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EVENT Burundi's government on 1 June indicated that it was willing to postpone its election calendar, currently set to run between June and August, and was awaiting proposals from the country's electoral commission. The government's announcement follows a regional summit of the East African

Key Points Boeing's first KC-46A test aircraft has resumed airworthiness flights The company is expected to deliver four test aircraft this year and 18 operational aircraft in 2017 The first US Air Force (USAF) Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling tanker test aircraft on 28 May resumed flights

Key Points German support of US intelligence surveillance is straining relations between the two parties of the government coalition in Germany. The revelations have caused a rift in Germany's coalition government, leading to government and policy instability. Although it is unlikely that

Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) has announced that it held a keel-laying ceremony for the second of two fast attack craft being built for the Mauritius Police Force National Coast Guard (NCP). The keel-laying ceremony took place on 22 May and the shipyard is expected to deliver the pair from January

Key Points On 18 May, the US secretary of state said "sanctions or other means" would be used to "ramp up international pressure" on North Korea. On 13 May, South Korea's National Intelligence Service briefed a parliamentary committee stating that North Korean minister of

FOUR members of an anti-explosives team were wounded when the improvised explosive device (IED) they were attempting to defuse detonated 6okm north of the city of Hilla in Iraq's Babil province on 30 May, Al-Mada reported. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack.

EVENT Socialist Tide (Marea Socialista: MS), a faction of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela: PSUV), launched a citizens' platform on 1 June that aims to audit government expenses. The MS hopes to identify instances of corruption after it claimed

The Indian government has withdrawn excise and customs exemptions previously available to state-owned defence enterprises, with the aim of promoting greater competition in India's defence industrial base. Amendments to Indian excise and customs laws, which came into effect on 1 June, remove

EVENT Iran's intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi said on 29 May that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had foiled terrorist plots by a number of Islamic State-affiliated groups, including plots to poison a "large committee" in Tehran, and blow up Fatima's shrine in Qom. Alavi

EVENT Libyan media reported on 1 June that the Misratah Third Brigade, affiliated with the Libya Dawn coalition, had withdrawn from the central Jufra district after the advance of Islamic State militants coming from Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast, and from the mountains around Hun, in Jufra.

The Mexican Air Force (FAM) will procure two Boeing 737-800 aircraft as part of a MXN3.9 billion (USD254 million) programme that so far is the sole authorised procurement project in 2015. The aircraft will be assigned to the 502nd Air Squadron based at the No 1 Military Air Base (BAM-1) Santa

Key Points The US Navy declared its latest point defence missile system operational on 15 May 2015 RAM Block 2 is a far more advanced system, boasting three times the manoeuvrability of the original Rolling Airframe Missile US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has confirmed that the RIM-116C

Forty-five security force personnel - reported to be predominantly police officers - were killed and 33 others wounded in a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) attack targeting an ammunition warehouse in Tharthar district in Iraq's Salah ad Din province on 2 June. No group

The Philippine Navy (PN) has released images of the first major access road to a pier being built in Oyster Inlet on the South China Sea side of Palawan Island. Oyster Inlet, which is in Ulugan Bay and 18 km from Naval Station Carlito Cunanan, has been the site of a small pier and fresh water

Portugal has approved the purchase of two additional Viana do Castelo-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) from West Sea, Estaleiros de Viana. Contractual negotiations will be carried out between the Ministry of National Defence procurement directorate (DGRDN) for a contract worth about EUR77

The Indian government has announced the scrapping of all preferential tax concessions to state-owned defence manufacturing entities: a move that aims to boost private sector participation in India's military sector. In its notification on 1 June, the Commerce and Industry Ministry declared the

The South China Sea dispute again dominated this year's Shangri-la Dialogue, the 14th annual Asia Security Summit, with the United States explicitly accusing China of militarising its presence in the Spratly Islands to assert its territorial claims. US defence secretary Ashton Carter took direct

Spain's main defence industry association has welcomed a new government initiative that highlights nine essential capabilities in the sector that it wants to prioritise and protect from possible foreign takeovers. The move will enable the industry to better compete with those in rival countries,

Taliban attacks in the central Afghan province of Uruzgan that started in mid-May have intensified in the past few days, according to both sides. Afghan channel TOLOnews reported on 29 May that according to Muhammad Hanif Hanafi, a senator from the province, 54 police outposts throughout Uruzgan

Vietnam and the United States have signed a defence agreement, with the intention of opening a new era of defence trade and joint defence production. The "joint vision statement on defence relations" was signed in Hanoi on 1 June by Vietnam's Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh and