ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

We’ve heard about the threat to the monuments - but what about the human tragedy? By Robert Fisk When the black-cowled gunmen of the 'Islamic State' infiltrated the suburbs of Palmyra on 20 May, half of Assad Sulieman’s oil and gas processing plant crews – 50 men in all - were manning their 12-hour shift at the Hayan oil field 28 miles away. They were the lucky ones. Their 50 off-duty colleagues were sleeping at their homes next to the ancient Roman city. Twenty-five of them would soon be dead, among up to 400 civilians – including women and children – who would die in the coming hours at the hands of the Islamist militia which every Syrian now calls by its self-styled acronym ‘Daesh’. Oil engineer ‘Ahmed’ – he chose this name to protect his family in Palmyra – was, by chance, completing a course at Damascus University on the fatal day when Palmyra fell. “I was appalled,” he said. “I tried calling my family. It was still possible to get through on the phone. They said ‘Daesh’ (

Still from YouTube video/PatentYogi As drone technology continues to advance, Boeing has raised the bar even higher. The aerospace giant has received a patent for a UAV that could fly forever – recharging in mid-air via a tether attached to the ground. The patent – filed in March 2013 and approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office last week – could revolutionize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as we know them, foregoing the need to refuel or recharge on land. According to the patent, the electrically-powered drone would have a retractable tether cable that would connect to a power source. When the drone was fully charged, it would automatically fly off to continue its task, and another UAV could then take its place at the charging station. The drone could be connected to a number of sources, including land- and sea-based power supplies. It could even be connected to moving vehicles, allowing the drone to fly while charging. The concept could be extremely beneficial for drone delive

Reuters/William Hong About 60 percent of underground water in China, and one-third of its surface water, have been rated unfit for human contact last year, according to the environment ministry in Beijing. The ministry said in a statement that water quality is getting worse, and the ministry classified 61.5 percent of underground water at nearly 5,000 monitoring sites as “relatively poor” or “very poor.” In 2013, the figure stood at 59.6 percent. The fact that the water is unfit for human contact means that it can only be used for industrial purposes or irrigation. The water supplies are classified into six grades, with only 3.4 percent of 968 monitoring sites of surface water meeting the highest “Grade I” standard. A total of 63.1 percent was reported to be suitable for human use, rated “Grade III” or above. China is currently carrying out a “war on pollution” campaign, to deal with environmental issues. In particular, in April, the government in Beijing pledged to increase the percen

Still from youtube video/WTF News Masked militants from the Islamic State group have beheaded a soldier in front of a group of children, aged six to eight years old, outside a mosque in Libya for “educational purposes.” The jihadists have released photographs of the execution. The incident reportedly took place in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, seized by ISIS last October. The man beheaded in Ras Hillal has been identified as Abdulnabi al-Shargawi, from Beida, who worked for the post office but had volunteered for the Libyan National Army, the Libya Herald reported . The man, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit, was dragged into a public square and executed in front of a group of children for "educational purposes." After the images were shared on the internet by ISIS supporters, a Libyan cartoonist released a sketch illustrating the latest execution, entitled “Derna and the future of its children.” The drawing captures a group of curious boys watching a masked militant hol

Reuters/Stringer The West, despite its claims to be in a “War on Terror,” has been in alliance with the most sectarian forces to weaken Syria, Iran and Libya – rather than cooperating with them against ISIS, said Dan Glazebrook, political writer and journalist. At least 38 policemen were killed and 46 people were wounded Monday in the Iraqi city of Samarra during a suicide attack. Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into an army warehouse. The dead and injured are mostly military personnel, including senior officials. Baghdad has launched its largest operation against Islamic State to date. RT: Let's start with the suspected suicide attack involving the tank in Samarra. It’s a big setback, isn’t it? A lot of people died there... Dan Glazebrook: Yes, it’s a disaster and we’re seeing these kind of things happening daily now. It has to be borne in mind that the role of ISIS, and these kind of death squads, have been very much in tune wit

The potential damage from cyber-attacks is rapidly becoming more extensive Codenamed Locked Shields 2015, Nato officials say it was the "most advanced ever live-fire cyber-defence exercise". Four hundred cyber-warriors from 16 countries last week responded to a scenario in which computer networks came under attack from another state's hackers. The scenario was based around the idea of "hybrid conflicts" , just below the level of war, in which one state both carries out espionage and disrupts the communications and operations of another, tied in with other activities. The countries portrayed in the scenario were fictional, but it is hard to interpret this as anything other than thinking about Russia, which is seen as having pioneered hybrid conflict in Ukraine and, before that, Georgia. The exercise itself was taking place in Estonia, which was subject to its own cyber-attack . But the ability to carry out significant - even destructive - cyber-attacks is sprea

French TV station TV5 Monde was knocked off air for hours after a hack attack A growing band of hacktivists is helping Islamic State spread its message by attacking media organisations and websites, a security company suggests. Supporters of IS were helping it with opportunistic attacks and more sophisticated operations, said FireEye . French TV station TV5 Monde was a high-profile victim early this year, but attackers have hit other media groups. FireEye said the wide range of targets made it hard to say who was at risk. Media message "There's a lot of people that go to Syria fight for IS but another way to fight is to stay home and do it from there," said David Merkel, chief technology officer at FireEye. "If you have an internet connection and have some skill levels you can definitely contribute." Mr Merkel said IS was known for using cyber-attack tools in conflict zones to gather intelligence about enemy forces. However, he said, there was also growing evide

A suspected methane gas blast at a mine in a rebel-held area of east Ukraine is believed to have killed at least 30 people, the rebels told the BBC. They only confirmed 23 deaths at the Zasyadko coal mine. Ukraine's officials say as many as 33 people may have died. There are fears the rebels lack the resources to deal with the disaster, the BBC's Tom Burridge reports. Zasyadko was the scene of Ukraine's worst mine disaster nearly eight years ago, when 101 people were killed. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has demanded access to the mine for government rescuers and police. The mine is close to a front line where the pro-Russian rebels have been battling Ukrainian government troops. However, Ukraine's mine unions head Mykhailo Volynets told a Ukrainian TV channel there had been no fighting in the area in recent days. While Ukraine's economy has significantly shrunk since fighting began in April, many coal mines continue to operate in the conflict zone. Mining sa