Special to WorldTribune.com CAIRO — King Mohammed has tightened his grip on the new Islamist government in Morocco. Western diplomats and analysts said the king has ensured that all of the defense, security and financial portfolios in the new Cabinet of Islamist Prime Minister Abdul Ilah Benkirane would remain with royalists. They included the Defense […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — Israel could destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure with three combat air squadrons, a report said. A report by a leading aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Air Force could destroy most of Iran’s infrastructure in two days. The report by Yoaz Hendel, a senior adviser to Netanyahu, said […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The new Islamist-dominated government in Tunisia faces a major challenge in gaining control over the security forces, according to a U.S. report. The report said ousted president Zein Abidine Bin Ali, deemed a major human rights violator, was believed to have employed 200,000 security officers, far larger than the military. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — The Israel Air Force has taken delivery of an upgraded U.S. missile defense battery. The Israel Missile Defense Association has reported that the Air Force took delivery of a new Patriot battery supplied by the United States. The non-profit association, which promotes missile defense, said the PAC battery would […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M. Downing, FreePressers.com One can scarcely read anything on world affairs these days without seeing discussion of the decline of the U.S. and the rise of China. In recent weeks, however, President Obama spoke plainly, bluntly, and even disparagingly to China. At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Obama chided China, […]
Sol W. Sanders A new era of increasing instability is opening in East Asia. The death of North Korean leader Kim Il-Jong is only adding another, if explosive, element to an already volatile equation: China enters a period of substantially slower economic growth, if not a crash, on the eve next autumn of a takeover […]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has assessed that it was leaving a small but resilient Al Qaida presence in Iraq. Officials said the U.S. military has assessed that the Al Qaida network in Iraq has shrunk significantly since 2009. They said the Islamic insurgency network does not contain more than 1,000 operatives, […]
The 63-foot Sierra White Fir lighted at the U.S. Capitol Grounds on Dec. 6 as the official 2011 Capitol Christmas Tree includes a prominently displayed ornament paying homage to President Barack Obama, but includes no ornament readily visible to a person standing near the tree’s base that uses the word “Christmas,” or includes an image of the […]
PYONGYANG, North Korea — Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69. In a “special broadcast” Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a “great mental and physical strain” on Dec. 17 during a “high intensity field […]
Protesting villagers in southern China said they will march on government offices this week unless the body of a local leader is released and four villagers in police custody are freed. The 13,000 residents of Wukan, in the wealthy province of Guangdong, are in open revolt against officialdom and have driven out local Communist Party […]