by Malik Glaspie “The rapidly changing, complex security environment, will continue to be the main driver for NATO’s adaptation efforts,” said General Denis Mercier in his introduction to NATO ACT’s annual Chiefs of Transformation Conference in Norfolk, Virginia on Dec. 12-14 at the downtown Norfolk Marriott hotel. On December 17, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization … Continue reading
by Keona Frasier The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Allied Command Transformation met in Norfolk, Virginia for the 2017 Chiefs of Transformation Conference on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 13-14. The main agenda during the conference was to prepare for the future of the military alliance’s member nations and partners by discussing pressing matters and viable solutions. … Continue reading
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The Latest on Zimbabwe’s political turmoil (all times local): 9 p.m. The deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general says Antonio Guterres is encouraging all Zimbabweans to “maintain calm and restraint” after the resignation of President Robert Mugabe. Farhan Haq also says any analysis of the developments is up to journalists. … Continue reading
The latest group of U.S. Rhodes scholars includes 10 African Americans — the most ever in a single Rhodes class — as well as a transgender man and four students from colleges that had never had received the honor before. The Rhodes Trust on Sunday announced the 32 men and women chosen for post-graduate studies … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Marine Corps drill instructor was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for choking, punching or otherwise tormenting recruits, especially three Muslims — one of whom ultimately killed himself by leaping down a stairwell. A military jury handed out the punishment to Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix a day after convicting … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s trip to Asia (all times local): 12:30 p.m. President Donald Trump is vowing to change “one-sided and unfair” trade relations with China but says he doesn’t blame China for taking advantage of the U.S. in the past. Trump says during a joint appearance with Chinese President … Continue reading
TOKYO (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out eventual military action against North Korea and declared that the United States “will not stand” for Pyongyang menacing America or its allies. In his first stop of an extended trip in Asia, Trump stood with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a news … Continue reading
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing hearing for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (all times local): 3:45 p.m. Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s “incredibly disappointed” in the sentence Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl received from a military judge. The South Carolina Republican, who served as an Air Force lawyer for more than 30 years, … Continue reading
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president on Friday promised to lead the Balkan nation into the European Union and said the fact that Russia is arming the Serbian military doesn’t threaten that goal. President Aleksandar Vucic told The Associated Press in an interview that he wants to seek EU membership while at the same … Continue reading
UKHIYA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Latest on violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and the flood of ethnic Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh (all times local): 9:30 a.m. Four Hercules planes carrying 34 tons of aid for Rohinyga refugees have departed for Bangladesh from an air force base in the Indonesian capital. Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo … Continue reading
UN probe says Syrian government launched April sarin attack By JAMEY KEATEN and ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-mandated investigators said Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force conducted a sarin-gas attack in the spring that killed at least 83 civilians and sparked a retaliatory U.S. strike. The investigators also appealed to the … Continue reading
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s president on Thursday cancelled an order to deploy the military to the streets of the capital after criticism that the move was excessive and merely an effort to hold onto power amid increasing calls for his resignation. In a decree published in the Official Diary, President Michel Temer revoked the … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday sent Congress a $4.1 trillion federal spending plan that promises faster economic growth and steep cuts to programs for the poor in a bid to balance the government’s books over the next decade. The proposed 2018 budget immediately came under attack by Democrats, and even some GOP … Continue reading
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera was freed from house arrest Wednesday after decades in custody in a case that transformed him into a martyr for his supporters but had outraged those who lost loved ones in a string of bombings. Wearing black jeans and a shirt decorated with … Continue reading
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The closure of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is more than inconvenient; it is costly. Officials on both sides of the border say in just one month, the closure has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost trade, and tons of perishable goods have rotted in stranded trucks. … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 