win the war in Ukraine, it would send a message to all authoritarian leaders, "not only to Putin, but also other authoritarian leaders" that "when they use brutal force, when they violate international law, they achieve what they want". 

"That would be a very bad and dangerous lesson," he added. "It would make the world more dangerous, and us more vulnerable". 

Army Brig. General: Putin Would Use Nuclear Weapon If Ukraine Continues To Succeed On Battlefield

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan said that he believes that if Ukraine continues to have successes on the battlefield, Russia, "would use a nuclear weapon before it allowed its military to be defeated in the field". 

He continued by saying that, "If the Ukrainian military was having great success in the spring, and was chopping up the Russian military and was threatening taking back Crimea, then I think that the Russian military and leadership would use a nuclear weapon"

Ryan added that using a nuclear weapon would not only "destroy Ukrainian military targets," but also "convince Ukraine that continuing to fight this war would leave Ukraine as a nuclear holocaust". 

"The level of deaths could approach Hiroshima, or it could be far less if they only intend to fire like a warning shot of a nuclear weapon," such as using it on a location that isn't heavily populated. 

US Treasury Suspends Debt Issuance To Avoid Default - US Treasury commences a "debt issuance suspension period" to avoid a debt default after the government hit its borrowing limit. Congress is unable to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling. Treasury: suspension on borrowing will likely only help for less than six months.  Debt Clock Snapshot | Treasury Letter

The U.S. Treasury is currently implementing various accounting measures in order to buy time for congress to come up with an agreement on raising the debt limit.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote a letter to House and Senate leaders speaking of the measures taken in order to buy time until Congress could come to an agreement, but said that it is "“critical that Congress act in a timely manner". 

She continued by saying, “Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability". 

She then added, “In the past, even threats that the U.S. government might fail to meet its obligations have caused real harms, including the only credit rating downgrade in the history of our nation in 2011". 

According to AP news, Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center spoke to reporters and said, "this is not the time for panic, but it’s certainly a time for policymakers to begin negotiations in earnest.”

“Most policymakers agree that we have a major fiscal challenge as a country, our debt is unsustainable. There’s no reason why we couldn’t agree on measures to improve our fiscal outcome, and also ensure that we are paying all of our bills in full and on time.”

Germany Will Allow Export Of Tanks To Ukraine If US Also Sends Tanks - Germany says that they will be allowing the export of its tanks to Ukraine on the condition that the United States also sends tanks to the country. If Germany decides to do so, other NATO-allied countries say they will follow suit. Britain already plans to send them. The U.S. Coast Guard is tracking a Russian vessel off Hawaii. Read Full Article

Cloudflare Wins CISA Contract for Registry and Authoritative Domain Name System (DNS) Services - Cloudflare Wins CISA Contract for Registry and Authoritative Domain Name System (DNS) Services. CISA is an operational component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Read Full Article

Chinese Navy Holds "Confrontational Drills" In South China Sea - BEIJING - The Chinese Navy held "confrontational drills" in the South China Sea, according to state media, including Global Times, which stated that the drills were carried out "when a US carrier strike group had entered the region".   

The report by Global Times said that the US carrier only "stirred up tensions" and had "limited military significance". 

The Chinese state media said the drills included the Shandong aircraft carrier group, several different types of warships and dozens of warplanes and that the aircraft carrier conducted realistic combat-oriented "confrontational exercises" in the South China Sea, citing the PLA Navy in a statement released on Saturday. 

It also said that the drills simulated hostile attacks by aircraft, and that J-15 fighter jets took off from the Shandong and carried out "interception training". 

The PLA Navy statement also said that the carrier group practiced "cross-service multidimensional attack and defense on the surface, in the air and underwater".

US Nimitz Carrier Strike Group Begins Operating In South China Sea

The US Navy announced on Thursday that the Nimitz carrier strike group had begun operating in the South China Sea. Global Times reported that it was being tailed by two Chinese vessels. 

Global Times said that the US carrier strike group is "attempting to threaten China" but "actually have limited military significance" and that it "will only stir up tension in the region". 

The state-run media made sure to point out the recent war game scenario run by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies "indicated that the US would lose its aircraft carriers should they interfere in a possible conflict in the Taiwan Straits". 

Although the report by Global Times said that the US would "lose its aircraft carriers" the war game scenarios indicated only the loss of two of its aircraft carriers. 

China Responds To US-Japan Joint Statement On January 11th - BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has put out a statement calling on the United States and Japan to "Abandon" their "Cold War" mentality and "ideological bias" against China.   

A report by Russian Sputnik news cited the spokesperson as saying, “Countries in the region are for justice and against hegemonism. They hope to engage in cooperation, not confrontation. They aspire for true multilateralism and reject small circles that incite bloc confrontation". 

He was cited as adding the the United States and Japan should “stop creating imaginary enemies and stop trying to sow the seeds of a new Cold War in the Asia-Pacific, and not become disrupters of a stable Asia-Pacific". 

The spokesperson also addressed the joint statement hat the United States and Japan released on January 11th by the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee.

The joint statement claimed that China is attempting to “reshape the international order” and “unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea” which it says is a reason for concern. 

Wang said, “The wording on China in this joint statement smacks heavily of a zero-sum Cold War mentality and contains groundless smears and attacks on China". 

“The US and Japan claim to advance regional peace and security, but engage in finding pretexts for a military build-up and the willful use of force," he continued. 

"They claim to champion a free and open Indo-Pacific, but put up various exclusionary blocs to create division and confrontation. They claim to uphold the rules-based international order, but trample on international law and the basic norms governing international relations and grossly interfere in other countries’ internal affairs". 

China Trying To Establish Naval Base In Argentina, US Convincing UK To Approve F-16s To The Country - SOUTH AMERICA - China is reportedly pressuring Argentina to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to build a naval base in the Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province within the country, allowing them a military base with close access to Antarctica. 

Although quite far from America's southern border, having a base in South America would also allow its naval forces close access to the United States. 

A Report by Dialogo Americas said that a military base in that location would allow China to "control the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific," as well as "monitor communications throughout the hemisphere," citing French news agency Intelligence Online. 

On November 28th, 2022 Alberto Rojas, director of the International Affairs Observatory at Chile’s Finis Terrae University, spoke to Diálogo and said, “A possible Chinese base in Ushuaia would allow Beijing to have a permanent enclave in the Southern Hemisphere, with projection toward the South Atlantic which, depending on the conditions negotiated with Argentina, could allow for the construction of facilities, as well as the presence of naval units and military contingents in this quadrant". 

He added, “China could intercept all kinds of regional communications with a clear economic and strategic impact, in addition to gaining the potential to maintain permanent monitoring of maritime transit". 

Intelligence Online reported that Chinese Communist Party official Shuiping Tu who is based in Argentina, as well as a state-owned HydroChina Corp representative in South America is leading negotiations. 

The news site said that the Chinese Communist Party Official persuaded Tierra del Fuego Governor Gustavo Melella to change his mind on Chinese investment in Tierra del Fuego. 

Rojas said, "In the geopolitical context, the presence of a Chinese base in South America could be interpreted as an important strategic move by Beijing. “The Belt and Road [BRI] project announced by China in 2013 seeks to have a clear projection toward this area of the continent". 

He added, “And if this base in Ushuaia materializes, it could become the first of many others, both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts or the Andean area". 

He also said that the BRI was a “global infrastructure development and international cooperation strategy” and that it allows China to increase its dominance and control over developing countries. 

China currently has three "operational enclaves" overseas, according to the report. One is located in Djibouti in East Africa, the Ream naval base in Cambodia, and a base in Tadjikistan, currently being constructed in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region. 

On April 27th, U.S. Army General Laura J. Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command, told Miami based newspaper Infobae, “I see it like this: They are facilities of an authoritarian government, which does not let Argentines access them, except if they go there to visit". 

He added, “What are they up to? They [China] don’t have the same concerns we do in terms of freedom and a free, secure, and prosperous Western Hemisphere. I’m concerned about it. And it’s run by a state-owned enterprise and the People’s Liberation Army. What are they using that facility for?”.

US Sends Large Number Of Tanks To Europe, Allies To Send Tanks To Ukraine - EUROPE - The United States has begun sending a "large number" of tanks and other military vehicles to the port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands. on Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters, which has alarmed Russia.  

NATO allied countries are also now voicing support to send battle tanks to Ukraine in order to aid the country in the ongoing war with Russia. 

Reuters cited Col. Robert Kellam who is overseeing the operation as saying, "There's about 1,250 pieces of military equipment coming into this port". 

Included in the equipment being sent to the Dutch port are: M-1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. 

Russian state news RIA Novosti, however, cited the report by Reuters saying that the United States has been to "massively transport tanks to Eastern Europe". 

Both reports say that the transfer of weapons to Poland and Latvia is part of strengthening and reinforcing NATO's eastern flank.

RIA Novosti reported that in December the United States "had already transferred about 700 combat vehicles to Poland, including Abrams tanks" as part of the "Atlantic Resolve" program that began in 2014 in order to strengthen "American Presence in Europe" Novosti reported. 

The Russian news agency claimed that Moscow has "repeatedly noted" that the NATO alliance is "aimed at confrontation".

Allied Countries Talk Of Sending Battle Tanks To Ukraine

Although Britain has moved towards sending battle tanks to Ukraine, a Politico report says that Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz is not likely going to be willing to send tanks to Ukraine "without taking his lead from Washington". 

Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit spoke at a press conference in Berlin and said, “There is no change in the situation now because of the step that the British government has announced".

Britain has voiced their own willingness to send tanks to Ukraine. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak has told the UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to expand Britain's security assistance to Ukraine to "include the provision of tanks," according to a report by the Financial Times on January 11th. 

The report said that the United Kingdom will "work with partners" and "go further and faster with our support for Ukraine including the provision of tanks.”

The Financial Times report said, “If a deal is made for the supply of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine by the British Army, this will be the first time that a Western country will supply Ukraine with modern heavy battle tanks". 

A Downing Street spokesperson told the Financial Times, "“We are accelerating our support to Ukraine with the kind of next-generation military technology that will help to win this war". 

The spokesperson said, “We are accelerating our support to Ukraine with the kind of next-generation military technology that will help to win this war".

The spokesperson added, “It is clear that battle tanks could provide a game-changing capability to the Ukrainians.”

2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena - The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 required the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to submit an annual report to Congress on unidentified aerial phenomena. ODNI submitted the classified annual report to Congress and published the Unclassified Annual Report.

Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). Unclassified Annual Report.

"Yesterday the Director of National Intelligence delivered to Congress the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (now Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)) as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.

Analyzing and understanding the potential threats posed by UAP is an ongoing collaborative effort involving many departments and agencies, and the Department thanks the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for leading a collaborative effort to produce this report, as well as the other contributing departments and agencies.

The safety of our service personnel, our bases and installations, and the protection of U.S. operations security on land, in the skies, seas, and space are paramount. We take reports of incursions into our designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one.

The All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is leading DOD's efforts, in coordination with ODNI and other government agencies, to document, analyze, and when possible resolve UAP reports using a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach. 

Federal Aviation Administration: FAA NOTAMS Statement - Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the United States following an overnight outage to the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that provides safety information to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted. 

The agency continues to look into the cause of the initial problem.

FAA STATEMENT 0815 EST

The FAA is making progress in restoring its Notice to Air Missions system following an overnight outage.

Departures are resuming at Newark Liberty (EWR) and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) airports due to air traffic congestion in those areas.

We expect departures to resume at other airports at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.

FAA STATEMENT 0715 EST

The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage.

The FAA has ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern Time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.

FAA Releases Alert Reporting System Glitch That Caused Failure - UNITED STATES - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released an alert saying that it's working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System after it failed and caused an outage. *This message will be updated with further information as its released*. 

Messages by the FAA: "The United States NOTAM system failed at 2028Z. Since then no new NOTAMS or amendments have been processed. Technicians are currently working to restore the system and there is no estimate for restoration of service at this time. There is currently a hotline in effect which has NAIMES/FAA facilities/stakeholders in attendence. This hotline information is contained within ADVZY 004. This ADVZY will be updated as necessary."

FAA Message 2: "The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now. Operations across the National Airspace System are affected. We will provide frequent updates as we make progress."

FAA Message 3: "The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage. While some functions are beginning to come back on line, National Airspace System operations remain limited."

FAA Message 4: "Update 3: The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage. The FAA has ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern Time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information."

Flight Radar 24: "Flights to US airports have been groundstopped by the FAA until at least 09:30 ET (1430 UTC). This means any flight not in the air already will not be allowed to depart. Image: flights over US now compared to same time last week. About 700 fewer flights airborne now."

U.S. President Joe Biden commented on the outage and said that “They don’t know what the cause is,” and said “I told them to report directly to me when they find out. Aircraft can still land safely, just not take off right now. They don’t know what the cause of it is, they expect in a couple of hours they’ll have a good sense of what caused it and will respond at that time.”

The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “there is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes.”

Drone Shot Down Over Ain al-Asad Air Base Hosting US Forces - IRAQ - A drone was shot down over the Ain al-Asad Air Base that hosts U.S. Forces, according to Iraqi military sources on Sunday, after which the US-led military coalition said it had carried out "an operational exercise", contradicting reports by the Iraqi military that it may have been hostile. 

The Iraqi military said that the drone might have had hostile intent, and said it wasn't clear whether it was on a surveillance mission, or if it was carrying explosives.

The US-led coalition, in a contradicting statement said that it had carried out “an operational exercise...that involved engaging an Unmanned Aerial System”. 

There were no damages reported as a result of the shootdown, and no casualties reported. 

The attack comes as the United States marks the third anniversary of Iran's missile strike on the al-Asad Air Base in which the IRGC fired 13 ballistic missiles at the base. 

The attack three years ago marks the first time any country has directly attacked the United States since World War 2. 

Japan's Trade Minister Urges To Rebuild A "World Order" To Counter Authoritarian Regimes - JAPAN - The Japanese trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura is calling for the rebuilding of a "world order" in order to counter the rise of "authoritarian regimes". 

During a speech made by Nishimura at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, he said "We must rebuild a world order based on the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law".

There has been a "growing concern" since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine that China and Russia will begin to use their energy supplies and manufacturing supply chains in order to stop the West from opposing their military and diplomatic goals, according to a report by Japan Today. 

The report cited Nishimura as saying that leaders from the Group of Seven "industrialized nations" are likely to discuss how to respond to economic coercion when they hold their meeting in May in Hiroshima.

The Japanese Minister said that democracies need to protect their industrial power, and defend against the loss of technologies, in particular those technologies that can be used for military purposes. 

He also pushed for more cooperation between the United States and Japan that go beyond semiconductors, to biotechnology, quantum science and artificial intelligence. 

Nishimura said that Japan will be working more closely with the United States on export controls. 

"It is ... absolutely imperative for us to reinforce our cooperation in the area of export controls. We will implement strict export controls grounded in international cooperation while engaging closely in the exchange of views with the United States and other relevant countries," he stated. 

Washington: Claims That US In Talks To Revive Iranian Nuclear deal Are False - WASHINGTON - After Israeli Prime Minister said that efforts were underway to revive the JCPOA nuclear deal, the Biden Administration put out a statement saying that claims that it was engaged in talks were "false".

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that it is not in talks to revive the JCPOA nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and said that it "hasn't been on the agenda for some months now". 

U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price said that the administration is currently focused on "doing everything we can to support the universal rights of the people of Iran".

"Since September especially our focus has been on standing up, … for the fundamental freedoms of the Iranian people," he told reporters Wednesday. 

He added, "and now what it is doing to its own people — the repression, the violence that it's perpetrating against the brave Iranians who are taking to the streets; and the military support, the security assistance that it's providing to Russia — all of these are compounded and represent what is undeniably one of the most difficult challenges we face". 

Russian Hacker Group Targeted Three US Nuclear Research Labs - WASHINGTON - A Russian hacker group called Cold River targeted three different nuclear research labs in the United States between the months of August and September of 2022. 

During the months the attacks were carried out, Russian President Vladimir Putin had been voicing Russia's willingness to use nuclear weapons in response to threats to its territory. 

The three nuclear research labs that were targeted were: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) according to a Reuters Report citing internet records.

The internet records that Reuters cited showed login pages that had been faked for each laboratory, as well as emails from hackers sent to nuclear scientists at each location attempting to get them to disclose their login passwords. 

The report cites Adam Meyers, senior vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike located in the United States that the Cold River hacking group is "directly involved in supporting Kremlin information operations". 

A report posted on a blog by the European cybersecurity SAAS company Sekoia said that Calisto, which is another name for the Cold River group was showing interest in entities showing war support for Ukraine. 

Sekoia said that the group is suspected to be a "Russian-nexus intrusion set" active since April of 2017 who's operations showed "objectives" and "victimology" closely in alignment with Russian strategic interests. 

Cold River had also Hacked Into and then leaked emails from a Proton account belonging to the head of the British MI6 intelligence agency last year. 

At the time Richard Dearlove had said, "I am well aware of a Russian operation against a Proton account which contained emails to and from me".

