Staff Writer With AFP
-
Middle East
Taliban Killed 291 Afghan Security Personnel in Past Week: Govt
The Taliban killed at least 291 Afghan security personnel over the past week, a top government official said Monday, accusing the insurgents of unleashing a wave of violence ahead of potential talks.
Read More » -
Terrorism
US Soldier Plotted to Have Unit Attacked by Jihadists: Justice
A US soldier with links to neo-Nazis plotted to have Islamic extremists attack his unit in Turkey in hopes of sparking a new '10-year war' in the Middle East, the Justice Department charged Monday.
Read More » -
Middle East
Saudi Coalition Announces Ceasefire With Southern Separatists
The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen announced Monday a ceasefire between the internationally recognized government and southern separatists.
Read More » -
Africa
Ivory Coast Says It Has Captured Jihadist Leader Behind Border Attack
Ivory Coast said it had captured a jihadist who led a deadly attack on a border post and arrested a 'very large' number of his subordinates.
Read More » -
Nuclear
US, Russia Hold Arms Talks With Little Hope of Accord
The United States and Russia held talks in Vienna Monday on their last major nuclear weapons agreement with little prospect of an imminent agreement as tensions and differences mount over whether they see any value in arms control at all.
Read More » -
Business
PAE Awarded Contract at US Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan
PAE was awarded a Naval Facilities Engineering Command Far East contract to provide heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems maintenance, testing and installation services at US Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. The contract has a one-year base period of performance with three one-year options and an estimated total value of approximately $25.1 million. PAE President and CEO John Heller said the award highlights PAE’s long-respected engineering and operations maintenance capabilities supporting US projects in Japan. “PAE started 65 years ago by providing the US government critical services to rebuild Japan and other parts of Asia after World War II,” Heller said. “That legacy of dependable service continues today as we support the Navy at the air station in Iwakuni.” The HVAC maintenance contract builds on major projects the PAE Design and Facility Management entity in Japan has supported as Air Station Iwakuni expanded over the past decade. Significant projects include the design of a 131,000-square-foot medical clinic, which opened in 2018, and a flight training facility, now under construction. “The skilled team leading this effort has decades of combined experience managing design, construction, maintenance and repair programs in Japan,” said PDFM President Scott Gold. “By understanding both the technical …
Read More » -
Business
Huntington Ingalls Industries Awarded $145 Million Contract for Amphibious Assault Ship LHA 9
Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a third contract modification from the US Navy for $145 million to provide long-lead-time material and advance procurement activities for amphibious assault ship LHA 9. This modification brings the total advance funding for LHA 9 to $350 million. “This advance procurement contract will help protect the health of our supplier base and strengthen our efforts to efficiently modernize the nation’s amphibious fleet as we continue to build amphibious ships for the Navy,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. Ingalls is the sole builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the Navy. The shipyard delivered its first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH 10), in 1966. Ingalls has since built five Tarawa-class (LHA 1) ships, eight Wasp-class (LHD 1) ships and the first in a new class of amphibious assault ships, America (LHA 6), in 2014. The second ship in that class, Tripoli (LHA 7), was delivered to the Navy earlier this year. Bougainville (LHA 8) is under construction. Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more …
Read More » -
Africa
Egypt’s Sisi Says Turkey/Qatar-Backed Assault on Libya’s Sirte Is ‘Red Line’
Egypt’s president warned Saturday that advances by Turkey-backed Libyan forces on the Libyan city of Sirte could prompt an Egyptian military intervention in the neighboring country in support of Cairo’s ally Khalifa Haftar. Meanwhile, Ankara has urged forces led by the eastern-based Haftar to withdraw from the strategic city for a ceasefire agreement to be reached. The UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli has made major military gains against Haftar’s forces recently thanks to increased support from its backer Turkey. The key city of Sirte, which lies some 280 miles east of the capital, is under the control of Haftar’s forces, who last year launched a recently aborted attempt to seize control of western Libya. In a televised address, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Sirte is a “red line” for Egypt, citing the need to protect its porous border as grounds for “direct intervention” in Libya. “If the Libyan people asked us to intervene, it is a signal to the world that Egypt and Libya share … common interests, security and stability,” Sisi said on Saturday. The GNA denounced Sisi’s warning, saying any intervention would be a threat to Libya’s security. “We strongly reject what was said …
Read More » -
Asia Pacific
US Navy Confirms Demotion of Captain of Virus-Hit Carrier
The US Navy said Friday it would not reinstate the captain of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, saying he was in part to blame for the severity of the crisis on the warship. Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, said Brett Crozier, who was fired as captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in April, was guilty of “questionable judgment” in handling an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the nuclear-powered ship in March. Gilday likewise faulted Rear Admiral Stuart Baker, Crozier’s direct supervisor as the carrier’s strike group commander, for poor leadership. “It is my belief that both Admiral Baker and Captain Crozier fell well short of what we expect of those in command,” Gilday said. “In reviewing both Admiral Baker’s and Captain Crozier’s actions, they did not do enough, soon enough, to fulfill their primary obligation” to keep the ship’s 5,000 crew safe. After a two-month investigation, the Navy decided that Crozier would not return to the Roosevelt and not be eligible to captain another ship. Baker’s expected promotion meanwhile has been placed on hold, pending further review. The coronavirus outbreak onboard the Roosevelt was one of the first US crises of the pandemic, crippling the massive ship and forcing it …
Read More » -
Africa
Al-Qaeda North Africa Confirms Chief Is Dead: SITE
Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing has confirmed that its Algerian chief Abdelmalek Droukdel is dead, according to SITE, the US watchdog for extremist groups.
Read More »
