Turkey has opened over 1,800 cases against those who insulted Erdogan

Turkey has opened over 1,800 cases against those who insulted Erdogan

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 […]

Saudi cleric on ISIL hit list shot in Philippines

Saudi cleric on ISIL hit list shot in Philippines

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 […]

Report: High-level Israeli delegation secretly visited Saudi Arabia

Report: High-level Israeli delegation secretly visited Saudi Arabia

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 […]

Obama won’t designate ISIL’s slaughter of Mideast Christians as genocide

Obama won’t designate ISIL’s slaughter of Mideast Christians as genocide

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 […]

Execution of Hamas commander tied to gay sex

Execution of Hamas commander tied to gay sex

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, […]

NATO commander: Russia ‘weaponizing’ Syrian immigrants

NATO commander: Russia ‘weaponizing’ Syrian immigrants

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,” […]

U.S. Army’s Delta Force begins operations against ISIL in Iraq

U.S. Army’s Delta Force begins operations against ISIL in Iraq

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 […]

Loss of hundreds of Palestinians’ jobs blamed on boycott Israel movement

Loss of hundreds of Palestinians’ jobs blamed on boycott Israel movement

Special to WorldTribune.com Hundreds of Palestinians have found the boycott Israel movement is hurting them more than Israel. The Israeli soft drinks company SodaStream laid off the last of its Palestinian workers on Feb. 29. The company, under pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, closed its plant in a Jewish West Bank […]

Rouhani, reformist allies win control of Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts

Rouhani, reformist allies win control of Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts

Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Final results from Iran’s February 26 elections show relative moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his allies winning a majority in the powerful Assembly of Experts and making a strong return to parliament as one of three dominant blocs. The elections were Iran’s first since international sanctions […]

U.S. embassy urges evacuation from Mosul as dam catastrophe looms

U.S. embassy urges evacuation from Mosul as dam catastrophe looms

Special to WorldTribune.com The U.S. embassy in Iraq has recommended the evacuation of Mosul out of fear that the Mosul Dam is near collapse. “Out of an abundance of caution, we would like to underscore that prompt evacuation offers the most effective tool to save lives of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in the […]