Methods Used To Harvest Victims Credentials

One of the methods that Sekoia says the hacker group uses to compromise systems is through the exploitation of an error in the PDF renderer engine. 

The group sends "malicious" PDF files as attachments to their victims in which the first page of the PDF file "mimics an error in the PDF renderer engine", leading the victim to open a link that brings them to a malicious web page that harvests the users credentials using EvilGinx. 

Former Russian President Says Russia Should Station Hypersonic Missiles Near Washington D.C. - MOSCOW - Former Russian President Medvedev posted a message on the Twitter account to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that Russia should send its Zircon hypersonic missiles close to the Potomac River, which flows through Washington D.C. 

The former Russian President, and deputy chair of Russia's security council Dmitry Medvedev responded to a message of peace by the US Embassy in Moscow, saying that the main gift of the New Year was the Zircon missiles that went to the shore of NATO countries yesterday. 

The comment was in reference to the Russian hypersonic missile boat that has been spotted sailing along the coast of Norway by the Norwegian Armed Forces. 

The U.S. Embassy in Russia had released a statement that said, "Throughout history, our countries have been united by a common culture and our achievements. We believe that what is happening is not worthy of you, and we stand in solidarity with each of you who strive to create a more peaceful future". 

Medvedev responded by saying, "The main gift of the New Year was the arsenal of Zircon missiles that went yesterday to the shores of NATO countries". 

He then added that the missiles should be deployed "somewhere 100 miles from the coast [of the US], closer to the Potomac River," which is a river that flows through Washington D.C. 

Zircon hypersonic missiles have a range of between 310 to 620 miles.

Alan Greenspan Says Coming Recession Is Likely - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says that he believes that a coming recession is the most likely outcome of the recent spate of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation. Read Full Article

Greenspan: Chinese Invasion Of Taiwan Could Cause Economic Black Swan Event - Alan Greenspan warned that if China invades Taiwan it could trigger an economic "Black Swan" event that could affect economies worldwide. The number of Chinese aircraft spotted around the island of Taiwan has nearly doubled each consecutive year since 2020. Read Full Article

7th Fleet Destroyer Transits Taiwan Strait Despite China's Warnings - The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon transited the Taiwan Strait on January 5th, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which it says was a 'routine' transit. Read Full Article

China Running Secret Overseas Police Stations Worldwide - China is running secret overseas police stations around the world, including unauthorized stations in the US, in order to surveil Chinese nationals in countries across the globe. Read Full Article

British MI5 Addresses Threats From Iran, Russia, And China - The British MI5 Security Service addressed threats to the UK posed by Iran, Russia, and China and is expected to declare the Iranian IRGC a terrorist organization in the coming weeks. Read Full Article

South Korea Considers Sharing Real-Time Radar Intel With Japan By End Of Year - SEOUL - (based on translation) South Korea has begun considering sharing real-time radar information along with missile tracking data with Japan, according to a report by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, which cited several government officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea. 

The paper stated that if the two countries share radar intelligence and data it will "lead to improved capabilities such as missile defense and information dissemination to the public". 

The United States, South Korea and Japan have begun "technical discussions" which involve the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, according to the Japanese paper which says that the plan is to accelerate talks with the aim of realizing the deal by the end of the year at the earliest. 

Why Is It Necessary To Share Live Radar Data?

Due to the fact that the earth is spherical, radar signals used to track missiles cannot track below the horizon, so Japan cannot track missiles until they reach a specific altitude. 

Similarly, South Korea cannot track missiles that fall beyond a certain point near Japan due to this same limitation. This difference in tracking has led to both South Korea and Japan releasing different data on the same missile launches, such as the number of missiles launched and the flight distance the missiles achieved. 

If South Korea and Japan were to share their live radar data with the US Indo-Pacific Command their data would then be in sync and the issue would then be resolved. 

The South Korea is already sharing live radar data with the United States, the new proposed plan would simply plug Japan into the live-data stream as well so that missile information is shared among the three countries simultaneously.

Two Rockets Target US Base In Syria - CENTCOM - TAMPA, Fla. – "Two rockets targeted coalition forces at Mission Support Site Conoco, northeast Syria, today at approximately 9am local time in Syria (1 am Eastern Standard Time). 

The attack resulted in no injuries or damage to the base or coalition property. Syrian Democratic Forces visited the rocket origin site and found a third unfired rocket.

"Attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian populace at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region," said Col. Joe Buccino, CENTCOM spokesman."

Israel Strikes Damascus, Increases Cooperation With US, Prepares For Attack On Iran - Israel carried out a missile strike on the Damascus International Airport, killing four people while boosting cooperation with the US, and preparing for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Read Full Article

Chinese Aircraft Carrier Approached Guam - GUAM - The Liaoning Chinese aircraft carrier approached the U.S. territory of Guam while carrying out drills in the West Pacific from December 17th to December 27th.   

The aircraft carrier was also spotted by the Japanese Ministry of Defense and reported in a statement on December 25th. 

The statement said that the Liaoning was spotted 416 miles southeast of Okinotorishima, about 384 miles northwest of Guam before it returned to waters around Taiwan and Japan. 

Chinese state propaganda site Global Times said that it appears that this is the first time the Liaoning aircraft carrier has ever approached Guam. 

“The U.S. is building a group of military bases in Guam, Japan and Australia targeting China, with Guam being a core forward operating base featuring all types of military services," Global Times stated. 

USINDOPACOM Statement on DPRK Missile Launch - USINDOPACOM: "We are aware of the ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners. 

While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launches highlight the destabilizing impact of the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs. 

The U.S. commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad."

Chinese Aircraft Carrier Approached Guam, Japan, Taiwan - USINDOPACOM: "Navy J-11 fighter pilot performed an unsafe maneuver during and intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, which was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace."

The aircraft carrier was also spotted by the Japanese Ministry of Defense and reported in a statement on December 25th. 

The statement said that the Liaoning was spotted 416 miles southeast of Okinotorishima, about 384 miles northwest of Guam before it returned to waters around Taiwan and Japan.

Chinese state propaganda site Global Times said that it appears that this is the first time the Liaoning aircraft carrier has ever approached Guam. 

“The U.S. is building a group of military bases in Guam, Japan and Australia targeting China, with Guam being a core forward operating base featuring all types of military services," Global Times stated. 

The Global Times continued, "Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was recently spotted for the first time sailing close to Guam, a key US military node in the second island chain, during its ongoing exercises in the West Pacific, a move analysts said on Thursday showed that the Chinese carrier is ready to defend the country against potential US attacks launched from there, including military interference attempts over the Taiwan question".

Russia Says It Hopes US Wise Enough To Prevent Confrontation - The Russian Foreign Ministry reportedly put out a statement to Russian State news agency TASS that Moscow hopes that Washington will show enough prudence and is wise enough to prevent the situation from escalating to the point of a direct confrontation. Read Full Article

Russia Warns US Against Decapitation Strike Against Putin - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has put out a warning to the United States against carrying out a decapitation strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Read Full Article

Security Alert – U.S. Embassy Islamabad, Pakistan - The U.S. government is aware of information that unknown individuals are possibly plotting to attack Americans at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad sometime during the holidays. Read Embassy Alert

Effective immediately, the Embassy in Islamabad is prohibiting all American staff from visiting Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel. Furthermore, as Islamabad has been placed on a Red Alert citing security concerns while banning all public gatherings, the embassy is urging all Mission personnel to refrain from non-essential, unofficial travel in Islamabad throughout the holiday season.

Actions to Take: Exercise vigilance at events, places of worship, and avoid locations with large crowds. Review your personal security plans. Carry identification and follow requests from law enforcement. Be aware of your surroundings. Monitor local media for updates.

Russia Condemns Possible Patriot Air Defense Systems Shipment To Ukraine - MOSCOW - The Russian Embassy to the United States has condemned the possible shipment of long-range Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine by the US, saying that the move would be a provocative step. Read Full Article

US Deciding Whether To Send Patriot Missile System To Ukraine - The US is currently deciding on whether to send a Patriot long-range missile system to Ukraine, after receiving a request from Ukraine for more powerful and longer-range missile systems. Russia said in September that If Washington decides to supply longer-range missiles to Kyiv, it will be crossing a red line and will become a direct party to the conflict. Read Full Article

Poland To Deploy German Patriot Missile Systems On Border With Ukraine - Polish President Andrzej Duda announced on Monday that Poland will be working with Germany to deploy German Patriot missile systems on its border with Ukraine in the coming days. Read Full Article

Ukraine Requests Internationally Banned Cluster Munitions From US - Ukraine has requested cluster bombs from the United States. Both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions in the war, mostly in populated areas, according to Multiple Reports, one of which is from the United Nations. Read Full Article

Turkey Threatens Greece With Missile Strike - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has threatened Greece with a missile strike on Athens. Both countries are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance. Read Full Article

Belarus Deploys Tactical Battalion Groups At Borders Where NATO Is Deployed - Belarusian army says that they have deployed tactical battalion groups on the borders between Belarus and the countries where NATO had deployed forces. Skies above Belarus Empty. Read Ongoing Report

Rising Tensions Between Serbia And Kosovo, Military Activity Spotted - Shots were fired, and explosions were heard on the border between Serbia and Kosovo after a stun grenade was thrown. Serbia has asked NATO to deploy the Serbian army and police force. Read Ongoing Report

Putin Says Russia Is Considering Adding Nuclear First Strike To Military Strategy - MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has put out a statement saying that any country that dares attack Russia with nuclear weapons will be wiped from the face of the earth, considers adding Russia to nuclear first strike strategy. Read Full Article

House Passes $858 Billion Defense Bill Removing Vaccine Mandate For Military Personnel - WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the $858 billion defense bill which effectively removes the vaccine mandate for U.S. military personnel. Read Full Article

U.S. Moving Air Defense Systems From Middle East To Ukraine - RAYTHEON - The United States is currently working with countries in the Middle East to move some of the U.S. air defense systems to Ukraine, according to a Report by POLITICO. 

Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes said in an interview that the goal is to move National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems to Ukraine within three to six months from now, and then backfill the air defense systems with new NASAMS in the Middle East over the next 24 months time. 

“There are NASAMS deployed across the Middle East, and some of our NATO allies and we [the U.S.] are actually working with a couple of Middle Eastern countries that currently employ NASAMS and trying to direct those back up to Ukraine,” he was cited by POLITICO as saying. 

He said that moving them from the Middle East instead of building the systems in the United States is much faster, "“Just because it takes 24 months to build, it doesn’t mean it’s going to take 24 months to get in [the] country."

The newspaper said that it takes two years to build NASAMS due to the time it takes to purchase the components and motors for the rockets. 

China's Semiconductor Exports Decline, Increasing Possibility Of Taiwan Invasion - BEIJING - China's semiconductor exports are on the decline amidst the United States moving microchip manufacturing in-house, possibly making an invasion of Taiwan by China more appealing. Read Full Article

Europe Accuses US Of Profiting From Ukraine War While EU Suffers The Consequences - Top officials within the European Union are reportedly accusing the United States of making a fortune from the war in Ukraine, while EU countries suffer from the consequences of the ongoing war. Read Full Article

5 Vehicles Rented By Biden's Secret Service Catch Fire - NANTUCKET - Five vehicles that were rented by U.S. President Joe Biden's Secret Service detail went up in flames while in a parking lot on Monday a day after the President went on vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.

The Secret Service had rented five vehicles for Biden and his family last week, and all five were consumed in the fire.

The vehicles included a Ford Explorer, Chevy Suburban, Infinity QX80, Jeep Gladiator, and a Ford Expedition.

The Nantucket airport put out a statement that said, "At approximately 5:22 am Airport shift staff observed an active fire in the rental car overflow area through the Airport's Closed Circuit Television System."

"Staff activated the Alert system and responded to the fire in Airport-3, where they were met by responding units from Nantucket Fire Department and Nantucket Police Department," the statement added.

"Combined fire resources responded and contained the fire. Several vehicles were damaged. The Airport is currently coordinating with rental car agencies and agency partners to ensure scene safety, There is no longer an active fire at this time: the Airport is open, and aeronautical operations are not affected."

The Biden family has spent Thanksgiving holidays on the Nantucket island for the last 40 years, which makes it likely that if it was an assassination attempt, it was planned based on knowledge of the yearly trip.

The cars burst into flames less than 24 hours after Biden and his family returned. No one was reported to be hurt in the incident, the fire has since been brought under control, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Securities Commission of The Bahamas Assumes Control of Assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. - Nassau, The Bahamas - Thursday 17 November 2022 - On 12 November 2022, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (“the Commission”), in the exercise of its powers as regulator acting under the authority of an Order made by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, took the action of directing the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. (“FDM”) to a digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping.  Read Official PDF

Urgent interim regulatory action was necessary to protect the interests of clients and creditors of FDM. Under the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act, 2020 (“DARE Act”), the Commission has the authority to apply for a judicial order to protect the interests of clients or customers of a registrant of the Commission under the DARE Act.

It is not the understanding of the Commission that FDM is a party to the US Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings. Over the coming days and weeks, the Commission will engage with other regulators and authorities, in multiple jurisdictions, to address matters affecting the creditors, clients and stakeholders of FDM globally to obtain the best possible outcome.

Kim Jong Un Oversaw ICBM Test, Vows To Respond With Nukes If Enemies Continue To Pose Threats - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the latest ICBM test, vowed that if enemies continue to pose threats, the North Korean government will react with nukes. Read Ongoing Report

Security Alert: U.S. Consulate General Erbil, Iraq - Nov 18th - Event: U.S. Consulate General Erbil is monitoring credible open-source reports of potential Turkish military action in northern Syria and northern Iraq in the coming days. The U.S. government continues to strongly advise U.S. citizens to avoid these areas. Read Security Alert

Actions to Take: Avoid border areas. Exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings or protests. Keep a low profile. Monitor local media for updates.

The State Department’s Travel Advisory for Iraq remains at Level 4: Do Not Travel due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and Mission Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. For more information, please visit the Iraq Country Information page on travel.state.gov. Please also review what the U.S. government can and cannot do to assist you in a crisis overseas.

Message to U.S. Citizens: U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq – U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Resumes Consular Services for U.S. Citizens (Nov 3rd)

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has resumed offering routine consular services for U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens in Iraq can now schedule appointments for passport and notary services, or to register their children with a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad or at the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil.

To request an appointment in Baghdad, please send an email to [email protected]. To request an appointment in Erbil, visit the Consulate General’s website. If your passport has expired or will expire in the next six months, we urge you to renew it in Baghdad or Erbil as soon as possible.

The State Department’s Travel Advisory for Iraq remains at Level 4: Do Not Travel due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and the U.S. government’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens in Iraq. For more information, please visit the Iraq Country Information page on travel.state.gov. Please also review what the U.S. government can and cannot do to assist you in a crisis overseas. Read Security Alert

North Korea Fires Intercontinental Ballistic Missile - ICBM - North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (#ICBM) that flew 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) at an altitude of 6,100 kilometers (3790 miles) at a speed of Mach 22. Read Full Article

Former Russian President Says Missile Strike In Poland Proves West Is "Approaching A World War" -MOSCOW - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the missile strike in Poland only proves that the West is "approaching a world war," and that the West wants to "wage war on Russia by all means against Russia", and that talking about Russian missiles falling into Poland is a "provocation" with the intent on escalating the conflict.

NATO, Poland Says Missile That Landed In Poland Likely Ukrainian Air Defense Missile - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that although the missile that landed in Poland and killed two people was "likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile" that it was "not Ukraine's fault".

"Russia bears ultimate responsibility" for the missile strike, not Ukraine, but that there is no indication that the missile strike was an intentional attack from Russia.

Polish President Andrzej Duda also said, “There is no indication that this could be qualified as an attack against Poland. It is highly probable that one of the missiles fired by the Ukrainian missile defense unfortunately fell on our territory."

Missile Blast In Poland Caused By Ukrainian Air Defense Missile - Reuters reported that U.S. President Joe Biden told the G7 and NATO partners that "a missile blast in Poland was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile", according to a NATO source who reportedly spoke to Reuters.

On The Likelihood Of NATO's Article 5 Being Declared - Article 5 is not automatic, it needs to be agreed upon. It is unlikely alliance members will agree on article 5 if it was accidental, which thus far it looks to be. If it is found that it was intentional, however, the likelihood of article 5 will increase tremendously.

*Ongoing Report* Missile Believed To Be Russian Made Crosses Into NATO Member Poland, Killing Two People - The Associated Press reported that a Russian-made missile crossed into the eastern part of Poland on Wednesday, striking a grain facility near the Ukrainian border on the Polish side and killing two people. Poland is a member of the NATO alliance. Investigations have not yet concluded who manufactured the missile.

Investigations of the missile have not yet concluded who manufactured the missile, and Poland will likely request consultations with the other alliance members under NATO's article 4.

The Associated Press has reported that three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly "suggested" that the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces and was intended to target a Russian missile.

