LONDON - London’s Independent on Sunday newspaper says two senior British generals have told Prime Minister Gordon Brown that Britain has accomplished what it can in southern Iraq and that moves toward a full withdrawal should be made without further delay.
Prior to the invasion in 2003, the British Army’s stated war aims were to bring […]

IRBIL - Despite a recent announcement by Iran’s state-run news agency, IRNA, saying Iranian and Iraqi security officials signed a border security pact, there are ongoing reports Iran is shelling the border areas in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
The mountain village, Haji Umran, is a transit point for trade between the Kurdish regions of Iraq […]

By James Varghese
Special to ASSIST News ServiceBELGAUM, KARNATAKA, INDIA (ANS) – A group of Hindu extremists attacked a church at Ganeshpura in Belgaum District, Karnataka State, India, on Thursday, August 16th.
A group of Hindu extremists attacked a church at Ganeshpura in Belgaum District, Karnataka State, India, on Thursday, August 16th.Calvary Prayer Center was the church […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST MinistriesASHEVILLE, NC (ANS) – Evangelist Billy Graham was hospitalized early today (Saturday, August 18, 2007) at Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville, North Carolina, near his home in nearby Montreat, for evaluation and treatment of an intestinal bleed.
Evangelist Billy Graham was hospitalized early today (Saturday, August 18, 2007) at Mission […]

WASHINGTON - The jazz world is mourning the loss of one of its greatest drummers, Max Roach. Among the so-called “architects” of the be-bop movement, Roach died in his sleep on August 16 at a hospital in New York. He was 83.
The sound of modern jazz would probably not be the same had Max Roach […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says Americans should be encouraged by what he says is political and military progress in Iraq. The president is defending the war ahead of a key report to Congress next month.
President Bush used his weekly radio address to defend an unpopular war, saying a new military offensive in recent days […]

WASHINGTON - Chronic bread shortages in Zimbabwe are set to get even worse as the country’s sole supplier of wheat, the state monopoly Grain Marketing Board is said to have exhausted its supplies leaving bakers unable to turn out product.
The Zimbabwe Independent, a weekly private-sector newspaper, reported Friday that the Grain Marketing Board has not […]

GENEVA - The United Nations reports massive flooding in North Korea has devastated the southern provinces, including the capital city and key agricultural regions. The U.N. reports that Pyongyang, in a departure from normal practice, has asked for international assistance to meet the emergency needs of the country’s population.
North Korean officials call these the worst […]

NORTH INDIA (ANS) – A Gospel for Asia missionary and a Bible college student were attacked August 15 after distributing Gospel tracts to people in North India.
The injured missionary was one of more than 200 GFA missionaries and Bible college students taking part in an urban outreach. They were divided into groups and working in […]

PENTAGON - The second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq says he is trying to convince Iraqi Shi’ite extremists that working with Iran will have long-term negative consequences for Iraq. Lieutenant General Ray Odierno spoke via satellite from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon.
General Odierno says his forces are fighting Iranian involvement in Iraq’s insurgency in several […]

PENTAGON - A senior U.S. commander in Iraq says he believes there will be a drawdown of U.S. troops starting next April, as long as the security situation continues to improve. Meanwhile, the officer says, coalition and Iraqi forces are focused on eliminating pockets of Sunni insurgent activity in the countryside, having already made it […]

WASHINGTON - The face of one of their nation’s “founding fathers” will soon stare back at Americans reaching for pocket change.The United States Mint has unveiled a new coin, honoring the American president who helped charter the course of a young nation still struggling to gain its freedom. 
At the memorial bearing his name, Thomas Jefferson […]

JERUSALEM - The United States has boosted military aid to Israel. The increase points to growing American concerns over the burgeoning power of Iran.
Israel and the United States signed an agreement for $30 billion in American military aid to Israel over the next 10 years. That is an increase of 25 percent over the current […]

MIAMI - U.S.-born Muslim convert Jose Padilla has been found guilty of conspiring to commit terrorist acts abroad. In Miami, a jury found that Padilla and two co-defendants were guilty after a three-month trial.
The jury in Miami deliberated for less than two days before declaring the three men guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts […]

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration continues to defend the war in Iraq ahead of a report to Congress next month on progress there. Two days after truck bombings that killed at least 400 Iraqis, presidential spokesman Tony Snow defended the war in an address in New York.
With President Bush on his Texas ranch, White House […]

Conoco Phillips’ Subsidiary to Pay United States $97.5 Million for Fraudulent Underpayment of Natural Gas Royalties
WASHINGTON — Burlington Resources Inc. has agreed to pay the United States $97.5 million to resolve claims that it underpaid royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and Indian leases, the Justice Department announced today. Last year, Burlington became […]

PENTAGON - The U.S. command in eastern Afghanistan is confirming that U.S. and Afghan forces are conducting an offensive against insurgents in the rugged Tora Bora region.
A spokeswoman for the coalition task force in the region says the operation involves several hundred U.S. and Afghan troops and has been going on for a few days. […]

JERUSALEM - Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won re-election as leader of the right-wing Likud party. But some analysts describe it as a limited victory because of a respectable showing by a far-right wing opponent.
Hawkish opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu won the chairmanship of his Likud party by a landslide, capturing 73 percent of […]

MIAMI - Authorities in Peru say at least 337 people are dead after a powerful earthquake rocked the South American nation late Wednesday night. Officials say hundreds of people were injured in the 7.9 magnitude quake, which struck off the coast of central Peru, about 145 kilometers southeast of the capital, Lima.
Local media said the […]

GENEVA - Military Leaders from 56 countries are taking a brush-up course on the rules of war as defined in the Geneva Conventions. Senior officers from European, American, Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries are being taught how to integrate international humanitarian law into warfare. They are being taught to train their foot soldiers how […]

WASHINGTON - NASA engineers are trying to decide whether astronauts on board the space shuttle Endeavour will have to repair a gouge in the underside of the spaceship before they return to Earth next week. Up in orbit, three members of Endeavour’s crew talked to reporters, and teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan took questions from school children.
Astronauts […]

JERUSALEM - Israel’s main opposition party, the Likud, is holding an election for party leader. One of Israel’s most well-known politicians is facing off with an increasingly powerful bloc of Jewish settlers and their supporters.
Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking reelection as head of the opposition Likud Party, and pollsters say it should be […]

WASHINGTON - In yet another blow to the multi-billion dollar toy industry, Mattel Incorporated is recalling 9 million dolls, action figures, toy cars and play sets where small, high-powered magnets have been found to come loose or where lead paint has been discovered. The recall was announced on the company’s Web site, and at a […]

WASHINGTON - The United States Monday formally designated the Lebanon-based militant group Fatah al-Islam as a terrorist organization. The group has been battling Lebanese government troops in and around a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon since last May.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the designation under an anti-terrorism executive order issued by President Bush […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named retired baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. to be a U.S. public diplomacy special envoy. Ripken, inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame last month, will begin the non-paying diplomatic role with a trip to China in October.
Ripken, best known for playing in an all-time record […]