ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The two countries agree to hold an international conference to push both sides in Syria to find an end to the bloodshed. The United States and Russia have agreed to push both sides in Syria to find an end to the bloodshed, offering to hold an international conference in search of peace. In talks which stretched late into the night, US Secretary of State John Kerry met first for more than two hours with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and then for a further three with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "We agreed that Russia and the United States will encourage both the Syria government and opposition groups to find a political solution," Lavrov told reporters at a concluding news conference that ended after midnight. Hopefully by the end of May the two ministers working together could convene an international conference to build on the Geneva accord agreed by world powers last June for a peaceful solution in Syria, they said. Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the...

Suspected members of the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram have raided the north-eastern town of Bama, leaving 55 people dead. Boko Haram gunmen killed 22 police officers, 14 prison officials, two soldiers and four civilians, while 13 of the group's own members died, military spokesman Sagir Musa said. Gunmen freed 105 prison members during the raid, which began about 5:00am (local time) and lasted almost five hours, Mr Musa said. Witnesses said Bama's police station, military barracks and government buildings were burned to the ground. Bama is a small, remote town in north-eastern Borno state, where Boko Haram first launched an uprising in 2009. The Boko Haram sect and offshoots such as the Al Qaeda-linked Ansaru, as well as associated criminal networks, pose the main threat to stability in Africa's top energy producer. Western governments are increasingly concerned about Nigerian militants linking up with other jihadist groups in the West African region. Boko Haram wants ...

The 3D-printed gun that Cody Wilson calls the "Liberator." Click to enlarge. (Credit: Michael Thad Carter for Forbes)  May 07, 2013  -" Forbes " - Eight months ago, Cody Wilson set out to create the world’s first entirely 3D-printable handgun . Now he has. Early next week, Wilson, a 25-year-old University of Texas law student and founder of the non-profit group Defense Distributed, plans to release the 3D-printable CAD files for a gun he calls “the Liberator,” pictured in its initial form above. He’s agreed to let me document the process of the gun’s creation, so long as I don’t publish details of its mechanics or its testing until it’s been proven to work reliably and the file has been uploaded to Defense Distributed’s online collection of printable gun blueprints at Defcad.org . Update : Here’s my full account of Defense Distributed’s first test-firings of the Liberator, including firing it by hand . All sixteen pieces of the Liberator ...

Pyongyang takes two Musudan missiles off launch-ready status and moves them from their position on the east coast. North Korea has moved two missiles from launch sites on the country's eastern coast, after weeks of concern that Pyongyang had been poised for a test-launch. A US defence official said on Monday that Washington did not believe the Musudan missiles had gone to an alternate launch site and that they were now believed to be in a non-operational location. The move coincided with preparations by US President Barack Obama to meet South Korean President Park Guen-hye at the White House on Tuesday, where they will hold talks and have a working lunch followed by a joint news conference. Pentagon spokesman George Little noted the change in North Korea's words, telling reporters on Monday the "provocation pause" was a positive development. "I wouldn't again comment on intelligence. But what we have seen recently is a 'provocation pause.' And we...

North Korea has set conditions for the revival of the jointly-run Kaesong industrial park, which has suspended operations amid escalating tensions. The North's official Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman from the powerful National Defense Commission Sunday as saying that South Korea should stop all hostile acts and military provocation if it is truly worried about Kaesong's future. The spokesman cited anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by defectors and the South's preparations for an annual military exercise with the U.S. scheduled for August. Pyongyang pulled its 53,000 workers and blocked South Korean entry to the facility last month as part of its angry reaction to expanded U.N. sanctions against its latest nuclear test. Last month, Seoul announced it was removing its nationals from Kaesong after Pyongyang rejected an offer to hold talks on restarting the complex. The last seven South Korean workers left the complex Friday, ending the final peacefu...