Polish President Polish President Andrzej Duda informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US president Joe Biden that the Polish ambassador to NATO "will request to invoke article 4, that is consultations among allies".

If Russia was to blame for the missile being launched into Poland, it is possible that NATO article 5 could be triggered, which states that an attack on one NATO member is seen as an attack on all NATO members. Article 5 is not automatic, however and would require that the alliance is in agreement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put out a statement saying that it was a "very significant escalation" in the war.

Although a statement was released by the Polish Foreign Ministry saying that the missile was most likely manufactured in Russia, Polish President Andrzej Duda's statement said that it "most probably" was Russian, but also said officials still haven't been able to confirm who fired the missile.

Duda's statement to reporters said, "We do not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched this missile. "It was most likely a Russian-made missile, but this is all still under investigation at the moment. We are acting with calm. This is a difficult situation."

The White House put out a statement that U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with President Duda and expressed condolences, also offering assistance with the Polish investigation.

The Pentagon says that they have no confirmation that a Russian-made missile crossed into Poland and killed two people. An urgent meeting of the Committee for National Security and Defense Affairs has been called by Polish prime minister.

Even if it was a Russian-made missile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Article 5 is not 'automatically triggered'. Members of the NATO alliance must agree on any actions and responses that the alliance takes in relation to article 5 before taking action.

While speaking to reporters after the emergency meeting with G7 and NATO leaders in Bali, Indonesia, Biden said that preliminary information suggested that it's 'unlikely' that the missile was fired from Russian territory, but that the information is not conclusive until the investigation is completed.

This only addresses whether the missile was fired from Russian territory however, not whether it was fired by Russia from Ukrainian territory.

Biden said, "We agreed to support Poland’s investigation into the explosion … And I’m going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened.”

"Then we’re going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate and proceed. There was total unanimity among the folks at the table,” he added.

Russia denied any involvement in firing the missiles into Poland and called reports by the Polish media first reporting the explosion and deaths as "a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation".

The statement by the Kremlin said that the wreckage shown by Polish media "“from the scene in the village of Przewodow have nothing to do with Russian weapons.”

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that evidence suggests the missile that landed in Przewodów was a 'single act' and that there is no evidence that there will be any further missiles shot into Poland.

Poland is, however, increasing its military readiness in response, and is carrying out a careful analysis and consulting with NATO allies regarding the potential use of NATO's article 4, which allows for a NATO member to consult with the other alliance members.

11 Countries Placed On Travel Advisory Page In Last 30 Days - 11 countries have been placed on the travel advisory page in the last 30 days, including Trinidad and Tobago, Tonga, Ecuador, Moldova, Nigeria, China, Taiwan, Samoa, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

China

Reconsider travel to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Macau SAR, due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws and COVID-19-related restrictions. See specific risks and conditions in each jurisdiction below. Exercise increased caution in the PRC due to wrongful detentions.

Taiwan

Reissued with updates to health information. Exercise normal precautions in Taiwan.

Trinidad and Tobago

Reconsider travel to Trinidad and Tobago due to crime. Exercise increased caution in Trinidad and Tobago due to terrorism and kidnapping. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Tonga

Reissued with updates to health information and removal of natural disaster risk indicator. Exercise normal precautions in Tonga. Read the Country Information page.

Moldova

Exercise increased caution while traveling to Moldova due to unresolved conflict between the breakaway region of Transnistria and the central government. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Nigeria

Reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Samoa

Reissued with updates to health information. Exercise normal precautions in Samoa.

Ukraine

Reissued from October 4, 2022 with updates to security information. Do not travel to Ukraine due to Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Department of State continues to advise that U.S. citizens not travel to Ukraine due to active armed conflict. Those U.S citizens in Ukraine should depart if it is safe to do so using commercial or other privately available ground transportation options. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Afghanistan

Reissued with updates to relocation, citizen services, and safety and security information. Do not travel to Afghanistan due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping.

Travel to all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe and the risk of kidnapping or violence against U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is high. Given the serious risks, U.S. citizens should not travel to Afghanistan to accompany eligible family members for relocation.

Israel

Summary: Terrorist groups, lone-wolf terrorists and other violent extremists continue plotting possible attacks in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza. Terrorists and violent extremists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities. Violence can occur in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza without warning. There has been a marked increase in demonstrations throughout Israel, some with little or no warning.

Camerroon

Last Update: Reissued with updates to health information. Exercise increased caution in Cameroon due to crime. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

Level 4 Do Not Travel List

The Level 4: Do Not Travel list includes: Afghanistan, Belarus, Faso, Burma, CAR, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

The month of October saw a large number of travel advisory alerts being released. View Travel Advisories

US Forces Aid Somalian Government In Carrying Out "Self Defense Strike" - US AFRICA COMMAND: "Federal Government of Somalia combats terrorists with support from U.S. forces: At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike against the al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking the Somali forces on Nov. 9."

"Somali National Army forces were engaged with al Shabaab fighters in a remote area approximately 285 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu on Nov. 9. At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense strike against the al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking the Somali forces.

Working with the Somali National Army, U.S. Africa Command’s initial assessment is that the strike killed 17 attacking al Shabaab terrorists and that no civilians were injured or killed.

U.S. Africa Command takes great measures to prevent civilian casualties. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote greater security for all Africans.

Al-Shabaab is the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world and has proven both its will and capability to attack Somali, East African, and American civilians.

Somalia remains key to the stability and security in all of East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to defeat al-Shabaab.

U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.

U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, with partners, counters malign actors and transnational threats, responds to crises, and strengthens security forces in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity."

Chinese President Tells Military To Prepare For War Amid Tensions Over Taiwan - BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Tuesday that China will be increasing the training of its military and preparation for war as the nation's security is increasingly unstable and uncertain. Read Full Article

Stratcom Commander: Ukraine Just A Warm Up, The Big One Is Coming - WASHINGTON - the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command has said that the war in Ukraine is just a warm up and that the United States must be prepared for much more, around the corner, because the big one is coming. Read Full Article

Air Strikes Reported On Syria/Iraq Border, Civilians Reported Dead - Syria/Iraq - Airstrikes have been reported on the border between Syria and Iraq. Iranian-backed militia has reportedly blamed the United States for the attacks, but U.S. officials rejected the claims, saying that it wasn't them, but has confirmed that airstrikes were carried out.

BBC reporter Nafiseh Kohnavard reported that CENTCOM is currently investigating the attacks, and there are reports of civilian casualties.

Sabereen News claimed that "multiple fuel tankers carrying Iranian gasoline for Lebanon” have been targeted in airstrikes. the news agency also reports 25 people were killed and 10 others wounded in the strikes and that tankers carrying Iranian gasoline headed for Lebanon were targeted.

Russia Laments Sale Of Alaska To United States, Plans To Build Base On Island Ceded By US - Russia has been lamenting the sale of Alaska to the United States 155 years ago, saying that "if the Russian empire had not sold Alaska to the United States" the current "problems" in the Arctic would not be so acute. On July 6th, 2022 the chairman of the Russian State Duma said that Russia could reclaim Alaska. Read Full Article

Pentagon: U.S. Able To Respond Quickly To North Korean Nuclear Test - PENTAGON - The United States is able to respond quickly to a North Korean nuclear test if necessary, a spokesperson for the Pentagon said on Friday. Washington believes North Korea has completed all preparations for a seventh nuclear test. Read Full Article

U.S. Air Force and ROK Air Force Finish Conducting Large-Scale Joint Air Training Event Vigilant Storm - INDO-PACIFIC - The United States and South Korea have finished conducting large-scale bilateral air exercises called "Vigilant Storm" that was held from October 31st, 2022 to November 4th, 2022. Read Full Article

$400 Million in Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine - DoD authorizes the Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $600 million to Ukraine. This authorization is the Biden Administration’s twenty-first drawdown since August 2021. Read Full Article

US, UN Carry Out Inspections In Ukraine, Weapons Ending Up In Hands Of Criminals In Europe - The US military carried out onsite weapons inspections in Ukraine in order to make sure that weapons provided to Ukraine by the United States are not being diverted. Finnish news is reporting the weapons are ending up in the hands of criminals in European countries. Read Full Article

FBI Warns Of "Broad Threat" To Synagogues In New Jersey - UNITED STATES - The FBI has put out a warning of a "broad threat" to synagogues in the state of New Jersey.

The FBI statement said, "The FBI has received credible information of a broad threat to synagogues in NJ. We ask at this time that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility. We will share more information as soon as we can. Stay alert. In case of emergency call police."

"We ask at this time that you take all security precautions to protect your community and facility".

"We are taking a proactive measure with this warning while investigative processes are carried out."

North Korea Launches At Least 4 More Ballistic Missiles - SEOUL - North Korea launched at least three, possibly four more ballistic missiles into the sea today, after launching at least 26 ballistic missiles including one ICBM the day before that triggered Japan's J-alert system and stopped trains from running in northern Japan.

The barrage of missile launches by North Korea came, at least in part in response to joint military exercises being held by North Korea and the United States. Exercises in which North Korea has called a provocation.

In response to the latest missile launches by North Korea, the United States and South Korea decided to extend the large-scale joint aerial exercises.

North Korea responded to the move by the United States and South Korea to extend exercises by saying, "North Korea says that the US and South Korea have made a very risky and wrong decision by extending air force drills, and both countries will come to know what a terrible mistake they have made," according to North Korean state news agency KCNA.

The South Korean Defense Minister has released a video message saying that "Any nuclear attack by North Korea will lead to the end of the Kim Jong-un regime. This is a strong warning against the DPRK."

The suspected ICBM test carried out by North Korea yesterday is reported to have failed after launch.

US And Saudi Arabia On High Alert Over Saudi Intel Of Impending Attack By Iran - Saudi Arabia has reportedly shared intelligence with the United States and warned of an impending imminent Iranian attack targeting both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, including Erbil, Iraq where US forces are stationed according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Both the United States and Saudi Arabia are reported to be on high alert. One of the locations under alert is Erbil, Iraq where U.S. troops are currently based.

The report says that Saudi officials stated that Iran desires to carry out attacks in order to distract attention away from the protests currently going on within Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini allegedly by the hands of Iran's morality police.

The Wall Street Journal cited the White House National Security Council as saying that it was concerned about the warnings and is ready to response if Iran does carry out an attack.

“We are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis,” a National Security Council spokesperson was cited as saying. “We will not hesitate to act in the defense of our interests and partners in the region.”

A month ago the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps put out a warning to Saudi Arabia regarding its coverage of the Iranian protests by its media, which included Iran International.

The IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami said, "This is our last warning, because you are interfering in our internal affairs through these media. You are involved in this matter and know that you are vulnerable.”

Iran's own state news agency claimed that Iran International is “a network formed by Saudi Arabia in 2017 in London” which “adopts a completely anti-Iran approach.”

The Iranian protests have seen over 200 people killed, and over a thousand people arrested so far as the government continues to crack down on the protests.

North Korea Calls On US, South Korea To Stop Joint Military Exercises - PYONGYANG - North Korea on Monday called on the United States and South Korea to stop carrying out joint military exercises, calling the drills a provocation that might cause "more powerful follow-up measures" from the North in response.Read Full Article

2022 National Defense Strategy Of The United States Of America - WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said that although Russia is an "acute threat", China "is the only competitor out there with both the intent to reshape the international order, and increasingly the power to do so". Read Full Article

US, NATO Deploying B61-12 Thermonuclear "Gravity Bomb" To Europe - NATO - the United States said during a closed meeting with NATO that it will be accelerating the deployment of an upgraded version of the B61-12 air-dropped thermonuclear "gravity bomb" to European bases in December, which is a few months earlier than was originally planned. Read Full Article

International Space Station Forced To Use Thrusters To Avoid Debris From Russian Anti-Satellite Test - NASA - The International Space Station was forced to ignite a thruster in order to move the space station away from debris created from a Russian anti-missile test in 2021. The anti-satellite missile test involved Russia targeting and destroying one of its own non-functioning satellites, which then generated about 1,500 pieces of space Debris in outer space. Read Full Article

US, South Korea, Japan Working Together To Ensure Taiwan's Self-Defense - WASHINGTON - US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on October 26th that the United States will be cooperating with South Korea and Japan in order to ensure Taiwan's self-defense. Read Full Article

US, South Korea Vow Unparalleled Response If North Carries Out 7th Nuclear Test - SEOUL - The United States and South Korea have vowed that there would be an unparalleled response if North Korea carries out an expected 7th nuclear test, and have urged North Korea to refrain from provocations. Read Full Article

North Korea Fires Two Short-Range Ballistic Missiles - SEOUL - North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the location of the Tongchon, Kangwon province, according to the South Korean military. The US Indo-Pacific Command put out a statement saying that they are aware of the missile launches. Read the following article for more information on them: Read Full Article

DoD Addresses Jet Fuel Leak In Hawaii Drinking Water, Announces Closure & Health Response - A once-classified U.S. Military fuel storage installation hidden inside of a mountain in Hawaii called the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility began leaking jet fuel into the drinking water and sickening at least 5,900 military personnel in November 2021. Read Full Article

Russia, NATO Hold Simultaneous Nuclear Exercises As Tensions Escalate - MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin monitored the launches of ballistic and cruise missiles on Wednesday as part of Russia's yearly "Grom" nuclear exercises, as NATO holds simultaneous nuclear exercises. Read Full Article

AFRICOM: Federal Government of Somalia engages terrorists with support from U.S. forces - Due to U.S. forces conducting an airstrike against al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia, the Africa regional alert has been set to 2. Statement from Africa Command:

"AFRICOM: "In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking Somali National Army forces near Buulobarde, Somalia, about 218 km north-northwest of Mogadishu, on Oct. 23.

The command’s initial assessment is that the strike killed two attacking al-Shabaab terrorists and that no civilians were injured or killed.

U.S. Africa Command takes great measures to prevent civilian casualties. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote a more secure and stable Africa.

Al-Shabaab is the largest and most kinetically active al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests. U.S. Africa Command, alongside its partners, continues to take action to prevent this malicious terrorist group from planning and conducting attacks on civilians.

Somalia remains key to the security environment in East Africa. U.S. Africa Command’s forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to degrade al-Shabaab.

U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of the operation and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.

U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, with partners, counters malign actors and transnational threats, responds to crises, and strengthens security forces in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity."

Iran Claims It Arrested 10 Israeli Agents, Israel Destroys Iranian Drone Factory - TEHRAN - Iran claims that it has arrested 10 agents allegedly working for Israel in West Azerbaijan province as part of an espionage network, according to Iranian state news agency Fars. Israeli officials claim to have struck 90% of Iran's military operations in Syria, targeting a drone assembly factory near Damascus on Friday. Read Full Article

*NEW* Russia Claims Ukraine Preparing To Use Dirty Bomb, US Says Claims Are False - *New Information* - Russia has claimed that Ukraine is preparing a possible 'provocation' involving the use of a 'dirty bomb', while the US and Ukraine claim that this might be a pretext for a Russian 'false flag' operation. Read Full Article

US Army's 101st Airborne Division Deploys To Border With Ukraine - EUROPE - The US Army's 101st Airborne Division which consists of about 4,700 soldiers has been deployed to Europe, on the border of Romania and Ukraine, for the first time since World War 2 (80 years ago).

They are now the closest stationed U.S. Soldiers to Ukraine/Russia. CBS News reports that "The US 101st Airborne is practicing for war with Russia just miles from Ukraine's border".

CBS reported that "The light infantry unit, nicknamed the "Screaming Eagles," is trained to deploy on any battlefield in the world within hours, ready to fight."

The news agency said that the troops were the 'closest American forces to the fighting in Ukraine," and said that they have been "closely watching" the Russian forces, "building objectives to practice against" and carrying out drills that "replicate exactly what's going on" in Russia's war on Ukraine.

They told CBS that they are always "ready to fight tonight", and if the fighting escalates, or there's an attack on NATO, they are fully prepared to cross the border into Ukraine and join the fight.

Pentagon: Supersonic Bombers Sent To Guam To Send Message, To Deter Provocations - The Pentagon has confirmed that the B-1B supersonic bombers that arrived in Guam this week is a show of strength in order to deter "potential provocations," after North Korea carried out a series of ballistic missile tests, and fired into the buffer zone with the South. Read Full Article

White House: Iranian Troops Were Sent To Ukraine Help Russia Use Iranian Drones - According to the White House, Iranian troops were sent to Ukraine to help assist Russia in operating Iranian-made drones that Russia had reportedly purchased from the country. Read Full Article

CENTCOM Commander Embarks USS West Virginia Ballistic Missile Submarine - "On October 19th, General Michael "Erik” Kurilla, commander of CENTCOM, conducted a visit aboard the USS West Virginia, a U.S. Navy Ohio-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine at an undisclosed location at sea in international waters in the Arabian Sea.

Kurilla was joined on the USS West Virginia by Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and NAVCENT. During his visit on board the submarine, General Kurilla received a hands-on demonstration of the capabilities of the vessel, which operates globally under U.S. Strategic Command.

