ISIL jihadist registered as refugee one week before terror attack in Istanbul

ISIL jihadist registered as refugee one week before terror attack in Istanbul

Special to WorldTribune.com The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) jihadist who killed 11 tourists in Turkey on Jan. 12 had registered as a refugee one week before the bombing. CCTV footage released on Jan. 13 shows 28-year-old ISIL jihadist Nabil Fadli registering as a refugee with Turkish immigration authorities. Fadli blew himself up in Sultanahmet Square […]

Djibouti: Tiny strategic hub plays host to armies from seven nations

Djibouti: Tiny strategic hub plays host to armies from seven nations

Special to WorldTribune.com By Backgrounder, Geostrategy-Direct.com Djibouti, a former French colony, is a country of searing heat (summer temperatures average over 100 degrees) and little rain (17 days a year on average). The population of the East African state is 900,000, which ranks 159th in the world. But the tiny state on the Horn of […]

Cultural glitches: Why does the Iranian community (and also the U.S. academy) demonize national self interest?

Cultural glitches: Why does the Iranian community (and also the U.S. academy) demonize national self interest?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Sheda Vasseghi The recent death of the late Shah’s twin sister Princess Ashraf Pahlavi (1919-2016) has caused an odd part of the Iranian psyche to resurface once again. Under articles about the princess or the late Shah, some Iranians leave peculiar and negative comments on social media that are illogical, offensive, […]

Israel closing its doors to ‘official visits from Sweden’

Israel closing its doors to ‘official visits from Sweden’

Special to WorldTribune.com Israel has announced it is banning visits by Swedish officials. In doing so, Jerusalem said it was “sending in the clearest manner possible a very sharp message to Sweden saying that it is backing terror and giving a tail wind to Islamic State to act throughout Europe.” The move by Israel came […]

Egypt tightens security on Libyan border following mysterious air strikes

Egypt tightens security on Libyan border following mysterious air strikes

Special to WorldTribune.com Egyptian forces near the Libyan border have been put on high alert following air strikes on Jan. 10 from unidentified fighter jets inside Libya. The fighter jets struck Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) targets inside Libya, according to news reports. The Libyan coastal city of Sirte has served as ISIL’s […]

Are Arab media correct? Is Obama really campaigning for top ‘messianic’ UN job?

Are Arab media correct? Is Obama really campaigning for top ‘messianic’ UN job?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Sol W. Sanders President Barak Obama repeatedly refers to the end of his time in office and claims he is no longer campaigning. There is more than a little ambiguity there, however, for his modus operandi is a permanent campaign – even when it is for more limited objectives than the […]

Why the petro kingdom executed a prominent Shiite cleric

Why the petro kingdom executed a prominent Shiite cleric

Special to WorldTribune.com By Norman Bailey Very seldom does a columnist have the experience of having one of his or her predictions begin to take shape within weeks, much less in 24 hours. But that is what has happened. Shortly after writing my column ‘Petro kingdom at risk? 2016’s Mideast power matrix and the Chinese […]

U.S. air strike incinerates ‘millions’ in ISIL cash

U.S. air strike incinerates ‘millions’ in ISIL cash

Special to WorldTribune.com U.S.-led coalition air strikes destroyed an Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) facility in Mosul, Iraq that contained “millions of dollars” in cash, according to a Jan. 11 report. Multiple 2,000-pound bombs hit the facility, which a U.S. defense official told AFP contained a stockpile of cash that “we estimate in […]

Senior Brotherhood member arrested in Cairo attack on Israeli Arab tourists

Senior Brotherhood member arrested in Cairo attack on Israeli Arab tourists

Special to WorldTribune.com Egyptian authorities on Jan. 11 arrested a senior Muslim Brotherhood member for allegedly ordering an attack last week on a bus carrying Israeli tourists. Muslim Brotherhood member Abd El-Aal Al-Ashry, the brother of former parliamentarian Gamal Al-Ashry, was arrested, according to Daily News Egypt. Al-Ashry and his sons are accused of taking […]