Special to WorldTribune.com The Italian government has given the U.S. the go-ahead to fly armed drones out of an American base in Sicily for missions against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Libya. The drones are based at the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily, which is also a NATO and Italian air […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Teheran’s detention of a businessman with dual Iranian-American citizenship may have a chilling effect on expatriates hoping to return to do business in post-sanctions Iran. Siamak Namazi, while visiting family in October, was detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to a source who declined to be identified. Iranian authorities […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Authorities in northern Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region say a teenage Swedish girl who was being held by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants has been rescued in a raid by Iraqi Kurdish special forces. A statement issued by officials in Iraq’s Kurdish region on […]
Special to WorldTribune.com In an age of increasingly precise munitions, Russia is almost exclusively dropping “dumb” bombs in Syria, the U.S. military said. “They’re using mostly dumb bombs, guided only by gravity and fins,” said Army Col. Steven Warren, the top military spokesman in Baghdad, according to a report by national security correspondent Rowan Scarborough […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Fed up Sunni tribesmen have risen up to launch attacks on Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) jihadists in Fallujah, Iraq and the city’s mayor fears a “mass slaughter” will occur if the tribesmen do not receive outside help. Iraqi military and local officials said on Feb. 19 that the tribesmen […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Golnaz Esfandiari, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty To get her first book of poetry past the Iranian censor, Fatemeh Ekhtesari did what other Iranian writers often have to do: She used dots for words and sentences she thought would not get past the authorities. But Ekhtesari wasn’t prepared for her […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Hizbullah’s “dominance” of the Lebanese government has led Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi to resign his post. Rifi, a longtime critic of Shi’ite Hizbullah, stepped down two days after Saudi Arabia canceled deals worth $4 billion that were aimed at equipping and supporting Lebanese security forces, according to a report by The Associated […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A pair of car bombings in Syria claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) killed 119 people just as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had announced a provisional deal for a ceasefire. Two car bombings killed at least 57 people and wounded dozens in the Al-Zahraa district of Homs, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Israeli inspectors foiled an operation aimed at smuggling commercial drones to “terrorist elements in Gaza,” according to Israel’s Crossings Authority. Crossings Authority inspectors found a variety of drones with high quality cameras in a shipment of toys that was stopped at the Kerem Shalom Crossing. The Shin Bet intelligence agency has thwarted […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Despite some recent military successes against the Islamic State (ISIL) forces, both the security and the humanitarian situation in Iraq remain fragile and precarious. That’s the assessment from Jan Kubis, the UN special representative in a sobering report to the Security Council on the road […]
