Special to WorldTribune.com The United Arab Emirates has named an official “Minister of Happiness” who will be tasked with creating “social good and satisfaction.” UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid appointed Ohood Al Roumi to the post as he announced his new Cabinet on Feb. 10. Al Roumi is one of eight women in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Iranian authorities have blocked a smartphone app that tracked the positions of the “morality police” in Teheran. The Gershad app was launched to give young Iranians a heads up on the whereabouts of the country’s Gast-e-Ershad (“morality police”) patrols. The creators of the app said its server was “inundated” with requests soon […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Recently released statistics detail the grim toll of Syria’s civil war: more than 10 percent of the country’s population has either been killed or injured in the past five years. Life expectancy has dropped from 70 to 55. Statistics generated by the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) found that more than […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Norman Bailey The U.S. and Europe — the traditional pillars of Israeli foreign diplomatic and economic relations — are crumbling. Since Israel’s independence, its most important economic and financial partners have been in Europe and the U.S. In the past few years, however, this situation has changed dramatically. On the plus […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is likely to attempt “direct attacks on the U.S. homeland” this year, top intelligence officials told Congress on Feb. 9. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in testimony at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, said ISIL is hiding jihadists among the wave of refugees […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The entirety of Israel should be surrounded by fences to protect against infiltration from “wild beasts,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Feb. 9. “At the end of the day as I see it, there will be a fence … surrounding Israel in its entirety. We will surround the entire state of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Any missteps in Iraq’s attempt to retake Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISL) could result in a “nightmare scenario” in which the unstable Mosul Dam collapses and unleashes a 40-foot wave of death. “If the dam busts, the center of Mosul goes under water by about a 40-50 foot wave,” an […]
Special to WorldTribune.com After failing to make progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front, the Obama administration turned its attention this week to Israeli Arabs. The White House and State Department hosted Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Ahmed Tibi of Israel’s Joint List party. Tibi met with U.S. President Barak Obama’s chief adviser to the Middle East, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Morocco on Feb. 10 signaled it stands with Saudi Arabia against threats in the Gulf region and backs the Saudi-led effort to “defend the legitmacy” of Yemen. “We are in complete solidarity with Saudi confronting any interference in its internal affairs,” Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar said during a joint press conference […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Canada will end air strikes targeting the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria and pull out six fighter jets within two weeks, Canada’s prime minister announced on February 8. Justin Trudeau said Canada would end its bombing mission by February 22 but military personnel […]
