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NOVO SELO TRAINING AREA, Bulgaria -- U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Black Sea Rotational Force and members of the armed forces of Bulgaria, Romania, United Kingdom and Albania completed the culminating event for Platinum Lion 15-3. The final evolution consisted of cordon and search operations, intelligence gathering and live-fire and maneuver, all designed to strengthen the partnership between NATO nations and share knowledge to help improve military skill sets. “Platinum Lion 15-3 was designed to promote regional cooperation, foster interoperability between our nations in order to combat security threats,” said Capt. Michael R. McNicoll, commanding officer of Company...

Russian-American cooperation on the Iran nuclear deal could pave the way for an agreement on Syria, Barack Obama has said, despite the current confrontation between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. Mr Obama praised Vladimir Putin for his role in the agreement and said there could now be an “opening” for further detente in the worst crisis in American-Russian relations since the Cold War. Speaking shortly after a historic agreement to curb Iran's nuclear programme was signed in Vienna, Mr Obama said that there was now an opportunity for a "serious conversation" with Mr Putin about the fate of Bashar...

NAPLES, Italy — The Marine Corps is preparing to deploy a company-size unit equipped with tanks, armored vehicles and artillery to Bulgaria, an expansion of its Black Sea footprint meant to reassure allies and add new crisis-response options. The first rotation of the Combined Arms Company will bring 150 Marines to the Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria, in September. Accompanying the unit will be four Abrams tanks, six Light Armored Vehicles and three howitzers, said Brig. Gen. Norm Cooling, deputy commander of Marine Forces Europe-Africa. Current plans call for three consecutive six-month rotations, Cooling said, though the presence could be...

Fighting surged again this week in eastern Ukraine, where government troops are battling separatist militias and their Russian allies. NATO is responding by sending troops and equipment to eastern Europe, and it's also giving defensive training to Ukraine's beleaguered army. First, you need to know how bad things were for the Ukrainian army when separatist militias and their Russian allies began the fight in eastern Ukraine in April 2014. Miroslav Gai volunteered for the army last winter. I met him in Kiev, and this is how he described its state of readiness: "The army gave me just my weapon and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not done in eastern Ukraine, NATO's top commander said on Thursday, cautioning that Russia has been building up supplies on its border with Ukraine and keeping its military options open. U.S. General Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme allied commander, said the border between Ukraine and Russia was "wide open," allowing free movement of equipment and supplies. Force levels on Russia's side of the border had not changed much in recent months, Breedlove said, but U.S. military officials had observed in Russia a "stocking of important supplies, ammunition, etc, to levels that would support operations". Inside Ukraine,...

British warplanes arrived in the Baltics yesterday to begin ‘air policing’ in the region amid continuing aggression from Russia. Four Typhoons were dispatched from RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland, to safeguard the skies as part of a ‘high readiness’ Nato force in Eastern Europe. They were deployed to Amari airbase in Estonia, where they will patrol the air space as part of a four-month mission until the end of August The RAF fighter jets will work alongside four Norwegian aircraft which will be based in Lithuania. Keit Pentus-Roimannus, the Estonian Minister for Foreign Affairs, yesterday welcomed the RAF planes as a ‘demonstration...

NATO will deploy a command post to Romania for the first time when it launches Trident Joust 2015, an exercise to test the alliance’s crisis-response capabilities as it beefs up its presence in eastern Europe. NATO’s Naples-based Joint Force Command will lead the 12-day exercise, which kicks off in June. The alliance’s emphasis on speed and mobility comes at a time of increased concern about Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. “This deployment will test the full operational capability of my staff, by shifting command and control between my headquarters in Naples (Italy) and the forward deployed elements in Cincu, (Romania),” Adm....

The trial of Dzhokar Tsarnaev has gripped America, but in Russia the Boston bomber’s trial has received little media coverage, with even the arrival of five Tsarnaev family members from Russia to testify receiving no attention. The relatives are staying in Massachusetts over the weekend, after a sick juror meant their testimony for the defence could not be heard on Thursday. But Russian state-controlled media has shown little interest in their trip to the US, and a decision appears to have been taken that the Tsarnaevs’ links to Russia should be played down. On 8 April, the jury convicted Tsarnaev...

NATO launched one of its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea on Monday, inviting non-member Sweden for the first time, amid increasing tensions between Russia and its northern neighbors. More than a dozen vessels from 11 countries are participating in the "Dynamic Mongoose" exercise. NATO will simulate detecting and attacking submarines in one of the most hostile seas, with rugged but shallow underwater canyons, rapid currents and unusually high sound pollution from freshwater pouring in from Norway's fjords. Tensions have run high since Russia annexed part of Ukraine last year, with the three small Baltic states, who also rely...

