Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is making up to $25 million per month by gaming Mideast foreign exchange markets. The ISIL scheme takes advantage of the hawala system, which is an honor system in Middle East exchanges that operates outside of traditional banking. According to forex analyst David Butter, a […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A World Food Program (WFP) ship carrying humanitarian aid docked in Yemen on March 2 nearly a month after being diverted to Saudi Arabia. Saudi said it blocked the shipment on Feb. 11 because the vessel, the Mainport Cedar, was carrying communications equipment. The ship was carrying relief supplies to the port […]
Special to WorldTribune.com In increasing its oil exports to China, Saudi Arabia has fired a “shot across Iran’s bow,” industry analysts say. Saudi shipments of oil to China rose by 36 percent in February to the highest level in at least three years, according to ClipperData, a firm that tracks global crude shipments. Analysts seized […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Insulting the president in Turkey is a crime. Apparently, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doesn’t like being insulted – and a lot of people are doing it. “The justice ministry has allowed 1,845 cases on charges of insulting Erdogan to go ahead,” Bekir Bozdag said, responding to questions in parliament. “I am unable […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A prominent Saudi cleric who is on Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) hit list was shot and wounded in the Philippines on March 1. Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarni and Saudi diplomat Sheikh Turki Assaegh were both wounded in an assassination attempt as they left a university auditorium in the southern port […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Israel has confirmed it has been secretly communicating with Sunni Arab states, including a recent high-level visit by an Israeli delegation to Saudi Arabia. The Sunni states “are not shaking hands [with Israelis] in public, but we meet in closed rooms,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said. The meeting in Riyadh last […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Though the pope and the UN have designated Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL) slaughter of Mideast Christians as genocide, the Obama administration is not so sure. “My understanding is the use of that word involves a very specific legal determination that has, at this point, not been reached,” White House […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A Hamas commander was executed last month for “moral turpitude” (homosexuality). Mahmoud Ishtiwi was tortured and then executed on Feb. 7 after at least one terrorist under his command admitted to having sex with him, according to a New York Times report. Ishtiwi, who is survived by two wives and three children, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Russia and the Assad regime are bombing civilian areas in order to create a mass exodus of refugees in what amounts to the “weaponizing” of Syrian citizens, NATO’s top general charged. “Together, Russia and the Assad regime are deliberately weaponizing migration in an attempt to overwhelm European structures and break European resolve,” […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Soldiers with the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force are on the ground in Iraq and have begun missions to capture or kill top Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) operatives. “The only thing I’ll say is the (Expeditionary Targeting Force) is in position, it is having an effect and operating, and […]