“I was thoroughly impressed with the crew of the USS West Virginia; these sailors represent the highest level of professionalism, expertise, and discipline across the U.S. military," said Kurilla. "These submarines are the crown jewel of the nuclear triad, and the West Virginia demonstrates the flexibility, survivability, readiness, and capability of USCENTCOM and USSTRATCOM forces at sea."

USSTRATCOM forces are on watch 24/7 globally, operating in all domains, while supporting other commands, to defend the nation and our allies.

West Virginia is one of six ballistic-missile submarines stationed at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, and is capable of carrying up to 20 submarine launched ballistic missiles with multiple warheads."

US Strategic Bombers Deployed To Guam Ahead Of North Korea's 7th Nuclear Test - GUAM - The United States deployed four bombers from South Dakota to the Andersen AFB, in Guam ahead of North Korea's expected nuclear test, as well as recent provocations. Members of our our intel community pointed out that the United States has maintained 4 bombers in Guam for most of 2022. It is possible that these bombers are either additional bombers being deployed to Guam, or on rotation.

Aircraft monitoring service Aircraft spots spotted a USAF B-1Bs SURGE21 and 22 arriving in Guam at around 07:00 UTC.

The monitoring service posted the following on Twitter: "USAF B-1Bs SURGE21 & 22 departed Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota and arrived into Andersen AFB, Guam a few hours ago around 07:00 UTC. With this latest batch, there are now 4 B-1Bs on the ground at Andersen AFB, Guam for this Bomber Task Force deployment."

Guam is within two hours flight time to the Korean Peninsula. B-1B bombers were also deployed to Guam in June after North Korea showed signs that they were preparing for a seventh nuclear test.

The United States Air Force had said during that deployment that, "The mission of the strategic bomber demonstrates the U.S. military's credibility to cope with a more diverse and uncertain global security environment than at any other time in history."

In addition to the bombers, the United States has also deployed surveillance assets over the Korean peninsula ahead of the expected nuclear test.

North Korea shot 350 artillery rounds into the East and West Sea buffer zone with the South in less than 14 hours "from the midnight of the previous day to the afternoon of the 19th," according to South Korean news agency Yonhap (from translation).

The North fired 100 artillery rounds into the West Sea from 12:30 p.m. in the in South Hwanghae Province, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"A spokesman for the General Staff of the North Korean Army said on the same day, just before the announcement by the South Korean military authorities, "between 8:27 am and 9:40 a.m. today, the enemy fired another 10 or so multiple rocket launchers from the front edge of the friendly (North Korean) 5th Corps. The Korean Central News Agency reported that they carried out a military provocation". Yonhap reported.

"The General Staff of the Korean People's Army has issued instructions to the friendly eastern and western front units once again to conduct threat warning fire in the eastern and western seas in response to the appropriateness raised this morning," Yonhap cited the spokesman as saying.

The report added that on the 18th, North Korea had fired around 100 artillery rounds from the Jangsangot area in Hwanghae Province to the West Sea from around 10pm, and 150 artillery shots from the Jangjeon area in Gangwon Province to the East Sea from around 11pm, totally 350 shots in about 14 hours, until the afternoon of the 19th.

On the 14th, it reported around 130 shots were fired from Majang-dong, Hwanghae-do to the West Sea at 1:20 am, and 40 shots from Gueup-ri, Gangwon-do to the East Sea at 2:57. 90 shots were fired from Jangjeon area to the East Sea at 5:20 pm.

Yonhap reported that the North violated the 9/19 agreement by firing more than 560 rounds at five locations, including 90 rounds from Haeju Bay in the West Sea, and 210 rounds from the west of Jangsangot.

Yonhap said that North Korea had claimed the MLRS fire was in response to an announcement from a spokesperson for the General Staff, "for the purpose of sending a warning to the intentional provocations of the enemy."

NORAD: US Launched Two F-16 Fighers To Block Two Russian Tu-95 Bombers In Alaska's ADIZ - NORAD - Russian Tu-95 bombers capable of being equipped with nuclear weapons were intercepted on October 18th (local time) after "entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone", according to a statement by the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

The statement by NORAD said, "After detecting, tracking, and identifying two Russian Tu-95 bombers operating as they entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, two F-16 fighters urgently launched and blocked their approach. It didn't enter US or Canadian airspace, it stayed in international airspace."

The air defense identification zone consists of both Alaskan airspace, as well as additional airspace in which the United States uses for identifying, locating and controlling civil aircraft.

Although the air defense identification zone is not considered part of Alaskan airspace, it is closely monitored for the interest of national security.

NORAD stated that the Russian bomber did not pose a threat or provocation to the United States.

Russia is reportedly set to carry out its yearly nuclear exercises, though it is unclear whether this particular Tu-95 bomber flight is a part of any nuclear exercise.

South Korea Looking Carefully At Nuclear Deterrance Options - SEOUL - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Thursday that he is looking carefully at "extended deterrence" options as North Korea tests ballistic missiles that it says were intended to simulate a tactical nuclear weapon strike on South Korea.

South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, one of the oldest running newspapers in the country reported that South Korea had requested that the United States deploy strategic assets, such as nuclear submarines or aircraft carriers around the Korean Peninsula around the clock on a rotational basis if the South carries out a 7th nuclear test.

When the South Korean President was asked about the report, he said "As I said the other day, there are diverse opinions across our nation and in the United States regarding extended deterrence, so I am listening to them carefully and looking carefully at various possibilities."

"I'd like you to understand that it's difficult for a president to openly confirm or give a clear answer on such security issues," he added.

Chinese ambassador, and Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Korean Peninsula Affairs posted a statement regarding reports that the South Korean ruling party had proposed the United States redeploy U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in the region.

Xiaoming said, "In response to reports that in response to the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons, South Korea's ruling party proposed that South Korea need to redeploy U.S. tactical nuclear weapons, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that we have taken note of the relevant reports. All parties concerned should abide by their international obligations and commitments and take concrete actions to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and the region."

He then added, "In response to the report that the ruling party in the #ROK has proposed that the country needs to re-deploy the #US ’s tactical nuclear weapons to respond to the threat of the #DPRK ’s nuclear weapons, #FM spokesperson said that we have noted the reports."

"Relevant parties need to fulfill their respective international obligations and commitments, and take concrete actions to uphold peace and stability on the #Korean Peninsula and in this region."

South Korean Daegu City Mayor Hong Joon-pyo of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) has been calling for South Korea to acquire nuclear weapons of its own.

On October 5th, he wrote on Facebook, "It is time for the government to thoroughly review the nuclear strategy towards the North" and said that national security should be obtained through "military balance".

Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute told the South Korean daily newspaper Hankyoreh that, "The tactical nuclear redeployment brought up by the ruling party is not a well-thought-out decision."

“It is a misjudgment which has been caused by excessive trust in the US since [South Korea] has long been relying on extended deterrence from the US," he reportedly added.

Experts in the United States however, have stated that there is "little or no military benefit that can be served by deploying U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korea," according to South Korean news Yonhap.

The paper also reported that stationing nuclear-armed submarines in waters near South Korea may also provide no significant merit, and said that the 28,500 U.S. soldiers already currently stationed in South Korea may provide enough security assurance and deterrence that the country needs.

Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Asian Studies Center of the Heritage Foundation said, "The redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to South Korean soil lacks military merit".

The expert also said that the United States does not maintain ground-based nuclear weapons and that its tactical nuclear weapons are now mounted on mobile air and sea platforms, which make them "difficult for North Korea to find and target".

"To place them in a static underground bunker would degrade allied deterrence and heighten the risk of a North Korean preemptive attack on such high-value targets," he added.

In 1991 the United States removed its nuclear weapons from South Korea due to a disarmament deal with the Soviet Union at the time, as well as an inter-Korean agreement on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

However, according to Yonhap, a growing number of South Koreans, including ruling party lawmakers have "been calling for the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea," due to the recent series of ballistic missile launches by North Korea.

Patrick Cronin, Chair for Asia-Pacific Security at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington said that he does not think that the Biden Administration will agree to deploy nuclear weapons in South Korea, and said that the United States military may not have such weapons available currently due to the war with Ukraine, and competition with China.

"The deployment of 28,500 U.S. troops on South Korean soil remains a severe barrier to aggression by North Korea. These forces and the alliance are backed by the entire arsenal of U.S. forces, including stealthy undersea and long-range nuclear weapons," he told Yonhap.

In response to the South Korean President's comments on looking into "various possibilities" to strengthen U.S. extended deterrence, Yonhap reported Klingner as pointing out that America's nuclear submarines do not need to be near the continent to hit North Korea.

"Submarines are stealthy launch platforms whose location is best kept from opponents. Any U.S. statement that a submarine was "near" Korea could not be verified by either North or South Korea. Nor does the submarine need to (be) near the peninsula to reach North Korea with nuclear weapons," he stated according to Yonhap.

Another expert, Harry Kazianis, president and CEO of Rogue States Project, a national security think tank based in Washington told the news agency that the United States may be already be patrolling the Pacific on a 'nearly continuous basis".

"Basing such a submarine would only speed up the destruction of North Korea within a few minutes if the DPRK attacked, and provides no benefit to Seoul at all," he said.

"While it does signal support for sure, there is no military benefit in any way at all," he added, adding that the Biden administration might appear to consider deploying tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea if the request is made, but not actually deploy them.

"Washington could float the idea it was considering such a request to get North Korea to back off or deter more DPRK missile tests and get the benefit of deployment without actually doing it," he told Yonhap.

In another report, Radio Free Asia said that North Korea is not yet in a position to deploy tactical nuclear weapons that would have the capability of hitting targets with precision.

It did say, however, that according to experts, the country will likely begin testing tactical nuclear weapons in the near future.

Tactical nuclear weapons have warheads much smaller than a larger nuclear warhead. While a nuclear missile is intended for widespread destruction, tactical nuclear missiles are meant to be used on targets in the battlefield.

Olli Heinonen, who is a former deputy director-general for safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency spoke to Radio Free Asia and said that North Korea does not have enough fuel to manufacture multiple tactical nuclear weapons.

"The bulk of its plutonium has the wrong composition for short-range targeted strikes," RFL cited him as saying. He did say that the country is striving "to produce good fissile material for miniaturizing nuclear weapons."

He said that even if the North obtains enough plutonium, the weapons will still have to be tested, which would lead to depleted supplies.

"They need to conduct nuclear tests if they want to miniaturize weapons. Once they will test it, they will see if it works, Only then can they manufacture more efficient and smaller weapons." he stated according to RFA.

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense researcher at the RAND Corporation told RFA that the tests that North Korea has carried out thus far were "not very serious operational tests," but said that their purpose may have been to “to make sure his personnel really understand how to fire the missiles.”

“In real operations, these theater missiles would need to be fired within a few tens of seconds of each other to then give their launchers time to escape before they could be targeted,” he told RFA.

"But on the North’s five recent test events involving two missiles, the shortest separation in the launches was nine minutes, the longest 22 minutes, and the average 14 minutes. That is not really operational," he added.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a press briefing that the United States is committed to "dialogue and diplomacy" and to diffuse the tensions with North Korea, but is ensuring that its "deterrent capabilities are where they need to be."

"We want to see the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. We believe that the best way to do that is through diplomacy – through principled, hard-nosed diplomacy with the DPRK,” referring to North Korea. “Clearly the DPRK is not there yet." Price said.

$725 Million in Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - "Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $725 million to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs. This authorization is the Biden Administration's 23rd drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.

The United States has delivered unprecedented security assistance to Ukraine and will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure Ukraine has the support it needs. This new security assistance package includes:

Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); 23,000 155mm artillery rounds; 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds; 5,000 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems; 5,000 anti-tank weapons; High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs); More than 200 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs); Small arms and more than 2,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition; Medical supplies.

This announcement follows Secretary of Defense Austin's gathering of defense ministers of nearly 50 countries at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels this week, at which leaders committed to providing additional security assistance. Some examples of this additional support included:

Germany recently delivered the first of four IRIS-T air-defense systems committed to Ukraine. This critical donation will help Ukraine better defend its civilians from Russian airstrikes. Germany also recently announced that it will deliver more MARS rocket systems and howitzers. Spain announced it will provide four HAWK launchers to strengthen Ukraine's air defense. Norway, Germany, and Denmark invested into Slovakia's indigenous production of Howitzers.

To meet Ukraine's evolving battlefield requirements, the United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with key capabilities.

In total, the United States has committed more than $18.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since January 2021. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $20.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and approximately $17.6 billion since the beginning of Russia's unprovoked and brutal invasion on February 24."

NATO Allies & Russia To Launch Annual Nuclear Exercises Amidst Tensions - EUROPE - NATO put out a statement on Friday saying that it would be launching its annual nuclear exercises "Steadfast Noon". NATO also said that it will be monitoring Russia's own upcoming nuclear exercise very closely.

Russia will be holding their annual Grom exercise in late October, where the country's military will be testing its nuclear-capable bombers, missiles and submarines.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke to reporters and said, "We have monitored Russian nuclear forces for decades and of course we will continue to monitor them very closely and we will stay vigilant - also when they now start a new exercise".

"What I can say is that this exercise, the Russian exercise, is an annual exercise. It's an exercise where they test and exercise their nuclear forces".

"We will monitor that as we always do. And of course we will remain vigilant, not least in light of the veiled nuclear threats and the dangerous rhetoric we have seen from the Russian side," Stoltenberg said.

NATO's yearly nuclear exercises normally run for around one week, and includes fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear missiles, though they do not carry live-nuclear weapons during the exercises.

The NATO jets will be testing the allies capability of carrying out nuclear strikes over Belgium, the North Sea and the United Kingdom.

"Training flights will take place over Belgium… as well as over the North Sea and the United Kingdom," NATO said in their statement about the exercise.

B-52 long-range nuclear-capable bombers will be flying from the Minot Air Base in North Dakota to take part in the exercise.

Sky News reports that the training this year will be hosted by Belgium, and run from Monday, October 17th to October 30th.

NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said: "This exercise helps ensure that the alliance's nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective."

A different NATO member country hosts the exercise each year, with last year the host being Italy.

The exercises, which were planned before Russia's invasion on Ukraine on February 24th, will include 14 out of 30 NATO member countries and be carried out about 625 miles from Russian territory, AP news cited a NATO official as saying.

Stoltenberg spoke to reporters and when asked if it would be a good idea to carry out nuclear exercises in light of the current situation, he said, "It would send a very wrong signal if we suddenly now cancelled a routine, long-time planned exercise because of the war in Ukraine. That would be absolutely the wrong signal to send".

"NATO’s firm, predictable behavior, our military strength, is the best way to prevent escalation,” he said. “If we now created the grounds for any misunderstandings, miscalculations in Moscow about our willingness to protect and defend all allies, we would increase the risk of escalation.”

Although NATO itself as an organization does not have nuclear weapons, some of its members such as the United States, United Kingdom, and France do have them.

The NATO Nuclear Planning Group, which includes defense ministers will be meeting on Thursday.

Stoltenberg said that Putin's latest nuclear rhetoric was "dangerous and reckless," and said that its members "have also conveyed clearly to Russia that it will have severe consequences if they use nuclear weapons in any way."

"We are closely monitoring Russia’s nuclear forces. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s posture, but we remain vigilant.” Stoltenberg said.

The United States' Permanent Representative to NATO, Julianne Smith also reportedly spoke to Euronews and said, "We've messaged the Russians quite directly that any use of nuclear weapons would be faced with unprecedented consequences".

"This is something we are monitoring closely and I think you've also heard colleagues back in Washington say that right now we do not see an indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons."

On Thursday Stoltenberg had said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be crossing a "very important line" if he were to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

When asked how NATO would respond to Russia using a nuclear weapon, Stoltenberg said, "We will not go into exactly how we will respond, but of course this will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict. It will mean that a very important line has been crossed."

"Even any use of a smaller nuclear weapon will be a very serious thing, fundamentally changing the nature of the war in Ukraine, and of course that would have consequences," the NATO chief added.

Addressing Russia's nuclear exercise, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said, "Russia will also be conducting its annual exercise, I think, the week after or just after the annual exercise". He added, however that "what we don’t want is to do things out of routine."

"This is a routine exercise and it’s all about readiness," and added "NATO’s meeting is all about making sure we are ready for anything. I mean, that is the job of this alliance — to make sure that the 30 partners together are ready for what is thrown at us. And we have to continue to work at that."

During an interview with France 2 television, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that if Russia used nuclear weapons in Ukraine France would not respond with a nuclear strike, but put out a warning to leaders regarding nuclear rhetoric.

"We have a (nuclear) doctrine, which is clear. The dissuasion is working. But then, the less we talk about it, the less we brandish the threat, the more credible we are.”

Macron added, "Too many people are talking about it".

Readout of Secretary of Defense Meeting With Ministers of Defense for Finland and Sweden - Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Meeting With Ministers of Defense for Finland and Sweden, Antti Kaikkonen and Peter Hultqvist. Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

"Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with his counterparts this week, Ministers Kaikkonen and Hultqvist from Finland and Sweden. The leaders reaffirmed the strength of the trilateral relationship, enhanced by Finland and Sweden's ongoing accession process into NATO.

