Copyright: CNN, 22nd May, 2013

President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi has ordered a major restructuring of Yemen's military. The elite republican guard and the first armoured division will be absorbed into the country's Defense Ministry. "Yemen will head in the right direction with this restructuring of the armed forces and the ending of the contentious divisions in the military," said an anonymous Yemeni government official.

Read full article: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/19/world/meast/yemen-military/?hpt=wo_c2

Copyright: Reuters TrustLaw, 22nd May, 2013

Following a row that resulted in the dismissal of four Supreme Court judges, the Honduran government passed a law aimed at cracking down on the country’s highly militarised and controversial police force. The law seeks to weed out corrupt members of the police force by requiring officers to take lie detector tests, drug screenings, and to provide details about their personal wealth before being allowed to keep their posts.

Read full article: http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/detail.dot?id=c9285079-be45-4e42-8d00-8556268e1bc8

Copyright: Reuters, 22nd May, 2013

With the promise of the international spotlight growing brighter, Brazil has closed a year-long bribery probe with the arrest of 63 police officers and 11 alleged drug traffickers. The charges faced by those arrested ranged from drug trafficking to kidnapping, and took place largely in the favelas, or slums, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Low salaries are cited as a major impetus for police officers to become involved in criminal activity.

Read full article: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/uk-brazil-police-idUKBRE8B316A20121204

Copyright: Aviation Week, 22nd May, 2013

A report by India’s Comptroller and Auditor General revealed that five major offsets contracts – worth up to USD 3 billion – did not follow India’s official defence procurement procedure. It was found that some companies simply invested the agreed upon sum into their wholly-owned subsidiaries based in India. In this instance, the money circulated within the company, never making it into domestic Indian industry.

Read full article: http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_12_03_2012_p0-522963.xml&p=1

Copyright: The Guardian, 22nd May, 2013

The UK’s all-party parliamentary group (APPG) has called for a ban on the use of taxpayer money to support arms exports. It suggests the creation of a “prohibition list” of countries which should be refused sales of weapons from the UK. This is the result of an enquiry which delved into 40 years of UK’s arms exports. Via UK Export Finance, defence companies can obtain insurance and credit to help them export goods overseas when traditional lenders may be afraid to provide financing. Among the dodgy deals approved by UKEF (former ECGD), are £35m lent to Robert Mugabe to buy five BAE Hawk fighter jets for Zimbabwe between 1989 and 1992; and the Al Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia, for which BAE has been investigated over alleged corruption.

Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/28/government-support-arms-exports-questions

Copyright: Reuters, 22nd May, 2013

A senior army commander with Congo’s Land Forces has been smuggling arms and ammunition to rebels which have been linked with widespread massacres according to a new UN report. Although the armed group that seized Goma recently is not amongst the recipients of these weapons, poachers and armed groups operating in other areas of the country have been linked to the commander’s illegal arms trade. According to the article, this smuggling—which is suspected to flow through Congolese capital Kinshasa to the east via a close network to the commander—is likely to result in pressure on President Joseph Kabila to push for reform in the sector.

Read full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/21/congo-democratic-amisi-idUSL5E8MLMLG20121121

Copyright: Reuters TrustLaw, 22nd May, 2013

European defence giant EADS has been under the spotlight of German prosecutors, who are investigating alleged bribery in a USD 2 billion fighter jet deal with Austria amounting to at least USD 63.5 million. It all goes back to 2003 and the offsets deals promised by EADS, which were meant to generate twice the value of the deal for the Austrian economy. Allegations emerged back then that these investments were not bringing any money to the country, but only enlarging the pockets of politicians, civil servants and others. After raiding the German HQs of the company, German prosecutors claim that USD 91 million were paid by EADS to a shell company to arrange the offset deals, which in turn resulted in five brokers receiving at least USD 67 million euros between 2005 and 2008.

Read full article: http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/detail.dot?id=f36b23a4-7d0c-46d7-871f-7c3d8a5e2b3a