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From July 30th to August 1st 2019, activists from across Colombia, Latin America and the wider world gathered in Bogota for the Antimilitarism in Movement conference, a three day gathering to explore the intersecting experiences of war and militarism - and our movements’ resistance to militarism – from around the world.

Experts from the United Nations has identified fragments of laser-guided missile systems used by the Saudi military in Yemen that they concluded could break international law. The fragments were from a guidance unit stamped with the name "EDO MBM Technology ltd", a company based in Brighton.

Civil society organisations in Canada have written to the country’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, demanding an update on a review into a huge sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

The 23-year-old Jehovah's Witness Muhammetali Saparmyradov was jailed for one year in March for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. He has joined 11 other jailed conscientious objectors in the labour camp in Seydi. Labour camp officials refused to discuss their prison conditions with Forum 18.

Activists have resisted and challenged arms fairs and exhibitions in Canada, Czech Republic, Israel and Spain in recent weeks.

Activists in Germany have disrupted the annual general meeting of arms company Rheinmetall, holding banners protesting the use of tanks manufactured by the company by the Turkish military in Kurdish regions.

French NGO “Disclose” has released details of the use of French weapons by the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen, using leaked documents.

Unionised dock workers and activists have refused to load a Saudi ship – the Bahri-Yanbu - carrying weapons to Saudi Arabia.

World military expenditure has risen to $1.822 trillion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

WRI’s programme Countering the Militarisation of Youth (CMoY) aims to spread information, inspiration and practical tips on challenging youth militarisation. One important aspect of this is countering the recruitment of young people by militaries. Today, across many countries where there is no more conscription, militaries are running more and more sophisticated strategies to reach out to young people and convince them to join their ranks. Meanwhile recruitment of young people by paramilitary and other armed groups continues to be an issue in many other contexts. In response, various grassroots groups are running campaigns to counter the recruitment efforts of militaries and armed groups. Affiliates of WRI have said it would be helpful to have more information on counter-recruitment campaigns, so we plan to make a short resource on this theme in the form of a booklet.