ISIL using tunnel networks, civilians as human shields in Ramadi

ISIL using tunnel networks, civilians as human shields in Ramadi

Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has kept Iraqi forces from gaining full control of Ramadi by launching attacks through a network of tunnels and using local residents as human shields. “What we see are small groups of enemy forces and in that group is maybe five to seven, maybe as […]

Taiwan’s ‘strawberry generation’ rejects pro-China party

Taiwan’s ‘strawberry generation’ rejects pro-China party

Special to WorldTribune.com The landslide victory for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over the pro-China Kuomintang, (Nationalist Party) in the Jan. 16 elections was driven by the nation’s youthful “strawberry generation.” It was a particularly satisfying victory for Taiwan’s youth movement, who had been written off by their elders as soft, self-satisfied and apathetic – […]

Cash-flush Iran to buy 114 Airbus jets, may seek Boeings

Cash-flush Iran to buy 114 Airbus jets, may seek Boeings

Special to WorldTribune.com Iran has already begun its post-sanctions spending spree. Flush with cash after implementation of the nuclear deal with world powers, the Teheran regime on Jan. 16 approved the purchase of 114 aircraft from Airbus. And next on the shopping list may be Boeings. “Airbus Group is ready to support Iranian civil and […]

Report: Late 2015 welcome party for refugees in Cologne turned into ‘mass groping’

Report: Late 2015 welcome party for refugees in Cologne turned into ‘mass groping’

Special to WorldTribune.com Furious Germans blasted the Cologne city council for covering up sex crimes by Arab migrants two months before the New Year’s Eve sex assaults. Cologne council officials covered up news of a welcome party for refugees that “descended into a mass groping session,” according to a report by the UK’s Express.   […]

Saudi media reports point to national anxieties over lifting of Iran sanctions

Saudi media reports point to national anxieties over lifting of Iran sanctions

Special to WorldTribune.com As trade and investment are set to pour into Iran, and oil pours out, Saudi media are reporting on widespread unease within the Kingdom over the lifting of international sanctions on Teheran. The al-Jazirah daily’s cartoonist drew an incarnation of American capitalism in striped trousers and top hat carrying a bottle marked “sanctions,” from […]

Turkey arrests academics critical of Kurdish policy, condemns others including Chomsky

Turkey arrests academics critical of Kurdish policy, condemns others including Chomsky

Special to WorldTribune.com A group of academics who criticized Turkish military action against Kurds in the country’s southeast were briefly detained by Turkish security forces. The 27 academics were part of a group of 1,000 signatories of a published document critical of the military campaign against Kurdish PKK forces. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the […]

ISIL abducts 400 Sunni civilians, killed 300 in eastern Syria attack

ISIL abducts 400 Sunni civilians, killed 300 in eastern Syria attack

Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) massacred 300 Sunni civilians and took 400 more hostage in a Jan. 16 attack on the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor. “After their attack on Deir Ezzor, ISIL abducted at least 400 civilians from the residents of the Al-Baghaliyeh suburb it captured and adjacent […]

‘Dangerous moment’ for America, Israel lobby warns

‘Dangerous moment’ for America, Israel lobby warns

Special to WorldTribune.com Implementation of the nuclear deal marks a “turning point for Iran’s strength as a terrorist state” and a “dangerous moment for America and our allies,” the American pro-Israel lobby AIPAC warned on Jan. 16. AIPAC surprised some Democratic Party observers when it broke with the Obama Administration last year over the Iran […]

Israel warns ‘implementation day’ is ‘difficult’ for many states situated near Iran

Israel warns ‘implementation day’ is ‘difficult’ for many states situated near Iran

Special to WorldTribune.com While Iran and the Obama administration are caught up in the euphoria of nuclear deal “implementation day,” Teheran’s neighbors fear the Middle East is entering “a new and dangerous era.” “Iran is continuing to strive for nuclear weapons and the optimism of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) report must not blind […]

ISIL claims responsibility for Paris-style attack in Jakarta

ISIL claims responsibility for Paris-style attack in Jakarta

Special to WorldTribune.com An Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) jihadist instructed his Indonesia cells to launch a Paris-style attack in Jakarta on Jan. 14, police said. Two people were killed and 24 injured as five terrorists attacked a Starbucks cafe and a traffic police booth with hand-made bombs, guns and suicide vests, Jakarta […]