The United Nations says there is “no doubt” that thousands of people have been killed in the weeklong fighting across South Sudan, while official figures put the death toll at nearly 500. “Absolutely no doubt in my mind that we’re into the thousands” of dead, said Toby Lanzer, the top UN humanitarian chief in the country, at a press conference in the capital Juba on Tuesday. UN... 

Clashes continue between government forces and troops loyal to fugitive former vice president, Riek Machar, as violence spreads across several regions of South Sudan. The UN says the unrest has now spread from the capital Juba to other parts of the country. The latest fighting took place near Bentiu, the capital of oil-producing Unity State. Up to 500 people have been killed since the violence broke... 

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (L) and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel criticizes the Chinese Navy as “irresponsible,” saying its actions risk escalating tensions with the United States. In the highest-level rebuke of Beijing since a Chinese warship nearly collided with an American guided missile cruiser in the South China Sea earlier in December,... 

The United States has test-fired a nuclear-capable inter-continental ballistic missile from an airbase in the state of California. On Tuesday, a Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a 4,200 mile flight over the Pacific to a target on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The... 

China will not tolerate the US military buildup in Asia Pacific for supporting regional allies who are in dispute with Beijing over a chain of islands, says investigative journalist Wayne Madsen. “The US needs to recognize that China will not tolerate US military presence in its waters just as the United States will not tolerate Chinese naval ships off the coast of Atlantic City in New Jersey,”... 

A Russian military commander says Moscow is drafting a plan to deploy rail-mounted nuclear missiles in response to the United States’ Prompt Global Strike program. Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology will draft the plan in the first half of next year, Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakaev, commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Force, said on Wednesday. “A Defense Ministry report has been submitted... 

Brazil has rejected a contract for Boeing’s F/A-18 fighter jets in favor of the Swedish Saab’s JAS 39 Gripens. The unexpected move to reject the US bid comes amid the global scandal over the NSA’s involvement in economic espionage activities. The announcement for the purchase of 36 fighters was made Wednesday by Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim and Air Force Commander Junti Saito. The... 

An Iskander-E short-range ballistic missile launcher. The US will deploy its missile defense system in Europe despite progress in Iran nuclear talks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said. The news came as Russia confirmed the deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad region, bordering the EU. The US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has officially informed his Russian counterpart during a video teleconference... 

Washington has warned Moscow not to destabilize the region after Russia announced the deployment of missiles on its western borders with some Baltic countries. “We’ve urged Moscow to take no steps to destabilize the region,” US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Monday. “We’ve made that point with them.” On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry... 

Iskander high-precision missile system in place during military exercises. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed media reports on the deployment of short-range Iskander missiles in the country’s west, near its borders with the Baltic states and NATO members, saying that it does not violate international agreements. German newspaper Bild wrote this weekend that Russia stationed several Iskander... 

The U.S. needs to prepare for a potential war with China, according to a group of defense analysts at a U.S. House armed services subcommittee hearing this week. At the hearing, the defense analysts told the U.S. House Armed Services’ Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee that the Pentagon should begin a massive arms build-up, including additional nuclear submarines, for a possible war with... 

The Catalan regional parliament has set November next year for a referendum on the Spanish province’s independence. The government in Madrid blandly said the vote won’t happen, but activists wonder how it might be stopped. Catalonia’s four pro-independence parties, which hold a majority in the regional parliament, announced Thursday that the rich industrial Spanish province will hold a referendum... 

Russia will not allow any nation to dominate it in military terms, the Russian president said. Some nations are developing new kinds of weapons, which may tip the global strategic balance, but Russia knows how to counter them. “Let no one have illusions that he can achieve military superiority over Russia. We will never allow it,” Vladimir Putin said in a speech to the Federal Assembly, the joint... 

The war of words between the United States and Russia over plans for a NATO missile defense system in Europe continued today, with Russian President Vladimir Putin vowing to never allow power to gain military superiority over Moscow. “No one should entertain any illusions regarding their chances of asserting military superiority over Russia, we will never allow that to happen….thanks to our military... 

Deputy PM says Moscow “preparing a response” to U.S. plans for missile shield in Europe. Addressing the threat posed by plans by the United States to install a missile defense system in Europe, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin today asserted that Russia would respond with nuclear weapons if it was targeted by conventional American missiles. Rogozin’s comments arrive just a day...