ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Iron-clad security contrasts beautiful sculptures. State-of-the-art equipment, biometric scanners, strong rooms, seven-tonne doors, vibration-detection technology and even systems to suck oxygen from the vaults in the case of a fire, releasing inert gas to extinguish the flames…. all to protect the precious commodities stored between these walls. It’s a scene out of Mission Impossible, but the reality is that these freehold ports are now a growing trend across countries which wish to store art and other precious collections of the super wealthy and tax-savvy entrepreneurs. The elite have found another way to dodge financial laws as they stow away their art for years at a time without incurring levies, saving them up to 34% on taxes, according to a report in The Economist. [1] “Freeports” can be found in several international airports, including Luxembourg who has finished their architecturally-sound structure sporting all the high tech security that an uber-geek could imagine. Technic

A man stands by the wreckage of a van hit by an air strike in Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 31, 2015. (Reuters / Anees Mansour) Download video (19.66 MB) 1.2K The Russian Consulate General in the Yemeni sea port of Aden has been damaged during airstrikes launched by the Saudi-led military coalition against the Houthi rebels, said a source in the Russian embassy in Yemen. “There is not a single intact window left,” the source told Sputnik. A possibility of consulate closure and the evacuation of Russian nationals is currently under review, the source added. Earlier on Wednesday a Russian plane charted for the evacuation of Russian citizens caught in the conflict had been diverted to Cairo, after the coalition denied it landing in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The evacuation has now been delayed until Thursday, when the chartered flight“accompanied by two other aircraft” is expected to arrive in Sanaa, according to a source of Russian daily Kommersan. In addition to Russians

An activist inside the besieged refugee camp talks to MEE about how the Islamic State has gained so much ground in the Syrian capital Rebels take cover in Damascus' Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp (AFP/Ward Al-Keswani) News that fighters from the Islamic State (IS) had entered Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus on Wednesday morning sent shockwaves around the world. Yarmouk, a once-thriving Damascus suburb home to 150,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrians, has been under siege by government forces for more than a year. In 2014 the camp entered the world’s consciousness when a local photographer took a picture of hundreds of men and women queuing for food in a street lined with destroyed buildings. As well as hunger, lack of water and electricity, residents of Yarmouk are now confronted by violent militants who have captured large parts of Syria and Iraq. But while IS has only recently entered Yarmouk - five miles from the center of the capital - the group has, a

The Syrian conflict has entered its fifth year, and Bashar al-Assad is still in power defiant as ever. In fact, he appears to be increasingly confident after weathering the worst of the storm. The prospects for his removal or his regime’s collapse now appear increasingly remote after the US switched priority to defeating the Islamic State, relegating regime-change in Syria to the back burner indefinitely. So why has he survived for so long in the face of such seemingly overwhelming odds? Why has he been able to withstand the major global powers, hostile neighbours on every border and tens of thousands of well-armed rebel fighters against him? The rise ISIS and its terror networks certainly played a large role by shifting the global focus away from his regime and onto how to counter the serious threats to global security posed by the group. The unwavering political, financial and military support of Assad’s ardent allies Russia, Iran and Hezbollah were also a significant factor in stabi

The Yemeni army, backed by the Popular committees, expelled Qaeda militants from a post on main highway in Shabwa, southern the country, killing 10 terrorists and arresting a number of others. On the other hand, the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen continued as airstrikes targeted various cities, destroying the country's main facilities, including Sanaa airport. The Yemeni's air defense system encountered the hostile air raids, according to Al-Manar reporter. Politically, the Algeria FM Ramatan al-Amamera submitted to his Egyptian and Saudi counterparts an initiative to end the crisis. Well-informed sources mentioned that all the concerned parties were informed about the initiative and that Saudi Arabia is complicating the political procedure, setting the deployment of "Arab" troops in Sanaa as a precondition to reach a solution.

Military sources disclosed that Saudi Arabia has dispatched thousands of Takfiri terrorists to Yemen to fight against the revolutionary forces in the Arab country. "Saudi Arabia has sent around 5,000 Takfiri mercenaries to fight against the Yemeni army and revolutionary committees,' Yemeni Army Commander Colonel Abdel Sattar al-Boushali told FNA on Saturday night. The Yemeni commander, meantime, disclosed that the Saudi defense minister has asked Turkish officials to pave the grounds for the transfer of more terrorists from Turkish airports to Riyadh. He noted that heavy clashes broke out between the terrorist groups and forces loyal to Yemen's revolutionary committees. Colonel al-Boushali reiterated that Saudi Arabia is plotting to hire mercenaries to assassinate supporters of Ansarullah movement. Saudi Arabia started airstrikes against Yemen early Thursday, one day after the US-backed Yemeni president fled the country. Riyadh claimed that it has bombed the positions

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia became very uneasy when the Yemenese or Yemenite movement of the Houthi or Ansarallah (meaning the supporters of God in Arabic) gained control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa/Sana, in September 2014. The US-supported Yemenite President Abd-Rabbuh Manṣour Al-Hadi was humiliatingly forced to share power with the Houthis and the coalition of northern Yemenese tribes that had helped them enter Sana. Al-Hadi declared that negotiations for a Yemeni national unity government would take place and his allies the US and Saudi Arabia tried to use a new national dialogue and mediated talks to co-opt and pacify the Houthis. The truth has been turned on its head about the war in Yemen. The war and ousting of President Abd-Rabbuh Manṣour Al-Hadi in Yemen are not the results of «Houthi coup» in Yemen. It is the opposite. Al-Hadi was ousted, because with Saudi and US support he tried to backtrack on the power sharing agreements he h

By Ron Paul Rapid changes are occurring in Yemen. Ever since United States had to leave its military base there, other powers have been lining up to benefit from the chaos. It has been revealed that Saudi Arabia has commenced bombing targets in Yemen. Egypt has announced its support for the Saudi effort. I am quite confident that this support is in compliance with our instructions to our puppet leader now in charge in Egypt. The current president of Yemen, Hadi, a leader who took over after the Arab Spring revolution, has been removed from power. He is said to have escaped to Saudi Arabia, and those who are now in charge in Yemen will most likely kill him if he returns. Yemen has been instrumental in the US effort to fight al-Qaeda in the region. Unsuccessfully, I might add. The Houthis who have deposed Hadi are said to get their support from Iran and are now likely the strongest political force in the country. But they will not have an easy time of it. Too much is at stake for the Uni