Australia delays signing major Leviathan gas deal over Israel’s terms

Australia delays signing major Leviathan gas deal over Israel’s terms

Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — Australia has delayed participation in Israel’s offshore natural gas project. Australia’s Woodside Petroleum has failed to implement its agreement to purchase a stake in Israel’s Leviathan gas field, located in the eastern Mediterranean. Woodside acknowledged unspecified differences in the $2.7 billion agreement, scheduled to have been signed on March […]

Mossad looking for a few good recruits, without ‘borderline personality disorders’

Mossad looking for a few good recruits, without ‘borderline personality disorders’

Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — Israel’s foreign intelligence agency has revised recruitment guidelines. Israeli sources said Mossad has drafted regulations to filter out applicants for key posts. They said the regulations would seek to identify those with personality disorders, including congenital liars who could eventually harm the intelligence agency. “The No. 1 problem of […]

Paralysis in key U.S. ally Australia as effort to replace failed government falls flat

Paralysis in key U.S. ally Australia as effort to replace failed government falls flat

Special to WorldTribune.com Global Information System / Defense & Foreign Affairs CANBERRA, Australia — The Gillard Government in Australia has fallen into what Australian analysts have called disarray and ridicule. With Parliament now in recess, the government at least avoided a full no-confidence vote, but it has become essentially a paralyzed government. There are now […]

U.S., Australia, Japan send signal to China with joint air drill in Guam

U.S., Australia, Japan send signal to China with joint air drill in Guam

Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com Two key U.S. allies rolled out jet fighters in the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam last week in a joint exercise and show of force. Combat aircraft from Japan, Australia and the United States started the drill codenamed Cope North on Feb. 7 in response to the […]

Australian firm targets Moroccan coast for energy search

Australian firm targets Moroccan coast for energy search

Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — A Western energy contractor plans to intensify exploration in Morocco over the next year. Australia’s Tangiers Petroleum was preparing to explore a 670 kilometer block off the coast of Morocco in 2012. Tangiers has completed a three-dimensional seismic survey at the offshore block of Tarfaya and was conducting analysis in […]

Australia’s pro-Obama Gillard government clings to power, reduces defense spending

Australia’s pro-Obama Gillard government clings to power, reduces defense spending

Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory Copley, Global Information System Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labor Party (ALP)-dominated coalition Government of Australia has clung to power without an express public mandate since the August 21, 2010, House of Representatives elections. This has been largely because its parliamentary majority has been guaranteed by four independent parliamentarians and one […]

As U.S. allies focus on Pacific, Aussies to exit Afghanistan 1 year early

As U.S. allies focus on Pacific, Aussies to exit Afghanistan 1 year early

Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com In a surprise announcement, Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced April 17 that she would present NATO with a plan in August to withdraw all 1,550 Australian troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2013, one year earlier than the original December 2014 schedule, when most NATO […]