No Significant Improvements During 2006 in Human Rights for Vietnamese 
By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
NEW YORK, N.Y. (ANS) — Vietnam’s tenth Communist Party Congress saw a significant turnover in the Politburo, as younger members replaced key aging party veterans but those new faces did not result in a significant improvement in human rights practices.
Despite […]

By Special Correspondent in New ZealandWELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (ANS) – Pro-life organisation Right to Life has won a victory in the New Zealand High Court over evidence that can be produced in a major court case yet to be heard.
Pro-life organisation Right to Life has won a victory in the New Zealand High Court over […]

American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 18 others while conducting multiple operations throughout Iraq today, military officials reported.
During a raid in Mosul one terrorist was shot and killed after he began firing at coalition forces.
Meanwhile, in al Anbar province, coalition forces captured six enemy fighters believed to have ties […]

JERUSALEM - Israel’s opposition leader is calling for the the president of Iran to be brought to trial in an international court. It is the latest sign of deepening concern in Israel over Iran’s nuclear program. 
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he and other Israelis are trying to bring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceNORTH KOREA (ANS) – Reports about four Christians being executed for their faith in North Korea are circulating in the Christian media.
Reports about four Christians being executed for their faith in North Korea are circulating in the Christian media.According to Mark Kelly of Baptist Press: “The Democratic People’s Republic […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush is meeting with his top diplomatic and military advisors about the war in Iraq and efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. Opposition Democrats say the president sending more troops to Iraq is a mistake.
Mr. Bush begins the seventh year of his presidency meeting with Secretary of […]

WASHINGTON — The Government of Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the World Bank signed, “The Regional and Local Development Project” agreement on Thursday January 18th at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.
The agreement is an important development in the pursuit of strengthening the capacity of Jordan’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs in order to regulate […]

WASHINGTON — Former Congressman Robert W. Ney has been sentenced to 30 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release and fined $6,000, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.
Ney, 52, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, before Judge Ellen […]

WASHINGTON — Former San Antonio Police Officer Dean Gutierrez was sentenced today in federal court to 24 years and four months in prison for violating the civil rights of a citizen whom Gutierrez detained while on duty, the Justice Department announced today.
Gutierrez was previously found guilty of sexually and physically assaulting a transgendered individual, who […]

Use of Jefferson’s Quran During Swearing-in Ceremony Invites Historical Inquiry 
By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA (ANS) – When Ted Sampley watched Rep. Keith Ellison place his hand on a rare copy of the Quran from the library of Thomas Jefferson during Ellison’s recent swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives, something triggered […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has asked China to clarify its intentions following the successful test of an anti-satellite weapon last week, that was reported this week by the publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. The State Department has also expressed concern about the space debris that resulted from the missile hit on an old […]

WASHINGTON (RFE/RL) — More than half of the 290 lawmakers in Iran’s parliament have backed a letter assailing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s budget preparations. In it, they attack his government for failing to present a budget on time and warn that it must be realistic in its basic assumptions.
The letter comes amid growing criticism of Ahmadinejad’s […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceLONDON, ENGLAND (ANS) – British Airways is changing its uniform policy to allow all religious symbols, including crosses, to be worn openly. 
British Airways is changing its uniform policy to allow all religious symbols, including crosses, to be worn openly. According to a story on its website, the British Broadcasting Corporation […]

WASHINGTON - This past Friday marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert E. Lee. His name is legend to every student of U.S. history, and this courtly son of a Revolutionary War patriot is adored to this day by many Americans who live in the states of the Old South. White Americans, to […]

WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials have released new regulations for upcoming trials of suspected terrorists before special military commissions. These rules will allow for trials to proceed for detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Pentagon issued Thursday a new manual that outlines how trials will proceed for terrorism suspects.
Under the new regulations, […]

American politicians and the White House flooded with calls for ‘Operation Assyrian Province’ 
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
WASHINGTON, DC (ANS) – “Operation Assyria” volunteers from throughout the United States and overseas have been flooding American Congressman and Senators and The White House with calls demanding the passage of a Congressional Resolution supporting the “Formal Request […]

CAIRO - For months, Iraqi and U.S. officials have been trying to shut down a satellite television station that shows Iraqi insurgent videos and denounces the Shi’ite-led government of Iraq. But the station continues to be broadcast on Nilesat, a satellite provider run by the government of Egypt, one of Washington’s closest allies in the […]

TOKYO - Israel’s foreign minister says that Iran is a threat to all of the Middle East. Yuriko Nagano reports from Tokyo, where Tzipi Livni is meeting with Japanese leaders in a bid to strengthen ties between Israel and Japan.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called for international support for governments run by moderates, such as in […]

WASHINGTON - Iraqi and U.S. forces have detained a top aide to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in an operation in eastern Baghdad Friday.Al-Sadr’s office said the man arrested is its media director, Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Darraji.
A U.S. military statement did not identify the detainee, but described him as a leader of an illegal armed […]

WASHINGTON - Space experts have confirmed a report that China successfully tested a new anti-satellite weapon last week, firing the weapon to destroy one of its own old satellites.
The report of a new Chinese space weapon first appeared in the publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. And on Tuesday the director of the private Center […]

WASHINGTON - Clergymen and women called chaplains are assigned to many American military units. Chaplains are also on call as spiritual advisers to police and fire departments, sports teams, and legislative bodies like the U.S. House of Representatives. And these days, thousands more men and women of God operate a bit like circuit preachers of […]

CD Includes Previously Unreleased Selections Featuring Johnny’s Vocals And Narration 
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (ANS) – Legendary Gospel singer Johnny Cash and his sister Joanne are featured on a soon-to-be-released CD. 
Legendary Gospel singer Johnny Cash and his sister Joanne are featured on a soon-to-be-released CD. With twenty-six historic recordings under her belt, the […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceSRI LANKA (ANS) – A pastor was shot dead by Sri Lankan security forces on January 13 in Jaffna, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) quoting a report from the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL). CSW says Rev. Nallathamby Gnanaseelan, aged 38, was the Pastor of […]

WASHINGTON — Senators from the Democratic Party and from U.S. President George W. Bush’s Republican Party have announced agreement on a draft resolution opposing Bush’s plan to increase the U.S. deployment in Iraq by 21,500 troops.
The draft resolution introduced on January 17 opposes Bush’s plan to send an extra troops, but does not call for […]

WHITE HOUSE - Big changes are being made in a highly controversial domestic surveillance program launched by the Bush administration after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States. 
The program began as a secret weapon in the war on terror.
After the September 11 attacks, President Bush gave the intelligence community the ability to […]