U.S. missile cruiser forced from Strait of Hormuz after warning from Iran destroyers

U.S. missile cruiser forced from Strait of Hormuz after warning from Iran destroyers

Special to WorldTribune.com A warning from Iranian warships forced a U.S. Navy missile cruiser to leave waters near the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 27. The USS Monterey received the warning from several Iranian destroyers to keep away from the area near the Strait of Hormuz where the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were conducting […]

Russia publicly endorses talks with OPEC on oil output cuts

Russia publicly endorses talks with OPEC on oil output cuts

Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Russia for the first time publicly embraced talking to the OPEC oil cartel about jointly cutting global oil production by up to 5 percent to prop up collapsing oil prices. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on January 28 in St. Petersburg that he is […]

From Arab winter to Persian spring?

From Arab winter to Persian spring?

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Five years after the onset of the pro-democracy revolts against authoritarian rulers in much of the Middle East, the heady warm breezes of the Arab Spring have been replaced with swirling ill winds sweeping the region from Tunisia to Iraq. Governments were toppled, chaos ensued, […]

U.S. commander: Iraq’s Mosul dam on verge of catastrophic collapse

U.S. commander: Iraq’s Mosul dam on verge of catastrophic collapse

Special to WorldTribune.com The potential for a collapse of the Mosul dam in northern Iraq is real, according to the commander of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). “The likelihood of the dam collapsing is something we are trying to determine right now … all we know is when it […]

Former Libyan official: ISIL got Gadhafi’s chemical weapons

Former Libyan official: ISIL got Gadhafi’s chemical weapons

Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has in its possession a portion of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s arsenal of chemical weapons, according to a former Libyan intelligence official. Ahmad Qadhaf Al-Dam, a cousin of Gadhafi, made the claim in an interview with the Egyptian Dream TV network on Jan. 18. His comments […]

Khamenei questions reality of the Holocaust on Remembrance Day

Khamenei questions reality of the Holocaust on Remembrance Day

Special to WorldTribune.com Iran’s supreme leader questioned “the reality” of the Holocaust on Jan. 27 – which was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a video titled “Are The Dark Ages Over?” posted to his official website, said “speaking about the Holocaust and expressing doubts about it is considered to be a great […]

Israel makes public letter by Adolf Eichmann pleading for clemency

Israel makes public letter by Adolf Eichmann pleading for clemency

Special to WorldTribune.com Israel on Jan. 27 released a letter written by Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in which he pleaded for clemency. The letter was written on May 29, 1962, two days before Eichmann was hanged. He remains the only person in the history of Israel to be sentenced to death by a civilian […]

By closing Al Jazeera America after spending $2 billion, Qatar lowers global profile

By closing Al Jazeera America after spending $2 billion, Qatar lowers global profile

Special to WorldTribune.com Qatar’s decision to pull the plug on Al Jazeera America is seen as an indication of its new leader’s “more cautious” approach in the international arena. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani shut down Al Jazeera America after Qatar pumped some $2 billion into a U.S. network that had abysmal ratings since […]

Text of explainer-warning leaflets to ISIL tanker drivers released

Text of explainer-warning leaflets to ISIL tanker drivers released

Special to WorldTribune.com Leaflets dropped by the U.S. in Syria and Iraq warned drivers of tankers carrying Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) oil to “leave the trucks and flee” as air strikes on the tankers were imminent. “Warning. Airstrikes are coming, oil trucks will be destroyed,” read one leaflet. “Get away from your […]

‘Spy vulture’ from Israel captured in south Lebanon

‘Spy vulture’ from Israel captured in south Lebanon

Special to WorldTribune.com Residents of a southern Lebanon town captured a vulture they say was a spy for Israel. According to Lebanese media, residents in Bint Jbail on Jan. 26 saw the griffon vulture equipped with what they believed was Israeli spy equipment and captured it “to prevent it from attacking citizens.” The “spy vulture” […]