UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of native peoples, despite opposition from the United States and three other countries.
The 143 members of the General Assembly voted for the declaration that outlines the rights of some 370 million indigenous people worldwide.
Only the United States, Canada, New […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush says success by U.S. forces in Iraq will allow him to withdraw 5,700 (out of 168,000) U.S. troops by the end of this year, though opposition Democrats say more troops should come home sooner.
In a televised address from his Oval Office at the White House Thursday, Mr. Bush said the reduction […]

COTTONWOOD FALLS, KANSAS — The Kickapoo tribal language and culture play a key role in the production of “The Only Good Indian,” a movie that is being shot here and in Topeka, Lawrence and other locations in Kansas.
“The Only Good Indian,” which stars popular Native American actor Wes Studi (Dances With Wolves, Geronimo, Heat), is […]

JAKARTA - Relief efforts are underway on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island after the country was hit by four powerful earthquakes and a succession of large aftershocks in less than 24 hours. The tremors toppled buildings, killed several people and injured dozens more.
Government and international emergency teams headed to Sumatra to survey the earthquake damage and help […]

JERUSALEM - Israelis are observing the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days on the Hebrew calendar. The holiday season takes place against the background of growing tension on Israel’s northern and southern borders.  
Israelis gathered in synagogues around the country to welcome Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is the beginning […]

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama Wednesday called for the withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of next year. Senator Obama unveiled his new plan for Iraq in a campaign speech in the early presidential contest state of Iowa. 
Obama said there is no military solution in Iraq and added […]

CAPITOL HILL - U.S. toy company executives are calling for legislation aimed at strengthening inspections of imports. Their appeal at a Senate hearing Wednesday follows a series of recalls of Chinese-made toys, many of which were found to contain lead - a substance that can be lethal if swallowed. 
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, knows […]

HONG KONG - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced his resignation after a year of missteps and scandals. The resignation is apparently an effort to prevent cancellation of Japan’s non-combat role in Afghanistan.
After a very troubled year that saw Japan’s ruling party embroiled in allegations of financial wrongdoings and scandals, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe […]

WASHINGTON - After months of what he called “testing the waters,” former U.S. Senator and actor Fred Thompson finally took the plunge into the presidential race the first week of September.  Some critics say he waited too long as the other eight candidates for the 2008 Republican nomination scurried across key early primary states.  But […]

WASHINGTON - The global oil cartel, OPEC, Tuesday agreed in Vienna to boost production by 500,000 barrels per day.
The 12 OPEC nations say the production increase goes into effect November first. The new production target will be 27 point two million barrels a day. The move to boost production was led by Saudi Arabia, the […]

JAKARTA - Indonesia has signed a $1 billion arms package to update its crumbling military. The agreement with Russia includes contracts for two submarines and contains an option to purchase up to eight more over the next 15 years.
Under the turbid waters of the Western Pacific, a quiet arms race is threatening to upset the […]

PARIS - Algeria has witnessed a worrying surge of violence in recent months, including two terrorist attacks this past week alone that killed roughly 50 people and injured hundreds. 
Terrorism is an old story in Algeria. The country weathered a civil war in the 1990s pitting Islamist militants against the military-backed government. More than 150,000 people […]

CAPITOL HILL - Six years after the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, Bush administration officials say Islamic extremist groups, and al-Qaida in particular, continue to pose a threat to the United States.
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, in an appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, offered a sober […]

CAPITOL HILL - General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, faced tough questions Monday while testifying before two congressional committees about what he says has been significant progress against al-Qaida and extremist groups in Iraq. Petraeus told lawmakers he would reduce U.S. forces by the middle of next year to pre-military surge levels, while […]

HONG KONG - China has signed major gas export deals with Australia, and Cambodia plans to establish the country’s first stock market.
China’s biggest oil company, PetroChina, has signed a deal with Australia’s Woodside Petroleum to buy liquefied natural gas from offshore fields in Western Australia.
PetroChina agreed to buy up to three million tons of gas […]

JERUSALEM - The arrest of a neo-Nazi gang in Israel has sparked shock and outrage.
Israeli police say they arrested a gang of eight neo-Nazis responsible for a wave of attacks on Orthodox Jews, synagogues and gays. The suspects were identified as immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not Jewish. Police described the young […]

WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq is hours away from delivering a long-anticipated report on the effectiveness of the surge that brought more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq earlier this year. 
For months, President Bush has declined to comment on a possible timetable for reducing America’s military presence in Iraq, saying he […]

NEW YORK - CIA director Michael Hayden says his agency wants to use every inch of US law to protect the American people, but that it does not go beyond the legal way to carry out its duty.
Amidst criticism that the CIA misallocated funds, didn’t do enough to counter terrorist threats and violated civil liberties, […]

IRBIL - The last political party boycotting Iraq’s legislature has returned to the parliament. The move could help ease the political paralysis that has kept lawmakers from passing legislation crucial for national reconciliation in the troubled country. 
A small Sunni Arab secular bloc returned to parliament, saying its political demands had been met. The 11 members […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush says he will address the nation in the coming days on the way forward in Iraq. On Monday, the top two U.S officials in Iraq, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, will go before Congressional committees and give a status report on the situation, an opportunity Democrats say should be […]

USS KITTY HAWK - The largest ever naval exercise of its kind is underway between India’s Andaman Islands and Sri Lanka. India is hosting four other navies for the Malabar exercise. The unprecedented scope of the at-sea training is raising questions about its strategic intent.
Never before in peacetime have five navies come together to drill […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceFT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA (ANS) – Tributes are being made to the life and work of Dr. D. James Kennedy, retired founding and senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida, who passed away Thursday, September 6.
Tributes are being made to the life and work of Dr. D. James […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush says the release of a new video by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is a vivid reminder of the dangers still facing the world.
It is the first video in three years featuring Osama bin Laden. And its release comes just days before the sixth anniversary of the September 11th 2001 terror […]

By Kenneth D. MacHarg, Missionary Journalist
Special to ASSIST News ServiceCENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA (ANS) – Churches in various Latin American countries are deeply involved in response to a quadruple whammy inflicted by a powerful earthquake and three unprecedented hurricanes that brought death and devastation to Peru and much of Central America.
Churches in various Latin American […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries  
ARAD, ISRAEL (ANS) – “The state of Israel promises religious freedom to all faiths. However, in some Israeli towns, Jews who believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah face persecution. One of those places is in a town called Arad.”
This is how Chris Mitchell, who works for CBN News Jerusalem […]