WASHINGTON - As the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war approaches, debate over the war’s future is heating up among politicians in Washington. The sides of the argument mostly fall along partisan lines, with Democrats, who control both houses of Congress, sharply criticizing the Bush administration’s policies. 
Critics of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy include Democratic […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries 
WARSAW, POLAND (ANS) – Allan Carlson, founder and chairman of The World Congress of Families, has announced that Polish President Lech Kaczynski will give the opening address at World Congress of Families IV in Warsaw, May 11-13.
A spokesperson for The World Congress of Families, said, “Poland’s president has also agreed […]

WHITE HOUSE - The change in the Palestinian leadership has apparently led to no change in Bush administration policy. 
The Palestinians put together a new government of two feuding factions - militant Hamas and moderate Fatah - in hopes of getting the United States and its allies to resume financial support.
But the White House says the […]

BEIJING - United States says it has resolved its dispute with North Korea over $25 million frozen in a Macau bank. The announcement came as diplomats from six nations open a new round of nuclear disarmament talks.
Diplomats on Monday hailed the announcement as clearing the way for delegates from six nations to move ahead with […]

JERUSALEM - The Israeli Cabinet has overwhelmingly rejected a new Palestinian unity government in which militants and moderates share power. The Palestinians are urging both Israel and the international community to soften their positions.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Cabinet that Israel will not work with the new Palestinian government.
“The platform of the government is […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush says he will veto an emergency spending bill for the war in Iraq, if Democrats, who control Congress, include conditions setting a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Democrats say the president is committing American forces to an open-ended civil war.
President Bush says Democrats in Congress want […]

By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service 
HAMPTON, VIRGINIA (ANS) – Following President Bush’s trip to Vietnam last November doors opened for deported Vietnamese Pastor Paul Ai to return for a two-week visit of ailing family members.
It was Ai’s first visit to Vietnam since his deportation in 1999. In spite of his numerous arrests after the […]

BEIJING - The United States’ chief negotiator on North Korea’s nuclear programs has said Pyongyang needs to be open about its enriched uranium activities in order for an agreement on denuclearization to move forward. But, the issue could prove a sticking point, as North Korea has never publicly admitted to having such a program.
The U.S. […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The State Department said Friday it will give expedited treatment to a request by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address a critical U.N. Security Council session on Iran’s nuclear program. The council is poised to tighten sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
Officials here say the final decision to […]

WASHINGTON (RFE/RL) — Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is currently courting Iraqi political parties and blocs in an attempt to forge a new national-unity government.
Allawi has criticized the government of current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for its sectarian nature and claims he has a plan to end sectarianism in Iraq. He says he has presented […]

WASHINGTON - It was four years ago that the United States and its coalition partners invaded Iraq, easily toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein. But that quick victory was soon overshadowed by insurgent and terrorist attacks aimed not only at coalition troops but the civilian population as well. Today, Iraq is torn by sectarian violence […]

WASHINGTON — Robert Lewis Young of Detroit was sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison for running a criminal operation prostituting adults and children, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and Steven J. Murphy, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan announced.
Following the 25-year sentence in federal prison, Young […]

Led by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, party proposes bill to completely forbid proselytism in Israel, sentence violators to one year in prison
 
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries 
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS) – A war on missionaries in Israel was declared on Tuesday, March 13, when the theocratic party known as the Shas faction, which is headed by MK […]

WASHINGTON - Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday signed an agreement in Athens with the prime ministers of Greece and Bulgaria to build an oil pipeline from the Bulgarian port of Bourgas to Alexandroupolis. The $1.2 billion pipeline would help relieve congestion through Turkey’s narrow Bosporus strait.
President Putin hailed the deal as evidence of cooperation, friendship […]

MIAMI - U.S. fruit company Chiquita Brands International said it would plead guilty to one count of doing business with a violent Colombian paramilitary group the U.S. government lists as a terrorist organization.
Chiquita Brands International said Wednesday it agreed to pay a fine of $25 million to settle U.S. Justice Department charges it paid “protection […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has rejected by a 50 to 48 vote a Democratic-sponsored measure calling for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by March of next year.
The vote was largely along party lines in the narrowly-divided Senate, with minority Republicans opposing the measure on grounds that it would embolden the enemy and […]

UNITED NATIONS - Six world powers are jointly asking the U.N. Security Council to toughen sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt suspicious nuclear activities. Iran’s leader denounced the sanctions, and asked to address the Council. 
The five-veto wielding Security Council powers and Germany agreed Thursday on a new package of sanctions against Iran, and immediately […]

LONDON - British legislators Wednesday approved British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s plan to replace the country’s fleet of nuclear submarines. The 409 to 161 vote followed a heated debate in parliament.
Britain’s current nuclear deterrent consists of four Vanguard submarines, each capable of carrying up to 16 nuclear missiles. Britain’s Defense Ministry says that fleet will […]

JERUSALEM - Palestinians have finalized an agreement on a national unity government, in which the ruling Islamic militant group Hamas agreed to share power with the rival and more moderate Fatah faction.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas presented the list of ministers in his new cabinet to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, concluding […]

ISLAMABAD - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has apparently confessed to masterminding the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States during a military hearing at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Officials in Pakistan, where Mohammed was captured in 2003, say the confession is a step forward in the fight against the al Qaida terror network. 
According […]

By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceBRENTWOOD, CALIFORNIA (ANS) – School officials at a Southern California public high school backed away from a plan to remove a religious reference from the school yearbook after they faced a challenge by a Christian legal defense organization.
School officials at a Southern California public high school backed away from […]

WASHINGTON - A political firestorm has erupted between Congress and the Bush administration over the firing of federal prosecutors late last year.  U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales acknowledged Tuesday that mistakes were made, but is resisting demands from some Democrats that he resign.
At issue is the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year by the […]

CAPITOL HILL - The U.S. Senate, following the House of Representatives’ lead, has approved a broad homeland security bill by a 60 to 38 vote. But President Bush says he will veto the legislature unless one particular provision is stripped from the measure.
The legislation aims to implement the remainder of the recommendations put forward by […]

TIKRIT, Iraq — After decades of strain, the Ministry of Agriculture in the Ninewa Province reported a significant increase in the wheat crop yield for 2006.
Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working with the Government of Iraq to help restore the grain marketing infrastructure by renovating two granaries in the Ninewa Province. With […]

Governor Richardson Signs Bill Into Law
SANTA FE, N.M. — Today Governor Bill Richardson signed Senate Bill (SB) 10, making cockfighting a crime in the state of New Mexico. According to the new law, those participating in cockfighting can be charged with a petty-misdemeanor on the first offense, a misdemeanor on the second offense, and a […]