ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Still from YouTube video/NavyRecognition The US Navy continues to tout its sophisticated warship laser system, saying it has performed above expectations for the last four months of operational testing aboard the USS Ponce during its deployment in the Persian Gulf. The $40 million Laser Weapon System ( LaWS ) was fully integrated on the USS Ponce at the end of the summer for a year of testing, according to Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, head of the Office of Naval Research. Recently-released video of the 30-kilowatt laser showed it taking down a small aerial drone in two seconds before the aircraft plunged into the sea. LaWS works by focusing beams from six solid-state commercial welding lasers into a single strong beam, which can be used both as a blinding warning shot or as a weapon capable of setting fire to anti-ship arms or other threats to US warships, especially small, fast-moving targets. "This is the first time in recorded history that a directed energy weapons system has

Palestinian security members carry the coffin of senior Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein during his funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo/Ahmad Gharabli) Thousands of people gathered at the funeral of the Palestinian minister, who died shortly after Israeli-Palestinian clashes on Wednesday. The parties to the conflict came up with contradictory reports after his autopsy. As thousands of Palestinians mourned 55-year-old Ziad Abu Ein, a senior official, in Ramallah, there were clashes with the Israeli police around the West Bank. Ehab Bessaiso, a spokesman for the autonomous government gave a press conference on Thursday. According to AFP , he said: “After the results of the autopsy, the Palestinian government holds Israel completely responsible for the death of Ziad Abu Ein.” "We think that no one should die during a protest. We are investigating every soldier who was there,"said Nimrod Shefer, head of the IDF's planning directorate, a