The leaders discussed key global security issues including Russia's recent escalations of its unprovoked war in Ukraine, affirming our unwavering support for Ukrainian sovereignty. The leaders also discussed the impact of the Nord Stream pipeline explosions and the importance of resilience, as well as other security issues in the Nordic region and the Arctic.

The progress towards Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO was also discussed, with all parties extending thanks to those nations that have already ratified the NATO accession protocols."

DoD: Allies Are Unified in Support for Ukraine Ahead of NATO Meetings, Defense Official Says - Department of Defense: "Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III meets with allies at NATO headquarters in Belgium this week to discuss the continued support for the defense of Ukraine, amid Russia's unprovoked invasion and recent attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure, according to a defense official.

"The Russian invasion isn't over, the fighting isn't over, and neither is international support to Ukraine’s right and capability to defend itself," the official said.

Austin is leading the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on Wednesday and attending a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, he'll participate in a meeting of the Bucharest Nine to discuss areas of concern to the countries on NATO's eastern flank, according to the official, who spoke to reporters traveling with Austin to Brussels.

The nine are: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Austin will be joined at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley and defense officials from nearly 50 nations. Talks will include "a real practical manifestation of that ongoing support and unity" to provide Ukraine with the means necessary to defend itself, the official said.

The most important message is that "even in the context of events of the last week which are obviously horrific," the official said, these leaders are coming together to signal their enduring support and that they will not be dissuaded or deterred from supporting Ukraine. Spotlight: Support for Ukraine

The recent Russian attacks across Ukraine include the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles to attack "what are clearly not military targets," with Ukrainian citizens being killed and Russia seeking to instill fear in the population, the official said.

After the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, Austin is attending the meeting of NATO defense ministers, which is focused on implementing the historic decisions made at the NATO Summit in Madrid earlier this year, according to the official.

The official said NATO defense ministers will review progress on strengthening NATO's deterrence and defense, the broader commitment of NATO to global security, and the specifics on implementation of some of the key decisions from Madrid, including recommitment to NATO’s nuclear deterrence.

The official said there is solidarity among the bloc.

The official noted Russian President Vladimir Putin's "irresponsible language" about nuclear weapons, saying such talk is contrary to Russia's obligations under international law as a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

"So, it is raising concerns, but what it is not doing is fracturing NATO unity," the official said, adding that in the coming days the "strength in unity" mindset will be evident among the defense ministers and will indicate that “Russia is not achieving what it hopes to achieve through these threats.”

Austin will also meet with representatives of Finland and Sweden, who are seeking to join the alliance and were invited to attend the defense ministers' meeting. Discussions will focus on the process for joining NATO and issues of regional concern." Read DoD Article

US Department Of State: Historic Breakthrough on the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Boundary - U.S. Department Of State: "Following years of mediation by the United States, the Governments of Israel and Lebanon today announced consensus on an historic agreement to establish a permanent maritime boundary between the two countries.

This breakthrough promises to usher in a new era of prosperity and stability in the Middle East and will provide vital energy to the people of the region and to the world. Beyond delivering tremendous benefits to the Lebanese and Israeli people, today’s announcement demonstrates the power of regional cooperation to meet shared challenges in the Middle East and beyond. It also underscores the transformative power of American diplomacy.

This agreement protects the economic and security interests of Israel and Lebanon and marks a new chapter for the people in the region. I thank the leaders of Israel and Lebanon for their willingness to negotiate in the best interests of their people, and I thank Special Presidential Coordinator Amos Hochstein and his team for their tireless diplomatic work in bringing the parties together to accomplish this deal. It is now critical that all parties rapidly finalize the agreement and uphold their commitments to work toward implementation to the benefit of the region and world." Read Statement

US Department Of State: Announcement of Visa Restrictions in Response to the Repression of Women and Girls in Afghanistan - The United States has begun restricting visas from being issued to both current, and former members of the Taliban, as well as others over the repression of women and girls in Afghanistan, according to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday."

US Department Of State Press Release On Visa Restrictions: "Today I am announcing a visa restriction policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to restrict the issuance of visas for current or former Taliban members, members of non-state security groups, and other individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls in Afghanistan through restrictive policies and violence."

This includes discontinuing and/or restricting access to secondary or higher education for girls and women; preventing women’s full participation in the workforce and their ability to choose their careers; restricting women’s movement, expression, or privacy; as well as engaging in violence and harassment including unjust arrest and detention of women, girls, or their family members for noncompliance with discriminatory policies. Immediate family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions.

Despite public assurances that it would respect the human rights of all Afghans, the Taliban has issued and enforced a series of policies or edicts that effectively bar women and girls in Afghanistan from full participation in public life, including access to secondary education and work in most industries. As a grim example, for more than a year, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls are systemically barred from attending school beyond the sixth grade, with no return date in sight.

We call on other governments to join us in taking similar actions and to continue to underscore a collective message that only a government in Afghanistan that represents all its people and protects and promotes the human rights of every individual could be considered legitimate.

The United States strongly supports the Afghan people and remains committed to doing all we can to protect and promote the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, including women and girls. Read Announcement

By NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the meetings of NATO Defense Ministers - NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg: "Stoltenberg: "hybrid and cyber attacks can trigger Article 5," and, "We are closely monitoring every incident that may constitute a hybrid or cyber attack against the NATO Allies and we are ready to take the necessary measures if needed."

We will also address the protection of our critical infrastructure. NATO has been working on this for many years. And following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, we have further enhanced our vigilance across all domains.

Stoltenberg also said, "We have doubled our presence in the Baltic and North Seas. To over 30 ships. Supported by maritime patrol aircraft and undersea capabilities. These efforts are closely coordinated by NATO’s Maritime Command."

"Allies are also increasing security around key installations. And stepping up intelligence and intelligence sharing. We will take further steps to strengthen our resilience and protect our critical infrastructure. Any deliberate attack against Allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response."

Lorne Cook (Associated Press): "Yes, Lorne Cook from the Associated Press. I have a question on infrastructure. Germany was, how can I put it … Deutsche Bahn had its communications cables severed over the weekend in Germany, cut off transport in the north of the country. We've also seen the leaks to the pipelines, obviously Nord Stream going to Germany. At what point do these attacks… sorry, do these incidents then become acts of war? And how does NATO respond to that as a collective Alliance? You said the Allies would respond, but how do you do that in this kind of instance? Thank you."

NATO Secretary General: "Over the last years, NATO has implemented the biggest transformation of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War, and part of that is to take fully into account hybrid threats, cyber threats. And therefore we also stated a few years ago that hybrid and cyber attacks can trigger Article 5; it can constitute an armed attack against a NATO ally. And we have stepped up both our work on resilience, the protection of critical infrastructure, we are conducting more exercises both on hybrid threats and cyber threats. And we are exchanging best practices and have also agreed guidelines on the protection of critical infrastructure. All of this is about protecting, for instance, undersea capabilities for undersea infrastructure, pipelines, cables, but also of course, energy grids, energy production, transportation infrastructure. Of course, I cannot comment on those specific incidents because there are ongoing investigations, and I think we need to await the outcome of this investigation before we make any final judgement. But in general, I can say that of course we are closely monitoring every incident that may constitute a hybrid or cyber attack against the NATO Allies and we are ready to take the necessary measures if needed. Exactly what kind of measure, depends on the nature of the attack. And we will never give our potential adversaries the privilege of defining exactly where the threshold for Article 5 goes. That will be a decision we make as Allies, taking into account the precise context, the specific situation we will face, if there is a hybrid or cyber attack against a NATO Ally."

Iryna Somer (Interfax Ukraine): "Thank you. Thank you, Oana. Secretary General, according to Americans and Ukrainians yesterday’s strikes on Ukraine were planned in advance and nothing to do with Kerch Bridge as Russian claims. And moreover some analysts also said that Ukraine has nothing to do with Kerch Bridge, which was simply used as pretext for this strike. Does NATO share the same assessment? And do you think, is this a turning point of this war? What could it change on the battlefield? And some short follow up to Teri’s question, you said that ministers will discuss how to refill stocks only tomorrow. But war is going on already for seven months, why it was not done before? Thank you."

NATO Secretary General: "First, we have already of course started the dialogue with the industry and with the different Allies on how to ramp up production and refill or replenish our stocks. We had a meeting of the NATO Armament Directors a couple of weeks ago here in NATO. So this is an ongoing work, but when all the ministers meet tomorrow, of course, that provides an excellent opportunity to take stock of what we have achieved, how far we have been able to move on ramping up production. But also then to make new decisions on how to further ensure that we are not only digging into existing stocks to provide support to Ukraine, but actually also able to ramp up production. And we need to ramp up production of ammunitions and weapons to both ensure the deterrence and defence of our own Allies, NATO Allies, but also to have enough to continue for the long haul to provide support to Ukraine. But just to prevent any misunderstanding, this work doesn't start now. It has been going on for some time. But of course the longer the war in Ukraine continues, this work with the industry becomes more and more important, because then they need the decisions. They need the NATO defence planning process decisions, capability targets, to be sure that actually they can make the necessary investments to be able to produce more.

Then if the question was about how the attacks yesterday will change the situation on the battlefield, I think what we saw yesterday is actually a sign of weakness. Because the reality is that they're not able to make progress on the battlefield. Russia is actually losing the battlefield. They are giving up territory because they don't have the capabilities to stop the Ukrainian forces making advances. So the way they are able to then respond is by indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities, hitting civilians, critical infrastructure. And of course, this causes suffering, damage on Ukraine, but in many ways it actually reflects the lack of alternatives for President Putin. They are losing ground, they have lost the momentum, and then they had to revert to missile strikes and airstrikes in a way we saw yesterday and actually also today.

Then the first question… [inaudible] Well, Russia has conducted similar attacks earlier in the war, we have seen… Of course it has been some time since we have seen similar attacks against Kyiv and some of the cities in the western part of the country, but we have seen attacks against cities in Kherson, in Zaporizhzhia, and other parts of Ukraine actually quite regularly. So they had these capabilities exactly when these attacks were planned. I will not go into it but the reality is that it doesn't change the nature of the attack. These are attacks against cities, civilians are killed, civilian infrastructure is targeted, and this is unacceptable. And this is something which goes against international law."

Henry Foy (Financial Times): "Henry Foy, Financial Times. Thank you so much for the question. I want to ask about the nuclear exercises. Was there any discussion amongst the 30 Allies whether this was such a good idea to practice flying nuclear weapons around given the heightened threats from Russia and the potential for miscalculation or misunderstanding? And secondly, will this year's exercise be different to previous years given the context, which of course is incredibly important here. And I'm aware that it's an annual exercise, it's routine, so that's all understood, but I'm asking about whether or not there was a discussion inside the Alliance about whether now is really the right time to do this. Thank you".

NATO Secretary General: "Now is the right time to be firm and to be clear that NATO is there to protect and defend all Allies. And this is a long time planned exercise, actually planned before the invasion of Ukraine. It's a routine exercise, and it's an exercise to ensure that our nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective. I visited this exercise a few years ago. We have been open about the exercise and I think it would send a very wrong signal if we suddenly now cancelled a routine, long time planned exercise because of the war in Ukraine. That would be absolutely the wrong signal to send. And we need to understand that NATO's firm, predictable behavior, our military strength, is the best way to prevent escalation. We are there to preserve peace, to prevent escalation and prevent any attack on NATO Allied countries. So if we now created the grounds for any misunderstanding, miscalculation in Moscow about our willingness to protect and defend all Allies, we would increase the risk of escalation and that's the last thing we will do."

Beata Płomecka (Polish Radio): "Thank you. Beata Płomecka, Polish Radio, public broadcaster. Secretary General, there are some suggestions from various politicians from various member states that in the light of yesterday's and today's attacks on the critical infrastructure, civilian infrastructure, killing civilians, it's high time to call Russia as a terrorist state. Will you call Russia as a state that sponsored terrorism? And the second question is there are also suggestions to call the summit on the level of the leaders of NATO. Are you planning to do such a summit? Thank you."

NATO Secretary General: "We are constantly consulting among NATO Allies. We have already conducted three NATO Summits this year. We will convene a summit when needed, so we have the meetings we need, when we need them. And we are constantly assessing also the need to then convene yet another summit to ensure that we have consultations and the right messages from NATO at all levels. We will have a ministerial meeting this week, and that provides a good opportunity to send a clear message and then we'll make decisions on a potential summit when we think the right the time is right.

Then on the nature of the war. Well, this is an illegal invasion of another country. It is a clear violation of international law. Russia invaded a sovereign independent nation, violated its territorial integrity and sovereignty. That actually didn't start in 2022 or in February of this year. It started in 2014. But of course they scaled up their aggressive actions against Ukraine in February, and they have violated international law in a blatant way. And we have also seen horrendous and horrific attacks against civilians, we have seen the reports from Bucha, from many other places in Ukraine. And the important thing now is that all facts are made available, that we have thorough investigations, NATO Allies support the ongoing investigations, and that those responsible are held accountable for these atrocities."

Thomas Gutschker (FAZ): "Thanks a lot. Thomas Gutschker, Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung. Secretary General, two questions. The first one, is the bridge across the Strait of Kerch a legitimate military target, in your view, and does that include a terrorist attack? And the second question, when you speak about stepping up support to Ukraine you mentioned air defence systems. Which other systems or types of weapons does Ukraine need now that it has not received yet to cope with their situation? Thank you".

NATO Secretary General: "Ukraine needs a wide range of different systems and that is, of course, a lot of lethal weapons, artillery, armoured vehicles, air defence systems and many other anti-tank weapons. But also, of course, non-lethal support: fuel and winter clothing, and communications systems and a lot of different types of support. And that is the reason why it was also so useful to meet, because when we meet tomorrow in the U.S.-led Contact Group for Ukraine but also at the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting, with Defence Minister Reznikov, we have the best possible opportunity to go into details to discuss different lists and match these lists of needs from Ukraine with what NATO Allies and partners are able to provide. And that is what has been going on in this framework for now several months and also the reason why we have been able to mobilise so much support from NATO Allies and partners. There's an urgent need for air defence, but of course also many other capabilities: precision guided ammunition, HIMARS and other advanced modern NATO-standard systems. And we see that they are making a difference and we see that Ukrainian soldiers are able to utilise these modern systems in a very effective way, making gains on the battlefield.

Then it's not only a question of, you know, adding more and different systems. It is also to ensure that we have the fuel or the ammunition to existing systems. So since the war is continuing, logistics, resupplies of spare parts, ammunition, fuel to systems that are already delivered becomes more and more important. So they need almost everything and Allies are providing unprecedented support because they understand that we have a moral, political and security interest in ensuring that Ukraine wins the war against President Putin."

NATO Secretary General: "Sorry. Well, I… First of all, I think that we have to remember the starting point of this discussion. Crimea is illegally annexed by Russia. Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and NATO Allies and NATO have made it clear that we will not recognise and never recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea. And it was Russia that started this war, President Putin started this war. And then I will not go into who was behind the attack against that bridge, I will leave that to the Ukrainians to comment on that".

Lili Bayer (Politico): "Thank you very much. Lili from Politico. I have two brief questions. Going back to the issue of air defence, in the coming weeks – so in the short term – do you believe that NATO Allies have the capacity to provide Ukraine with all the air defence systems that Kyiv is asking for? Are you expecting any further announcements in the coming days? And the second question is more looking toward the future, given the domestic pressures in Russia, what kind of planning is there at NATO for the possibility of President Putin leaving office and the destabilisation that might follow? Is this something you are discussing? Thank you".

NATO Secretary General: "Just over the last days we have had two new announcements from NATO Allies – from Germany and United States – to provide more advanced air defence systems. The Germans announced it yesterday, and we welcome of course that. And United States has announced further delivery and we know also that they have announced that they're also ready to provide and deliver NASAMS, which are actually one of the many advanced systems that Ukraine has received over the last months. And again, we need more and we need also more ammunition to these systems and I welcome that Allies are doing that.

These air defence systems are making a difference because many of the incoming missiles were actually shot down by the Ukrainian air defence systems provided by NATO Allies. But of course, as long as not all of them are shot down, of course there is a need for more. And therefore we are going to address at the meeting this week, tomorrow, with Defence Minister Reznikov how, what type, and how can we ensure not only the delivery of the systems as soon as possible, but also training, spare parts and ammunition to their air defence capabilities.

Then, it was one more question? […] So first of all, I think that we just have to be prepared for the long haul. I will be careful speculating too much about the domestic political situation in Russia. Regardless of what different analysis may indicate, I think what we need to do at NATO is to be prepared for all eventualities and when it comes to Ukraine, be prepared to continue to support them."

Dejan Sajinovic (Nezavisne): "Thank you very much. Dejan Sajinovic, Nezavisne from Bosnia-Herzegovina. So next month, there's an important vote in Security Council about the extending the European Union military mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. After this year it was a routine, now maybe Russia could put a veto to the mission. What is your… Are you concerned about the situation, security situation, in Bosnia-Herzegovina? And maybe more broadly, what's your assessment of the situation in Western Balkans in security? Thank you."

