MILNEWS.ca Highlights – January 30, 2019

Afghanistan

• “Canadian veteran ‘stuck’ in efforts to help Afghan translator ‘escape the consequences’ of helping him”
• “Taliban Says It is Working With US to Finalize Troop Withdrawal Plans”
• “What Would Peace With The Taliban In Afghanistan Look Like?”
• “CIA director cautions against trusting Taliban’s peace deal promises”
• “Taliban peace deal amounts to ‘surrender,’ says former US ambassador”
• “Peace with the Taliban? Trump warned of Afghan pullout risks”
• “China’s increasing role in brokering peace in Afghanistan”

#LVA/Europe – Op REASSURANCE

• “Collective standards: How the SOPs were developed for the Battle Group in Latvia” (Canadian Army Today)
• “Russia Deploys Tanks to Kaliningrad Exclave”
• “Neither NATO nor EU would offer the security for Poland of a US base, say officials”
• “No, Russian Bombers Did Not Enter US Airspace”
• “Russian military to get four upgraded Tupolev-160M bombers by 2023”
• “Limits and Challenges to Moscow’s Military Airpower Ambitions”
• “Rethinking the Structure and Role of Russia’s Airborne Forces”
• “Wagner Mercenaries With GRU-issued Passports: Validating SBU’s Allegation” (bellingcat)

#MLI – Op PRESENCE/Africa

• “FAKE NEWS : Non, 200 Soldats Maliens Ne Se Sont Pas “Volatilisés Dans La Nature” Au Canada”
• “Insécurité au Mali : Bamako bascule à son tour dans la violence”
• “Two Malian soldiers killed, 10 injured in jihadist attack”
• “Mali : des soldats tués dans le nord du pays”
• “Mali : deux morts et six blessés dans une attaque armée dans le nord du pays”
• “Bamako sous la terreur: Assassinats multiples, braquages tout azimut !”
• “Désarmement-Démobilisation-Réinsertion (DDR) : Un processus qui n’a réglé le moindre problème nulle part dans le monde !”
• “Attaque de Koulogon : le rapport d’enquête qui accable”
• “Sri Lanka Army to receive remains of fallen UN peacekeepers this week”
• “JNIM terrorist group claims responsibility over Mali attack on SL peacekeepers”
• “Mali, Centrafrique, RDC… Pourquoi les conflits s’enlisent en Afrique ?”
• “Family members of a Canadian mining executive who was kidnapped and killed by gunmen in western Africa said at his funeral Wednesday that his murder was senseless, but they also recognize he died while pursuing the work he was passionate about …”
• “Jihadist Terrorism Threatens to Destabilize Burkina Faso and Its Neighbors”

#CHN/#Huawei

• “L’examen de l’extradition d’une dirigeante de Huawei repoussé à début mars”
• “Chinese capital avoids Canadian auto firms amid bilateral political tensions” (CHN Communist Party media)
• “Canada’s in a corner over the Meng Wanzhou case, with no good options”
• “If Huawei were a security risk, how would we find out?”
• “Let’s be clear: Huawei is no threat to Canada or Canadians”
• “From Huawei to the Internet of Things: A brief explainer on 5G and the risks to Canadian security”
• “US Charges Against Huawei May ‘Toughen’ China’s Stance During Trade Negotiations”
• “How Donald Trump could change the course of Meng Wanzhou’s ‘years-long’ battle against extradition”

#CHN-Pacific Rim

• “US will boost security ties with Taiwan, says ‘ambassador’ as he warns mainland China to stop strong-arm tactics”
• “A show of support? White House map of China that omitted Taiwan catches the eye of island’s internet”
• “China’s Long March-5 rocket to resume flight in July” (CHN mil media)
• “China builds rescue centre on artificial Spratly island in South China Sea”

The Koreas

• “Road Map to Denuclearization Key to Second Trump-Kim Summit”
• “Russia secretly offered North Korea a nuclear power plant, officials say”
• “Why We Should be Skeptical About Recent Reports on North Korea’s Biological Weapons Programs” (38 North)

Internal Security

• “Ottawa setting up new team to warn Canadians of potential election interference”
• “Government of Canada unveils plan to safeguard Canada’s 2019 election” (Democratic Institutions info-machine)
• “Combatting foreign interference” (Democratic Instutitions info-machine)
• “Expecting social media platforms to act” (Democratic Institutions info-machine)
• “Safeguarding Elections” (Democratic Institutions info-machine)
• “EDITORIAL: Canadians are right to ask questions about terror plots”

What’s Canada Buying? (1)

• “Plan to buy more fighter jets puts Canada on hook for bigger share of F-35 costs”
• “Three contracts to enhance the Canadian Armed Forces’ integrated IT systems”
• “Government of Canada announces information technology investment for Canada’s military” (Public Services/Procurement Canada info-machine)
• “LC4ISR Conference and Contract Award announcement for LC4ISR” (GoC info-machine)
• “Canada Awarded Three Contracts to GD-MS Canada to Enhance the CAF’s Integrated IT Systems”

What’s Canada Buying? (2):  Big Honkin’ Ship Document Leak Case

• “Twin investigations launched into whether military blocked access to information in Mark Norman case”
• “Canada’s top soldier spoke with Trudeau after learning of Norman case — but no records exist”
• “Top soldier did not keep any records of meeting with Trudeau on Vice Admiral Norman case”
• “Military did not use ‘code words’ to describe Vice-Admiral Norman, Chief of Defence tells court”
• “Mark Norman’s legal team expected to reveal ‘code names’ in alleged military information block”
• “Top military commander says ‘codenames’ are really routine military jargon”
• “Access searches for military should be broadened for other identifiers: Vance”
• “Scott Brison seeks standing at Mark Norman hearing, looking to protect his ‘privacy’ “
• “Christie Blatchford: For its legion of prosecutors, Mark Norman case has gone SNAFU”

Mental Health in the CAF

• “Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence participated in Bell Let’s Talk Day with a panel discussion on mental health” (DND info-machine)
• “Minister Sajjan and Minister Wilson-Raybould address the stigma of mental illness” (DND info-machine)

Sexual Assault/Harassment in the CF

• “In Committee from the House of Commons: Defence Officials Respond to AG Report on Military Sexual Misconduct” (CPAC)
• “Sargent (sic.) Nina Usherwood — serving as a trans woman in the Canadian military” (rabble.ca)

Other Military News

• “Fury over Google listing Khadr as a ‘Canadian soldier’ “

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