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The US Navy’s Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCMRON) 7 members and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) MCM units have jointly conducted the final phases of the bilateral mine countermeasures exercise, (MCMEX) 3JA.

The Lithuanian Navy is set to take delivery of a new Flyvefisken-class patrol ship, P15, from Denmark.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has achieved the final development milestone for its BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT).

Americas

• An undisclosed member of the Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System program has contracted Raytheon to provide additional Patriot missile capabilities. The $225 million deal comes just 45 days after Poland requested the same product from the US government, and when Raytheon received another contract from the Netherlands to upgrade their own systems. Answers on a postcard please.

• US Senator Bernie Sanders has urged President-elect Donald Trump to leverage defense contracts in order to save jobs at an Indiana air conditioner manufacturer. The factory, owned by United Technologies, is slated to move operations to Mexico, at a loss of 1,400 jobs. As firebrand outsiders vying for the working vote, both men had used the announcement earlier this year to challenge Hillary Clinton as an example of how trade deals hurt US workers. With Trump now the insider, Sanders warned “it is not good enough to save some of these jobs” and said Trump should use as leverage United Technologies’ defense contracts, Export-Import Bank financing, and tax breaks. While Trump does not take office until January 20, he may already be feeling the Bern.

Middle East & North Africa

• Just ten days after the US State Department cleared the sale of 40 warplanes to Kuwait, the Gulf monarchy wants more. Major General Lafi al-Azmi, chief of the military’s Armament and Procurement Authority, said that Kuwait plans to purchase 28 more F-18 Super Hornets as well as return a number of outdated F-18s in their inventory as part of the purchase deal. Details of the sale will only be revealed once it is officially signed.

Africa

• The UN Security Council will vote this week on whether to ban arms sales to South Sudan. A US proposed resolution, the move comes after a summer of ethnic violence due to rivalries between President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer, which has led to claims of genocide. The rivalries had previously led to civil war in 2013 but a tentative peace agreement was signed in 2015.

Europe

• From now on Heckler & Koch wares will be for NATO members and friends only, according to reports. Difficulty in obtaining government approval for exports is being cited as the main reason, and from now on the company will “only sell to countries that are democratic and free from corruption and that are members of NATO or NATO members’ partners.” The new strategy would rule out deals with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Mexico, and India. Not even NATO members are safe, with Turkey – in the middle of a military, political and civil purge since a failed coup during the summer – also in the firing line for being freezed out.

• As part of governmental approval to increase defense spending, Norway plans to drop some $1.15 billion on five P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. With Norway sharing a long maritime border with Russia, the acquisition comes as Nordic and Baltic states ramp up modernization and capability efforts in order to dissuade Moscow from trying to pull another “Crimea” in the Baltics. Delivery of the planes will take place between 2021 and 2022 and will replace the current fleet of six P-3 Orion and three DA-20 Jet Falcon aircraft.

• Exercises by the Italian Navy have seen the successful first launch of the Aster 30 missile. A requirement for the missile’s qualification program, the test was part of the Italian Surface-To-Air Extended Self Defense system program. Capable of hitting targets over 62 miles away from their launch sites, the new system will greatly enhance defensive capabilities of naval vessels.

Asia Pacific

• With the US looking to replace Russian-made Afghan helicopters and India offering to fix them, it’s quite natural to be confused about what is actually going on with Afghan military procurement. The issue is muddied further with US regime change just around the corner, and presidents who have rather different foreign policy objectives. At present the US DoD has requested additional funding to refurbish and update 53 older-model US military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for the Afghans, enough to replace the current fleet of Russian-designed Mi-17 helicopters. But with a Donald Trump presidency and potentially warmer relations with Russia, will the hundreds of millions of dollar price tag for refurb, transfer and retraining ever come about?

Today’s Video

Third flight of Japan’s X-2 stealth demonstrator:

Rwanda opens an inquiry into 20 French officials it suspects of involvement in the 1994 genocide.

About 30,000 families in 58 municipalities in Nicaragua’s ‘Dry Corridor,’ the area of the country most affected by droughts and climate change, are expected to benefit from a financial agreement between the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Nicaragua to boost sustainable agricultural production.

Soutien de François Fillon de la première heure, le député de Haute-Savoie a été nommé, mardi, secrétaire général du parti Les Républicains.

A Szeged, au sud de la Hongrie, se tient ce mercredi le procès d'un citoyen syrien accusé de terrorisme. Il y a un an, le 16 septembre 2015, la Hongrie verrouillait sa frontière avec des barbelés et des affrontements avaient lieu entre la police et des centaines de réfugiés qui voulaient entrer dans le pays. Les forces de l'ordre ont réprimé la manifestation et arrêté plusieurs migrants, dont Ahmed H., un père de famille syrien de 37 ans. Il est le seul à être accusé de terrorisme. Le tribunal devrait rendre son verdict aujourd'hui, après la plaidoirie de l'avocat de la défense.

Près de 900 000 routeurs du premier opérateur de télécommunications allemand, Deutsche Telekom, ont été victimes d'une attaque informatique en début de semaine. Une attaque massive restée sans dommages pour les clients, hormis une interruption de leurs communications. Mais cette nouvelle attaque fait rebondir les débats sur ses auteurs et sur une éventuelle stratégie politique de la Russie.

Suite à une pétition déposée au Parlement par des employés du géant américain du fast-food, les députés européens ont décidé de lancer une enquête sur les pratiques de McDonald's en matière de droit du travail. Le Parlement européen va enquêter sur les conditions de travail chez McDonald's en Europe, après avoir auditionné des syndicalistes français, belges et britanniques.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Ghana’s President and the opposition leader to continue their role in defusing tensions towards the holding of peaceful and credible elections in the African country.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged Ghana’s President and the opposition leader to continue their role in defusing tensions towards the holding of peaceful and credible elections in the African country.

Der Bedarf an haushaltsnahen Dienstleistungen ist gestiegen und wird aufgrund der zunehmenden Berufstätigkeit beider Eltern weiter steigen. Die Entwicklung eines regulären Markts für haushaltsnahe Dienste könnte neue sozialversicherungspflichtige Arbeitsplätze für einfach Qualifizierte schaffen. Eine wichtige Vermittlungsfunktion haben hierbei Dienstleistungsagenturen, die als Arbeitgeber Tätigkeiten haushaltsübergreifend organisieren und weiterbilden. Das europäische Ausland hat dazu interessante Modelle entwickelt.

Das unaufhörliche Feiern von runden Jahrestagen, wie es den westlichen Kulturbetrieb heute kennzeichnet, „verdankt“ sich der Reformation. Es ging aus den Reformationsjubiläen hervor, die sich immer mehr zu „Luther-Events“ entwickelten. Dabei war das jeweilige Lutherbild stets ein Spiegel des Zeitgeistes.

Describing the recent announcement by Ansar Allah and the General People’s Congress of the creation of a new Government as “a new and unnecessary obstacle” to peace in Yemen, the United Nations envoy for the country today urged the parties “to re-think their approach and demonstrate their commitment to the peace process with concrete actions.”

The United Nations refugee agency today voiced concerns over calls for expulsion, on national security grounds, of asylum-seekers after a protest at Bulgaria’s largest and most overcrowded reception centre.

Kigali a ouvert, mardi, une enquête sur le rôle de vingt responsables français dans le génocide rwandais en 1994. Une décision qui pourrait de nouveau affecter les relations diplomatiques entre le Rwanda et la France.

Highlighting a dramatic increase in sea crossings by migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa to Yemen – which itself is reeling under a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, the United Nations refugee agency today called for urgent steps to deter and save people from the deadly risks they are taking.