NATO Secretary General: "We are of course following the situation in the Western Balkans very closely. We have several Allies who are Western Balkan countries and part of the successful NATO enlargement over the last years has been actually with countries from the Western Balkans, including most recently North Macedonia and Montenegro. NATO has a history in the Western Balkans; we helped to end the two brutal ethnic wars including the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We still have a presence in the Western Balkans with a KFOR mission in Kosovo and also our support for a NATO headquarters in Sarajevo and the support for the EU Operation Althea. I will not speculate about whether the mandate for Operation EUFOR Althea will be renewed or not. The only thing I will say is that it is in nobody's interest that the mandate is not renewed, because the EU presence there and with the support from NATO is helping to address the challenges Bosnia-Herzegovina faces. And of course, there are many concerns and many, many challenges we all face. But if we reduce the international presence of Althea, or our international presence in Bosnia, we're only making a difficult situation even more difficult."

Güldener Sonumut (NTV Turkey): "Güldener from NTV Turkey. Secretary General, there is a growing rhetoric, nuclear rhetoric, banalisation of the nuclear rhetoric in Moscow, and NATO is assessing the nuclear situation in Russia. So therefore, I have two short questions. The first is, what is your assessment about a nuclear risk? Is it true or not? And second, should this risk increase, are you ready to either warn the citizens and do the necessary to reassure the public opinion on that? Thank you."

NATO Secretary General: "NATO is prepared for any threat, any attack, against any NATO Ally. And that's the reason why we have NATO, to be able to deter also nuclear threats. And this was important before the invasion of Ukraine, it has become even more important after. Not least in light of the nuclear rhetoric from President Putin and from Russia. This nuclear rhetoric, or veiled threats, are dangerous and reckless. Russia knows that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. And we also conveyed clearly to Russia that they will have severe consequences if they use nuclear weapons in any way, including low yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Then, by ensuring that we have credible deterrence and defence, we are helping to reduce the risk of escalation. And therefore it is important that since 2014, we have implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War. So we were prepared when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. And since then, we have further stepped up, increased our presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. We activated our defence plans the morning of the invasion, and we made decisions in Madrid in June to further strengthen our collective defence. The purpose of this is to prevent war, preserve peace, and including prevent any use of nuclear weapons".

U.S. Led Coalition Drone Strike In Northern Syria On Monday - A drone strike in northeastern Syria led by the U.S.-led coalition was carried out on Monday, according to The Associated Press, which cited a Syrian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The report cited the official as saying that the strike targeted a member of IS who was driving a motorcycle in the village of Hamam al-Turkman, which is currently controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces near the northern Syrian town of Tel Abyad. The city borders Akçakale, Turkey.

No other casualties except the target was reported as a result of the strike.

Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine - Event: Russia has launched attacks against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure as well as government facilities in Kyiv and elsewhere. Russia’s continued strikes in Ukraine pose a direct threat to civilians and civilian infrastructure. The U.S. Embassy urges US citizens to shelter in place and depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options when it is safe to do so.

If you hear a loud explosion or if sirens are activated, immediately seek cover. If in a home or a building, go to the lowest level of the structure with the fewest exterior walls, windows, and openings; close any doors and sit near an interior wall, away from any windows or openings.

If you are outdoors, immediately seek cover in a hardened structure; if that is not possible, lie down and cover your head with your hands. Be aware that even if the incoming missile or drone is intercepted, falling debris represents a significant risk. After the attack, stay away from any debris, and monitor major news outlets for official guidance.

The security situation throughout Ukraine is highly volatile and conditions may deteriorate without warning. U.S. citizens should remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.

Actions to Take: Know the location of your closest shelter or protected space. Follow the instructions from local authorities and seek shelter immediately in the event of mortar and/or rocket fire. Regularly monitor local and international news and social media news channels. Ensure travel documents are valid and easily accessible. Read Full Security Alert

White House Press Secretary Clarifies Biden's Armageddon Comments - White House national security spokesman John Kirby addressed U.S. President Joe Biden's comments regarding the "prospect of Armageddon" on Sunday, saying that the President's statement reflects "the very high stakes that are in play”, in relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats.

Kirby responded to Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week" and said, "The president was reflecting the very high stakes that are in play right now, Martha."

"When you have modern nuclear power and the leader of that modern nuclear power willing to use irresponsible rhetoric the way that Mr. Putin has several times in just the last week or two, as well as the high tension in Ukraine over just the course of the last few days,” he added.

"So the president, I think, was accurately reflecting the fact that the stakes are very high right now."

Kirby said that Biden's statements were not based on any new intelligence, and said that there is no indication that Putin "has made that kind of decision".

He also said that the United States has not "seen anything that would give us pause to reconsider our own strategic nuclear posture.”

"What the president was reflecting was that stakes are high right now, given what’s going on on the battlefield in Ukraine and given the very irresponsible and reckless comments made by Vladimir Putin in just the last few days," Kirby said.

French President Emmanuel Macron scolded Biden for using such rhetoric by saying, "We must speak with prudence when commenting on such matters."

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Regarding Provocation by Belarus - Statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine regarding alleged provocation by Belarus (accusations by Belarus that Ukraine was planning an attack on Belarus territory):

"On the evening of October 8, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Minsk, Ihor Kyzym, was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, and he was presented with a diplomatic note.

In the note, the Belarusian side claims that Ukraine is allegedly planning an attack on the territory of Belarus.

This information is not true. We categorically reject the next insinuations of the Belarusian regime. We do not rule out that the handing over of the diplomatic note may be part of the Russian Federation's plan to provoke and further accuse Ukraine.

We call on the Belarusian people not to succumb to provocations. Ukraine has never encroached on foreign territories. We strictly adhere to the fundamental norms and principles of international law and the UN Charter.

The authorities in Belarus should stop following the whims of the Kremlin and immediately stop supporting Russia in its aggression against Ukraine."

US Navy Reconnaissance Plan Spotted In Baltic Hours After Pipeline Began Leaking - NORD STREAM PIPELINE - A U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane (P-8A Poseidon) was spotted flying across the Baltic Sea just hours after the Nord Stream pipeline began leaking into the ocean on September 26th, 2022.

Around the time the pipelines began leaking fuel into the Baltic Sea Seismologists registered two explosions in the same area.

Reuters cited a U.S. Navy spokesperson as saying, "The U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft shown in the tracking data conducted a routine Baltic Sea maritime reconnaissance flight, unrelated to the leaks from the Nord Stream pipelines".

When asked if any intelligence was collected that might aid investigators in understanding how the pipeline ruptures occurred, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa spokesperson, Capt. Tamara Lawrence said: "We do not have any additional information to provide at this time."

The crime scene survey by the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) reported in a press release that large explosions had occurred causing the damage to the pipelines.

"The crime scene investigation has shown that there have been detonations near Nord Stream 1 and 2, within the Swedish economic zone, resulting in extensive damage to the gas pipelines," SAPO's statement said.

"The investigation into the Nord Stream events is being conducted by the Swedish Security Service and is headed by a National Security Unit prosecutor. As the crime scene investigation has been completed, the prosecutor has lifted the cordons around the area," the Swedish security service added.

HHS purchases drug for use in radiological and nuclear emergencies - According to the ASPR government website, The U.S. Government has purchased $290 million worth of Nplate, from Amgen USA Inc. "as part of long-standing, ongoing efforts to be better prepared to save lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies."

Nplate is used to treat radiation sickness during nuclear emergencies. It reduces bleeding during exposure to radiation.

"As part of long-standing, ongoing efforts to be better prepared to save lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is purchasing a supply of the drug Nplate from Amgen USA Inc; Nplate is approved to treat blood cell injuries that accompany acute radiation syndrome in adult and pediatric patients (ARS).

Amgen, based in Thousands Oaks, California, developed Nplate for ARS with support from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), as well as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

BARDA is using its authority provided under the 2004 Project Bioshield Act and $290 million in Project BioShield designated funding to purchase this supply of the drug. Amgen will maintain this supply in vendor-managed inventory.

This approach decreases life-cycle management costs for taxpayers because doses that near expiration can be rotated into the commercial market for rapid use prior to expiry and new doses can be added to the government supply.

ARS, also known as radiation sickness, occurs when a person’s entire body is exposed to a high dose of penetrating radiation, reaching internal organs in a matter of seconds. Symptoms of ARS injuries include impaired blood clotting as a result of low platelet counts, which can lead to uncontrolled and life-threatening bleeding.

To reduce radiation-induced bleeding, Nplate stimulates the body’s production of platelets. The drug can be used to treat adults and children.

Nplate is also approved for adult and pediatric patients with immune thrombocytopenia, a blood disorder resulting in low platelet counts. Repurposing drugs for acute radiation syndrome that also are approved for a commercial indication helps to sustain availability of the product and improves healthcare provider familiarity with the drug.

About HHS, ASPR, and BARDA: HHS works to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans, providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. ASPR leads HHS in preparing the nation to respond to and recover from adverse health effects of emergencies, supporting communities’ ability to withstand adversity, strengthening health and response systems, and enhancing national health security.

Within ASPR, BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures – vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products – needed to combat health security threats." Read Full Statement

US Navy Reconnaissance Plan Spotted In Baltic Hours After Pipeline Began Leaking - NORD STREAM PIPELINE - A U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane (P-8A Poseidon) was spotted flying across the Baltic Sea just hours after the Nord Stream pipeline began leaking into the ocean on September 26th, 2022.

Around the time the pipelines began leaking fuel into the Baltic Sea Seismologists registered two explosions in the same area.

Reuters cited a U.S. Navy spokesperson as saying, "The U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft shown in the tracking data conducted a routine Baltic Sea maritime reconnaissance flight, unrelated to the leaks from the Nord Stream pipelines".

When asked if any intelligence was collected that might aid investigators in understanding how the pipeline ruptures occurred, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa spokesperson, Capt. Tamara Lawrence said: "We do not have any additional information to provide at this time."

The crime scene survey by the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) reported in a press release that large explosions had occurred causing the damage to the pipelines.

"The crime scene investigation has shown that there have been detonations near Nord Stream 1 and 2, within the Swedish economic zone, resulting in extensive damage to the gas pipelines," SAPO's statement said.

"The investigation into the Nord Stream events is being conducted by the Swedish Security Service and is headed by a National Security Unit prosecutor. As the crime scene investigation has been completed, the prosecutor has lifted the cordons around the area," the Swedish security service added.

US Navy Reconnaissance Plan Spotted In Baltic Hours After Pipeline Began Leaking - NORD STREAM PIPELINE - A U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane (P-8A Poseidon) was spotted flying across the Baltic Sea just hours after the Nord Stream pipeline began leaking into the ocean on September 26th, 2022.

U.S. National Debt Reaches $31 Trillion - The U.S. National Debt has passed $31 trillion, according to the Federal Government's national debt clock. Debt per taxpayer: $247,325. Debt per citizen: $93,419.

Snapshot above of the current official U.S. Government National Debt Clock contains various information regarding the current status of the U.S. national debt. View US National Debt clock

CENTCOM Statement On Syrian Airstrike October 6th, 2022 - TAMPA, Fla. – Today, at approximately 6:32 PM local time in Syria, U.S. forces conducted a successful airstrike in northern Syria, killing both Abu-Hashum al-Umawi, a deputy Wali of Syria, and another senior ISIS official associated with him.

Initial assessments indicate no civilians were killed or wounded during this operation.

No U.S. forces were injured or killed and there was no loss or damage to U.S. equipment in the execution of this operation.

"This strike will degrade ISIS' ability to destabilize the region and strike at our forces and partners," said General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, CENTCOM Commander. "Our forces remain in the region to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS."

Biden: Threat Of Nuclear Armageddon Highest Since Cuban Missile Crisis In 1962 - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the threat of nuclear Armageddon is at the highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated Tuesday amidst reports that nuclear weapons were being moved to the frontlines that, "We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have indication that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons".

U.S. Strategic Command on September 28th also stated, "We haven’t seen any evidence at this time that Russia will use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. We take these threats very seriously, but we have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture at this time."

Putin is "not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons, because his military is, you might say, significantly under performing," Biden said.

He also said, "we have not seen the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis" and said "we have a direct threat of the use of nuclear weapons if in fact things continue down the path they are going".

"We've got a guy I know fairly well..."

"We're trying to figure out what is Putin's off-ramp," Biden stated.

"I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon," Biden added.

"Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not, not only lose face, but lose significant power within Russia?".

Putin has repeatedly pointed to Russia's vast nuclear capabilities, making a statement on September 21st that said, “I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction ... and when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal".

"It’s not a bluff," He added.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that the United States has been "clear" to Russia about the "consequences" of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

"This is something that we are attuned to, taking very seriously, and communicating directly with Russia about, including the kind of decisive responses the United States would have if they went down that dark road" Sullivan stated.

U.S. Forces Carry Out Helicopter Raid In Assad-Controlled Territory In Syria - SYRIA - U.S. special forces have reportedly carried out a helicopter raid in Assad-controlled territory in Syria, south of Qamishli in Northeast Syria overnight.

Reuters reported that after the U.S. helicopters landed in the village after midnight, the soldiers told residents to stay indoors and keep their lights off over loudspeakers.

The raid is reported to have killed a senior ISIS leader, and captured several other militants alive after landing in Muluk Saray village in the Hassakeh province.

Syria's state media said, "US occupation forces carried out a landing operation using several helicopters in the village of Muluk Saray in the southern countryside of Qamishli and killed one person,"

North Korea Fires Multiple Ballistic Missiles - North Korea has reportedly fired another "unspecified" ballistic missile toward the East Sea, according to Japan's Coast Guard, the South Korean military and South Korea's news agency Yonhap, which is reporting multiple ballistic missiles.

Japan's Prime Minister's office has put out a statement saying, "[Emergency alert] A projectile that appears to be a North Korean ballistic missile has likely flown over Japan."

After putting out the statement, the Prime Minister's office quickly deleted it. More information to follow.

Prime Minister's office update correction: "[Emergency alert (Correction)] North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow."

*Update* - The South Korean military is now saying that two short-range ballistic missiles were fired from Pyongyang, according to Yonhap.

Yonhap reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launches from the Samsok area in Pyongyang between 6:01am and 6:23am local time.

The JCS put out a statement saying, "While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States".

North Korea Sends Missile Over Japan, US South Korea Hold Live-Fire Drills - PYONGYANG - After North Korea sent a missile flying over Japan, the US and South Korea held live-fire missile drills, during which one missile malfunctioned and crashed down inside the Air Force base in Gangneung. Read Full Article

US Sends Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier To Korean Peninsula After North Korean Missile Flies Over Japan - After North Korea sent a missile flying over Japan, the United States has not only commenced joint live-fire missile drills with South Korea in the region, but is now sending nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan back to waters near the Korean Peninsula, according to officials at the U.S. Defense Department.

The USS Ronald Reagan is now located in the Sea of Japan, according to a Navy Spokesperson Wednesday. It has returned to the waters after finishing up exercises with South Korea and Japan on Friday.

Sending the aircraft carrier to the region for the first time since 2017 just after the North had launched the missile over Japan, its fifth missile test in the last two weeks, is an apparent signal to Pyongyang.

Malfunctioned South Korean Missile Crashes Down Inside Airforce Base In Gangneung During Joint Exercises With US - A malfunctioned Hyumoo-2 ballistic missile fired by South Korea crashed inside the ground of an air force base in Gangneung on Wednesday during live-fire missile drills with the United States, leading some residents of the area to believe North Korea had attacked the city and caused panic.

Government officials didn't release any information regarding the incident for hours, leading to various assumptions as to what might have occurred.

The ballistic missile malfunction isn't reported to have caused any injuries, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The military said that it was investigating what had caused the "abnormal flight" of the missile.

Gangneung’s fire department, as well as its city hall stated that emergency workers were dispatched to the scene at the air force base in response to calls regarding a possible explosion, but were sent back by military officials.

On Thursday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that drills with the United States on Tuesday included test firing four intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRCBMs).

Each side launched two Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), as well as a Hyumoo-2 missile which was successful.

During the joint live fire drills, fighter jets were deployed which fired at a target located off South Korea's western coast.

The drills were an apparent response to a North Korean IRBM Mupyong-ri missile that was fired on October 4th from Jagang which flew over Japan, leading to the country putting out a nationwide J-alert telling residents to seek cover underground or in a sturdy building.

A spokesperson for the Japanese government stated that the missile was not shot down because it was not believed to post a threat.

So far this year North Korea has test fired 40 ballistic missiles.

Statements By South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff: Statement 1 | Statement 2

General Petraeus: US Would Destroy Russia's Troops And Equipment, Sink Black Sea Fleet If Putin Uses Nuclear Weapons - United States - If Russian President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons, the US and its allies "would destroy Russia’s troops and equipment in Ukraine and will sink its Black Sea fleet," former CIA director and retired four-star general for the United States Army David Petraeus stated in an interview Sunday.

"Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a NATO, a collective effort, that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea," he added.

When asked if Putin using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would draw America and NATO into the war, the General said that it would not trigger NATO's Article 5, which states that an attack on one member of the NATO alliance is an attack on all NATO members, due to the fact that Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but he did say that there would be a NATO response to such an attack.

He said that radiation from such an attack would likely reach NATO member countries protected by Article 5, which could be seen as an attack on a NATO member.

"Perhaps you can make that case, the other case is that this is so horrific that there has to be a response – it cannot go unanswered.”

However, he also added "You don’t want to, again, get into a nuclear escalation here. But you have to show that this cannot be accepted in any way."

He said that he did not speak with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on what the response from the United States would be if Russia used nuclear weapons, but said that officials in the administration has been communicating the response to Russia in dedicated channels.

General Petraeus claimed that Putin is losing the war in Ukraine, and said that "the battlefield reality he [Putin] faces" is "irreversible".

White House National Security Advisor Says Reinforcements Have Been Sent To Europe To Bolster Forces - White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says the US military in Europe is ready for "any contingency" and says that multiple reinforcements have been sent to bolster US forces in Europe.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said "We feel we have in place right now the capacity to respond to any contingency".

North Korea Fires At Least One More Missile From Suchon Region - North Korea has fired at least one more short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunchon region, according to the South Korean military.

North Korea has fired at least one more short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunchon region, according to the South Korean military, which says the missiles flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) at apogees of about 50 kilometers (31 miles) and a speed of Mach 5.

One report by Yonhap says that one missile had been fired. Another report by Yonhap says that two missiles were fired, both short-range.

The missile(s), which landed in the East Sea, were fired hours after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) around South Korea's shared border with North Korea.

The Japanese Coast Guard also reported that North Korea had launched a missile.

During her visit Kamala Harris said that the United States has a "strong alliance" with "the republic of North Korea," accidentally referring to South Korea as "North Korea".

She said that "It is an alliance that is strong and enduring."

Harris also said, "I cannot state enough that the commitment of the United States to the defense of the Republic of Korea is iron-clad, and that we will do everything in our power to ensure that it has meaning in every way that the words suggest".

She condemned North Korea as a "brutal dictatorship", along with the North's arms program and its human rights violations.

Statement By Incoherent Resolve: U.S. Shoots Down Iranian Mojer-6 Drone With F-16 Headed To Erbil, Iraq - At 10:54 a.m. indirect fire struck several locations within the Erbil Governorate in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

No CJTF-OIR forces were killed or wounded by the indirect fire, and the strikes caused no damage to U.S. or Coalition infrastructure or equipment. However, the attacks did injure and kill dozens of people within the Erbil Governorate.

An assessment of the event is ongoing.

CJTF-OIR personnel are stationed in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq to advise, assist and enable Partner Forces at the operational level in ensuring the lasting defeat of ISIS.

Statement By CENTCOM: U.S. Shoots Down Iranian Mojer-6 Drone With F-16 Headed To Erbil, Iraq - ERBIL, IRAQ - The United States has shot down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) headed in the direction of U.S. forces in Erbil, Iraq.

“US Central Command condemns the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ unprovoked attack in Iraq’s Erbil Governorate this morning. Such indiscriminate attacks threaten innocent civilians and risk the hard-fought stability of the region.

“No US forces were wounded or killed as a result of the strikes and there is no damage to US equipment.

“At approximately 2:10 PM local time, US forces brought down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle headed in the direction of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to CENTCOM forces in the area.

“CENTCOM personnel operate in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq to advise, assist, and enable partner forces in the ensuring the lasting defeat of ISIS.

“CENTCOM forces, in support of partnered forces in Iraq, are assessing the situation.”

U.S. Shoots Down Iranian Mojer-6 Drone With F-16 Headed To Erbil, Iraq - ERBIL, IRAQ - The United States has shot down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) headed in the direction of U.S. forces in Erbil, Iraq.

Colonel Joe Buccino, CENTCOM (US Central Command) communications director put out a statement saying, "At approximately 2:10 PM local time, US forces brought down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle headed in the direction of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to CENTCOM forces in the area".

"CENTCOM personnel operate in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq to advise, assist, and enable partner forces in the ensuring the lasting defeat of ISIS," his statement added.

He said that "Such indiscriminate attacks threaten innocent civilians and risk the hard-fought stability of the region," and said that "No US forces were wounded or killed as a result of the strikes and there is no damage to US equipment".

The US State Department and the White House have also condemned the attacks. Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Health, and Kurdistan24 news the Iranian drone, and missile attacks on the Kurdish opposition had killed nine people.

Hurricane Ian To Make Landfall In Florida- Hurricane Ian view via null school wind surface map. Hurricane is expected to make landfall in Florida as a category 4 storm with a current wind speed of 140mph.

Russian Official Medvedev: Nuclear Weapon Threat "Not A Bluff - Russian official Medvedev said that the United States would not intervene even if Russia uses the "most formidable weapon," and said the country has the right to use nuclear weapons "if necessary," and said that it is "certainly not a bluff". Read Full Article

DOD: Conflict With Nuclear Peer Possible, As Russia Uses Dangerous Nuclear Rhetoric - RUSSIA/UKRAINE - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a "partial mobilization", as well as Putin's threats to use "all means" at Russia's disposal to protect the country, saying that Putin's speech used "dangerous and reckless nuclear rhetoric". Read Full Article

White House: Putin Appears To Be On Brink Of Potential Mobilization Measures - US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says that President Putin appears to be on the brink of proceeding with plans to hold "sham referenda" in areas of Ukraine and potentially preparing for potential mobilization measures. Russia says, "there will be no general mobilization" but may be martial law. Read Full Article

Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defense stated that "there will be no general mobilization," but said that martial law "could be introduced in some places".

This, after the White House released a statement saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be on the brink of proceeding with plans to hold "sham referenda" in areas of Ukraine and potentially preparing for potential mobilization measures.

Kartapolov said, "There will be no general mobilization. The president has spoken about this more than once and is directly speaking through his press secretary Dmitry Peskov and many other politicians at the federal level. "Law" is not the same as "mobilization." It is not adopted specifically for a special military operation, it is adopted, to perform it for a long time, at least until the time comes when the need for it disappears".

He also added, "The closest analogue is the counter-terrorist operation regime, which during the first and second Chechen wars was declared in the border areas. In Stavropol, for example. During martial law, all power in the region is completely transferred to the military administration, restrictions on the movement of citizens are introduced the same commandant hour, - a special mode of operation of critical infrastructure facilities, a ban on entry and exit, and so on. That, in fact, all this will happen".

Biden: US Would Defend Taiwan If Attacked By China - Biden: US Would Defend Taiwan If Attacked By China

Biden on 60 Minutes: US would defend Taiwan if invaded by China.

Question: “But would U.S. forces defend the island?"

Biden: “Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”

Question: “So unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir. U.S. forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?"

Biden: “Yes.”

After the interview, a White House official stated that United States policy on Taiwan hasn't changed. U.S. Policy on Taiwan has always been that the United States does not support Taiwan independence.

Officially, aside from comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden, the United States government hasn't made any declarations that they will be defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

Rocket Attack Targets Green Village Base, Northeast Syria - CENTCOM - TAMPA, Fla. – "At approximately 7:05 pm in Syria on September 18th, a rocket attack targeting the Green Village base in northeast Syria failed to strike US or Coalition forces or equipment.

Three 107mm rockets targeted the base. A fourth rocket along with rocket tubes was found at the launch point, approximately 5 kilometers away.

US forces in northeast Syria are investigating the incident."

Puerto Rico Power Grid Fails, White House Declares Emergency - Puerto Rico’s Governor has reported that the power grid in Puerto Rico has gone black. The White House has declared an emergency. Governor Pierluisi: "Emergency incidents are being reported to consequence of Hurricane Fiona. LUMA Energy and the Electric Power Authority report that due to the effect of the hurricane, the electrical system it is currently out of service.Read Full Article

CIA: No Concrete Evidence Russia Planning To Use Weapons Of Mass Destruction - CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said that although we should not underestimate Putin's adherence to his original plan to control Ukraine, the CIA has no concrete evidence that Russia is planning to use "weapons of mass destruction".

"I don't think we should underestimate Putin's adherence to his original plan to control Ukraine. I don't think we've seen any reason to believe he's given that up," he stated, after being asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin possibly using weapons of mass destruction if his progress in Ukraine is hindered by the Ukrainian military.

He said that although the United States shouldn't underestimate the Russian President's "risk appetite", "We have seen no concrete evidence of planning to use weapons of mass destruction," according to the Radio Free Europe news agency.

DOD: $600 Million Additional Aid To Ukraine - DoD authorizes the Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $600 million to Ukraine. This authorization is the Biden Administration’s twenty-first drawdown since August 2021. Read Full Article

Pentagon Had Top Secret Meeting To Discuss China And Russia's Plans To Build Unique Space Weapons - WASHINGTON – Pentagon leaders held a top-secret conference at the Pentagon on September 6th, and 7th, to discuss China and Russia's potential to develop unique space weapons, giving to a publicly posted dossier. The meetings also centered around protecting the US-owned assets currently in orbit around the earth. Read Full Article

DOD: Biden Administration Announces Another $2.68 Billion Assistance To Ukraine - DOD - The Defense Department has put out a statement saying that the Biden administration has approved another assistance package valued at $675 million in "U.S. assistance to Ukraine", along with another $2 Billion in long-term military financing to "European countries threatened by Russia". Read Full Article

Pentagon Suspends Deliveries Of F-35 Jets After Finding Chinese Made Component - The Pentagon has suspended deliveries of new Lockheed Martin's F-35 aircraft to the army after finding that a component of the jet uses an alloy made in China, which, according to a CNN report, and Interfax, violates federal defense procurement policies. Read Full Article

Biden Administration Preparing To Invest $50 Billion In The US Semiconductor Industry - The Biden administration has announced plans to invest $50 billion in the US semiconductor industry, in order to "revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry and spur innovation while creating good-paying jobs in communities across the country," according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Read Full Article

Invasion Of Taiwan Would Give Emboldened China Edge Over Microchip Industry - China has been increasingly aggressive about controlling the microchip industry and emboldened in its aggressive stance towards Taiwan since the U.S. pullout of Afghanistan, and the lack of direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict by the United States. Read Full Article

Gazprom Signs Deal With China To Pay For Gas In Yuan And Rubles Rather Than US Dollar - Russian energy giant Gazprom has said that it has signed a deal with China to pay for Russian gas in the Chinese yuan and Russian ruble, rather than paying with the U.S. dollar. Read Full Article

Declassified Intelligence: Russia Requested Ammunition From North Korea - According to a newly declassified U.S. Intelligence, Russia could be purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea. The White House has indicated that Moscow looking to purchase arms from North Korea and claims that it is further evidence that Russia is desperate, and that its ammunition supplies are running low as its "special operation" on Ukraine passes its six and a half month mark. Read Full Article

Top Stories - NK: US & South Korean Military Drills Increased Possibility Of Nuclear War - PYONGYANG - North Korean state news agency, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has said that military drills by the United States and South Korea have increased the possibility of "nuclear war" on the "Korean Peninsula". Read Full Article

12 Chinese Military Aircraft, 5 PLAN Vessels Spotted Around Taiwan On September 7th, 2022 - 12 Chinese military aircraft, and 5 PLAN vessels were spotted around the island of Taiwan on September 7th, 2022, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Defense. Of the military aircraft, three were SU-30 multirole aircraft.

A statement by Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said, "5 PLAN vessels and 12 PLA aircraft around our surrounding region were detected today (September 7, 2022) until 1700(GMT+8). #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded to these activities with aircraft in CAP, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems."

An additional statement from the MOD said, "3 of the detected aircraft (SU-30*3) had flown on the east part of the median line of the Taiwan Strait, flight paths as illustrated."

Siemens Energy Says Leak Not A Reason To Stop Nord Stream Pipeline - RUSSIA - Siemens Energy corporation has put out a statement saying that an engine oil leak is no reason to stop the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and said that the leak should have been able to be sealed on site. Read Full Article

China Threatens U.S. With Nvidia Chip Delay If Tech Export Reduction Not Dropped - The U.S. was threatened by China with a delay of a new product launch from Nvidia if it did not stop with the tech export reduction, and stated that some products might have to leave Chinese manufacturing lines. Read Full Article

Hydrogen Fuel Leak Cancels Artemis 1 Launch Again - NASA made a second attempt to launch the Artemis 1 SLS on Saturday, but a hydrogen fuel leak was detected in the gas line that perplexed technicians. NASA's engineers discovered problems with one of the gas lines as fuel was actively being loaded. Read Full Article

Biden Administration Announces $1.1 Billion Arms Sale To Taiwan - WASHINGTON - After a full month of straight Chinese incursions around the island of Taiwan following the visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on August 2nd, 2022, the Biden administration has announced a $1.1 Billion arms sale to Taipei, angering China. Read Full Article

Taiwan Military Shoots Civilian Drone, Releases Defensive Strategy - TAIWAN - The Taiwanese military have shot down an unidentified unmanned "civilian drone" near Kinmen, Taiwan on Thursday, September 1st. Japan's Ministry of Defense has also put out a statement, along with a map showing Taiwan's defensive strategy, meant to deter "Chinese aggression". The United States is also strengthening "alliance" with the Philippines. Read Full Article

Tools Of Mass Surveillance In Use, Right In Your Hands - UNITED STATES - Law enforcement agencies across the country are using a mysterious cellphone tracking tool that lies in an unregulated gray zone in regard to personal rights. Read Full Article

U.S. Navy Foils Iranian Attempt to Capture Unmanned Vessel in Arabian Gulf - The U.S. Navy prevented a support ship from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) from capturing an unmanned surface vessel operated by the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Arabian Gulf, Aug. 29-30. Read Full Article

Baghdad's Green Zone Erupts Into War Zone Following Resignation Of Al-Sadr - BAGHDAD - Following the resignation of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday, August 29th, followers who supported him, stormed the green zone with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and automatic rifle fire as Iraqi security forces fought back, sparking a major escalation in the political deadlock that has gripped the nation. Read Full Article

Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq - Location: Iraq (countrywide). Event: Ongoing demonstrations within and around the International Zone in Baghdad have turned violent and resulted in deaths and injuries. There are also reports of violent protests throughout Iraq, including in Basrah, Maysan, and Muthanna provinces. A nationwide comprehensive curfew has been announced for all persons and vehicles starting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, August 29.

The State Department’s Travel Advisory for Iraq remains at Level 4: Do Not Travel due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and Mission Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. For more information, please visit the Iraq Country Information page on travel.state.gov.

Routine public consular services at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad remain suspended as a result of an attack on the Embassy compound in 2019. Emergency services for U.S. citizens are available at the Embassy using the contact information below. The U.S. Consulate General in Erbil remains open for routine and emergency services to American citizens.

Actions to Take: Avoid the International Zone in Baghdad and other areas where demonstrations are occurring, Exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings or protests, Keep a low profile, Monitor local media for updates.

View U.S. Embassy Alert

Security Alert – Montenegro, (Near Kosovo) - A security alert has been released by the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, which is located near Kosovo. Event: A persistent and ongoing cyber-attack is in process in Montenegro. The attack may include disruptions to the public utility, transportation (including border crossings and airport), and telecommunication sectors. Actions to take: Be aware of your surroundings, Limit movement and travel to the necessities, Review your personal security plans, Have travel documents up to date and easily accessible, Monitor local media for updates. Read Full Article

First Transit Of Taiwan Strait By U.S. Warships Since Pelosi Visited Taiwan - The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville transited the Taiwan Strait on August 28th. This is the first transit of the Taiwan Strait since Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, causing a frenzy of live-fire exercises from China. Read Full Article

BRICS: Russia & India No Longer Need U.S. Dollar - The president of the BRICS International Forum, Purnima Anand told reporters on Thursday that both Russia and India no longer need the U.S. dollar, as they have turned to national currencies to conduct mutual settlements. Read Full Article

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Denied Resupply Port Call By Solomon Islands - After completing an international patrol mission on August 26th, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, Oliver Henry, was denied clearance for a pre-scheduled resupply port call from the Solomon Islands, a country that has been strengthening ties in the Pacific with China. Read Full Article

A U.S. Senator Has Reported That China Is Attempting To Infiltrate The Federal Reserve - WASHINGTON - Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, along with the Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee has stated that China is attempting to recruit individuals, which are already employed inside the Federal Reserve (FED), as agents of international espionage. Read Full Article

U.S. Threatens Sanctions on Turkey For Russia Connections - The United States Treasury Department has issued a letter that contains a threat of possible sanctions for Turkey's leading business organization on the grounds of Russian Collaboration. Read Full Article

Israel Reportedly Striking Targets In Syria, Explosions Reported In Tartus - Israel is reportedly striking targets located in Syria. Explosions have been reported in Tartus, and Syrian state media says that its air defenses are engaging "hostile targets" over the Masyaf region in northwestern Syria.

