College students in Iran get 99 lashes for attending graduation party at which both sexes were present

College students in Iran get 99 lashes for attending graduation party at which both sexes were present

by WorldTribune Staff, May 27, 2016 A group of Iranian college students who were “dancing and jubilating” at a graduation party that included men and women were arrested and given 99 lashes. Iran’s judiciary said the punishments, believed to be part of a wider crackdown by Teheran’s hard-liners, were meted out in Qazvin, about 90 […]

Turkey not cool with U.S. forces wearing Kurdish insignia for Raqqa offensive

Turkey not cool with U.S. forces wearing Kurdish insignia for Raqqa offensive

by WorldTribune Staff, May 27, 2016 It is not acceptable for U.S. soldiers to wear the insignia of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) when embedded with the Kurdish fighters, a Turkish official said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said photos showing U.S. special operations forces wearing the YPG insignia on their shoulders during operations against […]

Oil prices over $50 a barrel for first time in 2016

Oil prices over $50 a barrel for first time in 2016

by WorldTribune Staff, May 26, 2016 Ongoing unrest in Nigeria and Libya and the economic meltdown in Venezuela have knocked enough oil out of the market to enable crude to top $50 per barrel for the first time in 2016. Wildfires in Canada’s oil sands also contributed to the nearly 4 million barrels per day […]

UN calls on Hamas to stop planned public executions

UN calls on Hamas to stop planned public executions

by WorldTribune Staff, May 26, 2016 The UN’s Middle East envoy has publicly urged Hamas to halt the public executions of 13 men, most convicted of murder connected to robberies. UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council that public executions are prohibited under international human rights law. “I urge Hamas not to carry out […]

In blow to Iran nuclear deal, House votes to block heavy water sale

In blow to Iran nuclear deal, House votes to block heavy water sale

Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty The U.S. House has voted to bar the U.S. government from purchasing heavy water from Iran in the future, undercutting President Barack Obama’s nuclear pact with Tehran. The House attached the prohibition to an essential funding bill for the U.S. Energy Department with a 251-168 vote. […]

Memo from U.S. intelligence veterans: Clinton emails ‘a concern’ – ‘also a felony’

Memo from U.S. intelligence veterans: Clinton emails ‘a concern’ – ‘also a felony’

by WorldTribune Staff, May 26, 2016 While the mainstream media continues to downplay Hillary Clinton’s email scandal to protect their candidate, a group of U.S. intelligence veterans are letting the public know just how serious the situation is. The 14 intel vets signed a memo saying Clinton endangered national security “by carelessly exposing highly classified […]

Religious freedom group calls for UN action on ISIL genocide of Christians

Religious freedom group calls for UN action on ISIL genocide of Christians

by WorldTribune Staff, May 26, 2016 A religious freedom group is calling on the United Nations to “mobilize the international community” to take action to protect Christians against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) atrocities. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), in a letter to the UN, detailed ISIL’s executions of Christians […]

Russian air defense system sale to Iran will tilt military balance

Russian air defense system sale to Iran will tilt military balance

Special to WorldTribune.com by Dr. Jack Caravelli, Geostrategy-Direct Iran has begun receiving one of Russia’s most advanced and capable air defense system, the S-300 after years-long delays due to international pressures. At present it is assessed by NATO to be able to attack aircraft flying as high as 90,000 feet or at ranges of about […]

Art of the deal: How about a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un at the Korean DMZ?

Art of the deal: How about a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un at the Korean DMZ?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com Donald Trump may be running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential sweepstakes if the polls are at all credible, but there’s one constituency in which he appears to be well ahead. That’s within the ruling circles in Pyongyang. He’s winning popularity there for two […]

Israel has new Sunni friends in the ‘southern arc’ but will they survive?

Israel has new Sunni friends in the ‘southern arc’ but will they survive?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Norman Bailey Cooperation with Sunni Arab countries against Iran is welcome, but it does not yet look reliable. For a long time now, analysts and commentators have been talking about the northern or Sh’ia arc and the southern or Sunni arc in the Arab Middle East. The northern arc is led […]