Summary
Various media outlets have reported that the G8 leaders say Colonel Gaddafi and his government have failed to fulfil their responsibility to protect Libya's people and 'have lost all legitimacy'. | The Press Association reported that nine NATO Service personnel were killed in Afghanistan when a powerful bomb exploded in a field where they were patrolling on foot. | In Saturday's Daily Mail, an article claimed that Afghanistan is receiving more aid that it can spend, according to senior unidentified officials. | The Daily Telegraph reported that Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox has intervened over proposed cuts to paratroopers' pay, ordering officials to rethink plans. | The Guardian reported that priority is to be given to, among others, children whose parents are in the Armed Forces in the new admissions code for schools. | The same newspaper claimed that Bradley Manning, the US soldier at the centre of the WikiLeaks revelations, was mentally unfit to serve, according to an investigative film produced by the paper. | The Sun reported how a senior officer has been sent home from a warship after an affair with a female sailor. | The Daily Mirror featured a picture of a baby saluting the coffin of Colour Serjeant Kevin Fortuna, who was flown home after being killed in Afghanistan on Monday 23 May. | In Sunday's Telegraph and The People, former Chief of the General Staff Lord Dannatt warned about further cuts to the Army. | The Sunday Telegraph published a piece about how the Duchess of Cambridge is potentially being lined up to be colonel-in-chief of a regiment. | The Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express both claimed that an SAS team captured two Taliban commanders without a shot being fired during a dawn raid in Afghanistan. | The Sunday Mirror reported on the death of Osama bin Laden and how his cover may have been blown by Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Baradar when he was captured by the US. | The Mail on Sunday featured an article claiming that the Foreign Office has spent £33,000 on an animated film aimed at stopping Muslim teenagers from becoming Islamic extremists. | Various broadcasters covered the ongoing conflict in Libya, featuring NATO raids, which involved RAF Typhoons, on Colonel Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli. | On Monday, the BBC reported that at least five people were killed and about 30 wounded after twin bomb blasts struck the Afghan city of Herat. | BBC Radio 1 featured a ten-hour takeover show from Afghanistan. | The Daily Telegraph featured an article claiming that senior RAF officer Air Marshal Dick Garwood said that the MOD was right to scrap Harrier and that the performance of the Tornado combined with the Typhoon in Libya was proving the decisions made by the MOD were the right ones. | Coverage of the Libyan crisis continues, with the reporting featuring a number of strands, including the decision to send in Apache helicopters to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. | Today's Guardian features an interview with the Minister for the Armed Forces Nick Harvey who explains the UK is developing a cyber-weapons programme that will give an attacking capability to help counter the growing threats to national security from cyberspace. | The Sun reports that more than 100 members of the Counter-IED Task Force have cleared IEDs from the 'Cauldron' in Loy Mandeh. | The Independent features an article by Stuart Alexander about the death of his son Marine Sam Alexander. | The Daily Telegraph claims that the mental health of bomb disposal experts in Afghanistan will be investigated after Lord Astor confirmed to the House of Lords that assessment of high-threat operators will take place in July. | Various media outlets report that an image based on a photo from Al Jazeera suggests that six Western males in civilian clothes in Libya could be British Special Forces.
Lieutenant Oliver Richard Augustin and Marine Samuel Giles William Alexander MC killed in Afghanistan
It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Lieutenant Oliver Richard Augustin and Marine Samuel Giles William Alexander MC, both from Juliet Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines, were killed in Afghanistan on Friday 27 May 2011. Click here to read more.
Britain providing training to other countries
Various national newspapers have claimed that Britain has been training Saudi Arabia's National Guard which were used to suppress the recent protests in Bahrain. The UK provides world-class defence training and education to many countries, including in the Gulf, creating lasting ties between our armed forces and enhancing their ability to work together towards regional security and stability. The Gulf States are key partners in the fight against terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons as well as being an emerging source of economic and political influence. By providing training for countries to the same high standards used by the UK's Armed Forces we help to save lives and raise awareness of human rights.
Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR update
The UK Armed Forces were again in action over Libya during the weekend as part of NATO's Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR to protect Libyan civilians under threat of attack and enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.
The Chief of the Defence Staff's Strategic Communications Officer, Major General John Lorimer, said: "Royal Air Force Tornado and Typhoon ground attack aircraft destroyed a main battle tank near Jadu on Saturday, and on Sunday engaged a multiple rocket launcher and support vehicles south of Zlitan.
"On Monday, further RAF patrols near Zlitan located five heavy transporters carrying main battle tanks - all were destroyed or severely damaged. RAF VC-10 tankers, and Sentinel, Sentry and Nimrod R1 surveillance aircraft, continue to provide vital and widespread support to UK and NATO operations over Libya, while Royal Navy vessels maintain their surveillance patrols off the coast."
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