Reports state that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are currently carrying out airstrikes in the region.

This comes after the U.S. Military carried out a second barrage of airstrikes in the region within the last 24 hours, which CENTCOM says is a direct response to a rocket attack by militants that injured three service members.

The injuries sustained by the service members were reported to be 'minor'. The U.S. Military had responded to the rocket attacks by targeting a convoy of vehicles that were equipped with launchers reportedly used in the attack with Apache helicopters.

The attack on the convoy of vehicles by U.S. forces were reported to have killed two of the three suspected militia members who were thought to have taken part in the attacks on U.S. forces.

USCENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla released a statement Wednesday that said, "The strike in eastern Syria was in response to attacks by Iran-backed groups against US forces in Syria on August 15th and demonstrates our resolve to defend US forces and equipment".

State Department spokesman Ned Price had addressed the strikes, saying that "If Iran were able to obtain a nuclear weapon, every single challenge we face with the Iranian regime would become more difficult."

"If we are able to take…the specter of Iranian nuclear weapon off the table, we'll be able to address more effectively everything else that we face from Iran and from its proxies and the groups it supports in the region," he continued.

CENTCOM forces respond to attempted coordinated rocket attacks at Conoco, Green Village bases in northeast Syria. - CENTCOM: forces respond to attempted coordinated rocket attacks at Conoco, Green Village bases in northeast Syria. "U.S. forces responded today to rocket attacks at two sites in Syria, destroying three vehicles and equipment used to launch some of the rockets. Read Full Article

*UPDATED* CENTCOM: US Military Carries Out Precision Strikes in Syria - *UPDATED* U.S. military forces conducted precision airstrikes in Deir ez-Zor Syria today. Sources have reported that multiple rockets have been fired at a US base in Conoco, located in east Deir Ezzor, Syria. There have also been reports that the U.S. Military responded to rocket fire by combatants with airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in eastern Syria. Read Full Article

US State Department Deeply Concerned About Turkish Military Activity In Syria - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that they are deeply concerned about increasing tensions in Northeastern Syria regarding a suspected Turkish drone attack that killed four teenage girls and injured 11 other people who were playing volleyball at a girl's center in Hasakah, Syria. Read Full Article

US Military B-52 Nuclear Capable Bombers Return To Base In United Kingdom - On August 18th US military B-52 nuclear-capable bombers returned to the 'RAF' Fairford US Air Force base in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom from the Minot Air Base in North Dakota.

B-52 bombers can travel up to 8,800 miles without needing to refuel, up to 70,000 lbs of equipment and fly up to 50,000 feet. The RAF Fairford base is a forward operating base for the United States while carrying out missions with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies.

The United States Air Force stated that "Regularly integrating with our allies improves our cooperation and operational capacity, capability and interoperability. Occurring since 2018, bomber rotations through Europe maintain our readiness to execute a wide variety of missions across two continents, sustaining peace through deterrence."

Security Alert U.S. Embassy Mogadishu, Somalia August 20th, 2022 - Security Alert for the United States embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia in Africa. The U.S. Embassy in Somalia reminds U.S. citizens that terrorists continue to plot kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks in Somalia.

Event: On August 19, 2022, car bomb blasts and gunfire were reported at Hotel Hayat in Mogadishu and are on-going. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. Further attacks may occur. The U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu introduced travel restrictions for U.S. government personnel assigned to Mogadishu for the immediate future, including travel throughout the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu.

The U.S. Embassy in Somalia reminds U.S. citizens that terrorists continue to plot kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks in Somalia. They may conduct attacks with little or no warning, targeting airports and seaports, government buildings, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, and other areas where large crowds gather and Westerners frequent, as well as government, military, and Western convoys.

Methods of attack include car bombs, suicide bombers, individual attackers, and mortar fire.

The Department of State has issued a Level 4 Travel Advisory for Somalia and advises U.S. citizens not to travel to Somalia due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health issues, kidnapping, and piracy.

The U.S. government has extremely limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Somalia due to the lack of a permanent consular presence in Somalia.

Actions to Take:

Continue to exercise vigilance while in Somalia.
Review your personal security plans.
Notify a trusted person of your travel and movement plans.
Avoid large crowds, gatherings, and demonstrations.
Stay alert in locations frequented by tourists/Westerners.
Be aware of your surroundings and local security developments
Monitor local media and news for updates.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks Visits U.S. Transportation Command and Purdue University - On August 18th, 2022 the Department of Defense released a statement on Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks visit U.S. to Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The deputy met with TRANSCOM Commander Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost, Deputy Commander Army Lt. Gen. John Sullivan, and other senior leadership.

During the visit, Deputy Secretary Hicks gained insight into future mobility, lift, and sustainment requirements in contested logistics environments, and received an update on efforts to integrate artificial intelligence and Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) into U.S. logistics systems. She also received an update on TRANSCOM progress toward to leveraging tools to better integrate, analyze, and visualize data to improve situational awareness of global mobility operations; and data modernization initiatives.

Dr. Hicks also received briefings from TRANSCOM leadership on the challenges and opportunities related to the organization’s large global operations footprint, integrating data for global mobility operations, future mobility lift and sustainment requirements, global bulk fuel management, and cyber security mission assurance.

She also met with junior enlisted leaders and junior officers to thank them for their work and dedication to support global supply and transportation operations, and hear directly from them about their perspectives on the department’s challenges and opportunities.

Deputy Secretary Hicks then flew to Purdue University, Ind., where she visited a range of facilities dedicated to advancements in hypersonics testing and research and visited faculty and PhD students who are focusing their work on hypersonics. At Zucrow Lab, she visited the Scramjet Test Cell; the Hypersonics and Applied Research Facility, which will be home to two wind tunnels; and the Hypersonics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center (HAMTC) to gain greater insight into future approaches to hypersonic systems. Teams also discussed end-to-end manufacturing energetics programs.

At the Birck Nanotechnology Center, Dr. Hicks received briefings on microelectronics programs; the Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement (SCALE) microelectronics workforce development program; quantum computing; cybersecurity; and Purdue’s new research support facility.

Following her tours and discussions, Deputy Secretary Hicks met with ROTC students to discuss their academic progress and career goals and delivered a speech to students and faculty highlighting the spirit of American innovation and experimentation which continues to provide the U.S. with an enduring advantage against strategic competitors like Russia and China.

The deputy secretary is finishing a two-day, four-state tour of the Midwest. Throughout her travel, Deputy Secretary Hicks focused on linking the department’s resources to our strategic competition priorities, including the pacing threat of China, and ensuring DoD remains the world leader in cutting-edge innovation.

Read Full DOD Article

Major US Security Assistance Package Of $775 Million To Ukraine To Be Unveiled - The United States Department of Defense has released a statement regarding another major security assistance package to be sent to Ukraine valued at $775 million. View DOD Statement

Mykolaiv, Ukraine Puts Out Official Radiation Exposure Notice - Ukraine's Mykolaiv Regional State Administration has put out a radiation exposure notice on its official Facebook page. Mykolaiv is located near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. Read Exposure Notice (In Ukrainian)

Tensions With China Increasing, But US Had Failed Simulated Chinese Attack - During a press briefing in Singapore, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet stated that the amount of unsafe interceptions by Chinese aircraft has increased over the last few months. The United States had carried out wargames simulating an attack by China in 2021, but failed miserably. Read Full Article

Political Officials from China And Japan Meet Following Taiwan Tensions - CHINA - After post-Taiwan tensions, including live-fire exercises around Taiwan and Chinese missiles falling in Japan's economic exclusion zone (EEC), Akiba Takeo, Japan's National Security Secretariat, and Yang Jiechi, Senior Foreign Affairs Advisor, have met in northern China. Read Full Article

Minuteman III test launch showcases readiness of U.S. nuclear forces - Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test re-entry vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on August 16th. Read Full Article

United States at Edge of War With China and Russia, Weighs In Henry Kissinger - Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State, in an analytical statement of world events, states that the U.S. is "Teetering on the brink of war" with China and Russia and owns some responsibility for its manifestation. Read Full Article

Another U.S. Congressional Delegation Is In Taiwan, Less Than Two Weeks After Pelosi - A five-member delegation, led by Senator Ed Markey (D) of Massachusetts, meeting in Taiwan to discuss security, economical, and trade topics, according to the American Institute in Taiwan. Read Full Article

White House Press Release: Kurt Campbell Call Regarding China, Taiwan - White House teleconference press release: On call with Kurt Campbell regarding China and Taiwan and the recent tensions that have arisen in the Taiwan Strait. Read Full Article

The U.S. To Maintain Security In Taiwan Straight, Taipei Eternally Grateful - TAIWAN - The Foreign Ministry of Taiwan expressed with sincerity, its gratefulness to the United States for its constant presence around Taiwan and for taking specific action to safeguard the region and the Taiwan Strait. Read Full Article

5 State-Run Chinese Companies To De-List From NYSE Due To Tensions With U.S. - NEW YORK CITY - In another escalation due to rising tensions, 5 Chinese state-run global companies have announced their decision to de-list from the New York Stock Exchange. Read Full Article

NORAD: Alaskan Defense Zone Breached By Russian Surveillance Aircraft - From the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), For the last two days, there have been two known incursions into the Alaskan Air Defense Zone, a buffer zone that sits between the airspace of Alaska and international air space, by Russian surveillance aircraft, which were detected, identified, and tracked off the coast. Read Full Article

Fighting Around Russia-Controlled Nuclear Plant In Ukraine Raising Concerns - SOUTHERN UKRAINE - Caught in crossfire, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine, on the Dnieper River, near the town of Enerhodar, is being watched very closely by international eyes as the power plant receives heavy artillery rounds, causing fears of a Chernobyl-like nuclear incident. Read Full Article

FBI Searches Mar-A-Lago Home of 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump - FLORIDA - In an ongoing investigation into whether the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump took classified documents from the White House, upon his exit, the FBI searched his Mar-A-Lago residence, setting a new precedent for former leadership in the United States, in regards to law enforcement. Read Full Article

The Russian Federation Leaves the New START Nuclear Arms Control Treaty - Russia stated on Monday, August 8th that they would no longer allow inspection of weapons under the New START Nuclear Arms Control Treaty for an unspecified time due to restrictions on travel implemented by the United States and the west. Read Full Article

Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system to be created by Northrop Grumman - US ARMED FORCES long-range missile support specialists have selected Northrop Grumman Corporation to attend to the next Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Weapons system process to shield the Continental US from nuclear long-range missile assaults. Read Full Article

China Responds To G7 Joint Statement Regarding The Taiwan Strait - The Group of Seven (G7) Foreign ministers released a joint statement regarding Taiwan calling an end to China's provocative exercises around the island of Taiwan, after which the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) condemned the statement and called it scrap paper. Read Full Article

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Announces Countermeasures in Response to Nancy Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan - The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs have announced a list of "countermeasures" in response to Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island of Taiwan.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, ""In disregard of China’s strong opposition and serious representations, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region. On 5 August, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the following countermeasures in response:

1.Canceling China-U.S. Theater Commanders Talk.
2.Canceling China-U.S. Defense Policy Coordination Talks (DPCT).
3.Canceling China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) meetings.
4.Suspending China-U.S. cooperation on the repatriation of illegal immigrants.
5.Suspending China-U.S. cooperation on legal assistance in criminal matters.
6.Suspending China-U.S. cooperation against transnational crimes.
7.Suspending China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation.
8.Suspending China-U.S. talks on climate change."

Pelosi To Visit Koreas Demilitarized Zone, Vows To Support South In Denuclearizing The North - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after having visited the island of Taiwan visiting the heavily fortified Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) that sits between the North and South Korean border on her way to Seoul, the Capital of South Korea. Read Full Article

U.S. Department Of State: Worldwide Travel Alert - The U.S. Department of State has put out a worldwide travel alert, advising against traveling abroad after Sunday's drone strike where two R9X Hellfire missiles killed al-Qaeda leader, and Osama bin Laden successor, Ayman al-Zawahri.

R9X Hellfire are "kinetic kill" missiles, meaning rather than cause an explosion that kills the target, these missiles deploy six metal blades that do the job.

"Following al-Zawahri's death, supporters of al- Qa'ida, or its affiliated terrorist organizations, may seek to attack U.S. facilities, personnel, or citizens," the State Department said.

A second worldwide travel alert was also put out for a "Global Level 3 Health Advisory" that said that citizens should "reconsider travel" abroad due to COVID-19.

The statement put out by the State Department was as follows:

Caution: August 2nd, 2022 - Worldwide Caution: Worldwide Cautions provide U.S. citizens with general information regarding terrorist activities, political violence, and criminal activity that occur abroad, as well as specific recommendations on how to prepare for possible contingencies, receive information on breaking security events and ensure that travelers can be contacted in an emergency. This version replaces the Worldwide Caution dated January 15, 2019.

The Department of State remains concerned about the continued threat of terrorist attacks, demonstrations, and other violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests overseas. The Department of State believes there is a higher potential for anti-American violence given the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri on July 31, 2022. Current information suggests that terrorist organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in multiple regions across the globe. These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bombings.

As terrorist attacks, political violence (including demonstrations), criminal activities, and other security incidents often take place without any warning, U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and practice good situational awareness when traveling abroad. U.S. government facilities worldwide actively monitor potential security threats and may temporarily close or periodically suspend public services to assess their security posture. In those instances, U.S. embassies and consulates will make every effort to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens abroad are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

When planning a trip and prior to departing the United States, U.S. citizens should consult country specific Travel Advisories and information pages on travel.state.gov. Travelers are also urged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and to make it easier to locate them in an emergency. The Department uses these security messages to convey information about terrorist threats, security incidents, planned demonstrations, natural disasters, etc. In an emergency, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate or call the following numbers: 1 (888) 407-4747 (toll-free in the United States and Canada) or 1 (202) 501-4444 from other countries.

Private U.S. citizens should not travel to any country to participate in armed conflict. U.S. citizens are reminded that fighting on behalf of, or providing other forms of support to, designated terrorist organizations can constitute the provision of material support for terrorism, which is a serious crime that can result in penalties, including prison time and large fines.

White House Statement On Senate Ratification of the NATO Accession Protocols for Sweden and Finland - White House: "Today, the Senate overwhelmingly endorsed our close partners Finland and Sweden joining NATO. This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan U.S. commitment to NATO, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

I thank the members of the Senate – especially Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Senator Menendez and Senator Risch — for their leadership and for quickly advancing the ratification process, the fastest Senate process for a NATO protocol since 1981. Finland and Sweden joining the Alliance will further strengthen NATO’s collective security and deepen the transatlantic partnership.

As I told Prime Minister Andersson and President Niinistö when I hosted them at the White House in May, the United States remains committed to the security of Sweden and Finland. We will continue working to remain vigilant against any threats to our shared security, and to deter and confront aggression or the threat of aggression.

I look forward to signing the accession protocols and welcoming Sweden and Finland, two strong democracies with highly capable militaries, into the greatest defensive alliance in history."

Russia: US Directly Involved In Ukraine Conflict, Could Trigger Nuclear Response - At the United Nations, Russia said that although the conflict in Ukraine does not require the use of nuclear weapons, Moscow might decide to resort to a nuclear response as a result of what it says is direct involvement in its conflict with Ukraine by the United States. Read Full Article

Speaker Pelosi's Plane Touches Down In Taiwan - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was confirmed to have been on the aircraft heading toward the Island of Taiwan and has now landed safely. The U.S. air force had been authorized to open fire in case there was any interference from the Chinese on the plane that carried Pelosi.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly protested and condemned Pelosis visit to the island of Taiwan.

Pelosi stated over Twitter upon landing: "Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy. Our discussions with Taiwan leadership reaffirm our support for our partner & promote our shared interests, including advancing a free & open Indo-Pacific region."

The hours before Pelosi landed in Taiwan, a cyber attack had hit the country. Taiwan said that an "overseas cyberattack" targeted the Office of the President's website. The website was reportedly down for 20 minutes.

The flight monitoring software, Flightradar 24 was also reported by many users to have been taken down during the cycberattacks.

Pelosi is the highest level official to visit the island in 25 years.

Pelosi Set To Travel To Taiwan Tuesday, Despite Warnings From Beijing - US Speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to travel to Taipei on Tuesday. Chinese military vessels and aircraft have been spotted carrying out tactical moves by touching the median line in the Taiwan Strait. Read Full Article

IRGC Posts Video Saying It will Build Nuclear Warheads And Turn NY Into Ruins - An Iranian IRGC-affiliated Telegram channel has posted a video openly declaring that Iran can move its peaceful nuclear program to a nuclear weapons program very quickly, and said that Iran's ballistic missiles are capable of turning New York into ruins. Read Full Article

International Support For China's One-China Policy Amid Escalation With US Over Taiwan - As Pelosi is expected to arrive in the Asia Pacific, growing concerns come from other countries who are in support of China instead of the United States and an independent Taiwan. Read Full Article