IRAN – ISRAEL
In Israel, speculation over strike on Iran grows
Jean-Luc Renaudie, AFP – November 2, 2011
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking cabinet support for a military strike on Iran, Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday, after days of speculation on plans for such an attack.
Israel test fires missile that can hit Iran
AP – November 2, 2011
Israel successfully test-fired on Wednesday a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran, fanning a public debate over whether the country’s leaders are agitating for a military attack on Tehran’s atomic facilities.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
Nuclear summit to send ‘firm message’ to N. Korea: Seoul
Yonhap News – November 2, 2011
South Korea will use next year’s world nuclear security summit in Seoul to increase diplomatic pressure on North Korea to abandon its atomic arsenal, a key organizer said Wednesday.
Factbox: Key political risks to watch on the Korean peninsula
Jeremy Laurence & Jack Kim, Reuters – November 2, 2011
Conciliatory gestures by both Koreas have raised hopes that long-stalled nuclear talks are back on the cards, but Seoul and Washington insist Pyongyang must first take concrete measures to disable its atomic program.
AFGHANISTAN
At Istanbul conference, regional envoys deliver show of solidarity with Afghanistan
AP (Washington Post) – November 2, 2011
A decade after the Taliban were ousted from power, regional leaders Wednesday pledged to find ways to improve security and economic development in Afghanistan as international combat forces prepare to leave by the end of 2014.
Afghanistan is a proxy war between India and Pakistan
Dean Nelson, The Telegraph – November 2, 2011
When Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai visited New Delhi earlier last month to sign a strategic partnership deal, he quickly reassured Islamabad it remained Kabul’s most important partner.
UN
U.N. States Table Conference on Disarmament Measure
Global Security Newswire – November 1, 2011
A resolution on breaking the impasse on arms control negotiations at the international Conference on Disarmament was tabled on Monday at the close of the U.N. First Committee’s 2011 session — meaning the measure will not go to the General Assembly for consideration (see GSN, Oct. 31).
UNITED STATES
Leon Panetta: Don’t gut our defenses
Seung Min Kim, Politico – November 1, 2011
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta again forcefully advocated against automatic defense cuts that would occur should the deficit-cutting supercommittee fail to work out its own plan, lawmakers said Tuesday.
Panetta sees half of defense cuts from weapons
Andrea Shalal-Esa & Susan Cornwell, Reuters – November 2, 2011
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expects about half of the $450 billion-plus in defence cuts slated for the next 10 years to come from weapons programs, a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday.