The Finnish Defense Forces is preparing to inform its 900,000 military reservists of their role in the event of mobilization, all the while maintaining the communication has no connection to threats posed by Russia. However, according to journalist Peter Iiskola, this is the first time a letter of this sort has even been sent out in Finland, Newsweek reports. Finland has a small army of around 16,000. In the event of war, this number can swell up to 230,000, drawing from former conscripts. The announcement of the letter, which reservists between ages 20-60 will receive, follows on the heels of...

Mayor Bill de Blasio excoriated a controversial Indiana religious freedom law, telling reporters today that it is “deeply disturbing” and “doomed to failure.” Following the lead of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mr. de Blasio also said he would ban non-essential city travel to the Hoosier State. “It’s a deeply disturbing reality right now in Indiana and I hope before it’s too late, they turn back,” Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, said at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn. He promised that the law, which critics say will allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, will backfire on the...

Connecticut's governor is blasting the governor of Indiana for signing the state's controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, calling it discriminatory against the gay community and asking for its repeal. The Indiana measure, which Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed last week, prohibits state laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his or her religious beliefs. The definition of "person" includes religious institutions, businesses and associations. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday that the law is covering "outright bigotry" in Indiana. "The reality is, the governor is not a stupid man, but he’s done stupid...

PLAINFIELD, Ind. - The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Wednesday expressed concern about Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "ISNA welcomes the protection of an individual's right to free exercise of religion being given the legal 'strict scrutiny' standard, but has serious concerns about the extension of those rights to corporations as well as the protections against civil liability for discrimination by protected corporations against individuals. "For example, if a corporation refused to hire a person because they were a Muslim and their religious beliefs did not permit them to hire Muslims, then the prospective employee could not succeed in...

President Barack Obama finds Indiana’s religious freedom law and others like it “unthinkable,” the White House said Wednesday. “I do think in the mind of the president, the thought that we would have state legislatures in the 21st century in the United States of America passing laws that would use religion to try to justify discriminating against people for who they love is unthinkable,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. Critics say Indiana’s law now allows for businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

A pizza parlour that said it will use Indiana's heavily-criticized new religious freedom law to deny services to same-sex couples provoked a massive backlash across the Internet on Tuesday and Wednesday. Indiana's Republican governor Mike Pence responded Tuesday to national outrage over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, by saying he'll "fix" the bill to ensure businesses cannot use the law to deny services to the LGBTQ community. But, not before Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, chimed in. "If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no," owner Crystal...

MARIUPOL, Ukraine—As part of a joint Department of Defense-State Department effort to bolster Ukraine’s internal defense capabilities, the United States will be sending Army paratroopers to train Ukraine’s National Guard, a U.S. Army Europe spokesman confirmed to The Daily Signal Monday. U.S. Army Europe spokesman Donald Wrenn said paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, which is based in Vicenza, Italy, will train six Ukrainian National Guard companies on internal security and territorial defense beginning at the end April. “There will also be some training for headquarters personnel,” Wrenn said, “focusing on the continued professionalization of Ukrainian staff members.”...

Analysts following what appears to be a developing political crisis in Russia suspect the growing tensions engulfing the Kremlin may be a product of the workings of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, once a loyal ally to President Vladimir Putin. On February 27, a gunman murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow just feet away from the Kremlin. Russians and international media immediately suspected it was an inside job, especially when the Kremlin revealed the security cameras were not working due to maintenance. Eyebrows raised higher when the Kremlin arrested four Chechens for the murder. One man, Zaur Dadayev, confessed to...

HUNDREDS of professional internet 'trolls' are PAID to flood news and social media websites with pro-Vladimir Putin propaganda, it has emerged. The army of workers are paid £500 a month to work exhausting 12-hour shifts, during which they must write at least 135 pro-Russian comments per day - or face immediate dismissal. The repressive system - which was described by one worker as like something from George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 - also requires that employees remain silent and face fines for being a minute late. Forging friendships with each other is also highly frowned upon. The authoritarian procedure was...

SMARDAN TRAINING AREA, Romania — The one-on-one interview request was an unexpected curveball in a carefully choreographed itinerary, but Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges quickly dismissed any suggestion by a staffer that he politely decline. “Let’s do it,” said Hodges, marching off to meet a Romanian television journalist. As the camera crew struggled to get the sound right on the windy Romanian training ground, asking Hodges repeatedly to speak into the microphone for sound tests, Hodges complied without complaint. “This is very important. I am willing to do anything,” he said. Such occurrences are routine for Hodges. In nearly five months...

Russian ultra-nationalist Igor Strelkov has said President Vladimir Putin could be toppled "like the last tsar" if he does not fully support pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. According to the Sunday Times, the former commander of the pro-Russia rebels in the disputed region speculated about Putin's removal from power when he addressed supporters last week. Although Putin is seen as a hardliner in the West, Strelkov believes the Russian premier is too liberal, and has failed to act decisively enough in the region due to his decision not to annex Donetsk and Luhansk. "Ukraine was, is and remains a part...