2015 GREATEST HITS, NO. 11: Hamas prepares to open international port with backing from Turkey, Qatar, Greece, EU

2015 GREATEST HITS, NO. 11: Hamas prepares to open international port with backing from Turkey, Qatar, Greece, EU

Special to WorldTribune.com GAZA CITY, Feb. 6, 2015 — Hamas is set to challenge Israel and open the Gaza Strip’s port to international traffic. Palestinian sources said Hamas was refurbishing the port south of Gaza City to receive foreign ships for passenger and trade. They said the port would be launched by May 2015 regardless […]

Hamas prepares to open international port with backing from Turkey, Qatar, Greece, EU

Hamas prepares to open international port with backing from Turkey, Qatar, Greece, EU

Special to WorldTribune.com GAZA CITY — Hamas is set to challenge Israel and open the Gaza Strip’s port to international traffic. Palestinian sources said Hamas was refurbishing the port south of Gaza City to receive foreign ships for passenger and trade. They said the port would be launched by May 2015 regardless of Israeli approval. […]

EU to Turkey on out-of-synch security policies: ‘We need to improve’

EU to Turkey on out-of-synch security policies: ‘We need to improve’

Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has drifted from European Union foreign and security policy. The EU has determined that relations with Ankara was at their lowest point in decades. Officials said Turkey’s cooperation with Brussels dropped from 80 percent to 30 percent over the last decade. “We need to improve on the alignment on […]

U.S. intel on ISIL’s confident terror plans for West: ‘What they have is momentum’

U.S. intel on ISIL’s confident terror plans for West: ‘What they have is momentum’

Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was building an infrastructure in the West. Officials said ISIL was establishing sleeper cells in the European Union in what could mark a prelude to mass-casualty attacks. They said ISIL was recruiting Europeans and Americans with […]

Al Qaida using soccer videos to recruit European jihadists

Al Qaida using soccer videos to recruit European jihadists

Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — Al Qaida’s largest network has used soccer to recruit for the wars in the Levant. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has been using soccer for online recruitment for its campaign in Iraq and Syria. ISIL, deemed the most powerful Al Qaida-aligned force in the Middle East, has […]

Putin plays the Iran card: Kremlin won’t be ‘bound’ by U.S. sanctions

Putin plays the Iran card: Kremlin won’t be ‘bound’ by U.S. sanctions

Special to WorldTribune.com MOSCOW — Iran and Russia have been discussing the resumption of strategic relations. Officials said the Kremlin has been negotiating terms for Russian nuclear, military and energy projects in Iran. The officials said the projects would not violate United Nations sanctions, but would take into account the easing of measures by the […]

Crimea’s annexation may have energized NATO, but it empowered the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Crimea’s annexation may have energized NATO, but it empowered the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Special to WorldTribune.com Gregory R. Copley, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs The change in the political balance in the Black Sea region which took place on March 18, 2014, with the re-accession of Crimea into Russia, was not profound in terms of any of the normal arbiters of strategic power. Nonetheless, it changed the equation not […]

Obama administration’s handling of Syria crisis seen threatening EU security

Obama administration’s handling of Syria crisis seen threatening EU security

Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — Relations between the United States and the European Union have been strained over the Al Qaida war in Syria. Diplomats said the EU has been concerned over U.S. policy concerning the Sunni revolt in Syria. The diplomats said the administration of President Barack Obama was tolerating the flow of fighters […]