Washington has urged North Korea not to escalate tensions in the Yellow Sea following a naval skirmish between the North and South Korean navies Tuesday. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Washington hopes Pyongyang will not take any further actions in the area that could be seen as an escalation. South Korea's military says one of its warships first fired warning shots at a North Korean boat that it says crossed the Korean maritime border off the west coast of the Korean peninsula. South Korea says the North K

International experts and politicians are in Brussels for a two-day meeting on ways to harmonize European and American policy on Eritrea and other parts of the Horn of Africa.   The meeting is sponsored by Europe External Policy Advisors, a Brussels-based research group.  It is being held amid mounting international concern about Eritrea's human-rights policy and allegations the Eritrean government supports Islamist insurgents in neighboring Somalia. In August, U.S.

A Kenyan human rights body is calling for an investigation into the killing of the spokesman of a major Kenyan gang, saying the leader told the group a few weeks prior that his life was in danger from a government hit squad.

Afghan national police and ISAF forces seized 500,000 lbs. of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, 5,000 IED components and detained 15 people after a raid in Kandahar, Nov. 8. Based on reliable information, the patrol discovered 1,000 100-lb. bags of fertilizer, which is often used by insurgents to make explosives, and detained 15 people in a warehouse. After the initial find another 4,000 100-lb. bags of fertilizer were found in a nearby compound. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is a key ingredient of homemade explosives and used in the majority of main charges for IEDs.

JSS CONDOR — For many Soldiers here, the new “advise and assist” mission requires a rethinking of traditional roles in a stability operations environment. The engineers of 2nd Platoon, Company E, 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, are no different. Some people associate engineers here with route clearance missions, but that's only a small portion of the much larger skill set these Soldiers are learning to apply in new ways. Based at Contingency Operating Site Hunter in southern Maysan province, and attached to 2nd Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Saber,

Iraqi Police arrested five suspected members of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) terrorist organizations today during two joint security operations conducted in Diyala and Salah ad Din Provinces.   In Saytiyah, located approximately 110 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi Police and U.S. advisors searched for an alleged member of ISI, who is known to be directly linked to AQI. The warranted individual is suspected of facilitating attacks in Baghdad from remote locations in Diyala Province.

More than 750 Afghan and international forces in recent days completed the largest operation to date in Afghanistan's Kunduz province, clearing the northern border area of hundreds of insurgent fighters, military officials reported. The combined forces conducted operations Nov. 1 - 6 in the province's northern region bordering Turkmenistan, killing more than 130 insurgents, including eight Taliban commanders.

  As we celebrate the 234th anniversary of the founding of our Corps, take pride in your contributions to our great nation, our great Corps and our great base.  It is teamwork and each Marine's commitment to the team that is the strength of our Corps.  So it is, too, for this iconic base of Marines, this home of expeditionary forces in readiness.

The Air Force Reserve's Hurricane Hunters are flying non-stop into Hurricane Ida collecting critical weather data as the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico. The Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron are assigned to the 403rd Wing and stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. The team of reservists collected data to help determine the storm was gaining strength as it passed the Yucatan peninsula.