* Syrian rebels armed and trained by the US surrendered to al-Qaeda [The Telegraph], with armament that may include TOW missiles. These aren’t an international concern, but they will make Daesh more formidable. See DID’s coverage from December last year of Saudi TOW missile sales, including justified stories that the Saudis would be acting as a transfer point.
* The Syrian regime escalates [AFP] barrel bomb attacks [Human Rights Watch].
* ISIS is advertising [Daily Mail] for skilled oil plant professionals. Competitive pay. Experience dodging Paveways a plus. Just try not to miss your metrics, we’ve heard bad things about the exit interview…
* Daily Beast: US Military Hates White House ‘Micromanagement’ of ISIS War.
* Iraq is preparing a large offensive against ISIS that would seek to isolate the insurgents in a few major strongholds while cutting their supply lines, according to the NYT. The US has about 1,400 troops in Iraq acting as advisers at the moment, and that number may rise in months to come.
US Biz Trends
* The Virginian-Pilot reviews diversification efforts by businesses in a US state that’s heavily dependent on defense. Related: Old Dominion University’s latest State of the Region report [PDF].
Asia
* Up to 10 officers from Taiwan’s armed forces are being charged with spying and feeding classified material to mainland China, reports Tapei Times. Again, just one year after similar leaks allegedly affected E-2K surveillance aircraft.
* The WSJ gives a good overview of the increasing tensions between China and India in the Ladakh region.
Europe
* Russia tested the 3 legs of its nuclear triad within 72 hours last week. Barents Observer.
* Ukraine’s Poroshenko Urges Russia To Denounce ‘Farce’ Vote [Radio Free Europe]. Earlier on November 2, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Russia had launched an “intensive deployment of military equipment and personnel” from Russian territory into parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Roland Oliphant from the Telegraph reports having seen 62 Kamaz military trucks without identification plates heading towards Donetsk.
* Daniel Baer, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), claims that jammers were used against their observation UAV to hide ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists.
* Today’s video from Al Jazeera shows the military workshops set up by separatists in Donetsk:
