Ex-FBI agent: CIA nominee Brennan converted to Islam, visited holy sites

Ex-FBI agent: CIA nominee Brennan converted to Islam, visited holy sites

Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the CIA is said to have secretly converted to Islam in Saudi Arabia. A former FBI agent reported that CIA nominee John Brennan secretly converted to Islam between 1996 and 1999 when he served as CIA station chief in the Saudi capital of Riyad. […]

Kim Jong-Un’s dangerous nuclear game with world seen signaling uncertainty at home

Kim Jong-Un’s dangerous nuclear game with world seen signaling uncertainty at home

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — North Korea’s high-profile nuclear threats despite international warnings of consequences that could jeopardize the country’s economic future signals instability in Kim Jong-Un’s regime that could trigger internal backlash, an analyst here said. The destitute nation, during its final stage of preparations for a third nuclear test, […]

All the president’s men and the music that moves them

All the president’s men and the music that moves them

Wesley Pruden Barack Obama says he’s not a Muslim, but a Christian. That’s his business, between the president and God. The president clearly has a soft spot in his heart for Islam. He once described the call to evening prayer, which he first heard as a child in a Muslim school in Indonesia, as “one […]

India close to TRIAD deterrence with successful test launch of SLBM

India close to TRIAD deterrence with successful test launch of SLBM

Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com India on Jan. 25 successfully conducted a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the Bay of Bengal which was hailed by security officials as a major milestone in the nation’s strategic weapons development. The K-15 ballistic missile was launched from an underwater pontoon that simulates a submarine launch platform, […]

Hustling, bustling Hong Kong still Asia’s financial leader, but its fortunes again tied to Mainland

Hustling, bustling Hong Kong still Asia’s financial leader, but its fortunes again tied to Mainland

Sol W. Sanders   An old saw has it that only the British would build a city on a small, mountainous, rocky, waterless island and only the Chinese would live in it. Something of a backwater until 1949 when the miseries and violence of Mao Tse-tung and the Communists inflicted on the Mainland of China […]

In a boorish world, the Japanese uphold style

In a boorish world, the Japanese uphold style

Special to WorldTribune.com By Sol W. Sanders TOKYO — Myron Macht, my diminutive friend, deceased alas! gourmet, bibliophile, raconteur – and unfortunately victim of post-traumatic syndrome as a veteran gunner in U.S. bombers during World War II, had a theory. Mike said, only half in jest, that the troubles of the contemporary world were all […]

The problem with Islamist Turkey’s ‘zero problems’ policy

The problem with Islamist Turkey’s ‘zero problems’ policy

Special to WorldTribune.com By Gerald Robbins The culprit in last week’s suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara was not, as expected, an Islamic terror group bent on attacking American interests. Rather, a Marxist organization known as the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party Front claimed responsibility. The group’s communiqué explained the assault as a response […]

Iran’s Iraq strategy revealed in battle for Shi’ites’ spiritual center in Najaf

Iran’s Iraq strategy revealed in battle for Shi’ites’ spiritual center in Najaf

Special to WorldTribune.com By Fariborz Saremi It was hoped the overthrow of Saddam would herald a new age of democracy and growth in Iraq. Instead chaos, destruction and inter-faction bloodshed followed. Discreetly, however, away from the spotlight of the international press, another less obvious change has been going on: The Iran revolutionary system has been […]

Inside man on North Korea works to keep lines of communication open

Inside man on North Korea works to keep lines of communication open

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com A dazzling array of manipulators and operators, swindlers and do-gooders and odd-balls parade across the stage of the Asian drama, some long enough for star billing, others relegated to bit roles, maybe 15 minutes or less of fame, before fading into obscurity. Get to know them a little, […]

Report: Syrian complex struck by Israel was built by North Korea

Report: Syrian complex struck by Israel was built by North Korea

Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — North Korea played a major role in the construction of a chemical weapons facility targeted by Israel on Jan. 30, a report said. Israel Defense magazine reported that North Korea helped design and build the Jamariya facility outside Damascus. Israel has not formally claimed responsibility for the Jan. 30 […]