JERUSALEM - Three days of mourning have been declared for seven people killed in the Gaza Strip, Monday. More than 80 people were wounded in the incident.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the moderate Fatah faction, declared three days of mourning in the Palestinian territories, following the worst violence between Fatah and Hamas since June, […]

20,000 Israelis mark Abraham’s purchase of Hebron cave 
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries 
HEBRON, WEST BANK (ANS) – At least 20,000 Israeli Jews showed up in the biblical Judean town of Hebron recently for the annual reading of the Bible passage that recounts Abraham’s purchase of a burial cave in Judaism’s second holiest city.
According to a […]

WASHINGTON - Japan’s support of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan will be the likely focus of talks during Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s visit to Washington this week.Mr. Fukuda will meet Friday at the White House with President Bush. The talks come two weeks after Japan let lapse legislation on refueling U.S. and other nations’ ships […]

WASHINGTON - Like most capital cities, Washington, D.C., has its share of monuments and memorials.  November 13, one of those monuments, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, marks its 25th anniversary.  The once controversial memorial has become a powerful symbol and a place of healing for many Americans. 
For the fourth time in 25 years, the names of […]

WASHINGTON - Venezuelan officials are blasting Spain’s king after the monarch told President Hugo Chavez to “shut up” at the close of the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. The verbal spat stole the spotlight from the gathering of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal 
The yearly Ibero-American summit is known for generating often-bland plenary statements, […]

HONG KONG - The tradition of tea drinking was mentioned in Chinese literature as far back as five thousand years ago, and is still an important part of many Asian cultures. Although the patience needed to brew a perfect pot of tea may seem at odds with today’s fast-paced lifestyle, it remains popular across the […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS) – A Palestinian-American Evangelical Christian pastor has fled the de facto Palestinian capital of Ramallah for the safety of nearby Jerusalem following increasingly hostile threats by officials within Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority.
This news was revealed in a story carried on www.israeltoday.co.il.
Born in the US, Isa Bajalia […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
BETHLEHEM (ANS) – CURE International, a US-based Christian medical charity which operates teaching hospitals throughout the developing world, has announced plans to open a $16.5 million state-of-the-art medical training centre and hospital in Bethlehem, Palestine.
 
“The facility will be the first specialty surgical care available to Palestinian children in the West […]

JERUSALEM - Israeli police investigating corruption allegations against the prime minister have launched a series of raids in Jerusalem.  The investigations could have implications on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
More than 100 police raided government and private offices in expanding criminal investigations of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.  More than 20 locations were targeted, including the […]

WASHINGTON - The United States is observing Veterans Day, a day to remember and celebrate those who have served in the country’s military.
President Bush traveled Sunday from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to the town of Waco where he addressed a group of veterans. Mr. Bush thanked the veterans for their service. He also noted […]

HONG KONG - China and seven Central Asian countries have agreed to build a modern-day equivalent of the historic Silk Road, in the hope of once again making Central Asia a vital transit route for trade between Asia and Europe.
Until the Middle Ages, a network of trade routes known as the Silk Road was an […]

JERUSALEM - Palestinians have paid tribute to their late president Yasser Arafat, a legendary Arab leader in the Middle East. The ceremony comes against the background of new peace moves between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinians unveiled a posh mausoleum in the West Bank for Mr. Arafat, the longtime symbol of the Palestinian cause and the […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush says his administration has increased spending for U.S. military veterans by more than two-thirds. But a study released earlier this week found that former military personnel account for one in four homeless people in the United States. And at least 1,500 homeless veterans are from the current U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan […]

WSHINGTON - President Bush is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his Texas ranch. The two leaders are expected to discuss Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.
The president and Mrs. Bush welcomed Chancellor Merkel and her husband to their central Texas ranch with a meal of pecan-smoked tenderloin, sautéed mushrooms, and green chili and cheese grits soufflé.
President […]

SYDNEY - Millions of Chinese-made toys have been recalled in the United States, South Africa and Australia after they were found to contain a substance linked to the date-rape drug GHB. A number of children have been taken to hospital after swallowing tiny beads known as Bindeez in Australia and Aqua Dots in the United […]

WASHINGTON - Lebanon has postponed presidential elections twice in the past two months. A group of Christian bishops in Lebanon worries that the election deadlock is affecting national unity. 
In about two weeks, an election is supposed to take place here in Lebanon. President Emil Lahoud’s term ends on November 24.
But Lebanon is a nation beset with conflict, […]

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers in both houses of the U.S. Congress this week handed President Bush a major defeat when they voted to override his veto legislation to fund popular water projects. It was the first time in his seven year presidency that the Congress was able to overturn a Bush veto. The override is a […]

WASHINGTON - Each November 11th, the United States officially honors the men and women who have served in the nation’s armed forces. Originally called Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I, Veterans’ Day has come to symbolize America’s gratitude to all of its soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. While today there are only […]

JERUSALEM - Senior Israeli officials are expressing alarm over the news that Iran says it has 3,000 gas centrifuges working to enrich uranium. One senior Israeli official says the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency should step down.  
On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iranian nuclear scientists have 3,000 gas centrifuges running at the country’s […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush visited wounded troops at the U.S. Defense Department’s premier rehabilitation center for amputees. Mr. Bush says the government is improving the quality of military care.
President Bush met with recovering military personnel at the Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. “Someone wounded in the defense of America needs all the help […]

WASHINGTON - Rising violence in and around Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has forced thousands to flee the city for makeshift accommodations and camps along roads and towns outside the capital.  Somali-born professor of geography at the University of Minnesota, Abdi Samatar, says the disruption and displacement of thousands of people can be attributed to a complex […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, say they are determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The two leaders met Wednesday at the historic home of America’s first president, George Washington.
Both men say Iran was a major part of their talks at Mount Vernon. President Bush thanked […]

IRBIL - The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan says his government is continuing to take measures against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Turkey’s government is threatening to cross the border into Iraqi Kurdistan to attack the rebels who have been launching raids into Turkey.
Iraq’s Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani says he will continue to lead […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush has personally contacted Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for the first time since the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan.  Mr. Bush says his message was clear and the discussion was frank.
President Bush says he told Mr. Musharraf to give up his military rank and get Pakistan back on the path […]

WASHINGTON - An advisory this week from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group is alerting world bodies and governments to stop Ethiopia and Eritrea from sliding back into a protracted border war.  Although both sides agreed in Algiers in 2000 to halt their boundary  dispute, which flared up in 1998, and abide by rulings of an […]