ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The Police Commissioner stressed today: "This should never change or destroy the way of our life." The self-styled Islamic preacher who held at least 17 people hostage in a Lindt Cafe on Sydney's Martin Place today is dead, as well as two of his hostages, police have confirmed. Moments after at least five hostages fled the building in terror, army commandos stormed the Sydney café where they fired automatic weapons and threw stun grenades, to a dramatic siege which lasted more than 16 hours. Loud yelling and screams were heard amid a series of explosions and rapid gunfire as the commandos moved into the building. They were followed by a bomb squad and detection robots, who later reported that they found no explosives on the premises. In the wake of the harrowing siege which police have confirmed is over, Australian Prime Minister tweeted: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two deceased hostages, the wounded and the other hostages. #sydneysiege&quo

The first multirole Yasen K-560 Severodvinsk submarine by the pier of the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk. (RIA Novosti) Russia’s fifth generation nuclear submarines will be armed with robots and underwater drones in addition to conventional weaponry. "The new [fifth] generation [of submarines] will be equipped with both contemporary weapons and those currently being developed,” Nikolay Novoselov, deputy CEO of the Malakhit design engineering bureau, told RIA-Novosti. “We’re talking about battle robots which can be released by the submarine, and a type of underwater drone,” he explained. According to the designer, the robots would be disposable or returnable of military, surveillance or communications purpose. “They’ll be released by the submarine and stay offline before being remotely activated on command. It will give the submarine time to leave the area, with the drone staying in place to maintain a semblance that the submarine is still there,” he said. Novoselov stressed that

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

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky America is on a war footing. While, a World War Three Scenario has been on the drawing board of the Pentagon for more than ten years, military action against Russia is now contemplated at an “operational level”. Similarly, both the Senate and the House have introduced enabling legislation which provides legitimacy to the conduct of a war against Russia. We are not dealing with a “Cold War”. None of the safeguards of the Cold War era prevail. There has been a breakdown in East-West diplomacy coupled with extensive war propaganda. In turn the United Nations has turned a blind eye to extensive war crimes committed by the Western military alliance. The adoption of a major piece of legislation by the US House of Representatives on December 4th (H. Res. 758) would provide (pending a vote in the Senate) a de facto green light to the US president and commander in chief to initiate –without congressional approval– a process of military confrontation with Russia.

The Islamic militant group ISIS, formerly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and recently rebranded as the so called Islamic State, is the stuff of nightmares. They are ruthless, fanatical, killers, on a mission, and that mission is to wipe out anyone and everyone, from any religion or belief system and to impose Shari’ah law. The mass executions, beheadings and even crucifixions that they are committing as they work towards this goal are flaunted like badges of pride, video taped and uploaded for the whole world to see. This is the new face of evil. Would it interest you to know who helped these psychopaths rise to power? Would it interest you to know who armed them, funded them and trained them? Would it interest you to know why? This story makes more sense if we start in the middle, so we’ll begin with the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The Libyan revolution was Obama’s first major foreign intervention. It was portrayed as an extension of the Arab Spring, and NATO involvement was fra

Saja Hamid al-Dulaimi, a hairdresser, may be used as bargaining chip for release of Lebanese soldiers The Lebanese military has captured one of the wives of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader and self-proclaimed “caliph” of Isis. The woman, who was identified as Saja Hamid al-Dulaimi, was arrested nine days ago, along with a child. She was set again tonight to become a valuable bargaining chip, this time for the Lebanese government, which has been negotiating with Baghdadi’s group, also known as Islamic State, over the release of almost 30 kidnapped Lebanese soldiers and police officers. The group has also captured Iraqis, Syrians and foreigners across the swathe of territory it controls in Iraq and Syria. Initial reports said Dulaimi was accompanied by her son when captured, but a senior Lebanese security official claimed a daughter had been DNA tested and was a match with Baghdadi. It is unclear where the Lebanese authorities obtained Baghdadi’s DNA. The Isis leader was held by US forc

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani (Reuters/Mohammad Ismail) Afghanistan's president is urging world leaders not to abandon his country but instead make long-term commitments amid the withdrawal of most foreign troops and a surge in Taliban attacks. President Ashraf Ghani and British Prime Minister David Cameron are jointly hosting a conference in London on security, corruption and political reform in Afghanistan. US Secretary of State John Kerry, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and international diplomats are also attending the two-day event. Experts have warned security is deteriorating in Afghanistan and that humanitarian funds are drying up. In his opening address, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: “We should also remember all the Afghan and international civilians who have been killed as a result of the conflict, including Ronnie Jessiman and Tawab Sediqi, British Embassy staff killed in an attack on their car, only last week.” Ghani was finally elected in