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, […]

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 […]

Iran’s leader asks Pope to pray for him after ‘cordial talks’

Iran’s leader asks Pope to pray for him after ‘cordial talks’

Special to WorldTribune.com Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asked Pope Francis to “pray for me” as the two met at the Vatican on Jan. 26. The talks “delved into the conclusion and application of the nuclear accord, and the important role that Iran is called upon to play, together with other countries of the region,” the […]

Italy covers naked statues in ‘sign of respect’ for visiting Iran leader

Italy covers naked statues in ‘sign of respect’ for visiting Iran leader

Special to WorldTribune.com Italy on Jan. 25 covered nude statues in deference to the visiting leader of one of the world’s top state sponsors of terrorism. Nude statues at Rome’s Capitoline Museum were covered by large white panels in an effort to avoid any offense to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who met with Italian Prime […]

Realism not rhetoric needed to defeat ISIL, warns Gates

Realism not rhetoric needed to defeat ISIL,  warns Gates

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler NEW YORK — Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates slammed both the Obama Administration and the presidential primary candidates calling for long-term realism in America’s fight against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) terrorism. “I think that the president has all along underestimated ISIS, has underestimated the degree […]

Report: Swiss made secret deal with PLO to avoid terror

Report: Swiss made secret deal with PLO to avoid terror

Special to WorldTribune.com The Swiss government negotiated a secret deal with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to avoid terror attacks in Switzerland, according to a report. The arrangement was made following the hijacking by Palestinian groups of two Swissair flights in 1970, according to the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ). Full details of the deal […]

U.S. provides logistical support to French carrier in Gulf

U.S. provides logistical support to French carrier in Gulf

Special to WorldTribune.com The United States is providing critical support for France’s aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, resupplied France’s Charles De Gaulle carrier, which began operations in the Gulf last month as part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). “The […]

Belgian of Moroccan descent, arrested in Paris attacks probe, fought in Syria

Belgian of Moroccan descent, arrested in Paris attacks probe, fought in Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com Police in Morocco have arrested a Belgian national of Moroccan descent in connection with the November terror attacks in Paris. Gelel Attar was arrested on Jan. 15 in the city of Mohammedia, the Moroccan Interior Ministry said. The ministry said Attar had received training from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) […]

Iran’s Rouhani takes victory tour with stops in Italy, France and the Vatican

Iran’s Rouhani takes victory tour with stops in Italy, France and the Vatican

Special to WorldTribune.com Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s nuclear deal victory tour will include visits to Italy, Vatican City and France. On Jan. 16, Europe, as well as the United States, lifted sanctions on Teheran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Iran had fulfilled all of the measures required under its deal with world […]

Migration of ISIL jihadists: Out of Syria . . . and into Libya

Migration of ISIL jihadists: Out of Syria . . . and into Libya

Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs January 2016 saw an acceleration of the movement of Daesh (asad-Dawlah al-Islamiyah fi al-‘Iraq wash-Sham) — so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) — fighters out of Syria and into Libya. There were profound reasons for this “flight to safety” by Daesh, […]