by WorldTribune Staff, May 31, 2016 Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Fallujah on May 31 but were stopped by a counter-attack by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) at the city’s southern gates, reports say. Soldiers from the elite Rapid Response Team stopped their advance about 500 meters from the al-Shuhada district in […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 31, 2016 The newly-appointed prime minister of Jordan has “strong Israeli ties”, according to reports in Arab media. Prime Minister Hani Mulki, who was appointed by King Abdullah II on May 29 after the king dissolved parliament, is being described as “pro-Israel”. Husam Abdallat, a former senior government aide at the […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 31, 2016 The Senate Appropriations Committee has unanimously approved an increase in spending on Israeli missile defense that is four times more than what President Barack Obama had requested. The increase proposes $600 million in funding for fiscal year 2017 – an increase of $113 million from last year and $454 […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 31, 2016 Egyptian authorities closed a hospital and prosecutors are investigating after a 17-year-old girl died during an outlawed female circumcision operation. Mayar Mohamed Mousa, 17, died while under full anesthesia in El Canal hospital in Suez province on May 29, said Lotfi Abdel-Samee, the health ministry undersecretary in the province. […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 31, 2016 Three members of Kuwait’s ruling family were each sentenced to five years in prison for insulting the country’s emir on an internet messaging service. The men were sentenced on May 30 for posts on Whatsapp that were determined to be insulting to Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, local […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 31, 2016 A fashion model and former Miss Turkey received a suspended sentence of over one year for “publicly insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an Instagram post. An Istanbul court sentenced Merve Buyuksarac, 27, to one year and two months in prison for a satirical poem she posted on her […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 30, 2016 Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi said the Muslim men who attacked, stripped naked and paraded a 70-year-old Christian woman through the streets will face justice. The woman was attacked in her village south of Cairo after rumors spread that her son had an affair with a Muslim woman. “They […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 30, 2016 India and Iran will hold a joint naval drill on June 3 which focuses on the Strait of Hormuz. The exercise is the first between the two countries since the lifting of international sanctions on Teheran in January 2016. Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, commander of the Iranian Navy, confirmed […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 30, 2016 King Abdullah dissolved Jordan’s parliament on May 29 and appointed a caretaker prime minister to organize new elections. Abdullah appointed veteran politician Hani Mulqi as prime minister after accepting the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, Reuters reported. The main political opposition in Jordan comes from the Muslim Brotherhood, […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 30, 2016 Saudi Arabia condemned Iran’s “intervention” in Iraq as Iraqi forces began their push into Fallujah on May 29. While U.S. special forces are on the front lines in Syria in a new offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Raqqa, Iran “has become the face […]