Wife of ISIL leader charged In U.S. hostage’s death

Wife of ISIL leader charged In U.S. hostage’s death

Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty The United States has charged the wife of an Islamic State (IS) leader killed last year with contributing to American hostage Kayla Mueller’s death. Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, also known as Umm Sayyaf, admitted after her capture in May 2015 that she and her husband kept […]

Obama lectures Arab leaders on importance of being ‘responsive’ to citizens

Obama lectures Arab leaders on importance of being ‘responsive’ to citizens

Special to WorldTribune.com The U.S. president, who many critics say would rather be on the golf course than dealing with his constituents, gave Arab leaders a lecture on Feb. 8 on the importance of being “responsive” to their citizens. “As we’ve seen in the tumult across the Middle East and North Africa, when governments do […]

Mosul Dam at ‘higher risk’ of failure, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assesses

Mosul Dam at ‘higher risk’ of failure, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assesses

Special to WorldTribune.com The lives of over a half million Iraqis are at risk if the Mosul Dam were to collapse and that risk has increased in the past year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In an assessment made public by Iraq’s parliament on Feb. 8, the Corps of Engineers said it […]

Russian air power, Iran-backed militias help Syrian forces advance toward Turkish border

Russian air power, Iran-backed militias help Syrian forces advance toward Turkish border

Special to WorldTribune.com Syrian forces, in a major offensive supported by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, advanced toward the Turkish border on Feb. 8. The Syrian advance and relentless Russian air strikes in recent days have led to one of the biggest shifts in momentum of the five-year war. The offensive by President Bashar […]

Iraq deploys thousands of troops to retake Mosul from ISIL

Special to WorldTribune.com Baghdad is preparing for a major offensive in Mosul, mobilizing thousands of troops in a plan to drive Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) out of its main Iraqi stronghold. The Iraqi army has sent large numbers of soldiers to a base near Mosul, officials said on Feb. 8. “Units from […]

Erdogan rules out meeting Egypt’s Sisi over death sentences for Brotherhood

Erdogan rules out meeting Egypt’s Sisi over death sentences for Brotherhood

Special to WorldTribune.com Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will not meet with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi until Egypt lifts the death sentences of Mohammed Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. “My stance on that issue is clear; in the first place, I will not meet Sisi until the decisions of death penalty […]

Iran awards medals to its nuclear negotiating team

Iran awards medals to its nuclear negotiating team

Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Iran has awarded medals to its nuclear negotiators who helped reach a landmark agreement with world powers last year. President Hassan Rouhani presented the Medal of Merit to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at a ceremony in Teheran on February 8. Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head […]

ISIL, said to fear uprising, executes 300 by firing squad in Mosul

ISIL, said to fear uprising, executes 300 by firing squad in Mosul

Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has executed 300 people in Mosul, Iraq. “Daesh (ISIL) terrorists executed 300 people by firing squad in Mosul,” said Mahmoud al-Sourji, a spokesman for Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces on Feb. 7. Those executed were “Iraqi police personnel, army troopers and civilian activists,” Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network […]

Turkey closes border to thousands of Syrians fleeing Russia-backed offensive in Aleppo

Turkey closes border to thousands of Syrians fleeing Russia-backed offensive in Aleppo

Special to WorldTribune.com Some 35,000 Syrians are stranded at the Turkish border after fleeing a Russian-backed Assad regime offensive in Aleppo. Turkish humanitarian groups warned of a desperate situation in the making as they set up camps and sent in truckloads of aid on Feb. 8 for people, many of them women and children, amassed […]

Iran’s IRGC chief: Saudis wouldn’t ‘dare’ send troops to Syria

Iran’s IRGC chief: Saudis wouldn’t ‘dare’ send troops to Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says Saudi Arabia lacks the courage to send ground troops to Syria. “They claim they will send troops [to Syria], but I don’t think they will dare do so,” IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as […]