NEW YORK - The 15-member UN Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose new sanctions on Iran over its refusal to end its uranium enrichment program.
The resolution freezes the assets of more than 28 Iranian individuals, companies and institutions, including the state-owned Bank Sepah, commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and companies they control. It also […]

By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in PakistanLAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) – A protest demonstration was staged in front of the Lahore Press Club on Thursday, March 22, against the Adiala Jail’s administration as the Christian inmates have been deprived of their right to offer prayer meetings after demolition of a church on […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is leaving Washington for another Middle East trip aimed at spurring progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.  She’ll meet separately with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, along with leading Arab moderates. 
U.S. officials are cautioning in advance to expect no breakthroughs from the […]

PENTAGON - Iranian naval forces took 15 British sailors and marines captive early Friday in the northern Persian Gulf. The British and Iranian governments disagree on whether the British forces were operating in Iranian or Iraqi territorial waters.
The coalition naval command in Bahrain says two British boats were conducting routine operations in Iraqi waters Friday […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush says he will veto an emergency spending bill for the war in Iraq because opposition Democrats attached a timetable for the withdrawal of troops there.
President Bush says House Democrats have shown they are willing to undermine gains he says U.S. troops are making in Iraq in order to […]

Luminaries from Hollywood and the Military to Convene Memorial Day Weekend for First-of-its Kind Film Event 
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service  
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) – In an effort to foster a positive public image for the American Armed Forces in the United States and around the world, the first annual GI Film Festival will be […]

CAPITOL HILL - A U.S. Senate committee has followed the lead of its counterpart in the House of Representatives and authorized subpoenas to compel White House aides to testify in public and under oath about the dismissals of federal prosecutors.
The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee agreed by voice vote to authorize subpoenas for President Bush’s adviser […]

WASHINGTON — A Hollywood film with the simple title “300″ is arousing anger in Iran. Directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Zack Snyder, the film portrays the ancient battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Greek Spartans barred the way to the grand army of Persian King Xerxes I. The Iranians say the movie gives a distorted view of […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. space agency NASA says storm damage repairs are likely to keep the space shuttle Atlantis grounded at least until May, two months after it was originally set to visit the International Space Station. NASA officials say the delay will not postpone completion of the research outpost in three years.
NASA says the […]

PENTAGON - The commander of U.S. strategic forces says the United States has significantly improved its missile defense and deterrent capability since North Korea’s series of missile tests last July. General James Cartwright spoke at a House of Representatives committee hearing.
General Cartwright says he worries about whether there is more his forces could do to […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S House of Representatives takes up legislation Thursday to fund ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq no later than September 2008. Majority Democrats have fought hard to ensure they have the votes to pass the bill, which President Bush has threatened […]

WASHINGTON - News of the confession of an al-Qaida operative of involvement in the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings and the attack on the USS Cole in October, 2000 has surfaced this week in a newly released Pentagon transcript.  During a March 12 hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Waleed bin Attash told American military investigators […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. legislators on Tuesday heard first hand the findings of an internal government report, which revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, abused its powers in obtaining personal information during investigations of suspected terrorists.
Nearly 80 minutes into the hearing, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers banged the gavel to restore order after […]

Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ has Passed Away
MEMPHIS, TN — On March 20 4:03 p.m. at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, the Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ, Bishop G. E. Patterson, passed away as a result of heart failure.
Patterson was surrounded by his wife, Mrs. Louise […]

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service
AUSTRALIA (ANS) – The Vietnam government’s crackdown against human rights and democracy advocates (many of whom are Christians acting upon their religious beliefs) is not hidden nor is it subtle. It is bold, challenging and hugely significant. It creates a watershed, especially […]

MOSCOW - Russia is observing a national day of mourning in memory of at least 177 people killed in the past few days in three separate disasters - a mine explosion, a nursing home fire and a plane crash.Flags are flying at half-mast today across Russia, as the nation struggles to come to terms with […]

CAPITOL HILL - President Bush is urging majority Democrats in Congress to accept his offer to allow congressional investigators to interview key aides in private but not under oath about the White House decision to fire eight federal prosecutors. But Democrats are insisting testimony be sworn and in public.
President Bush is warning Democrats against seeking […]

JERUSALEM - Tension is running high in the volatile West Bank town of Hebron after Israeli settlers took over a building. Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups describe the move as a provocation.
Dozens of Jewish settlers escorted by Israeli security forces moved into a four story building under disputed ownership in the biblical town of  […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the new Palestinian unity government should unequivocally renounce violence to gain international recognition and enter peace talks with Israel. Rice conferred with top European Union officials on the new Palestinian cabinet, whose leader has called for continued “resistance” against Israel.
The Bush administration is taking a […]

BEIJING - Talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs are at a standstill in Beijing, with North Korean negotiators refusing to attend a meeting of the heads of delegation. Diplomats say the North Koreans are demanding they first get back money that was frozen in a Macau bank.  
The dispute over the nearly $25 million frozen by […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
LONDON, UK (ANS) – A new survey carried out by the BBC has revealed that 33 per cent of Christians in the UK think that the way they are portrayed in the media amounts to discrimination. And 25% said they also experienced discrimination from colleagues in the workplace when their […]

BAGHDAD (RFE/RL) — Former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was hanged early today in Baghdad. Ramadan is the fourth senior official of Saddam Hussein’s former regime to be executed.
Iraqi judges sent Ramadan to the gallows for the killings of 148 Shi’a in 1982 in the town of Al-Dujayl.
There was much criticism over the manner […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceSWEDEN (ANS) – In the town of Södertälje, Sweden, the number of Iraqis has increased from 750 to 5,300 in five years, says labor market coordinator Aydin Özkaya.
In the town of Södertälje, Sweden, the number of Iraqis has increased from 750 to 5,300 in five years, says labor market […]

WASHINGTON - Rising world oil prices have sparked interest in alternative fuels, such as ethanol, which can be produced from corn. This has raised demand for the grain, which, in turn, has increased its price as food.
In January, demonstrators in Mexico converged on the capital to protest the spiraling cost of tortillas, a Mexican national […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The Bush administration said Monday it has approved visas for a U.N. visit by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a large contingent of other Iranian officials. The Iranian leader has asked to address the U.N. Security Council when it votes on a resolution tightening sanctions on Iran for refusing to stop enriching […]