Israel to release Egyptian prisoners in swap with U.S. student charged as spy

Special to WorldTribune.com JERUSALEM — Israel has agreed to release Egyptian nationals as part of a deal for the freeing of an American man charged with espionage. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed in principle to release 25 Egyptian inmates. They said Cairo would free an American-Israeli law student, Ilan […]

Hamas military chief: ‘We will continue to abduct Israeli soldiers’

Special to WorldTribune.com RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority has been accused of harassing Hamas prisoners released by Israel. The PA has not confirmed the Hamas report. Israel has released 477 Palestinians, most of them transferred to the Gaza Strip, and plans another release of 550 in December. The Hamas prisoner release is said to have […]

Bahrain balks at Obama appointee who backed Shi’ite revolt

Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Bahrain is mounting a campaign to block the appointment of the new U.S. ambassador to the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom. Two petitions have been organized against President Barack Obama’s nominee for the new U.S. ambassador to Manama. The online petitions said Thomas Krajeski, approved by the Senate Foreign Relations […]

Israel: ‘No political agenda’ behind exercise with Cyprus called ‘unfortunate’ by Turkey

Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Israel and the Republic of Cyprus are said to have staged an air combat exercise. Turkish sources said Nicosia has allowed the Israel Air Force to stage an exercise around the Mediterranean island. They said the exercise was meant as a message to Ankara that Israel would not be hampered […]

Report: State Department wasting millions on training Iraq doesn’t want

Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — The United States continues to train Iraqi police despite Baghdad’s insistence that this is no longer required, a report said. The U.S. Special Inspector-General for Iraq Reconstruction asserted that the State Department was wasting millions of dollars for U.S. training of Iraqi police units. In two reports, the inspector-general concluded […]

Welcome to the new WorldTribune.com

To our readers, We a pleased to roll out the new and improved WorldTribune.com. We are looking forward to offering our worldwide readers better service with this format. Please edit your bookmark. Before you may have bookmarked the address as: http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/. Change it to simply:  worldtribune.com . The task of migrating more than 13,000 archived […]

Obama administration concerned about release of Hamas insurgents who killed Americans

Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United States has acknowledged concern over the release of senior Hamas operatives in a prisoner exchange with Israel. Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama discussed the release of Hamas operatives convicted of planning suicide bombings and other attacks in which Americans were killed. More than a dozen […]

U.S. picks up pace in withdrawal of troops, equipment from Iraq

Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — The United States has intensified its military withdrawal from Iraq. Officials said the U.S. military has increased the pace of pulling out equipment from Iraq to Kuwait. They said the military, with 39,000 troops, was closing bases, transferring combat platforms and logistics in both air and ground transport. “Now, we […]

U.S. funds program to track, destroy Libyan missiles

Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United States has reported the start of the destruction of Libya’s shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. The State Department said U.S. inspectors have overseen the destruction of hundreds of missiles in Libya. Officials said the destruction represented a $30 million program to track, intercept and destroy surface-to-air missiles from the arsenal […]

Straits talk about Taiwan’s defense needs

Straits talk about Taiwan’s defense needs

NEW YORK — A crucial defense dilemma is looming under the radar screens,  both over the Taiwan Straits and the Potomac; namely seriously upgrading Taiwan’s aging jet fighter force against a fast rising military threat from Mainland China. While Beijing’s double-digit military spending is now focusing on high-tech sophisticated fighter aircraft, tiny Taiwan still relies […]